Yugioh EQG: Ω Zenith

Chapters

Turn 1: Stolen Flash
Turn 2: Challenge From a Zealot
Turn 18: Protecting the Light of Hope
Turn 35: Memories are Made of This
Turn 3: Griffonic Sky Commander, Ouravas
Turn 4: Raging Wonderbolt
Turn 5: Return of an Old Foe
Turn 6: A New Light of Destruction
Turn 7: Hellfire Vengeance
Turn 8: The Counterattack Begins
Turn 9: Rising Tides and Rising Tensions
Turn 10: Escape From The Void
Turn 11: Raging Hellfire
Turn 12: A Future as Bright as the Sun
Turn 13: Marble, Friend or Foe
Turn 14: Oceanic Obliteration
Turn 15: A Storm on the Ocean
Turn 16: Fall into Chaos, Draconequus Attacks
Turn 17: The Curse Known as Fate
Turn 19: Zeronull's Vessel
Turn 20: Midnight Descends
Turn 21: Flash's Last Duel
Turn 22: What Might Have Been
Turn 23: Pegasi's Rise
Turn 24: Griffon's Fall
Turn 25: A Quest for Redemption
Turn 26: A Shadow in the Light
Turn 27: A Dazzling Duel
Turn 28: Flash Heart Genesis
Turn 29: Flash Verses Shadow, a Duel of Redemption
Turn 30: Alpha Zealots Rise
Turn 31: Dawn of the Decisive Battle
Turn 32: The Hardships of Life
Turn 33: When Stars Align
Turn 34: Glorianna's Final Trick
Turn 36: Gaia-Maiden's Final Victory
Turn 37: Zeronull Awakens
Turn 38: Project Omega Zenith
Turn 39: The Silencing of Earth
Turn 40: α V Ω, The Final Battle
Turn 41: Hope Incarnate
Turn 42: Dimensional Over-Link
Final Turn

Turn 1: Stolen Flash

Author's Note

Hey gang. You're probably wondering what this is doing out so early. Well, I just couldn't wait to see what everyone thought of my final Yugioh Story. Please note this story won't have a set release schedule. They'll come out whenever I find the time to get the chapters done. There may end up being weeks between chapters, hopefully not, so please bare that in mind. With that all out of the way, IT'S TIME TO DUEL!

Turn 1: Stolen Flash

The sun had already set in the small country of Changeland.

In one of its larger city's, there was a lab where the country's greatest scientists worked to improve the world through the use of science and other means. But there was no science going on today. Instead, there was only a Duel taking place. One combatant was the country's young king, Thorax. And his opponent-

"Augh!" Thorax cried as he staggered backwards, falling to his knees while his life points dropped to zero. "Why?" He looked up at his opponent, a teenage girl with yellow skin with light blue hair. She wore a pink beach vest and pink shorts, along with a pair of blue fingerless gloves. "I don't...understand." With that, Thorax fell to the floor unconscious.

The girl smiled as she looked around the room, seeing the many scientists she had knocked out before Dueling the king. Now she could get on with her mission

One hour later.

KABOOM!

Half the building went up in smoke, massive chunks of it flying everywhere. Many people near the building had run away from it, the authorities rushing into action. But three people ran towards the building, those three being Grand Hoof, Pinkie Pie and Maud.

"What?" Grand asked as he looked over the destruction. He and the girls had just arrived in Changeland to talk with Thorax, hoping to use his royal connections to help in their search of the missing Marble Pie. But this is what they found instead.

"Thorax!" Pinkie cried, seeing the king carrying a man out of the now burning building while others did the same with the injured. Luckily, everyone was soon accounted for.

"Who did this?" Grand asked as he knelt besides Thorax, the teen panting and coughing from the smoke.

"I think...I think it was one of those Dominators." Grand frowned hearing this, turning back to the building. So, they were finally making their move.

Two miles away, the girl smiled as she walked down the street. "Too easy." It was then she heard footsteps and turned towards them, looking like she was ready to fight. But she eased off when she saw who it was. "Master Draconequus."

Standing before he was a middle-aged man with grey skin, with black hair that ran down his back like a ponytail. He had large white eyebrows and a white goatee, was wearing a reddish-brown long coat and had pants that were light brown on one side and dark brown on the other.

"So," the man asked, "did you get the data?"

"Of course," she knelt before holding up a flash drive. "Everything we need is right here."

The man chuckled before taking the drive. "Well done Rhodos. Your mother will be very happy to hear how hard you're working.

The girl named Rhodos smiled. "Of course. I am nothing by a humble Zealot. Anything the Omega Zealots wish of me, I will do."

"Excellent." He turned to the burning building, a crooked smile appearing on his face. "Soon the time will come," he turned towards her. "The world is about to be silenced." He started laughing, "prepare for destruction by our lord!"

Three days later.

Almost two months had passed since the end of the Double X Tournament. Despite everything that had happened, things seemed to have gone back to normal. And that included school.

We find young Flash Sentry, walking the corridors of his school looking exhausted. His brain was completely overloaded from his classwork. Math was never his best subject.

He arrived at the cafeteria and spotted the only friend he had that shared the period for lunch: Sunburst. He got his food and sat down beside him, Sunburst noticed the exhausted look on his face as well as the grilled cheese on his plate. "Tough math class?"

"All math classes are hard."

"I don't see what the big deal is," the glasses-wearing teen replied. "You do math every time you play the thing you want to become a professional at. How is doing it on paper any different?" Flash chose not to answer that particular question, instead taking a bite of his lunch. Sunburst smirked at this while looking down at his own food. "So, any idea what's happening...with the V-Fighters?" Flash stopped eating and slowly turned to him. "I mean, since we became the Double X champions, we've been getting all sorts of invites to other tournaments and events."

Flash nodded. "I think we should limit ourselves to small gatherings, like shop tournaments. At least until the issue with the Dominators is dealt with."

Sunburst nodded, "guess that makes sense."

Flash looked over at him. "By the way, how's Starlight been doing since the tournament?" Sunburst smiled back.

"The Dominators have no influence over her. She's free from them now. The biggest issue she's facing is catching up with her school work." Since her Dominator hadn't seen the need to go to school, Starlight had ended up missing a whole year of education that she now had to make up. Luckily, Sunburst was there to help tutor her.

"That's good." Flash then got a coy smile on his face, shuffling over to Sunburst's side. "So, how are things going with you and Starlight." Sunburst looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean," Flash nudged him in the arm. Sunburst slowly started realizing what he was getting at and began to blush.

"We're not like that!"

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Flash kept teasing him about it for the rest of lunch, Sunburst feeling very embarrassed as he tried to deny everything.

Cloudsdale.

Wonderbolts Academy was bustling with activity. The reason, almost every student was Dueling. Due to how high the school's team got in the Double X, the entire student body had gotten into the sport and were looking to compete in next year's event.

And watching them all from the sidelines were Rainbow and Soarin, both smiling at all the new players. "This is awesome!" Soarin cheered. "Now this school is officially perfect."

"Oh yeah," Rainbow agreed. But her smile soon faded, Soarin noticing this and knowing why.

"You know, I haven't forgotten about the Dominators." Rainbow looked at him while he stared out at the field. "But it's not like I can do anything about it. So I'm gonna enjoy every moment I have before they show up again. And if they do, I'll be ready to take'em down."

Rainbow smirked, "you'll have to get in line. I'm the one who's gonna take them down. You can just keep the low-level minions busy."

"Deal," Soarin smirked before looking around. "Hey, where's Gilda?"

"Oh, she has a meeting with some kickboxing professionals. They wanna talk about her going pro after she graduates."

"That's awesome. But didn't she wanna become a pro duelist."

"She said there's no reason she can't do both. The seasons are on at different times of the year, so there shouldn't be any overlap." Soarin nodded as they watched the Duels taking place.

"Hey, Rainbow." She turned to him. "I was wondering, since Gilda's busy, why don't we have a team hangout after school with just the two of us."

Rainbow seemed surprised by this. Was he....no way. "What did you have in mind?" Soarin smiled and turned to her.

"How about...ice cream. There's a really great parlour not too far from here."

Rainbow smirked, "sure. But you're buying and I intend to eat my body weight." Soarin laughed and said that was okay, the two watching as the Duels continued.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Twilight Sparkle was enjoying her time back in Paris.

She was currently in the library, studying up. "Hey, Twilight!" She looked up to see one of her classmates walking up to her. "I saw you in the Double X. Excellente."

"Merci," Twilight smiled back before the girl walked off. She got back to her studies, wanting to learn as much as she could. Who knows how useful it'd be for her future goals as a Duel manager. She planned to help Flash build the future he was aspiring for, and nothing would stop her from achieving it.

She looked up out of a nearby window, spotting the Eiffel Tower off in the distance. "Moondancer, I hope you're watching. I'll keep working hard, for both our sakes." She also knew she had to be ready for if the Dominators show up again. Flash and her brother had promised to keep her informed in they learned anything. She wasn't gonna let them destroy her world. "No way."

The bell rang and Flash headed out the school, Spike, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy besides him. Sunburst had gotten out early and had rushed off to his tutoring session with Starlight, while Scootaloo had an after school project she needed to work with her friends.

"So," Flash turned to them, "you guys free. We could head to the park and Duel."

"Sorry darling," Rarity announced. "I'm busy. Got my internship." Rarity had recently gotten a job working at a boutique under a famous fashion designer. She was now one step closer to her dream.

"Me and Mac are cleanin out the old barn," Applejack explained. "Applebloom was supposed to help too. She'd better ace that project if it's gettin her out of this."

Flash turned to Fluttershy, "today's the day I promised to help clean the hamster habitat. I've been looking forward to it for weeks." Flash nodded and turned to Spike, hoping his right hand would at least be free.

"Sorry man. I promised my mom I'd help look after Flurry while Cadance and Shining are busy." Flash understood that. In fact, maybe he'd go with him and spend his time with his goddaughter.

But as they arrived at the front doors and stepped outside, Flash spotted someone he recognized. "Tempest?"

Freeze Stadium.

At the city's biggest and best arena, we find Cold Steel entering one of the meeting rooms. Already there were Misty Vail, Sunset Shimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Shining Armor and Cadance. The lot of them took their seats around the table, Cold beginning his speech.

"I've gathered you all here today, in order to discuss how we're going to deal with the Dominators. Each of you is someone I can trust to help, with even more out there already taking actions."

"Well," Adagio smiled, "aren't I special." The others frowned as Cold pressed a button on his chair, causing four holographic screens to appear in the centre of the table.

On the screens was footage of the attack on the Changeland science building. "Three days ago, a research facility in Changeland suffered a bomb attack and a significant amount of data was stolen." This surprised them all, getting them to sit to attention.

"Do we know who caused this?" Cadance asked, her question met when the screen changed to show the yellow-skinned girl with blue hair.

"This is Princess Skystar. She is next in line to the thrown of a small island nation in the south pacific. She was there on a royal visit, but it's clear she had other objectives. Based on the information we have on her, it's a reasonable assumption that she's been Dominated by a Duel Spirit and taken over."

"Not good," Misty whispered.

"Grand is already there investigating and trying to see if he can pick up her trail. But so far, he hasn't had much luck."

Meanwhile, Flash and Tempest stood by the school statue.

The others had needed to head off, leaving just the two of them to talk. Tempest's style had changed. She'd dropped the leather overcoat and now wore a black shoal over her clothes with a grey scarf around her neck. "This weekend, I'm heading to Changeland to meet up with your grandfather."

"You are?" Flash asked, Tempest nodding.

"Yes, I'm going to help with the Dominator situation."

"I see," Flash looked down. "How are you doing since...you know."

"Better," she promised. "But what happened will be something I can never forget. All I can do is try and put it behind me." Flash nodded. "But to do that, I need to make up for everything the Dominator did while it had my body. That's why I'll keep working until whatever their plan is is stopped."

"Alright," Flash knew this was something she had to do. "Just...be careful."

"I will," Tempest nodded before standing straight and heading off. "You be careful too. I don't know what the Dominators were planning, but I know you'll be at the top of their hit list. Don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, yeah." Flash turned to walk the other way. "Do me and favour and tell Pinkie and Maud hi and that we're happy to help if they need anything."

"Sure," Tempest agreed before the two headed off in opposite directions.

"We gathered useful information from Tempest Shadow, who was taken over by Storm King Dominator using a Soulink." Cold sat back in his chair. "Storm King was working for a group who wish to awaken the Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull."

"We already know all this," Adagio told him. "Get to the point."

"Adagio," Sunset chastised her.

Cold sighed. "The point is that we don't know who these people are and how they intend to strike. All we know is that they wish to awaken Zeronull in order to use its power to destroy both worlds. That's why we need to find out as much as we can before this gets too out of hand."

"Easier said than done," Shining quipped. "How are we supposed to know what they're gonna do before they actually do it? Who knows what their first plan of attack will be."

Flash was heading for Twilight's house, still intending to spend some time with Flurry. He was also trying to think of what to have for dinner after playing with Flurry. Scootaloo and his mom would both be home late, so it would likely only be him.

He stopped at an intersection crosswalk and waited for the light to turn green. But as he did he looked around, only to spot something that made him take a second look. "Marble?"

It was Marble Pie. Her clothes and hair were different, but it was definitely her. She was standing on the other side of the crosswalk, smiling at him before turning to run off.

"Wait!" He tried to chase after her and almost got hit by a car, needing to wait until the lights changed. When they did, he ran after her as fast as he could while taking out his phone.

Sunburst and Starlight were at the girl's house, both studying as his phone went off.

Starlight looked up, "who is it?" He checked.

"It's Flash." He opened the text and went wide-eyed seeing what it said, "what?" This caught Starlight's attention. "Found Marble. Chasing her now."

"What?" Starlight stood up, "he's alone with a Dominator!? This is bad," she ran for the door and Sunburst followed

Flash finally caught up with Marble and found her at the riverside where Twilight and Trixie first Duelled. The teen panted as he walked up to her. "Marble, is that you?" The girl gave him a sinister look, confirming one thing. 'She's been taken over by the Dominator, Gaia-Maiden Lady Marble. But if I can beat her in a Duel, maybe I can save her.' He pulled out his Duel Disk, "let's go! Right here, right now."

Marble smiled as she took out her Duel Disk, "fine by me. Let's do this." They strapped their Duel Disks on and activated them, drawing their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Flash: 4000
Marble: 4000

"I'll take the first move." Marble drew her card, smiled and then placed a card on her Duel Disk. "I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Drought, in DEF mode!" Rocks broke off the ground and came together to form a sphere that quickly crumbled, revealing what appeared to be a large stone rhino on a stone slab. (A1000/D1000/L4) "Here's the fun part. While this card's on the field, neither of us can Special Summon monsters that aren't Earth Attributes."

Flash's eyes went wide. None of his monsters were Earth monsters, meaning he couldn't Pendulum Summon or summon any of his Extra Deck monsters. He needed to get rid of that thing, fast.

"My turn!" Flash drew his card, looking down at his hand and seeing he could set the Pendulum Summon. But with that Barrier Statue on the field, doing so would be useless. "I summon Lustrous Feather Magna Leghorn, In ATK mode!" In a flash of light, the robotic chicken appeared before spreading its glowing green wings and illuminating stomach star. (A1100/D1300/L3/P8) "Now, attack!" The chicken leapt into the air and spread its wings before they glowed, Leghorn flapping them and unleashing a glowing blade of wind that cut the Barrier Statue in half and destroyed in.

However, instead of being upset, Marble smiled. "Don't think you can get rid of it that easily." Flash wondered what she meant, only to see the shattered pieces of the statue fly back off the ground before reforming into the statue again.

"What the heck?"

"You see, whenever a Neo Barrier Statue is destroyed by battle, I can summon any monster of the same attribute from my deck with fifteen hundred or less ATK points." Flash growled at this, only to remember something.

"Well, Leghorn has its own ability." He reached for his deck. "By banishing the top card of my deck, I can let it attack once more after he destroys a monster." He drew his card and saw what it was he was banishing before Leghorn leapt into the air, once again launching a glowing blade of energy that destroyed the Neo Barrier Statue.

Flash: 4000
Marble: 3900

But no sooner was it destroyed, that the rubble reformed into a third Drought Statue. "That's your last one," Flash told her as he placed two cards face down. "I end my turn." He frowned as he watched her draw her card. 'I refuse to lose this.'

"I activate the spell card Foolish Burial, in order to send Gaia Knight Corundum to the graveyard." A card slotted out of her deck, Marble taking it and placing it into her graveyard. It didn't stay in there long though. "Now, I banish Corundum and Neo Barrier Statue in order to summon Gaia-Knight Ruby!" Corundum appeared before her as rocks broke off the ground and wrapped around him, forming a moon that quickly shattered to reveal Ruby. (A3000/D2400/L8) "Attack!" The rock knight ran forward, swinging its stone sword at Leghorn.

"I'll win and get the real Marble back!" Flash cried as he activated his face down, "for Pinkie and Maud." His card flipped up to reveal a Spell. "Go, Magna Guard! This card lets me switch any Magna monster into DEF mode.

"I don't think so," Marble told him. "Because by taking a banished Rock Monster and adding it back to my deck, Ruby's ability cancels out your Spell's effect." She took out Neo Barrier Statue and returned it to the deck, ready to be summoned next time he other Statue was destroyed.

Flash frowned. "Fine, then I'll use Magna Guard's Grave Effect!" A dome of golden energy appeared around Leghorn, blocking the sword. "By banishing it, I can cut the damage I take in half." The sword shattered the dome and struck Leghorn, though much weaker the before.

Flash: 3050
Marble: 3900

Marble smiled, "not bad. You knew Ruby's ability only effects Spells on the field. But it won't help you. Barrier Statue, impale!" The rhino monster floated in the air before flying forwards, ready to stab Flash with its horn.

"Not today. Go, Defence Draw!" A force field appeared around infront of Flash and blocked the attack, Flash drawing a card from his deck. He then looked over at Marble, who smiled as she placed a card face down. 'But...what's she doing back here?' He started his turn and drew another card, 'I thought she was overseas.'

As this was happening, Scootaloo, Sweetie and Applebloom had been walking close. "So," Scootaloo turned to her friends, "where do you wanna practise today?"

"My mom and dad aren't home," Sweetie suggested. "And Rarity's at her internship. We could practise there."

"A'h don't know," Applebloom said. "Would we really get any better just Duelling each other. Maybe we should head to the card shop."

"Maybe," Scootaloo agreed. But her thoughts came to a stop when she spotted her brother down by the river, noticing he was Duelling. But it's who he was Duelling that shocked her the most. "Is that...Marble?"

"We believe that Storm King's objective was to find a vessel for Zeronull to Dominate," Cold continued. "And the participants in the Double X were prime candidates." The screen showed images of the V-Fighters, Wonderbolts and Tidal Maidens. "Any Duellists who made it to the finals need to be cautious of any encounter they may have with a Dominator."

Everyone frowned at the sight of those they cared about on-screen, Misty speaking up. "In that case, we should-"

The opening of the meeting room doors caught their attention, making them look over and gasp seeing who had entered the room. "Oh, sorry for barging in." The speaker was none other than Heath Burns, member of Team Dominator and a Soulinked Duellist. His clothes had changed to look more like a suit. A red button-up shirt under a black vest with a black-tie and pants. A single red glove was on his right hand.

"Go, Pendulum Blaster!" Flash cried as a large cannon-like device appeared beside him, Marble raising an eyebrow.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"Yes. Because by banishing a Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck, I can destroy one monster on the field with less ATK then it. So say goodbye to your Neo Barrier Statue!" The image of Leghorn appeared infront of Flash before being sucked into the cannon, which began to spark with blue energy as it aimed at the rhino. "FIRE!" The weapon fired a chicken-shaped bolt of blue lightning, which struck the statue and turned it to dust. "Nice," Flash arm pumped, "with that out of the way, I don't have to worry about not doing this."

Marble growled, now regretting not using her monster's ability.

"I set the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Magna Caster Ratio and scale nine Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" Twin pillars of light appeared on either side of him, the two monsters flying up into them with the numbers appearing beneath as the portal began to form. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal opened as a pair of lights shot out. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The lights hit the ground and exploded revealing Flash's monsters. "Howl to the Moon, Shining Fang Magna Wolf!" (A1500/D1200/L4)

"Warp space, Magna Caster Stamine!" (A1800/D1000/L4)

"And how are those two supposed to help you?" Marble asked, only to see Flash smirking.

"You'll see," he explained as his two monsters transformed back into lights that shot up into the air. "As these two monsters build the Overlay Network!" A black hole appeared infront of him, the two lights flying inside as he chanted. "Shatter the chains forged by the laws of physics and burst open the door to limitless possibilities!" The black hole exploded, unleashing a burst of brilliant light. "I XYZ SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing a new monster. It looked like the cross between a dragon, demon and robot. Its whole body was humanoid and made from black metal gears, with red light coming out of the gaps in the metal. It also had sharp metal spikes coming off its shoulders, arms and knees. It had a pair of metal wings and its head was dragonic with a pair of demon horns. In its robotic claws was a giant buster sword with jagged teeth running down the back. Two lights were circling around it. "Reality Buster Dragon!" (A2000/D2000/R4) Flash pointed at Marble's monster, "attack!"

Marble frowned, knowing he wouldn't attack unless he had some way of protecting his monster. But how? "It's ability."

"That's right!" Flash yelled as one of the lights flew into the dragon's sword blade. "When this card battles a monster stronger than itself, I can remove one Overlay Unit to negate its destruction!" The dragon and knight's swords clashed, both being knocked back by the force. "What's more, you take any battle damage I would have taken." Reality Buster swung its sword around and unleashed an energy wave, which struck Marble and sent her staggering backwards.

Flash: 3050
Marble: 2900

"Alright!" Both Duellists turned to see Team Crusaders cheering behind Flash.

"What are you doing here?" Flash asked his sister, who smiled.

"Watching my brother kick Dominator butt," Scootaloo smiled. "Now keep going." Flash nodded and turned back to Marble, his hand empty so he had to end his turn.

"My draw!" Marble drew her card and smiled, "I activate my Graceful Charity Spell card!" Flash frowned, knowing her having more monsters in her graveyard was bad news. "I draw three and ditch two." As she did this, the ground beneath them began to shake before rocks broke off the ground and formed another moon.

"Not good," Flash said while parts of the moon broke off it to create an opening. He knew what was coming.

"Queen of the earth, grace us with your glorious majesty!" The rocks then transformed into a staircase like construct, with a familiar monster stepping out of the moon to make her way down them. "Gaia-Maiden, Lady Marble!" (A3000/D2500/L8) "Now activating Lady Marble's skill!" Gaia Knight Sapphire appeared infront of the Gaia-Maiden before breaking into eight pieces before flying through the air. But they didn't hit Reality Buster, instead slamming into Gaia Knight Ruby and powering it down. (22000/D2400/L8)

Flash wondered what she was doing until he remembered his monster's ability. Seems Marble wanted to lessen the damage she was gonna take while using up its last Overlay Unit. "Attack!" Ruby charged forward, ready to slice Reality Bust Dragon in half.

Flash knew he didn't have a choice. "I use my monster's last Overlay Unit to negate its destruction and deal you the damage instead." The final light shot into the sword as the dragon lifted it up to block Ruby, pushing it back before swinging the blade and firing an energy slash that struck Marble.

Flash: 3050
Marble: 2700

Marble staggered backwards, but smiled as she looked over at Flash. "Then I'll attack with Lady Marble!" The monster tapped her staff onto the ground and caused a large chunk of earth to break off, then be sent flying towards the Xyz monster.

Flash could do nothing but brace himself as the rocks slammed into the robotic dragon and dismantled it, the parts raining down on Flash as he grunted in pain.

Flash: 2050
Marble: 2700

"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, Flash slowly getting back to full height.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "I'm not going down that easily." He watched as Marble placed a card face down. "I won't give up. Not until Marble's back to who she's supposed to be." He drew his card, smiling when he saw what he'd gotten. "This Duel's far from over."

Sunburst and Starlight were racing through town, trying to figure out where Flash might be. It was then they spotted Spike running around the corner, spotting them. "Hey!" He yelled, racing up to them. "Did you guys see the message Flash sent?"

"Yeah," Starlight said. "He's in danger. We have to find him."

"But we've no idea where he could be," Sunburst pointed out.

"Then we have to look everywhere!" Starlight ran off, the boys following after her.

"I activate the Spell card, Starburst Reload! Now, by banishing Magna Wolf from the grave, I can draw cards equal to his level." He drew his cards and smiled when he saw what he'd gotten. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground and revealing his monsters. "Cast your solar spell, Magna Caster Solaris." (A1200/D600/L3/P8)

"Stampede, Charge Horn Magna Bull (A2100/D2200/L6/P4)

"Next, I summon Aura Pulse Magna Rat!" The clockwork rodent appeared beside the other two monsters. (A300/D200/L1) "Don't blink, you might just miss him." A giant portal opened up above their heads, as Magna Rat leapt up towards it. "By banishing himself, Magna Rat lets me summon any monster that's been removed from play to the field."

Magna Rat flew into the portal, as another monster flew out the other side. It was a twenty-foot high silver robotic humanoid creature, with light blue armour and orange trim on its arms, legs, chest and shoulders. From its shoulders were a pair of square jet booster like wings, and it wore a red scarf which was emblazoned with the same symbol as the one on Flash's shirt. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)

Marble smirked, looking forward to taking Flash's ace down.

"Flash Heart's skill!" Flash cried, a portal opening up below Gaia-Maiden. "Say buh-bye to yourself, Lady Marble."

"I think not," Marble activated her face down. "Go, Effect Reflect. This Trap lets me switch the target of a card effect to any other monster that qualifies." Lady Marble leapt back as Gaia Knight Ruby jumped into the portal, being banished in the process. "Such a good subject, sacrificing themselves for their queen."

Flash frowned. "A good ruler puts their subjects before themselves. I activate Ratio's Pendulum Ability!" He drew three cards, picked one and shuffled the rest back into the deck. "By banishing Star Fang Magna Tiger, I can increase Flash Heart X's ATK points by fourteen hundred!" The ghostly image of the tiger man appeared infront of Flash Heart X before bursting into light, the dragon absorbing in and gaining power. (A3900/D2000/L7/P4) "ATTACK!"

Marble watched as Flash Heart shot forward, ready to sucker punch her monster. "I activate Lady Marble's ability!" She raised her staff and blocked the punch, "I banished Neo Barrier Statue in order to protect her from being destroyed."

"Maybe," Flash told her, "but you still take damage."

Flash: 2050
Marble: 1800

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My draw!" Marble did so and smiled, "I activate the Spell card Geode Driver!" Gaia Knight Emerald appeared infront of her before breaking into eight pieces, with them coming together in twos. "This card lets me banish a Rock Monster from my graveyard, allowing us both to draw a card for every two Levels it has. Since Emerald was Level Eight, we draw four. Don't say I never give you anything." The two of them drew, Marble having five cards while Flash had one.

"That was way too nice for her," Sweetie said.

Applebloom nodded, "she's plannin some-in."

Scootaloo agreed and whispered, "be careful Flash."

"Now," Marble placed a card on her Duel Disk, "since I have five banished Earth Monsters, I can summon this without a tribute. Awaken, Blast Stone Wyvern!" The earth broke apart before a giant stone dragon pulled itself out of the fissure, spreading its winged arms and taking to the sky. (A2600/D2100/L7) "Now, Lady Marble will attack Magna Caster Solaris!" The Gaia-Maiden tapped the ground before it broke apart, sending rocks in the direction of Flash's weakest monster.

The Crusaders gasped. "If this attack hits," Sweetie started.

"Flash loses," Applebloom finished.

"Don't count my brother out yet!" Scootaloo told them. And she was right as in that moment, Flash Heart X flew infront of Solaris.

"Trap Activate!" Flash announced, "Interception!" The rocks slammed into Flash Heart, destroying it but leaving Flash safe.

Flash: 1550
Marble: 1800

"We're not done yet," Marble sang. "Blast Stone Wyvern's ability activates whenever I destroy one of your monsters." The rock dragon began to flap its wings, kicking up a dust cloud. "Now he can destroy every monster on your field with ATK less than the one I destroyed, meaning both your monsters bite the dust." Solaris and Magna Bull exploded, leaving Flash defenceless. "What's more, you lose three hundred life points for each monster destroyed."

Flash suddenly felt himself be buffed by the wind, sending him flying off his feet. "AAARRRHHH!" He yelled as he hit the ground.

Flash: 950
Marble: 1800

Marble smiled an almost innocent smile as she placed two cards face down. "This is the power I'm given as an Omega Zealot of the great Zeronull." She watched as Flash rolled over and began to push himself back to his feet. "Just give up. You can't hope to defeat me."

"I won't give up," Flash moaned as he stood up before shooting Marble a glare. "This is wrong!" He yelled, surprising Marble. "Zeronull. Omega Zealot. CUT THE CRAP!" He reached for his deck, "MARBLE ISN'T LIKE THAT!" The portal formed above his head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and a single light shot out of it, revealing Flash's ace. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Flash glared at the possessed girl, 'I don't care what she's planning to do. None of that matters to me. I just need to win so I can free her.' "Skill activate!" A portal appeared behind her stone dragon. "Blast Stone Wyvern is banished!"

"So predictable," Marble told him.

"Is this predictable! I summon Bright Bounce Magna Bunny!" A flash of light singled the arrival of the robotic rabbit. (A1200/D600/L3/P2) "Then, I tune Level three Bright Bounce Magna Bunny with Level seven Flash Heart Dragon X!" The Tuner morphed into the trio of lights, which began to carve the rings around Flash Heart X. "Embrace your infinite destinies and stride towards a future of limitless possibilities!" The two monster disappeared in an explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The Crusaders had to jump back so as to not be hit by the light. Said light then faded to reveal Flash's hyper-evolved Synchro dragon, which let out a mighty roar that caused the whole area to shake as blue lightning began to spark all around its body. "Flash Dragon...MAGNA STRIDER!" (A3300/D2500/L10/P10)

"YEAH!" The girls cheered, knowing this was gonna be good.

"Activating the Pendulum Ability of Magna Caster Ratio!" He drew three cards and frowned seeing only one monster, one that wasn't very strong. "Banish Nightlight Magna Sheep!" The little lamb appeared infront of Magna Strider before exploding into light that the dragon absorbed. (A3700/D2500/L10/P10)

"That won't be enough," Sweetie realised.

"He's not done," Scootaloo assured her.

"I activate the Spell card, Lightspeed!" Magna Strider began to glow. (A4700/D2500/L10/P10) Flash turned to his opponent. "Marble, I know you can hear me in there." His opponent frowned at that. "You have to know that Pinkie and Maud are looking for you. They want you to come back and they're not gonna stop until you're home." Marble said nothing, Flash growling. "ATTACK!" The giant dragon opened its mouth as blue lightning sparked, light then appearing in its mouth. "GOOOOO!" The light shot out of its mouth and flew towards Marble's monster like a laser, but she wasn't scared.

"Trap activate!" One of her face down flipped up.

"Sorry," Flash told her, "but no dice. On the turn he's Synchro Summoned, Magna Strider's immune to card effects."

"But my monster isn't," she told him. "My Trap is Rock Loader. I look at the top three cards of my deck and discard any Rock Monsters amongst them. And for each one sent to the grave, Lady Marble gains three hundred ATK points." She drew her card and smiled before discarding two, increasing her monster's ATK. (A3600/D2500/L8)

"That's not enough!" Flash told her, the laser hitting Lady Marble with enough force to push both her and Marble backwards

Flash: 950
Marble: 700

"I might not be enough to make her stronger, but it does give me the cards I need to keep her on the field." She banished one of the cards she'd just discarded, Lady Marble managing to survive the attack.

"I'm not done," Flash told her. "Activating the skill of Magna Strider!" He reached for his Duel Disk as the Extra Deck opened before taking out two cards. "Banish two Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck!" Magna Bull and Solaris both appeared on either side of the dragon and tapped their fist into its leg before they were sucked into a pair of portals, while Magna Strider's eyes glowed.

The next thing everybody knew, Magna Strider suddenly jumped up and was now standing on its back legs. "With that, Magna Strider can attack one more time!" The beast let out a mighty roar, as its boosters began to ignite.

"Magna Strider's skill! During his second attack, he gains one hundred ATK points for each of the Levels of all my banished monsters!" Magna Leghorn, Wolf, Rat, Tiger, Sheep, Bull and Solaris all appeared around Flash's Dragon in an astral form before they were sucked inside the crystal on its chest, the crystal now beginning to glow brightly. (A7300/D2500/L10/P10) Magna Strider opened its mouth as light began to fill it once again, this time with such power that if its boosters weren't firing it'd be pushed back by the force. "GOOOOO!" The dragon fired, filling the area with a blinding light.

Everyone was forced to shield their eyes, Flash included. But as he did-

"Flash!"

His eyes shot open, recognising that voice. He opened his eyes and saw he was in a black voice, staring straight into the eyes of the real Marble Pie. "Marble!" He cried, trying to float over to her. In doing so, he saw she was chained to a stone tablet.

"Help me," she whispered.

"Don't worry," he assured her. "I'm gonna get you out of here!" But before he could get close, a powerful wind blew from behind the tablet and hit him. "NO!" He cried as he was thrown backwards.

"You are not welcome here," a more sinister version of Marble's voice said from the darkness. "This Duel is not over. Trap activate!" A blinding flash of light filled the void, forcing Flash to shield his eyes again.

This time when he opened them, he saw Lady Marble knelt down with her staff blocking the attack. "Brittle Shield!" Marble cried, "I'm sure you know how this card works. Since my monster has more ATK then DEF, this card lets me switch her to DEF mode. And with Lady Marble's ability, she won't be destroyed." She banished her last monster as the attack faded, the Gaia-Maiden completely unharmed by it. "Nice try."

"So close," Flash told himself as he placed three cards face down and ended his turn. Magna Strider's ATK points returned to normal. (A3300/D2500/L10/P10)

"Not even Magna Strider was enough," Applebloom asked.

"But if Flash can just survive this turn," Sweetie started.

Scootaloo nodded. No way could Marble survive another turn like that. And with those face downs, Flash had to be able to survive.

She would be right to think that. Flash's face downs included his own Brittle Shield, Magna Guardian Arma Excess and Reverse Polarities. "Just get me to my turn," he begged his deck. He turned back to Marble and saw her draw her card, a strange smile appearing on her face as she did.

She slowly turned towards Flash, the earth symbol on her gloved hand suddenly glowing so bright that it could be seen through it. "It's time." As she said that, a powerful gust of wind exploded off her. The force was so great, Flash and the girls were all pushed back and few steps. "Prepare to witness the unbridled power of an Omega Zealot." She held up the card. "With this, I put my entire future on the line."

"What are you talking about?" Flash yelled over the wind.

"If I should lose this Duel, every card in my deck with be destroyed." This statement shocked everyone. "But in return, I can awaken an unstoppable power." She let go of the card and it began to float above her as she took another card from her hand. "First, I must tribute an Earth Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." She discarded another copy of Lady Marble as the one of her field became engulfed by rocks that formed a moon around her.

That moon flew up into the air, getting bigger and bigger with each passing second. It soon grew so big that everyone within a ten-mile radius could see it, Marble laughing as pieces of it slowly began to crumble away. "Behold the key to a perfect future. The legendary Zenith Dragon!"

"Zenith Dragon?" Flash asked as the crumbling piece of the moon-sized egg fell away to reveal...an eye. This eye was bright orange and totally huge. It was so big that you could stretch Magna Strider out from head to tail and it wouldn't even be able to touch the top or bottom.

"Awaken, beast of the earth!" Marble cried as the rest of the egg broke apart. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, GREATERRA!" Flash could only stare as the monster was revealed. It looked like more of a tortoise than a dragon. It had a giant shell made entirely of grey rock, with an assortment of vines wrapped around the bottom. It had six giant grey legs coming out of the side and a large bushy green tail that appeared to be made out of leaves. The back of its shell was covered in trees, while its head was taken up by a massive under-jaw. Hundreds of long vines sprouted from its chin, giving it the look of having a large green beard. Finally, on its forehead, was a round orange gem with the Earth symbol on it.

"No....freaking...way," the Crusaders whispered while staring at the monster that now turned to stare down at them.

"How strong is that thing?" Flash asked, dreading the answer.

Marble smiled. "Its ATK and DEF points become the combined ATK and DEF of the monsters used in its summoning."

"But that means..." It's ATK and DEF would be double Lady Marble's, Flash looking down at his Duel Disk and seeing the score. (A6000/D5000/L12) "That's...just too strong."

"Oh, don't worry. It's not like he'll be around for long." Flash looked at her in confusion. "A Zenith Dragon can only remain on the field for a single turn. Afterwards, they're banished and replaced by one of the monsters used in their summoning."

"So I only have to survive this one turn and that thing'll be gone?" Not that he needed to survive it, since he had his face down. With Reverse Polarity, that thing's six thousand ATK points would be his.

But before he could even think of activating them, something else caught his attention. Greaterra opened its mouth and let out a roar, so powerful it shook the earth, and in doing so it unleashed a barrage of giant rocks that flew towards Flash's field.

"WOW!" He yelled as he leapt back, the rocks slamming into his Pendulum Scale, Pendulum Blast and his face down cards. When the dust settled, each of them was buried below a large pile of rocks. "What have you done?" He asked before looking down at his Duel Disk, his eyes widening as he saw his face-up cards had been flipped face down and on the screen he saw a large red X over each of them.

"This is Greaterra's ability," Marble explained. "When it's summoned every face-up card in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zones are flipped down. And while he's on the field, none of them can be flipped up."

That meant they couldn't be activated. And that meant he had nothing to defend himself against. "No way," he saw his hand was empty. He was defenceless.

Marble smiled. "I told you this was pointless." She raised both her arms high into the air. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, ATTACK!" The beast opened its mouth as a giant rock appeared within it, Greaterra roaring with enough force to send the rock flying out and rocketing towards Magna Strider. "CONTINENTAL CRUSHER!"

"FLASH!" Sweetie and Applebloom yelled.

"Get out of there!" Scootaloo screamed. Flash turned and ran as fast as he could, the rock flying down towards his dragon like a meteor. The force alone sent shockwaves across the area, knocking Flash and the girls off their feet while crushing Magna Strider beneath it.

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" Flash screamed as his life points hit zero, signalling his defeat.

Flash: 0
Marble: 700 (Winner)

The entire area was nothing but a giant dust cloud as Greaterra disappeared. The dust slowly cleared as Flash and the girls began to recover, each of them moaning as they picked themselves up. They looked over at where Magna Strider had been and gasped seeing a giant hole, the river beginning to flow into and fill it.

"That was no hologram," Sweetie realised.

"You're right," they turned to see Marble stepping around it. "It wasn't."

Flash moaned as he picked himself up, holding his left arm while one eye was closed. "Why..did you do this."

Marble just smiled at him. "You have lost a Duel against an Omega Zealot of Zeronull. As punishment, you will be sent to Void, the dimensional prison of souls." Flash had no idea what she was talking about. But before he could even ask, the ground beneath him vanished.

He only had a second to look down and see he was now floating above a bottomless pit that appeared out of nowhere before gravity took over, Flash beginning to fall. "GYAH!"

"FLASH!" Applebloom and Sweetie screamed as Flash fell into the darkness, only to stop as he felt something grab his arm.

"I've got you!" He looked up to see his sister hanging over the side, clutching his arm and trying to pull him up. "Hang on!"

"Scoot!" Flash saw his sister was starting to slide further into the hole, "let me go!"

"No way!" She cried.

"Hang on!" She then heard Sweetie yell.

"We'll getcha!" Applebloom agreed. The two girls ran towards them, but Marble wasn't having any of that.

"ENOUGH!" She thrust her arm forward and unleashed a pulse of some sort, which struck both girls and sent them flying back as they screamed in pain. Scootaloo heard his and gasped, but didn't have time to worry about it as she finally slipped too far into the hole to hang on any longer. And so, brother and sister fell into the bottomless pit and completely vanished. Seconds later, the hole shrank until it too disappeared into thin air.

Marble sighed as she turned away, "shame some trash got mixed in." She then heard groans and turned to see the other girls beginning to recover from before, Marble not caring about them and walking off. Everything was going according to plan. Project Omega Zenith was proceeding on schedule.

Turn 2: Challenge From a Zealot

In the Freeze Stadium, Cold Steel had been conducting a meeting with those he wanted help from. They'd been discussing the Dominator situation when someone had rudely interrupted by barging into the meeting room. And they'd all be shocked to see who it was.

"You're from Team Dominator!" Shining almost yelled as they all stood up.

"Heath Burns," Cold growled as the suited teen stepped inside.

"I stopped using that name a long time ago," he explained before removing his glove and showing the mark on the back of his hand. "So now you can call me Hellfire. Omega Zealot of Fire and faithful servant of Zeronull."

"Zealot?" Sunset asked.

"That's right. So, is this how you treat all your guests. No hellos, no offers to sit down or refreshments. And after I went to all this trouble coming to see you. I was expecting a warmer welcome then this."

"Stop kidding around!" Misty almost yelled, "you need to tell us why you're here. Calling yourself a Zealot."

"Omega Zealot," Heath corrected her. "And I just came to say hi is all." No one believe that for a moment. He was up to something.

Cold spoke up next. "Well you're here, so you might as well tell us everything that you know. What are the objective of the Omega Zealots? And who is this Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull?"

Heath smirked, "I can tell you." He then turned towards the door, looking ready to run. "But to make it more interesting, you have to beat me first." With that, he rushed out the room.

"HEY!" Cold chased after him, the others following suit. They rushed out into he hallway and saw Heath running down it, everyone following behind as they went through a fun chase throughout almost the entire building. Eventually, Heath headed upward to a restricted section.

Arriving at the top of some stairs, Heath slammed into the doors that lead to the dome's openable roof. Once on the roof, he pulled himself to a stop and spun around with a smile on his face. "This looks like a good spot to Duel. From here, the whole town will see you lose.

"The only one losing here will be you," Cold told him as they both pulled out their Duel Disks.

"Don't be so coy. I'm not the same as I was in the Double X." He held up a card with the back facing them, you're facing an Omega Zealot. One who is granted power by the great Zeronull himself." He pushed that card into his Duel Disk, "that power is something no ordinary human can defeat."

Cold smirked. "Well, good thing for us there's no such thing as an ordinary human." They attached their Duel Disks to their arms and pulled out their decks, checking through them as the others watch from behind.

"So what do we know about this guy?" Sunset asked. She wanted as much information on him as they could get, knowing anything would help Cold.

"Heath Burns," Shining replied. "He was in the Double X and was a member of team Dominator, alongside Tempest Shadow and Starlight Glimmer. He disappeared after the final and hasn't been seen since."

"Is that it?" Adagio asked, "that's nothing."

"We'll just have to trust in Cold," Cadance said. She frowned as they all turned back to the two.

"Are you ready to be crushed!?" Heath asked as he activated his Duel Disk, a deranged look appearing on his face. Cold said nothing back, activating his own Duel Disk.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Cold: 4000
Heath: 4000

"Omega Duel?" Shining asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cadance continued.

Heath just smirked as he drew his first card. "Omega. The end. Basically, this Duel will be the end of you."

"We'll see about that." Cold reached for his deck, "I draw. First, I summon Frozen Heart Diplocaulus!" An egg made of ice appeared infront of them before shattering, revealing a lizard made of ice with a boomerang-shaped head. (A1000/D1000/L3/P8) "When this card is summoned, I can look at the top five cards of my deck and select a Frozen Heart monster from it." He drew his cards, looking them over before taking one and shuffling the rest back in. "Level five."

"What?" Heath asked.

"It's part of the ability. I declare a Level and you have to decide if the card I drew's Level is higher or lower then it. If you're right, I discard this card. But if you're wrong, I can summon it."

Heath frowned, "higher."

"Wrong," Cold slapped the card on down. "Come out, Frozen Heart Arachnid!" Another ice egg appeared before shattering to reveal a tiny spider made of ice. (A300/D300/L1/P9) "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Check out the new cards," Cadance noticed.

"When did he get those?" Sunset asked. She didn't remember seeing Cold work on any new cards.

Misty smiled. "I'll admit, Freeze Industries have learnt a lot about making Pendulum Monsters. But they've still got a ways to go." The others quickly realised she must have made these cards, making them all wonder what else Cold now had up his sleeve.

"My turn!" Heath drew his card, smiling as he looked over at all the people watching. "So many big shots, all in one place. What's this party celebrating?" Cold said nothing, making Heath laugh. "I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno!" A fireball exploded infront of him and revealed a statue of a demon covered in flames, though it only had its waist and everything above it. "Let me guess, it's a meeting to analyse the info you got from Tempest Shadows?" He saw how everyone seemed to tense up at his, making him smirk. "Hit the bullseye. Not that it'll do you any good." He pointed at his monster. "With this card out, only Fire Attribute Monsters can be Special Summoned. And when it's destroyed by battle, I can replace it with another Fire Monster that has fifteen hundred or less ATK points."

"Good to know," Cold said before activating his face down. "Go, Absolute Zero." The Trap flipped up and unleashed a wave of freezing cold air, which suddenly turned the entire roof into a frozen wasteland. Every monster on the field became covered in ice before shattering. "When a monster is summoned to the field, this card lets me destroy every monster on the field. And if a Frozen Heart monster is destroyed by it, I can draw a card." He drew two cards. "What's more. Since Frozen Heart Arachnid was destroyed by a card effect, I can place it in an empty Pendulum Zone." The pillar of light appeared beside him before the ice spider floated up into it.

"Alright!" Sunset smiled. "Not only did he get a high Pendulum Scale, but he also got rid of that Neo Barrier Statue without activating its effect."

"Cold's really upped his game," Shining realised.

"He's gonna need it," Adagio told them. They all looked over at Heath and smirked at the sight of him frowning.

"I place three cards face down and end my turn."

"My draw," Cold drew the card. "I summon Frozen Heart Mantis, in ATK mode!" An ice spike shot out the ground before shattering, revealing a light blue humanoid mantis with hook-shaped bladed arms and a pair of spikes sticking out its back. (A1700/D1200/L4/P3) "Attack!" The Mantis rushed forward, ready to slash at Heart.

"I activate my Trap!" His face down flipped up, revealing Negate Attack.

"And I activate my Arachnid's Pendulum Ability." He revealed his Frozen Heart Angel before discarding it. "By discarding a Frozen Heart monster, I can negate a Trap once per turn and prevent it from activating for the rest of the turn." The spider shot a snowball out of its rear, the snowball hitting Heath's Trap as it flipped back down and exploded into a web made entirely of ice that covered it.

Heath growled as Mantis reached him and slashed at him with its hooked arms, "AUGH!"

Cold: 4000
Heath: 2300

"I activate my Trap!" His other face down flipped up, "Damage Calling. Now, for every five hundred points of damage I took, I can draw a card." He drew three cards, smiling before turning to show one was Solar Flare Dragon. "Since I drew one monster, I get five hundred life points back."

Cold: 4000
Heath: 2800

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Cold announced.

Heath drew his card and smiled, looking over at everyone standing against him. "This is hilarious," he raised his card. "WEAK HUMANS TEAMING UP BECAUSE THEY'RE DESPERATE!" Solar Flare Dragon appeared infront of him. (A1500/D1000/L4) "I activate my face down," the card flipped up to reveal another Trap. "Call of the Haunted. With this, Neo Barrier Statue is returned to the field." Another fireball appeared before revealing the statue. "Then I activate the Double Summon Spell card, allowing me to summon once again." The two monsters burst into flames, which spiralled into a blazing tornado. Seconds later, the tornado exploded to reveal a demonic monster they almost recognised.

It looked like Flaming Emperor Hellfire, except it now had five large horns on its head with a flaming mane of hair coming out the back of its head. The spikes on its body were larger and its claws were longer, the entire body appearing stronger than its predecessor. "Blazing Emperor Hellfire!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

Everyone grew very nervous at the sight of this new monster. They'd hoped his Duel style would remain the same, but if his ace was different.

"What do you think of the new look?" Heath asked. "My ascension to an Omega Zealot has awarded me new powers. And I'm gonna use all that power to destroy you." Cold just frowned at him. "Anything you try to do will be useless." The frown turned to a dark glare, Heath not appearing scared by it at all.

Meanwhile, the others watched with a similar question on their minds. Sunset was the one that finally stated the question. "What I don't understand is why Heath would willingly come into enemy territory."

Shining nodded. "That kid's got some nerve."

Misty agreed, thinking it over. "He shows up wanting to say hi, but what's his real motive in coming here?"

"It's a waste of time just to guess," Adagio told them. "We'll find out soon enough."

Sunset frowned at her, "Adagio-"

"If your mentor can win the Duel, we'll discover what he wants." She smiled at him, "scared he'll lose?" Sunset frowned, not worried at all. What she was worried about was Heath not backing up his side of the agreement and somehow getting away from them.

Heath continued. "Since I have two Trap cards in the graveyard, Blazing Emperor's skill grants him an extra four hundred ATK points." (A3400/D2500/L8) "ATTACK!" The demon's claws ignited before it flew forward, slashing at Mantis. "YOU ARE SO GONNA BURN!" The ice insect exploded and the flames struck Cold, making him groan as he staggered backwards.

Cold: 2300
Heath: 2800

Despite the flames singing him, Cold remained standing. "You activated my Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Walking an Icy Path! Since I took more than a thousand points of damage, this card lets me add a Frozen Heart monster to my hand that has less ATK points them my current Life Points." A card slotted out for him to take and add to his hand, "so I add Frozen Heart Orca to my hand."

Heath smirked, "like I'm scared. I place a card face down and end my turn."

"My turn!" He drew his card, a plan forming in his head. "I set scale two Frozen Heart Orca into the Pendulum Scale!" The second pillar appeared next to him, a giant killer whale made of ice flying up into it. "Then, I activate Orca's Pendulum Skill." He held up a card and spun it around to show it was a Pendulum Monster. "With it, I can swap a Frozen Heart Pendulum Monster in my Extra Deck for one in my hand with less ATK points. Since Frozen Heart Fortress Golem has zero ATK points, I can trade him out for any card. So I'll be taking back my Diplocaulus."

Heath frowned, "why pick that weakling."

"Were you not paying attention earlier?" He asked before summoning it to the field, activating its ability. Cold drew five cards, took one and returned the rest. "Level five."

Heath frowned. Has he picked another lower Level monster, or was he banking on Heath remembering what happened last time and gone for a higher monster? "It's..."

"Well?" Cold asked, making Heath growl.

"Lower."

Cold smirked, "wrong." The others cheered. "Behold," he held the card up, "the beast born from the coldest of places. A chilling warrior, whose mere presence will freeze the weak from both the cold and from fear!" A giant snow egg appeared behind him before shattering, unleashing a mighty cold wind that caused everyone it touched to flinch.

Heath hissed, covering his face. When the chill finally died down, he opened his eyes and saw what he was up against.

This new monster looked like Frozen Heart Dragon, but with slight differences. Its wings now had five blades in place of three. A large triangular spike stuck out of its chest armour and knees. Hanging from its waist was what appeared to be a pair of long square gun barrels that were currently pointing backwards. Its head was the same, though it now had a long unicorn-like horn sticking out of its forehead. The pickax on its tail was gone, replaced by a broadhead arrowhead. "Frozen Heart...NEO DRAGON!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5)

Everyone was awestruck at the sight of this beast. "A new version of Cold's ace," Sunset whispered. Misty smiled, happy to see her handy work had come out so well.

"Neo Frozen Heart's skill!" The blasters on the dragon's hips rotated until they were facing forwards, the beast clutching them. "For every Frozen Heart Pendulum Monster in my Extra Deck, destroy one card in your Spell, Trap or Pendulum Zones!" The blasters unleashed a barrage of snowballs, which hit Heath's two face downs and turned them to ice before they shattered. "And for every card destroyed, Neo Frozen Heart gains three hundred ATK points for the turn. "(A3600/D2500/L8/P5)

Heath smirked. "You think you're so clever. But with two more Traps in my grave, Blazing Emperor's ATK points go up." (A3800/D2500/L8)

Cold didn't look at all worried, instead looking up as the portal began to form up above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a single light shot out, revealing his monster. "Frozen Heart Mantis!" (A1700/D1200/L4/P3) "Mantis's skill. When it's Special Summoned, it deals you three hundred points of damage for every card in your hand." The insect slashed its arms through the air, sending out two blades of freezing air that struck Heath.

"Augh!"

Cold: 2300
Heath: 2200

"Then I'll attack Blazing Emperor with Neo Frozen Heart!" The dragon took to the skies, confusing everyone. "And when Neo Frozen Heart battles a monster, I can send a Frozen Heart Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard." He removed a card as a monster appeared infront of his dragon. It looked like bulky golem made out of an ice castle. The monster then exploded into snow that formed a giant snowball in Neo Frozen Heart's claws, the dragon tossing it at Hellfire. "Now, the monster he battles will lose ATK Points equal to its Pendulum Scale times two hundred.

The sphere exploded against Hellfire, covering him in ice. (A2600/D2500/L8) Neo Frozen Heart charged at the fire devil.

Everyone smiled until they saw Heath smirk. "I activate Blazing Emperor's ability. Once per turn, I can banish a Trap from my graveyard to activate its effect." (A2400/D2500/L8) "Now I activate my Negate Attack!" A force field appeared between Hellfire and Neo Frozen Heart, blocking the attack and ending the battle phase.

Cold sighed. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Neo Frozen Heart and Hellfire's ATK points returned to normal. (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) (A3000/D2500/L8)

"It's my turn!" Heath reached for his deck, smiling over at Cold. "The Double X was just a bit of fun." This made everyone go tense, sensing he was about to give away some important information. "However, what's about to happen is different. This won't be like your silly little game." He drew his card, "THIS IS WAR!"

"What do you mean?" Cold asked him.

"You'll find out. I play the Spell, Graceful Charity! So now I draw three cards but then I have to ditch two." As he did, a pair of fireballs erupted infront of him. Each fireball suddenly grew a pair of blue eyes and gained a mouth of some kind, which had stitches across it. They also had a pair of small flaming hands coming out the bottom of them (A500/D500/L2)X2

"What just happened?" Shining asked.

"My Flame Walker was sent to the graveyard. And when that happens, I get two Flaming Tokens. But don't worry, they won't stick around for long." He held up a card, everyone nervous at its sight. "There's no way you can protect yourselves. You're all going to die."

"I don't think so," Cold replied.

Heath growled before his three monsters exploded and the flames spiralled together behind him. "Fear the power of the Omega Zealots!" He raised a card into the air. "Dragon of flames, augmented by the power of technology, now let your fire burn across this battlefield!" He slapped the card down as the pillar exploded, revealing Heath's monster.

It looked like a cross between Infernity and a brontosaurus, standing on all fours with a long neck and tail. It had a large red metal box on its back, sitting between its robotic wings. Said wings had spinning circles on them, each with a laser barrel sticking out the top and pointing all over the field. A long gatling gun barrel came out of the box, one almost as long as its neck. "Blazing Arms Dragon, Drag-Blitzer!" (A3500/D2500/L8)

"That's a new one," Sunset realised.

"I bet it's dangerous," Cadance gulped. Before any of them could wonder what Heath would do next, their attentions were caught by the ground suddenly beginning to shake.

"What's happening?" Adagio asked.

Heath smiled before turning to look out at the city, "Zenith Dragon."

"Zenith Dragon?" Misty asked before they all glanced in the direction he was looking. And to their shock, they spotted a giant orb of rock floating into the sky while getting bigger.

"What the heck?" Sunset asked before they saw the sphere beginning to crumble, revealing the biggest monster they'd ever seen. "What is that thing!"

"Greaterra!" Heath announced before turning back to him, "but I wouldn't worry about him. You've got bigger issues to deal with."

As this was happening, Starlight, Sunburst and Spike saw Greaterra appearing in the sky. "That can't be good," Sunburst gulped.

"It's definitely not good," Starlight agreed. Something inside her was screaming that the Dominators had something to do with this. They had to do something. "Come on!" She ran off, the boys following after them towards the giant dragon.

"Since Drag-Blitzer was summoned using three tributes, his ability activates and allows me to destroy any card in your Spell, Trap or Pendulum Zones." The two wing blasters pointed at Cold's face downs, firing to destroy them but leaving his Pendulum Cards safe. "What's more, you lose four hundred life points for every card destroyed." The lasers fired again, hitting Cold.

Cold: 1500
Heath: 2200

"This is bad," Shining realised. "Drag-Blitzer just needs to attack Mantis or Diplocaulus and this is all over."

"Relax," Cold told him, "I'll be fine." He smirked, "he did exactly what I figured he'd do." This confused Heath, until Cold showed him one of the cards he'd destroyed. "This Spell card's effect activates whenever it's sent to the graveyard. Now, I pick a monster on the field and then I can destroy any other monster on the field with less ATK points." Heath's eyes went wide. "I choose Neo Frozen Heart, meaning Mantis and Diplocaulus are destroyed." Both monsters exploded, leaving Drag-Blitzer and Frozen Heart Neo Dragon alone.

Before anyone could even smile, another rumbling made them turn towards Greaterra. They watched as a giant opened its mouth and unleashed a mighty roar, spitting a giant rock out towards the ground. It struck the ground with enough force to unleash a shockwave throughout the entire city, the wind even reaching the stadium and pushing them all backwards.

"WOW!" Adagio and Sunset yelled, grabbing onto one another for stability. Shining and Cadance did the same while Misty was able to stay upright on her own. Cold and Heath seemed unphased by it.

Heath smirked as he watched the dragon fade away, "now you see the power we Zealots posses." He turned to Cold. "Do whatever you want, but you still won't beat me." He raised his gloved hand, "I'm different from the man I once was." He clutched it into a fist, "I've managed to acquire a new power. A tremendous power, that only we Omega Zealots can possess." Nobody an any idea what he was talking about, but they knew it couldn't be good. "And when that power's finally unleashed, you guy's had better watch out. BECAUSE YOUR FUTURE IS FINISHED!" He reached for his Duel Disk. "Drag-Blitzer's skill!"

Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno appeared above the Blazing Arms Dragon before exploding into flames, which then flew into the box through a hole in the top. This caused the beast to roar as its body glowed a fiery aura (A4300/D2500/L8) "By banishing a Fire monster from my graveyard, I can increase its ATK by the monster's Level times two hundred. And I'm not stopping there!" Solar Flare Dragon appeared above it, along with what appeared to be a man made entirely of fire with blue eyes and a stitched-up mouth. They too were sucked into the box, making Drag-Blitzer's ATK increase once again.(A5900/D2500/L8)

"This is bad," Adagio said.

"COLD!" Everyone else yelled as they watched the gatling gun begin to spin around.

"END THIS!" Heath yelled, the dragon's gun firing a barrage of fireballs at Cold's monster. He looked over at the man, expecting fear, but instead, he looked calm and in control.

"Activating Frozen Heart Neo Dragon's skill!" He yelled before Frozen Heart Diplocaulus appeared infront of his dragon, exploding into a snowball that it threw in the attack's direction. It exploded into a bunch of smaller snowballs, which struck several fireballs and extinguished them. (A4300/D2500/L8) The remaining fireballs struck Neo Frozen Heart, destroying it with enough force to knock Cold off his feet.

"AUGH!" He cried as his life points slithered down to almost nothing.

Cold: 200
Heath: 2200

Heath frowned, angry he'd forgotten his opponent's monster's skill worked when it was attacked as well. He looked down at his hand and smirked. "Well well," he tried to act cool. "Look at that. You survived that turn. Guess I place a card face down and end my turn." Drag-Blitzer's ATK points returned to normal. (A3500/D2500/L8) Heath watched as Cold began to pick himself up before laughing, "your demise is imminent. First I'll destroy each of you, one by one. And after that, the entire world."

"Don't underestimate me." Heath looked back at Cold, seeing him now standing up straight.

"What?"

Cold reached for his deck, "just you watch." He and Heath locked eyes, the younger seeing a serious look in Cold's expression that made him almost fearful. "Activate, Graceful Charity." He drew three cards and discarded two. "Activating Orca's skill. Swap the Mantis in my Extra Deck for Måne of the Frozen Moon." The portal began to form above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal Cold's monsters. "Frozen Heart Mantis!" (A1700/D1200/L4/P3)

"And Frozen Heart Neo Dragon!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Skill activate!" The ice dragon aimed its blasters at Heath's face down and fired, freezing and shattering the card while increasing its power. (A3300/D2500/L8/P5)

Heath smirked as a flaming projectile shot out his Duel Disk and struck Neo Frozen Heart, making it cry out as it was burnt. (A1800/D2500/L8/P5)

"What happened?" Shining asked, everyone watching as Heath held up the card Cold had just destroyed.

"Sorry, but you really think I'd fall for that twice. The card you destroyed was Flame Burst Mine. It activates whenever it's destroyed by a card effect. It lets me burn away half your monster's original ATK points."

"That's not good," Cadance realised.

"Now Neo Frozen Heart can't destroy Drag-Blitzer," Sunset said. "Even with its ability."

"Don't think you've won just yet," Cold told Heath. "Mantis's ability has still activated!" The ice bug slashed its blades through the air, hitting Heath with the freezing wind.

Cold: 200
Heath: 1600

"You'll need more than that," Heath said while clutching his gut.

Cold remained stoic as he took a card from his hand. "I told you to watch, didn't I? Humans have power, that I'm about to show you." He held the card up. "I activate the Glacial Tundra Ritual!"

"What?" Heath asked in shock.

"By tributing Frozen Heart Neo Dragon and a level four or higher Frozen Heart monster, I can unleash my dragon's ultimate form!" Mantis suddenly exploded into a cloud of snow, which spiralled around Neo Frozen Heart and encasing him in an icy cocoon. "Now watch as the ultimate icy monster appears," Cold said as the cocoon shattered and released his monster. "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

Cold's new monster was a light blue quadrupedal dragon, standing at around the same height as Flash's Magna Strider. It was wearing white armour around its chest, neck and legs. On the front of its chest armour was a snowflake with six branches and on to end of each branch was a crystal. Its head was like Frozen Heart Dragon, only it had a pair of sabre-teeth coming out of its mouth made entirely of ice. A large unicorn horn was pocking out of its head and the tip of its tail had a large snowflake on it. "Glacial Tundragon!" (A4000/D4000/L12)

Everyone was in awe at this new beast. "Glacial Tundragon?" Adagio asked before turning to Misty, "another of your creations?"

"No," Misty shook her head. "This is one Cold designed all his own." She smirked, "we're about to see a different side of him now."

Sunset nodded in agreement. "He's got his eyes firmly set on the future."

"Tundragon's Summoning Skill," Cold reached for his graveyard. "Banish any Frozen Heart Pendulum Monster in my graveyard." He pulled out three, showing Frozen Heart Angel, Fortress Golem and Diplocaulus. "Tundragon now gains one Freeze Counter for every card banished." Three of the six gems on Tundragon's snowflake chest armour began to glow.

'Stay calm,' Heath told himself. 'Who cares if he has a stronger monster. You've still got a few aces up your sleeve.' One of those aces was his Flame Burst Mine Trap, which had another effect while in the graveyard. When a Fire monster was destroyed by battle, he could pay half his life points to deal damage to his opponent equal to his destroyed monster's Level times one hundred. And with only two hundred life points remaining, Heath had this Duel in the bag. "Bring it on!"

Cold smirked, a rare sight indeed. "It doesn't matter what we're up against. We'll save the world and protect Duelling till the end." Everyone behind him smiled and nodded in agreement.

"You're dreaming," Heath told him.

"Tundragon, attack Blazing Arms Dragon Drag-Blitzer!" The ice dragon spread its wings before letting out a mighty roar, which unleashed a wave of frozen wind in Drag-Blitzer's direction. It struck the dragon and turned it into an ice sculpture, Heath flinching at the cold.

Cold: 200
Heath: 1100

Heath smirked, "I win." Everyone looked confused, everyone except Cold.

"You might wanna look again." Now it was Heath's turn to be confused, turning to see the ice begin to break off his monster while it remained. He turned back Cold and was about to ask what was going, but caught sight of something. One of the glowing crystals on Glacial Tundragon had stopped glowing.

"Is this...an ability."

"That's right. When Tundragon battles a monster, I can remove a Freeze Counter to prevent either of them from being destroyed." That meant Heath's Trap wouldn't activate. "There's more."

"What?"

"If a monster is on your field after this card attacks, it can attack again."

"But that means..." Heath watched as Tundragon roared again, unleashing another wave of cold air that froze his monster.

Cold: 200
Heath: 600

Another of Tundragon's Freeze Counters vanished as the ice broke off Drag-Blitzer, Heath once again bitten by the cold. And once again, Tundragon roared its freezing roar.

Cold: 200
Heath: 100

'So this is the power of Cold Steel,' Heath told himself. 'He's strong. But even so, he's not strong enough to overpower Zeronull.' He watched as the Tundragon's final Freeze Counter vanished, the beast roaring one more time. "You've won this battle." The ice struck Drag-Blitzer and froze it, the beast finally shattering as Heath was struck by the cold. "But you'll never win the war!"

Cold: 200 (Winner)
Heath: 0

"Yes!" Shining cheered as the monsters faded. He put an arm around Cadance, "he did it!" The others all smiled, those smiles growing at the sound of Heath's grunts of pain. The teen clutched his gloved hand, everyone seeing smoke coming off it. His host was one step closer to being freed.

Cold simply stared at Heath until he heard Adagio speak up. "You were making me nervous there," the girl stepped up to him. "I was worried you were gonna go overboard and send him back to his world. That would have defeated the whole purpose of why you were Dueling him."

"I was perfectly aware of that," he told her. "I took it easy."

"Oh yeah," Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Could'a fooled me. Oh well. All's well that ends well." Everyone else stepped up next to them, all glaring at Heath.

"I beat you, so now you can tell us what you Zealots are planning."

Heath smirked, standing back up. "Okay, sure." He held up his Duel Disk, "however." The Duel Disk began to glow, "I'll get someone else to tell you." With that, the light exploded off the Duel Disk and blinded everyone.

When the light finally died down, everyone opened their eyes and found they were some kind of temple. The place was almost pitch black, allowing them to see only pillars and some kind of alter near the back. "What is this?" Cadance asked, "what's going on?"

"Welcome." Everyone turned to that voice, none of them knowing it, hearing footsteps coming from the direction of the alter. "To this ancient temple, built in honour of our Lord." The speaker finally came close enough for them all to see their features, spotting a middle-aged man wearing the strangest clothes they'd ever seen.

"Who are you?" Cold asked.

The man smiled. "In your world, I am known as Discord."

"And in your world?" Misty asked, not missing a beat.

He laughed, holding up his right hand and revealing the symbol of the Dark Attribute. "Omega Zealot of Darkness. I am the Chaos Fiend, Draconequus."

"Well that's a mouthful," Adagio joked.

"Not the time," Sunset told her before focusing back on Discord. "What do you want?"

Discord chuckled before snapping his fingers. In doing so, the back wall was illuminated and revealed to be a stone tablet. "Behold, the Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull!" Everyone took a closer looked at the image on the wall, revealing an almost robotic looking creature. It was humanoid, wearing large metal robes around its body. From its back were six large robotic wings, each wing having a circle on it with a different Attribute Symbol on it. On its chest was a circle with the omega symbol on it. "The time grows nearer to our lord's awakening. And once he is free, he will bring about a new age of chaos and destruction. No living thing shall be spared."

"Great," Adagio said, "another one of those guys." Before anyone could tell her to shush, six figures appeared behind Discord and were completely hidden in the shadows.

"And with us, the Six Omega Zealots, our lord shall be freed." He then smiled, "We even have a special trump card. One that will enable us to achieve our goal."

Cold had a sickening feeling he knew what that trump card was. "The creature we saw before."

Discord nodded, "Zenith Dragon. One of six, created by Zeronull and wielded by the Omega Zealots." Everyone suddenly became uneasy. One from a distance looked horrifying. They didn't want to image facing six up close. "The wold is about to be silenced." Discord raised his right hand, the symbol glowing. "Prepare for destruction, by our lord." The light exploded off it and blinded everyone again.

When they opened their eyes, they found they were back on the roof and Heath was gone.

"What the heck was that?" Shining asked. "An illusion? Or some kind of hologram?"

"Who knows," Cadance frowned. "It's clear they have a lot of backing if they're able to do something like that."

Adagio sighed with a smile. "Looks like the kid managed to get the drop on us. He got us good."

"No question about that," Sunset agreed before turning to Cold. "This was a declaration. A declaration of war." Cold nodded, agreeing with that statement.

Misty, meanwhile, was thinking about something else. "Trump Card? Zenith Dragon? What could he mean by all that?" Her questions didn't get any answers as in that moment, Shining's phone went off.

"It's Spike," he explained before answering. "Hello?"

"Shining! We've got a situation."

Spike. Sunburst and Starlight were at the riverbank. Sunburst and Starlight were helping carry Applebloom and Sweetie on their back, the two barely conscious. "It's Flash!" He looked down at the girls, both appearing shaken by the experience they'd had. "He's...he's disappeared."

"What? Hang on." There was a beeping. "Alright, you're on speaker. Now tell us exactly what happened."

"Scoot! Scootaloo!" The girl moaned at the voice as she felt herself beginning to come around. She opened her eyes and saw her brother looking down at her. "Good," he sighed, "you're awake."

Scootaloo moaned as she sat up, "what happened?"

"I'm...not sure. Don't freak out."

"Why would I-" She didn't finish as in that moment, her eyes adjusted as she saw where they were. It was some kind of strange metal hallway, strange shapes covering the walls while glowing crystals hung from the ceiling. "GYAH!" She cried, standing up and looking down both ends of the hall. Neither seemed to have an exit, just going on and on. "What happened? Where are we? How did we get here?"

"I don't know," Flash said. "I just woke up too. I've no idea where we are. But I do remember how we got here."

"Oh yeah," Scootaloo remembered as well. "You lost to Marble and fell in a hole. I tried to save you and now..." She looked around, "this is bad."

"It gets worse."

She turned to him, "how could it get worse?" His answer was to simply hold up his right hand, allowing her to see a black circle on the back of it. Inside the circle was a white Omega Symbol. "What is that?"

Flash stared at her in confusion before looking at his hand, his eyes going wide at the sight. "What?" Flash realised it was a Dominator mark. But Flash didn't feel any different from before. "I don't know what it is, but it can't be anything good." A worried look appeared on his face before he reached out and grabbed Scootaloo's hand, turning it over to see nothing there. "You're fine. There's nothing there."

Scootaloo sighed, only to notice something. "Hey, it's fading."

Flash looked down and saw the mark slowly vanishing, eventually leaving no trace of its existence. He then stood up, looking down either end of the hall. "We have to see if we can find a way out of here." Scootaloo nodded and stood up, the two heading down one end. As they did, the girl looked down.

"Flash," he turned to her, "I'm...I'm scared."

Flash placed an arm around her, "me too sis. Me too." Hopefully, they could find a way to escape this crazy place before whatever they were brought there for happened.

"That can't be!" Twilight almost yelled over the laptop. She was currently web-chatting her friends from France. She was currently looking at Spike, along with Sunburst, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and the remaining Crusaders. "I can't believe Flash is...and Scootaloo."

"I know," Spike nodded. He looked over at the Crusaders, both being hugged by their older sisters. "I already called Shining. He said Heath was at the stadium and challenged Cold to a Duel." This shocked Twilight even more, "I think the Dominators are making their move."

Twilight sat back in his chair, a horrible pain striking her heart at the thought of what they might be doing to her boyfriend and his sister. One thing was for sure, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing. "Spike, I'm coming home."

"Alright," Spike had been expecting this. "I'll let Shining and the others know." Twilight nodded and cut the call, everyone else turning to one another.

"What now?" Applebloom asked.

"Now we need ta prepare a counter-attack!" Starlight declared. "We need to be ready for anything the Dominators throw at us."

"She's right!" Applejack agreed, punching her fist into her palm. "Once everyone's ready, we'll find these guys and make'em tell us where Flash and Scoot are." The others nodded, agreeing with that course of action.

Starlight continued. "We also need to make sure all their possible targets are safe. At no point can any of them be alone, even for a moment."

"Then we'd better call Rainbow," Rarity suggested. "She'd want to know what's going on so she and her team can be on alert." Fluttershy took out her phone and called her, waiting patiently for it to be picked up. But instead, it went to voice mail.

"That's strange." Fluttershy knew her practise should be over by now, so why wasn't Rainbow answering? She tried to call again.

Over in Cloudsdale, Rainbow's phone buzzed.

However, the device wasn't on her person right now. It was in her gym bag, which was currently laying on the ground several feet away from its owner. Rainbow was currently staring at someone she hadn't seen in over a year. It was man with grey skin and hair that was wearing black leather clothing with a yellow scarf around his neck. In the man's hands was a familiar-looking statue.

Her vision flicked to the area around her, at the sight of almost every student and teacher of her school laid out on the floor in pain She turned back to the man, "what are you doing here Guto?"

The man frowned. "That...is not my name." He held up his right hand, showing the image of the Wind Attribute on the back. Rainbow's eyes widen in shock. "I am Ouravas, Omega Zealot of Wind."

"A Dominator," Rainbow whispered. Before frowning. "You didn't answer the question. What are you doing here?" His frown was replaced by a smiled, Rainbow knowing she probably wouldn't like the answer.

Author's Note

Well, Heath went up against more then he could handle. Now, how will Rainbow deal with this new threat?

For those wondering about Frozen Heart Neo Dragon's blasters. Imagine Paildramon's weapons.

Turn 18: Protecting the Light of Hope

Canterlot.

Guto smiled as he stared at the cube that would grant them their greatest desire, then turned his attention down on the city below.

He, Trixie, Skystar and Marble were all located atop one of the city's largest building, the cool night air blowing against their skin. The time had finally come. "Soon, Pendulum Singularity, Flash Sentry, will become the vessel. Then, Lord Zeronull will descend upon this land."

Skystar let out a crackling laugh, "the time for revenge is nigh. We'll make those odious fools cry and beg for forgiveness."

"All in good time," Trixie told her. "For now, let's focus on what really matters. Getting the singularity."

"No problem," Skystar took out her Duel Disk and started tapping away at it. "This should be enough to distract them." The screen showed a global map, with several sections highlighting at her touch. "And in their confusion, we can steal the singularity away from them."

"As a plan, that's okay." The three turned to Marble, the girl sitting on the edge of the building looking out at the city. "But isn't there a more...interesting way of doing this?"

Trixie rolled her eyes while Skystar pouted at her, "oh really? And what would you suggest?"

"Well," Marble nodded her head from left to right, "why don't we engineer a situation where Flash Sentry is enticed into showing up on his own?" Her vision shifted so she and Guto locked eyes, "well?"

Several days later.

Flash sighed as he stood in Freeze Industry's board room, where Cold, Twilight, Spike Cadance and Misty were also located.

Cold, who'd refused to remain inactive despite the doctor's warnings after his run-in with Discord, stood up as the screens activated and showed images of Flash's friends in a bunch of different cities. Tempest and Grand were in France. Fluttershy and Team Wonderbolt were in Africa. Shining, Pinkie and Maud were in New York. And Tidal and the Dazzlings were in Hollywood.

"For the past few days, we've been receiving reports about the Zealots from around the world. They range from details of sighting to the actual locations of their bases, and even some of their behaviours patterns. Our guys are taking steps to ensure this information can be verified."

"They're just diversionary tactics," Misty pointed out. "They're trying to spread our resource," she then turned towards her son. "So they can come for you." Flash frowned before looking down at his hand, now devoid of the gloves since the secret was out.

"I seem to be okay now," he explained. "But I doubt that'll be the last time I feel that pain."

Twilight sighed. "And when you do, it won't be because of anything good."

Cold nodded. "From what Draconequus said, one thing we know is that the Zealots want to turn you into the vessel of Zeronull." Flash frowned at this, "however, if we can continue to protect you, then we have an opportunity to end this situation once and for all."

Misty nodded as the screen changed to show Guto, Trixie, Skystar and Marble. "If we can send the remaining Zealots back to their world, Zeronull's return will never come to pass and you'll be safe."

Spike spoke up. "In that case, is there anything we can do to help?"

"Me too," they all turned to Flash. "I can't just sit around being protected."

"Calm down," Cadance told him. "We understand how you feel, but you have to let us handle the situation." The screens went blank as the lights came on. "At the end of the day, you're the one the enemies after." Flash sighed, slumping against the wall.

But then, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his mother smiling at him. "Don't worry. Just leave it to us and it'll be over soon." Flash continued to frown while Twilight turned to him, a worried look on her face.

"There's also the matter of the Zenith Dragon," Cadance pointed out. "It's clear they'll want that back, so we should expect them to go after it."

"So we can use it as bait to set up a trap," Cold stated.

"Isn't that a little risky?" Twilight asked, "what if they succeed. Maybe it'd be best to just destroy it." However, the adults just sighed.

"Already tried that," Cold told her. "The darn thing's indestructible. We've tried cutting it up, burning it, melting it with acid. Nothing seems to work."

"They were created by an outer god," Misty told them. "Of course they'd be protected from destruction. We just have to make sure we keep it out of enemy hands until we can beat the remaining Zealots." The others nodded, though they were still unhappy about the whole mess.

Later in the day, Sunburst and Starlight were walking through town.

"It's good to know you'll be looking out for him," Sunburst told his friend.

Starlight smiled, "well I do owe him. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have started Duelling again and I might not have been freed." As they said this, they turned to see Twilight stepping out of a store carrying a bag of snacks. "Twilight!" She turned and smiled at them.

"Hey, guys!"

Sunburst spotted the bag and smirked. "Why is it every time I head to Flash's house, I run into someone buying him snacks."

Twilight sighed. "Well since he's once again under house arrest, we have to find some way of keeping him from moaning." The two laughed at this while joining her on her walk to Flash's apartment. As they did, Starlight said something that put then on edge.

"Zeronull's resurrection...it won't happen."

The two glasses-wearing teens thought the same thing, Sunburst speaking up. "I've got a lot to thank Flash for. He brought Duelling back into my life and personally challenged me to never give up." He turned to Starlight. "And because he was there for me, I was able to save you." Starlight smiled back while Twilight went on.

"Flash helped me grow more confident. If he hadn't been there, I never would have had the guts to enter the Double X. I never would have met Sunset or Adagio and grew strong enough to beat them." She smiled while looking up at the clouds. "He showed me the path to myself. But until now, I've never been able to return the favour."

"Same," Sunburst nodded.

Twilight then frowned, "why did it have to be him they chose as the vessel?"

"You don't have to worry," Starlight told her. "I'm gonna be there to protect him." The two turned to her as she smirked at them, "you found a great friend in him. I promise I won't let the Zealots take him away from you." The two stared at her for a few moments as they arrived at the apartment, the three climbing up and reaching Flash's door.

When they stepped inside, they found Flash sitting at the table looking through his deck. Spike and Scootaloo were playing a game against one another, both pausing it when Twilight and the others arrived. "Hey," she smiled before Sunburst and Starlight stepped inside.

"Hey guys," Flash smiled at them while placing his cards back together and putting the deck away. "So you two are the ones they roped into being my babysitters?"

"Yup," Starlight smiled before helping Twilight put the snacks on the table.

"This should be enough to last you a while," Twilight told Flash as she threw him a bag of chips.

"Thanks," Flash opened it up and began chowing down. As he did, he sighed while looking around. "Guess I'll have to get used to these four walls, since I'll be stuck here for the foreseeable future."

"It won't be that long," Twilight assured him. "Cold and the others won't rest until the Zealots are beaten. And once that happens, you'll be safe to go outside as much as you want."

"And you might not even be here that long," Sunburst told him. "I heard Cold talking about a possible safe house you might be moved too. Makes sense since it's likely the Zealots know where you live, so this place will be an obvious target."

"Great," Flash groaned as he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "You know, it's kinda weird." Everyone looked at him in confusion. "When this all started, back before the Double X, I was begging the universe to give me something exciting to do." He looked back down at them. "I was happy the world was safe, but after everything I went through a mundane life seemed pretty... boring."

Everyone nodded, Twilight and Scootaloo remembering how he was back then.

"But now, after everything that's happened, I'd give anything to go back to those boring old days. At least then I didn't have to worry about getting attacked out of nowhere." He looked down at his deck, "I just want this to be over so I can get back to enjoying Dueling again. Where losing a match doesn't mean losing my life." He continued to stare at his deck until he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him look up at Twilight as she smiled at him.

"I know this is hard for you, but you just have to be patient. Cold and the others will deal with the Zealots. They can't hide forever."

"Yeah," Spike nodded. "And when we find them, they're going down."

"Three of the Zealots have already been beaten," Sunburst pointed out.

"And the other four will soon follow," Starlight assured him. "It's really only three since there's no way Skystar's gonna be able to us her Zenith Dragon as well as her mom."

"If you say so," Flash said. Despite everyone's comforting words, it was clear Flash still felt bad about needing to be protected by them.

Twilight frowned, the teen hating the fact the one she loved felt so bad. But there was nothing more any of them could really do, besides keeping him safe and happy until the Zealots were taken care of. And that was exactly what she and everyone else around her intended on doing.

Over the next few hours, the five did everything they could to keep Flash entertained. They played games, watched a movie and just sat talking. But eventually, Twilight and Spike had to leave and head home. "Stay sane," she told Flash as they headed for the door.

"I'll try," Flash nodded back. The two then shared one final kiss before the siblings stepped out and began their trip home. But as they made their way through the city, both Twilight and Spike couldn't help but feel bad for Flash.

"It doesn't seem fair," Spike sighed. "We were in Void too, but Flash is the only one they're after." He put his hands into his pockets, "I wish we could help. Or at least do something."

Twilight sighed as they reached a bridge. "I was thinking the same thing." Spike turned to her. "The Zealots...we just need to defeat them." She looked up at the setting sunlit sky. "Now that Flash has Starlight and Sunburst there, it won't be so easy for the Zealots to get their hands on him."

Spike nodded. "If they can't take Flash by force, they'll probably try and lure him into some kind of trap."

"Maybe," Twilight nodded, "but Flash isn't stupid. Even he'd realise it's a trap and refuse to go. At least, I hope he wouldn't."

Spike turned to her. "I guess it depends on the type of trap. And what they use to bait him into it."

Twilight thought for a moment and realised he was right. "There's only one kind of bait that would absolutely draw Flash into a trap. Someone he cares about."

Spike saw what she meant. "If the Zealots grab someone he cares about, then there's no way he wouldn't rush in to try and save them."

"That means instead of going after Flash-" Twilight stopped when she suddenly felt a terrible feeling, like someone was watching her and not in a good way. She began to look around, trying to find the cause of that strange feeling. And then she saw it. "Marble."

"Huh?" Spike looked around, eventually spotting the girl on the other side of the bridge. The girl was leaning against a lamp post with a smile on her face, only to suddenly vanish when a truck drove passed and blocked her from view. "Hey?" He looked around, "where'd she go?"

"Over there!" Twilight cried, pointing towards the other end of the bridge. Spike followed her finger and spotted Marble rushing along the road, only to then look back and smile at them both. "Come on!" Twilight rushed off, Spike quickly following behind.

"Shouldn't we wait for backup?" Spike asked, pulling out his phone and trying to call Cold.

"No time," Twilight told him. "This might be our only chance to stop her. If we beat her, Marble will be freed and Flash will be one step closer to being saved."

"Alright," Spike said, "but I'm still calling Cold." Or at least, he was trying. But instead of picking up, the call just went to voicemail. The same thing happened when he tried to call Shining and Cadance. "What's going on?"

"The jamming signal's in place," Skystar told Guto.

They and Trixie were all in a particularly empty parking structure, the newest Omega Zealot busy tapping away at her Duel Disk. "Now whatever calls those to make will be rerouted to the dummy phone. No backup for them."

"Good," Guto turned to look towards the entryway of the structure, "now nothing will get in our way."

"Unless Gaia-Maiden can't get them here," Trixie pointed out. "Maybe it would have been better if I'd gone instead of her."

"I know you're not very trustful of her, but she's just as committed to the cause as the rest of us. She'll get them here."

"If you say so," Trixie sighed. "Let's just hope Sentry will be willing to come after them."

"Oh, he will. It's the biggest flaw of those hero types. Always doing something stupid because their hearts tell them too. I'm sure Lord Zeronull will be quite interested in that aspect of the boy."

Back at Flash's apartment, the teen was once again looking through his deck.

His attention was currently focused on the card Cold had given him, Granebris. The Zenith Dragon stared back at him, Flash almost able to hear the dark chuckle Discord had let out when he'd used it. Was having it in his deck such a good idea.

"What'cha got there?" Flash looked up and saw Starlight moving towards him, the teen quickly placing the Zenith Dragon face down before grabbing another card.

"Just a new monster I'm working on some strategies for."

"Really," Starlight sat down, "mind if I take a look." Flash nodded and handed over the card. "Magna Caster Attriborn." She read it over and looked impressed. "This might come in handy. Especially against the Zealots. Though we don't intend to have you anywhere near them."

"Maybe," Flash replied, "but you can never be too careful. That's why I'm reworking my deck so I won't get caught out again."

"Did your mom make that card?" Starlight ashed as she handed it back to him.

"Yeah. This and a few others. I've even got a new Fusion monster. Not sure how well it'll work though."

"Why don't we test it out," Starlight reached into her pocket and pulled out her deck. Flash nodded and began piling his cards back together, making sure to exclude the Zenith Dragon and put that in his pocket.

As they set things up, Flash's mind went into overdrive. 'As long as I stay safe and avoid becoming a vessel, the Zealots will never fulfil their mission. I just need to hang on until everyone else has defeated them.' He then frowned, 'however.' His mind flashed back to what Discord had told him.

"But fate, has a mischievous way of showing itself."

"Thanks to you, the Pendulum Singularity, our worlds became connected. We could enter it and reclaim the keys needed for lord Zeronull's resurrection."

"You okay?" Flash looked up at Starlight, the girl noticing the frown on his face.

Flash sighed. "It just...doesn't feel right sitting here." He looked down at his deck. "If I caused all this, shouldn't I be the one to fix it."

"Because you're the Pendulum Singularity?" He looked back up at Starlight. "You know, Twilight's been feeling really worried about you lately. Sunburst and Spike too, along with all your other friends." Flash just looked down. "Don't feel you have to carry this burden on your own. We're all here for you. This time, it's our turn to help."

These words actually made Flash feel better, a smile appearing on his lips. "Thanks."

"No problem," Starlight stopped when Sunburst cried out after losing another race to Scootaloo. "It'll be over in no time. Everyone is on board. We can deal with it."

Twilight and Spike continued to run after Marble as they raced through the city, all the while their phones kept going to voicemail.

"This can't be a coincidence," Twilight said as she spotted Marble rush into a parking structure. The two followed after her but when the got inside, she'd completely vanished. "Where'd she go?"

"Maybe she used that teleporter," Spike suggested as they stepped further and further into the room. "Or it was never really her."

Twilight caught onto what he was saying. "Please don't let it be that I fell for the same trick twice."

"No," the two spun around the see Marble step out from behind a column, "it was the real me. Long time no see. Not since the first stage of the Double X, in fact."

"Marble," Spike frowned.

"No," Twilight shook her head, "Gaia-Maiden. I figured as much."

"So," Marble smiled, "you guys out for a nice walk. I know a much better place to enjoy the scenery. Follow me and I can take you there."

"Yeah right," Spike growled. "Then you'll take us hostage and won't let us go until Flash comes to rescue us."

"My, my, my," Guto suddenly stepped out from behind another pillar. "Aren't we perceptive."

"Him too," Twilight frowned.

"Alright," Guto took out his Duel Disk, "then why don't we make this more interesting. A Duel, right here and right now. You win and you can go. But if you lose, then you come with us."

Twilight's brain was in turmoil. She knew it was a stupid idea to battle against then, especially since her losing would mean Flash would be in even more danger, but she couldn't pass up this chance to beat a Zealot and send them back to their world. "Alright," she took out her Duel Disk, "let's Duel."

"Twilight!" Spike cried, only for Marble to let out a chuckle.

"Why don't we make this more interesting," she took out her Duel Disk. "Tag Duel. You two against us." The siblings looked surprised by this, while Guto gave her a questioning look. "Don't be so surprised. This is sure to make the Duel more interesting. And it'll also cut the time down, since even if she loses the pipsqueak will want to Duel after her."

Guto seemed to see the logic in this and nodded, both turning back to the siblings.

"What do you think?" Twilight asked her brother.

"I say we go for it," Spike told her. "This totally gives us an advantage." They turned back to the Zealots. "In a Tag Duel, the team who knows their partner's strategies best have the advantage."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Plus our play styles should work well off one another. Alright," she said loud enough for the two to hear, "we'll Tag Duel. But let's get a few ground rules down."

"Of course," Guto nodded as he attached his Duel Disk. "For one, let's have separate Life Points."

"Fine," Twilight attached her Duel Disk, "but we share fields and graveyards. Plus we can Pendulum Summon from our teammate's Extra Decks."

"I'm okay with that," Guto nodded as Spike and Marble placed their Duel Disks onto their arms. "But before then," he pulled a card out from his coat and threw it to the ground. Before the siblings could do anything, the card exploded and created a white square of light around them.

"What?" The two yelled as they suddenly found themselves blinded by the light that exploded off the square. When they opened their eyes, they found they were now standing on a rooftop. Look around, they saw they were still in the parking structure but had morphed to the top of it.

"Gives us a little breathing space for our more...larger monsters." The two frowned, knowing he was likely talking about their Zenith Dragons. Now then," Guto activated his Duel Disk. "Shall we begin." The others all activated their Duel Disks before crying out the same phrase.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Spike: 4000
Guto: 4000
Twilight: 4000
Marble: 4000

Back at his house, Flash and Starlight were still having a tabletop Duel when Flash's phone began to buzz. He excused himself from the game before answering it, "hello?"

"Flash?" It was Cadance, "are Twilight and Spike still there with you?" This didn't sound good.

"No," Flash put his phone on speaker, "they left here a while ago."

"That's strange. Their mom just called and said they weren't home yet. Which is strange since Twilight's always punctual and when she's not, she always calls ahead."

"That is weird," Flash agreed.

"We tried calling them, but neither of them are answering."

"Now I'm worried," Flash turned towards the door but Starlight got up and blocked him.

"No, you're not going out there. For all we know, that's exactly what the Zealots want." Flash frowned at this, but knew she was right. "Let us handle this." She turned to his phone, "call Cold and see if he can track their Duel Disks."

"Already on it. Let's just hope their phones both died and they're helping some little old lady."

"I doubt it," Flash sighed.

"I'll take the first move," Spike drew his card. He looked through his hand as a plan formed in his head, then turned to Twilight.

"You got this," she assured him. "Whatever plan you have, I'm confident I can work with it come my turn."

"Got it!" Spike nodded before moving into action. "I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with Scale two Soulburner Dragon and Scale ten Repulser Dracokid!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of the siblings before the two dragons flew up into them. Alongside Repulser Dracokid was a large crimson serpentine dragon with a mane of fire running from the back of its head down its body and a pair of flaming string like whiskers. "Burn through space time and blaze the arc of victory!" The portal began to form above their heads. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal Spike's monsters. "Armoured Wyvern!" (A1500/D1200/L4) "Then I'll summon Heat Wing Dragon to my field in ATK mode!" Another fireball exploded in front of him, revealing the Tuner monster. (A300/D200/L1)

"Alright!" Twilight smiled as Spike continued.

"Next, I'll tune Heat Wing and Armoured Wyvern together!" The tuner leapt into the air before morphing into a fireball, which drew a large flaming ring that Armoured Wyvern flew into. "Burning spirit, erupt into a wildfire of power!" The ring exploded and created a blazing sphere. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames receded, revealing his monster "Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Then I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

Twilight nodded, liking the way Spike had set up his field. She might not know what face downs he had, but she knew they would come in handy and help her get to her turn. As long as they stuck together, they would be able to make it through this Duel and be victorious. "We've got this."

The four were so focused on the Duel that they didn't even notice they had an audience.

Trixie and Skystar were watching from the sidelines, hidden behind the barrier on either side of the ramp leading down to the lower section of the parking structure. "Was this a good idea?" Skystar asked Trixie. "Sure, a Tag Duel might sound like a good idea. But can we really trust her to not throw Ouravas under the bus?"

"Ouravas seems to think she can be trusted," Trixie assured her. "But I'm not so easily convinced. If anything, the outcome of this Duel should help us gauge her attitude towards Lord Zeronull's revival."

"It's my turn," they heard Guto announce as he drew his card. "And I'll start by summoning Skyborn Griffon, in ATK mode!" A tornado exploded infront of Guto before exploding to reveal a large griffon that had a white head and neck, brown body, black wings and yellow claws. (A1600/D1300/L4) "Attack!"

"But why?" Spike asked as Skyborn Griffon flew up into the air, "my monster's way stronger than yours."

"Not once he activates its ability," Twilight realised as Guto nodded.

"That's right." He took a card from his hand and placed it into his graveyard. "By discarding a Wind monster from my hand, Skyborn Griffon's ATK power increases by its ATK." The ghostly image of Aero-Burst Griffon appeared next to Skyborn Griffon before exploding into a burst of wind that began to wrap around it and powered it up. (A3000/D1300/L4) "GO!"

They watched as Skyborn flew down towards Flame Hunter Dragon, the wind acting like a drill as it got closer and closer.

Twilight looked over at Spike, expecting him to activate one of his face downs. But instead, Spike just smirked as the attack landed and his dragon was destroyed.

Spike: 3300
Guto: 4000
Twilight: 4000
Marble: 4000

Guto smirked as Skyborn's ATK returned to normal. (A1600/D1300/L4) "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Twilight turned to Spike and saw him frown, as if something hadn't gone the way he wanted it too. She thought it over and quickly realised what he'd been getting at. "Griffon's Horde," she whispered to herself. She'd come to realise Spike had let Flame Hunter be destroyed hoping to Pendulum Summon it back and destroy the card Guto used during his Duel with Rainbow. But it looked like he was aware of the plan.

"While we're young," Marble told the glasses-wearing teen.

Twilight remembered it was her turned and reached for her deck. "I draw!" She looked through her hand and nodded as the portal formed above them. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before two lights and a fireball shot out of it, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal her monsters. "Timebreaker Magician!" (A1400/D0/L3/P2)

"Harmonizing Magician!" (A0/D0/L4/P8)

"And Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Flame Hunter's skill!" The fire wyvern opened its mouth and unleashed a fireball that struck Guto's face down, destroying it. But instead of looking upset, Guto smirked.

"You activated my Trap!" A portal opened up below Flame Hunter before several dark chains shot out of it and wrapped around the dragon, pulling it into the portal.

"Flame Hunter!" Spike cried as his Pendulum Monster was pulled into the darkness, the portal closing once he was inside. "No!"

"What happened?" Twilight asked Guto.

"My Trap," Guto explained. "Cursed Treasure. It's effects activate whenever it's destroyed and allows me to banish any monster on your field while dealing the own three hundred points of damage." Spike suddenly cried out as he was surrounded by a dark aura, his life points dropping.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 4000
Twilight: 4000
Marble: 4000

Twilight frowned, realising they'd fallen right into his trap. "Duel's not over yet," she told them as she continued her turn. "Now I tune my Level four Harmonizing Magician with Level three Timebreaker Magician!" The two Magicians leapt into the air before one of them exploded into four lights which carved four large circles that Timebreaker leapt inside of. "Beings of mystical might, unite your power and let the magic shine for all eternity." At that moment her monsters disappeared in an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Twilight's ace monster. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4) "Warlock's skill!" Twilight drew her top five cards and looked through them, seeing only one Spellbook amongst them. She took it and returned the rest to her deck. "Now I activate the Spellbook of Rebirth!" The book appeared infront of Warlock, who began chanting as a magic portal opened up to allow another monster to fly out of it. "Armoured Wyvern, arise once again!" The dragon flew out and joined Warlock on the field. (A1500/D1200/L4)

Guto smirked, "not bad."

"If you think that's good, wait until you see this!" Twilight Warlock raised its staff before pointing it at Skyborn Griffon, "attack!" The wizard unleashed a magical blast that struck the griffon and destroyed it, zapping Guto in the process.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 3100
Twilight: 4000
Marble: 4000

"And with that out of the way, you're open for a direct attack!" Armoured Wyvern flew at Guto, its wing blades ready to slice and dice him. But Guto smirked.

"I pay three hundred life points to activate the effect of my Griffonic Defender!" A tornado exploded between him and Armoured Wyvern before fading to reveal a grey griffon wearing the same armour as Ouravas, only this one was carrying a large bronze shield. (A1000/D1000/L4)

Spike: 3000
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 4000
Marble: 4000

"What happened?" Spike asked in shock while Twilight checked the monster's bio. As she did, Armoured Wyvern slashed at the griffon and destroyed it.

"When I'm attacked directly, Griffonic Defender lets me Special Summon it to take the hit instead."

Twilight and Spike both frowned before Twilight placed a card face down on the field. "I end my turn."

"My turn then," Marble drew her card. "And I'll start by playing the Spell Card, Reincarnation of Hope." She two took cards from her hand. "So now I'll discard two cards and in two turns I'll be allowed to add another monster to my hand."

Twilight and Spike both knew what she was planning, having seen this effect before. "Not good."

"Then, I'll banish Gaia-Knight Corundum along with my Stone Statue of the Aztecs!" The knight appeared before her as rocks broke off the ground and wrapped around him, forming a moon that quickly shattered to reveal her monster. "Now I summon Gaia-Knight Sapphire, in ATK mode. (A3000/D2400/L8) And with two Rock monsters removed from play, Sapphire's ATK power goes up by an extra two hundred. (A3200/D2400/L8) "ATTACK!"

Twilight watched as the knight charged forward, its target being Armoured Wyvern. "I activate a Trap," her face down flipped up. "Negate Attack!"

"Bad move," Marble told her. "Thanks to Sapphire's ability, I can return one of my banished Rock monsters to my graveyard in order to negate your Trap and destroy it." (A3100/D2400/L8) A barrier appeared between Armoured Wyvern and Sapphire, but the Gaia-Knight simply used its lance to pierce through it, causing it and the Trap to shatter, while continuing to aim at the dragon.

"Fine!" Twilight called out as she activated another face down, "then I'll use Spike's face down." The card flipped up to reveal a Spell, "Battle Rotation. This card lets me switch which monsters an attacking monster targets for an attack. So I'll be switching Armoured Wyvern with Twilight Warlock." The two monsters suddenly flickered out of existence before reappearing in each other's spot. Seconds later, the wizard was impaled and destroyed.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 3400
Marble: 4000

"I'll place one card face down and end my turn," Marble smirked while looking over their first official turn. "Well, this is shaping up to be a fun little match."

Spike frowned as he reached for his deck, "it'll be a lot more fun once we win and send you two packing." He drew his card and nodded. "I activate the Pendulum Ability of my Repulser Dracokid!" He discarded a card as the monster called Lava Fang Dragon appeared infront of him. "Now I can discard this dragon and draw cards equal to his level." He drew four cards as the portal opened above them, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball and a light shot out and hit the ground, exploding to reveal their monsters. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

"And Burning Salamander!" (A1600/D1400/L4)

"He's got two Level fours," Skystar realised from the side. The others seemed to realise this as well, Spike smirking as his two dragons leapt into the air.

"I tune Level four Burning Salamander with Level four Armoured Wyvern!" The tuner burst into a quartet of fireballs, which carved four blazing rings that his dragon flew up into while Spike began to chant. "Cast your flames across this battlefield, and burn everything that is weak to ashes!" Everyone watched as his monsters were consumed by an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames died down to reveal his Synchro Pendulum monster, who flew down and caused the building to shake as it landed behind Spike and Twilight. "Dragonic BLAZELORD!" (A3000/D2000/L8/P4) Twilight smiled while the Zealots appeared a little intimidated by the giant dragon standing over them. "Blazelord's skill!" The ghostly images of Heat Wing Dragon, Armoured Wyvern and Burning Salamander appeared around Blazelord before bursting into flames that the Synchro Pendulum Dragon absorbed. (A3600/D2000/L8/P4)

"Not bad," Marble smiled while looking down at her face down.

"Don't think that card's gonna save you," Spike told her. "My Blazelord's over ability will make it useless." Marble seemed surprised by this. "By skipping my Battle Phase, he can destroy every monster on your side of the field that's weaker then him and deal you four hundred points of damage for every one." Marble's eyes went wide as Blazelord swung its sword around, unleashing a wave of fire that flew across the field and struck Gaia-Knight Sapphire. The crystal warrior roared in pain as it was destroyed, the fire wave hitting Marble.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 3400
Marble: 3600

"Oh, and whenever you take Effect Damage, Soulburner Dragon's Pendulum Ability activates." The dragon turned to Marble before spitting a fireball, which hit her dead on.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 3400
Marble: 3300

"Nice one Spike!" Twilight cheered her brother on as he placed a card face down.

"I end my turn." Blazelord's ATK points returned to normal. (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

Skystar frowned, "I don't like how evenly matched this Duel is." She turned to Trixie, "we're supposed to be bringing these two in. If they win-"

"They won't win," Trixie told her. "This Duel is only just getting started." She turned to Guto as he drew his card. "Just relax and let them do what they do best."

"Easy for you to say," Skystar frowned.

"I'll start by playing the Spell card, Griffon's Horde!" The treasure chest appeared between him and Marble, the crystal the griffon statue was holding showing a zero within it. "Now I can play any effect I want without paying a cost. And lucky, I have a card exactly for that occasion. But first, I play the Spell card Foolish Burial."

"Great," Spike sighed as Guto took a card out of his Duel Disk and sent it to the graveyard. They both had a feeling they knew which card that was and knew what the next card he was gonna use was.

"Then I activate the Premature Burial Spell." The number in the crystal increased to one, as a tornado exploded infront of him. And when it faded, the monster dominating Guto was revealed. "Griffonic Sky Commander, Ouravas!" (A3000/D2500/L8) "Ouravas's skill!" The number in the crystal increased again, as Guto drew another card. "Then I'll use it a few more times." The number in the crystal rose all the way to six, which Guto now having cards in his hand.

"Seriously," Spike growled. "That card's overkill."

"Not really Spike," Twilight told her brother. "Don't forget, It has a cost. If it's destroyed, he'll take five hundred points for damage of every counter it has. And with six counters, he's looking at three thousand points of damage."

"So all we've gotta do is destroy that card and he'll be done," Spike smirked. "Alright."

"Don't think I don't know that," Guto told them. "I'm well aware of it. That's why I have this! Giant Trunade!" Everyone's eyes went wide as a giant gust of wind swept across the roof, sucking up the many Spells, Traps and Pendulum cards on the field before returning them to their owner's hands. "So now, I can place Griffon's Horde back on the field without an issue." He did so, the Spell returning with a zero in the crystal.

Twilight and Spike both frowned as they suddenly found themselves defenceless,

"Attack!" The griffon flew forward before using its spear to stab into Twilight Warlock, destroying it and unleashing a shockwave that sent Twilight and Spike tumbling to the ground.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 2900
Marble: 3300

Guto smirked as he placed two cards face down, watching as both Twilight and Spike tried to pick themselves up. "You two are talented Duellists, but did you really think you stood a chance against us?"

Marble nodded. "We Zealots have faced tragedies and sorrows that people like you couldn't possibly understand. It's what lead us to Zeronull and thus, lead us to you. We looked into the void of darkness and came out stronger."

"No," Twilight shook her head, "you didn't. You came out weaker. Because only a weakling would feel the need to do what you've done."

"Stealing people's bodies," Spike continued. "Forcing them away from their friends and families. Kidnapping others and trying to force them into something they don't want." The two finally got back to their feet, "while also trying to destroy this entire world."

"You let fear control you and that is why you won't beat us," Twilight told them. "Because only when you face your fears and conquer then, will you attain true strength. That's something Flash taught us."

"It's people like him that make this world worth living in," Spike continued. "And that's why we won't let you have him."

The two remembered back to what Flash had said earlier, how all he wanted was to go back to Duelling for fun. And when they won this Duel, he'd be one step closer to that future. "WE WILL PROTECT HIM! NO MATTER WHAT!" The siblings yelled. They were so focused on this goal, neither of them noticed something appearing on the back of their right hand. Something round that glowed black, with a slowly filling red symbol.

Author's Note

Well this was certainly an interesting one. So, what does this all mean. Is it a sign or just a red herring? You'll have to read on to find out.

Turn 35: Memories are Made of This

When Pinkie opened her eyes, she found herself someplace she never expected to be. A forest.

She let out a moan as she sat up and looked around, seeing trees all around her. Her head quickly cleared up and she looked down to see her sister besides her. "Maud!" She shook the girl and she began to stir, "are you okay?"

"Pinkie?" She pushed herself up, "where are we?"

"No idea," Pinkie shrugged. But as she continued to look around, she glanced at her hand and noticed something she had missed before. She was glowing.

Maud was too. It was faint, so it was easy to see why they hadn't noticed it before, but the two of them had a while veil of light surrounding their outline. "Maud," she cried in panic. Her sister turned to her as she held up her hand, showing her the light and making her look to see she was doing so too.

"What?" Maud asked as they stood up, "What's going on?"

Pinkie was still freaking out. "AAARRRHHH!" She cried while pulling at her hair, "we're dead. We killed ourselves trying to break through the Omega Field and now we're stuck in the after life." Maud couldn't help but panic and think that might be a possibility. But she had to stay calm, at least until they knew for sure if they were dead or not.

"Pinkie!" She got up and grabbed her sister's arms, pulling them away from her hair. "We have to calm down." Pinkie continued to breath heavily, clearly still hyperventilating. "Breath in," Pinkie did so and the two stayed like that for about five or ten seconds. "Breath out." Pinkie did so and appeared to be much calmer. "Better?"

"Better," Pinkie nodded.

"Good," Marble let her go and looked around. "Now let's just try and figure out where were are." It was then the two heard footsteps and turned towards them, bracing themselves for whatever appeared. And what did appear out of the trees shocked them.

"Gaia-Maiden!" They prepared to attack the Duel Monster, but she didn't seem to even notice them. She was looking terrible, her clothes wrecked, her hair filthy and the only thing appearing to be holding her up was a stick. She moved through the forest and passed the sisters without even giving them a glance. "Hey!" Pinkie reached out to her, "I'm talking-" She stopped when her hand phased through the women's shoulder, making her gasp and pull it back.

Maud hummed as she watched Gaia-Maiden continue to stumble forward, only now realising she looked a lot younger then the monster possessing her sister. "Are we in the past?" Pinkie looked at her funny as the two of them chose to follow her for a while, eventually reaching the edge of the forest.

There, they found a farm and it was here that Gaia-Maiden collapsed and the world around them seemed to go black. "What's happening?" Pinkie asked before the world returned to normal, the two finding they were now in a house and spotted Gaia-Maiden in a bed as she began to wake up.

"I think I know what's going on," Maud hummed as a young man showed up at the door and offered her a sandwich. There was a brief exchanged between the two, leading to the man giving her some clothes before leaving. The scene changed again to show her exiting the house and talking to the man, eventually agreeing to accept the name Daisy.

Then, in a flash, the two were back in the forest. "What happened?" Pinkie asked before they heard footsteps again and turned to see Gaia-Maiden staggering forward again.

"I knew it," Pinkie turned to Maud. "We're in a memory."

"Memory?"

"We're seeing into Gaia-Maiden's past." She thought for a moment. "The Omega Field was created by Gaia-Maiden, so if she's connected to it..."

"We somehow found a backdoor into her mind," Pinkie realised.

"Exactly," Maud nodded as the scene changed to the bedroom. "And it's also possible...Marble's in her somewhere." Pinkie's eyes went wide.

"MARBLE!" She cried out, "can you hear me!" The was no answer, "it's us! We're here to save you!" The two continued to listen, but heard nothing and frowned. But then

"Pinkie." The two gasped, "Maud."

"You hear that?" Pinkie asked.

"Barely," Maud looked around. "Where's it coming from?" They then heard the voice again and turned towards it, both rushing forward as the memory restarted. But as it played out the two spotted a wall of light through the trees. Looking up, they saw the light curved and formed some kind of dome around the area they were in.

"She's through there," Pinkie realised as they reached the wall and leapt into it.

The two felt themselves be blinded for a moment but the light soon faded, allowing them to find they were back at the farm. "Why are we back here?" Pinkie asked.

"We must have jumped into another memory." To prove her point, the door of the house opened before Scayer stepped out. He was looking several years older, his wispy stubble now a full on beard. After him, Gaia-Maiden exited the house and too their shock, she was about eight months pregnant.

"No way," Pinkie whispered as they watched Scayer preparing to work the farm.

"Are you sure I can't help with anything?" Gaia-Maiden asked, Scayer turning back to her.

"No way," he told her. "You've already got enough work on your hands, making sure our little girl arrives safely."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not made of glass you know." She went over to a table on the porch and picked up a glass of water, only to suddenly gasp and let the glass go. Scayer spun around at the shattering sound and looked worried.

"What's wrong?" He rushed over to her.

"Nothing," she assured him. "It just slipped out of my hand." She looked down at the broken glass, "let me just clean that up."

"No," Scayer shook his head, "you go lie down. Clearly, you need to rest." She huffed and walked away, only to suddenly appear wobbly and have to grab the wall for support. "Daisy?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Just...dizzy. Pregnancy's knocked me off balance." But then the world around them all began to turn blurry, as she swayed from side to side before falling backwards.

"DAISY!" Scayer rushed forward and caught her, the world turning even more blurry before the memory reset.

Pinkie and Maud shared a look, wondering what else they would see as they delved deeper into Gaia-Maiden's memories.

Within the Omega Field, Rarity and Applejack found themselves in a battle against the final Omega Zealot. Marble smirked, looking overly calm for a girl facing off against two opponents at once.

The rules were simple. Applejack and Rarity had their own life points while Marble had twice as much. Rarity and Applejack would take turns Dueling but shared the same field, so they could use whatever card the other had placed. They also shared the same graveyard and could summon Pendulum Monsters from the other's Extra Deck.

"I'll take the first turn," Rarity reached for her deck and drew her card. "And I'll start with the Graceful Charity Spell card!" She announced before drawing three cards, smiling before she discarded two of them and grabbing another card. "Then, I'll Gem-Knight Alexandrite!" The silver gem encrusted knight appeared on her field, Marble frowning at the sight of that monster. (A1800/D1200/L4)

"Gem-Knights," she sighed. "I always hated those guys. Everyone always thinking they were the only knights who wielded the power of mighty crystals."

"Maybe people just didn't want to think about you guys," Rarity suggested. "A terrible leader can ruin a group's image." Marble turned her glared towards Rarity. "Anyway, I activate Alexandrite's ability." He was suddenly consumed by light, "I tribute him to summon Gem-Knight Sapphire from my deck!" The light vanished to reveal the blue armoured knight. (A0/D2100/L4) "Then I activate...a Spell named Gem Compression!"

Marble sudden felt the ground shake beneath her before it erupted and three gems shot out of it. "What's happening?"

"With Gem Compression, I can banish Gem-Knights from my graveyard in order to Fusion Summon. So now I banish Alexandrite, Tourmaline and Garnet." The gems morphed into their respective knight forms before getting sucked into a vortex, "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The vortex exploded, unleashing a light that quickly faded to reveal Rarity's best monster. "Gem-Knight Lady, Brilliant Diamond!" (A3400/D2000/L10) "Then, I'll have Brilliant Diamond use her special ability." The knight's chest gem glowed before two crystals flew out of it. "By tributing one Gem-Knight, I can summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster to my field."

Marble watched as the gems flew over to Sapphire before exploding into light, which began to wrap around the knight as a vortex appeared behind it and sucked him inside.

"I FUSION SUMMON!" Rarity cried as the vortex exploded, revealing Rarity's second Fusion Monster. "Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!" (A2400/D1000/L5) "And I'm not stopping there. I'm now using her ability, to send one Gem-Knight Fusion monster from my Extra Deck to my graveyard and deal you five hundred points of damage for every Special Summoned monster on the field." The ghostly image of Gem-Knight Topaz appeared infront of the robe wearing knight before it flew into the crystal on her chest, that then fired out a beam of light that struck Marble.

"AUGH!" She cried as she was sunburned.

Rarity: 4000
Marble: 7000
Applejack: 4000

"I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Way to go Rare!" Applejack smiled. "First turn and she's already a thousand points behind."

"Maybe," Marble drew her card, "but I'm still three thousand life points ahead of you two." She looked through her hand and nodded. "I'll start with Reincarnation of Hope, to discard two cards from my hand in order to draw a new card in two turns. And with two Rock Monsters in my graveyard, I can banish them to summon a Gaia-Knight." The ground exploded infront of her before Gaia-Knight Beryllium leapt out of it, rocks flying out with him and slamming into a moon. That moon then shattered, revealing Beryllium's evolved form. "Behold a true knight of the earth. Gaia-Knight, Emerald!" (A1600/D3600/L8)

"Thirty six hundred DEF points?" Rarity asked as Emerald knelt down and raised its shield. "That'll be tough to break through."

"Don't fur-git," Applejack told her. "It gets a hundred DEF points for every Rock monster removed from play, An with Alexandrite, that's three." (A1600/D3900/L8)

"Excellent," Rarity sighed.

"At least it can't attack," Applejack told her. "So ya'h monster's safe."

"Is it?" Marble asked before playing a card. "I activate the Equip Spell, Crystalline Blitzer!" The gem on Emerald's shield glowed brightly. "With this card, I can discard a card and then destroy one monster whose Level is less then the monster equipped with it." She discarded a card before a laser flew out of her monster's gem, hitting Lapis Lazuli and destroyed her before carrying on to hit Rarity. "Then it deals you two hundred points of damage for ever level your monster had."

The laser struck Rarity, making her feel the same pain her monster did. "AAARRRHHH!" She screamed as her body burnt, Applejack gasping at her friend's pain.

Rarity: 3000
Marble: 7000
Applejack: 4000

"There's more," Marble explained. "The card I ditched was a Trap called Different Dimension Salvage. It activates whenever it's sent to the graveyard and lets me draw cards equal to the number of Banished monsters, with a limit of five. Though that's just the amount removed from play right now." Marble drew five cards, then set two of them face down. "I end my turn."

Applejack continued to stare at Rarity, who was still bent over holding her stomach. "Ya'll K?" She asked, while Rarity grunted and pushed herself back to full height.

"I'm fine," she glared at Marble. "It'll take more then that to stop me."

"Good," Marble smiled. "Because there's a lot more coming and I'd really hate to take you down before too quickly. Though that will happen." She pointed up at the Void Cube, which was hovering above them. "And the moment one of your two's life points hit zero, your soul will be sucked into the cube and I'll be able to use it to grant Lady Midnight her full power."

"That ain't gonna happen!" Applejack yelled, "ma'h draw!" She took the card she had drawn along with one in her hand and held them both up, "and a'h start by settin' the Pendulum Scale!" She slammed the cards down on the Duel Disk. "Come, scale seven Apple Fairy and scale one Stag of Great Seedling!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of her and Rarity before the two monsters flew up into them. As they did, the portal began to form above the two girl's heads. "A'H PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a trio of lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding and revealing all of Applejack's monsters. "Apple Paladin!" (A1200/D600/L3/P8)

"Maiden of Vines!" (A1000/D1000/L3)

"And Thorn Knight!" (A2000/D2000/L6/P1)

"Then a'll use Apple Fairy's Pendulum Ability!" The fairy waved her wand and caused a light to fly out of it and hit Apple Paladin. "Now a'h can change the Levels of every other monster on ma'h field to match that of Apple Paladin." The light flew off Apple Paladin and hit the others, Maiden of Vines unaffected while Gem-Knight Lady and Thorn Knight were both transformed. (A2000/D2000/L3/P1) (A3400/D2000/L3)

"Not bad," Marble smiled. "But none of them can destroy my Gaia-Knight."

"Wait for it," Applejack smiled before all but Gem-Knight Lady began to glow and shot into the air. "Now watch, as a'h use these three monsters ta build the Overlay Network." The black hole appeared at her feet before the three monsters flew into them. "As the seasons bring fourth new growth, it can also bring fourth a new power!" The black hole exploded in a burst of light, "A'H XYZ SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing AJ's Xyz monster. "Orchard Cowboy!" (A2100/D600/R3)

"I really hate to repeat myself," Marble told her. "That thing won't do any better then the monsters you used to summon it."

"Don't be so sure!" Applejack cried as she played the last card in her hand. "Go, Xyz Energy!" Orchard Cowboy held up his gun, as one of its Overlay Units flew into it. "By removing an Overlay Unit from ma'h Xyz Monster, a'h can destroy one monster on ya'h field." Orchard Cowboy fired at Emerald, a powerful explosion of light bursting out of the gun. That light struck the Gaia-Knight and vaporised it, leaving Marble to growl as her field was now monster-less.

"You'll pay for that."

"A'h don't think so," Applejack told her. "Especially since our monsters now have an open target." Her monster raised his gun again and fired it right at Marble, who didn't seem at all worried.

"TRAP SUMMON!" One of her face downs flipped up before a monster appeared out of the Trap, revealing a miner styled monster carrying giant hammer. "Quake Breaker!" (A1600/D1700/L4) The monster got between Marble and the bullet and took the hit, grunting as it got struck in the chest. "Augh!" She cried as he staggered backwards.

Rarity: 3000
Marble: 6500
Applejack: 4000

"Breaker's skill!" The monster slammed its hammer into the ground, causing it shake before he exploded.

"What's going on?" Rarity asked, only to see both Gem-Knight Lady and Orchard Cowboy suddenly switch into DEF position.

Marble smirked. "When he's destroyed, he changes the battle position of every ATK position monster on the field." Rarity and Applejack frowned, "so much for having an open target."

"Ahh," Applejack sighed, "fine. A'h guess a'h got no choice but to end ma'h turn." Applejack and Rarity shared a look. Despite having the stronger monsters, they couldn't help but feel like they were the ones holding on to this Duel by the skin of their teeth. If they weren't careful, Marble would likely do something that would having them on the defensive. "We gotta watch our step."

"Yes," Rarity nodded. "Everyone else is depending on us." They both turned back to Marble and glared at her, "we'll fight."

"And win," Applejack stated.

"FOR THEM!"

Outside the Omega Field, Sunset was rushing through the destroyed building.

She leapt over the debris and crawled under fallen beams as she made her way towards her destination. She had managed to get most of the security systems back online, including the self diagnostic and repair functions. Now the system should be able to finish the repairs itself. And it was a good thing too, since something had caught her attention.

"PINKIE!" She cried as she turned the corner into the final generator's location, spotting the Omega Field between her and it. And laying infront of the Omega Field, were the two girls she had seen collapse on the monitor. "Maud!" She rushed over to them and knelt down before reaching out to check their pulse, only to need to pull her hand back. "Ahh!"

The two girls were giving off a strange static, just like the Omega Field. She couldn't see it and it didn't seem to have any physical effect on the girls, but she could feel it. "What happened to you two?"

"Sunset?" She heard Cadance ask through the coms, "what's happening? Are they alright?"

"I don't know," Sunset tried to check them without getting too close. "I think they're breathing. It's hard to tell. I can't even touch them without getting zapped."

"That's bad," Cadance realised.

"What about what's happening on your end?"

"Not much here either."

Cadance frowned as she stared at the Omega Field, which had appeared inside the room holding the Zenith Dragons.

Her husband and sister-in-law were in there, but there was no way of communicating with either of them. "Shining," she whispered before hearing the door behind her open.

"Hey!" She spun around and saw Starlight step into the room, Sunburst behind her struggling to piggyback carry Trixie. "What's going on?" She then spotted the Omega Field, "that can't be good."

"It's not," Cadance assured her. "But at least there's one less Omega Zealot to worry about," she smiled at the sight of Trixie, "she okay?"

"She should be fine," Sunburst stated as he put her down. "Now who's in the Omega Field."

"Shining," Cadance replied, "and Twilight." This got the teen's attention, both staring at the orb while wondering what could be going on in there. A Duel, sure, but who was winning? If Shining could pull this off, they could put an end to Zeronull right now. "Stay strong."

Inside the Omega Field, Midnight Sparkle and Shining Armour continued to face off.

Up above them, Midnight Archangel and Royal Paladin Commander charged at one another. Light flashed as they collided, only to both be thrown back due to card effects and land infront of their users. At the same time, Shining simply stared at his possessed sister.

"Twilight," he sighed, "I should have protected you. I should of protected all of you. I shouldn't have let the Zealots take you to Void, or Spike, or Flash or...anyone." He took a deep breath to keep himself under control. "I can't change the past, but I can work for a future where you're free and the world is safe from Zeronull." He reached for his deck, "I draw!"

"So where's Sunset?" Starlight asked as the three stepped back into the control room.

Cadance replied by pointing to one of the monitors, the two turning towards it and gasping when they saw Sunset sitting besides the unconscious Pie sisters. "What happened?" Sunburst asked while taking a closer look.

"We're not sure," Cadance explained. "She can't seem to touch them, but they are alive. They fell unconscious after they tried to force their way into the Omega Field."

"Are Applejack and Rarity the one's inside?" Cadance nodded. "Hopefully they can beat Marble and free her." Starlight turned to the desk and spotted a card, moving over to see it was Fabulaqua. She then took out the Zenith Dragon she had won from Trixie. "If they can, we'll have all but one of the Zenith Dragons."

"And Marble will be free," Sunburst continued. "I'm sure that'll be a great comfort to Pinkie and Maud." The girls nodded, though they hoped the two would soon wake up and see that their sister was alright. Whatever was happening to them, they hoped it was only temporary.

Pinkie and Maud were still within Gaia-Maiden's memories.

They had watched the memory of Gaia-Maiden collapsing three times now and wanted to returned to finding their sister. If only they could figure out where she was. "MARBLE!" Pinkie cried, listening out for an answer from their captured sister. "Can you hear us?"

For a few seconds, nothing. But then, they heard it. "Pinkie." They turned towards the voice and rushed forwards, "Maud." The voice was clearer then before, and it sounded like it was yelling, but it was still quiet.

"We're getting closer to her," Maud explained. "The voice is louder. But I doubt she's close."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked.

"I mean she's most likely trapped behind some more of these memories. It's like she's on one side of a building and we're on the other. We're not going to be able to get to her unless we passed through the other rooms first." It was here that the two found the edge of the memory and grasped one another's hands.

"Let's do this," Pinkie told Maud.

She nodded. "We'll find our sister and hopefully find something useful that'll help us take Gaia-Maiden down." The two nodded before they leapt through the light of the dome, forced to shut their eyes for fear of getting blinded by it.

When the light faded, the two found they were back in the bedroom. And laying in the bed was the still pregnant pregnant Gaia-Maiden. The women was laid on her back, breathing heavily and sweating up a storm. Whatever she had, it was clear it was more then just a common cold.

"What's wrong with her?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know," Maud said. The look on her face showed the woman was suffering. Despite the terrible things she had done to them and their sister, the two felt sorry for her. They also hoped her baby survived.

Their attention was pulled to the door when it burst open and Scayer rushed inside, carrying a try with a wet towel on it and some water. "Here," he dabbed the cloth onto her head before making her sit up so he could drink the water. "You have to stay strong."

"I'm fine," she told him.

"No," he shook his head, "you're not. You're not getting better. You're getting worse." He placed a hand on her hand, moving it towards the woman's extended belly. "You have to stay strong for our little girl."

She nodded, though they could still tell she was having trouble breathing. "I will. And...I've been thinking. Her name. Why don't we give my fake name to someone real. Daisy. Let's call her Daisy." Scayer couldn't help but let out a scared laugh before nodding.

"Sure. Daisy it is." The two stared at one another for another second, Gaia-Maiden clearly noticing something.

"You're thinking of doing something stupid, aren't you?"

Scayer took a deep breath. "I have too. You need a cure. I've been looking through every book I have on illnesses and I think I know of a way to make you better."

"But..."

"But it involves going up Skyle Mountain." This statement caused Gaia-Maiden to grab his hand, looking scared to let go.

"You can't!" She told him, "Skyle Mountain is dragon territory. Luster, Spear, Blizzard, and those are some of the weaker ones. If one of them finds you in their territory-"

"I won't go anywhere near them," he assured her. "There's a fruit that grows on the south side of the mountain that's suppose to be able to cure any diseases."

"And the reason you can't buy it is because nobody's stupid enough to go up Skyle Mountain and get one," she reminded him.

"I won't go that high up. I'm sure there's a tree close the summit. Only low Level Dragons live around there. Baby, Petit, Decoy."

"Please," she squeezed his hand, "don't do this."

"I have too," he told her before pulling his hand from her and kissing her forehead. "I won't be long. Just stay strong." With that, he rushed out the room and left them alone before the scene reset itself.

"He doesn't make it...does he?" Pinkie turned to Maud, who was frowning.

"Remember what Amphitrite said," Maud told her. "She said she tricked her husband into thinking she was sick so he would kill himself climbing a mountain." She turned back to Gaia-Maiden as the scene played. "What if it wasn't a trick." The two continued to stare at the scene and watch it come to an end one more time before leaving to find Marble again.

"I draw!" Marble pulled a card from her deck and smiled. "And I'll start by activating my face down," the card flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Stone Blockade!" Rarity and Applejack's eyes went wide, both remembering this Trap from when she Dueled Flash in the Double X.

"Not good," Applejack frowned and saw no choice. "A'm using Orchard Cowboy's skill!" One of the Overlay Units flew into her monster's gun, which he then fired and hit the Trap card before destroying it. Applejack hoped she wouldn't regret that.

"You're going to regret that in a minute," Marble explained before playing her card. "Go, Painful Choice!"

"Dag-nabbit!" Applejack cried as five cards slotted out of Marble's deck, the girl taking and placing them all on her Duel Disk.

"Take your pick. Whichever card you chose will be added to my hand while the others are sent to the graveyard." Applejack looked up and saw she had a copy of Gaia-Knight Corundum, Coal, Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond.

She and Rarity shared a look, both unsure which one to pick. Rarity then nodded to tell her to pick, Applejack looking back and pointing at one of them. "Corundum. You can keep that one."

"Excellent," Marble smiled as she took the card and placed it in her hand while discarding the others. "Next, I'll discard one Rock-type monster from my hand in order to summon Gaia-Knight's Sage!" Applejack and Rarity's eyes went wide as she discarded Corundum, both realising it didn't matter what they picked.

In a flash of light, a new monster appeared. It was was made entirely out of purple crystals and had a hooded robe over it. It's upper half was humanoid while its lower half was just a spike pointing towards the ground. It was carrying a stuff made out of purple crystal. (A2100/D1200/L5)

"There's more," Marble explained. "For every Earth Monster removed from play, my Sage gains three hundred ATK points. (A2700/D1200/L5) "Next, I play the Continuous Spell Card Land Slide."

"What's that do?" Applejack asked.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with...for now." She pointed at Rarity's monster. "Now attack Gem-Knight Lady!" The creature raised its staff as light began to shine out of it.

Applejack glanced at Rarity, who nodded back. Applejack turned back to Marble and hit the button on her Duel Disk, "A'm activating our Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Gem-Knight Polish!"

Rarity smiled. "Now the Gem-Knight you just targeted isn't destroyed and its ATK points go up by one thousand!" The light flew out of the Sage's staff and flew towards Gem-Knight Lady, but the knight suddenly became extra shiny and the light simply bounced off it. (A4400/D2000/L10) "Too bad."

"Yes indeed," Marble nodded while still smiling.

"Why is she smiling?" Applejack asked, "it's never good when she smiles."

"I'm smiling because of my Sage's skill," Marble explained. "If there's a monster on your field after he attacks, I can take a banished Rock monster and send it to the bottom of my deck." She did so, the sage losing power as she did so. (A2400/D1200/L5) "That allows it to then attack again."

The girls gasped as the Sage fired another blast of light, aimed once again at Gem-Knight Lady. Applejack checked their other face down and saw it wasn't something they could use. That meant there was no way to protect Gem-Knight Lady as she was struck by the light and destroyed.

"And now, the effect of my Land Slide Spell activates!" The Spell glowed and suddenly, out of nowhere, the remains of Rarity's Gem-Knight appeared above Applejack before turning into a bunch of mud. "Whenever an Earth Type monster is destroyed, you'll take three hundred points of damage."

Applejack gasped as the mud suddenly slammed down on her, "augh!"

Rarity: 3000
Marble: 6500
Applejack: 3700

"And don't forget about my sage's skill," Marble took her other banished monster and placed it at the bottom of her deck. Making Sage become weaker. (A2100/D1200/L5) It then fired another blast of magic, hitting Orchard Cowboy and destroying it. "Now, for my Land Slide card." Mud once again slammed down upon poor Applejack, half burying her.

Rarity: 3000
Marble: 6500
Applejack: 3400

"With that, my turn has come to an end."

"Then it's my turn," Rarity turned to share a smile with Applejack and then turned back to Marble. "Thanks to the Stag of Great Seedling's Pendulum Ability, I can draw an additional card for every Pendulum Monster in our graveyard. And with Apple Paladin and Thorn Knight in there, that's an extra two cards I can draw." She did so and smiled when she saw what she had gotten.

"Clearly, one of the cards you got was good."

Rarity turned to Marble, "more then one. But let me show you." The portal began to form above the two girl's heads. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Rarity's monster. "Arise, Gem-Unicorn!" The ponified version of Rarity swept her mane as she appeared infront of the girls, its horn shining with a blue light. (A1600/D1400/L4/P5)

"That's your big card?" Marble asked. "It's nothing."

"But her special ability isn't," Rarity explained before reaching for her deck. "Whenever she's Special Summoned, I can look at the top five cards of my deck. And if any are a Level four or below Gem-Knight, I can summon it." She closed her eyes and prayed to her deck. "Now, let's take a looksy." She drew the cards and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw that two of the qualified. "Perfect. I summon Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lazuli!"

Gem-Unicorn fired blasts of magic that struck the ground, causing it to break apart and allow two small Gem-Knights to fly out and land on either side of the unicorn. (A1200/D100/L3) (A600/D100/L1)

Marble still wasn't impressed. "Unless your Unicorn gets a power boost from them, they can't help you. Or are you planning to fuse them."

"I'd like too," she stated while looking down at her hand. Unfortunately, she didn't have a fusion card to use. That meant she had to play this another way. "I sacrifice Lapis and Lazuli!" The two monsters morphed into balls of light that flew into the air and merged together. "In order to summon my Gem-Knight Crystal!" The light took shape and faded to reveal a large knight covered in diamonds. (A2450/D1950/L7)

Marble frowned. "Okay. But don't forget, when you attack you're really hurting yourself. Since I have my Land Slide card, you'll take damage when you destroy one of my monsters."

"Except we won't be the only one," Rarity announced before playing a card. "I play Gem-Knight Mirror!" In a flash of light, a large mirror made of crystals appeared. "With this card, I can select a face-up Spell on your field and copy it's abilities." She pointed at Marble's Spell, "so I'll be copying your Land Slide Spell." Marble frowned. "Now, Crystal, destroy Gaia-Knight Sage!" The knight rushed forward and punched the crystalline entity, smashing it to pieces.

Rarity: 3000
Marble: 6150
Applejack: 3400

As this happened, Land Slide and Gem-Knight Mirror both activated and caused a load of mud to appear above Rarity and Marble, then fell down upon them. "AUGH!" They both cried as they were slammed by the dirt.

Rarity: 2700
Marble: 5850
Applejack: 3400

"You okay?" Applejack asked while Rarity brushed the dirt off of her.

"I'm fine," she assured her. "Especially since Gem-Unicorn now has an open target to attack Marble directly!" Her monster's horn glowed before it unleashed a beam of blue magic that struck Marble directly.

"AUGH!" She screamed as he blast struck her stomach.

Rarity: 2700
Marble: 4250
Applejack: 3400

"I place two cards face down and end my turn." Rarity watched as Marble straightened herself up.

"Now," she reached for her deck, "the real Duel can begin."

Within Marble's mind, Pinkie and Maud had just found the edge of the memory and pushed through it.

Once again, they were blinded for a moment until the light died down. When it did, they opened their eyes and found themselves in the bedroom once again. They turned to the bed and found Gaia-Maiden laying in a bed that was soaked with sweat, the two guessing that at least a couple of days had gone by.

"Ahh!" She cried out while clutching her stomach, Pinkie and Maud fearing the illness might be doing something to the baby. She saw tears in her eyes as she fought through the pain, clearly scared of what was happening and being alone.

But as her pain appeared to be vanishing, footsteps could be heard and they turned to see Scayer stagger through the door.

Gaia-Maiden smiled at him, appearing relieved, but then gasped when she saw the left side of his shirt was torn and soaked in blood. He was clutching his side with a bloody hand and staggering over to her, falling to his knees as he showed her what was in his other hand.

"Here," he whispered, "you have to eat it." It was an odd looking fruit, being round and a pinkish red with some kind of veins surrounding it.

"You're injured," she told him.

"I'm fine," he told her. "A Hunter Dragon...decided to have a go at me. Eat!" She opened her mouth as he began to feed her the fruit, the look on her face telling the others it did not taste good. Eventually, the whole thing was eaten. "Good," Scayer staggered backwards and hit the wall before sliding down. "Now, I'm just gonna...take a...rest."

"Scayer!" Gaia-Maiden cried as she tried to reach out and touch him, but he was too far and he appeared to have fallen asleep. Pinkie and Maud had a feeling he wouldn't be waking up.

But before Gaia-Maiden could realise that, she suddenly felt another burst of pain as the bed suddenly got a lot wetter. Her water had broken. "NOOOOO!" She cried as the scene appeared to jump ahead.

Once again, they were in the bedroom and everything was the same. But it was likely hours as past as Gaia-Maiden appeared to be in the final moments of childbirth. The sisters chose to look away from this, not wanting to see this. And after a few more seconds and a massively loud scream, Gaia-Maiden suddenly looked like she had done it. She fell backwards and laid on the bed, panting in exhaustion.

But something was wrong.

The room was too quiet. The sisters had expected her screams of pain to be replaced with another type of scream, from another life form. But there was nothing. "Don't tell me," Pinkie whispered in horror. She might have known about Scayer's fate, but she had been hoping the baby would survive.

Alas, Gaia-Maiden pushed herself up and looked down. And when she did, the look on her face was one that of someone whose world had completely shattered.

The memory began to reset, but not before she let out the loudest most gut wrenching cry of anguish ever.

"I-" Marble suddenly stopped as something happened. An image appeared on the forefront of her mind, one that made her entire body freeze. "What?"

Applejack and Rarity shared a look, both wondering what had caused her to stop in the middle of her turn. And when they glanced back, they both saw something that shocked them. A tear. "What the hay?"

Marble grunted as she wiped her eyes, the two seeing her force a glare over a sorrowful look. "I draw!" She drew her card before another card slotted out of her Deck. "It's been two turns now since I activated Reincarnation of Hope. So now I can add a monster from my hand to my deck."

"Great," Applejack, "a'm bettin' a'h know what monster it is." And just as she assumed, Marble held the card up before the ground starting shaking. The floor the the Omega Field was ripped apart before rocks flew out and began forming a giant moon above Marble's head.

Marble smiled as she pointed at the moon. "Queen of the earth, grace us with your glorious majesty!" An opening appeared in the moon that then transformed into a staircase like construct, with a familiar monster stepping out of the moon to make her way down them. "Gaia-Maiden, Lady Marble!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

"Not good," Rarity realised.

"Now, witness her skill." Gaia-Knight Ruby suddenly appeared infront of the Gaia-Maiden before breaking into eight pieces, which were sent flying through the air. Those pieces struck Gem-Unicorn. "By banishing an my earth monster from the graveyard, your monster's ATK points are lowered. (A800/D1400/L4/P5) "With this attack, you'll barely have any Life Points left!" Gaia-Maiden tapped her staff on the ground and summoned a large chunk of rock that she threw at the unicorn.

"I activate my Trap!" Rarity cried as her face down flipped up, "Shift!" Suddenly, Crystal and Unicorn magically swapped places and the Gem-Knight was destroyed.

Rarity: 2150
Marble: 4250
Applejack: 3400

Seconds later, Land Slide and Gem-Knight Mirror activated and the girls were once again bombarded by dirt. "AUGH!"

Rarity: 1850
Marble: 3950
Applejack: 3400

Rarity fell to her knees while Marble stood limply, both girls flinching from the damage they had taken. Marble then stood tall and placed a card face down. "You two should just give up. There's no way you can defeat me."

"You don't know that," Applejack told her. "An neither do we."

"But we're gonna give it our best try," Rarity pushed herself back to her feet. "For Pinkie's sake. For Maud's sake. And for the whole world's sake."

"Because that's what humans do," Applejack explained. "We keep pushing forward, no matter the odds."

Marble frowned. "Well eventually, you're going to find yourself pushing against an unmovable object. And when that happens, all you can do is watch as your strength crumbles into nothing." Applejack and Rarity didn't believe that. They would win and free Marble, even if it seemed impossible. No matter what.

Author's Note

Welp, now you know the truth about Gaia-Maiden. Doesn't make up for what she did but you can see why she chose to join the Zealots.

Turn 3: Griffonic Sky Commander, Ouravas

Unknown location.

Flash and Scootaloo were carefully walking through the dark corridor of the unknown place. They'd lost track of how long they'd actually been there, both their phones somehow becoming dead after they arrived and neither wore a watch, so just aimlessly wandered down the narrow passageway.

"How far do you think we've gone?" Scootaloo asked her brother, Flash unsure how to answer.

"No idea, though it feels like it's been a couple of miles. This place must be huge." He heard Scootaloo moaned and turned to see her slide down the wall and sat down, "come on. We can't stop."

"Sorry," she said, "my feet are killing me." Flash had to admit, he wasn't exactly running on full either.

"We've gotta get out of here," Flash signed as he glanced looked down the corridor. Then he did a double take, his eyes going wide when he saw a light at the end of it. "Come on!" He reached down and grabbed Scootaloo, pulling her up onto her feet and dragging her down the hallway.

Scootaloo saw the light and started running besides him, the light getting closer and closer until they finally reached it.

They blinked at the brighter light, the two looking around to find themselves in a circular chamber. It was brighter then the hallway they'd been in, though not by much. The walls were covered in triangular doorways, the two counting eighteen in total, that each lead into another endless hallway.

"Okay," Scootaloo said, "what now?"

Earlier that day.

Rainbow was still in class, waiting for it to end so she could go hang out with Soarin. She didn't know why, but the idea of hanging out alone with him made her stomach do cartwheels. She didn't know why, but it felt nice.

She looked up at the clock and saw the seconds pass. However, the time between the second's movements seemed to increase every second. She decided to count the time, waiting until the hand moved before counting. Though she knew she was probably wrong, it felt like she got to ten before it moved again. "Gah!" She moaned, hitting her head into the desk.

"Well," the teacher spoke up, "looks like the day's almost done." Rainbow got up and saw he was actually right. They only have five minutes left. "So take this time to read the chapter you'll be writing about tonight. And make sure on your way out, that you hand in your homework from yesterday." A collection of moans and acknowledgements filled the room before the students opened their books and took out their homework, beginning to read until the bell finally went off.

The students got up and headed for the door, each one handing in a sheet of paper as they passed the desk. Rainbow was one of the first out, almost jumping out into the hallway and rushing down it towards the front of the building.

"No running in the halls," one of the hall monitors told her but she didn't listen. She arrived at the front door, stepping outside as she waited for Soarin to arrive.

"Hey, Rainbow!" She spun around excitedly, only to deflate when she saw it was Fleetfoot. "Check it out," she show the girl her deck. "I made some changes to my deck. Wanna help me see how well it turned out."

"I would," Rainbow looked around. "But I've already got plans. Sorry."

"Oh come on. I'm sure whatever it is can wait for one little Duel. What are you doing anyway?"

"Well..."

"Rainbow," they both turned to see Soarin walking up to them, "ready to go." Fleetfoot's eyes drifted between the two before a knowing smile crept onto her face.

"Oh, I see." She slowly started walking off, "I'll leave you two alone. Have fun." She headed off, leaving the two alone. A very confused Soarin turned to Rainbow.

"What was that about?"

"No idea," Rainbow said while trying to hide her face. She didn't know why, but her usually blue skin was shifting to an unusual red colouring. "Who cares." She hoisted her duffel bag over her shoulder and marched off, "we should get going."

"Alright," Soarin followed after her. As the pair headed out the front gates and turned to walk into town, they didn't notice someone else heading towards the school from the opposite direction. The figure stopped infront of the gate and turned to look into the school, smiling as he saw it.

Meanwhile, Spitfire was in her office doing paperwork while the news was on.

She'd just finished working on a form and adding it to the pile when the TV spoke up and caught her attention. "In other news, officials are still baffled by the appearance of the giant turtle-like creature that appeared above Canterlot City only two hours ago." Spitfire turned to the TV as it showed some footage of a giant turtle-like creature floating in the air above the city. It looked like it was made out of rocks and plants.

"Weird," Spitfire told herself.

"Many have speculated that this is some kind of Duel Monster, though any attempt to find it in the Freeze Industry database has yielded no results. However, evidence suggests there is more to this creature then meets the eye." The footage changed to show the monster spit out a giant boulder, which seemed to crash into the earth with such force it unleashed a shockwave that knocked the camera offline. When it came back on, it showed the image of a giant crater next to a riverbank that was filled with water. "What you are looking at is the area the rock struck. Clearly, it was no hologram that caused this."

Spitfire sat back in her chair, wondering what this all meant. Then, a strange green glow caught her attention and made her spin around in her chair. There, sitting on its usual perch, was the statue of their school's mascot. Marventus, the dragon of limitless skies. However, something was different about it. Now, it was radiating a strange green glow.

She reached out and picked up the statue, looking it over and wondering why it was glowing. Then her thoughts drifted back to the news report and the memory of this statue's origin story popped into her head. Could the two events be...related?

Knock! Knock! Knock!

She turned to the door and watched it open before she could decide to let them in. And in stepped a leather clothed man wearing a scarf. "Do you mind telling me why you've barged into my office without permission?" She asked the stranger, "then you can tell me who you are and why you're here."

The man smirked. "My name...is Ouravas." He raised his fist to show the Wind Symbol on the back, "and I'm here because you have something that belongs to me." Both his and Spitfire's eyes shifted down towards the statue, the man shooting forward before Spitfire could say anything else.

Rainbow and Soarin headed down the street without a care in the world, both laughing as they talked about whatever thoughts entered their heads. "No way!" Rainbow told him.

"I'm telling you, it's true. There's a corn on the cob flavoured ice cream. My parents got me some when we went to Europe."

"Man," Rainbow said, "they'll turn anything into ice cream. What's next, horseradish? Blue cheese?"

"I think those are actual flavours." Rainbow shot him a disgusted look before feeling her phone ring, pulling it out and seeing who it as. "Hey Gilda," she told her teammate. "How'd everything go." She put it on speaker so Soarin could hear her.

"Pretty good. Those losers realised it'd be a good idea to become my sponsor. Now I just have to pick one. That's gonna be fun."

Soarin smirked. "Well if you want some help, Rainbow and I are heading to an ice cream parlour. I'll text you the address." Rainbow frowned at this, unsure why she was upset at the thought of Gilda coming.

"Nah, you losers have fun on your own. I'm heading back and resting the rest of the night. We gotta any homework we're supposed to do?"

"Write about the next chapter," Rainbow replied.

"Got it. You did remember to hand my essay in, right?" Rainbow's eyes suddenly went wide, remembering she was supposed to do that along with her own homework. She reached into her bag and pulled out Gilda's essay, gulping. "Dash?"

"Err...yeah. I totally handed it in."

"Good. I don't need my claim to fame being ruined because I couldn't graduate. Well, see you lamos later. Have fun at the ice cream shop." With that, she hung up with Soarin turned to her.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Rainbow nodded, "you wanna run back and hand it in before the teacher leaves?"

"Yeah. You keep going to the ice cream store and save us a seat. I'll be there as soon as I hand this in." With that, she turned and ran back the way they came as fast as her legs could carry her. Soarin smirked, finding her forgetful nature cute.

Once Gilda hung up, she continued walking back towards the school. To get there, she had to cross a large footbridge over a river. And as she did, she spotted someone standing in the centre of it.

She was a middle-aged woman with light pink skin, who had hair that phased from light to dark purple. She was wearing a dress that matched her hair colour, along with a pair of light blue fingerless evening gloves that went all the way up to her shoulder.

Gilda raised an eyebrow as she noticed the woman smiling at her. "Hey, weirdo, you're in my way."

"My apologies," the woman replied. "But aren't you Gilda, from Team Wonderbolts." Gilda raised an eyebrow at this.

"Who wants to know?"

"In this world, I'm known as Novo. Queen Novo." Gilda was on edge now, having a feeling she knew what she meant by this world. "But in my world," she removed her right glove and held up her hand to show the Water symbol on the back of it. "I am known as Amphitrite. Queen Amphitrite."

Gilda frowned, "so you're a Dominator."

"That's right." She pulled out a purple Duel Disk, "and I challenge you."

Rainbow was running as fast as she could to get back to school, seeing the building come into view. She really hoped the teacher hadn't left yet, or Gilda was gonna kill her.

She reached the gate and turned into the school, only to pull herself to a stop and gasping. "What?" She dropped her bag and ran forward, kneeling down besides Fleetfoot and helping her sit up. "Hey, you okay? Say something."

Fleetfoot moaned as she cracked her eyes open, looking over at Rainbow. "He...he's dangerous."

"Who's dangerous?" Rainbow asked, only to hear the front doors open. She looked up and saw someone step out of the building, her eyes going wide seeing who it was. "No way."

The man smiled as he walked towards her. Memories of this girl flashed through his mind, filled with anger and vengeance. "Rainbow Dash, I assume."

Rainbow gently put Fleetfoot down before standing up, her eyes spotting the statue he was currently holding as she stepped forward. Her vision flicked to the area around her, at the sight of almost every student and teacher of her school laid out on the floor in pain. She turned back to the man, "what are you doing here Guto?"

The man frowned. "That...is not my name." He held up his right hand, showing the image of the Wind Attribute on the back. Rainbow's eyes widen in shock. "I am Ouravas, Omega Zealot of Wind."

Guto showed her the statue, "I have come to retrieve the final key to our future."

"What?"

"Tell me, what do you know of this statue?"

Rainbow thought back, trying to remember what she was told long ago. "It holds the soul of an evil dragon that raged across the land, destroying everything in its path until a brave warrior managed to defeat it."

"Good, you're up to speed. It'd be annoying if I had to give you a history lesson. Tell me, do you believe that dragon really exists?"

Rainbow frowned, "I was fifty fifty before. With everything that's happened to me, I'd be pretty stupid to assume it's not real. But since you're after it, I guess that means it is real."

"Oh yes," Guto nodded. "It's real. And of course, you must now realise where the dragon first came from."

"The Duel Monsters Spirit World."

"That's right. And now," he threw the statue up into the air before pulling a blank Duel Card out of his pocket. "It shall be set free!" He tossed the card up at the statue. When it struck it, the stone completely shattered. Rainbow gasped at this, her shock doubling when she saw the pieces glow green before the light shot out the stone and hit the card.

The card and stones remained floating in the air for several seconds as the energy flowed into the card. Then, finally, the energy was completely absorbed while the stone pieces turned to dust. The card slowly floated down towards Guto, the Dominator holding out a hand for it to land in.

Rainbow couldn't believe she'd just seen that. Had the spirit in the statue been...absorbed?

"RAINBOW!" They both turned to the door, seeing an injured Spitfire stepping out of the front while holding her stomach. "Be careful. This man is strong."

"Yeah," Rainbow looked around, "kinda figured that. Doesn't matter." She took out her Duel Disk, "I'm getting Marventus back."

"Oh?" Guto asked, "why should you care about this dragon?"

"It's our school's mascot. I'm not gonna let you take it. Plus, I know you're planning on using it for whatever your Dominators are planning. I'm not gonna let that happen."

Guto smirked, taking out a grey Duel Disk. "Very well." He attached it to his arm, a green blade appearing. He then held up his card, "I accept. I need someone to help me awaken the power of this dragon." He pushed the card into his deck, Rainbow activating her Duel Disk before they drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Guto: 4000
Rainbow: 4000

Spitfire stepped around the man and stood next to Rainbow. "Are you sure you can beat him."

"I know I can," Rainbow told her. "It's about time I joined the list of those that's beat a Dominator. I'm the only Wonderbolt not on it." Spitfire had no idea what she was talking about, but chose to trust her and step back as the game started.

"I'll take the first move!" Guto drew his card and smiled, "I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds, in DEF mode!" A tornado appeared before him before exploding to reveal a green and silver square plate with a humanoid bird on it. (A1000/D1000/L4) "Then, I'll activate the Continuous Spell Card Griffon's Horde."

Rainbow watched as a giant treasure chest appeared next to Guto with a stone griffon sitting on it, holding an orb with the number zero inside it. "What's it do?"

"I'll let that be a surprise for later. I place a card face down and end my turn."

"My draw!" Rainbow smiled, "I summon Rainbow Wing Red Kestrel!" A tornado exploded infront of her before the bird of prey flew out of it. (A1500/D1200/L4) "And when it's normal summoned, I can special summon another Rainbow Wing from my hand and raise it's Level if I want. So come on out, Rainbow Wing Green Hawk." Another tornado signalled the arrival of her second bird of prey, which flew around before flying down besides Kestrel as its Level increased to match it. (A1400/D800/L4)

Guto smirked, "you're lucky your deck is only made of Wind Monsters. If it weren't, my Neo Barrier Statue would have kept them from being Special Summoned."

Rainbow smirked, "well this next card is also a Wind Monster." her two birds transformed into lights, which then shot into the air as a black hole opened up. "I now build the Overlay Network!" The lights shot inside as she chanted. "Wings of freedom, descend upon this land and unleash a hurricane of power." The black hole exploded in a burst of light. "I XYZ SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Rainbow's ace. "Rainbow Battle Wing, GOLD!" (A2500/D1500/R4/P7)

"Great move Dash!" Spitfire smiled, several students and teachers who were beginning to regain consciousness smiling as they watched.

"So, this is your avatar." Guto smiled, "I've seen better." This infuriated Rainbow.

"I'll wipe that smug look off your face if it's the last thing I do. Battle Wing's skill!" The Xyz Monster crushed the light in its claws. "Now I can look at the top five cards of my deck and summon a Level four or below Winged-Beast to the field!" She drew five cards, but only saw one card that qualified. "I summon Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" A rainbow tornado appeared besides Battle Wing before exploding, revealing the pony version of the Duellist as it flew around at high speed. (A1800/1200/L4/P5) "And when she's special summoned, I can add a Level Four or below Winged-Beast from my deck to my hand." Her Duel Disk slotted out a card that she took, showing it to be Supporting Filly.

"Pointless," Guto told her.

"We'll see about that!" Rainbow cried. "Pegasus, destroy his statue!" The winged horse flew up before dive-bombing, a rainbow trailing behind her as she slammed into the statue.

"You activated Stormwinds Statue's ability!" Guto announced as a tornado appeared, exploding to reveal a griffon wearing robotic armour with what appeared to be a jet turbine on its back. "Meet Aero-Burst Griffon!" (A1400/D1400/L4) "And when he's special summoned, he deals you six hundred points of damage." The turbine spun before unleashing a tornado that struck Rainbow, pushing her back and making her flinch.

Guto: 4000
Rainbow: 3400

"Well, you're about to feel a lot more pain. Battle Wing, attack!" The birdman drew his blade. "And since I have another Winged-Beast of the field, he gains three hundred ATK points." (A2800/D1500/R4/P7) It slashed at Aero-Burst in half, destroying it and deal Guto major damage.

Guto: 2600
Rainbow: 3400

"You activated my Trap!" Guto announced, his face down flipping up. "Open Territory! Since a Griffon monster was destroyed, I can summon another Griffon with less ATK to take its place." A tornado erupted infront of him, "I summon Armoured Griffon!" A griffon in roman armour appeared out of the tornado. (A1200/A1800/L4)

"I place one card face down and end my turn." This caused Battle Wing's ATK points returned to its standard total. (A2500//D1500/R4/P7)

"My turn!" Guto drew his card and smiled, "I play Premature Burial to revive Aero-Burst Griffon!" Rainbow raised en eyebrow at this. That card required him to pay eight hundred life points, so why'd he do that and drop his points below half.

But then, turn her surprise, a portal opened up in the ground for the Winged-Beast to fly out of. As it did, it fired a tornado from its turbine and hit Rainbow. "Augh!"

Guto: 2600
Rainbow: 2800

"Hey," she grunted, "where's your life point payment?"

Guto smirked. "It's true, my Spell usually requires one. But not this time, since I have my Griffon's Horde Spell." Rainbow turned to the spell in question, seeing the zero in the griffon's orb change to a one.

"Wait, does that thing-"

"Cancel out any life point payments I'm required to make. Yes, it does. In exchange, I just need to place Horde Counter onto it."

Rainbow frowned. There was no way a card that strong didn't have some kind of downside. Were the counters limited? Could he only use it once per turn? What was it's secret?

"Now," a tornado erupted onto the field and sucked up Guto's two monsters, "I tribute these two monsters in order to summon...myself. Griffonic Sky Commander, Ouravas!" The tornado exploded to reveal a completely brown griffon with a yellow beak, wearing bronze armour with a red tuft coming out its helmet and a golden badge on its front. It was carrying a long spear with a golden blade. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"Huh," Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "So, this is what you really look like?"

"Yes," Guto smiled, "this is my true form. And with it, I shall help free my lord and end this miserable existence."

"Not while I'm still standing!" Guto's smile didn't falter.

"That's won't last long. Ouravas's skill!" The Griffon's Horde gem changed its number from one to two, while Guto's deck slotted out a card. "Normally, I pay five hundred life points to add any Spell from my deck to my hand. But you know I don't have too." Rainbow frowned at him. "Then, I'll activate it. Gold Sarcophagus!" In a flash of light, a golden box appeared floating above its head. It was covered in hieroglyphics and had a giant eye on the front.

Rainbow watched as Guto's deck slotted out a card that he removed, a giant card image appearing above the box as its lid opened so the card could go inside.

"By banishing a card from my deck, I can add it to my hand in two turns."

"That's gotta be the card he was showing off before," Rainbow realised. "Marventus."

"That's right," Guto smiled. "Soon the great Zenith Dragon will awaken once again. And with it, our lord shall reclaim his full power."

"Why are you so obsessed with that dragon?" Rainbow asked him. "What makes them so special in the grand scheme of things?"

Guto smiled at her ignorance, deciding to humour her. "The Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull, has only one goal. The complete destruction of all life. But to do that, he required great amounts of power. More power then even he could build up."

"Can't be so strong then, can he?" Rainbow was surprised by Guto's response, the Dominator's face turning to one of anger.

"Do not mock our lord!" Seeing Rainbow thoroughly shocked, Guto took a deep breath. "Zeronull is one of the most powerful beings in existence, but even he has a limit of how much power he can hold. Think of it like a cup of water. Imagine you need to hold as much water as you can, but the cup you're using isn't enough. So, what do you do when you need to hold more water?"

"Get more cups," Rainbow realised what he was getting at.

"That's right. Using the elements that make up the world, Zeronull created the Zenith Dragons to hold the power he needed. He'd create one, imbue them with his power, then begin to build up his power to its max before repeating the process. It was slow going, but eventually, six Zenith Dragons were created. They and Zeronull, their powers combined, could wipe out all life. But before they could complete that task, someone got in their way."

Rainbow smirked. "Someone awesome, I bet."

"Hardly," Guto growled. "For every force of nature, there exists its exact opposite in order to keep balance. Zeronull is the embodiment of destruction, so can you guess what his opposite is?"

Rainbow thought, slowly putting the pieces together. "Omega...alpha. Destruction...creations. Alpha Deity of Creation-"

"Harmonica," Guto finished. "Yes. It can be seen as Zeronull's twin sibling. Equal in power but weak in every aspect that makes Zeronull strong. The two did battle and Zeronull's Zenith Dragons turned the tide, until Harmonica cheated and imbued lesser being with power unbefitting. With her help, a wizard was able to banish the Zenith Dragons into a world out of Zeronull's reach. And without them, Zeronull's power was matched by Harmonica and she was able to hold him back long enough for the wizard to seal them both away."

"Both of them?"

"Yes. Just shows how incredible our lord is that it requires another god to contain him. Now our lord remains trapped within another dimension, his only hope of escape being the power sealed within the Zenith Dragons. But with them in this world, there was no way they could be used to free him. That is until now, thanks to Flash Sentry."

"Flash?"

"He opened the door for us. He allowed us to enter this world through the Shadow Gate. Thanks to him, we were able to Soulink ourselves into this world and find the Zenith Dragons. Now all we must do is awaken the Dragons and find a worthy vessel for our lord."

"I'm not gonna let that happen!" Rainbow almost roared. "I'm winning this Duel and sending you back where you came from."

"I'd like to see you try. I activate Ouravas's skill once again!" The gem's number increased to three, while Guto's deck slotted out a card. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon!" A whirlwind appeared and blew away Rainbow's face down, her Vortex Guard exploding.

"Not good."

"And once again, Ouravas's skill activates." His deck slotted out another card as the gem's number rose once more. "I equip myself with the Wing Blade Spell Card!" The griffon's wings were replaced by black metallic ones. "Now attack!" Ouravas flew forward, swinging its spear at Battle Wing. The Xyz Monster tried to block with its sword but Ouravas managed to outmanoeuvre him before stabbing it into his gut.

Battle Wing exploded, Rainbow grunting.

Guto: 2600
Rainbow: 2300

"And since he was equipped with Wing Blade, I can now destroy any monster with less ATK then your Battle Wing and deal you damage equal to its Level times one hundred." Ouravas flapped its wings, launching a bunch of metal feathers that struck Rainbow Wing Pegasus and destroyed it.

Guto: 2600
Rainbow: 1900

"I place one card face down then activate my monster's effect once more."

"Again?" Rainbow asked, watching him take a card from his deck as the gem on his Spell rose to five. Would it have killed the card designers to put a limit on that card?

"I play Foolish Burial, to send another copy of myself to the graveyard."

"But why?" Rainbow asked.

"You'll find out. Finally, I place Ouravas's ability one last time." The number changed to six as a card slotted out of his deck. "I end my turn." Rainbow knew whatever card he'd just gotten would be useful next turn. Maybe something that would help him summon Marventus.

"I gotta end this before he can." Her gut was telling her that this Duel would be almost impossible to win if he got it out. And if she lost, who knew what he'd do next.

Meanwhile, Gilda was in the middle of her own Duel against Queen Novo. The woman's Duel Disk had a blue blade and she currently had an Atlantean Dragoons, Atlantean Pikeman and a face down on her field. Gilda had her Harpy Lady Zephyr and one face down.

"My turn!" She frowned, having been hoping for a Rank-Up card. But she didn't get one. "I activate "Harpy Lady Zephyr's ability!" Gilda removed a card from her grave before her monster crushed one of its Overlay Units in its talons. "By removing an Overlay Unit, she can revive a Wind monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field in DEF mode." Zephyr flapped its wings and created a tornado, Cyber Harpie Lady appearing from it and taking a defensive stance. (A1800/1300/L4) "And it doesn't stop there. Zephyr's ATK points also increase by half the ATK of the monster she summons. (A3000/D2300/R4/P3) "Attack!"

Zephyr flew through the air before slashing its talons towards Dragoons, destroying them. Since they were in DEF mode, Novo took no damage.

"You activated my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Deep-Sea Ascension! When a Water monster is destroyed, I can search my deck for a Water monster with less ATK points and add it to my hand." A card slotted out of her deck.

"Well, Zephyr's ability also activates. Since she destroyed a monster, I can hit you with seven hundred points of damage for every other Wind monster on my field." Zephyr flapped her wings, creating a gust of wind that struck Novo in the gut.

Gilda: 2900
Novo: 2400

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

Novo smirked as he looked up at Gilda. "You sure are a powerful Duellist. It's no wonder you're being selected as a vessel for our lord."

"Well your lord's gonna need to find someone else," Gilda told her. "Cause I ain't gonna be it."

"We'll see," Novo drew her card and smiled. "I summon Rhodos, the Atlantean Princess!" A spiral of water shot out of the ground before exploding, revealing a pale-skinned woman with blond hair. She wore a light blue tight-fitting dress that had a hole on her chest and on her hips, with a metal belt around her waist that had a blue crystal buckle. The dress parted at the front while on her head, she wore a silver crown-like helmet. (A1600/D800/L3)

Gilda looked at her suspicious, guessing that was the card her Trap got her.

"Then I activate Rhodos's ability!" Both her monsters were sucked into a water spout. "By tributing her and a Sea-Seapent monster, I can summon the Atlantean Queen. Behold, my true form, Amphitrite!" The water exploded, revealing a middle-aged pale-skinned woman with blond hair that had purple and blue highlights. She wore a light blue and white dress with holes revealing her chest and stomach, along with a golden belt around her waist with a blue crystal buckle. She also had a cape coming off her back, which had the ends connected to a pair of long gloves around the wrist. On her head was a golden crown-like helmet and she was carrying a long golden staff with a pink pearl on the end that had a strange energy flowing through it (A3000/D2500/L8)

Gilda glared at the monster as she floated down infront of Novo. "So, that's what you really look like."

"Indeed," Novo smiled. "And you're about to find out just how powerful we Atlanteans can be."

"My turn!" Rainbow drew her card and smiled before taking two cards from her hand. "I set the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Supporting Filly and scale seven Rainbow Wing Knight Osprey." The pillars of light appeared on either side of her before the two monsters flew up into them. "Now I can summon monsters levelled two through six." The portal began to form above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before two lights shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal Rainbow's monsters. "Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" (A1800/D1200/L4/P5)

"And Rainbow Battle Wing Gold!" (A2500/D1500/R4/P7) "And with Pegasi's skill, I can add a Level four or below Winged-Beast to my hand." Her deck slotted it out, "then I'll summon it. Come on out, Rainbow Wing Purple Condor!" A tornado exploded infront of her before the bird of prey flew out. (A1800/D100/L3) "And with him on the field, I can deal you six hundred points damage." It flapped its wings and unleashed a gust of wind, which struck Guto and knocked him back.

Guto: 2000
Rainbow: 1900

Guto panted at the pain, "you'll need to do better than that."

"She's about to," Spitfire announced as she saw what card Rainbow had.

"True that!" She cried as a rainbow coloured tornado exploded around Battle Wing, the light almost blinding Guto and Spitfire. "Go, Rank-Up-Magic Infinite Spectrum!" The black hole appeared above their heads, which the rainbow tornado flew up into. "With this card, I can Rank-up my Xyz monster into a Spectrum Battle Wing!"

Guto smirked as he activated his face down, Rainbow beginning to chant.

"Radiant colours of the universe, infuse your powers !" The rainbow tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battlefield. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The tornado exploded, revealing Rainbow's hyper-evolved Xyz monster. "Spectrum Battle Wing...PRISM BOLT!" (A3000/D2500/R5/P6) "Since Prism Bolt was summoned due to the effect of Infinite Spectrum, his ability lets me destroy one card on your field for every Overlay Unit he has." Guto watched as Prism Bolt raised its wings, the light around it flying passed them. The crystal on its wings reflected the light from the Overlay Unit, creating a rainbow beam that flew down towards his Griffon's Horde.

"I activate my Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Spell Swap. It lets me return a Spell on my field to my hand and replace it with another that's face down." Griffon's Horde returned to Guto's hand before a face down materialised, right before it was destroyed by the rainbow beam. "And that spell was Trap Calling. When it's destroyed, I can look at the top ten cards of my deck and place one Trap card face down." He drew his cards and smiled before placing one face down.

Rainbow frowned, knowing that Trap was likely gonna stop her attack and maybe destroy her monsters. But the only way she'd know was if she sprung it. "I activate my monster's other ability!" Prism Bolt crushed its Overlay Unit between its hands before Rainbow Wing Pegasus flew in front of it. "By removing an Overlay Unit, I can lower the ATK power of a monster on your field by the ATK of any Rainbow Wing, Rainbow Assault Wing or Rainbow Battle Wing on my side of the field until the end of the turn." Prism Bolt raised its wings before the crystals on them unleashed lightning that was the same colour as the crystals. The fourteen bolts of rainbow lightning wrapped around Pegasus before flying off it towards Ouravas.

Guto smirked, "You activated my Trap." His face down flipped up, "Griffon's Poison! This Trap lets me return a Griffon Monster to my hand and lower the ATK points of every monster on your field by his ATK points."

"What!?" A vial of purple liquid appeared in Ouravas's claws before it splashed it all over Rainbow's monsters, weakening them all as they dropped to the knees. (A0/D2500/R5/P6) (A0/D1200/L4/P5) (A0/D100/L3) After that, Ouravas transformed into a card that flew into Guto's hand.

"What's wrong?" Guto asked mockingly, "upset you couldn't end this?"

Both Rainbow and Spitfire frowned, "just go."

"Very well," Guto drew his card as a tornado exploded around him.

"What's happening?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow didn't answer, instead looking down at her Duel Disk.

Guto: 1000
Rainbow: 1900

"Thought so?" She looked back at Guto and watched as something appeared inside the tornado above him, quickly realising it was Ouravas.

"How," Spitfire asked, "It's back in your hand?"

"This one is," he held up the card in question. "But I had another one...in my graveyard."

Rainbow frowned, "so it can summon itself from the graveyard."

"Only during my Standby Phase and only after I pay a thousand life points."

'So that's why he sent it there. Was he planning to summon them both before? What's he planning?' Rainbow then looked up at the Gold Sarcophagus, remembering the card inside it. "Does it have something to do with that Zenith Dragon?"

"Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't," Guto replied. He looked down at his Duel Disk, "just one last turn. Then, the mighty beast will awaken."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Although, she wasn't entirely sure if she actually did have anything to say about it. She had no idea what abilities his cards had. But if she didn't win, who knows what might happen to her and her friends.

Flash was running as fast as he could through a dark hallway, spotting a light up ahead. But when he ran through it, he found he was back in the circular chamber. "Again."

"Flash!" He turned to see Scootaloo run out of another corridor, panting as she reached him. "Still nothing."

"Let's try again!" Scootaloo nodded and they both ran through one of the doorways into the hallways. After almost a minute, they once again ran out of different doorways back into it. They looked at one another and said the exact same thing, "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!"

"AAARRRHHH!" Scootaloo pulled at her hair in frustration.

"This doesn't make any sense," Flash said. "We didn't take any turns so how are we ending up in the exact same place?"

"It might help if we knew where we were," Scootaloo suggested. It was then that Flash let out a pained cry and clutch his hand, making her turn to him. "What's wrong?"

"My hand," Flash said through the burning pain. He looked down at his hand and gasped when he saw the mark from before was back, only it was slightly different. Now, about a sixth of the omega symbol was coloured red. It started at the left foot and moved upwards before stopping, the rest the same as before. "That can't be good."

"Maybe it's a count down," Scootaloo forced a smile. "Maybe when it's full you'll explode or something." She let out a short laugh before opening her eyes and seeing Flash glare at her, "I'm just kidding." Before Flash could reprimand her, something else caught their attention.

It was footsteps. They were soft at first by each step was louder than the last, signalling the owner was getting closer and closer.

Flash and Scootaloo jumped back to back, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. "You hear that?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded, "but I can't tell where it's coming from." The listened and waited, both hoping whoever it was would be someone that could help them escape. Though they weren't holding their breath.

Eventually, they managed to track the sound to one of the hallways and turned to it. And there, slowly stepping out of the darkness, was a tall figure who was walking with an air of confidence and swagger. They appeared to have a top hat and cane.

The figure finally stepped into the light, revealing themselves to be Discord. "Greetings," he took off his hat and bowed, "I welcome you to the Void. Dimensional Prison of the Soul." He stood up straight and replaced his hat, "anyone imprisoned here will never escape." The siblings grew worried at that remark, fearing what was gonna happen to them.

"Who are you?" Flash asked him.

Discord smiled, speaking as if Flash never even spoke. "However, there are two way of being set free from this prison. The first is to lose your life." The two didn't have time to properly focus on that thought before Discord showed them his mark. "The second...is to offer yourself up as a vessel for our lord."

"A Dominator," Flash whispered. He knew it had been likely that there were other ones out there, but seeing the proof made him feel uneasy. However, the Dominator's words were more fear-inducing then anything else. He realised now why he'd been brought here. Not to be put out of the way while they executed their plan, but as part of their plan. Their plan to turn him into the host of Zeronull.

This wasn't good.

Author's Note

How will Rainbow's match against Guto fair out? Will she be victorious, or sent to Void?

Turn 4: Raging Wonderbolt

Void.

Flash and Scootaloo had been trapped within this unusual prison when they suddenly found themselves met by the mysterious Discord, who explained there was no way to escape this unusual place.

"However," he then went on, "there are two way of being set free from this prison. The first is to lose your life." The two didn't have time to properly focus on that thought before Discord showed them his mark. "The second, is to offer yourself up as a vessel for our lord."

"A Dominator," Flash whispered before glaring at him. "What are you gonna do with us?" Discord didn't reply, the room instead being filled with light. "Hey!" When the light faded, the two found they were in the same temple Discord had shown Cold and the others earlier. "Where are-" He didn't finish, his focus being drawn to the giant tablet infront of them.

Discord smiled at their amazement. "My name is Chaos Fiend, Draconequus. I am one of the Omega Zealots, servant to the mighty Zeronull. Until our master's revival, I lead the Zealots in our quest."

"You're talking about your quest to destroy both worlds, right?" Flash remembered what Storm King had told him, how Zeronull would obliterate the real world and seal them all in a dream dimension. "Why would you want that?"

"Because what greater chaos is there than the total devastation of everything?" Discord replied before turning to look up at the tablet. "Every second leading up to that incredible moment is the true beauty of him. To see you pitiful ants scurry around trying to prevent the inevitable. And when the rest of the world realises the end is near, they panic and rampage. The chaos and destruction caused will be like nothing before." He turned back to them, the two seeing a deranged look appear in his eyes. "It'll be everything I live and breath in order to witness."

"He's nuts," Scootaloo whispered to her brother as they stepped back. Flash had no arguments there.

They watched as the deranged look completely vanished from Discord's face, the man returning to a more gentlemanly vibe. "To enable this to come to fruition, we are here." He then bowed, his hat strangely remaining on his head. "We want you to lend us your powers." Before Flash could say anything, Discord snapped again.

Another flash of light transported them to what looked like a movie theatre, the two looking around. "Where are we?" Scootaloo asked, she and Flash finding they were now sitting in the centre pews while Discord sat upfront.

The projector then switched on to show the tablet once again, Discord talking as it did. "If someone is to be worthy of being a vessel of lord Zeronull, they must be a Duellist of the highest calibre. In other words, strong enough to defeat a Dominator."

"Wait," Flash thought back to all the people who'd beaten Dominators. Aside from him, there was Spike, Sunburst, Soarin and Gilda. They'd all beaten Dominators during the Double X. Was there anyone else?

The image suddenly changed, showing the image of a girl and Duel Monster Flash had only seen pictures off. Moondancer and Saltalunam. "Normally, a strong bond must exist between a human and Duel Monster for a Soulink to occur." The image changed to show Heath and Hellfire, Flash frowning at that. "There must also be a high degree and synchronisation between the two before it can be possible." The image then shifted to show Flash and his ace, the two standing side by side. "Once we find the right candidate, all we have to do is...destroy that bond."

"What!?" Flash stood up, Discord not phased at all by the reaction.

"That's why we created Void, our very own prison of souls." The image changed once again. This time, it showed an almost entirely black screen. And floating in the middle of it was a small patch of triangular rock, with a castle-like building built atop of it.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Gilda was continuing her Duel against Novo.

The Dominated queen had just summoned the monster controlling her, Gilda ready for whatever it threw at her. "Activating the skill of Amphitrite, the Atlantean Queen." She discarded a card as the pearl on her monster's staff began to glow. "By discarding a monster from my hand, I can now change the attribute of every monster on the field to the discarded monster's attribute." The light hit Gilda's monsters and caused their skin to change into fish scales while their bird feet transformed into webbed flippers. On their necks, they grew a pair of gills. They were now Water Attributes.

"Not good," Gilda looked down at her face down. Her Protective Winds would negate any attack, but only if she had a Wind monster on her field.

"ATTACK!" Amphitrite raised her hands as a sphere of water appeared to float above it. "And whenever she attacks, she gains two hundred ATK points for every other Water monster on the field. (A3400/D2500/L8) Amphitrite threw the sphere at Zephyr, the water amount increasing until it was larger than her.

Zephyr was soon consumed by the giant bubble and it appeared those new gills were just for show, because the Harpy Lady started drowning until she exploded. "Gyah!" Gilda cried, staggering back from the explosion.

Gilda: 1600
Novo: 2400

She lowered her arms and glared at Novo. "She might be good, but she's not taking me down so easily."

Back in Void, Discord continued to explain their situation.

"Millions of dimensions exist in the universe, all stacked up against one another like books on a shelf. Your world is one such book while my world is another. The two are side by side, allowing them to rarely make contact with one another like through the Shadow Gate or due to special people like the two of you that have a connection to that world. Then there's the void, the empty space between those dimensions. It contains, or used to contain, absolutely nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down. No life. Time and space are but distant memories here, which allows those who understand it to bend certain rules. And on this rock, I built my church. A prison, built within and named after the place itself."

Flash and Scootaloo shared a worried look, unable to believe they now existed outside both worlds. Flash then turned back to Discord, "what did you mean before about destroying the bonds between a Duellist and their monsters?"

"Once a person falls into Void, the power of lord Zeronull begins to infect them and slowly erode any bond that person shared with any Duel Monster." Flash suddenly felt the burning sensation from his hand again, Scootaloo gasping as the mark reappeared and showed that now a third of the omega symbol was coloured red. "That mark is a sign. The more it's filled, the more synchronised you will become with our lord. And when it's full, the Soulink can take place."

"No way!" Flash almost yelled, "I won't be Dominated. You can forget about using me or anyone else. Even if I can't break out, my friends will find a way to save us."

Discord chuckled, that cackle breaking out into full-on laughter before he suddenly teleported so that he stood infront of the screen.

"You really think you have any say in this? No matter how strong you think you are, once the link has been made there will be no stopping it. You could have the strongest will imaginable and you'd still be unable to stop our lord's possession. And even if by some miracle you're able to fight it off, you're not the only ones out there worthy of housing him."

At that moment, Soarin was sitting at a table outside the ice cream parlour.

He'd ordered and drank an ice cream float, but there was still no sign of Rainbow. So he took out his phone and tried to call her, but he got no answer. "Come on." He tried again, but there was still no reply. This worried him, "did the teacher put her detention or something?" He then tried to call Gilda, but also got no reply. "What's going on?

He turned in the direction of the school, wondering what might be holding her up.

At Wonderbolt's Academy, Rainbow Dash was continuing her Duel against the Dominated Guto. He had his Griffonic Commander, Ouravas, on the field while Rainbow had Prism Bolt, Rainbow Wing Pegasus and Rainbow Wing Purple Condor. It was now Guto's turn and he only had to wait until the turn after it to get his best card.

"I'll start by once again activating the Spell Card, Griffon's Horde." The treasure chest with the gem carrying griffon appeared, the counters now returned to zero. "This allows me to activate abilities without paying the cost. So now I'll use Ouravas's ability!" The number of the gem changed from one to three as three cards slotted out of Guto's deck, the man smiling at he took the cards. "I now play the three cards I gained. Three copies of Dian Keto the Cure Master." Rainbow's eyes went wide as three images of a green-haired woman appeared around Guto and gave him an orb of light.

Guto: 4000
Rainbow: 1900

"What?" Spitfire asked, "that's gotta be cheating."

"Totally legal move," Guto said with a smile on his face. Rainbow just glared at Guto, knowing this Duel was gonna be even hard to win now. "Then I'll use Ouravas's ability again," the number changed to four as he took a card. "I activate the Spell Fissure." Rainbow watched as her Purple Condor was destroyed. "Now, attack!" Ouravas flew forward and impaled Prism Bolt with its spear, destroying him.

Guto: 4000
Rainbow: 1400

"Next, I activate his ability twice more!" The number changed to six as his deck slotted out two cards, "and now I play the Giant Trunade!" From out of nowhere, a tornado and green wind swept through the field and sucked up all their cards. "Now every Spell and Trap will be returned to our hands." Rainbow's Pendulum Monsters returned to her hand while Guto's Griffon's Horde returned to him. "I end my turn by placing one card face down and activating Griffon's Horde once again." The spell reappeared, the number reset to zero.

"What's the point of all that?" Spitfire asked. "It's not like Rainbow's Pendulum Scale will be gone for long. All that did was make that counter go down." And that was what worried Rainbow.

"He knows what's coming next," she frowned. "Why does he care about that card being destroyed?" Guto didn't seem to care about her speculation, instead looking down at his Duel Disk screen and seeing the removed card.

"Just one last turn," Guto announced. "Then, the mighty beast will awake."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Rainbow told him.

"But that's just it, you don't have anything to say about it. My Zenith Dragon will awaken and when it is, you will fall." Rainbow frowned at this, actually kinda thinking the same thing.

Void.

"Millennia ago, the universe came into creation through the power of the Numeron Dragon." The screen changed to show a golden dragon spinning in a circle, a universe forming within it. "This caused it to go into hibernation, unable to see the universe as it came into being. But what did see it were two beings, born at the same instant and wielding completely opposite powers. The power of destruction and the power of creation." The screen showed two blacked-out figures, one looking like the creature on the tablet while another looked like a woman in cloth robes with six angelic wings.

"Zeronull," Flash whispered before looking at the other one, "and that must be his opposite." His brain did the math, "alpha deity of creation."

"Her name is Harmonica," Discord explained. "She watched as the universe formed, life beginning to form and evolve over time. But Zeronull saw this as an insult. He believed all life was nothing but a disease that infected the universe and chose to battle against it." Six very different dragonic figures appeared around Zeronull, one shape Flash and Scootaloo recognised.

"The Zenith Dragons," Flash whispered.

"He granted each of them a portion of his power with intents to use them to destroy everything. However, Harmonica chose to intervene and did battle against Zeronull. To counter the power of the Zenith Dragons, she lent her power to the beings of my world. Doing so created some of the most powerful beings of our world, such as Exodia, the Creator of Light, Starswirl, the Crimson Dragon, Five-Headed Dragon and even the deadly Wicked Gods. The screen changed to show the two armies doing battle, with many smaller figures Flash recognised as Duel Monsters like Feral Imp, Happy Lover, Beaver Warrior and Seiyaryu all fighting against one another.

Flash stared at the images on screen unable to believe this all happened.

"Eventually, Harmonica managed to hold Zeronull down long enough for them both to be sealed while the Zenith Dragons were banished to another world. Your world."

"So that's why you're here," Flash realised. "You need the Zenith Dragons in order to revive Zeronull, don't you?"

"How perceptive of you." The screen once again showed Zeronull, surrounded by the blacked-out dragons. "Yes, before our master can awaken, the six Zenith Dragons must awaken. To do that, they must taste battle and claim victory." He smiled, "one Zenith Dragon has already awakened. The blacked-out image of Greaterra was illuminated. "And I do believe the second shall be awakened within mere minutes." He snapped his fingers, "bare witness!"

Flash turned back to the screen as it began to show footage from a Duel currently going on. "RAINBOW!" The siblings yelled, seeing her in trouble. The screen showed their life points, the two gasping when they saw the large difference.

"She hasn't even scratched him," Flash realised.

Scootaloo gulped, "this isn't good." She shook her head, "no way. Rainbow's gotten out of tougher scraps then this. She can win."

"No way," They heard Rainbow say a second later. "I've gotten out of tougher scraps then this. Just watch me. I'm gonna win." Flash and Scootaloo smiled at one another, Flash loving just how much Rainbow had effected Scootaloo.

"Oh, the naivety of youth." They glared at Discord, "I wonder how much longer that upbeat attitude will last." He snapped his fingers and warped into the seat besides Flash, putting his feet up on the chairs infront of him while materialising a bag of popcorn to eat. "Let's enjoy the fun, shall we." They said nothing and turned back to Rainbow's Duel.

"It's my turn." A card slotted out of Rainbow Duel Disk. "And instead of drawing, I'll use Infinite Spectrum's ability to return it to my hand. Then I'll reset the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Supporting Filly and seven Rainbow Wing Knight Osprey." The pillars of light appeared on either side of her before the two monsters flew back up into them. "Now I can summon monsters levelled two through six." The portal began to reform above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and a single light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal her monster. "Spectrum Battle Wing, Prism Bolt!" (A3000/D2500/R5/P6)

"And let me guess. Now you'll use your Rank-Up card."

"Not yet," Rainbow told him. "First, I'll use Supporting Filly's ability to sacrifice herself and Wing Knight Osprey. That lets me draw cards equal to Osprey's Level." She drew four cards and nodded. "Then I'll summon Rainbow Wing Knight Kestrel!" A tornado exploded infront of her and revealed the knight of crimson bird armour. (A1500/D1200/L4/P5)

Guto frowned. With those cards, she could actually win if she did what he figured she was doing. And just as he predicted, the rainbow coloured tornado exploded around Prism Bolt.

"Now, I activate my Rank-Up-Magic Infinite Spectrum!" The black hole appeared above their heads, which the rainbow tornado flew up into. "Now I can once again evolve my monster and summon a Spectrum Battle Wing that's one Rank higher!"

Guto looked up and saw the rainbow lightning spark out of the vortex, but remained calm as Rainbow began to chant.

"Now watch, as the multicoloured forces of the universe clash to give life to this mighty being!" The rainbow tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battlefield. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The tornado exploded, unleashing a blinding light that quickly faded to reveal Rainbow's ace monster. "Spectrum Battle Wing...BRAVE REFRACTOR!" (A1000/D3000/R6/P5)

Spitfire smiled at this. And she wasn't the only one. The many students that Guto had injured in his arrival were beginning to get up, all wanting to show their support for their best Duelist. Each began to chant a familiar chanter of praise to her. "Rah...rah...Rainbow! Rah...rah...Rainbow! Rah...rah...RAINBOW!"

The multi-colour haired girl smiled at their support, turning back to Guto. "See this? This is the bond of friendship this game inspires. It's the friendship I'll fight to protect, even against an all-powerful outer god. Those are the length I'd go too. But you Zealots wouldn't understand that. Bet you've never had a friend in the world."

Hearing this seemed to affect Guto, making him begin to shake. At first Rainbow figured he was scared of being beaten, but then she realised it was instead anger that was causing him to shake. "You think I don't know about friendship? Oh, how wrong you are." His head shot up, showing a look of utter hatred. "I know it better than ANYONE!"

Rainbow and the others were all taken aback by this, but she quickly recovered. 'He's just trying to get in my head. Well, it ain't working' "Since Brave Refractor was summoned using Infinite Spectrum, you have to now shuffle the weakest monster on your field back into your deck." She smirked up at Ouravas, "bye-bye birdy."

"I think not," his face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Go, Solemn Sanctuary! By ditching a card from my hand, I can make one monster on my field immune to card effects this turn." He discarded a Spell card as a force-field appeared around the griffon. "Not only that, the card I ditched was Trapper's Outcry. When it's sent to the grave, its effect activates and lets me look at the top five cards of my deck and set any Trap I chose." He drew his cards and smiled before setting a card face down.

Rainbow frowned, but she wasn't beaten yet. "Brave Refractor, ATTACK!" The hyper-evolved Xyz monster charged forward, claws primed to attack. "Brave Refractor's skill!" Brave Refractor's Overlay Unit flew into his chest spike, causing it to glow red as it raised its gauntlets. "His ATK now goes up by the ATK of the monster he's attacking!" Each of its claws began to glow one of the six remaining colours of the rainbow, the light flowing out and extending them until they were twice as long. (A4000/D3000/R6/P5)

"DO IT!" The students and Spitfire all screamed as Brave Refractor reached Ouravas slashed at him in an X motion, the light carving through him and making the griffon explode.

"Gyah!" Guto grunted as he staggered backwards.

Guto: 3000
Rainbow: 1400

"Now it's time to end this!" Rainbow yelled as her pegasus flew up before spinning around, shooting down towards Guto with a loud booming noise with a rainbow trailing behind her.

Spitfire smiled, "this and her Kestrel will be enough to end the match." She turned to Guto, expecting him to panic, but he remained calm. "What?"

"I activate my Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Defence Blockade. This Continuous Trap lets me cut the damage I take from an attack in half. And all I have to do is tribute a Spell or Trap on my field." Griffon's Horde disappeared as a force field appeared around him, blocking Pegasi's attack and only pushing him back a few feet.

Guto: 2100
Rainbow: 1400

Rainbow frowned, knowing she wouldn't be able to beat him now. But, she could still keep him from summoning Ouravas next turn. "Kestrel, attack!" He bird of prey flew up before swan diving at him once again, only to slam into the force-field once again. "What?"

Guto: 1350
Rainbow: 1400

Rainbow looked over at his Trap and saw it disappear, making her realise what had happened. "It can use itself as a tribute."

"Though it should only be a last-ditch effort," Guto finished with a smirk. "We Zealots watched every single Duel that took place in the Double X, thoroughly. We know every card. Every trick. Every strategy your decks can use. And we made sure to be ready for all of them." Rainbow frowned.

"Don't worry Rainbow," she looked back at Spitfire. "He hasn't won yet. Just stay focused and work to get to your next turn. That's all that matters now." The rest of the student body cheered for her, offering words of encouragement and support.

Rainbow smiled before turning to shoot Guto the most confidant smile he'd ever seen. "I throw down three face downs and end my turn." Brave Refractor's ATK returned to normal. (A1000/D3000/R6/P5)

"It's my turn!" Guto drew his card before a golden light exploded above him, making everyone look up and see the Gold Sarcophagus begin to open its lid as a single card slowly flew out. Once it was completely out, the box vanished while the card shrank down to normal size and flew into his hand. "Finally."

"Looks like you got your Zenith Dragon," Rainbow mocked. "Go ahead, bring it out so I can wipe it out."

Guto chuckled. "All in good time. But first," the tornado exploded around him. The wind battered everyone's faces as Guto's points dropped.

Guto: 350
Rainbow: 1400

Rainbow looked up and saw Ouravas appear above him as the tornado vanished, allowing him to land infront of Guto. "Now, everything's in place." He held up the card he'd just gotten, "I play...the Spell Card Aerial Calling."

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Did you honestly think I'd be that predictable. I said I knew all your tricks from the Double X. That doesn't mean I didn't expect something new from you. For all I know, you could have had a card in your deck that allowed you to steal a banished card or sent my Zenith Dragon to the bottom of my deck. I wasn't gonna show you where you needed to aim your strategy. Though it looks like I needn't have worried, since you haven't shown a single new ability since the Double X. How pitiful."

Rainbow seethed, watching as his card's effects played out.

Guto: 175
Rainbow: 1400

"By paying half my life points, I can now add any Wind Attributed monster from my deck to my hand." His deck slotted out a card, Guto taking it and holding it up. "With this card, I place my entire future on the line." Rainbow and everyone else just stared at him, confused. "Should I lose this Duel, then every card in my deck will be destroyed."

"What?" Rainbow couldn't believe this. The card in his deck was the only thing linking him to his host. If it were destroyed, "why would you play such a dangerous card."

"In order for lord Zeronull to awaken, all Zenith Dragons must taste battle." He pointed at Zeronull, "and you will be the offering to state its hunger. Now watch!" He discarded his other copy of Ouravas. "First, I must tribute a Wind Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." As he did this, Ouravas leapt up into the air as a powerful gust of wind blew through the school ground.

Everyone cried out, almost being knocked off their feet by the power of the gale. All they could do was hold on and watch as Ouravas was surround by the spiralling wind, which took the form of a sphere that flew up into the air while growing larger and larger each second. "How big is that thing?" Rainbow asked.

Back at the ice cream parlour, Soarin had just started his second float when he heard someone gasping. "What's that?"

He turned to see it was a woman who was pointing at something, his curiosity making him look around and go wide-eyed seeing the giant wind ball floating into the air. It was then he realised what that sphere was floating over.

"Oh no." He jumped up and ran towards his school, hoping whatever was happening wasn't something dangerous.

Rainbow and the others continued to watch as the wind sphere grew large, until something finally broke out of it.

It was a giant wing, bat-like in nature, so large that it overshadowed the entire school. The actual arm of the wing was dark blue and it zigzagged in a way that resembled a lightning bolt, while the membrane was yellow. It was then joined by a second identical wing on the other side of the orb, the wind beginning to fade as Guto laughed.

"Awaken, beast of the winds!" The last of the gale faded, revealing his monster for the whole city to see in absolute horror. "Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies, MARVENTUS!"

The creature was a giant dark blue serpentine wyvern so large it blocked out the rest of the sky. Its lower mouth was yellow and was connected to a series of yellow dots running down the front of its body by a thin yellow line. Coming off the back of its head was a giant storm cloud-like mane of hair, white lightning surging out of it. A trio of lightning-shaped whiskers adorned either side of its face, white static electricity surging between them. The tip of its tail had a large orb with four long spikes coming off it, one coming out the end and three coming out the side. Finally, on its forehead, was a round green gem with the Wind symbol on it.

The beast looked down at Rainbow and the others before letting out a mighty roar, the force once again knocking everyone back. "It's huge!" A student yelled.

"How the heck can the Duel Disk generate something like that?" Misty Fly asked.

"Who cares," Fleetfoot told her. "Rainbow's still gonna crush it."

"Don't be so sure," Guto told them. "Marventus's Original ATK and DEF become the combined ATK and DEF of the monsters used to summon him." Rainbow's eyes went wide as she looked down at her Duel Disk, seeing that he wasn't joking. (A6000/D5000/L12) "Don't be so shocked. Zenith Dragons can't stick around long. At the end of the turn, Marventus will be banished and I'll need to replace him with one of the monsters used to summon him."

So all Rainbow needed to do was survive this turn. And that was something she could do. Her face downs were Vortex Guard, Tornado Guard and Mirror Force. When he attacked, she'd use Mirror Force and destroy that overgrown salamander. Then she's be free to attack.

"Now," Guto pulled her from her thoughts, "Marventus's skill activates."

"Another ability?"

"Oh yes," Guto nodded as the dragon began to beat its giant wings. "When he's summoned, he's able to return every card in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zone to your hand." A sinking feeling filled Rainbow's gut, the girl watching as her face downs were all blown off the field. Her defence was completely gone. "What's more, every Wind monster on my field gains five hundred ATK points for every card returned until the End Phase." Marventus let out yet another mighty roar, its power increasing. (A7500/D5000/L12)

"No way," she whispered before turning to everyone else. "RUN!" No one dared question her and they all ran for their lives towards the front gate, Spitfire the only one remaining behind.

"Rainbow!" She screamed over the wind, "stop this. Turn it off. Forfeit. Anything. Just stop this."

"It's too late," Guto told her as storm clouds began to form above them. "This...ends...NOW!" Marventus raised its tail before a bolt of lightning flew down and struck it, causing the yellow lines and dots to glow. The dragon opened its mouth as lightning sparked from its whiskers and began to pool together into a sphere within its mouth "RAGING WONDERBOLT!"

Rainbow watched as the massive electro-ball fired, rocketing down towards her monsters. Her entire body was frozen in terror as the sphere struck her monsters and vaporised them before continuing down to her, Spitfire's voice echoing in her ear but she remained still as the lightning struck the ground end exploded into a wave of light that blinded her before a powerful force of wind knocked her off her feet. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!"

Guto: 175 (Winner)
Rainbow: 0

"RAINBOW!" Flash and Scootaloo screamed, the screen going blank and switching off.

Discord let out a mighty laugh, the two turning to glare at him but found he was gone. His voice echoed through the theatre from above, "I thank you my boy." This made Flash frown.

"Why thank me?"

"If it wasn't for you, none of this would be possible. You opened the doorway to allow us to enter this world. You thought you were saving it, but all you did was guarantee its destruction."

"What?" Flash thought back to what Sombra and Storm King had once told him, "the Shadow Gate." He'd been the one to help summon the Duel Spirits to this world, including Storm King and the one that had Dominated Starlight. And because of that, Marble and who knows how many others had had their bodies stolen. "Is this...really all my fault." Before he could get an answer, the theatre was filled with light and the next thing he knew, he and Scootaloo were back in the rounded chamber. "This place again?"

"Oh," Scootaloo hugged herself, "I hope Rainbow's alright."

Flash hoped the same thing. If she'd been hurt, it'd be because of him. All of this was his fault. All the pain, all the body stealing. Everything because of what he did that day. "I'm sorry...for everything." All he could do now was sit and wait to be rescued, all the while hoping his friends were safe.

Soarin ran as fast as he could, hoping to get to the school before something bad happened.

But as he turned to corner into the school's street, he came to a stop as his heart stalled. His brain seemed to be refusing the image infront of him, screaming at him that it couldn't be real. "No." The entire school was destroyed, reduced to nothing but rubble.

He slowly walked through what remained of the gates as he looked around, trying to find the cause of his school's destruction. But then the sound of bricks made him look around and see a blue hand come up over a pile of rubble. "RAINBOW!" He ran up to that pile and climbed over it, gasping when he found both her and Spitfire laying in the destroyed bricks. Both were bleeding and covered in bruises, Soarin jumping down to sit his teammate up. "Rainbow, what happened? Who did this?"

Rainbow let out a moan, Soarin unsure what she was trying to say.

The girl wasn't actually trying to say anything. All she was doing was thinking back on the last thing Guto told her.

Several minutes before.

With the Duel over, Guto stood over Rainbow with a look of disgust on his face. "Long ago, Marventus was sealed with that statue by a human who had nothing but his own unshakeable will. To think humanity has grown so weak in the centuries since them."

Rainbow groaned, trying to reply but was unable to say anything.

"You claim to be the one who's going to stop us and save the world, but you lost to a Dominator during the Double X. And now you've lost to me. You won't go to Void. You're not worthy enough to be considered as a vessel." With that, Guto turned and walked off, leaving Rainbow to sit there until Soarin arrived.

Present.

Guto strolled down the street without a care in the world, the sound of sirens ringing in his ears. "All in all, a one hundred percent successful trip." A ringing caught his attention and made him pull out his phone, seeing it was Novo. "Amphitrite. How goes things?"

"Things are going excellent. I see that Marventus has finally awakened."

"Yes. I'm guessing you weren't able to awaken yours?"

"I'm afraid so," Novo turned to look down at the defeat remains of Gilda. The girl was currently on her knees, panting after having lost.

Gilda: 0
Novo: 1900 (Winner)

The woman held up her Dominator mark as it glowed, Gilda suddenly finding a portal opening up below her. "WOW!" She fell in, screaming the whole way down as the portal disappeared. "She was good. An excellent choice for a vessel. Alas, my cards weren't in the right order to allow me to summon my Zenith Dragon. But it will."

"I'll meet you back at base. Hellfire and Gaia-Maiden should be back by then."

She nodded before hanging up, "my daughter should be done with her work soon too. Soon, everything will be the way it should be." With that, she walked off the bridge without a care in the world.

That night.

Back at the Freeze Stadium, Cold was on the phone. Shining, Cadance Sunset, Adagio and Misty were there with him. "Understood," he told whoever he was speaking to, "you can leave it with us. Go and get some rest." He hung up before turning to the others, "that was Rainbow. She explained everything that happened at her school. Seems the one responsible was a Dominator called Ouravas, whose controlling a man named Guto."

Everyone frowned hearing this. When they'd head about Wonderbolt Academy being destroyed, seeing the Zenith Dragon on the news, they all realised it had to be the Zealots. They weren't kidding around with this declaration of war. Luckily, nobody had been seriously hurt in the attack besides Rainbow and Spitfire.

"So it was a three-pronged attack," Adagio said. "Heath comes to declare war on us, right as Flash Sentry is taken." Misty flinched hearing this, the woman having been worried sick upon hearing that both her children were in danger. "Then a Zealot shows up at Rainbow's school, just to get a single monster. They're acting fast, trying to get all their pieces into position before we have a chance to counter."

Cold frowned, agreeing with her assessment. "I'm gonna deal with this matter, personally. Our first objective is to protect the targeted Duellists. Luckily, we've gained some more information. Since Rainbow wasn't taken, it means not all the Double X finalists are being targeted."

"So what sets Rainbow apart from Flash?" Shining asked him, Cadance quickly answering.

"He defeated a Dominator in the tournament. She didn't. If it'd been Soarin and Gilda who'd Duelled and lost, I bet he would have taken them."

Adagio hummed, thinking back to the Double X. "Aside from those three, Flash's teammates were the only ones who beat a Dominator."

"Twilight also beat a Dominator," Misty told them without looking up.

Sunset nodded. "We should get them a security detail. If the Dominators can't get close, they'll be safe."

"Agreed," Cold nodded, "and we need to work on locating Flash and Scootaloo." He turned to Misty, "I know things must be hard for you. If you're not up for this-"

"Don't even think about sidelining me," Misty stood up. "I won't just sit ideally by while my children are who knows where. I'll do whatever it takes to find them and bring them home, while also showing those Zealots that you don't mess with my family."

Cold nodded, a smile on his face. "Good. Then meet up with Grand. He's going to expand his investigation to trying to locate this prison Marble talked about." He sat back. "most of the targets are already being safely watched. The only one we need to be worried about is Twilight."

"Are we sure she's even going to be targeted?" Cadance asked, "she didn't beat a Dominator during the Double X."

"But she did defeat one," Misty reminded her. "We shouldn't take any chances with these Zealots."

"Don't worry," Shining stepped up. "we've already booked her a flight home for tomorrow. But since it was last minute, the earliest flight we could get was in the afternoon. That leaves a large window of opportunity for the Zealots to get to her before she's safely back here."

"I've already taken care of that," Cold turned to look out the window. "Tidal's in Germany for his European tour. He's already heading to Paris now. Plus, I sent a little extra protection for her. Twilight should be safe."

"I hope so," Shining looked out the window too. "I just wish I could be there for her." Cadance wrapped her arms around his, showing she was just as worried. All they could do was hope Twilight would be okay.

Paris.

Twilight was getting ready for bed, knowing she had a big day tomorrow. As she got into bed and took off her glasses, her thoughts drifted to Flash. "Please be alright," she whispered before laying back and closing her eyes. Sleep was difficult to achieve, but she eventually nodded off. But as she did, she was completely unaware that she was being watched.

Standing on the roof of the building across from her apartment, staring into Twilight's window and watching her sleep, Trixie Lulamoon smiled down at her victim. "Hello again," she smiled. "I look forward to showing you my true power once and for all." She raised her hand, holding up a pair of cards that'd help her achieve her goal. Her back of her hand glowed bright yellow, revealing the Light symbol on it. "I can't wait to see how my lord feels about you as his host."

Author's Note

Well, we all new that was coming. Hopefully, Rainbow will get her revenge later on.

Turn 5: Return of an Old Foe

The annoying ring of his alarm was the first thing Spike heard that morning, the teen moaning as he rolled over to turn it off. He then sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and he let out a yawn.

As he did, he suddenly remembered what had happened the previous day and realised it wasn't just a dream. It was all real, which meant both Flash and Scootaloo had really been kidnapped. "Dang it," Spike sighed before picking himself up. "If only I'd gotten there faster." He knew it likely wouldn't have made a difference, but he just didn't like the idea of not being there when Flash needed him.

What was worse was that Rainbow was in the hospital, though he'd been assured her injuries were only minor. Plus, Gilda had also gone missing despite telling her teammates she was heading back to school. They hoped they were wrong, but they were currently working under the assumption she'd run into an Omega Zealot and lost to them.

"Will I be next?" He asked. A sinking feeling of dread surged through him until he eventually shook those thoughts out of his head. "You'll be fine. Cold and the others will help keep you safe."

He got up and changed into his normal attire before heading downstairs, where his mother was cooking breakfast. "Morning," she smiled at him as he sat down, "looking forward to this evening?"

"This evening?" Spike asked.

"Your sister's coming home," she reminded him as she placed his breakfast on the table infront of him. "I just hope something terrible hasn't happened to make her want to come back again so soon."

"If only you knew," he said under his breath before eating. As he did, he looked over at the TV and saw it was showing footage of the two dragons again.

His mother sighed at the sight. "I don't know about you but I think this ARC Duelling thing is starting to get out of hand. It's one thing to have monsters that large, but having them be solid." Spike wanted to tell her it wasn't the system that had caused those monsters to be real, but she just wouldn't understand. "Well, I need to get to work." She kissed Spike on the forehead before heading out. "Have a good day."

"You too," Spike called back before she left. He quickly finished his breakfast and was got up to leave for school, but then he remembered he wasn't supposed to leave the house alone. "Great," he sat back down, "now what'll I do?" Shining had told him he'd be getting an escort to school, so all he could do was sit and wait for them to-

Knock, knock, knock.

Spike went tense at the sound of the knocking, turning towards the doorway as his heart raced.

He grabbed his Duel Disk, ready to fight his way passed whoever was trying to take him away, then slowly stepped towards the door as another knock occurred. Then, he slowly reached out and unlatched the door before throwing it open. "Bring it on!" He cried as he activated his Duel Disk, only to freeze at the sight of who was standing on the other side of the door.

"You know I'm always up for a Duel," the king of Changeland smirked. "But don't you have school to get to."

"Thorax?" Spike lowered his Duel Disk.

"Great to see you man," he pulled Spike into a hug.

"What are you doing here?" He asked before pulling away, seeing Thorax frown.

"After what happened, did you really expect me to just sit back and let those guys get away with it?" Spike saw what he was getting at, Cold having told him about the attack. "That's why I'm here, to help you guys take down these Zealots and help save Flash and the rest of your friends."

"Sir," they looked around a saw someone who looked just like Thorax. The only difference was that he had dark green, almost black, skin and bright red hair. He wore a suit and sunglasses, giving him a very spy-like appearance. "We'll need to get moving if we want to drop him off and reach the meeting place on time."

"Got it," Thorax nodded. "Thanks Pharynx."

"Wait," Spike locked the door and followed Thorax, "you guys are my escorts."

"You bet. Cold told me about the buddy system and I thought this would be a great way to catch up and help keep you safe. Plus," Spike suddenly found himself standing infront of a limo, "you get to ride to school in style." Spike smirked, liking the idea of a royal escort more and more by the second.

Paris, France

Across the world, Twilight was waiting for the time to head to the airport.

She would have already left for it, but an email from her brother had told her not to go out alone and to wait for her escorts to arrive. Who that is was a complete mystery to her, so now she was just sitting at her desk waiting for whoever it was to show up.

As she waited, she was shifting through her deck.

If those Omega Zealots did show up, she was gonna be ready for them. "Flash," she whispered as she looked over her ace monsters. A small part of her was actually hoping one of the enemy showed up, then she could maybe get some answers about where her boyfriend was.

But she knew that was a bad idea. The Omega Zealots had already proven they weren't scared of using those powerful Zenith Dragons, which had the power to cause actual damage. If she Duelled one and they summoned it against her, she might end up putting others in just as much danger as she would be in.

No, it was best to wait and gather the information they wanted in the safest way possible. She just hopped waiting that long wouldn't cause any issue.

Knock, knock, knock!

Twilight went ridged at the noise, fearing it might the Omega Zealots.

She quickly rushed over to her kitchen and grabbed a frying pan before moving over to the doorway, attaching her Duel Disk in case she couldn't fight her way through. "Whose's there?" She whispered through it, ready to swing her pan as soon as she got her answer. But no answer came, making her worry.

So, after pushing her glasses back up her nose, Twilight slowly unlocked the door before flinging it open. Once the figure on the other side came into view, she raised her pan. But she froze before she swung it at them, seeing it was actually someone she knew and trusted.

"Hola amiga!" Tidal cheered as he reached out and pulled Twilight into a hug, the girl still frozen until he pulled away. "Did you decide to have something to eat before the flight? Buena idea. Eight-hour flight on aeroplane food. Not something one wants to experience."

"Wait," Twilight put the pan down, "you're my escort?"

"Of course. You think I'd let those silly Zeal...whatevers, touch my dear friend. Nope, I rushed over as soon as Cold asked me." He then frowned, "I'm sorry to hear about Flash." Twilight frowned back. "Don't worry, we're gonna get him back. But right now, we have to focus on keeping you safe."

"Right," Twilight nodded.

"Now come on, let's get going while the getting's still good." Twilight nodded again and headed over to where her suitcase was sitting, the two heading downstairs and out of the apartment building. As they did, Twilight saw a business car parked outside and spotted someone leaning against it she hadn't been expecting.

"Starlight?" She rushed over to her, Tidal packing her case into the trunk. "What are you doing here?"

"Extra protection," she smiled. "After what happened to Flash and Rainbow, I wasn't just gonna sit back while these Dominators cause more problem. So I asked Cold to let me come and help out."

"Are you sure?" Twilight was happy to see her, but it didn't feel right that she needed to get more involved with the situation after everything that happened to her before.

"Don't worry," Starlight smiled. "I'll handle anything that comes at us. From what we've been told, the Omega Zealots will only kidnap someone if they lose against them in a Duel. So it makes sense to have someone who can Duel in your place if they show up."

Twilight smiled, "thanks."

"Just returning the favour for helping me," Starlight smiled back.

Tidal stepped up to them next, "we should get going if we want to get to the airport on time." The girls nodded and they all got in the car before it pulled away, all of them completely unaware that they were being watched.

Up upon the roof, Trixie watched as the car drove off. "Silly humans, thinking they can keep them safe from us. Don't they realise this is destiny at work? Well," She pulled out a card, "time to get to work." She tossed it forward, the card glowing before it expanded into a white hole in space-time.

Trixie stepped into the hole before it completely vanished, leaving no trace she was ever there.

Back in the states, Spike and Thorax drove towards his school in the limo.

To say Spike was enjoying travelling in style was an understatement, the teen making sure to have the windows low enough so anyone who knew him could see he was riding in it. Thorax smiled at him, Pharynx speaking up from his spot at the wheel.

"We'll be arriving at the school in under five minutes."

"Thanks, cous," the king replied as Spike turned to him.

"So what really happened during the attack? Cold just said whoever it was stole some data and that's it. So what is it they stole?"

Thorax frowned, "the data was on a project my mom had our top scientists working on." Spike didn't like the sound of that, knowing Chrysalis was still under house arrest due to what had happened a year ago. "The project is one you should be familiar with."

"The Crystal Tower?"

"And the Shadow Gate. They now have everything they need to create their own, though I'm not sure what for."

"Maybe they want to find a way to enter this world without Dominating someone?" Spike suggested.

"It's possible. But we can't be sure. That's why we need to find the ones who took it and fast before they have a chance to even try and use what they stole."

"Any idea where they might be?"

"No. Cold sent me info on the guy he met, but we haven't been able to properly identify him yet. And since Skystar's a princess, she had diplomatic immunity." He sighed again, "those Dominators knew what they were doing when they chose to use someone like her as a spy and saboteur." It was then that the limo was pulled to a stop, the two looking out and seeing they were now outside Spike's school. "Well, this is it."

Spike smiled back at him. "Thanks for the lift."

"Any time," Thorax smiled back before he spotted some more of his friends coming up to the car.

"Thorax!" Rarity smiled as they tried to get close, only for two more cars to come to a stop before several suited men jumped out and made a human barricade between her and the limo. "Err...Thorax?"

"It's okay," he told the bodyguards. "They're fine." The guards moved away as Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy stepped up to the limo as Spike got out. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine darling."

Applejack nodded. "After what happened, a'm not surprised ya'h guards are bein' overprotective."

Fluttershy bowed, "thank you for keeping Spike safe."

"No problem. You just make sure to keep him out of trouble for now, okay?"

"Sure," Applejack put a hand on Spike's shoulder, "we'll watch him like a fox watches a hen."

Thorax nodded. "Well, as much as I love talking to you guys, I gotta get going." The limo's engine kicked in, "take care of yourselves." With that, the limo drove off as the girls directed Spike towards the school.

"Come along Spikey wikey. We'll drop you off at your homeroom."

"Thanks," Spike smiled back as they headed towards the front door. But as they did, Spike suddenly got the weirdest sensation of being watched. "Huh?" He looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's wrong?" Applejack asked, she and the others looking concerned.

"It's nothing." Spike turned back to the way they were going, "forget it." The four of them headed inside, completely unaware they were being watched.

Across the road from the school was its garden, where someone was hiding behind a tree and only now stepped out. "Ha," Heath smirked, "this'll be too easy."

Back in France, Twilight, Starlight and Tidal were getting closer and closer to the airport.

As they did, Twilight was watching some footage on her Duel Disk. "So that's what they look like." She was referring to the two Zenith Dragons, Greaterra and Marventus. The sheer size of the beasts were enough to make her panic. And with their abilities, defending against them would be next to impossible.

"Yes," Starlight replied while turning towards her, "and they're supposed to have some incredible power as well. And according to Rainbow, Applebloom and Sweetie, their ATK and DEF points become the combined total of the monsters used to summon them."

"So you could use easy to summon monsters that are weaker as a tribute, but that would mean the Zenith Dragon summoned becomes weaker as well?" Her friends nodded at her question, Twilight beginning to see the issue with these dragons. They required vast amounts of set up to use.

"Plus," Tidal spoke up, "they only remain on the field for a single turn. And if you lose after using one, your entire deck is destroyed." He frowned at this thought, "to think you'd risk the cards you're meant to care about just to have power. Despreciable."

"At least now we know what these two's effects are," Twilight pointed out. "That means we can start to build a strategy to stop them."

"But they still have four more dragons we don't know about," Starlight sighed. "And since we have no way of finding out what their effects are, our only chance would be to get our hands on them before the Dominators can use them, or hope we just happen to have a way to stop them right from the start."

"Ideas that'll be properly discussed once Twilight's safely back home," Tidal announced as the car finally arrived at the airport, parking up outside the terminal to allow the three to get out and unpack Twilight's case before heading inside. "Alright," he turned to the girls, "I'll go check our tickets. You girls get Twilight's luggage stored." They nodded and split up, Twilight and Starlight putting her bag on the carousel before going to get some drinks at the airport's store. Starlight also spotted a stand with booster packs, deciding to get one.

They sat down and waited for Tidal to return, Starlight opening the pack to see what she got. "Definitely not the cards you get back home," she told her while flipped through the cards. She had to ask Twilight what each card did, since the text was all in French. She eventually found three she figured might come in handy, as long as she could get them traded in for ones she could actually read.

Twilight smiled, remembering something. "I've been meaning to ask. How's it feel to get to Duel using your own cards again?"

"It's great," Starlight pulled out her deck. "I'd almost forgotten how much I loved my Celestial Spirits. Having to watch as someone else used them to hurt people made me scared I'd never get the same feeling using them. But I guess they don't want to give up on me."

Twilight's smile brightened, happy that Starlight's love of Duelling and her deck hadn't been ruined by her experience. But then she saw Starlight frown, her own face mirroring it.

"But sometimes...at night, I dream about being Dominated." This concerned Twilight, who placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I go to sleep and the next thing I know, I'm chained to that tablet again and someone else is using my body."

"Starlight," she turned to Twilight, "that isn't going to happen again. I promise." Starlight looked away, clearly not as confidant about this as Twilight. "Maybe you should see someone. A councillor, maybe?"

"Yeah, sure. What am I gonna tell them? I spent a year trapped inside my own body while a spirit from another world used my body like a human marionette."

"Good point," Twilight realised. "Maybe that's not such a good idea. Even so, this isn't a problem that'll just go away. My only other suggestion is to talk to someone who's been through it like you have."

Starlight sighed, "that doesn't help much. The only person like that is Tempest and I have no idea which country she was sent too." Twilight nodded, knowing she was right. It was then that Tidal arrived, smiling at the girls.

"Alright ladies, let's get to our gate." They nodded and got up. But as Twilight turned in the direction they were going, she suddenly froze and did a double-take at something she saw. She kept blinking, unable to believe what she was seeing. But there he was.

"Flash," she whispered. Tidal and Starlight froze hearing this and turned their gaze in the direction she was looking, both gasping.

Flash was really there, standing at the entryway of a corridor leading to a restricted section. But before Twilight or the others could call out to him, he turned to run down the hallway. "WAIT!" Twilight raced after him, her escorts taken by surprise but eventually following after her.

She ran down the corridor as fast as she could, spotting Flash turn a corner into said restricted section.

Now normally, Twilight's logical brain would tell her something was wrong here. Not only was Flash here after being taken, but he was running away from her into a place he'd never try to go. But alas, Twilight's logical brain had been sucker-punched by her emotional brain and unable to warn her of the possible threat.

But Starlight and Tidal's brains weren't so split, both realising something fishy was going on.

That suspicion increased after Twilight turned a corner. As she did, the area suddenly went into lock-down with corridor dividers quickly coming down to block it and separate Twilight from her friends.

"No!" Tidal cried as they reached the divider, banging against it to see if it would give. "Open up! Let us through." The metal wall remained closed, Tidal beginning to panic. "What do we do? She'll be in danger if we can't get to her in time."

"Don't worry," Starlight moved over to an electric panel on the walls that looked like it might be able to override the lock-down. She took out her Duel Disk and started typing, the panel's screen and buttons eventually lightning up as she did. "I can get us through but it'll take a minute or so."

Tidal sighed, turning back to the metal wall. "Hopefully that minute won't result in something bad happening to amiga Twilight."

"Not helping lessen the pressure," Starlight told him as she continued to work.

Up on the roof, Trixie sat on the edge with her Duel Disk showing the image of Starlight and Tidal trapped. "Not bad Starlight," she smiled while watching her work. "Nice to see I rubbed off on you. Now," she tapped the screen, "where's my special guest?"

The screen changed to show Twilight running up a flight of stairs, still following Flash as he up them as soon arrived at the door leading to the roof. "Flash!" She almost screamed seeing him disappear through it, eventually reaching the top and follow him through it.

Doing so, she found she was on the roof with Flash standing in the middle of it. "Flash!" She rushed over to him and reached out to grab his shoulder, only for her hand to phase through him. "What?" She tried to touch him several times but every time, her hand moved through him.

It was then that Flash's body began to glitch and flicker before completely vanishing, revealing a baseball-sized metal orb with multiple projectors on it. The orb flew passed Twilight towards the doorway, flying up to its roof before landing in the hand of someone standing on it.

"Whose there?" Twilight couldn't really see them since the sun was directly behind them, but the laughter that came from them made her believe she'd heard that voice before.

"Long time...no see." The figure leapt off the doorway, showing great skill by flying all the way over Twilight before landing on her other side. Doing so allowed Twilight the actually see who it was, the girl gasping at the sight.

"Trixie?" She stood up straight and confirmed it really was her, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to complete my mission," she explained before taking off her glove and showing the light emblem emblazoned onto it.

"A Dominator," Twilight gasped before stepping back in shock. She couldn't believe Trixie had been taken over. How...when?

"Not just any Dominator," she put her glove back on. "I am the Omega Zealot of Light and I'm here for payback after what happened in our last Duel."

"Last Duel?" Twilight asked, only to put the pieces together. If she'd met this Dominator before, who apparently wanted revenge for being defeated, that meant she could only be one monster. "You...you're the Duel Spirit that Dominated Starlight."

"The one and the same," Trixie bowed. "Honestly, I should really thank you for what you did. It gave me the chance to get a far less disobedient host. Now I can Duel my way. And now I will complete my mission and capture you for master Zeronull."

Twilight growled before turning to run back into the airport, hoping to find her friends so they could Duel against this Dominator together.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Trixie pulled a remote from her pocket and pressed a button.

KABOOM!

The ground beneath Twilight's feet shook as a part of the airport blew up, causing the entire ground to shake.

"Yaaah!" Starlight and Tidal cried as the room shook, some dust from the ceiling falling down upon them. "Que demonios," Tidal looked around while Starlight continued working.

"I'm almost there."

"Better hurry. The whole place could come crashing down on us before you open them."

"Got it!" In that moment, the divider began to raise and the two rolled under it before rushing off to find their friend. All the while, they hoped she was safe.

Once the building finished shaking, Twilight regained her balance and looked back at a smiling Trixie. "What did you do?"

Trixie pulled out a Duel Card and showed her it had the image of a stick of dynamite. "I took the liberty setting a bunch of these throughout the building. They might look like normal cards," she tossed it into the air and pressed the remote again. The card glowed before exploding, the shock pushing Twilight off her feet. "But they pack quite the kick."

Twilight frowned as she stood up. "So if I don't Duel you, you'll set them all off and level the place?"

"Exactly," Trixie nodded back. "Now, what'll it be?"

Twilight sighed before pulling out her Duel Disk. "I don't have a choice. Alright," she placed it on her arm, "I'll Duel you."

"Of course you will," Trixie pulled out her own Duel Disk and strapped it to her arm. "You humans are all the same. Always trying to do the right thing, even if it means putting yourselves in danger."

'I know this isn't the best situation, but it might give me the chance I need to free Trixie. No one deserves what's happening to her. I just have to play it smart.' "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Alright then." The two activated their Duel Disks.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Trixie: 4000
Twilight: 4000

As this was going on, Tidal and Starlight were climbing the stairway heading for the roof.

They eventually found themselves on the roof and spotted Twilight...Duelling. "Twilight!" Tidal cried out, "what are you doing?" He turned to her opponent and saw it was the girl Twilight had Duelled in the Double X, spotting the telltale glove on her right hand. "Is that?"

"Yes," Twilight nodded as Trixie turned to smile at Starlight.

"Hello again, old friend." Starlight looked at her in confusion, "I'm glad you could be here to see this. Now you'll see the power you could have possessed if you hadn't been so pushy during our partnership."

"Partnership?" Starlight asked, only for her heart to stop when she realised what was happening. "No," she slowly shook her head, "it can't be you. Sunburst...Sunburst sent you back."

"And in doing so I was free to trade up. Too bad for you. You would have been part of something truly great. The total annihilation of the world. But instead, you simply watch from the sidelines as the truly important people take the stage."

Starlight turned to Twilight, "what were you thinking? Agreeing to Duel her when you know what'll happen if you lose."

"I didn't have a choice," Twilight explained. "She's rigged the whole place to explode. So many people will die if I don't."

"That explains the shaking before," Tidal realised before pulling out his Duel Disk. "Don't worry. I'm joining this Duel."

"Do that and I set the bombs off," Trixie told him. "This is a one on one match and that's how it stays. I'm not after you, so don't try anything that'll force me to get rid of you."

Tidal frowned and pulled his Duel Disk away, turning to Twilight instead. "Be careful mi amiga."

"You've beaten her before," Starlight pointed out. "You can beat her again." This statement caused Trixie to laugh, the lot of them turning to frown at her.

"I lost because I was forced to use a weak and pathetic deck. But now I can go all out. Let me show you," Trixie drew her card before smiling. "I'll start by summoning the Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens, in DEF mode!" In a flash of light, a statue of a woman-like creature preying on a stone slab appeared infront of her. (A1000/D1000/L4) "With this card out, neither of us will be able to Special Summon anything other then Light Attributed monsters."

"That's not good," Starlight realised. "Most of Twilight's monsters are Dark-types."

"Her best cards especially," Tidal nodded. "She'll need to adiós that thing if she wants to keep up with her opponent." Twilight agreed with him, knowing she was gonna have issues until she got rid of it.

"I end my turn."

"My draw!" Twilight drew her card and looked over her options. She could only Special Summon Light monsters and, luckily, she had one. "I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale one White Wing Magician and scale eight Harmonizing Magician!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of her before the two Pendulum Monsters flew up into them, the portal beginning to form between them. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot out and struck the ground, revealing one of her few Light monster. "Striker Magician!" (A1200/D1100/L3) "And then, from my hand, I summon the Tuner monster, Terra Charmer!" The ground exploded before the magician in question appeared besides Striker. (A1200/D1800/L4)

Trixie smiled before saying to herself, "so predictable."

"Attack!" Striker Magician pointed his staff at Neo Barrier Statue, unleashing a beam of magic that struck and destroyed it.

However, Trixie just smiled. "When Neo Barrier Statue of the Heaven's is destroyed, I can summon a Light Attributed monster from my deck with Fifteen hundred ATK points or less. So now I summon The Light, Hex-Sealed Fusion!" The light from her monsters destruction reversed direction and formed a new monster before fading, revealing an amalgamation of different monster body parts with crystals on it that emitted light. (A1000/D1600/L4)

"Ew," Starlight spoke in disgust, "that's just gross."

"Maybe, but it's also dangerous." Tidal turned to Twilight, "senorita Sparkle needs to get rid of it before Trixie's next turn."

"But she can't. Her Terra Charmer isn't strong enough and the only way she can get a stronger monster is to end the Battle Phase and summon something stronger."

Which is exactly what Twilight did. "I now tune my Level Four Terra Charmer with Level Three Striker Magician." The earth themed wizard leapt into the air and transformed into a quartet of lights, which carved a circle for Striker to jump into. "Beings of mystical might, unite you power and let the magic shine for all eternity." In that moment her monsters disappeared in an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Twilight's ace monster. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4) "And since Striker Magician was used in the Synchro Summon, you now take damage equal to half my Tuner's ATK points." The ghostly image of Striker Magician appeared before her as it pointed its staff at Trixie, it unleashing a ghostly light that struck her head-on.

Trixie: 3400
Twilight: 4000

"Now for Warlock's ability!" Twilight drew five cards from her deck, added one to her hand and shuffled the rest back into her Deck. "I activate the Spellbook Star Hall Continuous Spell. Now, for every Spell Counter on this card, my Spellcasters gain one hundred ATK points." She looked over her remaining options and saw she had no other choice. "I end my turn."

"My Turn! And with it, I summon Lustre Mage, Alina!" In a flash of light, a teenage witch appeared carrying a staff with a crystal on the top that gave off a weak flashing light. (A1400/D1100/L4) "Now watch, as my Hex-Sealed Fusion's ability activates." The mutated monster exploded into light, which flew up and formed a vortex above them. "With it, I can fuse any two monsters on my field as long as the resulting monster is Light Attributed." Alina leapt into the vortex. "I fuse Alina with the Light, creating an even more powerful Spellcaster." The vortex exploded, the light blinding everyone as a new monster flew out of it. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light faded to reveal an older looking version of Alina. He staff's crystal now glowed a constant, brighter, light. "Radiant Mage, Alina!" (A2800/D2200/L8) "Then, I activate the Spell card Foolish Burial to send a monster from my deck to my Graveyard." Her deck slotted out a card, which she then sent to her graveyard. "Next, I use Alina's skill to Special Summon one Light monster from my hand that's Level four or lower. So now I summon Herald of Creation!" A flash of light signalled the arrival of a woman in white robes and golden armour, carrying a golden staff with a ring on it. "With her out, I can discard a card in order to add a Level Seven or higher monster from my Graveyard to my hand." She discarded a card before another slotted out of her Duel Disk.

"Who wants to bet that's the card she sent to her Graveyard?" Starlight asked.

"That'd be a suckers bet," Tidal replied. "Similar to a bet saying that that card must be the Monster Dominating her."

'This really isn't Trixie,' Twilight mentally told herself. 'She's so much more focused. No showboating at all. But she's not like how Starlight was either. I guess a different host will cause different results, meaning I can't try and guess what she'll do next.'

"Alina, ATTACK!" The magician pointed it staff at Warlock before unleashing a blinding wave of light, which struck the Synchro Pendulum and made him explode.

Trixie: 3400
Twilight: 3700

"And when Alina destroys a monster in battle, she deals you three hundred points of damage for every other Light monster on my field." An aura of light appeared around Herald of Creation before flying off into her staff, which she pointed at Twilight before it shot off and hit her.

Trixie: 3400
Twilight: 3400

"Now they're all evened up," Tidal stated. "Hopefully, Twilight'll be able to take the lead and keep it from now on."

"Here's hoping," Starlight agreed.

"Since Herald of Creation was summoned by Alina's ability, she can't attack. So I'll place two card face down and end my turn, causing Herald to be destroyed." The monster exploded, leaving only Trixie's Fusion Monster on the field.

"It's my turn!" Twilight drew her card as the portal formed above her, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal her monsters. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4) "And Twilight Unicorn!" (A1800/D1300/L4/P7) "Next, I'll use my Warlock's ability." She drew her cards and smiled at the sight of one of them, which she placed in her hand before returning the rest to her deck. "I equip my Warlock with the Magic Tome of Starswirl!" The magical book appeared in Warlock's hand, causing a counter to be added to Twilight's other spell. (A2600/D2100/L7/P4) (A1900/D1300/L4/P7)

"Alright," Starlight cheered, "keep up the pressure!"

"And now I can send a Spellbook from my deck to my grave in order to activate its ability. So I'll use the effect of Spellbook of Secrets." She discarded the card from her deck, causing the other ability of her Magic Tome to activate and pump up Warlock's power. (A2700/D2100/L7/P4) Another card slotted out of Twilight's deck, which she activated. "Go, Spellbook of Power. Increase my Warlock's ATK by one thousand for this turn." Warlock glowed as Spellbook of Power, Magic Tome of Starswirl and Star Hall powered him up. (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) Plus, Unicorn's power also increased. (A2000/D1300/L4/P7)

"Hermosa!" Tidal almost cried, "Twilight's amazing skills are making my heart race."

"Now attack!" Warlock held out the book as magic shot out of it, striking Alina and destroying her.

Trixie: 2300
Twilight: 3400

Trixie grunted at the pain, but continued to smile. "You activate my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Shining Intervention! When a Light Monster is destroyed, this card lets me summon another Light Monster from my grave as long as it's ATK is less then Alina's." The light from her monsters destruction flew back together and created Trixie's Neo Barrier Statue. (A1000/D1000/L4)

Twilight frowned but she wasn't done yet. "Well since a monster powered up by Spellbook of Power, destroyed a monster in battle, I can add another Spellbook from my deck to my hand." The card slotted out of her deck. "Now, Unicorn, attack!" The pony version of herself pointed its horn at the monster before firing, hitting the statue and making it explode while Trixie grunted.

Trixie: 1300
Twilight: 3400

"As you know, Neo Barrier Statue's ability lets me summon a new Light Monster to take its place. So now I summon Generous Mystical Elf!" From the light came a blue-skinned woman with flowing brown hair that wore a beautiful green dress. (A800/D2000/L4)

"Not much of a defence," Starlight realised. "Sure, it's strong, but against Warlock's power. She must be planning to use it for something else."

"Most likely a sacrifice," Tidal guessed with Starlight agreeing. "Let's just hope whatever she summons is something Twilight can handle."

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Spellbook of Power's effect wore off, returning Warlock's ATK to its less enhanced form. (A2900/D2100/L7/P4)

"My turn," Trixie drew her card and smiled. "And I play Starburst Reload!" The three all grew worried seeing this. "Now, I banish my Level Five LaMoon and draw five new cards." She drew her five cards and added them to her hand. "Next," her elf exploded into a column of light, "I tribute Generous Mystical Elf." She then smiled, "fun fact. When summoning a Light Monster, Mystical Elf counts as two offerings."

"But that means..." Twilight remembered the card Trixie had gotten back from her grave with Herald of Creation. Could this be...

"Witness," Trixie raised a card into the air, "my true form!" She slapped the card onto her Duel Disk as the pillar of light exploded. A figure appeared in that light, though Twilight couldn't see well enough to figure out what it was.

Starlight also saw the figure, doing so bringing back a memory that was long since buried.

One year ago.

Starlight had just gotten a new booster pack, hoping it would have a card that'd help increase the power of the Celestial Spirits. She opened it up and shuffled through the cards, eventually stopping when she came across one such card. "Huh," she looked at it funny. For some strange reason, something about this card sparked something within her.

She read the card's name in her head. "Shining Magician, Glorianna?"

Present.

The light finally faded to reveal a woman with silver hair under a white wizards hat. Her clothes were the same as Trixie's, except she was wearing a white cape that covered her shoulders. In her hands was a pure white staff with a circular head that had a light blue crystal star on it. The same blue shape was was also on her cape. "Shining Magician, GLORIANNA!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

The three all stared up at the monster, as she began to descend upon them. Tidal was speechless, Starlight was horror-struck and Twilight glared. "So," she whispered before looking back at Trixie, "this is your true form."

Trixie and her monster smiled an identical smile, "yes. And with it, I will claim you for master Zeronull."

Despite how even the Duel had been up until now, Twilight had a feeling it was about to change for the worst. She had to be careful if she wanted to beat Trixie, free her and protect herself from being taken. "I can do this."

Author's Note

Well, you wanted to know the monster control Starlight and Trixie. Well there she is. Now, how will the Duel turn out?

Turn 6: A New Light of Destruction

Canterlot.

Cold and Shining were working on trying to find some clue that might help them rescue those that had been taken. Misty had flown out to meet up with Tempest and join Grand Hoof's team, investigating suspected areas of Omega Zealot activity.

"I see, thank you." Cold hung up the phone before typing away at his laptop.

"Anything?" Shining asked.

"Another possible location to look into. This one's in Hong Kong."

Shining sighed, "all these rumours. The Dominators have us going on wild goose chases."

"Maybe, but we can't risk missing out a single location. Even the most vague rumour could lead to a well-hidden base or lab." He sighed and sat back, "we just need one lead." It was then that his phone began to ring, the man quickly answering. "Cold Steel." His eyes quickly went wide as he stood up, "wow. Tidal, relax." Shining looked at him worriedly, knowing if Tidal was calling something bad might be happening to his sister. "Now calmly tell me what's going one."

"Twilight's Duelling one of the Omega Zealots," he explained while watching the Duel take place. "It's the Dominator who was controlling Starlight. She's back in a new body. She managed to force Twilight into a Duel and she just summoned her true form."

Tidal looked up at the monster Trixie had just summoned, Shining Magician Glorianna.

"I see. How's Starlight doing?" Tidal looked to the side and became worried the moment his vision landed on Starlight.

The pink-skinned girl's entire body was shaking at the sight of the monster, who seemed to look over at her and smile a sinister smile. "No," she staggered back only to trip over her own feet and fall on her behind.

"Starlight?" Tidal knelt down beside her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You're safe."

"Don't worry Starlight," she turned to Twilight and saw her shining a reassuring smile. "I won't let her get anywhere near you." She would have said more, but Trixie then broke out into a high-pitched laugh that made Twilight turn to glare at her.

"You think you can protect her. Please, don't make me laugh. Against the power I now wield, you don't stand any chance." She turned to Starlight, "I told you you'd regret not using my power. We would have been undefeated during the Double X, if you'd only thrown away those silly Celestial Spirits and used my deck instead."

"Shut up!" Trixie slowly turned towards Twilight, a pouting look on her face. "Don't you dare call her deck silly. Those cards represent the bond she has with Sunburst. Their friendship was reinforced every time she used them. But then you stole her body and broke that bond, which only still exists because Sunburst worked so hard to save her." She pointed at her, "you stole a year of Starlight's life. And now you've stolen another body, just so you can destroy this world. I won't let you get away with any of it."

Starlight smiled hearing this, glad she had such great friends looking out for her now. Unlike the time between Sunburst's departure to Duel Academy and her Domination, she wasn't alone. "Thanks, Twilight."

Trixie's pout turned into a full-on pout. "Just try it. I'll be looking forward to sending you to Void. Now if you excuse me, it's still my turn."

"Then go."

"Oh, I will. I activate my Trap, Cleansing Light of the Heavens. This card grants me four hundred life points for every Light monster in my Graveyard." A bunch of shining clouds appeared above her before opening up, the glowing spectral images of her fallen monsters flying down towards her before exploding into light that flew into her Duel Disk.

Trixie: 3700
Twilight: 3400

"That's not good," Tidal realised. He'd set his phone to video mode, Cold transferring the call to his computer so he and Shining could watch the whole thing.

"Then I'll use Glorianna's skill." She placed a card from her hand into her deck, the deck shuffling before Trixie drew a new one. Looking at the card, she smiled. "I play the Continuous Spell Card, Light of Redemption! With this, I can pay three hundred life points to revive a Level Four or lower monster in my graveyard until the End Phase.

Trixie: 3400
Twilight: 3400

"Revive, Herald of Creation!" A burst of light signalled the priestesses return to the field. (A1800/D600/L4) "Next, I'll use the Spell Draining Light!" Herald held up her staff as Twilight Unicorn began to glow, that light flying off her and into the staff. "This card steals away five hundred of your monsters ATK points and adds them to my monster for the turn. (A2300/D600/L4) (A1500/D1300/L4/P7) "Now," Trixie pointed at Twilight's ace, "I attack with Glorianna!" The Shining Magician leapt into the air and raised her staff before pointing it at Warlock, unleashing a bright beam of light that blinded Warlock. "And when she attacks a monster, that monster loses one hundred ATK points for every Light monster on my field." (A2700/D2100/L7/P4)

"Not good," Tidal panicked.

"Twilight!" Starlight almost screamed, only to see Twilight smiling.

"TRAP SUMMON!" Her face down flipped up before a burst of light shot out and took shape, then faded to reveal her Trap Monster. "Moondancing Guardian Scholar, Saltalunam!" (A1000/D2500/L7) Saltalunam leapt infront of Warlock, blocking the attack. "Saltalunam's skill. Tribute Twilight Unicorn and return one Spellbook from my grave to my hand." The horned horse vanished as Twilight retrieved the card, Warlock's ATK lowering by a hundred, right before her monster exploded. "Thanks Moondancer."

"Woo!" Starlight clapped.

"Bien hecho!"

Trixie smirked, "I place two card face down and end my turn." Warlock's ATK returned to their normal value. (A2800/D2100/L7/P4)

"Then it's my turn!" Twilight drew her card and smiled, "And I play Magical Mallet!" With this, I can return any card in my hand to my deck before it shuffles and I redraw the same number of cards." She did so, replacing two cards and drawing as the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before two lights shot out and hit the ground, revealing her monsters that were powered up by her Star Hall. "Twilight Unicorn!" (A2000/D1300/L4/P7) "And Pyro Charmer!" (A1500/D1200/L2)

"With those cards," Trixie watched Twilight's two new monster flew up into the air.

"Now watch, as I tune Level Three Pyro Charmer with Level Four Twilight Unicorn!" The wizard transformed into a trio of lights, which carved three circles that Twilight Unicorn leapt into. "It's time to embrace the power given by those we call friends and ascend to a higher plain of life." Instead of disappearing in a flash, the light was infused into Twilight Unicorn as two new appendages appeared on its back. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded from the monster's body, revealing Twilight's other ace monster as it fluttered down towards the ground. "Twilight Alicorn!" (A2800/D1900/L7) "Then I activate the Spellbook of Power, to increase Warlock's ATK power by one thousand." (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) "And since I used another Spellbook, my Star Hall gains another counter." (A4000/D2100/L7/P4) (A2900/D1900/L7) "Then I'll use Alicorn's ability, to banish a Spellbook from my grave to increase her ATK power." Her winged unicorn neighed as her horn began to glow with purple light. (A3900/D1900/L7) But with one less Spellbook in her graveyard, her Warlock's ATK power reduced to equal Alicorn's. (A3900/D2100/L7/P4)

Starlight and Tidal both smiled as they looked over at Trixie, seeing her looking nervous. "Alright," Starlight smiled, "you got her scared. Finish this!"

"Gladly. Warlock, ATTACK!" The wizard held out his book before unleashing a burst of energy that flew at Glorianna and destroyed her, leading to Trixie crying out in pain.

Trixie: 2500
Twilight: 3400

Trixie then smirked. "You activated my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Damage Mirror. This Trap can only activate whenever I take damage. Now it'll reflect the damage I just received onto you." The card unleashed a beam of light, which struck Twilight and made her cry out as she staggered back.

Trixie: 2500
Twilight: 2500

"That's not all. You also activated Glorianna's other ability. When she's destroyed, I can summon a Level Four or below Light monster from my graveyard right to the field." A pillar of light appeared infront of her before Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens appeared. It was in DEF mode, meaning Twilight couldn't cause Trixie any damage.

Twilight frowned as she added a Spellbook from her Deck to her hand due to Spellbook of Power's effect. "Fine, but I can still destroy it!" Twilight Alicorn's horn glowed before it unleashed its attack, Trixie smirking as she did.

Starlight saw this and her eyes grew wide, the girl turning to her friend. "Twilight, no. It's a trap!" But it was too late. Alicorn's attack struck the Barrier Statue and destroyed it.

"That activates my other Trap," her face down flipped up. "Starburst Draw!" She drew four cards as her monsters ability activated. "Now, I can summon a Light Monster with Fifteen hundred or less ATK. So now I summon Witch of Heavenly Guidance!" The pillar of light appeared before an angel wearing golden wizard robes appeared, carrying a staff with a harp on the top of it. (A1000/D1000/L4)

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Warlock and Alicorn's ATK points returned to normal, though still powered up. (A2900/D2100/L7/P4) (A2900/D1900/L7)

"It's my turn," Trixie drew her card as Witch of Heavenly Guidance began to glow. "During my Standby Phase, I can discard a Light monster from my hand and tribute her in order to activate her ability. An ability that allows me to revive another Light monster back to my field." The witch strung a tune on her harp, which caused a portal to open infront of her.

Another copy of Generous Mystical Elf appeared beside her before they both floated up into it, the portal unleashing a mighty light before another monster flew out of it. Nobody was surprised to see Glorianna return to the field, the mage ready to do battle once again. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"And with her on my field, I can shuffle one card from my hand back into my deck and draw a new one." When she drew the card, a massive smile appeared on her face. One that filled everyone with utter dread and fear. "It's time." She raised the card high. "With this card, I place my entire future on the line." Twilight stared at her in confusion, Trixie continuing to explain. "Should I happen to lose this Duel, then every single card in my deck will be destroyed."

"She'd really risk something like that?" Tidal asked.

"Trust me," Starlight nodded. "The card she's about to summon is worth that risk." She looked over at Twilight, hoping she has some way of protecting herself. "Be careful."

Twilight continued to watch Trixie as she took a card from her hand and showed it to her, revealing another copy of her ace. "To summon this card, I must sacrifice a Light Attributed monster while discarding a card in my hand with the same name." As she did this, Glorianna leapt into the air as light exploded off of her and formed a sphere.

The light was so bright, that no one was able to look at it. They were all forced to shield their eyes as the orb flew higher and grew larger, eventually becoming so big and bright it blinded all of Paris.

Twilight tried to force her eyes open, looking up and seeing something begin to pull itself free of the orb. That something was actually a giant feathered wing, so large it blotted out the light from the real sun. It was soon joined by a second wing, just as big as the first.

"Awaken," Trixie chanted, "beast of light!" She slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the orb exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Glorious Shine, MESMERIDIEM!"

This dragon had four legs and was a combo of white and gold. Its main body was covered in gold fur with a white nonmetallic armour covering its legs, back, tail and down the front of its long neck. Silver hair ran from the back of its head, down its neck until it reached its shoulder, where it bundled together to make shoulder-pad like covering. The tip of its tail also had silver hair coming out of it, giving it a lion tail like look. On its head, it had a single horn with three points. The first point came out of its snout and was in the shape of a cutlass blade, while the other points came out its bottom and ran along the top of its head and above its eyes until they reached the back of its head and went off the end. On its forehead was a round yellow gem, with the kanji for light inside it.

The dragon stared down at its prey before unleashing a mighty roar, which was so powerful it almost knocked Twilight and her friends off their feet. "Impressive," they heard Trixie ask, "isn't it? But don't worry, it won't be around for long. At the end of this turn, Mesmeridiem will be banished and replaced by one of the monsters used to summon it. But in the meantime, I have all this power to play with." She smirked over at Starlight, "the power you could have had as an Omega Zealot."

"It doesn't matter how powerful that monster is," Starlight told her. "I would never work with you."

"Fine, not that I'd want to use your silly body again anyway. I have a much better host. One that is far more great and powerful."

"There's the Trixie I know," Twilight huffed before looking back up at her dragon.

"Behold the power of a Zenith Dragon. Its ATK and DEF points become the sum total of the monsters used in its summoning. (A6000/D5000/L12)

"Dulce madre de dios," Tidal whispered. Cold and Shining were just as shocked, the camera not able to capture the full image of the dragon.

"Next, I'll pay three hundred life points to revive Herald of Creation back to the field."

Trixie: 2200
Twilight: 2500

The priestess appeared before her, vastly overshadowed by the presence of Trixie's Zenith Dragon. "But don't think she'll stick around long, cause now I'll tribute her to use Mesmeridiem's ability!" The priestess exploded into light, which flew up into the dragon's forehead crystal. "Now I can subtract half my monsters ATK points from your monster's ATK points." A blinding light exploded from out of the crystal, about to blind Twilight's Warlock.

"I activate the Pendulum Ability of my White Wing Magician!" Twilight announced as her Pendulum Monster waved her wand, creating a wall of dark light that blocked the Zenith Dragon's light. "It lets me negate the effect of a card that's targeting a Dark Spellcaster on my field." The light eventually faded, leaving Warlock unharmed. "It has a price though." White Wing Magician exploded, breaking Twilight's Pendulum Scale.

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Twilight must have a reason for keeping her monster's ATK that high. Having an extra nine hundred points won't make much of a difference."

Twilight smiled, looking down at her face down. It was a Spell Card called Spellbook of Unified Magic, which would allow her to transfer the ATK of a Spellcaster to another one. Together, her monster's ATK points almost equalled the Zenith Dragon. Trixie would destroy it, but Twilight's life points would remain. Trixie would have no choice but to end her turn and her monster would be gone.

"Next, I activate Mesmeridiem's other ability."

"Another one?" Twilight watched as Herald of Creation appeared infront of the Zenith Dragon. "What's going on."

"What's going on is I'm banishing Herald of Creation from my graveyard." Her priestess exploded into a burst of light, which Mesmeridiem sucked into its mouth. "By doing this, I can destroy a card in your Spell, Trap or Pendulum Zone." Twilight's eyes went wide hearing this. "But you can stop it. All you have to do is discard a card from your hand. So," she smirked, "what are you gonna do?"

Twilight frowned, "no choice." She discarded a card, "I negate your monster's effect." Mesmeridiem launched a laser from its mouth, but it was blocked by a dome-like force-field. This made Twilight sigh, until-

"I now banish Generous Mystical Elf, to activate her ability once more!" Twilight's eyes went wide as she saw the monster appear before getting sucked into the beast's mouth, the Zenith Dragon roaring once again.

"I discard a card and negate your monsters ability again!" Another force-field blocked the laser again, but Trixie wasn't done.

"I banish Lustre Mage Alina!" The pre-fusion witch was absorbed by the dragon before it fired the laser again.

Twilight would have discarded a card, but her hand was empty. "No." All she could do was watch as her face down was destroyed, Trixie smiling at the sight.

"It's over," she pointed at Twilight. "End this!" The dragon's entire body began to glow before the light flew off into its mouth, "BLINDING BLAZER!" The dragon roared, unleashing the light into one giant laser that flew down towards Twilight.

The girl gasped, feeling the power coming from it and turning to run, Tidal and Starlight doing the same. They all ran towards the door, hoping to find safety in the cover of the airport. But just as Tidal and Starlight jumped through the door, the attack struck.

KABOOM!

The laser vaporised Twilight's monster while burning a hole through the roof into the airport. Luckily, the previous explosion had caused a mass evacuation so nobody was in that section of the building. However, Twilight and her friends weren't so lucky.

Twilight was blasted by the force of the laser and sent flying while Tidal and Starlight found the stairs beneath them begin to collapse due to the damage done to that section of the building. "GYAH!" They cried as they fell, landing on a large pile of rubble enough force to cause immense pain.

Back on the roof, Twilight was moaning in pain as she lay near the edge of the giant hole

Trixie: 2200 (Winner)
Twilight: 0

She let out a groan as she picked herself up, realising her glasses had been blown off from the explosion. It took a few seconds of patting the ground before she found them and put them on, gasping as she saw the destruction caused by the Zenith Dragon.

She looked up at the beast as it glared down at her, then vanished into nothingness as Trixie began to make her way around the hole to her side.

Twilight shuffled closer to the edge and looked down into the debris, spotting Starlight laying on a pile of rubble while Tidal had been half-buried. "Guys!" Both looked up at her, groans escaping them as they did. "Are you okay."

Starlight began to move, her body bruised but nothing was broken. "I'm fine...more or less." She turned to Tidal, "you okay?"

Tidal tried to move, but his legs were trapped. He didn't know if they'd been broken or if it was just the debris pressing down on them, but they hurt. "I'm not sure." He looked over and saw his phone laying on the ground, completely shattered with the call being cut. No doubt Cold and Shining were having a fit, wondering what had happened to them.

Twilight was about to say she'd come down and help, but then she heard Trixie begin to laugh. "Such frail creatures you are." Twilight spun around and saw she was now stood directly behind her. "So easily damaged by the simplest of things." Twilight stood up as Trixie held up her gloved hand. "You, who have lost to an Omega Zealot, now proceed to Void, dimensional prison of souls." The mark on her hand glowed bright enough to be seen through the glove, right before Trixie pushed Twilight over the edge of the hole.

"TWILIGHT!" Starlight and Tidal screamed as they saw her begin to fall backwards, the girl automatically reaching out as if to try and grab the air as she let out a silent scream. But before she could hit the ground, a portal opened up right below her. And all her friends could do was watch as she fell through the hole and completely vanished.

"No," Starlight whispered as the hole shrank down into nothingness. Once it was completely gone, she turned to Trixie. "Bring her back!"

Trixie stared down at her in silence for several seconds, until she finally replied. "No." She pulled a card out of her pocket and tossed it into the air, another portal appearing infront of her that she stepped through and disappeared before it too vanished.

Both Twilight and Trixie gone, all the energy drained from Starlight as she could no longer sit up. "I'm sorry Twilight," was all she could say before unconsciousness took her.

Twilight let out a moan as she started to come around, opening her eyes as she realised she was sitting against something hard.

And as her vision finally focused, she realised she was in a dark corridor made of metal. "Wh...where am I?" She then noticed something on the back of her hand and looked down to see the same empty omega symbol Flash had. "What's this?"

"Don't worry," Twilight gasped as she leapt up and looked around as the sound of footsteps caught her ears. "It comes and goes." Twilight quickly realised it was actually Gilda, who stood a few feet away with her arms crossed.

"Gilda. You're here too?" She nodded and held up her hand, showing the same symbol on it but her's had the first section filled up. Both symbols then vanished as Twilight began to pick herself up. "So, you must have lost to an Omega Zealot as well." This caused Gilda to frown and glare at her, Twilight slightly intimidated by her reaction.

Gilda then sighed, "yeah. I got totally trounced by this old hag. She was tough though. Didn't even look like she was breaking a sweat against me."

Twilight frowned, "did she use her Zenith Dragon against you too?"

"Zenith Dragon?"

"I take it that's a no then." Twilight looked around the place, not seeing anything that might help her find out where she was of how they could escape. "Any idea where we are?"

"No. I just know the place sucks." Gilda then look up into the darkness of an unlit shadow, "and I think they're watching us."

In what can only be described as the prison's control room, Skystar sat in a comfy chair drinking from a cup of coco with her legs up on the table. A pair of screen shows the two groups wandering through the halls.

"Three down and three to go," she smiled into her cups.

"And those three should be arriving shortly," she looked around and saw Discord step into the room. "Hellfire has already located another vessel and is about to move in." He turned to her, "and I want you to head to the place humans call Hong Kong."

Skystar's eyes went wide as she stood up. "Does that mean you've started construction."

Discord nodded. "The data you gathered was very useful. With it, we'll be able to build all six of them in no time. Once that's done, all that'll be left is to have master Zeronull Dominate a host and awaken the three remaining Zenith Dragons. Nothing can stop us after that."

Skystar nodded, "I'll head down there right away. You can count on me." She rushed out of the room, as Discord stepped up to the screens and watched the four hostages aimlessly wander through the halls.

"Might as well help them keep each other company." He sat down and began typing at the computer, chuckling at his own amusement.

Twilight and Gilda continued to walk through the hallways, but so far they saw nothing that stuck out to them.

But then, the whole world starting moving passed them at high speed. "WOW!" They both cried as they fell back due to the ground suddenly shifting forward. They quickly realised the floor was acting like a travelator, carrying them through the prison at high speed and even somehow turning corners incredibly fast.

After a few minutes of this, they found themselves moving towards a doorway that seemed to have no floor. "Nope!" Gilda picked herself up and tried to run in the opposite direction, the moving floor causing her to stay in exactly the same spot as Twilight moved towards the doorway.

When she got there, she found it was actually a slide-like structure that she was forced onto. She cried out while sliding down it, the shoot appearing to go for what felt like miles until she finally found herself reaching the bottom. "Wow!" She hit the end of the slide and continued to slide along the ground for several seconds until the finally stopped, the girl huffing as she laid on the back.

After a few seconds, she finally sat up and found she was in a round room with mirrors making up the walls and ceiling.

"YAAAAAH!" She heard Gilda scream, quickly stepping to the side before the girl slid into the room and stopped in the same spot she had. "That...sucked."

"Agreed," Twilight nodded before seeing the opening they'd fallen through suddenly shut as a mirror wall blocked it off. "And now we're trapped." The world decided to contradict her in that moment, for a mirror on the opposite side suddenly moved upwards to reveal the bottom of another slide.

And from that tunnel came the echoed voices of two familiar-sounding teens. "Gyah!" Flash cried as he and Scootaloo hit the ground, landing in a pile together.

"Ow," Scootaloo frowned.

"Worst...fun house...ever," Flash announced as he pushed Scootaloo off of him.

"Tell me about it," his eyes shot open hearing this. He spun around and saw the speaker really was who he thought it was.

"Twilight?" Was all he could say before his girlfriend rushed over and threw her arms around him, Flash hugging her back. "If you're here..."

"Yeah." She pulled away and looked him in the eye, "I've got some bad news."

Spike sighed as he half-listened to the teacher as they babbled on about the effects of ground erosion.

All his brain would allow him to focus on was the Omega Zealot situation, the teen beginning to imagine what might be happening to Flash and the others captured by them. He couldn't stop thinking about it, everything else simply being blocked out.

That was until he felt something whack him on the head, "ow!" He was pulled out of his thoughts and looked up to see his teacher staring down at him while holding a wooden ruler.

"I apologise if my lesson isn't holding your attention young man."

"No!" Spike blushed, "it's not that I think your lesson is boring or anything. It's just...family issues."

"Right," the sarcasm in the teacher's voice showed she wasn't buying it. "Well, I'm sure those issues can wait an extra hour, which you'll spend coping all three chapters on today's subject three times." Spike moaned as he hid his face in his arms, right as a knock appeared on the door.

It opened up to reveal the vice-principal, who moved over to the teacher and whispered something in her. The teacher suddenly looked very sheepish as she turned to her previous victim. "Spike," the teen looked up, "you're being excused for the rest of the day. Family issues."

Spike's heart stopped hearing this, knowing there could only be one issue that would warrant this.

He got up and rushed towards the door, moving so fast the teacher didn't even have time to apologise for earlier. He ran as fast as he could down the hallway until he reached the front door, bursting out and spotting Thorax standing beside his limo.

"Get in," he told him.

Spike didn't waste a moment and did as instructed, the limo driving off as soon as he was buckled up. "What happened?" He turned to the king, "it's Twilight, isn't it?" Thorax sighed, simply nodding. Spike could only close his eyes and sit back in despair. "How?"

"You'll have to wait until you see Cold to know. He didn't give me many details. But one thing's for sure, simply making sure you're not alone isn't enough. From now on, you'll be in protective custody."

Spike nodded, understanding wholeheartedly. As much as he wanted to help save his sister and everyone else, he wouldn't be much use if he was captured. He'd play it safe and let the others handle the big stuff and offer any support wherever he could.

Up on the roof of a nearby street, a flash of light appeared before morphing into a card-shaped portal.

Heath stepped out of that portal before it closed, the Dominator looking down at the street and smiling when the limo turned the corner into it. "Too easy." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Duel Disk, which he strapped onto his wrist as it activated.

"If they think a bunch of puny humans can defeat me, they're sorely mistaken." He took a card out of his deck, a sinister chuckle escaping his lips. "I'll kill them all!"

Spike was about to ask more questions about where he was gonna stay, but they completely vanished the moment a loud banging could be heard and the limo swerved for several seconds.

"What's happening?" Thorax clutched his seat as Pharynx managed to pull the vehicle to a stop.

"I don't know," Pharynx got out of the limo. "Don't move." He went around and checked the limo, eventually discovering the issue. "What?" He reached down and pulled a card out of the tyre, which had been stabbed deep enough to cause the air inside to escape.

Before he could start to even get suspicious, an intense wave of heat caused him to spin around in time to see a fireball shoot down towards him. It slammed into his chest and exploded, sending him flying back with a loud outcry of pain.

"Pharynx!" Thorax got out of his car and was about to run to his cousin, only for something else to fly down and land on the roof of the limo. He quickly saw it was a card with an image of dynamite on it, the teenage king's eyes going wide as he realised what it was. "Spike, get out of the car!"

Spike didn't ask why and just did it, jumping out of the limo seconds before the card exploded and destroyed it.

The other cars in the convoy swerved to a stop as the rest of the bodyguards got out, only for a barrage of fireballs to begin to rain down upon them. "Your majesty!" One yelled out as the guy next to him was struck, "you and the young man must run-AHHH!"

Thorax knew he had to listen to the now unconscious bodyguard. He rushed over to Spike and grabbed him by his hood, pulling him up and dragging him down into an alleyway. No sooner had they done that, the fireballs stopped.

But they didn't, continuing the run as fast as they could while Thorax pulled out his phone. They jumped out the other side of the alley as the king hit the call button, putting it to his ear.

"Cold Steel."

"We're under attack!"

"Wait, what?"

"It's gotta be a Dominator. They managed to take out all of my men and now they're chasing after us." He would have said more but a fireball flew down and destroyed a window they had just passed, the explosion almost knocking the two off their feet. "We're sitting ducks down here."

"Understood. Try and get somewhere safe to hide out and text us your position, then we'll come pick you up."

"We'll try, but it might be difficult." Another fireball forced him to hang up and focus on running, him and Spike zipping through several streets while being followed by the explosions.

Spike glanced back at one point and saw a fireball fly down and destroy a nearby car. There'd been several people on the street at this point, so the explosion had knocked several of them back and into things. Luckily, nobody had been seriously hurt but it would only be a matter of time.

"That's it!" He came to a stop and attached his Duel Disk, activating it.

"Spike," Thorax looked back at him, "what are you doing."

"I summon Flame Hunter Dragon!" In a burst of fire, the flaming wyvern appeared above him. "GOOOOO!" The beast breathed a cloud of flame, the holographic fire and smoke filling the street and making it impossible for anyone to see what was happening or where someone was going.

Flame Hunter vanished along with the smoke, revealing that Spike and Thorax had disappeared.

The two had taken the chance to get away and hand run in the first direction they could find a safe passage too. They had no idea if they'd managed to escape their pursuer, but the lack of fireballs and explosions seemed to say yes. "Nice thinking," Thorax told Spike as he spotted someplace they might be able to hide.

"I couldn't just let all those people get hurt because of me," Spike still felt bad that people had been potentially injured the he'd just left them to save his own skin. But if he'd stayed behind, the fireballs would have kept coming. He had to keep running and hide to keep everyone safe. Speaking of which.

It was now that Spike realised where Thorax was leading them. A football stadium. "Come on!" He lead him inside, "we'll hide in here." The stadium appeared completely empty, with not a single worker there despite the place not being locked. "Okay," he took out his phone and sent the text, "we should be safe here."

"Hopefully," Spike nodded. They headed further into the stadium and eventually arrived at the field, which had also been deserted. "So what do we do now?"

"Now you die!" It wasn't Thorax that said that.

In that moment, a fireball flew down and exploded between the two of them. They were both knocked backwards and slammed into the ground a distance away from each other, both groaning as they picked themselves up. "Spike!" Thorax tried to run towards him, but a wall of fire suddenly exploded infront of him. "Gyah!" He had to step away from the heat, but he couldn't escape it.

Soon the flames completely encircled him, forming a cage. "Thorax!" Spike could only watch as the flames formed a cocoon-like wrapping that extinguished within a millisecond, Thorax nowhere to be seen. "THORAX!" His panic broke at the sound of laughter, the teen turning towards its source and spotting Heath standing in the centre of the field.

Spike growled and rushed down the stairs, jumping over the barrier and landing on the field before sprinting full force. "Hello again," the Dominator smiled. "Long time no see."

"What did you do to Thorax!?" Spike's question went unanswered, Heath instead holding up his Duel Disk.

"You beat me in the Double X," he took out his deck and placed it inside. "And now I'm ready to get my own back."

Spike frowned, "forget it. I'm not Duelling you. I know that if I lose, you'll send me to wherever you sent Flash and my sister. Well it's not happening."

Heath frowned, not liking being denied. "Oh, you'll do it alright." He snapped his fingers and before the burst of fire exploded behind him, forming the same fire cage from before. And inside the cage was Spike's friend.

"THORAX!" Spike tried to run to him, but Heath blocked his path, "let him go!"

"Oh, I will." He held up his Duel Disk again, "when our Duel is over."

The teen realised what he was getting at. If Spike didn't agree to Duel, Thorax would remain trapped in the cage or maybe worse. Already, Thorax appeared to be suffering from being trapped inside the flames. If he wasn't freed soon, who knows what might happen to him.

"Spike," the king moaned as he looked up and him, "don't. Just...run."

Spike couldn't. He couldn't leave his friend to suffer like that. He had to help him. "Alright," he took his Duel Disk out and strapped it to his wrist. "You win. Let's do this."

"No!" Thorax yelled while Heath smiled.

"I knew you'd see it my way. Even humans are smart enough to understand something as simple as this."

'Okay, relax. This isn't the best situation, but maybe I can pull it to our advantage. If I can beat this guy, I might be able to finally free him from the Dominator's control. I've done it before and I'm way stronger now. I can win.'

"You ready?" Heath drew his cards.

"Oh, I'm ready!" Spike drew his own before the two yelled together.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Spike: 4000
Heath: 4000

Author's Note

Well you wanted to see what Glorianna could do and now you have. Now Spike has to try and beat one of these guys. Will the good guys finally get a win?

Turn 7: Hellfire Vengeance

On one of Canterlot's busiest highways, Cold's car was racing ten miles over the speed limit.

Cold, Shining and Cadance were inside, all sporting a worried face as they flew down the road.

"How much longer until we get to the stadium?" Cadance asked Cold, the man looking down at his sat-nav.

"Not long." But as soon as he said that, they turned a corner and Cold slammed his foot onto the breaks. The car screeched to a halt, inches away from the bumper of a stationary car. Cold looked out the window a saw a massive traffic jam, moving around ten inches an hour. "Come on!" He started beeping, but it didn't do anything to help the cars move.

"Gaaah!" Shining growled, "you've gotta be kidding me."

Cadance placed a hand on his shoulder, "we'll get through this."

"But by the time we do, Spike might already be taken."

Cold pulled out his phone and tried to ring Thorax's number, but it kept going to answer machine. "Damn it. If he's not answering, something must be wrong." He hoped he was wrong and that Thorax had just forgotten to charge his phone, but his gut was telling him he wasn't.

Thorax was currently sitting in a cage of fire, his phone having been damaged in the process.

Infront of him was Spike and Heath, both beginning a Duel that would determine their fates. If Spike won, Heath might be freed from his puppeteer. But if he lost, he'd be taken. "Come on buddy. You can do this."

"I'll take the first move!" Heath drew his card and smiled, "and I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno!" The demon statue appeared in an explosion of flames, taking a defensive stance. (A1000/D1000/L4) "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn!" Spike drew his card and nodded as a plan came to mind. "And from my hand, I play Cards of Consonance. So by ditching a Tuner monster from my hand with a thousand or less ATK points, I can draw two cards." He did so before taking a card he hadn't drawn, "now I summoned Dragonian Priestess!" A burst of fire revealed a woman wearing a blue dress under blue dragon-themed armour, carrying a staff made of purple crystal with three fingers holding a red gem at the top. (A1200/D900/L3)

"Seriously?" Heath asked, "you gave up a Tuner for that weakling?"

"She's not as weak as you think," Spike told him, "First, when she's in the graveyard, she counts as a Dragon-type. Also, I didn't give up my Tuner. Because when my Priestess is summoned, I can revive a Level four or below dragon monster from my graveyard." Priestess held up her staff and unleashed a fireball that exploded to reveal Fireheart Dracokid. (A1000/D800/L2) "The downside is he can't attack this turn, but that doesn't matter." The tuner leapt into the air before morphing into two fireballs, which drew a pair of flaming rings that Priestess leapt into. "I now tune Fireheart Dracokid with Dragonian Priestess! Burning spirit, erupt into a wildfire of power!" The ring exploded and created a blazing sphere. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames receded, revealing his monster "Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Then, I'll equip him with Dragon Lance!" Flame Hunter's tail glowed before a long metal cone appeared on the tip. "ATTACK!" The dragon flew forward before spinning around and slamming its lance into the Neo Barrier Statue, destroying it. "And when a monster equipped with Dragon Lance destroys a monster, you take two hundred points of damage for every Level yours monster hand."

Flame Hunter raised the lance as it set on fire, thrusting it forward and sending the flames shooting at Heath. "Augh!" He cried as the flames struck him, all the while pressing something on his Duel Disk.

Spike: 4000
Heath: 3200

"Well since you destroyed Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno, I can summon a Fire monster with fifteen hundred or less ATK points." The flames from his monster's destruction collected before exploding to reveal Flame Ruler. (A1500/D1600/L4) "There's more," Heath pointed to one of his face downs and showed it was now face up revealing a Trap. "Damage Mirror. This Continuous Trap's effect activates whenever I take effect damage. Now you take half the damage I took." A mirror appeared infront of the Trap before unleashing a fireball that struck Spike.

"Gyah!" He staggered backwards.

Spike: 3600
Heath: 3200

Spike frowned while looking back at him, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn!" Heath drew his card and smiled, "I play Hand Destruction! Now we have to discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards." Heath discarded three cards, including two monsters and a Trap, while Spike discarded the two monsters in his hand before they drew the same cards. "Plus, one of those cards was my Burning Trumpet." The ghostly image of a demon appeared infront of him, holding a large trumpet. "When it's sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can add a Pyro-type monster to my hand." His deck slotted out a card.

"That's gotta be the monster Dominating him," Spike realised.

Thorax was thinking the same thing. "And with Flame Ruler out, he can summon it with just one tribute."

Heath looked down at his hand, smiling at the sight of two copies of himself. The stage was almost set to stop his unstoppable monster. But first, he needed to do a little more prep work.

"I activate my Trap," Heath's other face down flipped upwards, "Call of the Haunted! Now watch as I summoned my mighty, Armoured Inferno to my field." From out of the Trap flew the blazing suit of armour, ready to roast Spike's life points to ash. (A2300/D1600/L6) As this happened, Flame Ruler exploded into a pillar of flames. "I sacrifice Flame Ruler in order to summon myself, Blazing Emperor Hellfire!" The fire pillar extinguished, revealing the royal demon in all its glory. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"Not good," Spike gulped.

"Hellfire gains two hundred ATK points for every Trap in my graveyard," Heath explained as his monster powered up. (A3200/D2500/L8) "Now!" Heath pointed at Spike's Synchro Monster, "destroy that overgrown salamander!" Hellfire formed a fireball, tossing it in Flame Hunter's direction.

"I activate my Trap, Burning Barricade!" This card can only be activated whenever a Fire monster is about to be destroyed." The flames from his monsters mane shot upwards and formed a cage around it, Hellfire's attack slamming into it. "Now my monster's safe." The fireball bounced off the cage and into the air.

"Maybe," Heath told him, "but you'll still take damage." The fireball exploded as Spike's feet, making him grunt as his life points were burnt away.

Spike: 2700
Heath: 3200

Spike panted as the smoke came off his body. "Since Burning Barricade saved my monster, he now loses five hundred ATK points. (A1800/D1300/L5/P8)

"That means he's fair game for my Armored Inferno!" His monster leapt at Spike's Synchro Pendulum and slammed it with a burning first, destroying Flame Hunter.

Spike: 2200
Heath: 3200

Spike smiled as he reached for his deck. "Since you destroyed Flame Hunter, you also destroy Dragon Lance. And when its destroyed, I can draw the same number of cards you have in your hand." He drew three cards.

"Sneaky," Heath placed one card face down, "I end my turn."

"My turn!" Spike drew his card and smiled before taking it and another card. "I set the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Flame Breaker Dragon and Scale ten Repulser Dracokid!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him, the two monsters flying up into them. Besides Flame Breaker was a small red dragon carrying a futuristic-looking bazooka. The portal began to form above Spike's head, the teen smiling as held up the cards he was summoning. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out, exploding to reveal Spike's monsters. "Flame Tracker Dragon!" (A1300/D300/L3)

"And Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8)

"Yes!" Thorax smirked, knowing what was coming next. Heath also knew what was coming, but he didn't care. Not with the card he had face down.

"Flame Hunter's skill!" The fire wyvern opened its mouth and unleashed a fireball that struck the cards in Heath's Spell/Trap zone, destroying them. "Your Traps are destroyed."

"No," Heath growled, "my Mirror Force."

"And don't forget, your Armored Inferno was summoned because of Call of the Haunted. And with it gone-" Heath's monster exploded, leaving only Hellfire on the field.

"Don't think you're so smug. Don't forget, with another three Traps in my graveyard, Hellfire gains six hundred more ATK points." (A3800/D2500/L8) Heath didn't really care that Mirror Force was destroyed. Hellfire's ability meant it was still usable. And once it was activated, he'd be victorious.

"Now," Spike announced a Flame Tracker leapt into the air, "watch as I tune my two monsters together to form an even mightier beast!" The Tuner burst into a trio of fireballs, that carved the fire rings around his Synchro Pendulum. "Cast your flames across this battlefield, and burn everything that is weak to ashes!" Spike chanted as his monsters were consumed by an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames extinguished, revealing a monster that looked different from the last time Heath and Thorax saw it. Dragonic Blazemaster stood behind Spike, but it had several differences from the one he'd used before. The blue line running down its neck, stomach, waist and tail now had yellow stripes on it. The formerly white spots on its body were now light blue. The horns on its head were longer and its now had purple padding on its shoulders, outer thigh and outer legs. Finally, its sword was longer with a straighter blade that only curved at the tip. "DRAGONIC BLAZELORD!" (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

Thorax stared up at the beast in amazement, while Heath just looked at it in intrigue. "So, you got your own Pendulum ace?"

"That's right. And this Pendulum's gonna wipe yours to kingdom come."

"Hardly. Your overgrown tree frog's eight hundred points weaker than mine."

Spike smirked, "look again." Heath raised an eyebrow before looking up and seeing something appear around Blazelord. It was the ghostly images of Spike's monsters. Fireheart Dracokid, Dragonian Priestess, Assault Wyvern, Twin-Headed Dragonia and Flame Tracker Dragon. The five of them exploded into flames, which flew into the dragon as it roared a mighty roar. (A4000/D2000/L8/P4)

"What?"

"Whenever Blazelord's Special Summoned, he gains two hundred ATK points for every Dragon monster in my graveyard." Spike's deck then slotted out a card. "And since Flame Tracker was used to Synchro Summon, I can add a Fire monster from my deck to my hand."

Heath frowned, but he still wasn't scared. 'Go on, attack me. Do that and this Duel is over.'

"Now it's time to take that Blazing Emperor down!" Spike announced while Blazelord raised its sword as the blade began to ignite.

"That's it!" Heath laughed, "now I activate Hellfire's special ability!" But as he said this, a large red X appeared on his Duel Disk. "What?"

Spike smirked as Blazelord swung its sword around, unleashing a wave of fire that flew across the field and struck Hellfire. The Blazing Emperor exploded, Heath crying out as the flames struck his body.

Spike: 2200
Heath: 2800

"Grahhh!" He moaned while standing shakily where he stood, "how?"

"How?" Spike asked with a smile, "it's thanks to my Blazelord's special ability. By skipping my battle phase, I can destroy every monster on your field with less ATK then him and deal you four hundred points of damage for each one."

"But...I...you..."

"Oh please, I knew what you were planning. Cold recorded his whole Duel with you from yesterday. I watched it last night, so I know your Blazing Emperor can use Traps while they're in the graveyard. But that won't matter if I don't attack it."

Heath growled, "you think you're so smart."

"Just smarter than you." Spike placed three cards face down, "I end my turn." Blazelord's ATK power returned to normal. (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

From within his cage, Thorax couldn't help but smile as his friend. "Nice work Spike. Keep this up and the Duel's yours." He looked around the blazing cage he was within, hoping Spike would pick up the pace and win faster. The heat was seriously starting to make him sweat, not to mention how much effort it was to move around in the overly small space without setting himself alight.

"It's my turn!" Heath drew, "and since it's my standby phase, Blazing Emperor's grave ability activates." He reached for his deck. "I look at the top five cards of my deck and send any Trap cards to the graveyard." He drew his five cards and smiled before discarding three of them, right as a large pillar of fire erupted infront of him.

Spike moaned as he shielded his eyes, "don't tell me-"

"Since three Traps were sent to the graveyard, Blazing Emperor Hellfire now revives!" The flames extinguished, revealing the fire demon. And with seven Traps in the grave, it's ATK points had gone right up by an extra fourteen hundred, (A4400/D2500/L8)

"I told you not to tell me," Spike grumbled.

"Next, I play the Eruption Reload Spell card. Now by banishing a Fire monster from my graveyard, I can draw cards equal to its Level." He drew four cards as his Neo Barrier Statue appeared before exploding. "I summon Solar Flare Dragon!" The fire snake appeared before him. (A1500/D1000/L4) "And since I have two Fire monsters on my field, I can summon Wildfire Wyvern!" Flames shot off his other two monsters, colliding together to create a bat-winged lizard made entirely out of the fire. (A2000/D0/L4) "Lucky you, this card can't attack the turn it's summoned. But it can be used for this!" Flames engulfed Hellfire's chest and wings, eventually disappearing to reveal a red metal chest armouring with robotic wings.

"An Equip Spell?"

"One that's gonna blow you away," Heath smiled. "Right after Hellfire destroys your Blazelord!" The demon's robotic wings fired, sending it forward to punch Blazelord.

"I activate my Trap!" Spike's face down flipped up, "Roar of the Mighty Dragon! And I'll follow that up with the Dragon Scale Armour Trap! This Trap will protect my monster from being destroyed this turn and cut any battle damage I take in half. But hopefully, that won't matter, because my Roar of the Might Dragon Trap can let me cancel out your attack. Now we draw until we get a Monster and if my monsters Level is higher then yours, your attack is stopped."

Heath let out a chuckle, "leaving this all to chance." He and Spike drew their cards, both getting a monster on the first turn. "I got another Solar Flare Dragon."

"Well, mine's Iron Tail Dragon!" Spike smirked, "meaning your attack is nullified!" Blazelord let out a powerful roar, the force of which pushed Hellfire back to his side of the field. "Oh yeah."

"Don't get cocky," Heath told him. "Because my Equip Spell, Infernal Booster, lets me sacrifice a Fire monster on my field that hasn't attacked yet." Wildfire Wyvern exploded and flew into the opening on the front of the armour. "This allows Hellfire to attack again." Heath pointed at Spike, "GO!" The demon shot forward again.

"My Trap's effect activates again." Spike and Heath drew, Spike getting one first time while Heath got a Spell then a monster. "I got Lava Fang Dragon, Level four."

Heath looked annoyed, "my Level three Pyro Caller." Blazelord roared once again, pushing Hellfire back. "Don't think you've won." Solar Flare Dragon exploded and flew into the armour, Hellfire shooting forward one last time.

"Roar of the Mighty Dragon activates again!" Heath and Spike drew, both needing to draw again since Spike got a Spell and Heath got a Trap. (A4600/D2500/L8) The second time, Spike got Heat Wing Dragon. He had a feeling this wouldn't cut it.

And he was right. "HA!" Heath showed him his card, which was Searing Flame Dragon Afterburner. "No stopping me this time." Blazelord roared, but Hellfire broke through the attack and slammed the Synchro Pendulum.

It wasn't destroyed, but Spike ended up taking heavy damage. "Gyah!"

Spike: 1400
Heath: 2800

"I activate...my Trap," his face down flipped up. "Dragon Soul's Gift. When I take Battle Damage, this card gives me an extra two hundred Life Points for every Dragon in my graveyard." The ghostly images of his dragons appeared around him before flying into his body, a warm glow appearing around him as his Life Points went up.

Spike: 3000
Heath: 2800

Heath frowned. "You might have saved yourself a bit of damage, but it won't save you." He placed a card face down. "Next turn, you're dust."

"He's right," Thorax realised. "Blazelord wasn't destroyed, so he can't summon it again and use its ability. Hellfire's too strong." He looked over at his friend, "Spike."

Spike just stood there, completely silent. Heath smiled at this, "you know you're beat." He laughed, "just accept it."

"No way," Spike told him before he drew his card. He saw it was Ember Dragon, which he added to his Armoured Wyvern. "Alright," he came up with a plan and smiled.

Heath glared at him, "you are an ant that thinks itself a giant. Well, guess what. I STEP ON ANTS!"

"Well, you're about to see what happens when an ant fights back!" Spike's Pendulum Monsters prepared their weapons First, I'll use the Pendulum Ability of Repulser Dracokid." He showed him Ember Dragon before discarding it. "By tributing a Dragon monster with fifteen hundred or less ATK, I can draw cards equal to its Level." He drew three cards as the portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out to reveal his two Pendulum monsters. "Flame Sabre Dragon!" (A1500/D1200/L4/P5)

"And Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Flame Hunter's skill!" The dragon spat out a fireball that struck Heath's face down and destroyed it. "Whatever it is you're planning, it won't succeed!" He pointed at his opponent, "no! Because I'm gonna beat you and save my friends!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

I activate Flame Breaker's Pendulum Ability!"

Spike: 2600
Heath: 2800

Armoured Wyvern appeared infront of the Pendulum Monster before it threw the hammer into its back, causing it to explode into four fireballs. "By banishing a Dragon, I can summon two more Dragons with Levels that equal his." The fireballs paired off before exploding to reveal his monsters. "So now I summon Magna Drago and Underling Dragon!" (A1400/D600/L2) (A500/D500/L2)

Heath growled, "trying to pull the same trick on me that you used last time."

"Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Now," the two dragons leapt into the air, "I tune Level two Magna Drago with Level two Underling Dragon!" Magna Drago burst into a pair of rings that Underling flew into. "Ignite the flame of potential and shower the world in the fire of hope!" His two monsters were consumed in an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames receded and showed Spike's Synchro Tuner. "Mystic Flame Dracokid!" (A1500/D1300/L4) "And since he was Synchro Summoned, his skill lets me add a Level four or below Dragon monster from my deck to my hand."

Thorax knew what was coming next and did the math. "Flame Hunter and Flame Sabre. Together, that's a Level count of nine." He smiled, "go for it SPIKE!"

Spike smiled back at him before turning to glare at Heath. "Now watch!" Mystic Flame shot into the air before bursting into a quartet of fireballs, which carved four fire rings. "As I Synchro Tune Dragonic Blazelord and Mystic Flame Dracokid together!" The Synchro Pendulum flew up into the rings, Spike beginning to chant as the flames expanded. "Blaze the path to victory and burn away all who stand before you." The flaming rings exploded, wrapping Blazelord into a ball of fire. "GO ACCEL SYNCHRO!"

The flaming sun began to extinguish, revealing Spike's Accel Synchro monster in all its blazing glory. "Dragonic Blazemaster...VICTORY ACE!" (A3300/D3200/L12)

Heath glared up at the image of the monster that beat him last time. "Don't think that monster will win you this match. I'm not the same person you beat in the Double X."

"Oh yeah!" The giant dragon held up its sword, "Victory Ace's skill!" It slamming the blade into the ground, causing a pair of blue flame trails to shoot out along the ground before hitting both Flame Hunter and Flame Sabre. "By tributing every other Dragon Monster on my field, I can destroy every monster on your field whose Level is less than their combined Level."

Everyone watched the two dragons explode into blue flames, which were sucked into Victory Ace's blade and caused it to ignite. The giant dragon then swung the blade around, unleashing a wave of fire which struck Hellfire and destroyed it.

"Finally," Spike went on as his monster glowed red, "Victory Ace gains five hundred ATK points for every monster destroyed by this effect. (A3800/D3200/L12) Spike pointed at Heath. "If you're better then the last time we played, then I'll up my game too. Anything to get my friends out of trouble." Heath smiled while Spike continued to glare, "I'll push my deck to its limit. And I'll blow you apart."

"Is that so?"

The giant dragon took to the skies before flying down, flaming sword primed. "ATTACK!" The two of them watched as the dragon prepared to slice Heath in half. But the Dominator seemed completely calm as the fire shot off the sword.

"So weak," he whispered before the flames struck him.

KABOOM!

The whole stadium was filled with smoke from the explosion, Spike and Thorax needing to stand their ground against it. "Was that it?" Thorax asked from within his cage, "is the Duel over?" His answer came when laughter filled the air, the smoke fading to reveal a cackling Heath.

Spike: 2600
Heath: 600

"How?" Spike asked, only to look up and see a monster he recognised, "Meteor Humanoid?" He checked his Duel Disk and saw it was actually a new version of it, called Neo Meteor Humanoid. It could be summoned at any point in the Duel by banishing a Trap in your graveyard. "No way."

Heath finally finished laughing, "Is that all you've got?" His joyful face change to one of anger, "then I guess it's time for me to finish you off."

"What's that?" Spike asked. He looked down at his hand and saw his last two cards were non-Quick-Play Spells. There was nothing else he could do. "I end my turn." (A3300/D3200/L12)

"Of course you do." He reached for his deck, "I draw." When he did, his eyes went wide before a smile crept onto his face. "Hellfire's ability!" He drew his five cards and smiled again, discarding four of them before a pillar of light exploded infront of him. Hellfire appeared out of it, powered by Heath having eleven Traps in his graveyard. (A5200/D2500/L8)

Spike grew nervous but knew there was still a chance. As long as Heath didn't power his monster up, he'd survive an attack. And maybe he'd get lucky with his Mighty Roar Trap still in effect. "I can survive this."

"How cute," he looked back at Heath. "You actually think that. Ignorance is bliss." He then smiled down at the card he was holding. "You must be tired of waiting. It's time to unleash your power."

"What?" Spike asked, only to realise he was talking to the card.

Heath turned to him. "I'm about to risk everything here. If I lose, my entire deck will be destroyed. Buuuuut, I said if. And it just ain't gonna happen!"

"What do you mean by that?" Spike asked though he was afraid he already knew. He watched as Heath showed him another copy of Hellfire.

"To summon this card, I must sacrifice a Fire Attributed monster while discarding a card in my hand with the same name." As he did this, Hellfire leapt into the air and exploded into a giant ball of fire.

Spike watched as the fireball flew high above the stadium, growing in size as it got higher. "Not good."

Cold, Shining and Cadance were close getting to the stadium when they saw the micro-sun appear above it. "Oh no," Cold realised what this meant a stepped on it. He just hoped they'd get there before it was too late. "Hold on Spike."

Shining and Cadance were hoping the same thing, not wanting to lose both siblings on the same day. "Spike," Cadance prayed.

"Stay strong."

The heat coming off the sun was so intense, Spike and Thorax felt their skin being roasted.

Patches of grass were beginning to catch fire and the plastic seats were beginning to melt. "Watch as the ultimate fire monster manifests!" Heath cried as he held his card high. "Awaken, beast of flame!" He slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the sun exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno, PERFIGNIS!"

The giant dragon was humanoid in appearance, being both a combo of red, white and yellow. Its head was red with yellow spikes coming off the sides and back. The back of its neck, shoulders, waist, hips, back outer thigh, knees and the remainder of the leg was also red. While the front of its neck, chest, stomach and inner thigh was white with a line of red spikes running from its chest down to its tail. Each arm had black diadhank shaped blades, while its shoulders had long black spikes on them. Instead of its back, this dragon's wings came out of its hips and curved around until their tips almost met above its head. And on its head was a round red crystal with the fire kanji within it.

"Wow," Spike had seen a Zenith Dragon before, sure, but not this close. The terror he felt as it stared down at him was almost overwhelming

"A Zenith Dragon can only remain on the field for one turn, but that's all I need. Especially since his ATK and DEF points become the total of the monsters used to summon him to the field. (A6000/D5000/L12) "Perfignis's skill!" He pulled three cards out of his Graveyard. "By banishing Traps from my graveyard, I can destroy the same number of Spell or Traps on your field." The crystal on its head glowed before firing off a trio of fireballs, which struck Spike's Trap and both Pendulum Monsters.

"What!?" Spike watched as the three went up in flames, which then shot over to him and spiralled into a tornado. "What's happening?"

"Since three cards were destroyed, you have to now ditch the same number of cards from your hand. If you can't, you'll take five hundred points of damage for each card not discarded. Spike growled and discarded the remaining two cards in his hand, the flames weakening but still doing damage.

Spike: 2100
Heath: 600

The tornado vanished and Spike stood there limply, all the while Heath and his monster smirked. "Now you see the power I wield as an Omega Zealot and how insignificant and puny you humans really are." He pointed at Victory Ace. "End this, Perfignis!" The dragon flew up higher into the air before breathing fire into its hand, the flames forming a fireball growing large and larger with each second. "PYRUS PURGATORY!" The fireball was so large, the dragon was hoisting it above its head before it tossed it down towards the stadium.

Spike could only watch as the flames came crashing down towards him, the force shaking the ground. Victory Ace then jumped infront of him, covering him with its own body to form a protective shell around him.

"SPIKE!" Thorax screamed as the fireball struck the dragon.

KABOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground shook, causing the car to lose control and almost crash until Cold pulled it to a stop outside the stadium. The three jumped out and looked up at the giant mushroom cloud that was flying up from the stadium.

"Spike!" Shining yelled as he rushed inside, the others following after him as they raced through the entrance. But when they reached the corridor leading out to the stands, they were suddenly stopped by an intense amount of heat.

Looking down, they saw the floor around the exit had been turned to molten stone and plastic, making it impossible to get outside. All they were able to do was look out onto the field, gasping at what they saw.

The entire field had been incinerated, the grass nothing but ash. They spotted Spike's monsters huddled on the floor as the flames receded, Victory Ace finally exploding to reveal a single path of remaining grass. That was where Spike stood, smoke coming off him.

Spike: 0
Heath: 600 (Winner)

Laughter made them look around to see Heath, standing on another small patch of grass. "How'd you like that?" He asked while stepping over to him, "payback for the Double X." Spike slowly looked up at him, "you've just witnessed my true strength. And compared to me, you're useless, you're nothing, YOU'RE SUCH A SMALL FRY!" He laughed again, Spike growling as he did. "You just lost to an Omega Zealot," Heath raised his gloved hand as the symbol appeared through it. "So now you must go to the Void, Dimensional Prison of Souls."

Before Spike or anyone else could do anything, a portal opened up beneath Spike's feet. The teen gasped as he began to fall, "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!"

"SPIKE!" They screamed seeing him disappear, to portal vanishing as soon as he was through. Thorax's cage vanished, the king standing up as he heard Heath let out another deranged laugh.

"You got what you dissevered!" He suddenly jumped back to avoid a punch from Thorax.

"Bring him back!" Thorax tried to throw another punch, but Heath threw a card at him. And as soon as it was infront of him, the card exploded. "Gyah!" He fell back, giving Heath the time he needed to escape.

"Later losers," Heath jumped through a portal before it disappeared.

Thorax moaned as he laid in the ash, unable to believe he'd failed in protecting his friend. "Spike. I'm sorry." One could only wonder what the teen was doing right now.

Spike opened his eyes and moaned as he sat up, looking around and seeing he was in a round metal chamber. "What is this place?" He then noticed a doorway, but then saw it wasn't attached to anything and just stood in the middle of the room.

Something told him to open it and when he did, he was suddenly greeted with a sight he hadn't been expecting. "I summon Rush Raptor in ATK mode," Scootaloo said as she placed her card on the floor.

She was Duelling against Gilda on the floor, Flash and Twilight sitting together to the side.

"Guys?" They all looked around and saw Spike standing there, Spike only now seeing the other side of the door had a mirror on it.

"Spike!" Twilight and Flash got up, "don't close that door!" But before Spike could even understand what she meant, the ground beneath him lurched forward and he was knocked into the room before the door shut behind him. "No!" He heard Twilight cry as she tried to push the door open.

Flash knelt down beside Spike, helping him up. "You're here too?"

"Yeah," Spike nodded. But as Flash pulled him up, Spike noticed the symbol on the back of his hand. "What?"

"We all have it," Flash showed his half-full omega symbol while Twilight and Gilda showed theirs.

Twilight moved over to them. "All of us have gotten the same marking."

Scootaloo showed him her blank hand. "All of us except me for some reason." Spike then looked down and noticed the half-completed Duel.

"Wait, you're Duelling? You got kidnapped and instead of trying to escape, you decide to play?"

"We have been trying to escape," Twilight assured him. "But as far as we know, there's no way out."

"You can't have been looking very long," Spike pointed at her. "You've only been gone for maybe an hour."

"An hour?" Twilight looked perplexed by this. "Has it really only been that long."

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "it's hard to tell." He showed Spike his phone, revealing it wouldn't switch on. "There's no way to know what time it is. This place doesn't have any clocks."

"But it sure feels like more then an hour's passed." Twilight looked down at the Duel the girls were playing, "it was either play or sit around and go mad with boredom."

"I get it," Spike sighed. He then looked down at his hand, the omega symbol giving him and uncomfortable vibe.

Twilight adjusted her glasses. "As far as I can tell. When this symbol turns fully red, then that's when a human will be Dominated by Zeronull."

"Seriously?" Spike suddenly felt the uncontrollable urge to panic. All they could do was sit, wait and pray that their friends would find a way to save them.

Back in the human world, everyone was back at the Freeze Stadium with security triple tight.

Cold, Shining, Cadance, Sunset, Adagio, Soarin, Sunburst and Thorax were in a meeting room, a screen on the wall showing Grand, Misty, Tempest, Starlight and Tidal. "So Twilight and Spike were taken as well?" Misty sighed hearing this.

Starlight looked down in shame, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop Twilight from being taken."

"And I'm the only reason Spike Duelled," Thorax frowned.

"Feeling guilty isn't gonna help us," Cold told them. "All that matters right now is finding a way to save them." He turned to Grand, "you have the coordinates I sent you?"

"Yes," Grand nodded, "I've looked over the locations and cross-referenced them with what my contacts told me. The Hong Kong area might be our best bet. The girls and I will be heading over there as soon as possible."

"Starlight and I will be heading home as soon as we're discharged," Tidal spoke up.

"You sure?" Cadance asked. "From what you told us, that was quite a fall you both took."

"Nothing we can't walk off," Starlight confirmed. "We'll be back soon." Cold nodded and turned back to the others.

"Let's get ready to mobilise as soon as we have the info." They all nodded and headed off, the screens switching off while the others stepped out of the room. Cold turned to look out the window, "no more getting surprised. This time, we take the fight to them."

Grand switched off his Duel Disk and turned towards his companions.

The three of them were in an airport, waiting for their flight to China. As they waited, Pinkie and Maud were shuffling through their decks and making any changes that might benefit it. They'd have more time to properly test the changes once they were in Hong Kong.

The looks on the girl's faces showed how serious they were being. Clearly, the continued thought of their sister's take over had them working like crazy to save her. "Stay strong girls. We'll get through this."

Rainbow sat in her hospital, still getting check out after what had happened.

Luckily, nothing was broken. She'd be free to leave sometime tomorrow, which couldn't come soon enough in her opinion. "Don't scratch that!" She pulled her hand away from her bandaged up scratches, looking up and seeing Fluttershy step into the room with the rest of her friends.

"Sorry. It's itchy."

"Don't worry darling," Rarity put a bowl of fruit on her bedside table. "You'll be out of here soon."

Applejack nodded, "and then ya'h can get payback for what happened."

"Thanks, guys." Rainbow then looked over at where her deck sat. She tried to get it but it was out of reach, Fluttershy quickly getting and handing it to her. "Thanks." Rainbow began to spread the cards out onto the bed, the others looking confused. "My deck can't stop that Ouravas guy. If he uses that Zenith Dragon again, I'm screwed."

"So you're gonna change your deck?" Rarity asked.

"I'm gonna tweak it so that the next time I meet that guy, he's going down." The others nodded and sat around her, each one suggesting which cards to remove or replace. The Zealots might have had them on the defensive until now, but that wouldn't last long. They'd make sure they understood why you don't mess with their friends and their world.

Author's Note

So...yeah. Things might be getting a little repetitive. Don't worry, I'll be shaking things up next chapter.

Turn 8: The Counterattack Begins

On the streets of Hong Kong, we find Grand, Pinkie and Maud surrounded by many others.

Pinkie and Maud were Dueling, testing out the changes they'd made to their decks. And as it stood, Maud was in the lead with eighteen hundred life points while her sister only had nine hundred. What's more, Maud had her Giga-Rock Titan Gaia and Fossil Tusker on her field while Pinkie had her Balloonimal Cerberus.

"I now activate Gaia's special ability!" The Giga-Rock Titan reached down and grabbed Fossil Tusker, lifting it up before crushing it in her hands. "With this, her ATK now increases by Fossil Tusker's eighteen hundred ATK." (A4800/D3000/L8/P3) "Let's end this!" Maud cried as Gaia reached down to crush Pinkie's monster.

"Sorry," Pinkie smiled as her face down flipped up, "but I play De-Fusion!" Her three-headed balloon animal suddenly vanished and was replaced by three single-headed dogs, which all took a defensive position before Gaia crushed one.

Maud sighed, "I place one card face down and end my turn." She knew Pinkie would likely try to destroy her monster next turn. But when that happened, Maud's Trap would activate and win her the game.

"My turn," Pinkie drew her card and smiled before playing another card. "Now I play Polymerisation!" The vortex opened up and sucked her two dogs inside, "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The portal exploded, revealing her Fusion Monster. "Balloonimal Othros!" (A2000/D2000/L6)

"That can't beat my monster," Maud pointed out.

"I know," Pinkie took the card she'd drawn. "That's why I have this. The Hopeful Blindfold of Somnambula!" Both heads came together before a strange blindfold appeared and tied them together. "This card cuts the ATK of my monster in half." (A1000/D2000/L6) "But now, it can attack you directly."

"What?" Maud asked as Othros bounced forward, going right at her despite being blinded. It bounced over Gaia and belly-flopped Maud.

Maud: 800
Pinkie: 900

"There's more," Pinkie smiled. "Othros can attack twice in one turn." Her balloon dog charged again, Maud unable to stop it as it belly-flopped her on more time and wiped out the rest of her life points.

Maud: 0
Pinkie: 900 (Winner)

As the monsters vanished, the crowd began to cheer for the girls. This made Pinkie smile while Maud's lips curved into the tiniest of grins. Grand stepped up to the two of them, a smirk clear on his face. "Well done, both of you. You both showed some good moves and it's clear you've both grown as Duellists."

"Thank you," Maud nodded.

"Yeah," Pinkie turned back to Maud, "wanna go again?" But before Maud could reply, a new set of applause rang out over the dying ones.

"Great Duel," they all looked over and saw Tempest Shadow and Misty Vail standing infront of the crowd. Misty quickly rushed over and hugged her father, the police officer hugging her back.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Flash and Scootaloo."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Misty pulled back. "It was the Zealots that need to be sorry."

Tempest nodded. "And they will be, once we find out where they've taken the others. Once we get them back, we can focus on making those body snatchers pay." The others nodded and after Pinkie's gut growled, everyone headed over to a nearby restaurant.

They sat down and ordered their food, which quickly came out. As they settled their stomachs, they talked about the reason they were all there. "So we're only here because of a rumour?" Pinkie asked before throwing an oversized shrimp into her mouth.

"Partly," Grand took a few bites of his sweet and sour chicken. "There have been many rumours detailing the sightings of Princess Skystar around this location in the last few days. If she's here, the Zealots must be plotting something in this city." This made sense, though the others were hoping they wouldn't just be chasing hypothetical geese. "I've also been receiving word from my international contacts. It appears that multiple material companies have been getting large orders to the same place. There's no explanation of what that material is being used for or any paperwork confirming a person signed for it. They just deliver the goods, dump it at the location and leave without saying two words to anyone."

"That is weird," Tempest agreed. "You'd think the company would want to at least see who they're selling these materials too."

Grand took a sip of his drink. "If you pay them enough, you can get anyone to do anything no questions asked. Which is another factor leading us to this location. The money being used to fund it."

"Where's it all coming from?" Misty realised what he was getting at.

"Exactly. I managed to trace the transactions between the companies and the mysterious buyer. It was being transferred through tons of different shell companies, so it wasn't easy. But eventually, I managed to track it back to the source. Skystar's home kingdom."

"The Dominator's using her host's own wealth to fund their plans?" Tempest asked before eating a har gow.

"Not just Skystar. Her kingdom's only small. It couldn't afford to pay for all the materials we've confirmed they've bought. Another Dominator's likely doing the same thing."

"It has to be Discord," Misty stated after finishing her rice. "I looked into him on the plane ride here. It was difficult, but I managed to track him down. It seems he comes from a long line of royal descendent in Romania, possibly a descendant of Vlad the Impaler. He's the sole heir to his family fortune, which could fund the materials the Zealots are using without making a dent in his money bin."

Grand nodded, intrigued. "With all this in mind, it would make sense for this location to be a high-end base. That's why we're going to raid it." The women all turned to him in shock, barely believing what they'd just heard. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. The longer we wait, the more steps ahead the Zealots get. We need to wage a counterattack now before they get too far ahead."

"But aimlessly attacking them isn't gonna help us," Tempest reminded him.

"It won't be aimless. We'll have one goal and one goal only. Data extraction. We get in, find the control terminal and gather all the information we need." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flashdrive. "This contains a special worm program that'll link their computer systems up with Freeze Industries. Once uploaded, the boffins will be able to gain full control of everything in that base. And since it's such a high-end location, it should have info on Void and everything else we need."

"Which'll let us save Flash and the others," Misty smiled.

"Exactly," Grand put the flashdrive away, "Getting the information is our top priority, but it doesn't mean we can't grasp an opportunity. It's likely one of the Zealots will be there, overlooking the operation. Most likely, it'll be Skystar. And if we can, we'll capture her and take her back for interrogation."

Pinkie smiled before turning to her sister, "we gotta help them out. And maybe this Skystar girl will be able to help us find Marble."

Maud frowned as she put down her food, sitting back. "I guess."

Pinkie frowned, "hey. What's wrong?"

Maud turned to her, "listen, Pinkie. Do you really think you and I can help with this?"

Pinkie's head turned in confusion, "what are you talking about?"

"The fact of the matter is, our opponents are all Dominators." Pinkie still didn't seem to understand. "The only way we're gonna free Marble is to defeat the Dominator that's possessing her." Maud then turned to Tempest, "think back to the Double X. Remember the tough time Flash had against Storm King." Tempest flinched, that name still hard for her to remember. "That's what we're up against." Maud turned back to her sister, "even Flash wasn't able to beat her."

Pinkie frowned, remembering the report she'd seen about Greaterra's appearance in Canterlot. If Marble was packing that card in her deck, they might not stand a chance against her.

"Yes, we need to get Marble back. But I'm not sure we have the skills to do it right away." The sisters stared down at the table, worrying about their lack of ability. What hope did they have against Marble, when even a Duellist far stronger than the two of them fell?

"Then get out of here." Their heads both shot up as they stared at Grand, who wiped his mouth before standing up. "I'm leaving." With that, he headed off while Pinkie and Maud stood up.

"But Grand," the late aged man didn't reply to Pinkie and continued walking until he stepped out of the restaurant. Both sighed until they heard Misty.

"Don't mind him," they looked back at her. "It's just his way of encouraging you to do the right thing." She then frowned, "you shouldn't feel bad. All of us are feeling a bit daunted by this situation." Then a smile appeared on her lips. "But trying a failing is far better than never trying at all. You can't allow your fears or doubts to cloud your better judgements."

Tempest nodded, "do you wanna save your sister?"

"More then anything," Pinkie nodded.

"Then why are you just standing around here?" That was a good question. Pinkie and Maud shared a glance before nodding and rushing outside, Tempest and Misty following after them. As they left the restaurant, they spotted Grand standing beside a boat.

"Grand!" Pinkie and Maud rushed over to them, "listen..."

Maud became highly serious, "we've decided-"

"Come on," Grand interrupted. "It's time to counterattack." Both girls seemed surprised by this until they both smiled, nodding in unison as they spoke.

"Okay!" They followed Grand onto the boat, Misty and Tempest getting on too. Once aboard, they set off and headed for their location: The Zealot's base.

In a dark, unknown, location, we find Skystar sitting in a chair staring at a holographic screen being projected from a computer terminal.

"The Fire Zenith Generator is eighty-five percent complete," she told herself while putting her hand into a pick-a-mix bag and pulling out a handful of gummy products. As she stuffed them into her mouth, she pressed something on the computer and caused several mores pieces of info the appear onscreen "Water and Wind Zenith Generators are seventy-four percent complete while the Light Zenith Generator is seventy-two percent. Earth is sixty-nine and finally Dark is sixty-six."

She took another handful while sitting back with a smile on her face. "At this rate, everything will be ready in no time. Mother's dream can finally become a reality and our people will finally be free." It was then that a beeping sound caught her attention, the Dominator recognising that sound as a perimeter alarm.

She turned towards one of the screens as it changed to show footage from a camera located outside the base. The image onscreen showed the area infront of the main entrance, allowing her to see Grand, Tempest, Misty, Pinkie and Maud step into the camera's sight.

"Oh, so they finally managed to find us." She typed away at another computer, the screen eventually switching to show the image of Discord. "Master Draconequus, we have a minor pest problem."

Discord smiled, "I figured it was a matter of time before they managed to put two brain cells together. Finding us is one thing, but actually trying to storm the base." He shook his head, "do your best to get rid of them. But if things should turn in their favour, be prepared to initiate the fail-safe."

Skystar nodded, "I won't fail you. It's not like those silly humans can actually defeat me. I'll trap them in here and take them all down. Once that happens, maybe I can send them to Void." This thought seemed to intrigue Discord.

"We never designed it to hold non-vessel candidates. But there hasn't been any problems with that...what's her name? Hooter...poo, girl." He nodded, "very well. Should they lose, send them there."

"Yes!" Skystar jumped up and down, the idea of getting to send someone to their prison making her giddy, "I won't disappoint you."

"I'm sure you won't," Discord's face vanished off the screen and Skystar looked back at the people who'd just gained entry. "Don't bother being sneaky. I can see you." She started typing once again, "but let's have a little fun with you before your defeat. Security droids, activate!"

Grand and the girls were carefully sneaking through the halls of the warehouse disguising the Zealot's base.

Once they'd arrived and managed to get inside, they found the place looked very different from the outer appearance. It looked like something from a sci-fi movie, the walls made of white metal and shaped in an octagon. It was like a hallway from a starship.

"Look at this place," Pinkie whistled as they walked through it. Eventually, they found themselves at an X-shaped hallway. "Now what?"

"Hang on." Grand took out his Duel Disk and after a few seconds, some blueprints appeared onscreen. "This way." He turned left and headed down and hallway, the others following him. "I managed to pull a few strings with my FBI friends and had them use their satellite system to scan the building and get me a floor map of the place. I already sent you each on encase we get separated."

"So you know where we have to go?" Tempest asked as they turned right and found themselves at a set of stairs.

"In a way. I'm leading us to where the satellite picked up the most energy drain. That has to be where their main computer is located." The arrived at the bottom of the stairs and found themselves approaching another four-way hall. "As long as we're careful and don't any attention, we should be fine." But as they turned another corner, they all suddenly froze at the sight infront of them.

Robots. Tons of robots. They were all white with humanoid designs, having a three claws hand on their left arm and a long knife sticking out of their right. Instead of legs, they have cone-like bottoms that likely had wheels under them.

As soon as they all stopped, the robots turned towards them and showed their glowing red eyes.

"Run," Grand whispered before they turned to bolt down the opposite hallway. The robots followed after them, their blades raised and sparking with electricity. Grand lead the ground down the path, trying to find another route to the control room.

Pinkie let out a cry, "you didn't say anything about this!"

"What did you expect?" Misty asked as she glanced back at the charging robots, "this is the Zealot's HQ. Of course, they're gonna have security." Grand glanced back and saw the robots getting closer, then looked forward and saw something.

"This way!" He directed them around another corner. But when the first line of robots rolled around, Grand and Tempest suddenly shot out. Being careful to avoid their knives, the two table several of them and pushed them so they tipped backwards off their wheels. And like a line of dominoes, those robots fell into the ones behind them and knocked them into the robots behind them and so on.

With most of the robots knocked to the floor, the few still standing surrounded by fallen metal and unable to move more than a few inches, Grand turned to the others. "Hurry." They all jumped over the robots and headed down the way they were meant to be heading.

After a good few minutes of searching, being sure no to run into any more robots, they came up to a large metal doorway with a key card scanner. "Let's hope this works," Misty took out a card and swiped it. Seconds later, the doors opened to allow them entrance.

They looked around and saw nobody in sight, the group spotting a large computer terminal infront of them. "This must be the place," Tempest stepped up to the computer and saw the image on the holoscreen. The image showed the black void with the small patch of land floating within, a strange-looking building built on that land. "So this is Void."

Pinkie turned to Grand. "Maybe we can find a way to free Flash and the others from here."

"I doubt it'd be that easy," Grand took out the flashdrive. "But we'll find out as soon as we get this uploaded."

"I think not!" Everyone tensed at the sound of that voice, only to hear a loud clunking noise behind them.

Looking around, they saw a large metal wall beginning to descend from the roof. It looked several inches think and was falling fast, trying to trap them all in. But Grand wasn't gonna let that happen, instead grabbing the two closest to him.

"Wait/Hey!" Maud and Pinkie cried as the old man threw at the wall, both hitting the ground and rolling under it before it completely shut. "Grand!" Pinkie jumped to her feet and rushed back to the wall, "you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Tempest's muffled voice cried back through the wall.

"Don't worry about us," Misty told them. "Go back the way we came and escape." Pinkie frowned, not liking the idea of abandoning her friends. Maud meanwhile, noticed something on the ground and picked it up to find it was Grand's flashdrive. He must have thrown it with them. That meant...

"Alright," she grabbed Pinkie's shoulder, "come on." With that, she rushed off down the hallway. Pinkie gave the wall one last sad look before following her sister.

Back in the room, the three's attention quickly became drawn to the bright light that suddenly appeared from on high.

They all spun around and saw something come out of the light, that being a hooked pole with someone holding onto it. "Well well well. So two of my little natts escaped. No matter." She finally reached the bottom and the three got a look at her, recognising her as Skystar. "I'm sure the robots will be able to get them." She then turned to Tempest, "welcome back to us, Storm King."

Tempest glared at her, "I am not him. I will never be him."

"Such a shame," she jumped off the pole as it retracted back to the ceiling. "You might have been granted the title of Omega Zealot, if you'd only accepted the great Zeronull into your heart." She then pointed at the screen, "but now all that awaits you is a one way trip to Void."

"Not happening," Grand stepped up to him. "You will tell us how to free my grandchildren and their friends, or you'll be sorry."

Skystar laughed, "don't think you can threaten me, old-timer." She pulled out a Duel Disk, "I don't frighten easily." She pointed at them, "you'll be the ones that are sorry. If you don't give us the remaining candidates, the Omega Zealots will continue to crush you until there's nothing standing between us and them."

"You won't be getting any more of them," Grand took out his Duel Disk. "As long as I'm around, I'll make sure of it." They both attached their Duel Disks and activated them, drawing their cards as they cried out.

"DUEL!"

Grand: 4000
Skystar: 4000

"I'll be going first," Skystar drew her card and smiled. "First I'll activate the Field Spell, A Legendary Ocean!" The card appeared beside her before unleashing a torrent of water, which began to spread out until everyone was ankle-deep.

"Ahh," Misty pulled her foot out of the water and frowned, "I hate soggy socks."

"This Spell does more than make your socks wet," Skystar smiled. "I grants any Water monsters and extra two hundred ATK and DEF points while also lowering their Level by one."

"Meaning she can summon high Level monsters more easily," Tempest realised.

"Next, I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Torrent!" From out of the water emerged a humanoid frog statue carrying a trident and shield., its power raised due to A Legendary Ocean. (A1200/D1200/L3) "And with this card, the only monsters allowed to be Special Summoned are Water monsters." Skystar saw Grand growling at her, obviously not liking that ability. "I end my turn."

"My turn!" Grand drew his card and smiled, "you're not the only one that can summon a toad. "I summon Shinobi Stealth Beast, Gama-Torappu!" From out of the water leapt a large orange frog wearing ninja clothing, a katana in its hands. (A1400/D1200/L4) "ATTACK!" The toad leapt forward and slashed the Neo Barrier Statue in half, causing it to explode into bubbles.

Grand: 4000
Skystar: 3800

"You activated my monster's ability!" Skystar announced, "no I can summon another Water monster from my deck with fifteen hundred or less ATK points." The bubbles came together before popping to reveal another Neo Barrier Statue."

"I don't think so," Grand told her. "Because I activate Gama-Torappu's ability!" He discarded a card. "Now I can destroy any Special Summoned monster." The toad opened its mouth before a large tongue shot out and wrapped around the statue, Gama-Torappu pulling it into its mouth and swallowing it whole.

"Not cool," Skystar pouted.

"That takes care of that," Misty smiled.

Tempest nodded. "Neo Barrier Statues can only use their abilities when they're destroyed by battle. Now Grand can Special Summon."

"I place two cards face down and end my turn." As he did, he looked back at the wall that was trapping them. 'Pinkie, Maud. Be careful. Right now, you're our only hope of getting out of this."

In one of the four-way corridors, a robot rolled from one hall through the X and down another.

Once it was gone, Pinkie and Maud looked around the corner and saw it was safe. They then rushed off down another hallway, Maud leading the way with Pinkie behind her. But as they approached a corner that would lead them outside, Maud kept running and completely passed it.

"Maud," Pinkie stopped at the corner and pointed down the hallway, "you're going the wrong way. The exit's over this way, silly."

"We're not leaving," Maud called back as Pinkie rushed after her. She had her Duel Disk out, keyed into the schematics Grand had been using before. "The main control room might be locked down, but it's not the only place we can access the system from."

"You mean there's a backdoor?"

"More like a backup," she corrected. "Likely used when the main control computer is damaged. If we can get to it, we could hack into their system."

"Hack?"

Maud smiled. Unknown to Pinkie, the girl had been teaching herself to hack into computers since they'd started travelling with Grand. She hadn't had any reason to learn until now, knowing they'd very likely need it to help save their sister. "Grand gave us this chance to prove ourselves. We can't waste the opportunity."

Pinkie smiled with a nod before looking down at her Duel Disk, "so where's this backup?"

"There are several back-ups littered all throughout the base, but the closest one is directly below us. There should be a staircase leading to it close by." But as the two turned another corner, they found themselves pulling to a complete stop as a small army of robots blocked their path.

"Whoops," the robots turned to them all before their eyes went red and they raised their bladed arms. "DETOUR!" The girls turned to run down another hallway, the robots giving chase with electrified blades.

"My turn!" Skystar smiled when she saw what she'd gotten. "I summon Atlantean Dragoons in ATK position!" From out of the water shot a pair of sea-monster riding fishmen knights. (A2000/D200/L3) "Check this out. Any Level three or lower Sea-Serpent monsters can attack directly, meaning you're about to lose half your life points in one go!"

"Not good," Tempest gulped while Misty became worried.

"Dad!" They watched as the two knights swam through the air, circumventing Gama-Torappu and slashing at Grand.

Grand: 2000
Skystar: 3800

The man grunted before activating his face down, "I play Mystik Wok!" A giant wok appeared infront of him, "now I sacrifice my Stealth Beast in order to gain his ATK points as life points."

Grand: 3400
Skystar: 3800

Skystar sighed, "you got lucky. I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn," Grand drew his card. "And from my hand, I activate the Ninjutsu Art of Ambush! By banishing Gama-Torappu, I can draw cards equal to his Level." He drew four cards and smiled. "Next, I set the Pendulum Scale with two Kukiakuma Shinobi and scale eight Mizuakuma Shinobi!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him before two new ninja monsters flew up into them. The first was a ninja wearing a green demon mask with the wind symbol on it, while the other was a ninja wearing a blue demon mask with the water symbol on it. Once they were both high enough, the portal began to form above Grand. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, revealing his monsters. The first was a ninja wearing a red demon mask with the fire symbol on it. "Hiakuma Shinobi!" (A1600/D1400/L4/P4)

The second looked like Twin Blade Shinobi, but its blades were longer and its outfit had some slight differences to it. "And Duel Blade Shinobi!" (A2400/D2300/L7/P5) "Duel Blade's summon skill!" His ninja began forming a bunch of hand-signs before hitting the ground, a puff of smoke appearing there, "Special Summon one ninja monster from the graveyard." The smoke cleared to reveal Shinobi Shadow Striker, which crouched in DEF mode. (A500/D1000/L3)

Skystar frowned at the army she was up against, "show off."

"Duel Blade Shinobi!" The ninja charged forward, swinging its blades around. "ATTACK!" The Pendulum Monster sliced through Atlantean Dragoons, using one blade on each of them.

Grand: 3400
Skystar: 3400

"You activated my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Abyssal Ascension! Since you destroyed a Water monster, I can now summon another Water monster from my graveyard with less ATK." Her Neo Barrier Statue appeared infront of her. (A1200/D1200/L3)

Grand frowned. "Well, I've still got my Hiakuma Shinobi!" The demon masked ninja began forming hand-signs before a large fireball shot out of the hole in the mouth area. That fireball struck Skystar's monster and caused it to explode into bubbles.

Grand: 3400
Skystar: 3000

"Don't forget about my Barrier Statue's ability!" The bubbles came together before bursting, revealing a black haired teen wearing blue armour that carried a golden trident water was leaned against the back of his neck. "Meet Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince." (A1000/D200/L1) She frowned as she stared at the monster, a look of sorrow clear to all those looking at her.

"Well Hiakuma has his own ability," the ninja started making hand-signs again. "When he destroys a monster, I can destroy one face-up Spell or Trap on your field." He spat another fireball, which struck the water from A Legendary Ocean and caused it to evaporate. (A800/D0/L1) "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Things seem to be going well," Tempest said. "Grand has the stronger monsters and more Life Points."

"Maybe," Misty frowned, "but that doesn't mean he has this Duel in the bag."

"It's my turn," she drew her card before another one slotted out of her deck. "And with Neptabyss's ability, I send one Atlantean monster from my Deck to my Grave to add another Atlantean monster to my hand." Another card slotted out of her deck. "Now I summon the Legendary Atlantean, Tridon!" A pillar of water appeared infront of her before a scaly blue sea creature her size appeared. (A1600/D800/L3) "Now, I'll use his special ability to tribute him and Neptabyss." A giant water tornado exploded into existence behind her, Skystar's monsters jumping into it. "This will allow me to summon...his daddy. Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon!"

The tornado exploded to reveal a giant sea monster with armour on its back and a large trident head on the tip of its tail. (A2800/D1600/L7) "And, since Tridon was used to summon him, all your monsters lose three hundred ATK points." The ghostly image of her monster appeared before shooting water at from its mouth, which struck Grand's monsters and weakened them. (A2100/D2300/L7/P5) (A1300/D1400/L4/P4) (A200/D1000/L3)

"Not good," Tempest gulped.

"Don't worry," Misty assured her. "It'll take more than an oversized goldfish to beat my dad."

"Poseidra," Skystar pointed at Hiakuma Shinobi, "attack!" The giant sea monster began to swim through the air before swinging its tail around, preparing to slash at the demon ninja with the trident.

"Skill of Duel Blade Shinobi!" Grand's ace swung its katanas to slice through Shadow Striker, then used them to block Poseidra's tail. "By tributing a Ninja monster, I can negate any attack sent my way."

Skystar frowned. "You think you're so smart." She threw two cards face down, "I end my turn."

"My turn!" Grand drew his card as a portal formed above his head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light flew out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal a ninja with a yellow demon mask with the storm symbol on its head. "Arashiakuma Shinobi!" (A1800/D2100/L5/P2) "Next, I activate the Pendulum Ability of Kukiakuma Shinobi." The monster in the Pendulum Zone began to make hand-signs. "Once per turn, I can make the ATK of a Ninja monster on my field zero and then give those points to another Ninja on my field." Hiakuma suddenly grew weaker while Dual Blade's power increased. (A3400/D2300/L7/P5) (A0/D1400/L4/P4) "ATTACK!"

The shinobi charged forward crossing its blade as it leapt forward and slashed at Poseidra's neck in an X formation. Seconds later, the ninja landed behind the sea monster and sheaved its blades before Poseidra's head flew off.

Grand: 3400
Skystar: 2400

"Now, Arashiakuma, attack!" The demon shinobi performed several hand-signs before charging forwards, lightning exploding in its hands.

"Go!" Skystar's face down flipped up, "Tidal Defence!" A huge wall for water appeared between her and Arashiakuma, the ninja leaping through the water and slowing down. "This card cuts the damage I take from an attack in half." The ninja slammed its electrified fist into her, Skystar grunting in pain.

Grand: 3400
Skystar: 1500

"Now," she reached for her deck, "I draw one card for every four hundred points of damage." She drew two cards.

"I end my turn," Grand's monsters returned to their original ATK strength, still weakened due to Tridon's special ability. (A2100/D2300/L7/P5) (A1300/D1400/L4/P4)

As Grand ended his turn, Tempest and Misty couldn't help looking over at Skystar. Despite her best monster begin gone, she didn't seem at all worried. "She's up to something," Tempest realised.

Misty nodded. "And whatever it is, we won't like it."

"My turn," Skystar smiled at what she'd gotten before preparing her move. "I'll start with the Spell card, Monster Reincarnation." She discarded a card before taking another card out of her graveyard. She looked at the card and nodded before activating another one. "I now play the Spell Card, Call of the Atlanteans! With this, I can summon up to three Level three or lower Sea-Serpent monsters from my graveyard." Three water tornadoes exploded infront of her before dispelling to reveal Neptabyss, Rhodos and Tridon. "But don't expect them to stick around for long, because I'm now sacrificing them!" Another water tornado exploded behind her before the three leapt inside. "Emerge from the murky depths of the ocean, beast that wrecked a thousand ships!" The tornado exploded and Skystar's monster appeared behind her. "Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon!" (A2800/D1600/L7)

"She summoned the same monster again?" Tempest asked.

"But in a different way," Misty pointed out. "Since she used three summons, that'll activate its special ability."

"That's right," Skystar announced. "With it, I now return every Spell and Trap on the field to the hand!" Poseidra shot a powerful blast of water that caused a tidal way, which swept away not just Skystar's face downs, but both of Grands and his two Pendulum Monsters.

"Gyah!" Grand cried as the water hit him, Tempest and Misty. He was able to keep his eyes open long enough to see his cards float away before they reappeared in his hands. He then looked at his monsters and saw them being struck by the wave.

"And since at least three cards were returned to the hand, every monster on your field now lose three hundred ATK points for each one." The three's power lowered as the water finally receded, revealing Grand significantly weakened monsters. (A300/D2300/L7/P5) (A0/D1400/L4/P4) (A0/D2100/L5/P2)

"I can't believe she had such a powerful effect," Tempest gulped. "It's a good thing Grand's got Dual Blade Shinobi's ability."

"Maybe," Misty wasn't so sure. "She knows this, so she wouldn't bother attacking unless she has a plan."

"Next I activate the Continuous Spell card, Curse of the Abyss. Now, by discarding a card, I can negate the skill of a monster on your field for the remainder of the turn." The Spell appeared before firing a shroud of black fog at Duel Blade, causing him to chock as his power was weakened.

Tempest and Misty shared a worried look. "That means he can't negate the attack," Tempest realised.

"At least he has enough Life Points to survive his monster's destruction."

"Don't be so sure," Skystar smirked as she played another card. "I now equip Poseidra with the Spell, Shell Blade!" A giant seashell appeared in her monster's hands, which had a large spike on the end of it. "With this card, whenever it attacks a monster, it gains three hundred ATK points for every monster you control!" Everyone's eyes went wide hearing this, watching as the monster swam forward. "ATTACK!"

Poseidra raised its weapon and pointed it at Arashiakuma Shinobi, its effects kicking in and boosting the sea monster's ATK by up to nine hundred ATK points. (A3700/D1600/L7) Everyone knew that if this attack landed, Grand was done for.

"AAARRRHHH!" Pinkie screamed as she and Maud continued to run, the robot army continuing to chase after them.

Said army had grown three times as big, the girls having run into several more security details during their rush through the facility. And with each robot group they ran into, they had to redirect their route to the backup terminal. Maud looked down at her Duel Disk and saw there was only one room with what they needed in this area. But if they ran into another group of robots, they were doomed.

"This way!" She grabbed Pinkie's arm and pulled her around the corner and as she did, they both spotted a door at the end of a hallway. "There it is!" They ran as fast as they could to get into the room before the robots caught them, managing to get in and slammed the door shut before the mechanised security turned a corner. Seeing nobody there, their systems told them they'd escaped and the robots started to disperse.

"That was close," Pinkie sighed in relief. She then looked around and saw the room they were in was full of multiple brooms, mops and boxes of cleaning supplies. "Is this...a broom closet?"

"It's the very bottom of the backup terminals," Maud began to move several boxes to reveal a small computer system at the back of the room. "Only used when absolutely every other backup is out of order. Even so, we can still use it to tap into their systems and find what we need." She started typing at it while Pinkie looked back at the door, seeing no way of locking it.

"Alright," she grabbed a broom and shoved it between the handle before grabbing any and all boxes she could find. "I'll make sure you aren't disturbed."

"Thanks," Maud nodded as the holographic screen appeared infront of her. She took the flashdrive out of her pocket and plugged it in, the system coming online as she began her work. "It'll take a few minutes to get through their security. But once we're through, I can upload the worm that'll let Freeze Industries gain access. After that, it'll be a simple matter for them to transfer all the information they need."

"Great, then get hacking. And while you do that, I stand guard." Maud looked back at Pinkie and saw she was now dressed like a London guard with her hair acting like the hat and a broom in place of a gun. The girl didn't seem at all bewildered by the clothing change and looked back at the computer, right as a window popped up.

"What?" Maud looked closely at the image on the window, seeing it was blueprints for something. Atop the blueprints were two words. "Zenith Generator?" The image showed an orb of some kind, with a flat ring-like structure going around it. Said ring had eight triangular spikes coming out of it, giving it an almost star-like shape. "What are those Zealots up too?" She knew she had to focus on the Void information, but this might be just as important.

Author's Note

Our hero's work to defeat the Zealots begin. Also, question I got asked in a PM. What time of year does this and XX take place. Doesn't really matter to me but it got me wondering, what time of year do you think this takes place in.

Turn 9: Rising Tides and Rising Tensions

Long ago, under the sea.

In a castle deep beneath the sea, we find Rhodos, the Atlantean Princess, asleep in a shell-shaped bed. But suddenly, the room was filled with light by a lantern situated on the ceiling. The young princess groaned as the light hit her face, causing her to slowly awaken.

"Urrrrr," she sat up and looked around before sighing. Running her hand through her hair, she flinched when she felt something slimy and looked around to see a strand of seaweed tangled up in it. "Ewww!" She pulled it out and threw it away, only for it to instead float infront of her.

After rolling her eyes, she jumped out of bed and swam to the door.

Stepping out into the hallway, she was met by a squad of Pikemen swimming passed. "Princess!" They all bowed their heads before continuing on, the girl sighing as she headed into the castle dining room. There, she spotted her mother sitting at the far end of the table.

Queen Amphitrite wasn't eating, instead looking over something written on a waterproof scroll. Her staff sat beside her, the magic pearl situation atop it. She looked up and smiled as her daughter swam over to her. "Good morning dear."

"Is it morning?" She asked, "could be the middle of the night for all we know." Amphitrite rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying. When was the last time anyone here actually felt real sunlight."

"Oh, hush. Don't go on about all that again. Have something to eat. The cook made some delicious kelp chips and fish oil tea." Rhodos rolled her eyes but ate anyway, looking around as she did.

"Where's big brother?"

"Neptabyss and his friends were out early this morning. Apparently, they found a new trench they want to explore."

"Great. Another cold, dark and wet place to add to the list of cold, dark and wet locations."

"Rhodos," the queen sighed, "I do wish you'd stop complaining."

"Why shouldn't I complain," she slammed her fist on the table. "We don't belong down here mother." She glanced at the pearl. "That thing could have turned us into anything, but you chose to turn us all into a bunch of fish."

"I did what was best for our people."

"How is hiding away underwater good for us? We once ruled the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Every other species of monster bowed at our feet and feared our might. Then-"

"Then those we oppressed joined forces and attacked us. Their combined power caused our entire city to sink. If I hadn't transformed us, we would have been finished."

"And I accept at the time you didn't have any other choice. But things are different now. Our forces have grown. The surface thinks we're gone. Now is the perfect time to take back what's ours."

"Then what?" Amphitrite put down her scroll and picked up her staff, swimming out of her chair. "Even if we managed to take back the surface world, it wouldn't last. Another mighty army would come together and attack us again and we'd be right back to where we started." She turned back to her daughter. "We will remain where we're safe. Here, underwater. I suggest you accept that."

But at that moment, the doors to the room were flung open before a Marksmen swam in. "Your majesty!" He looked around and spotted her, swimming over to her side and bowing before her. "My queen. Something terrible has happened to the prince." Amphitrite and Rhodos's eyes went wide as they looked over at one another.

Minutes later, they burst out the castle and spotted a pair of Marksmen carrying someone they both recognised. "BROTHER!" They swam over as the Marksmen landed infront of the castle and placed Neptabyss down on the ground. The two looked him over and were shocked to see half his body mangled with bloody patches here and there.

Amphitrite turned to the Marksmen, "what happened?"

"Daedalus," one explained. "We were exploring the trench and the prince swam ahead. That's when it attacked." Rhodos gasped and covered her mouth while Amphitrite checked him over, ordering the medics to come.

Everything was a blur after that, the two royals finding themselves outside the hospital room as their medical experts did what they could. "How could this happen?" Amphitrite asked while swimming in a pacing fashion, "we should have been safe down here."

"No place is one hundred percent safe," Rhodos told her. "If it wasn't a Daedalus, it would have been a Cyber Dragon or a Tyrano or maybe even one of the Blackwings. No place will ever be without danger."

Amphitrite's entire body shook as she swam over to a window, leaning against it as tears escaped her ducks and merged with the water around them. "You're right. I was a fool to think I could ever keep our people safe in this world." Rhodos swam over and grabbed her arm, hugging it. "There has to be a way. A way to keep our people safe, without needing to constantly fight or hide." She wiped her eyes as a look of determination appeared on her face, "I'll find it. No matter what the cost, I'll find a way to save our people."

"And I'll help," Rhodos agreed. "No matter what, we'll find a way to save our people. I promise.

Present.

"I promise," Skystar whispered as she watched her monster attack Grand's. Poseidra the Atlantean Dragon was charging at Arashiakuma Shinobi, Shell Blade powering it up enough to completely wipe out Grand's life points if it made contact. "You're about to lose and be sent to Void. Hope you enjoy the trip."

Grand, however, simply smiled. "I prefer air travel, thank you very much." He took a card from his hand, "and this Trap card will keep it as the only type of transport I use."

"You can't activate a Trap from your hand," Skystar pointed out before spotting the monster she was attacking beginning to make hand signs. "An ability?"

"One activated when you declared an attack," Grand explained. "If you'd picked Hiakuma Shinobi as your target, you'd have won. But because you picked Arashiakuma Shinobi, I can now activate this Trap from my hand. Go, Ninjutsu Art of Souls. With this Trap, I can increase the ATK of a Ninja on my field by half the ATK of any Ninja I discard from my hand." He discarded a card as a ghostly Mizuakuma Shinobi appeared infront of Arashiakuma Shinobi before turning into light and going into him. (A1100/D2100/L5/P2) Seconds later, Poseidra's attack landed and destroyed the ninja.

Grand: 800
Skystar: 1500

Grand might have lost most of his life points, but he survived and that was all he needed to do. Behind him, Misty and Tempest both sighed in relief. "That was too close," Misty clutched her chest.

"But Grand's still in this," Tempest smiled. "And he can still win." She looked up at the giant sea monster and frowned, "I hope."

"I end my turn," Skystar announced as her monster's ATK returned to normal. (A2800/D1600/L7) It was then that Skystar's Duel Disk beeped, indicating a system breach. "What?" She glanced look down at it as the screen changed to show Maud and Pinkie, Maud working at the computer terminal. "Those little brats!" She started typing at her Duel Disk, "they're fiddling with the system." She then laughed, "but it won't make any difference."

"Little brats?" Misty raised an eyebrow, all the while Tempest and Grand smirked.

"It's gotta be the girls."

"Yes," Grand agreed. "I knew they'd pull through."

"Don't go getting your hopes up," Skystar growled. "Now that I've sent their location to my security bots, those girls are done for!" The three frowned at this, all beginning to fear for their friend's safety.

Down at a lower level, Maud continued to type away at the computer while Pinkie worked to barricade the door.

She quickly stacked whatever she could find against it, including brooms, buckets and other items that were laying around on the floor. "There," she stepped back while slapping her hands together, "there's no way anything's getting through there." But it seems the universe wanted to prove her wrong.

Suddenly, a powerful force slammed against the door and caused the mountain of items to shake before collapsing. "WHAT!" The door suddenly opens to show several security robots on the other side, their blades glowing brightly. "Oh no, you don't!" Pinkie grabbed on of the brooms off the floor and charged with a mighty battle cry, swinging her makeshift weapon at the mechs.

The robots tried to fight back, but Pinkie avoided the blades and aimed at the arms and heads. After beheading the first one, she slammed her broom into its chest and pushed it back until it connected with the rest of the robots and forced them to roll backwards out of the closet.

The room now robots free, Pinkie slammed the door shut and shoved the broom through the handle while pinning her back against it. "Maud! I don't mean to rush you, BUT COULD YOU SPEED THIS UP!"

"I'm in," Maud announced after managing to break through the security system. "The worm's uploading now. But it'll still take a few minutes to completely seep into their system. And the security might try and fight against it. I'll need to stop that from happening.

Pinkie had no idea what she was talking about, the girl more concerned with the slamming that the door was being subjected too. "Just go as fast as you can. I don't think I can hold this for long."

"Stay strong Pinkie," Maud assured her. "If we fail here, Flash, Marble and everyone else we care about might be lost forever."

"NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" Pinkie screamed while redoubling her efforts to keep the robots out.

"I won't allow everything my mother, the queen, has worked for go to waste. I will fight and keep fighting until her dream's a reality!" She pointed angrily at her opponent, "you will not stand in the way of the great queen Amphitrite's destiny!"

"My turn," Grand drew his card and nodded. "And I play the Spell card, Graceful Charity. So now I'll draw three cards but then discard two." He did so, shooting Skystar and dirty look as he did so. "She can be the queen of hearts for all I care. You're still mere minions of Zeronull." Skystar seemed speechless at this remark, seeing Grand smile and close his eyes. "Your kind will never..." He opened his eyes and shot a smile at her, "defeat me."

"Gyah," Skystar grit her teeth. "You have insulted me and my people. Not to mention our almighty queen!" Her entire body began to shake in anger, "I will not forgive you."

Grand didn't seem phased at all by this remark, simply continuing on with his turn. "I tribute both Duel Blade and Hiakuma Shinobi in order to summon Yamiakuma Shinobi!" The two ninja monsters suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. Then the smoke vanished, a ninja stood in their place wearing a purple demon mask with the dark kanji on it. (A2100/D2600/L7/P3)

Skystar smirked, "you think that card's gonna save you? Please."

Grand smiled, "you shouldn't be so quick to assume." The ninja made several hand-signs. "When Yamiakuma Shinobi is normal summoned, I can take one Ninja Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck and place it into an empty Pendulum Zone." Arashiakuma Shinobi appeared in the light pillar, Grand then adding another card into the other side. "Then I'll use Kukiakuma Shinobi to reset the Pendulum Scale with him." The second ninja appeared, causing the portal to form above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights flew down and joined Yamiakuma, revealing Duel Blade and Hiakuma. Now re-summoned, both were back to full power. (A2400/D2300/L7/P5) (A1600/D1400/L4/P4) "And since Duel Blade was special summoned, I can Special Summon one Level four or lower Shinobi monster from my Graveyard." After several hand-signs, Shinobi Shadow Striker appeared beside the other three.

"None of those monsters can beat my monster," Skystar pointed out. "All you're doing is giving me more targets."

"Again with the quick assumptions," Grand smirked. "You've obviously forgotten about Kukiakuma's Pendulum Ability, which lets me transfer Hiakuma's ATK points to Duel Blade." The wind demon ninja performed a jutsu before the two ninja's points changed. (A4000/D2300/L7/P5) (A0/D1400/L4/P4) "ATTACK!" The ninja charged forward, swinging its two swords around until they became a blur.

"Yeah," Tempest cheered, "end this!"

"You can do it," Misty cried. "She doesn't have any face downs."

"Because I don't need one," Skystar smirked. "I activate the effect of my Shell Blade," she discarded the last card in her hand. "Now I can put a complete stop to your attack!" The sea monster raised the spiked shell and blocked Dual Blade's attack, pushing the ninja back without a single scratch appearing on it or the shell.

Grand frowned. That effect could be tricky. He looked down at his hand and saw a way around this. "I place one card face down and end my turn." The ATK points of both his ninja's returned to their original values, Grand's entire team now at the mercy of Poseidra. (A2400/D2300/L7/P5) (A1600/D1400/L4/P4)

"My turn," Skystar drew her card and smiled. "First, I play Pot of Greed. So now I can draw two new cards. And following that, I play Salvage. This Spell lets me return two Water monster in my graveyard with fifteen hundred or less ATK points back to my hand." She pulled out Neptabyss and Neo Barrier Statue, only to then discard her Neo Barrier Statue. "Now, I'll ditch a card to active my Curse of the Abyss Spell."

The card shot out the dark mist, which struck Duel Blade and cancelled out his ability. "Now Grand can't negate Skystar's attack," Tempest growled as Skystar shot Grand a deadly gaze.

"Because you have insulted my mother, the queen, I will provide you with the best...or rather, the worst death possible." Poseidra let out a mighty roar, which caused the entire room to shake and it began to swim forward through the air. "ATTACK! And since you have four monsters on your field, that's an extra twelve hundred ATK points for my monster." (A4000/D1600/L7)

"You activated my Trap!" Grand's face down flipped up. "Kunai with Chain!" A long chain with a strange weapon on the end appeared in the ninja's hands, Duel Blade quickly swinging it at Poseidra. The chain appeared infinite, completely wrapping around its body and preventing it from moving. "This Trap forces your monster into DEF mode. Then it equips itself to my monster, increasing his ATK points by five hundred." (A2900/D2300/L7/P5)

Skystar frowned while Misty and Tempest both smiled. "Alright, dad. Not only did you save your monster, but you also made it so your other monsters can destroy Poseidra next turn."

"That's the way," Tempest nodded.

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Skystar's monster's ATK points returned to normal, the chains unwrapping themselves from around it. (A2800/D1600/L7)

"My turn," Grand drew his card and smiled. "And with Kukiakuma Shinobi's Pendulum Ability, I transfer Shinobi Shadow Striker's ATK points to Hiakuma Shinobi!" The wind demon masked ninja cast several hand-signs before the two monsters glowed, their points changing. (A2100/D1400/L4/P4) (A0/D1000/L3) "Then, I'll attack with him." The fire demon masked shinobi cast his own set of hand-signs before spitting a fireball at the sea monster.

"Yes," Tempest arm pumped. "Even if she uses the Shell Blade's ability to protect it, Grand'll be able to use one of his other monsters to destroy it."

"And don't forget Hiakuma Shinobi's ability," Misty smiled. "When it destroys Poseidra, he'll be able to destroy Skystar's curse card." But when they looked over at Skystar, they saw she didn't have a single worry.

"You activated my Trap!" She announced as her face down flipped up, "Waboku!" A bunch of robed women appeared infront of Poseidra, each holding up a wand and creating a barrier that blocked the fireball and left the sea monster completely unharmed. "This Trap protects my monster from being destroyed this turn and protects me from taking any battle damage."

Grand and the girls all growled hearing this, the flames fading while the woman and their barrier remained. "I switch Shadow Striker and Yamiakuma Shinobi to DEF mode and end my turn." Hiakuma and Shadow Striker's ATK points returned to their normal values. (A1600/D1400/L4/P4) (500/D1000/L3)

"Come on," Tempest moaned. "This Duel keeps going around in circles."

Misty nodded. "But eventually, they'll run out of ways to protect their monsters. This Duel all comes down to whoever runs out of ways to do that. Let's just hope dad's not the one that happens too."

"My draw," Skystar smiled when she saw what she'd gotten. "I don't know why you're so hellbent on stopping us. After all, everything my mother is trying to do is for the betterment of everyone's lives." The three tensed up hearing this.

"Let me guess," Grand spoke up. "Something bad happened and now both you and your mother believe it's better if the world were to be destroyed."

Skystar growled. "You don't know anything! You haven't suffered the way we've suffered. You haven't had to hide yourselves away from the world, fighting for survival. You haven't-"

"Save us the sob story," Misty growled. "It's nothing we haven't heard a million times before."

"You think you're the only one who's been through tough times?" Tempest asked. "We've all had bad things happen to us. And heck, I'll admit even I've let those times overcome me. But not anymore. We've learnt to overcome those times and work to make the world better. We're not just gonna give up on it."

Grand nodded. "If you wanna give up on the world, go ahead. But leave us and those we love out of it!"

"Shut up!" Skystar almost screamed, "I won't let you mock the pain we've suffered." She raised the card she'd drawn, "I'll put my entire pride as an Atlantean warrior on the line to help my mother achieve her goal. AND YOU WON'T STOP ME!" She held the card above her head, as a tornado of water exploded around her monster. "Tempest of water and air, spin yourself into the form of a terrible dragon! Drown all those that stand against you with a tidalwave of fear. DESCEND!"

The tornado exploded, revealing a sea monster that was twice the size of Poseidra. It stood on two legs and had a giant metal gauntlet on each hand, with a large anchor chained to the back of them. On its back were a pair of blue metal wings with several sections that looked like they opened. The trident on its tail was now larger with spinning drill bits on each tip. Finally, it had a large purple masquerade mask on its face, with long purple ribbons coming off the sides. "Atlantean Dragon of the Maelstrom, POSEIDRA!" (A3000/D2000/L8)

The three all stared up at the giant with a slight worry, having never seen this beast before.

"Maelstrom's skill. Since Poseidra's in the graveyard, plus five hundred ATK points. (A3500/D2000/L8) "I'll discard a card in order to activate the effects of Curse of the Abyss!" Her Spell card unleashed the dark mist, which struck Duel Blade Shinobi and once again cancelled out its skill. "Next, Poseidra's other ability activates!" The compartment on its wings began to open before water cannon like nozzles folded out and pointed at Grand's field. "Every card in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zones are washed away, shuffled back into your deck." The nozzles fired high-pressure jets of water, hitting the ground and creating a tidalwave that washed away Grand's Trap along with his face down.

Tempest and Misty began to panic as they watched Grand place the cards in his deck before it shuffled, Duel Blade losing its power increase. (A2400/D2300/L7/P5)

"What's more: For every card returned to your deck, you now have to discard a card from your hand." The panic the two felt doubled as Grand discarded his last two cards, leaving him completely exposed to Skystar's next attack.

"This is really bad," Tempest gulped. "He doesn't have a single card to defend against."

"Daddy!" Misty cried as Poseidra raised its claws, the anchors detaching before the sea monster swung them around.

"Mother," Skystar smiled, "my queen." She pointed at Hiakuma Shinobi, "I DEDICATE THIS VICTORY TO YOU!" Poseidra threw the anchors at Grand's monster, ready to end this Duel while the girls gasped. But Grand remained calm.

And the reason soon became crystal clear, as a water tornado exploded infront of his monsters and blocked the anchors. Skystar's eyes went wide in shock seeing this, the water exploding to reveal a humanoid turtle in ninja gear that was carrying a large shield designed around its shell. "Shinobi Stealth Beast, Kame-Shirudo!"

"What?" Skystar was completely shocked by the sight, unable to believe what the heck was happening.

"What happened?" Tempest turned to Misty, seeing her smirk.

"Kame-Shirudo's ability lets him banish it from his graveyard and completely cancel out the battle phase."

"But how'd he get it into his grave-" Tempest stopped, remembering Poseidra's ability. "She did it."

"Yes," Misty turned back to the Duel. "She sent his hand to the graveyard, which gave him the chance he needed."

"So she shot herself in the foot," Tempest smirked.

"Not exactly. It has another ability that allows it to stop one attack by being discarded. She just made it so dad can't stop another attack. Not that he'll need too."

Skystar was still shocked her best monster's ultimate attack did nothing. "This isn't possible. It's just...it's not possible. You shouldn't stand a chance against me. You...you're just a human."

"Was that it?" Skystar turned back to Grand, seeing the stoic yet fierce expression on his face. "Was that all your pride could offer?" Skystar's heart was racing, as total unequalled fear filled her entire being. "You Zealots think you're all that, but when you come up against something more then what you were expecting, you begin to cower." He reached for his deck, "let me show you what a true Duelist can do."

Back with Pinkie and Maud, the hack was close to completion. A good thing too, since the robots were getting closer and closer to gaining access.

As Pinkie continued to push against the door, a glowing blade suddenly thrust through the metal close to her head and sheered off a few hairs. "Yaaah!" Pinkie jumped away from the door but quickly spun around to slam her hands into it, several more blades piercing through it as she did. "Maud, hurry. I...can't keep this up much longer."

"Just a few more seconds." As she said that, the terminal pinged to indicate that the worm was now fully installed. "We're connected." The screen then changed to show Sunset, the girl smiling at them from her computer at Freeze Industries.

"Good job you guys," she smiled while typing away at her system. "Freeze Industries now has complete access."

"Great!" Pinkie cried out, "then do you mind getting these robots off our backs!"

"Way ahead of you. Just need to find their command setting and...got'em!" At that moment, the banging against the door stopped and the blades no longer stabbed through it. Pinkie opened the door and glanced out, seeing the robots piled up on the floor and breathing a sigh of relief. "Now that that's out of the way, we can focus on Void." Sunset started typing away, the files opening up. "Beginning transfer." As she said that, a loud beeping noise began to fill the room.

"What's that?" Pinkie asked.

"Looks like the hack set off an alarm," Maud explained before turning back to Sunset. "You'll need to hurry. It won't be long before they start fighting back and we lose access."

"I know. You girls get out of there before they do something extreme. Don't worry. We got this."

"Alright," Pinkie nodded.

"Before we go, you should also try and download a file called Zenith Generators. I don't know what it's for, but I think it might be part of their bigger plan."

"Understood. I'll look into it as soon as the info on Void's complete. Now get going." The girls nodded and rushed out the room, the beeping alarm echoing throughout the entire base.

That beeping was also heard in the main room, causing Skystar's fears to grow. "No. Someone's hacked into Void."

Misty and Tempest smiled at one another, "Is that who I think it is?"

"Oh yeah," Tempest nodded. "Pinkie and Maud did it."

"I draw," they all turned back to Grand as he slapped a card down on his Duel Disk. "I summon Tochiakuma Shinobi!" A ninja with a brown demon mask that had the earth symbol on it appeared beside the rest of Grand's team. (A1000/D1800/L4/P3) "Whenever Tochiakuma's normal summoned, I can draw one card." The ninja cast some hand-signs as Grand drew, a smile appearing on his face as he saw what he got. "It's go time." He raised his card high, "I play the Grand Shinobi Ritual!"

"A Ritual Card!" Skystar's eyes went wide as a large stone spike suddenly shot out of the ground. And on that spike, balanced on a stone slab, was a golden statue of a ninja in the lotus position.

"Now I can summon a Grand Shinobi Ritual monster, as long as I sacrifice monsters from my field whose Levels equal or exceed its." Shinobi Shadow Striker, Yamiakuma and Tochiakuma Shinobi transformed into a light before they flew up into the statue, causing it to glow. "Darkest shadows, spin yourself into the form of a mighty dragon. Appear before us and strike, with stealth and skill that can be seen by no one." The statue became covered in cracks before it exploded, unleashing a powerful light. "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

As the light faded, everyone saw a new monster hovering in the air. It was a fifteen-meter high humanoid dragon with black scale, wearing golden shogun armour and had three pairs of golden feathered wings on its back. It had four arms and in each one, it carried a large golden katana. On its head was a golden helmet with golden wings on the side. "Grand Shinobi Stealth Dragon, Afterimage!"

"This isn't possible," Skystar shook her head. "We're...we're stronger than you."

"Your strength is an illusion!" Grand pointed at her, "Afterimage's skill. This card's original ATK points become the combined Levels of the monsters used to Ritual Summoned him, times three hundred." The dragon roared as its points were added up. (A4200/D4200/L10)

"No," Skystar growled. 'He thinks he's won. But he doesn't know about Poseidra's suicide ability' When Poseidra's destroyed, it also destroys every monster on the field. Skystar would survive and Grand would have no more monsters to attack with. If she could draw a monster next turn, this Duel would be hers.

"Your evil ambitions are never going to be fulfilled," Grand told her as Afterimage flew forward. "Not while we're here to stop them!" With four mighty swings of its swords, the slashed its way through Poseidra and destroyed the dragon. It roared as its entire body exploded into water, which splashed down on Skystar and drenched her.

Grand: 800
Skystar: 800

But as the water washed over her, she smiled. "You fools. You activated Poseidra's ability. Now, every monster on the field will be destroyed."

"What?" Tempest cried, "since when?"

"Since now!" She cried as the water morphed into a tidalwave, "this Duel's over!"

"Dad!" Misty looked over at her father, only to see he looked completely calm.

"You're right," he nodded. "This Duel is over. And you've lost." His dragon's swords all began to glow a golden light, "Afterimage's skill!" He turned to the rest of Grand's monsters before swinging his blades through them, cutting them in half and sucking the lights from their destruction into the swords. "When he destroys a monster, I can sacrifice any other Ninja on my field and for each one sacrificed, you take five hundred points of damage!"

"What!" Skystar screamed as Afterimage swung the blades around, the light shooting off them in an X shape. That light flew into the tidalwave and cut right through it, flying towards the distraught Dominator. "Mother, please forgive me." The blast struck her and exploded, consuming her with light. "I FAILED YOU!"

Grand: 800 (Winner)
Skystar: 0

As the light and Afterimage faded, everyone was able to get a look at Skystar as the girl stood there with smoke coming off her. Her paralysis lasted only a few moments and was broken as she grabbed her hand, screaming in pain as the symbol on its back began to burn away. "NOOOOO!" She fell to her knees while the others moved over to her. "It hurts," she whimpered. "It hurts." But as her pain slowly weakened, she felt a presence and looked up.

Grand stood above her with Misty to his left and Tempest to his right, Tempest cracking her knuckles. "It's time for you to tell us everything you know." Grand and Misty nodded.

Skystar glared up at the three before a smile appeared on her lips. "No thanks." She pressed a button on her Duel Disk, the base suddenly beginning to shake as the sound of explosions rattled through the air.

"What's going on?" Misty asked as Skystar laughed, making them look back at her.

"It's all over for you now," the girl picked herself up. "You're too dangerous to be left alive. So I will wipe you out so you can't be a thorn in our side again." As she said that, the image on the computer screen changed to show the hallways of the base filling with flames and falling apart. The three were horrified by this, Tempest pointing at Skystar.

"Are you crazy? If this place comes down, you'll be taken down with us."

"Don't be so naive," Skystar smiled. "You think this is our only base?" The three gave her and curious look. "We have operations all over the world. You cannot stop the mission our Lord has given us." She tapped her foot on the ground and before anyone could even utter a word, the floor opened up beneath her and she dropped into a round tunnel. "Fair well!"

"HEY!" Tempest growled before another explosion caught their attention. They were getting closer. "We need to get out of here and fast."

"But how?" Misty asked, "we're still sealed in here."

"Don't worry about it," Sunset's voice called out from nowhere. They turned back to the computer system and saw her face appear on screen. "I've managed to gain control of the facility, including the security system."

"Great work," Grand told her. "Now, can you anything to stop this whole place from going up in smoke?" The nervous look on Sunset's face told them their answer.

"Yeah...sorry but I can't." Tempest and Misty slumped as the screen changed to show Pinkie and Maud racing through the hallways. "I've freed the other two. You need to get out of there, A S A P." As she said this, the wall that had been locking them in finally lifted up, allowing the three of them the rush out and begin their escape through the hallways.

Sunset tapped into Grand's Duel Disk and began to direct them, leading them through the quickest escape route that wasn't destroyed. As they raced up level after level, the building continued to shake and rock with stray pieces falling from the ceiling that almost conked them on the head.

"Grand!" They spotted Pinkie and Maud rushing up from the opposite end of the hall, the five meeting at an X junction before turning to race up a flight of stairs leading to the exit. "We're not gonna make it," an explosion occurred behind them. "We're not gonna make it," the flame followed after them and were on their trail as they headed for the door. "WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" They reached the door and threw it open before the force of the explosion slammed into their backs, sending the lot of them rocketing forward.

The five found themselves slamming into the ground as the flames flew above them, the lot panting heavily as the explosion finally subsided.

"We made it," Pinkie huffed out as she rolled onto her back. The others got up and looked over the building, seeing it was completely ablaze.

"Come on," Grand picked himself up. "I don't think we wanna be here when the authorities arrive." The girls agreed and all got up, heading off to their boat and sailing off before the Hong Kong emergency services arrived.

Once they were a safe distance away, they contacted Sunset. "We managed to secure all the data on Void. Cold has our best minds working on analysing it. We'll contact you as soon as we have any useful information."

"Great," Grand smirked, "thanks for that."

Sunset smiled back, "no need to thank me. The ones you should be thanking at Pinkie and Maud." The girls smiled hearing this, Pinkie scratching the back of her head sheepishly while Misty placed a hand on both of their shoulders.

"You both did amazingly," she assured them. "Thanks to the two of you, we have a chance to save my children and the others."

They both nodded before Maud turned back to Sunset. "What about the other file I told you about. The Zenith Generator." Now Sunset frowned.

"Unfortunately, I was just able to download the Void info before I got cut off. But I did get a chance to glance over the security on that file. It was tight. Even tighter than the Void info. Whatever this is, it must be extremely important to the Zealots." This statement caused a new wave on unease to wash over the group. Just when they were starting to get an edge over the Zealots, they learn of more secrets the Dominators were holding.

In another part of Hong Kong, Skystar was sitting against a tree panting while looking over the damage to her Soulink mark.

"This is ridicules," she growled at the sight before her. "This much damage from a single Duel." The mark on the back of her hand was almost half gone, several large sections faded away. "If I lose just one more time, I might be sent back to our world." She began to shake in anger, violently hitting the tree. "Damn them. Damn them all. Grand Hoof! Misty Veil! Tempest Shadow! And those two brats, Pinkie and Maud Pie! I'll make them all pay!"

"Now now, letting your anger control you isn't very princess-like." The girl gasped as she looked up, her eyes going wide at the sight infront of her.

From out of the shadows, Novo stepped out and smiled down at her daughter.

"Mother!" Skystar got up before falling to her knees, bowing infront of Novo as the women stepped up to her. "I'm sorry. I failed you. I lost a Duel and let those humans get the information on Void." Tears leaked from her eyes.

"It is okay my child," she knelt down and placed a hand on the girl's head. Skystar looked up and their eyes finally met, a gentle smile clear on the older women's face. "Tell me, was the generator's transport completed."

"Yes," Skystar nodded. "I managed to transport it to the specified location before I activated the self destruct."

"Then you should feel no shame. Your actions have protected the Zealot's progress and kept us on schedule. Your loss only brings as much shame as you allow it too." Skystar's head dropped against as her tears increased in quantity, the emotions behind them shifting to ones of joy.

"Thank you, mother."

"However," Skystar looked up to see a look of anger on her mother's face, "I cannot forgive the pain that those humans have inflicted on my child. As such, I shall pay them back for what they've done tenfold." She stood up and stared up at the moon, "let it not be said that I allow my subjects to suffer without recourse. All those who endanger them, shall suffer and fate worst than death."

"Here goes," Flash took out a card and placed in on his Duel Disk. "Come to me, Vail Pixie X!" A flash of light appeared infront of him before morphing into the image of his favourite tuner monster.

But alas, the fairy just floated there completely lifeless. Spike stepped up to the fairy and pocked at her, only or the image to pixelate around his finger. "Nope," he turned back to Flash, "normal hologram."

"Dang it," Flash deactivated his Duel Disk and caused the image to vanish. "I was hoping maybe they'd overlooked my abilities, but it doesn't look like it."

Twilight sighed. "If you could summon Vail Pixie, then she might be able to open a portal to get us out of here. But I seems not."

"So what do we do?" Gilda asked. But before anyone could even try and answer that question, they all felt a burning pain in their hands and clutched the omega symbol while crying out in pain.

"Guys!" Scootaloo rushed to her brother's side, seeing more of the symbol turn red. "This is bad." She looked at everyone else's symbols and saw Flash's was the most filled. If this kept up, he'd be the one whose mark completed first. And if that happened, he'd be the one taken over.

"Guys," Flash grunted out as he sat against the mirror wall, "please. You have to hurry." That was all he could say as he felt himself growing weaker. Every second they were trapped in this prison, the closer they got to being taken. And if that happened, Zeronull would be one step closer to destroying everything and everyone they cared about.

Author's Note

Hey, score one to the good guys. Hope you enjoyed.

Turn 10: Escape From The Void

Void.

"Come on!" Scootaloo cried as she pushed against the mirror Spike had arrived through. But eventually, she gave up and staggered backwards. "Come on," she fell to her but. "How the heck are we supposed to get out of here?"

"We can't," Twilight explained. "According to the Zealots, it's impossible to escape from Void."

"Well we got in," Spike pointed out. "So there's gotta be a way out."

"Not necessarily," Twilight sighed. As she said that, Flash looked down at his hand and saw that two-thirds of his crest was filled. And if what Discord had told them was true, when it was full they'd be in serious trouble.

He glanced at the others and got a glimpse of their marks, seeing his was still the most full. 'There isn't much time left. And if I'm the singularity that caused all this, then it's up to me to save the others find a way out of here.' He let out a weak growl, 'but how do I do that?'

Meanwhile, in their cliff-side mansion, several of the Zealots were watching the vessels talk.

Guto stared at the screen before turning to Discord and Trixie, Trixie sipping a cup of fine tea while Discord slurped up some chocolate milkshake through a straw. As Trixie sampled the beverage, her face showed a look of disgust.

"If it's bad, why're you drinking it?" Discord asked as she continued to drink it.

"The same reason you're drinking that," Trixie pointed to his drink. "Even if we're the ones using them, these bodies don't obey our every whim. They still retain all the cravings the host were subjugated too. Mine enjoyed this leafy muck while yours enjoyed that slop. Even if we hate the taste, the bodies still crave them."

"Indeed," Discord nodded. "Luckily for me, my host and I have the same tastes in food and fashion." He finished his milkshake and threw it behind him, snapping his fingers only for the sound of the clattering cup to fill his ears.

"You forgot you don't have your usual powers, didn't you?" Discord left Trixie's question unanswered as Guto moved over to them.

"The candidates seem to be trying to get out again. What should we do?"

"Wait and see," Discord replied as he crossed his leg over his knee. "Right now, what we need to do is remain patient Ouravas. Until the candidates become vessels, there's nothing we can do but wait."

"We could try and secure more candidates," Trixie pointed out. "There's still two left and you two haven't done a thing to add to our candidate roster."

"Impossible," Discord explained. "The remaining candidates are two well-protected. To get to them, we'd need to go through a slew of Duellists that would stand between us." He looked back at the screen. "I'm afraid we'll have to make do with these four."

Freeze Industries.

It'd been two days since the assault on the Zealot's base and in that time, our heroes had discovered what they needed to do to find and save their friends from Void. Currently, Cadance and Misty were in the command centre with the last two members of team Crusaders.

At the back of the room, Adagio and her sisters sat watching. They had been selected to act as backup, encase the Zealots tried to do something that might but their plans in jeopardy.

Infront of them was a screen split into seven sections, showing eight groups together that were running to their destination. There was Cold and Grand, Shining and Sunset, Applejack and Rarity, Fluttershy and Tempest, Pinkie and Maud, Rainbow and Soarin, Sunburst and Starlight and Tidal and Thorax.

Misty then spoke up so everyone could hear them. "Alright everyone, we're gonna explain this one more time to make sure everyone understands. Using the information gathered by Pinkie and the others, we were able to determine that Void is situated in the space between our world and the Duel Monster Spirit World."

Cadance continued. "Being a mix of both our technology and theirs, Void is created using overlapping subspace. It remains whole due to a dimensional anchoring."

"Yeah," Sweetie raised her hand, "I'm still not following that."

Cadance sighed. "Think of it like a piece of string being pulled at one both sides. As long as the force pulling it is equal on both sides, the string remains taught and won't be pulled to one side." Sweetie nodded. "Well Void is exactly the same, being pulled by a string of energy on both sides. One string is pulling it to earth while another is pulling it to the Duel World."

Misty nodded. "And these energy strings are being created through generators, situated in both worlds. Eight generators on both worlds, each located in a different part of the planet. There's one in Cairo, London, Juneau, Riga, Odaiba, Sydney, Brasília and right here in Canterlot."

"So what do we do?" Applebloom asked.

"Simple," Misty smiled, "we take them out." She turned back to the screen, "you all ready?"

"Grand and I are at the Canterlot generator," Cold replied back.

Grand and Cold stood outside a large warehouse-like structure. Despite appearances, this building was actually absorbing huge amounts of power and transferring it to the energy chain.

"We're ready to head it." Grand looked down at his Duel Disk, which was connected to everyone else's. "All teams, check-in."

"Cairo team," Shining replied. "Ready and waiting."

"Odaiba team," Rarity's voice exclaimed. "In position."

"Um...Juneau team here," Fluttershy said.

"Riga team," Rainbow yelled. "Let's blow this dump!"

"London team!" Pinkie exclaimed, "let's do this thing!"

"Sydney team ready," Thorax explained.

"And Brasilia," Sunburst announced. Each of the seven teams were standing outside of a similar-looking building, all ready to storm the castle and save their friends.

"Okay," Cadance began typing at the computer, "sending each of you the access codes now."

"So why is destroying these generators so important?" Sweetie asked.

Misty turned to her. "If the generators go, Void's connection to earth will vanished and it'll begin to collapse." She saw the scared looks on the girl's faces. "Don't worry, our friends will be safe. Void has safety features that activate should what we're attempting to do happen. Before the prison disintegrates, it'll transport everyone inside out."

"But what if they just transport them to another prison?" Applebloom asked.

"There won't be time," Cadance smiled. "The system will be forced to transport them to the first safe location it can get a lock on. And according to the data we got from Skystar, the only locations locked into Void's systems are the ones the captives were first taken from." A beeping sound signalled the transfer was complete.

"Okay everyone," Misty spoke over the system. "You're all set.

"Then let's get started!" Cold told everyone. "Operation Prison Break is a go!"

"ROGER!" The other teams cried as the sixteen individuals rushed into their warehouse. And as Cold and Grand ran into theirs, they found a single large device in the middle of it. Said device was a glass tube with what looked like a tesla coil inside that had lightning surging around it.

As they ran up to it, Misty continued to explain how the generators worked.

"Each generator has two sets of defence systems. Both defence systems must be taken down at the same time for the generator to be shut down."

Grand and Cold stepped up to either side of the machine, spotting large red buttons on both sides that they knew would allow them to access the defence system and do battle. The same thing happened at the other seven generators, the attackers each stepping up to a button and pressing it at the same time.

"But these defence systems won't be like anything you've seen before. They're directly connected to Void." As they pressed them, the buttons unleashed a bright light which consumed them all. When the light faded, each Duellist found themselves in a white void with a single purple cloud of smoke floating infront of them. "Void was designed to distort the power of destiny, severing the bonds that connect Duellists to their monsters so Zeronull can Dominate them. This distortion is what allows the generators to create illusions, which will have strong ties to the Duellists."

One by one, each clouds began to slowly take shape and form the image of someone the Duellists all knew

For Grand, he was standing opposite his daughter. Shining found himself infront of his wife. Sunset was staring at Cold. Applejack faced off against Big Mac. Rarity stood against Adagio. Fluttershy and Soarin were both looking at Rainbow. Tempest and Starlight were both staring at themselves, only these ones had the Dominator mark on their hands. Pinkie and Maud were both looking at an image of their possessed sister. Rainbow was staring at Guto. Sunburst was up against the image of Flash. Tidal was staring down his lost father. Thorax was standing opposite the image of his mother. And Cold found himself staring down his brother, this version of Sombra the same one he'd lost too a year ago.

Each illusion looked like something off of a black and white TV, all the colour from them being gone aside from the purple cloud outlining them.

"So if we can beat them in a Duel," Cold activated his Duel Disk. "Then Void will vanish and everyone will be freed." The rest of the attackers did the same, their opponents activating their Duel Disks.

"We have to win this," Rainbow stated. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"We have to rescue them," Sunburst called out as they drew their cards and spoke the same thing.

"DUEL!"

"Huh?" Flash's head shot up, the others all doing the same thing after hearing a faint sound. "Did you guys hear that?"

Spike nodded. "It was faint, but I definitely heard it."

"Same here," Gilda nodded. "You think it's the Zealots playing tricks on us."

"No," Twilight shook her head, "it didn't sound like them."

"So then what was it?" Scootaloo's question went unanswered as in that moment, images began to appear on the mirrors around them. "Look!" The images solidified and allowed them to get a better look, seeing their friends Duelling strange dark versions of others. The lot of them quickly realised the darker versions must be fakes, considering there were two dark versions of Rainbow and both Tempest and Starlight were facing themselves.

"What's going on?" Spike asked.

"Some kind of illusion," Flash guessed.

"Are we sure that's even really them?" Twilight asked.

"Looks like it to me," Gilda told her.

Flash thought for a moment, a single idea appearing in his head. "If they're Duelling. Maybe it's to rescue us from Void."

Twilight nodded. "That's gotta be it."

Scootaloo smiled, "well then hurry up and win already!" But as she said this, the mirrors began to glow brighter and brighter until the light exploded off of them. The five cried out as they were blinded, the light eventually fading to let them see.

However, the five quickly found they were alone in a white void with a purple cloud infront of them. "What's happening?" Flash heard Twilight asked. But before he could answer, the cloud infront of him took shape and revealed a dark copy of Cold.

And he wasn't the only one facing a dark reflection of someone they knew. Twilight found herself staring down Moondancer. Spike was infront of Flash. Gilda was face to face with a pre-dominated Guto and Scootaloo was trapped with her idol, Rainbow.

"What the!" Scootaloo staggered back before tripping up and falling on her butt. "This can't be real."

"Just stay calm," Spike told her through the void.

"They're not real," Twilight finished while Flash thought their current situation over.

"If it was a Duel that was the cause of us being thrown in here, then maybe a Duel'll get us out." He pulled out his Duel Disk and placed it on his arm, the others following suit. "Ready?"

"YEAH!" The others cried out before activating their Duel Disks and drawing their cards. "DUEL!"

"I RITUAL SUMMON!" Tidal cried as his best monster appeared before him, "Commander of the Raging Storm, Soveruin!" Tidal stared at the shadow of his father, who was using a deck identical to his own. "Father. Even though I know this isn't the real you, I hope you're watching."

He then used his Pendulum Summon to get Splash Sargent and Deep Sea Officer onto the field. "I followed my dream, just like you wanted me too. And in doing so, I've made many amazing friends." Soveruin used its ability to return his father's faces downs, dealing him two hundred points of damage for each one. "My heart, that grew empty after your passing, is now full of the emotions those friends have given me."

Soveruin charged forward and destroyed his father's Ocean's Cavalier, "I now play a Spell Card. Rebirth Ritual!" Soveruin was engulfed by a tornado, which then exploded to reveal his evolved monster. "Master of the Storm, Admiral Soveruin!" The Admiral swam forward and destroyed his father's copy of Commander of the Raging Storm, activating its ability and destroying Officer Cadet Andrew and dealing its points to him as damage.

"And if defeating you is the only way to save the friends I've grown to care for, then nothing is gonna stop me!" Splash Sargent and Deep Sea Officer destroyed his father's last two monsters, leaving his field empty. "Now!" Tidal lifted his card up, "I sacrifice Soveruin and two Water monsters in order to summon his ultimate form!" The three were sucked into a gigantic water spiral, which then exploded to reveal the final form of Tidal's monster. "Let your heart quiver, as you gaze upon the Hurricane Incarnate. Lord High Admiral, SOVERUIN!"

At another generator, Rarity was facing off against shadow Adagio and her Dark Siren. Said Siren had absorbed Rarity's Brilliant Diamond, increasing its ATK points to forty-four hundred. Meanwhile, Rarity only had Gem-Unicorn.

"Adagio," the girl sighed. "You defeated me during the Celestic Cup, a shame I've never really gotten over. But that was then and this is now. I've grown much stronger since our last Duel, while this version of you's remained the same." She drew her card and smiled. "I Equip Gem-Unicorn with the Raregold Armor." The suit of armour appeared around her Pendulum Monster. "But it won't be around forever, because I'm using the Accessory Drop Spell card. This card makes me destroy an Equip Spell on my field, but in exchange, I can destroy an Equip Spell that you have."

Adagio's eyes went wide as the Armor exploded off of the unicorn, then turned to her monster as the stolen Gem-Knight was spit out of her monster before exploding.

"Then, I play the Spell card, Mistmane's Flower of Everlasting Beauty. And with it, I'll revive my Gem-Knight Lady!" Brilliant Diamond reappeared, carrying the potted flower.

Rarity wasn't the only one facing her past, Starlight and Tempest were both Duelling against their previously Dominated selves. And as they did, both thought back to that time.

"You forced me to steal another person's body," Tempest growled as her Liberator Form Scarvolt charged at the Dominator Form. "You caused so much pain and suffering to so many people. Well I won't let that stand!" Liberator destroyed Dominator, leaving the Dominated Tempest defenceless. "I won't let my past define the path I walk now!"

"My loneliness allowed you an entrance in," Starlight told her former self. "But that's not me anymore." Her Leo charged at the opposing Leo, powering himself up due to his ability. "Now I have friends, people who want to support and help me." The opposing Leo was destroyed, ending Starlight's turn. "You may have found your way back here in a new body, but you won't get to keep it." Her fake Starlight raised her card as her destroyed monsters were banished, summoning Draco Starlight. "Just like how everyone worked so hard to save me, I'll find a way to save Trixie and send your butt back to your own world!"

Scootaloo felt herself panic as she stared her idol down, Wild Rush Raptor and Battle Wing facing off.

"You taught me so much when I first started Dueling. My brother was in his moody phase and you took me under your wing." She drew her card, "well now let me show you what everything you taught me has led too." A black hole opened up and her Xyz monster was sucked inside as she played her card. "Go, Rank-Up-Magic Jurassic Force!" The black hole exploded to reveal her evolved dino. "Jurassic Raging Raptor!"

The beast roared at Battle Wing, Scootaloo using his ability to add two Overlay Units to him. "Today's the day I finally beat you and prove I'm more than just a fangirl!"

Gilda and Zephyr both stared down Guto and Arimaspi.

Gilda growled at him. "Last time I Duelled you, all I was able to do was clear the way for Rainbow. Well not this time!" Zephyr charged at the goat man. "I might not lead the Black Griffons anymore, but I'm still proud of being a part of them. And now, I'm gonna finally earn the title I held." The Harpie Lady destroyed the Arimaspi, leaving his field empty. This caused Gilda to smirk at the man. "After this, there'll be nothing holding me back from becoming a pro Duellist."

"Grah!" Sunburst cried as he staggered back, Flash Heart X destroying Sunburst Knight and leaving Sunburst Magician on the field. Once he had his footing, he looked over at his version of Flash.

"You saw something within me that I didn't think existed. You refused to give up until I saw it for myself." He drew his card and played it immediately. "Well, now I won't give up on you!" Magician was engulfed in a fire tornado, "I won't rest until you're safely back home." The flames exploded to reveal Sunburst Archmage.

The Flash shadow frowned at this, Archmage using its ability to power down his monster.

"FLASH!" Sunburst yelled, "let me show you the power you helped me find!" His monster charged, staff raised.

"GO!" Spike cried as Blazelord flew forward, slashing at Flash Heart X. But the robotic dragon raised its arms and blocked the sword. "Gyah!" He cried as his monster was knocked back, panting as he glared at the dark version of his friend.

This Flash gave him a smirk as if to say 'is that the best you've got?' Seconds later, Flash Heart X charged forward and sucker-punched Spike's dragon.

"Augh!" He cried as his monster was destroyed, his life points dropping, causing him to stagger back. But he quickly regained footing and focused. "He's nothing like Flash." Spike drew his card as the Pendulum Gate opened, re-summoning Dragonic Blazelord. "Flash is way more-" His Synchro Pendulum charged again, "POWERFUL!" The dragon swung its sword, Spike letting out a mighty roar as they connected.

"Just hang on Spike!" Thorax yelled as he drew his card, "I'm gonna get you out of there soon, okay." The portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened to reveal his ace.

"Changeling King!" The insectoid stag stared down his monster's Insect Queen, the shadow Chrysalis glaring at him. "Mother, you should be proud of what I've done." His monster morphed into hers. "I've built our homeland back into a wealthy nation. Your dream has come true.

Pinkie and Maud both stared longingly at the image of their possessed sister, Balloonimal Chimera and Giga-Rock Titan attacked Lady Marble.

"Marble," Pinkie frowned before her face turned serious, "I won't stop till you're back with us!"

"No matter what," Maud glared at her Marble. "We'll find a way to save you and bring you home."

"I PROMISE!" They both screamed as their monsters attacked again, "JUST HOLD ON!"

As Sunset faced off against her opponent, Solar Flare Phoenix staring down Neo Frozen Heart, she couldn't help but remember back to the day she met Cold.

"You gave me a life better then I could possibly imagine. You took me in, taught me to Duel in ways I'd never considered and helped me grow to be the best version of myself that I could possibly be." Solar Flare shot forward, ready to take on Neo Frozen Heart with everything it had.

"Well, now I'll repay that kindness and help save Twilight and the others. I won't stop until they're back home safely. And when this is all over, I'll keep pushing until I grow into the Duelist you'll be proud of!"

Cold and Neo Frozen Heart both stared down Sombra and his Doom-Vaders, Tyrant Reaper Dragon leading the quintet.

"Why bother?" Sombra asked him, "you can't beat me. Just step back and let that kid do all the work, as usual."

Cold smiled, "you say that like I'm ashamed of letting him take the lead." Sombra seemed surprised by this, "why would I be ashamed of stepping back for someone stronger than me?" Neo Frozen Heart charged forward, firing its hip blasters at Tyrant Reaper. "It's true, I'll be happy to step up to the plate when needed. But I know now that being the hero isn't my destiny."

Sombra cried as Tyrant Reaper was destroyed.

"If my fate is to help him achieve his destiny, then that's a fate I'll gladly accept. Because I learned a long time ago, he is the future of both our worlds!"

All over the world, many different Duels were taking place. And in each one, the Duellists were battling against their opponents like men possessed.

Grand, Shining, Applejack, Fluttershy and Soarin were all Dueling just as hard as the others, all pushing themselves to the limit against their opponents

Back at Freeze Industries, everyone watched carefully as the many Duels took place.

Thanks to the communication systems, they were able to see how things were going and saw that each of the Duels seemed to be going well. But that in part worried some of them. "It's no fun sitting on the sidelines," Adagio exclaimed as she moved up to stand next to Cadance and Misty.

"Someone needs to be ready in case the Zealots retaliate," Misty explained.

"But that's just it, they haven't." Adagio looked back at the screen. "They must know about what we're doing by now. But despite that, the Zealots haven't responded."

Misty frowned, looking back to the screen. "I know." 'What are they up to?'

Back in Void, Flash was facing off against the dark Cold and his version of Frozen Heart Neo Dragon.

Flash meanwhile, had his Flash Heart X and his two Magna Casters in the Pendulum Zones. Flash had just finished what he'd call a pretty good turn, despite Cold managing to protect his dragon. "Alright," he placed a card face down, "I-" Before he could finish, he suddenly felt a burning pain in his hand and cried out.

Looking down, he saw the omega symbol was almost completely full now. The only empty part was the right leg of the symbol, 'Already?'

Flash wasn't the only one whose mark changed. All the other candidates marks also gained more red, through Flash's was still the one closest to being filled. The teen assumed that the next time his hand burnt, the mark would be complete.

"I don't have much time left." As he said this, he suddenly heard crazed laughter that filled the area around him. It was then that the image of Cold and his dragon disappeared, replaced by a single figure he recognised. "Discord."

The man smirked as he raised his marked hand. "Time for the world to be silenced, forever." The mark glowed before the light shot off and took shape before fading to reveal a Duel Monster Flash had never seen before. It was an amalgamation of different animal parts, though it appeared serpent-like in design.

"Is that your true form?" Flash asked, he and Flash Heart standing defensively.

"That's right," Discord reach for his deck. "I draw. Then I'll activate Chaos Fiend Draconequus's special ability." The beast snapped his fingers before a purple die appeared above them, the six-sided game piece falling to the ground and rolling along it until it came to a stop. Doing so caused a monstrous-looking two to point face up. "Number two. That means during the Battle Phase, you can't activate Traps."

"What?" Flash asked before Draconequus's horns sparked with black lightning between them, which shot off and flew at Flash Heart X. It struck the dragon and electrocuted it, the lightning flying off and zapping Flash as well. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" As Flash Heart exploded, Flash felt a mild burning on his hand and looked down to see the mark slowly growing more and more filled. "No, not yet." He placed his over hand over it, "I've gotta escape before the crest's complete. And soon."

"Good luck with that," Discord smiled as he placed a card face down. "I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Abyss." Besides Draconequus appeared a blackish-purple statue of a kneeling demon. "I end my turn."

Flash's gaze shifted between his opponent and the mark on his hand. Slowly, he growled before standing upright. "I WILL GET MYSELF OUT OF THIS!" He drew his card while Discord just started laughing.

At her generator, Rainbow stared down at his opponent while Prism Bolt and Ouravas faced off.

"Guto," Rainbow shook her head, "no. Ouravas." The mental image of her destroyed school flew through her mind, filling her wing anger. "This time, I'm taking you down! Zeronull won't be coming back. I promise you that. Even if it kills me, it ain't happening! Me and me alone." But as she said that, laughter caught her attention.

"You and you alone?" Rainbow glanced back, her eyes going wide at the sight of who was behind her.

"Lightning?" Lightning Dust stood behind her, smirking at her. She quickly realised it was another illusion, the dark mist around her a dead give away.

"That's the spirit, Rainbow." Lightning stepped up to her before walking between the two opponents. "The fierce bravado everyone expects from you. You can't help but try and do any challenge you see before you. Like taking me down. Or bringing together a whole new team to face off in a new tournament, even though you managed to earn your school a victory. And now, here you are again. Always acting with noble, straightforward integrity. But always alone?"

Rainbow frowned hearing that.

"You seem to think you can do everything alone, but the truth is you're like those birds you stuff in your deck. Stronger when flocking together." Rainbow seemed surprised by this. "You never would have beaten me if your friend Fluttershy hadn't knocked some sense into you. Same with when you first beat Guto. It was Gilda that saved you and gave you what you needed to win. And when you did try to face a Zealot alone, remember what happened?"

Rainbow frowned again, "you have a point. I guess I was a little too arrogant." She looked back at Guto. "Back then, I overestimated my ability when I challenge him to a Duel. Maybe if I'd asked for help, I might have been able to capture Ouravas." She looked down in shame, "I could have saved my school."

Lightning smirked, only for Rainbow's next words to make them vanish.

"But, I've learnt my lesson." She looked down at her hand, "I'll fight with the strength of my friends backing me up. Because that's my true strength." Lightning smirked and nodded before she vanished, leaving Rainbow to focus on Guto. "This place may be distorting the world, but you're the one bringing this up." She pulled out a card, "this is just a Duel." As she played her Rank-Up-Magic, mental images of all her friends appeared around her. "Everyone, lend me your strength!"

Back in Void, Twilight was staring down Moondancer as Twilight Warlock and Alicorn faced off against Saltalunam.

"Moondancer," Twilight drew her card, "there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time." Memories of the short time they spent together, flowed through her mind. "There was a time when I felt lost. I was struggling to find my way. And then I met you. Although fate took you away from me soon after we met, it was because of meeting you and the support of my friends that I was able to move on with my life."

Moondancer said nothing as Twilight placed her card, powering up Alicorn.

"I just want to say...thank you!" Her monster charged forward. "Here we go, to a future we can all look forward too! Me, and my friends, together!"

Back at Flash's Duel, the teen had just finished another turn.

He'd managed to get Flash Heart back on the field and got rid of the Neo Barrier Statue. But despite this, Draconequus remained on the field as he placed a card face down and ended his turn.

"My draw!" Discord smirked, "I activate Draconequus's ability once more." A snap of his monster's fingers caused a die to appear above them once again, falling and this time landing on a demonic-looking five. "Oooh. That result causes all other monsters on the field to change battle positions."

"What?" Flash's eyes went wide as Flash Heart changed to DEF mode, the teen looking down at the card he'd just placed down. "Now my Lightspeed's useless."

"Then I summon my Chaos Fiend, Dark Jester." A shadow appeared before it melted away to reveal a clown in very dark attire. (A400/D400/L4) "Then, I'll use his ability to roll a die and increase his points by the number rolled." The demonic die appeared before falling and landing on a three. "Three times four hundred makes twelve hundred, if I'm not mistaken." (A1200/D1200/L4) "Draconequus!"

Flash watched as the living jigsaw unleashed the black lightning, which destroyed Flash's monster and left him defenceless. All the while, Flash's hand continued to burn as the crest grew closer to completion. "This is all my fault. I opened the door for these guys. I caused Tempest, Starlight and Marble to lose their freedom. I'm the reason all my friends have to risk themselves to stop this. I'm the reason...Twilight and the others are in danger of being Dominated."

The guilt in his heart burned worse than the burning of his hand. All of this, was because of him.

"I have a solution for you," Flash looked up at his opponent. The man smiled at him, the dark aura around him growing stronger and stronger.

In their cliff-side manor, Discord continued to sit in his seat.

But while his physical form was there, his mind was somewhere else entirely. "Why don't you just submit yourself." His eyes opened and he found himself staring at Flash, the teen looking scared as he spoke. "Become the vessel for our lord. Become Zeronull."

"Are you nuts?" Flash staggered backwards. "Me, become Zeronull."

"Why not?" Discord laughed. "If you can accept lord Zeronull, your friends will be freed from Void. Your sacrifice is all we need." It was then Discord went completely silent, his body becoming like a statue.

"Besides," Flash's eyes went wide seeing Discord's lips not move. He slowly shifted his gaze to the Duel Monster he was facing, which was moving like he was real. Then, it spoke. "Even if you accept him, it doesn't mean you'll be destroyed. Once Zeronull's inside you, you'll still exist. Your will and the will of our Lord will merge into one, giving life to a version of you with more power then you could possibly imagine

Flash shook his head, "no way it's that easy."

Draconequus smiled. "Right now, you hold the fate of your friend's futures in your hand. I'm sure they'd all be willing to make this sacrifice for you. But would you do it for them."

As he said this, Flash's hand burnt hotter than ever before. "GYAH!" He didn't want to look, but he knew he had too. He looked down and saw the omega symbol was now completely red. "No."

Draconequus's smile turned triumphant, "congratulations."

A second later, the mark exploded with dark light that began to wrap around Flash like a cocoon. "Augh!" He screamed as he tried to get away, but couldn't. "Augh. ARRRRRHHHHH!" And eventually, everything around Flash went black.

The silence lasted an eon, or it might have lasted just a second. Flash couldn't tell. Everything around him was a blur.

"Is this it?" He whispered as he felt himself growing more and more unconscious, "have I been Dominated?" His question went unanswered as the world around him remained dark and silent. But then, as Flash reached the cusp of succumbing to the darkness, he heard something.

"Flash." The sound was barely detectable, but her heard it. "Flash." There it was again. "Flash!" The teen's eyes shot open at the sound of Twilight's voice.

"Flash!" This time it was Spike.

"Flash!" Sunburst's voice echoed through the darkness.

"FLASH!" This time it was a fusion of all his friend's voices, all screaming at him.

Flash began to look around but saw no sign of his friends in the darkness. But what he did see, was a large black silhouette. It was almost invisible against the area around them, but slowly the darkness began to fade and the figure was revealed as the same being Flash had seen on the stone tablet. Its body was a dark black with red trim, the orb on its chest being black with a red omega symbol while the orbs on its wings were white with the symbols each being a different colour. Its eyes shined a brilliant amber, both staring down at Flash with focus.

"You're him," Flash whispered. "Zeronull." The outer god replied by unleashing a black cloud of energy off its body, which flew up before arching down and slamming into Flash. "AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!" The pain Flash felt was like nothing he'd ever experienced, the teen feeling like he was being ripped apart.

"FLASH!" He heard his friends yell, but there was nothing he could do.

"I'm sorry," was all he could whispered as he felt himself give in.

But just as he was about to succumb to it, light exploded from his heart and repelled the darkness. That light quickly took shape before fading to reveal Flash's ace in its place, the robotic dragon standing between Flash and Zeronull. "Flash Heart," he fought to keep his eyes open.

Zeronull fired another blast at them, but Flash Heart raised its hands before a sphere of light shot out around the two to blue the darkness.

"Just hang on Flash!" Rainbow cried as Brave Refractor destroyed Ouravas. "You're going to give him back!" Rainbow Pegasus flew up before dive-bombing at Guto, wiping out the last of his Life Points.

"SEND FLASH BACK TO US!" The others screamed as their monsters charged forward. One by one, the monsters of their opponents were destroyed and their life points were dropped to zero.

"We need him in our world!" Twilight announced as Twilight Alicorn fired a blast that destroyed Saltalunam. "So you can't have him!" Twilight Warlock unleashed a blast of magic that struck Moondancer and electrocuted her, the last of her Life Points vanishing. All Twilight could do was watch as the shadow of her friend vanished, the girl smiling as she finally put those feelings to rest. "Moondancer."

Back at Freeze Industries, Misty and the others smiled as they watched the generator's security system go down.

"Great work everyone!" As soon as the Duels ended the generators began to overload. Each team had mere moments to get out before they completely exploded, all eight machines going up and almost the exact same time. "Destruction of generators confirmed."

"Does that mean that Void's been destroyed?" Sweetie asked.

"It should," Cadance nodded. And they weren't wrong.

In the space between worlds, the piece of land that the prisons had been built on was beginning to crack.

The cracks spread throughout the entire area, joining up and causing large pieces of it to break apart. This lead to the prison itself being pulled apart, the whole of void getting ripped into millions of pieces.

Each piece began to float into the deepest recesses of nothingness, their fate completely unknown.

Void, was no more.

"So what happens now?" Sonata asked, "you said they'd be free, right?"

"We're looking that up now," Cadance typed away at the computer. "Locking onto the signal now. Five life signs detected leaving Void before it collapsed." The screen showed a map, which slowly began to zoom in on the location. It zoomed into the united states, then into their state, then into the city before finally locking onto the area the life signs were being sent too. "There!"

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Misty turned to run out the room, Cadance, Adagio and the Crusaders following behind her. She texted the location to Grand as they reached the parking lot and got into a car.

And as they pulled out of the parking lot, the sun kissed the horizon. Due to this time, there weren't many cars on the road and that meant they got to where they were going in little to no time.

"Right there," Applebloom pointed out the window. "That's where Flash Duelled Marble."

Misty nodded and pulled up, everyone getting out of their car and rushing down to the riverside. The hole made by the Zenith Dragon was still there and laying beside it were five individuals they were all relieved to see.

Flash, Twilight, Spike, Scootaloo and Gilda were unconscious, all laying in a line.

"Are they okay?" Sweetie asked as they gathered around the group. Misty checked her children's pulse and sighed in relief when she felt them.

Cadance checked Twilight and Spike while Adagio checked Gilda. "She's good," the Dazzling told the others.

"Same here," Cadance had tears in her eyes as Misty took out her Duel Disk and activated group chat.

"We found them. They're all here and alive." This statement was met with many cheers from everyone, Cold smirking as he spoke up.

"That's good to hear. Grand and I will be with you shortly. Be careful. The Zealots may try and take them back."

Misty frowned, "let them try." But as she said this, a groan escaped Flash's lips and she turned her focus back on them. "Oh sweethearts," she knelt down and pulled both her kids into a sitting hug. "Everything will be okay now. I promise." Had she not been so emotional, she might have noticed the omega symbol on her son's right hand. Something the others were all lacking.

On the roof of a building that was overlooking the river, Marble stood smiling down at the escaped Duellists.

"Void has been eliminated. And the candidates to become Zeronull's vessel have escaped." Despite what had happened, a smile appeared on her face. "Things are finally getting interesting."

"NOOOOO!" Skystar screamed, falling to her knees at the sight on the screen infront of her. "This can't be happening. Void can't be destroyed." The image on the screen was of the destruction of the prison, Skystar, Novo, Trixie, Guto and Discord all watching from their mansion.

Nova stepped over to her daughter and patted her head. "Be strong. We will avenge what has happened here."

"How?" Trixie asked, "you really planning on taking out all the Duellists that destroyed the generators?" The screen changed to show reruns of the Duels, "all sixteen of them."

"No," Novo turned to her, "just the ones that stole the data needed to cause this catastrophe."

"Have fun with that," Trixie raised her glass in mock salute before taking a sip. "Yuck."

Guto turned to Discord, "are we sure this is such a good idea. If we storm the area, we can catch them by surprise and take back the candidates while their numbers are spread."

"No," Discord shook his head, "there's no need. Whether the candidates are free or under our control, it doesn't matter. This is just a temporary set back." But despite his calm face, he felt a twinge of unnerve. Mainly due to what had happened before they were freed. "Flash Heart." The fact a monster spirit had appeared within Void's mind space had him concerned since the prison had been built using Zeronull's own power. 'The only thing capable of bypassing it is something with a piece of Zeronull's power or something with Harmonica's power.' He opened his eyes, "there's more to that dragon then meets the eye."

"What?" Guto asked, Discord shaking his head.

"Nothing," he looked over at the mother daughter duo. "Rhodos," Skystar looked up at him, "you still have the data you collected on them, right?"

"Yes," Skystar nodded before pulling a remote out of her pocket. Pressing a button, the images of Flash, Twilight, Spike and Gilda appeared on the screen. "I'm back up to the wazoo."

"Not the type of language a princess should be speaking," Novo told her. "But well done." Skystar smiled at her while Discord stood up, moving to stare at the faces on the screen.

"They think they've stopped us. They'll soon realise, this is only just the beginning." Our heroes have saved their friends from Void, but they'll soon realise the fight is far from over. Whether or not they can continue to stay ahead of the Zealots, only time will tell.

Author's Note

Well, everyone's free. But that doesn't mean the Zealots are gonna give up. If anything, they'll try even harder. Hope you liked it.

Turn 11: Raging Hellfire

The moon was risen high in the sky, shining its light down upon the cliffside mansion.

The light also reflected off the surface of the lake, causing a shimmering effect that was awe-inspiring to look at. But despite the beautiful scenery, the feelings within the mansion were not as beautiful.

Inside, Heath strode down one of the hallways. He stamped his feet with every step, a growl escaping his lips as he finally came to a stop. "That Draconequus. Useless!" His entire body was shaking as he remembered what Discord had just told him.

Before.

Heath and Discord were alone in the control room, Discord slurping a milkshake through a straw while Heath simply stood there with a look of shock on his face. "What do you mean we aren't doing anything? You let Void be destroyed and the prisoners escape. How are we supposed to summon Zeronull now?"

Discord stopped drinking and put his cup down before looking up at Heath. "Things are proceeding on schedule. This little upset won't slow us down much. The preparations are nearing completion for our next move." He smiled at him while sitting back. "Why not take this opportunity to kick your feet up and relax a bit."

Heath growled and turned to stomp out the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Now.

Heath's anger finally reached its peak and he threw a punch into the closest wall, the pure concrete not even budging as pain flew through his fist. But Heath didn't care. He just wanted to do something, anything, to take his anger out on.

An opening door caught his attention, followed by a feminine chuckle.

"My oh my." He looked around and saw it was Marble, "that's no way for a royal to behave." Heath glared at her before noticing which room that door lead too, then looked down and saw she was holding her deck.

"Making changes?"

"Oh yes," Marble nodded. "Need to keep an edge. If I keep using the same cards, it'll let those silly humans come up with a strategy against me. I can't allow that." She turned to walk towards him, "you might want to think about adding some new cards to your deck too. Might I suggest a new card we just got in. It's called Reincarnation of Hope. I think it'll be quite useful to use."

"Whatever?" Heath looked away from her as she passed him by. "Why now?" She stopped and turned to him. "Why make changes now? Are you planning on facing someone soon?"

"Maybe?" She smiled, "it's always good to be prepared, wouldn't you say." Heath said nothing. "I do have plans, however, so if there's nothing else for us to talk about." She was about to look away, but Heath's voice stopped her again.

"Why are you here?"

She slowly turned towards him, "excuse me?"

"What made you choose to become an Omega Zealot. What drives you to help revive lord Zeronull?" These questions made Marble smile as she looked away from him towards a window, seeing the light of the moon shimmer off it.

"I was once the ruler of a great kingdom, where my subjects worshipped the very ground I stood on. I lead the Gaia Knights and brought prosperity to my land. And all I asked in return was total obedience. But it seems my subjects didn't like that, so they and my knights staged a revolution." Her body shook, "I barely managed to get out of there without being captured. But over time I wished I'd been captured."

Heath raised an eyebrow, wondering why.

"I was forced out of my kingdom, travelling the land in search of somewhere I could live without being captured. I went days without food and my usually pristine skin, clothes and hair soon become grimy. I'd gone from riches to rags."

"That's why you joined the Zealots?" Heath asked, his face clearly showing he considered it a terrible reason for wanting to destroy the world.

"My reasons are my own," Marble turned to walk away. "We all have the same goal, so let's stay focused on it. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do." She walked off and left Heath alone in the hallway, the Dominator turning to trod towards his room.

When he got there, the room shrouded in shadow, he moved over to a desk and looked down to see pictures of their enemies laid out across it. He picked them up and slowly shuffled through them, each new image bringing a new wave of anger to him. And eventually, he'd had enough. "GYAH!" He tossed the photos behind him before pulling a knife from his belt and throwing it without looking.

The sound of the blade piercing the wall was followed by the fluttering of pages hitting the floor, Heath looking up and seeing one of the photos pinned to the wall by the knife. "So it looks like fate has chosen you," he told the face on the picture. "You will be the first, to fall by my hand."

He strode out the room and rushed down the hall, leaving the knife stuck in the wall. Said knife was also slicing a blue-haired boy with blue eyes right in the forehead, signifying him as Heath's target.

The Dominator reached the room Marble had previously exited and threw the doors open, spotting the many glass cases that filled the room. And in each case the multiple piles of cards, enough for all the Zealots to have as many copies of them as they want. This made Heath smile as he stepped inside, looking around to find which cards would best help him.

He then stopped as he reached a round case in the middle of the room, a single card floating in the centre of it.

"Who needs you," he told the card before pulling out his Zenith Dragon. "With this, I'll be the god of destruction." He glared up at the card. "Just watch. I'll complete our mission without you. Stay in your prison. I'll put an end to this wretched world all on my own. I don't need your dream realm. I'll simply destroy this world and bring an end to its control over our world. I will be hailed as the saviour of our universe. Slayer of the monstrosity known as humanity. All will bow at my feet, including your previous Zealots." He turned back to the cards in the cases, "time to get to work."

The next day.

Three days have passed since the destruction of Void and rescue of Flash and the others.

Many of the Duellists who'd been in other countries had returned the previous day, only a few staying where they were. Pinkie and Maud were continuing to travel in search of any sign of Marble, Tempest and Grand deciding to meet up with them. Thorax had returned to Changeland to help coordinate things on their end.

Currently, Cold and Starlight were walking through the halls of Freeze Industries.

"So," the former Dominator asked, "how is everyone? I'm sure they're all exhausted after their little adventure."

"They are," Cold nodded. As soon as the prisoners were found, they'd been rushed to Freeze Industries in order to have a complete medical check-up. "Once we were sure they were all okay, I told them to go home and get some rest. I'm sure they'll want to be in fighting shape when they help us take down the Zealots."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Starlight frowned, "they've been through a lot."

"Maybe, but I doubt I could keep them out of it if I wanted too." He looked over at her, "you've also been through a lot. But you wanna help."

"Fair enough."

"Besides, they're likely going stir crazy considering their current predicament."

"This blows!" Flash said while face-timing Twilight on his phone.

He was in his room, wearing a long sleeve jumper in place of his jacket as he lay on his bed. "My mom won't even let me go out for a walk. All I can do is stay in the apartment."

"You're allowed to walk around the rest of your house?" Twilight pouted. "Cadance and Shining won't even let me leave my bed. Plus they keep coming to check on me every ten minutes." Flash laughed, suddenly feeling less annoyed at his confinement. "How's Scootaloo?"

"She's fine. Her friends came over and they're playing one of her racing games."

"Sounds like Spike. He's been playing a load of different video games every second he's awake." Flash laughed again, knowing that was just like him.

"We destroyed Void," Cold explained. "But we also managed to get extra data whilst we were plugged into it." They arrived outside a lab. "Hopefully, once it's been analysed, he'll be able to locate Draconequus's headquarters."

"That's good," Starlight nodded as the door to the lab opened and they stepped inside.

Many technicians were busy typing away at their computers, one of which being Sunset. "Soon it'll be time to make our moves against them." As he said this, they stepped behind Sunset. "What have you found out."

"Not much," Sunset sighed as she sat back. "It looks like the data we were able to get were mostly a bunch of digital journal entries. They're mostly written in a language I can only assume is only spoken in the Duel Monster Spirit World."

"So you can't read them?" Starlight asked.

"Most of them, no. But some bits are in English."

"I'll contact Misty and ask her to come look at them. She may have come across the language during her time in the other world." He pulled out his phone and started texting. "For now, let's focus on what we can read. What's it about?"

Sunset turned back to the screen. "Basically, it's a bible. Likely the scripts these Zealots worship. Most of its stuff we already know. Zeronull's birth. The creation of the Zenith Dragons. Their battle with Harmonica and her followers. Him and the Zenith Dragons being sealed away, all of it. But that's one part that's intriguing."

"Which is?" Sunset turned to Cold, a concerned look on her face.

"The Zenith Dragons are not the only Duel Monsters Zeronull created." This did shock the two, Sunset turning back to the screen. "It's said that after his sealing, Zeronull created an army of darkness that was sent into the Duel Monster Spirit World to do his bidding. The seal was only meant to contain him, so they could leave without issue."

"What happened to them?" Starlight asked, Sunset shrugging.

"Don't know. It doesn't say anything else. The answer might be in the language we can't read. But one thing's for certain." She looked back at Cold. "Even if we defeat the Zealots and keep Zeronull sealed, we might have an entirely new threat to deal with some time in the future."

Cold frowned at this statement, turning away to think about what he'd just heard. "An army of darkness?"

Back at Flash's apartment, the teen was making a snack for him and the girls when Misty stepped out of her slash Grand's room.

"I'm afraid I need to head off to work," she told him. "Cold wants me to look over some info we got from Void and see if I can figure any of it out."

"Alright," Flash nodded while taking a sip of his soda. Misty ran over to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Now you remember. No going out and no strenuous activity, and that includes Duelling."

"I know," Flash assured her. "Will you get out of here already. I promise I'll stay inside."

"Good," Misty nodded before heading into Scootaloo's room. Flash laughed when he heard Scootaloo's moans and wails of 'stop it', Misty likely giving her a big kiss, her friends laughing their heads off as Misty left and headed for the door. "I'll see you later." She opened to door, only to find Rainbow standing on the other side with her fist raised to knock. "Oh, hello Rainbow Dash."

"Hey," Rainbow stepped aside to allow the older woman exit.

"Sorry I can't stay. Gotta run," she rushed off to the elevator while Rainbow looked back into the apartment.

After Flash waved her, she stepped inside and took off her jacket. "So what's up?" He asked whilst they took a seat. "Figured you'd be seeing how Gilda is."

"I did," Rainbow nodded. "Soarin and I swung around her place before and she seemed fine. Though she seemed pretty eager to be alone. Guess being cooped up with you guys for so long drained her social batteries." They both laughed as Scootaloo and her friends stepped out of her room, the orange-skinned girl gasping when she saw her idol.

"Hey!" She ran over and sat next to her, "what are you doing here?"

"What?" Rainbow asked, "can't I come see how my number one fan's doing?" She ruffled Scootaloo's hair as the rest of the Crusaders sat down. Flash got up and headed into the kitchen, wanting to get everyone some snacks.

As he did, his eyes drifted down to his right hand as the fingers were the only part sticking out from the long-sleeved jumper. This wasn't an accident as he was trying to keep his hand covered, wanting nobody to see what was on the back.

Shifting the sleeve back enough to see his hand, his eyes glanced down at the completed Omega crest.

After coming around and seeing it when he was freed, Flash had taken every precaution to make sure no one noticed it. And as far as he knew, he was in the clear. As long as he was careful, and maybe buy some gloves, he should be able to keep his secret a secret.

He didn't like hiding things from anyone, but he knew this mark meant something. After all, the others didn't have their crests anymore. Flash knew that if Cold or his mother found out about this, he'd be benched from helping against the Zealots before he could say game on. 'I can't let that happen. This whole situation is my fault, so I have to be the one to solve it.'

"Flash!" The teen cried as he was pulled from his thoughts, seeing his sister staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Just...getting everyone a snack," he smiled nervously.

"Don't bother," Rainbow told him. "I texted Fluttershy before I got here. She's coming too and she's bringing as many snacks and drinks as she can carry." The girls all licked their lips while Flash nodded, moving back to the couch while pulling his sleeve down again.

True to Rainbow's word, Fluttershy was heading towards Flash's apartment. And she wasn't alone.

"Thanks for helping me carry this stuff," she smiled over at her companion.

"No problem," Sunburst told her. He had been heading to Flash's place when he spotted Fluttershy stepping out of a store with her arms overflowing with snacks. Rushing over to help her from dropping some of it, he quickly learned she was heading for his destination and offered to help carry the snacks. "But don't you think you got a little too much?"

"You must have seen how much Flash can eat."

"Fair enough."

"Plus, Rainbow has quite the appetite too. Coupled with the girls and both of us, makes me worry I might not have enough."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," he assured her as they turned the corner onto Flash's street. "We need to make sure Flash has enough energy to make a full recovery. I doubt he'll be able to Duel his best on an empty stomach." Fluttershy smiled with a node before coming to a complete stop, a shocked expression appearing on her face. "What's up?" She didn't answer, Sunburst turning in the direction she was looking and feeling himself freeze.

There, standing infront of Flash's apartment, was the last person Sunburst had been expecting to see.

"Heath Burns?"

The Omega Zealot seemed to hear him and looked over, smirking as he spotted them. "Well if it isn't Sunburst. And Twilight Sparkle's little friend."

Sunburst glared at him, "you better not be here to kidnap Flash again." This statement seemed to confuse Heath.

"Huh?" He tilted his head, "I don't need to do that. I'm just gonna destroy him with my own two hands." He said that so casually, Sunburst and Fluttershy gasping. He then pulled out his deck, "wanna join him?" He held his cards up, "I can make that happen for you." Sunburst and the Dominator locked eyes, both staring the other down with great intensity.

Sunburst grumbled, knowing he had very little choice.

Flash and his friend were all flipping through the channels, trying to find a movie to watch, when Rainbow's phone buzzed.

She accepted the call and put it to her ear, "hey Shy. Where are you? Wouldn't have thought buy snacks would take this long." Several seconds later, her eyes went wide. "What?"

Flash and the others grew worried hearing this, "what's up?"

Sunburst and Heath had moved to the nearby park, both attaching their Duel Disks as Fluttershy spoke on the phone.

"You ready to be burnt to ashes?" Heath asked, Sunburst looking around and seeing several people through the trees.

'If he summons his Zenith Dragon here, it could cause a lot of harm.' He then remembered what Heath had said before, 'that's why he wants.' "What was that you said before about destroying Flash?" He had to try and keep Heath talking as long as possible. "Don't you want him for your grand plan?"

"To heck with Draconequus's plan!" Heath yelled. "Why wait for Zeronull to be revived, when I hold the power to cause this world's destruction myself?" He activated his Duel Disk, "now are we gonna Duel or what?"

Sunburst frowned, seeing no other choice. "Fine," he activated his Duel Disk and the two drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Heath: 4000
Sunburst: 4000

"I'll take the first move!" Sunburst drew his card and nodded as a plan formed in his head. "I summon Blaze Wizard in DEF mode!" A fireball exploded infront of him before fading to reveal the fire-themed monster that knelt on the ground. (A1200/D1100/L3) "And since he was normal summoned, I can now add a Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand." His deck slotted out a card, which he took and placed in his hand. "I'll end my turn with two face downs."

"That's it?" Heath asked, drawing his card. "How pathetic." He looked down at his hand and smiled at what he had. "Let me show you a real turn. First, I play the Continuous Spell Card the Floor is Lava!" The ground below Blaze Wizard suddenly morphed into a thin layer of molten rock, the heat caused the wizard to jump to his feet and hop from foot to foot. "This card prevents you from placing any cards in DEF mode and changes any already defending monster's battle position."

"So Sunburst can't put his monsters in DEF mode?" Fluttershy asked, gasping as she realised that meant he couldn't protect his life points.

"Next, I'll play the Spell card Cost Down. So by ditching a card, I can lower the level of the monsters in my hand by two." He placed a card in his graveyard before slapping another card from his hand down onto his field. "So now I summon Armoured Inferno!" Another fireball exploded and quickly receded to reveal the armour-wearing fire monster. (A2300/D1600/L6) "You're such a weakling and such an eyesore!" Armoured Inferno charged at Blaze Wizard

Sunburst could do nothing as the fire being and sucker-punched his monster, destroying him and singing the teen.

Heath: 4000
Sunburst: 2900

"I hate this world," Heath exclaimed. "I should just hurry up and raise it to the ground." But as the flames died down, Sunburst was revealed to be smirking.

"You really should start thinking your moves through." This got a glare from Heath.

"What did you say?"

"You do remember your monsters inflicts Piercing Damage, right?" Heath's eyes went wide and he caught on. "If you'd waited to use your Spell, you would have dealt me extra damage."

Heath growled hearing this. "Shut up. It's...it's all part of a strategy."

'He's rattled,' Sunburst thought to himself. 'This should help me get an end I need.' "You done?"

Heath frowned, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Sunburst nodded and was about to draw his card, but a voice caught his attention. "Sunburst!" He looked around and saw Flash and Rainbow running towards them.

Once they were beside Fluttershy, they came to a stop as Rainbow spoke up. "Cold's coming too. And I think Starlight's with him as well."

Flash nodded, "you just concentrate on the Duel."

"Guys," Sunburst couldn't help but smile. But that smile quickly vanished when he remembered Heath's words, causing him to turn back to his opponent with a serious look. "Take Fluttershy and get away from here!"

"But Sunburst!" Fluttershy cried while Flash frowned.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"We're not just gonna leave you," Rainbow told him. "Heath's strong and you're gonna need all our support if you wanna take him down."

Fluttershy nodded. "That's right. We'll be fine. Because we know you're gonna win." Those words filled Sunburst with a new sense of confidence, only for a cackling laugh to bring his focus back to Heath.

"I never thought you'd come to me, Flash Sentry." The teen glared at the Zealot, whose arrogance was evident on his face as he pointed at Flash. "To show my thanks, I think I'll let you all die together."

"Not gonna happen!" Sunburst yelled as he drew his card, smiling when he saw what he'd drawn. "I summon Coalizard!" A bunch of coal suddenly appeared infront of him before piling together to form a quadrupedal lizard. Between the gaps of the coal, a red glow could be seen. (A1500/D1200/L4) "With that done, I'm activating the Give and Take Trap Card!" His face down flipped up, Heath raising an eyebrow.

"What's that do?"

"What it does is let me give you a monster from my graveyard, then take its power for myself." A portal opened up at Sunburst's feet before a fireball shot out, crashing into Heath's field and exploding to reveal his previously destroyed monster. Blaze Wizard knelt down in DEF mode, as Coalizard began to glow. "Now, my monsters Level increases by the Level of monster I just gave you." (A1500/D1200/L7)

"So Coalizard's now at Level Seven?" Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy clapped. "That means he can use it to play his Ritual Spell."

"It sure does," Sunburst announced as he played the card. "Go, Sunburst Gate!" The magical door appeared behind him, whilst UFO Turtle exploded into seven fireballs. "Now all I have to do is sacrifice any Fire monsters whose Levels equal seven or more." The fireballs entered the holes surrounding the door, whilst Sunburst closed his eyes and began to chant. "Mystical fire, that burns like the sun, give life to the wizard whose intellect cannot be extinguished!" The doors of the gate flew open and unleashed a giant fireball, "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

The flames faded to reveal the monster Sunburst had summoned, though it wasn't the monster any of them expected. It looked like Sunburst Magician, but the cloak he wore was short and now stopped at his waist. His wooden staff had been replaced with a black metal one and the figurehead symbol was now on the back of his cloak. "Sunburst Enchanter!" (A2300/D2200/L7/P3)

Everyone was amazed at what they were seeing. "A Pendulum version of his best monster," Flash whispered.

"Sunburst's really going up in the world," Rainbow smirked while Fluttershy smiled.

"Hopefully, this'll give him the edge he needs against Heath." The Dominator didn't take to kindly to hearing this, growling as he glared at Sunburst.

"You think a few cheap tricks will scare me?"

"Actually," Sunburst smirked, "I do." 'Especially since I got Coalizard in the graveyard. Now, if I can just get the right card.' "Sunburst Enchanter's ability activates whenever it's Special Summon, letting me draw one card for every Fire monster on the field."

"Both sides?" Heath asked, seeing Enchanter and his monsters glow a fiery glow as Sunburst drew three cards.

Seeing what he'd gotten, Sunburst smirked before taking on of them and a card from his hand. "Now, I set the Pendulum Scale with scale two Red Sun Magician and scale eight Flare-Quill Hedgehog!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him before his monsters flew up into them. Besides Red Sun was a small black and cream-coloured hedgehog with flames shooting out of its back. "Burn through space time and blaze the arc of victory!" The portal began to form above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out of it, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal his monsters. "Sunburst Apprentice!" (A1500/D1300/L4)

The second was a black lion with a mane and tail made completely out of fire. Its paws were yellow and as it landed on the ground, steam came off the grass. "Flare-Mane Lion!" (A1800/D1000/L4/P4) "Then I'll activate Apprentice's ability, to raise the ATK of Sunburst Enchanter by five hundred points for this turn." The wizard raised its staff before shooting a fireball at the older magician. (A2800/D2200/L7/P3) "ATTACK!"

Heath watched as his stronger monster was targeted. But before Enchanter attacked, it waved its staff and unleashed a wave of heat. It hit Armoured Inferno and caused it to flinch, Heath raising an eyebrow at this before looking down at his Duel Disk. (A2100/D1600/L6) "What?"

"Whenever Enchanter attacks, his target loses one hundred ATK points for every card in my hand." He held up his hand, showing the two cards he held. Seconds later, Enchanter launched a fireball at Heath's monster and destroyed it.

Heath: 3300
Sunburst: 2900

"Then, Apprentice will attack the Blaze Wizard I sent you." The young magician raised its staff and shot its own fireball, hitting the defending spellcaster and destroying it. Heath quickly found his field empty, all the while Flare-Mane got ready. "ATTACK!" The beast roared, a stream of fire shooting out of its mouth.

"I activate my Trap!" Heath's face down flipped up, "A Hero Emerges!" He held up his hand, showing a single card. "Usually, you'd pick a random card in my hand and if its a monster, I get to summon it. But since I only have one, it's automatically summoned." He threw the card onto the field as a fireball exploded infront of him, revealing the Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno. (A1000/D1000/L4) Seconds after it was summoned, the statue was hit by the flames and exploded.

Heath: 2500
Sunburst: 2900

Everyone frowned. "Now he can summon another Fire monster," Flash frowned.

Fluttershy nodded. "At least if he summons another Barrier Statue, it's other effect will be useless. Sunburst's deck is entirely Fire monsters." But to their surprise, the monster Heath summoned wasn't the Barrier Statue. Instead, he summon Flame Ruler. (A1500/D1600/L4)

"He must be hoping to get himself next turn," Rainbow realised.

"Or another high level monster," Flash agreed.

"I end my turn," Sunburst announced as his Sunburst Enchanter's ATK points returned to their normal value. (A2300/D2200/L7/P3)

Heath smiled as he drew his card, seeing what he'd gotten. "You weaklings always stick together." He played the Spell Eruption Redraw, banishing his Neo Barrier Statue and drawing four cards. "I mean, all of you." He played the Spell Foolish Burial, sending a monster from his deck to his graveyard. "Storm King and Draconequus!" Flame Ruler exploded into a pillar of fire, "all of you are like that!" The flames receded to reveal a monster they hadn't been expecting. "TYRANT DRAGON!" (A2900/D2500/L8)

"That's a new one," Rainbow gulped.

"And a strong one," Fluttershy quivered. "I hope Sunburst will be okay."

"Don't worry," Flash assured them. "Sunburst has got this."

"You make me sick," Heath told Sunburst as Tyrant Dragon prepared for its attack. "It's time for you to DIE. Tyrant Dragon, incinerate his Sunburst Apprentice now!" The beast leapt into the air as smoke appeared within its mouth, then roared and unleashed a stream of fire towards Sunburst's monster.

"LOOK OUT!" His friends yelled, only for Sunburst to smirk.

"Go," his face down flipped up, "Interception!" Sunburst Enchanter leapt infront of Apprentice, blocking him from being hit by the flames. "This Trap lets a stronger monster take the hit, so Enchanter will be shielding Apprentice." The Ritual Pendulum Monster cried out in pain before it was destroyed, Sunburst flinching at the heat given off by the flames.

Heath: 2500
Sunburst: 2300

Fluttershy sighed in relief, "he's okay."

"But he's not out of the woods yet," Rainbow told her. "Since Sunburst has another monster on the field, Tyrant Dragon's effect lets it attack twice." They looked back at Heath, seeing his eyes closed and his face pointed to the ground.

"Talk of friendship. Trust. Bonds. That's all a lot of nonsense." Everyone glared at him while Tyrant Dragon's mouth began to smoke once again. "And when they believe it that stuff-" His eyes shot open as he looked up at them, showing a deranged look and smile on his face. "THAT'S WHEN THEY ALL END UP DEAD!" Tyrant Dragon unleashed another flamethrower, this one hitting Sunburst Apprentice and destroying it.

"Augh!" Sunburst cried, taking massive damage from that attack.

Heath: 2500
Sunburst: 900

"I," Heath placed a card face down, "and I alone...AM ABSOLUTE!"

"Get over yourself," Sunburst drew his card. "Skill of Flare Mane Lion." The beast roared as it unleashed a wave of heat from its mane, which struck Heath's Continuous Spell Card. "Reduce his ATK by three hundred for the turn, then destroy a face-up Spell or Trap. (A1500/D1000/L4/P4) "Then I summon Sunburst Guardian, in DEF mode!" The shield carrying knight appeared, holding its shield up defensively. (A1400/D1800/L4)

"Nice," Flash smiled, "he's building up his cards before he summons Sunburst Enchanter."

"Awesome!" Rainbow cried while Fluttershy smiled.

"Now, since I have a Sunburst monster on the field, I can revive Sunburst Apprentice!" The young wizard reappeared beside the rest of his monsters, Heath growling at the sight.

"Yeah, go ahead. Call a bunch of weaklings. They won't be able to protect you."

"You'd be surprised what you can do when you work together," Sunburst told him as the portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal shot out before a fireball flew out and hit the ground, exploding to reveal his new Ritual Monster "Sunburst Enchanter!" (A2300/D2200/L7/P3) "And with five Fire monsters on the field, that's five cards or me!" He drew his cards, spotting on of them and needing to force himself from not reacting. 'This is it!'

"Draw all the cards you want," Heath told him. "They won't help you!"

"I wouldn't say that," Sunburst told him. "Sunburst Apprentice, power Sunburst Enchanter up!" Apprentice threw a fireball at Enchanter. (A2800/D2200/L7/P3) "Now go!" Enchanter raised is staff, unleashing the heatwave that struck Tyrant Dragon and lowers its ATK. (A2200/D2500/L8) "ATTACK!" The Ritual Pendulum swung its staff and unleashed a fireball, which struck Tyrant Dragon and caused it to be incinerated.

Heath: 1900
Sunburst: 900

"Alright!" Flash and Rainbow high-fived.

"He's open!" Fluttershy clapped. "You can end this."

"DO IT!" The other two yelled.

"With pleasure!" Sunburst cried as Apprentice prepared another fireball, all the while Heath shook in anger.

"Storm King disappeared. Glorianna had to take up a new body. Even that Moondancer girl." He looked up with a scowl on his face, "the only survivor is me!" Apprentice threw the fireball, Heath pressing his screen. "TRAP SUMMON!" His face down flipped up before unleashing a fireball, which took shape before fading to reveal his Trap Monster. "Flaming Soldier of Hellfire!" (A1600/D1100/L4)

When Apprentice saw an opponent he couldn't match, he quickly used his magic to snuff out the fireball before it him the Trap Monster.

"Awe man," Flash frowned while Rainbow punched his fist into her palm.

"So close."

Sunburst didn't let this sway him, though Heath's words put him on edge. "I'm the last one. Only me."

"I play the spell card, Dian Keto the Cure Master!" The women appeared holding an orb of light, which exploded and washed over Sunburst to reinforce his Life Points.

Heath: 1900
Sunburst: 1900

Heath didn't care that their points we now even. He'd still win. "I will survive."

"I place two cards face down and end my turn." Flare-Mane's ATK points returned to normal, the beast purring as they did. (A1800/D1000/L4/P4)

Heath stared down at his deck, his mind racing as everything he'd been through flashed through his mind. "Everything dies. That's just how the world is. If you're not strong, then the one who dies is you." His mind flashed back to so long ago when things were different.

In his castle, Hellfire sat in his throne as the music blared through the throne room.

He and his friends all laughed with joy as they watched the dancers perform, the room's atmosphere one of joy for all. And as the dancers finished, he got up and held up his glass as everyone turned to him. "My friends, we celebrate yet another victory over our enemies." The many different Duel monsters cheered to their leader. "This victory has secured us new land from which we can plunder the resources needed to keep us living it up for a long time." Another cheer filled the room. "But let us not forget those that fell in this battle. Let us honour their noble sacrifice with a minutes of silence."

All sound in the room ceased as everyone looked down, this lasting for only a second before they bust out laughing.

"Could barely keep a straight face," Hellfire laughed. "No, those stupid enough to get themselves killed deserve no respect. Only the strong survive!" Another cheer exploded through the room as the music started again, Hellfire sitting back in his throne. For him, life was good.

But it wouldn't last.

"NO!" Hellfire screamed as he was attacked by Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree.

He reacted as fast as he could, unleashing a stream of fire at plant beast but they did nothing to it. The creature simply leapt at him, claws ready to cut him down.

"My lord!" One of his men pushed him aside, getting hit by the attack instead.

"Huh?" Hellfire looked around, seeing his saver be crushed under the beast's giant paw while screaming out in pain. Hellfire took this chance and spread his wings, taking to the air and flying up into the air in order to get a better look at how the battle was progressing. And it wasn't going well.

This attack had come completely out of nowhere. One moment, Hellfire had been fast asleep and the next, he was being woken up and thrust into a battle he hadn't planned for. His army was uncoordinated. His defences unfortified and he was barely awake as he charged into battle.

But he was awake now and able to see how outclassed they were. "No." His attention was then drawn to a loud banging noise, making him look down and see a Blaze Accelerator fire a shot at him. He tried to dodge it, but the blast was too fast and struck his wing. "Gyah!" He screamed while his wing gave out, causing him to fall to the ground. And as he landed, everything went black.

He had no idea how long he was unconscious for, but when he came too he felt a great amount of weight on him.

He moaned and picked himself up, pushing what he quickly realised were bodies off of him as he stood. But he soon wished he'd stayed down, as he looked around to see the bloodshed that had occurred.

Every single member of his army lay slain on the battlefield, his castle in flames in the distance.

"This...this can't be happening?" He asked as he wade his way through the sea of corpses, eventually coming to a stop while falling to his knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everyone was gone. Everything he cared about. There was nothing that remained.

Nothing...say him.

Heath blinked as he shook away the memories of that tragic day, turning his focus back on Sunburst and glaring at him. That was the past. All he cared about was the future. A future where he lived, no matter who he had to kill.

"Even if everything else is gone," he reached for his deck. "I'm still here." He drew his card, "I always survive!" He placed his drawn card in his hand before drawing five more cards. "Now, I look at the top five cards of my deck and discard any Traps from amongst them."

"Why?" Fluttershy asked, the others frowning.

"How'd it get in his graveyard?" Rainbow asked, Flash thinking back.

"Foolish Burial."

"Had to be," Sunburst agreed. He watched Heath take three of the cards and place them in his Duel Disk before shuffling the other two into his deck, a pillar of flame shooting up behind him.

"Since three Trap were discarded, I can now revive a monster you all know and love back to my field!" The pillar exploded, revealing the creature dominating Heath as it flew down and landed behind the teen with its arms crossed. "BLAZING EMPEROR HELLFIRE!" (A3000/D2500/L8) All anyone could do was stare up at the demonic Duel Monster, a mix of anger and fear flowing through all of them.

"There he is," Flash frowned.

"Hellfire," Rainbow gulped. Fluttershy shock in worry, the lot knowing Heath was now one step closer to summoning his Zenith Dragon. The question was, could Sunburst beat him before he summoned it.

Heath laughed his sinister laugh as he pointed at Sunburst. "Soon you will be burnt into nothingness. And once you're gone, I'm going after your little friends. Then that fool Cold and the rest of the idiots that are trying to stop us."

"I won't let that happen!" Sunburst yelled back. "I'll fight you to my dying breath and more so. No matter what, I will protect my friends." But with the looming threat of the Zenith Dragon on the horizon, it would take everything in Sunburst's power to keep himself in this game.

Author's Note

Weren't expecting that, where you? So, how's this Duel gonna end up. Will The Zealots win again, or will Sunburst find a way.

Turn 12: A Future as Bright as the Sun

Within their cliff-side manor, we find Discord in the card room.

The man was cleaning the place with a feather duster, halfheartedly swiping it across the glass containers without even looking. But when he got to the container in the middle of the room, he cleaned it with great focus and attention to detail. "Good morning master. Another day closer to your return. Then, absolute chaos will befall the world."

But as he continued to clean the case, the doors opened before Trixie and Guto stepped inside. "We have a problem," the Zealot of Light announced.

"Oh?" Discord turned to her, "what kind of problem?"

Guto explained. "Our systems detected the activation of Hellfire's Duel Disk. His opponent is Sunburst."

"I see," Discord hummed. "That is an issue. I knew he wasn't happy about my plan to lay low. Seems he's decided to take matters into his own hands."

"It's worse than that," Trixie told him. "We watched a bit of the Duel and during it, Hellfire announced his objective is to destroy Flash Sentry. Sunburst just got in the way."

"We're in a no-win situation here," Guto told him. "If Hellfire wins, he'll go after Sentry and try to destroy him. If that happens, we'll lose our best vessel for master Zeronull. But if he loses, he may end up being sent back to our world."

"And if he uses his Zenith Dragon, he'll definitely be sent back. And if that happens, the humans will manage to get their hands on Perfignis and we'll be unable to awaken master Zeronull."

Discord sighed, seeing the issue. "There's nothing we can do. The Duel has already started and as much as I'd like too, we cannot stop it now. It would show weakness to our opponents. They'll think we're scared and that will make them even more determined to defeat us."

"So what do we do?"

Discord turned to them. "We wait and see what happens. All we can do is pray that the will of Zeronull will lead Heath down the right path. That's all we can do...for now." The other two sighed and nodded, both turning to head out the door while Discord continued to clean.

But as he did, he suddenly sensed a presence and turn towards the centre case. "Master?" As he stared at the single card in the case, a voice began to speak in his head. "I understand."

Across the world, the Duel between Heath and Sunburst continues.

The two were currently even in Life Points, but their fields were very different. Sunburst had Flare Mane Lion, Sunburst Guardian, Sunburst Apprentice and Sunburst Enchanter. Meanwhile, Heath had just summoned the monster that was Dominating him. Blazing Emperor Hellfire.

The possessed teen let out an insane laugh as he shot Sunburst a glare. "With this, the game is mine."

"Don't be so sure," Sunburst told him. "You might have your best monster out, but so do I. And with our scores tied, this game could go either way.

"That's right!" Flash cried with Rainbow and Fluttershy. "Just stay strong and you can totally take this guy down."

"You got this!" Rainbow yelled.

"We believe in you," Flutters nodded.

"You're all nuts," Heath told them. "After all, with five Trap cards in my graveyard, Hellfire's ATK points increase by one thousand!" The demon roared as a flaming aura surrounded him. (A4000/D2500/L8)

"Okay," Sunburst gulped, "that might make things a little more complicated."

"There's more," Heath played the last card in his hand. "I've also got the Spell card, Altar of Restoration." Everyone frown, that being another new addition to Heath's deck. "Now I just need to banish the top two cards of my deck, then I can add a card from my grave to my hand."

"Risky move," Flash noted. "If his Zenith Dragon or another copy of himself is one of them, his whole strategy's blown."

"He probably has a plan for if that happens," Rainbow guessed as Heath drew the top two cards of his deck. He then smiled before placing them in his pocket. "Looks like he didn't get those cards."

A card slotted out of Heath's grave, only for the Zealot to take it and immediately slot it back into his Duel Disk. "Now, once again play the Spell card Eruption Redraw!" The image of Armoured Inferno appeared infront of him before exploding into six fireballs that flew into Heath's deck. "That's six more cards for me!" He drew them before a frown appeared on his face, the Zealot taking one of the cards and glaring at it.

"What's up with him?" Rainbow asked.

"Something about that card must have upset him," Fluttershy stated.

"But what?" Unbeknownst to Flash, Heath had just drawn a card he'd begrudgingly added to his deck by recommendation.

'Lady Marble,' he growled in his mind. "I don't know why you want that stupid dream world, but I won't let it come to pass." The others seemed confused by this. "And I'll use the card you suggested to make it so." He activated the card he'd drawn. "I play the Spell card, Reincarnation of Hope!"

"Not good," Sunburst knew what that card did.

"Now," Heath drew two cards, "by discarding two cards from my hand, I can add a monster card from my deck to my hand during my second Standby Phase." The others gasped hearing this, realising what that meant.

"So in two turns, he can add his Zenith Dragon to his hand."

"Or another copy of himself," Flash finished. "This is not good."

"He just needs one more lucky draw," Fluttershy gulped.

"And," Heath smiled as he held up his Duel Disk, "I also ditched two more Traps. That's another four hundred points for Hellfire!" (A4400/D2500/L8) "Then, I'll summon Blaze Blocker in DEF mode." A fireball appeared infront of him before exploding to reveal a bulky red knight carrying a giant red shield that appeared to have a zigzagging mouth on the front of it. (A100/D2000/L4) "Now!" Heath pointed at Sunburst Guardian, "ATTACK!"

Everyone watched as Blaze Blocker's shield suddenly slid apart so the zigzagged mouth looked like it opened. Seconds later, a fireball shot out and struck Guardian, destroying it.

"What the?" Rainbow asked, "it was in DEF mode." It was then that Blaze Blocker's shield closed before the knight stood up, Sunburst checking his Duel Disk and seeing the card had changed to ATK mode.

"So that's it."

"Now you're wide open," Heath pointed at Sunburst Apprentice. "let's end this thing!" Hellfire flew forward, its claws bursting into flames as it approached the young magician.

"Sunburst!" Fluttershy cried. "If this attack lands-"

"His Life Points will be going up in smoke," Rainbow finished. But Flash wasn't so worried, keeping his focus on Sunburst.

"He's gonna be okay. He's gotta plan. I can sense it."

As Hellfire got closer, Sunburst looked down at one of his face downs. 'No, not yet. I've gotta save that for later.' His gaze then shifted to his other face down, "I activate my Trap!" The card flipped up, revealing a card everyone knew and loved. "Spirit Barrier!" Everyone except Heath smiled at the sight. "I'm sure you remember this bad boy from the Double X," Heath growled. "Well, let me remind you of what it does. As long as I have a monster out, any battle damage I take becomes nothing. Zilch. Zip. Nada."

"ALRIGHT!" Flash cheered, the girls clapping happily. Heath just glared as Hellfire slashed Sunburst Apprentice to pieces, Sunburst's life points remaining the same.

"You think you're so clever."

"My grade points average would imply so," Sunburst quipped as he adjusted his glasses.

"Silly tricks will only get you so far," he explained as he ended his turn. "In the end, power is the only thing that'll endure. That's why I've survived. Because I'm the strongest."

"I don't think so," Sunburst told him as he drew his card. "You may have physical strength, but that'll only get you so far." The portal began to form above his head. "True strength...comes from working together with those you trust!" The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out and hit the ground, exploding to reveal two of Sunburst's monsters. "Burn Blader!" (A1800/D100/L4) "And Sunburst Familiar!" (A1200/D1000/L3)

"Awesome," Flash looked over at Heath's Blaze Blocker. "The idiot completely left himself open. One attack from Enchanter and it's all over."

"Maybe," Rainbow frowned, "but he's still got a face down."

"Not for long," Sunburst announced as he placed a card into his Duel Disk. "Go, Brushfire! This card lets a Fire monster on my field destroy one card in your Spell or Trap Zone. Familiar, do it!" The kitsune's tails ignited before the beast waved them around, unleashing a wave of fire that struck Heath's face down and destroyed it. "Unfortunately, now Familiar can't attack."

"You've also put another Trap in my graveyard," Heath explained. "Which pumps up Hellfire's power even more." (A4600/D2500/L8)

"Doesn't matter how strong that thing is," Sunburst pointed at Heath's other monster. "Because you've left your Blaze Blocker completely undefended. And with your Trap gone, nothing's stopping me from frying it and you. Sunburst Enchanter!" The wizard raised its staff as a wave of heat flew out and struck the shield knight, lowering its ATK to zero before he unleashed a fireball at him. "It's over!"

"I don't think so!" Heath cried as he pulled a card from his Duel Disk. "You forgot about Hellfire's skill!" The demon roared, its power going down. (A4400/D2500/L8) "By banishing a Trap in my graveyard, I can use its effect. Like the effect of my Waboku!" The robed women trio appeared infront of Heath's monsters, each holding up a wand and creating a barrier that blocked the fireball and left them completely unharmed. "With this, I can protect my monsters from battle and nullify any battle damage."

"Awe man!" Rainbow groaned, crouching down and holding her head. "I totally forgot he had that skill."

Fluttershy felt herself quiver. "How's Sunburst supposed to beat him if Heath has all those Traps in his graveyard?"

"I don't know," Flash told her. "But if anyone can find a way, it's him."

"Don't go deluding yourself," Heath drew his card. "After I'm done roasting your little friend, I'm coming after you. Nothing will stop what I've begun." He looked down at the card he'd drawn before his eyes went wide, a sinister smile appearing on his face. "With this, I'm only one step away from victory."

Everyone grew tense hearing this, know he'd likely gotten one of the cards he needed to summon his ultimate beast. And next turn, Reincarnation of Hope's effects would kick in. "That means," Flash gulped. "If Sunburst doesn't beat him next turn then..."

"Heath will have everything he needs for his Zenith Dragon." Rainbow's words caused Fluttershy to whimper and slowly move to stand behind Rainbow.

"And they'll be nothing your little friend can do to stop me," Heath laughed maniacally as Hellfire leapt into the air. "I might not be able to deal you any damage, but I can still destroy one of your precious monsters!" The demon's claws ignited before it flew down and slashed at Burn Blader, destroying it while Sunburst frowned. "What, sad I hurt one of your little friends?"

"Yes," Sunburst growled, "because he was my friend. All of my monsters are my friends."

Heath frowned at him before changing his Blaze Burner's battle position. "Well next turn, your friends are gonna be wiped off the face of the earth. Just like the friends you have here."

"I don't think so!" Sunburst drew his card, his eyes going wide when he saw what it was before he smiled and turned back to Heath. "My friends are staying right here because I'm gonna beat you. And this is sure to help. Go, Rebirth Ritual!" A pillar of fire erupted out of the ground and engulfed his Ritual Monster. "With this, Sunburst Enchanter can evolve to the next stage of his existence!" The pillar grew in size until it eventually exploded and unleashed a powerful light. "RITUAL EVOLUTION!"

The light began to fade, reveal Sunburst's monster. "Sunburst...ARCHMAGE!" (A3000/D2500/L8) "And since he was summoned using Rebirth Ritual, Archmage's ATK power increases by one thousand for the rest of the turn!" (A4000/D2500/L8)

"Gaaah," Heath gritted his teeth seeing this.

"Next, I'll use my Pendulum Scale to re-summon my Sunburst Enchanter!" The portal slowly formed before opening up. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" A fireball show out of the portal before hitting the ground, exploding to reveal the Ritual Pendulum Monster. (A2300/D2200/L7/P3) "And now," Sunburst reached for his deck. "With seven Fire monsters on the field, I draw seven cards!" He drew them, his hand now overflowing with cards as Archmage stared Hellfire down.

"I hope he gets a card that'll help him stop Hellfire's ability," Fluttershy said. They looked over at Sunburst and saw a smile appear on his face after seeing his hand.

"I think he did," Flash smirked as Sunburst continued.

"I activate Sunburst Archmage's skill!" The evolved Ritual monster pointed his staff at Sunburst Familiar before the kitsune exploded into a fire, which wrapped around the head of the staff. "By tributing a Fire monster, I can burn away your monsters ATK and DEF points."

Heath glared at him as Archmage tossed the fire at Hellfire, who quickly found himself trapped in a cage of flames. The Dominator flinched at the intense heat of the flames, his ATK and DEF lowering by Sunburst Familiar's ATK points. (A3200/D2500/L8)

Archmage's body then exploded with a fiery aura. "What's more, whenever a Fire monster is sent from the field to the graveyard, Archmage gains half its ATK points!" (A4600/D2500/L8)

"But how's that gonna stop Hellfire's skill?" Rainbow asked, only for Sunburst to play the card that answered her question.

"Now, I'll be equipping your Hellfire with the Spell card, Muscle Over Mind."

"What'" Heath looked up at his monster and saw his muscles begin to bulge out through his armour, then looked down at his Duel Disk. (A4200/D2500/L8) "Why?"

"Muscle Over Mind increases the equipped monsters attack by one thousand but in exchange, that monster forgets all its special abilities." Everyone's eyes went wide as they realised what this meant.

"Heath can't use any of his Traps," Fluttershy gasped.

"Meaning Sunburst has a clear shot," Flash smirked. "Archmage can take out Hellfire, then Enchanter to destroy Blaze Blocker."

"Leaving him open for Flare-Mane Lion to finish him off," Rainbow pumped her fist into the air. "You rock!"

"Archmage," Sunburst pointed at Hellfire, "ATTACK!" The wizard's staff head ignited before he unleashed a stream of fire towards Hellfire, ready to finally finish the demon off once and for all. But before the flames could reach him, a force field suddenly appeared around him and the fire was blocked. "What?"

"How'd he do that?" Rainbow asked while the others stood shocked.

"My Negate Attack Trap card," Heath explained.

"But you don't have any Trap cards?"

"I do in my graveyard." He held up a card, spinning it around to show Ambush Blazer. "You might have stopped Hellfire's ability, but you didn't stop this guy's. Now Negate Attack's effect negates your attack and ends the battle phase."

"Oh no," Fluttershy gasped.

"He couldn't do it," Flash sighed. He couldn't win the Duel before the Zenith Dragon was summoned.

Sunburst sighed as he ended his turn, forced to discard two cards as their monster's ATK points returned to their normal total. (A3000/D2500/L8) (A5400/D2500/L8)

Heath burst out laughing a maniacal laugh as he drew his card. "You actually thought you stood a chance." He then showed Sunburst a deranged look, "get real. I have been blessed with the divine power of the Zenith Dragon. As long as I have that, there's not a puny human alive on this worthless rock that can stop me." Reincarnation of Hope's effect kicked in, causing a card to slot out of his Duel Disk. As he took it, his deranged look returned. "Do you know who I am?" No one answered him as he raised his card high into the air before Hellfire exploded into a ball of fire. "NONE OTHER THEN THE GOD OF DESTRUCTION!"

"Here it comes," Flash gulped as Heath discarded a card.

"By discarding a Fire monster in my hand and tributing that same monster from the field, I now put my entire future on the line." The fireball grew larger and larger as Heath continued. "And my goal, IS TO DESTROY YOU ALL!" Everyone flinched at this, the heat from the fireball not helping. "Should I lose this Duel, every card in my deck will be destroyed."

The heat from the fire was so intense, it caused the trees around them to burst into flames and the water in the fountain to evaporate. The mini sun flew up above the trees, allowing the entire city to see it. Sunburst and his friends were forced to step backward while Heath just stood there, completely unphased.

"GUYS!" The group looked around and saw Starlight, Cold and Sunset rushing up to them. Starlight's eyes went wide seeing Sunburst really was Dueling, about to face a Zenith Dragon. "Oh no,"

"Devour my future and show yourself!" Heath slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the sun exploding as the monster inside was unleashed. "Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno, PERFIGNIS!"

Everyone stared up at the giant beast in terror, many people running in terror as they'd seen the beast on the news. They knew what it could do. Flash just stood in awe, "Perfignis."

"I...I wasn't able to stop it," Sunburst realised in horror.

Heath smirked, loving the look of despair on everyone's faces. "Perfignis's ATK and DEF points become the combined total of the two monsters used to summon him. (A6000/D5000/L12) "Now, Zenith Dragon's skill!" He pulled four cards out of his Duel Disk. "By banishing Traps from my graveyard, I can destroy the same number of Spell or Traps on your field." The crystal on its head glowed before firing off a quartet of fireballs, which struck his Spirit Barrier, Pendulum Monsters and face down to destroy them all.

"SUNBURST!" His friends screamed as the flames that destroyed his cards flew towards him and formed a fire spiral.

"Since four cards were destroyed, you now take five hundred points of damage for each one unless you discard the same number of cards." Sunburst ditched another four cards, leaving him with only two.

"It's time for divine judgement!" As he said this, Perfignis flew higher into the air before breathing a growing fireball into its hands. Everyone began to shake in fear of what was about to happen, Cold remembering what had happened to the stadium before. It seemed Sunburst how no way of surviving this.

"Please," Starlight shook her head, "no."

Heath pointed at Sunburst. "weakness will be punished by death!" The Zealot expected a look of terror to appear on Sunburst's face, everyone else becoming worried as the sun grew larger and larger. But then, to his surprise, Sunburst just laughed. "Wha-" He couldn't even finish his question before growling. "Hey. What's so funny!"

Sunburst closed his eyes, the smile remaining on his lips. "You said you alone were absolute. The only one. That's why you managed to survive."

"So? What about it?" Sunburst finally opened his eyes and glared at him.

"The point is, I'm the exact opposite of you."

"Huh?"

Sunburst looked down with a gentle smile of his lips. "Yes, I am weak. I know that." Everyone frowned at this, Flash and the others about to tell him he's wrong. But before they could get their words together, "that's why I'm so glad I have my friends to stand beside me." Everyone went quiet as Sunburst turned to them. "All of you, who've supported me up until now." His gaze turned to Starlight, "the ones that gave me a dream to reach." He looked over at Flash, "the ones that saw what my own failures made me blind too." He then looked up at the sky, "and so many others who have helped me grow into the person I am today."

Heath had finally had enough of all this babble, growling as he gave Perfignis its orders. "You're talking nonsense and it's so ANNOYING!" Perfignis hoisted the fireball above it, "PYRUS PURGATORY!" With one mighty throw, the mini-sun flew down towards Sunburst.

The glasses-wearing teen just stared at the sun, as it grew closer and closer to them. Most would think he was scared, but he wasn't. Because of one simple fact.

"I can't give up," he said calmly. "Because I'm not alone." the images of all the people he'd met and Duelled flashed before his eyes. "They've helped, encourage and guided me. They watched over me. I won't quit, because I have the support of many others!" He looked over at Archmage. "More than I ever thought I could have." Appearing around him, the images of all his monsters gathered to show their support. They would stand with him, right until the end. " The monsters vanished, Sunburst looking up as the sun approached him. "Because of them, I'm here...FACING YOU NOW!"

"Well then it's because of them you're about to DIE!" Heath screeched, only to still see Sunburst looking calm.

"Not today, or ever in the near future. Because I activate my TRAP!" In a flash of light, a round shield appeared in Archmage's hand. Everyone froze as the magician leapt into the air, intercepting the giant fireball and stopping it before it could get close.

"WHAT!?" Heath couldn't believe his eyes, "that's impossible. You don't have any Traps!"

"I do in my graveyard!" Sunburst mocked before the ghostly form of a reptile made of rocks appeared before him. "You remember my Coalizard, don't you?" Heath's eyes went wide as he realised what had happened. "By banishing him from my graveyard, I can activate a Trap in my graveyard. The very one you just destroyed and sent there. Draining Shield!"

Everyone's eyes went wide as they looked up as saw the shield absorb the giant fireball, Sunburst beginning to glow as his Life Points increased by Perfignis's ATK points.

Heath: 1900
Sunburst: 7900

"Almost eight thousand?" Flash cried, "that's nuts."

Rainbow nodded. "That's gotta be the most life points any Duellist's ever gotten before."

"Actually," Sunset spoke up, "some Duellists have been known to start a Duel with that amount."

"Really?" Flash asked, "those Duels must last forever."

"Can we focus?" Cold asked, "I think you're forgetting a major detail right now." Everyone quickly caught on, turning to Sunburst.

"You stopped the attack of the Zenith Dragon," Starlight cried while Sunburst just smiled. As everyone cheered for him, Sunburst focused on Heath.

"Where...where's the divine power?" He asked, staring at his own hand. "WHERE IS IT!?"

"I know I'm weak," he looked up at Sunburst. "And because I accept that, I'm able to reach out and draw power from those I care about."

Heath growled before taking Perfignis off of his Duel Disk. "My turn ends." The Zenith Dragon suddenly vanished and in its place, the Dominator floated limply in the fair. "Perfignis is banished and in exchange, one of the Hellfire I tributed is summoned in his place."

Everyone cheered in choice, happy Sunburst not only stopped the Zenith Dragon but also protected them from getting seriously hurt by the flames. They turned to Heath, who was still shaking after what had happened.

"I...I end my turn."

Sunburst smiled before drawing his card, a look of shock appearing on his face before he smiled. "I may be weak. However, that's part of who I am!" He placed two cards on his Duel Disk, the pillars of light appearing beside him. Yellow Sun Magician appeared in one of them, but the other was an orange unicorn with white hooves and a red mane, tail and small beard. It wore a cape similar to Sunburst Enchanters. "Because even in my weakness, I can grab hold of the future. And that's, what gives me strength." He placed his last card in his deck, "you can never take that away from me! Pendulum Ability of Scale eight's Sunburst Unicorn. Return one card to the deck, then shuffle and redraw." He did so and smiled, Heath feeling worried.

"GO SUNBURST!" Starlight screamed as Sunburst held the card he'd drawn up.

As he did, a tornado of fire exploded out of the ground and engulfed Archmage and Sunburst's other two monsters. The tornado flew high into the air, somehow sucking the flames right off the burning trees. "Now, by tributing Sunburst Archmage, along with two other Fire monsters, I can give birth to his ultimate form." He slapped his card on the Duel Disk, as the flaming tornado exploded to reveal Sunburst's ace monster. "Behold, the Great Sage of Sunburst!" (A3500/D3000/L10/P1)

Everyone gasped in amazement, increased as Sunburst's Pendulum portal formed above his head before opening. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

From the portal, fire fireballs shot out and hit the ground before exploding to reveal his monsters. "Sunburst Enchanter!" (A2300/D2200/L7/P3)

"Flare-Mane Lion!" (A1800/D1000/L4/P4)

"Flare-Quill Hedgehog!" (A300/D200/L2/P8)

"And Red Sun Magician!" (A1600/D1300/L4/P2) Heath suddenly found himself facing five monsters, his worry spiking before he sighed in relief. He had left his Negate Attack in the Graveyard when he used Perfignis's skill, which meant Hellfire could stop the attack. He was safe.

"Skill of Flare-Quill Hedgehog!" Sunburst yelled as his monster curled up and started spinning, the flames coming off its back forming a sphere of fire. "Tribute him, then select one monster on my opponent's field and negate all its effects."

"WHAT!?" Heath screamed, as the tiny fireball shot forward and slammed into his best monster. It exploded and Hellfire staggered back, looking weak as Sunburst continued.

"Great Sage's skill!" His monster raised his staff, the orb glowing bright. "Select one Sunburst monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field." They watched as a fireball shot out of the orb and exploded, revealing Sunburst Archmage. (A3000/D2500/L8) "Archmage can't attack and at the end of the turn, it's destroyed. But until then, Great Sage gains all its power."

Heath's eyes went wide. "That's...that's impossible."

"Now activating the skill inherited from Sunburst Archmage!" Great Sage pointed his staff at his younger self before the evolved Ritual Monster exploded into fire, which wrapped around the head of the staff. "With this, I can burn away the ATK and DEF of your monster equal to Archmage's!" Everybody watched as Great Sage tossed the fireball towards Hellfire, the flames exploding to trap the beast in a cage of fire. (A0/D0/L8)

"This can't be happening!" Heath cried, Sunburst stepping forward and beginning his speech.

"Witness the true will of fire, that burns no matter what harsh wins blow. Even if the flames die out, the embers remain to pass to touch to a new generation. That is the bond forged through a blazing ambition, that burns brighter than the sun itself!" Archmage's other ability kicked in, increasing the ATK of Great Sage of Sunburst by half his ATK power. (A5000/D3000/L10/P1)

A warm wave of heat began to radiate off Great Sage, flowing over the battlefield and touching everything. Everyone suddenly felt a great calm wash over then, the feeling of a warm summer day filling them. Then, as they looked around, they saw something amazing. The grass, trees and flowers that the Zenith Dragon had destroyed were beginning to heal themselves and turn back to the lush environment it'd previously been.

Heath stared in shock as his happened, Sunburst continuing to talk "This bond, is also what connects me and my monsters." The four monsters around him all stood firm, showing their love and willingness to battle alongside Sunburst.

Heath was going into a full-on panic attack, looking down at his cards and seeing if there was anything he could do. But there wasn't. He was trapped. "No."

Sunburst glared at him. "You never believed in the value of trusting others. Or in the bonds of friendship." He then smiled. "But, can you feel it? The bond between you and your own cards? The bond, created through Duelling!" As he said this, Hellfire mentally looked behind himself. There, standing at the back of his mind, was Heath. The teen stood silently, having not said a word to him since he joined the Zealots.

Hellfire growled as they locked eyes, seeing the look of pain and betrayal in Heath's gaze. He pulled away before looking back at the Duel. "He matters less to me then a little bug!"

Sunburst sighed, looking sad at his answer. "That's too bad." Great Sage raised his staff, as Sunburst pointed at Hellfire. "It's time you went back where you came from!" The ancient wizard pointed his staff at Hellfire before and massive explosion of fire shot out of it.

The flames shot towards Hellfire and burned a hole right through his stomach before flying at Heath, the teen's eyes wide in absolute horror. "No," the flames struck him and he was consumed by a massive explosion of fire. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Heath: 0
Sunburst: 7900 (Winner)

Everything was silent as the Duel Monsters vanished, everyone unable to believe what they'd just seen. Sunburst had one. He'd defeated an Omega Zealot.

"YES!" Starlight cried before rushing towards Sunburst and jumping at him, hugging him piggyback style. "You did it!" Sunburst could hardly believe it either.

"I really won." The others rushed over and gave their congrats, Cold the only one not celebrating.

He was staring at the fading cloud of smoke, Heath shown smoking with a look of shock on his face. "This can't be happening. I...I'm the one who's meant to destroy everything." He turned to the others, shooting them a look of both anger and insanity. "I won't accept this!" But before he could do anything, a glow caught his eye and he looked down at his deck.

His cards were all glowing a red light before they flew out of his deck, graveyard, extra deck and pocket. Every single card he owned floated infront of him, including the Zenith Dragon. And then, to his shock, they burst into flames.

"NOOOOO!" But there was nothing he could do. One by one, the cards incinerated. This included his Hellfire cards, causing an enormous surge of pain to erupt from his hand. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" He clutched it, falling to his knees as all but one of his cards turned to ash. That card was his Zenith Dragon, the card falling to the ground between them. "No, no. I won't let this happen." But nothing he could do would stop the mark from slowly vanishing. "NO WAY!"

Flash's eyes glowed as he and he alone saw what happened next.

From out of Heath's back, a dark shadow sprouted out like a butterfly emerging from the cocoon. Once completely free, it hovered above Heath before the darkness faded to show Hellfire looking down at Heath. He then turned his attention to them, Flash the only one to hear him as he spoke. "You shall...all be destroyed." With that, the demon began to fly up into the sky while slowly fading away. Once he was completely gone, Heath fell forward and crashed into the ground unconscious.

"Hey!" Rainbow cried as they rushed over to him, crouching down to check on him. "You okay? Say something!"

Flash's gaze turned to his hand, pulling off his glove to show the fire symbol slowly vanish. As they continued to check his condition, Cold stepped over to the ash pile and crouched down to pick up the Zenith Dragon.

"One down."

On the other side of the world, Discord was sat on a veranda balcony.

He was sitting with his feet up on the barrier while reading a newspaper. But his thoughts were interrupted when Guto and Trixie stepped onto the veranda. "Well?" He closed the paper, "what happened?"

Guto sighed, "he lost."

"Oh. Is that so?"

"It's worse than that," Trixie told him. "He used his Zenith Dragon, so his deck was destroyed." She marched over so she stood infront of him, "you know what that means."

"Yes," Discord nodded. "It means he's been sent back."

"And we've lost Perfignis," Trixie reminded him. "Those idiots have our Zenith Dragon."

"I understand that," Discord remained calm. "Do not worry. This is only a mild setback."

"Mild?" Guto turned to him, "how are we supposed to unleash lord Zeronull now? We need all six Zenith Dragons."

"Yes...about that." The two gave him a questioning look as he sat up. "I was contacted by master Zeronull." They gasped hearing this, knowing the master only spoke when absolutely necessary. "He tells me that we do not require all the Zenith Dragons to awaken him. During the Void escape, he was almost able to Dominate young mister Sentry. At the time, we only have four active Zenith Dragons." The two gasped again. "It appears that to Soulink with a Duellist, Zeronull only needs four Zenith Dragons. Though he won't be able to access his full power until they've all awakened, he can still enter this world through a vessel."

"Then we're still up a creek," Trixie told him. "With Perfignis lost, we only have three Zenith Dragons."

"Which is why we need to focus on awakening the last two dragons," Discord sat back once again and opened his paper. "We also have other objectives to focus on. The generators are nearing completion. Plus, we have to actually find the chosen vessel. Then there's the matter of the annoying little nats that are starting to become a problem. Hellfire had the right idea about destroying those that are of no use to us, but he let his anger cloud his judgement. He was a fool to go off on his own."

"Speaking of people going off on their own," Trixie leaned against the banner and crossed her arm. "Either of you seen Gaia-Maiden? I haven't seen her all day."

"Haven't spotted her," Discord shrugged while Guto took out his Duel Disk.

"Luckily, we installed some software that'll let us keep track of her Duel Disk." He tapped away at it for several seconds until the location was found. "There. She's in...London?"

"What's she doing there?" Trixie asked, Discord seeming just as curious.

"Not sure." Guto hummed before an idea came into his head. "Amphitrite and Rhodos aren't doing anything right now. We can instruct them to check in on her and make sure nothing's going on that shouldn't be."

"Make it so," Discord told them. They nodded and headed back into the manor, leaving Discord to enjoy the sunset. "You can hold onto the Zenith Dragon for now. But don't let this little victory go to your head. Cold Steel."

Back at Freeze Industries, everyone was in the meeting room watching a playback of Sunburst's Duel.

"Whoa, Nelly!" Applejack smiled before turning to Sunburst, "ya'h should be proud partner." The teen smiled with a blush, Starlight patting his shoulder as they watched the Duel come to an end.

"So Hellfire is gone?" Rarity asked Cold, the man nodding.

"Yes. Heath Burns has been freed from the Soulink, but he's still unconscious."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"He'll be fine," Cadance assured her. "The medical staff is confident he'll make a full recovery, though it's gonna take some time."

"That's good," Misty sighed. "Now we have one less Zealot to worry about."

"More than that," Cold held up the card they'd gotten and everyone gasped seeing it.

"The Zenith Dragon," Shining realised. "But if we have it-"

"Then the Zealots can't awaken Zeronull," Cold nodded. "Which means they'll make getting this back a top priority, which means we can set a trap for them." Everyone nodded, understanding what he was getting at.

If they hid this card away, they could prologue this war long enough for them to plan a counter-strategy against them all. This was their chance, to finally put an end to the Omega Zealots and stop the resurrection of Zeronull. Hopefully.

London.

Pinkie and Maud were walking down the busy street of the city, carrying shopping bags full of food that Pinkie had just gotten. "Yum," she licked her lips while looking into the bag. "With this, we're gonna make the best welcome to London picnic EVER!"

Maud nodded, "I'm sure Grand and Tempest will enjoy them."

"Me too. They're gonna need all the energy they can get if they wanna keep their investigating up." The two continued down the street in silence until they both spoke at the same time. "I wonder if Marble's-" They stopped and turned to one another, a shocked expression on their faces until they both smiled a gentle smile.

"What do you think she's doing now?" Maud asked.

"I don't know," Pinkie sighed. "I just hope she's okay." They two remained standing in silence for several more seconds, both continuing to ponder each other's question. But then, the silence was broken.

"Pinkie...Maud." The two's entire bodies froze before, slowly, they turned towards the voice.

Standing behind them, leaning against the wall of a building, was Marble Pie. She was still dressed in the fashion her Dominator had dressed her in, but her hair was back down the way it was before the possession. And as she staggered slowly towards them, her sisters looked down at her right hand and saw the symbol that was meant to be there was gone.

"Marble," they both whispered. Finally, after months apart, they were reunited.

Author's Note

Yes! Hellfire is out of here. Hope you enjoyed the Duel. Now, what's Marble up to.

Turn 13: Marble, Friend or Foe

Many years ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit World.

In a forest, the many young Duel Spirits were living their lives happily. The Kuribohs, Sonic Chicks, Happy Lovers and many others were flying or running around without a care in the world. But those cares quickly appeared when Drill Bug suddenly heard the snapping of a twig and informed the others.

The differing creatures all rushed off, climbing or flying into the trees and hiding in the foliage to await the arrival of the footprints. Would they be friend, or foe?

That question was answered when a women came into view.

She was young, about in her early twenties, staggering through the forest in a way that showed she was obviously exhausted. She had grey skin and hair that was two different shades of grey, the hair looking tangled and dirty. She was wearing ragged, dirty clothing with that looked like it had been a dress that had been torn to shreds.

The woman staggered through the forest, using what looked like a broken tree branch for support.

After a while, the woman found herself reaching the edge of the forest. Stepping passed the last few trees, she found she was in some kind of large field with a lake running through it and what appeared to be many different vegetables growing in the ground. Off in the distance, she spotted a house that was surrounded by fencing. "A... farm?"

Before she could think of what to do next, the branch snapped under her weight. And without it, she couldn't support herself and she soon found herself fall face-first into the dirt. "Aah!" She flinched at the pain as her exhaustion finally reached the points of no returned and she felt her eyes beginning to close.

But as the last of her consciousness faded, she heard something. A clopping sound, getting closer and closer. And just before she blacked out, the sun was blocked out by a large shadow that was cast over her.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up and the first thing she noticed was a soft surface below her.

Her eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was a wooden ceiling. This was followed by her looking around and seeing she was on a bed, in a room, filled with only a few items such a desk, chair, wardrobe and even a small bookshelf.

"Where... where am I?"

"Oh, you're awake." She turned towards the voice and saw a young man, about her age, standing at the doorway of the room. He had tanned skin and shaggy brown hair, the thinnest wisps of a beard adorning his face. He was wearing simple work clothes and a brown coat. In his hands was a tray with a sandwich on it. "Good," he moved over to her, "you had me worried there. It looked like you hadn't eaten in days."

"I haven't," she told him. "Who are you? Where have you taken me? What do you intend to do to me?"

"Wow," he raised a hand, "calm down. One question at a time, please." He placed the tray infront of her. "To answer your questions, my name a Scayer, Scayer Rockwood. You're in my room, on my farm. And I... don't intend to do anything to you. I just found you outside. I couldn't just leave you there."

"Why?" She asked, Scayer confused by the question. "Why couldn't you leave me there? What does helping me do to benefit you?" Scayer looked even more confused.

"I didn't do it to get a benefit or anything. I just did it because it was the right thing to do. No ulterior motive required." He pushed the tray towards her. "Come on, eat."

She glared at him, "how do I know you haven't poisoned this." Scayer rolled his eyes, but then saw he was serious. So, he picked up the sandwich before taking a bite out of it. After swallowing, he offered the rest back to her. "Ew, I'm not eating it now that you've bitten into it." Scayer rolled his eyes again before leaving the room, returning a few minutes later with another sandwich and offering it to her again. "How do I know you haven't poisoned this one."

"Seriously?" He dropped the sandwich onto her plate, "either starve or take the chance. Besides, I bet you have more important things to focus on. Like getting yourself out of those filthy clothes." She looked down and saw she was still dressed in her destroyed dress. "I doubt you would have liked me undressing you, so I decided to leave you in it. But now that you're up," he moved over to a wardrobe before pulling out some of his own clothes. "Here," he threw them to her.

"I can't wear these!" She told him, "they won't even fit me. Not to mention, these are peasants clothes."

Scayer sighed, "those are some of my old clothes. They should fit you just fine. And they're way better then what you're wearing now. At least those don't look like they're about to fall apart." He turned towards the door. "I gotta get my work done. Put them on or don't, I don't care." With that, he left her alone in the room.

She stared at the clothes for several seconds, then over at the sandwich as he stomach growled. After a minute, she finally gave up and took a bite out of the sandwich.

Outside, Scayer was busy ploughing the fields with a hoe.

His attention was then drawn to the sound of the door opening, Scayer looking up to see his guest step out. She was now wearing the clothes he'd given her, looking sheepishly as she stepped out onto the porch. "Hey," he moved over to her, "looks like they fit you fine."

"Yes, you were right." She looked away, "t-thank you."

"Don't mention it," he smiled as she stepped up onto the porch and looked out at the farm with her. "You know, I still haven't gotten a name." He noticed a worried look appear on her face, showing she didn't want to tell her his name. "Alright, you don't have to tell me. But I've gotta call you something." He then spotted a flower on the ground and smiled before looking over at her, "how about... Daisy?" She looked surprised by this. "If you don't like it-"

"No," she shook her head, "Daisy's fine. Call me that if you want."

"Alright," they looked back at at the field. "I'm guessing if you don't want to tell me your name, you won't want to tell me what you're doing out here in the middle of nowhere."

"Not particularly."

"It's obvious you're running from something. Should I be worried? Are you secretly a serial killer, on the run and looking for her next victim?"

"No," she shook her head, "of course not. I just... made a few bad decisions in my life. There are a lot of people angry at me. So I ended up being chased out of my old home."

"I see," Scayer nodded. "So are you headed somewhere in particular?"

"No. I don't really have anywhere to go. I've been wandering for so long, just trying to find a place I can stay safe until I get back what I lost."

"I see," he stepped back out to the field. "Well I don't know how much it stacks up to what you had before, but you can stay here if you want." She seemed surprised by this, "it's clear you need somewhere to stay and I honestly wouldn't mind the company. It can get pretty lonely around here."

"I can tell," she nodded. "But are you sure?"

"As long as you help out around the place, I don't mind you being here. And while you're here, try to stop from making the mistakes you were talking about. I don't know what they are, but I'm guessing they must be pretty big if they lead you here. So try and refrain from making them again."

She nodded, "very well. Though I might not be much help around here. I don't exactly have a wide range of skills that could be useful on a farm."

"I'm sure we'll find you something. And who knows, you might find yourself growing to like it here. Who knows where the future may lead you." She also wondered the same thing. She'd gone from being the leader of an entire empire to a farmhand. Who knows where she'll end up next.

London

For over two months, ever since learning the truth behind their sister's mysterious change in attitude, Pinkie and Maud had been dreaming of the day they'd get to see her again. But to their shock, when that day came, it would be Marble who sort them out.

But there she was, leaning against a wall after stepping out from an alleyway. He lack of mark on her hand was a clear indicator that she'd been freed, or at least they thought it was.

"Marble!" Pinkie was about to charge towards her, wanting nothing more than to hug the living daylights out of her, but Maud grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back before she could. "Huh?" Maud said nothing and continued to watch as Marble dragged herself along the wall.

"I...I found you, at last." With that, her legs appeared to give out and she fell towards the ground. Pinkie and Maud both gasped before rushing forwards.

"MARBLE!"

In another section of the city, Novo and Skystar were sitting at a cafe.

The Dominated queen was enjoying a bowl of ice cream while her daughter was busy tapping away at her Duel Disk. "Hmm," she moaned in delight, "so good. One of the things I've missed most about living above water, definitely ice cream and other desserts that would melt underwater." She turned to Skystar, "found her?"

"I'm getting closer," Skystar assured her. "Within minutes, I'll be able to track her down." She turned her Duel Disk around and showed it had a map of the city, with an area of it circled. "Her Duel Disk is definitely somewhere in this location. With a little more prodding, I'll be able to find the exact area it's in."

"Excellent work my child," Novo offered her a spoonful of ice cream. The girl's eyes twinkled before she leaned over and let the desert fall into her mouth.

"Hmm."

Novo sat back before looking up at the sky. "Gaia-Maiden. We have to make sure whatever silly little game she's playing doesn't put our mission in jeopardy."

"You really think she's do something like that? She wants the same thing we all want. To live in a perfect world where nothing can hurt us."

"Maybe. Or maybe she has other plans for Zeronull's power. And if that's the case, we can't allow her to get that opportunity. We owe it to our people to give them a world they can live in without fear of pain. So anyone who might be a threat to that world must be eliminated."

"Understood," Skystar nodded before getting back to work. As she did, Novo pulled a card from her pocket.

"I sense the time for your awakening is drawing closer. With you, we will destroy all those who selfishly wish to deny us the world we want."

Back with the Pie sisters, Pinkie and Maud had moved Marble over to a nearby bench and sat her down. Marble's brief unconscious state came to an end as she began to wake up, seeing her sisters staring at her in concern

"You okay?" Pinkie asked, Maud checking her over and finding she didn't have any injuries.

"I think so," Marble looked down at her hand. And just like before, her hand lacked the Earth Symbol.

"Does this mean you're free from the Dominate?" Maud asked.

"Maybe," Marble tried to remember. "I remember being trapped in a dark place, sometimes able to see or hear something that was happening around me. But then, all of a sudden, I woke up and I was laying on the ground in a random back alley."

Pinkie and Maud shared an unsure glance, both weary about Marble's words being true. But one look into their sister's eyes and they could tell, this was really her. "Oh, Marble!" Pinkie sat down beside her and threw her arms around the girl's neck, pulling her into a tight hug. "It's okay now. You're nightmare's over."

Marble nodded as Maud knelt down infront of her. "Marble, I know this is hard, but we need to know if you remember anything else about the time you were Dominated. Apparently, the others that were freed from it were able to hold some memories from their time under control. If you know anything, you need to tell us. It could help us stop whatever the Zealots are up too."

Marble closed her eyes, trying to think. "I do remember a few things, vague things. Like how you two have been chasing me since I left you and that you were in this city. I think that's how I was able to find you."

Maud nodded, "anything else?"

Marble looked like she got a headache, clutching her head. "It's all...just too fuzzy."

"It's okay," Pinkie assured her. "We'll get you home and you'll never have to worry about this stuff again." She smiled, "I'm sure mom, dad and Limestone will be happy to hear you're okay." Marble's eyes went wide hearing this, the girl looking up at her sister.

"Oh no, what did they say when I went missing. Limestone must have been so mad."

"Not as mad as you think, considering they thought you were with us the whole time." Marble raised an eyebrow at this. "We told them all we were going on a road trip. It wasn't too hard to convince mom and dad to let us go, mainly because we were already on the road when we told them."

"But what about school?"

"Online classes," Maud told her. "I've been filling in for you."

Pinkie then held up her phone, showing her pictures of the three of them in different locations. "We also photoshopped a few images of you to send them, which helped make them buy it."

"What about Limestone? Didn't she ask to speak with me on the phone."

"You know Limestone. Anything's better than physically talking to someone. She's fine with just getting texts."

"So she doesn't know what happened to me?"

"We didn't want to distract her from her studies," Maud explained. "She's not a Duellist, so it's not like she could help. Telling her while she's preparing for her exams would just cause more harm than good."

Pinkie nodded. "Plus, if she knew, she'd probably try and go after the Zealots and I don't think that's such a good idea. Hey, let's call her now. Once we get you home, you'll probably be too busy to get another chance." She was about to place the call when something new caught their attention. Footsteps.

Pinkie, Maud and Marble looked around, Maud standing up and moving close to hold Maud's arm as the clicking of heels filled the air. Then, finally, the owner of the footsteps revealed themselves. "Hello there," Novo smiled at the girls as she and Skystar walked down the street towards them.

Pinkie put her phone away and moved infront of Marble and Maud. "What are you doing here?"

"We were sent to find out what the girl behind is doing here. Be a dear and step away from her so we can have a nice little chat."

"No way," Maud told her. "We're not letting you touch one hair on our sister's head."

"Sister?" Novo looked surprised by this, "so she took over your sister. My humble apologies for any distress my colleague has placed on you. But it was all for the greater good, as long as certain people don't go off on their own and cause trouble."

"Just go away!" Pinkie cried, "she's not who you think she is." Maud held up Marble's hand, showing the mark was gone. "See, the person you think she is is gone. So just leave my sister alone. She's been through enough."

Novo's surprise remained on her face, the women staring at Marble curiously. "What are you up too? Playing tricks like this is both cruel and pointless."

"Aren't you listening!" Pinkie cried, "Marble's been freed."

"I'll be the judge of that," Novo stepped closer and closer to the girls. "I'll need to take your sister with me, to make sure she's really been freed. If she is, we'll need to reestablish the link."

"You're not reestablishing anything!" Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled something out before throwing it to the ground, a massive puff of pink smoke following the action and blinding Novo and Skystar. The two coughed, waving their hands to blow the smoke away. When they did, they found the Pie Sisters had vanished.

"You can't escape that easily," Novo looked back at Skystar. "Find her."

"Yes mother," Skystar pulled her Duel Disk out and began tapping away. As she did, Novo pulled a card out of her pocket. "Found her! And I think I can guess where she's going." Novo nodded before throwing the card, creating a portal infront of them.

"Let's go!"

Over by the London Bridge, we find Grand and Tempest sitting in a taxi.

Having just arrived in London, the two had met up before catching a taxi to head towards the hotel Pinkie and Maud were staying at. Now the cab had just come to a stop while the bridge began to rise up so a ship could pass. "Sorry," the driver told them, "we may be here for a while."

"That's alright," Grand said back. "We're in no rush." Tempest nodded in agreement, the girl taking this time to look through her deck. "You look like you're getting ready for a fight."

"I just want to be prepared," Tempest explained. "Who knows when we might come across a Zealot."

"And that may be sooner then you think." Tempest raised an eyebrow at this. "My contacts are getting close to locating the many properties owned by Discord. If we can find them, we can begin to narrow down the locations until we find their base. Once that happens, we can attack full on."

"Nice," Tempest looked out the window, "I'm sick of sitting on the sidelines. The next time we meet one of those Zealots, I'm taking them down."

"Just be careful not to let your emotions get the better of you," Grand told her. "That's what allowed the Dominator to get access and arrive here."

"I know that," Tempest frowned. "I can't help but feel angry at what Storm King had me do, especially to Marble. But I'll keep a level head. Don't worry about it." As she said that, Grand's phone went off.

"Hello?" He answered, but had to pull his phone away from his ear when Pinkie's voice screamed through it.

"GRAND!"

"Wow," he put it on speaker, "relax. Just tell me what's up."

"We found Marble and she's free from the Soulink." Grand and Tempest's eyes went wide hearing this.

"That's not possible," Tempest told them. "Not unless she lost in a Duel."

"It's Marble. Trust me."

"Pinkie," Grand frowned, "don't listen to a world she says. This could all be a trick. Just sit tight and wait for Tempest and me to get there."

"That could be a problem. We're being chased by two Dominators. It's that girl you Duelled in Hong Kong. She's with her momma and they want Marble. They're gonna try and take her back with them."

Grand growled, "what else could go wrong? Alright, where are you girls now?"

"Hang on," Pinkie went silent for a moment before speaking up against. "Some place called Cornhill." Tempest typed it into her Duel Disk and showed Grand where it was.

"Alright, that's not too far from us. Try and get to the London Bridge. We should be there soon." A bit of a lie, since the bridge wasn't even half way up yet. "Just be careful and don't listen to anything Marble tells you."

"Okay," Pinkie would have said more but they quickly found themselves pulling to a stop.

The reason, Novo and Skystar stepping out from around a corner infront of them. Pinkie quickly hung up before grabbing Marble's arm, pulling her down another street with Maud on their tail.

They kept running as fast as they could, but every time they seemed to get away from the Royal family the pair appeared infront of them, forcing the sisters to take another route.

Lombard Street, Clements Lane, Nicholas Lane, Cannon Street. The two chased the three all through London until, finally, the Pie Sisters found themselves running out of Angel Lane and finding themselves on the Hanseatic walk beside the river.

Pinkie was taking large pants of breath, the girl barely able to catch her breath while looking around and spotting the London Bridge off in the distance. "There... it... is," she finally managed to get her breathing under control. "Come on. Let's go before-"

"Before what?" They spun around to see Novo walking towards them.

"Oh, come on!" Pinkie turned in the direction of the bridge, about to bolt, but stopped when she saw Skystar blocking their path. "Don't you guys ever get tired?"

"I commend you for getting this far," Novo smiled with a mock clap. "However, Gaia-Maiden belongs to me." Then, the calm demeanour she had before completely vanished as she shot them a glare. "Get in my way and I won't hesitate to attack."

Pinkie glared at her while Maud to so Marble was between her and Pinkie, the normally stoic girl glaring at Skystar. "You're wrong," she heard Pinkie yell. "This is our sister."

Maud nodded. "Even if you attack, we won't let you touch her."

"Watch your language!" Skystar almost yelled. "You're talking to none other than the sovereign queen of the Atlanteans, Amphitrite, not to mention she is the Omega Zealot of Water. Show a little respect for the queen of the ocean."

"That's enough Rhodos," Novo told her daughter. "We don't need to waste our time trying to make these lowly mortals understand our great royalty. It doesn't matter anyway."

"Of course, mother." Skystar bowed as Pinkie and Maud took the information in.

"So she's a Dominator," Pinkie frowned.

"Not to mention an Omega Zealot," Maud agreed. "That means she'll have a Zenith Dragon." As the girls were talking, Skystar finally got a better look at the two and gasped.

"Hey!" She pointed at them, "it's you. You're the little rats that snuck into the base with that Grand guy. You're the ones that stole the data those fools used to destroy Void." She growled at this, cracking her knuckles. "I'm going to enjoy making you pay for that humiliation."

"Rhodos," Novo's voice made the girl freeze, "a princess does not use their own hands to exact revenge." Novo shot a glare at Pinkie. "So, it was you that caused my daughter such distress." She pulled out her Duel Disk and placed it on her arm, "very well then. It's time you learnt what happens to those that caused distress to my subjects, especially when those subjects are my very own children." She glared at them, "you will feel my divine judgement."

Marble's entire body shock as she clutched onto Pinkie's arm. "Don't do it. It's too dangerous. If she uses her Zenith Dragon, who knows how many people she'll hurt. Just...just let them take me. Maybe then they'll let you two go."

"No," Pinkie shook her head, "I can't do that. I made a Pinkie Promise that I'd protect you. And I never break a Pinkie Promise." She took out her Duel Disk and placed it on her arm. "Alrighty, let's do this. I'll take you on. You wanna show me what happens when we mess with your kids, well let me show you what happens when you mess with my little sister."

Skystar took this chance to jump up onto the wall before running until she was behind Novo, jumping off and landing behind her as she and Pinkie activated their Duel Disks and drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Novo: 4000
Pinkie: 4000

Maud took out her phone and set it to record, all the while opening a channel connecting it to Grand's phone.

The bridge had finally reached the full height, allowing the large ship to begin to pass.

Grand almost growled as he and Tempest waited for the car to start moving again, fearing what might have happened to the girls. Those fears then elevated as his phone rang again, Tempest and he answering it only for the screen to switch in order to show Pinkie and Novo beginning to Duel

"Oh no," Tempest gasped. "This can't be good."

"Get out your Duel Disk and link it to Cold's network. He'll want to watch this." Tempest nodded and pulled out her Duel Disk, Grand connecting the phone to it. The screen began showing a larger version of the Duel, all the while transmitting the image to Freeze Industries. "Be careful girls."

"Here goes," Novo drew her card. "I'll start by summoning Neo Barrier Statue of the Torrent, in DEF mode." The toad statue appeared infront of her. (A1000/D1000/L4) "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn!" Pinkie drew her card and smiled at what she'd gotten. "I play the Continuous Spell, Balloonimal Party Cannon!" He brightly painted cannon appeared infront of her. "Now I summon Balloonimal Lion to my field in ATK mode." The yellow balloon animal appeared before her, roaring as it began to bounce around her. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Now, Lion, attack!" The beast bounced towards the Neo Barrier Statue."

"Now she can activate Lion's ability," Marble realised.

"Here goes," Pinkie drew two cards. "I look at the top two cards of my deck and add one to my hand while sending the other one to the Graveyard." And she did, taking one of them and placing it in her graveyard. As she did, Lion jumped into the air before crushing the statue beneath it into a cloud of bubbles.

"You activated my Neo Barrier Statue's ability," Novo announced as the bubbles came together to create a fish creature carrying a sword and shield. "Behold, Atlantean Attack Squad." (A1400/D0/L3) "And with him summoned, my Trap as been activated." Her face down flipped up, "Torrential Tribute!" The Pie Sister's eyes went wide as they watched a surge of water shoot out the Trap and hit the two monsters, destroying them.

"Why?" Pinkie asked as the water slammed into her and her sisters, "why destroy your own monster?"

"To play this," Novo's other face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Torrential Reborn. Now the monster I destroyed returns while dealing you five hundred points of damage." A burst of water shot out the card and revealed Attack Squad, the fish man swinging its sword around to hit Pinkie.

"AUGH!" She cried.

Novo: 4000
Pinkie: 3500

"You okay?" Marble asked in worry, Maud simply watching. Her face may now say it, but she was scared.

Even so, Pinkie wasn't about to give up. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn," Novo drew her card. "Then I summon Atlantean Marksman to my field in ATK mode." A pillar of water exploded infront of them before exploding to reveal the fish-man sniper carrying its trident rifle in its hands. (A1400/D0/L3) "And since he's a Sea-Serpent, Attack Squad now gains eight hundred ATK points." (A2200/D0/L3) "ATTACK!" Marksman aimed its weapon at Pinkie.

"Pinkie's defenceless!" Marble cried, tears filling her eyes. "If these attacks hit, she'll lose."

"Don't worry," Maud told her. "Pinkie's been training hard for a long time. She won't be so easily defeated."

"I activate my face down!" Pinkie's card flipped up to reveal a Spell, "Balloon Party!" Four different coloured balloons appeared infront of her, each with a smiley face on them. (A0/D0/L1)X4. "This lets me summoned for Balloon Tokens to my field in DEF mode. So now you'll need to go through them before you get to me."

"Fine," Novo told her, "Marksmen. Hit the red balloon." Marksman fired and popped the token, while Attack Squad swam through the air before slashing at the blue balloon and popping it as well.

Skystar looked horrified, "how dare you block my mother's attack with those silly things. If you were a real warrior, you'd use real monsters as apposed to those childish pieces of rubber."

"Calm down Rhodos," Novo told her before smiling back at Pinkie. "I'm interested to see how far this girl can take these beasts." She looked down at her hand before throwing a card face down, "I end my turn."

"My go!" Pinkie drew her card, "and now my Party Cannon's effect kicks in." She reached for her deck. "I call a monster Level and draw till I get a monster. If that monster's a Balloonimal that's the Level I picked, I can summon it." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I pick, Level five!" She drew her card and smiled before turning it over. "It's my Level five Balloonimal Giraffe!" The cannon fired, the ammo turning out to be a bundle of orange balloons that came together into the shape of a giraffe. (A1700/D1800/L5) "Then, I'll summon him again."

"What?" Skystar asked, "what are you blabbering about?"

"It must be a Gemini Monster," Novo realised.

"That's right!" Pinkie cheered as her giraffe suddenly radiated a bright flash of orange light. "Now Giraffe's skill activates, letting me summon a Balloonimal from my graveyard. So now I summon Balloonimal Pony!" A bunch of pink balloons appeared before coming together to make a horse-shape. (A1700/D1100/L4)

"Those cards won't help you," Novo told her.

"They will once I fuse them together!" Pinkie placed a card into her Duel Disk, revealing it to be her Polymerisation. "I fuse Balloonimal Pony with the Balloonimal Chameleon in my hand!" A bunch of green balloons appeared before shaping into a lizard, which was sucked into a portal that appeared above them. "Chameleon's ability lets him stand-in for any monster in a Balloonimal Fusion summon. So now he'll be mimicking a Winged-Beast monster." Everyone watched the two turn into light that swirled around. "I'm fusing the dashing speed of a pony, with the winged flight of a hawk!" The portal suddenly exploded into a burst of brilliant light. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Pinkie's Fusion monster. "Balloonimal Pegasus!" (A?/D?/L7)

"That doesn't look so great," Skystar scoffed.

Maud frowned. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew Pegasus's ATK points become the combined total of the monsters used to summon it." (A2800/D2200/L7) Skystar's eyes went wide seeing this.

"Then I'll set Balloonimal Mouse into my Pendulum Zone!" The pillar of light appeared beside her as the balloon rodent flew up into it. "And with his Pendulum Ability, I can fuse my Giraffe with my two Balloon Tokens." Once again, a vortex opened up above them as the three monsters were sucked inside. After several seconds the vortex exploded. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light died down to show one of Pinkie's best cards, "Balloonimal Chimera!" (A?/D?/L10) "And his points become the number of monsters used to summon him times eight hundred. (A2400/D2400/L10) With the two Fusion Monsters on her field, Pinkie glared at Novo. "We finally managed to get Marble back." Chimera charged at Marksman. "And we won't let you, Gaia-Maiden, or anyone else take her away from once again!" Chimera leapt into the air and prepared to crush Marksman, but suddenly a large bubble appeared around it and Attack Squad, Chimera slamming into it and bouncing off.

Novo: 3500
Pinkie: 3500

"What happened?" Marble asked, only for Maud to look over the field.

"She used a Trap."

"My Tidal Guard Trap to be precise," Nova explained as her card flipped up. "This card lets me protect my Water monsters from being destroyed this turn and cuts any damage I'd take in half."

"Well, your not safe yet," Pinkie cried. "My Chimera can attack once for every monster used to summon it. Which means it's still got two more attacks. GO!" The balloon animal charged again, hitting the bubble against and causing Novo damage.

Novo: 3000
Pinkie: 3500

"One more time!" A repeat of before occurred, Novo being dealt more damage.

Novo: 2500
Pinkie: 3500

"And Pegasus still hasn't gone yet. ATK!" The pink horse flapped its wings and took to the sky before crashing down on the bubble.

Novo: 1800
Pinkie: 3500

Skystar's entire body shook in anger. "How dare you deal the queen of the Atlanteans so much damage. Get down on your knees and beg her for forgiveness. If you don't, I'll make you."

Pinkie just smiled, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Grahhhh!" Skystar was about to run forward and tackle her, but Novo raised an arm to stop her.

"Be calm my child. Her insubordination will be punished, not by force but by fate." She drew her card and smiled, "I activate Salvage Draw." She removed Neo Barrier. "Now, by banishing a Water monster from my graveyard, I can draw cards equal to its Level." She drew four before her two monsters suddenly got sucked into a large water spout. "The time has come, for the queen to wash away thy enemies!" The spout exploded to reveal her new monster, Pinkie and the others frowning at her as she floated down infront of Novo. "Amphitrite, the Atlantean Queen!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

Skystar clapped. "Brilliant mother. Now show them why you don't mess with us."

"So that's what she really looks like," Pinkie frowned.

"The Omega Zealot," Maud continued. "One who is attempting to resurrect Zeronull."

Marble shook in fear. "Is Pinkie gonna be okay?" Maud wasn't sure. It all depended on whether or not she could beat Novo before she summoned her Zenith Dragon."

"Next, I play the Spell card Reincarnation of Hope." She discarded two cards. "Now, in two turns, I'll be able to add any monster I wish to my hand."

Pinkie's eyes went wide. "So in two turns, she'll be able to get her Zenith Dragon into her hand?"

"Hahaa!" Skystar jumped up and down while clapping her hands, all the while Nova kept up her turn.

"I activate Amphitrite's skill." She discarded another card. "I discard Rhodos in order to change the Attribute of every monster on your field to Water." The queen raised her staff before the pearl on the end began to glow, the light flying out and hitting Pinkie's monsters.

"What the?" Pinkie looked up and saw her Balloonimals beginning to fill up, morphing into water balloon animals. "No way."

Novo glanced back at Skystar, a loving expression clear on her face. "My dear child. My dear Rhodos." She turned back to Pinkie as her monster raised her hands, a sphere of water appearing to float above it. As she did, her other ability activated and raised her ATK points. (A3400/D2500/L8) "When someone dares to drag you through the mud, I treat it as if they also dragged me through it as well." Amphitrite threw the orb at Chimera, "and I will make them pay for it!"

"I activate my face down!" Pinkie cried as her card flipped up to reveal a Spell, "De-Fusion." Chimera glowed before exploding into a quartet of balloons, that began reshaping."

"What's happening?" Skystar asked, "you only used three cards to summon it." She watched as the balloons came together to form Balloonimal Giraffe, along with Balloonimal Lion, Pony and Chameleon. All of them got into DEF position.

"Chimera's a special card," Maud explained. "All it needs are two or more Balloonimals. Since De-Fusion splits it into the monsters on the card text, Pinkie can summon any Balloonimal monster she wants." Skystar glared at Maud while Pinkie focused on Novo.

"Whatever your problem with Gaia-Maiden, leave my sister out of it!"

In response, Novo simply smiled. "You may think that's your sister, but you're wrong." Amphitrite started forming another water sphere, this one ready to be aimed at Pegasus.

"No, you're wrong. She's-"

"Lady Marble. The woman cast out of her own kingdom by her subjects, because she was a failure as a ruler. She hid away for years, even going so far as to marry some simple farm boy. But eventually, her true nature broke through. She tricked him into believing she was ill and had him scale a mountain for a special kind of fruit. But it was all a trick and he eventually found his death. Then, she faked her own death so people believed she was gone. And why...simply for her own amusement."

Pinkie, Maud and Even Marble looked shocked by this revelation. Pinkie and Maud turned to Marble, as if asking if any of that was true. "I...I don't know." But as she said this, a splitting pain ran through her head. "AUGH!" She fell to her knees, clutching her head as Maud held her.

"Marble. Speak to us." But she couldn't. Instead, images appeared infront of her eyes. Memories that weren't hers. Those memories were filled with the same young man, each one showing him smiling at her while doing some form of farm work. But then, the final image showed a pair of rocks that appeared to be acting as tombstones. Both tombstones held names with the same last name.

"It's...it's true."

Pinkie and Maud gasped before hearing Novo chuckle, the two turning back to see her and Skystar laughing. "What you think you see in your sister is...merely an illusion. It's all a game, meant to entertain her." Amphitrite's skill kicked in again, powering her up once more. (A3600/D2500/L8) She then launched the orb at Pegasus, striking it with enough force to cause the balloon animal to pop and send the water inside splashing down on Pinkie.

Novo: 1800
Pinkie: 2700

Pinkie fell to her knees, panting heavily as her entire body was soaked to the bone. Maud and Marble began to worry, Marble more so fearing that Pinkie and Maud would start suspecting she was Gaia-Maiden. But then-

"You don't know," Pinkie started to pick herself up. "How could you possibly know!?" She raised her head and pushed the hair out of her eyes. "We're sisters. Bound together, through blood and the love we share. She may be able to fool others, but she can never fool us." She looked back at her sister, the two locking eyes for several long seconds before Pinkie smiled.

Novo and Skystar looking confused as Pinkie turned back to them, her face showing more confidence than ever before.

"This. This is the real Marble." Skystar growled while Novo appeared intrigued.

"Then maybe I should give you a dose of reality." She threw a card face down, "it may do her some good as well. I end my turn." Amphitrite's ATK points returned to their original value. (A3000/D2500/L8)

Pinkie frowned, beginning to worry what these two might do if they got their hands on Marble. "I won't let that happen," she reached for her deck. "No matter what, Marble's coming home with us!" But that may be easier said then done, with the threat of the Zenith Dragon on the horizon and another Zealot to beat if she managed to win. If Pinkie was gonna win, she'd need to pull out all the stops.

Author's Note

So, is this Marble or is Gaia-Maiden playing a trick on the girls. You'll have to keep reading to find out. Hope you enjoyed.

Turn 14: Oceanic Obliteration

Canterlot

Cold was back in his room, looking over the Zenith Dragon they'd managed to get their hands on. Perfignis stared back at him, a feeling washing over the man. It was almost like the dragon was screaming at him, roaring to let it fight. And maybe it was.

"A creature born from Zeronull. Makes sense that it'd be battle hungry." He kept staring at it for several moments, the thought of actually using it in battle slowly becoming and intriguing prospect to him. But who would be the best one to use it?

He was pulled from his thoughts by a knock at the door.

Looking up, he saw it open as Sunset stepped inside. "Hey," she smiled, "I'm heading off home."

"Alright," Cold nodded, "just be careful."

"Don't worry, the Zealots don't have any reason to attack me. I'll be fine." She then looked down and saw Cold was holding the Zenith Dragon, "shouldn't that thing be locked up or something?"

"Maybe," Cold hummed, "I've been contemplating the idea of maybe using it."

"WHAT!" Sunset cried, "that's nuts. You know what happens if you use that thing. Your entire deck could be destroyed."

"But the power it could grant us." His vision shifted between the card and her, a smile appearing on his lips. "You should take it. Your fire deck would work well with it."

"No way," Sunset told him. "I'm not risking my cards like that. My deck's fine just the way it is. And even if I did want to use it, it's risky to take that thing out into the field. If we lose and the Zealots get it back, we'll lose the only leverage we have. As long as we have this thing, they can't awaken Zeronull."

Cold sighed, seeing the logic. "You're right. We have to make sure this card stays out of the action at all times." 'Though it doesn't stop us from using any other Zenith Dragon we might get.. "Thank you for your advice."

"No problem," Sunset smiled at him. She was about to say something more, but Cold's computer went off and caught both their attentions. She watched as he opened the file sent to him, "what is it."

"Someone's sending us some kind of footage." Sunset moved around as he opened the file, both gasping when they saw the image.

"Pinkie!"

"But who's she facing?" Cold's phone then rang, the man seeing it was Grand on the line. "Talk to me," he answered.

"Are you watching what we sent you?"

"This is you?"

"It's Tempest," Grand explained from within the taxi. "Maud's sending us the footage and we're transmitting to you. What's worse, Pinkie's Dueling the Omega Zealot of Water."

"Seriously? How did this happen?"

"It's Marble. She showed up, claiming to be free from the Dominate. But the Zealots seem to be after them."

"Where are you?"

"We're not far, but it looks like we'll be stuck here a while." He looked over at the boat and saw it complete the bridge, which was now slowly lowering itself.

"Get there as soon as you can. We can't waste this chance to get as much info as possible from the Zealots."

"We'll try." Grand hung up and continued to watch the Duel, worrying as she saw how it was turning out so far.

Over at the Hanseatic walk, Pinkie's battle with the Omega Zealot of Water continues. Currently Novo had her Dominator on the field, the Atlantean Queen Amphitrite.

Pinkie, meanwhile, had her Balloonimal Giraffe, Lion, Pony and Chameleon on the field.

"Don't worry," Maud told Marble whilst continuing to record the Duel as it went down. "Pinkie will be fine."

"I know," Marble nodded. She hid her hand behind her back, wanting to make sure no one noticed her scratch the hand that had had her emblem on it. As she did, she couldn't help but think back to what she'd seen before. 'Those memories, were they real? Did Gaia-Maiden really get rid of her own husband?' She couldn't help but frown as she really thought about it. 'When I saw those images, I didn't get a sense of enjoyment. It wasn't a happy memory to her. If anything, I felt sad when I saw those gravestones.'

"My turn!" Her attention turned back to Pinkie, her sister drawing her card and nodding before looking over at the monsters on the field. "And I'll start with my Party Cannon's effect!" She reached for the deck, "I pick Level three." She drew her card and smiled "I summon Balloonimal Eagle!" The cannon fired out a bunch of brown and white balloons, which tied themselves together into a bird form. (A1200/D800/L3)

"That pretend dodo won't save you," Skystar told her.

"We'll see about that," Pinkie called out. "Because now I'm using the Spell card, Surprise Draw!" Balloonimal Giraffe exploded, Pinkie drawing five new cards before smiling. "Then Balloonimal Mouse's Pendulum ability will fuse Balloonimal Lion and Balloonimal Eagle!" The vortex opened up once again, sucking the two balloon animals into it. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The vortex exploded to reveal her monster, "Balloonimal Griffin!" (A2200/D1800/L6)

"Why didn't she summoned Chimera?" Marble asked.

"Pinkie must be planning something," Maud suggested. "What, I don't know."

"Now," Griffon's wings inflated and its took to the air, "I attack with Balloonimal Griffon!"

"But it's weaker then mother," Skystar called out. "Why attack?"

"Because it has a special ability," Novo realised. "One that'll make it strong enough to beat me."

"Got it in one queeny," Pinkie reached for her deck. "All I gotta do is guess that type of card's on the top of my deck, then Griffon will get one thousand ATK points. Alright," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I pick monster." She drew her card and smiled before turning it over, "Balloonimal Fish! So now my Griffon's power goes up!" The Fusion Monster's body inflated as its power rose. (A3200/D1800/L6) "Now, ATTACK!"

Everyone watched as Griffon took to the skies before flying down to crush Amphitrite beneath its inflated body and destroying her.

Novo: 1600
Pinkie: 2700

"MOTHER!" Skystar screamed in horror, all the while Novo just smiled.

"Amphitrite's ability now activated!" The Pie sisters seemed surprised by this, as a giant water spiral shot up into the air before exploding to reveal Rhodos before the princess jumped down into a kneeling position. "Whenever she's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can summon a Level three of below Water monster to my field in DEF mode." (A1600/D800/L3)

"That's fine," Pinkie told her. "Because I've still got Chameleon and Pony. Go get her guys!" Chameleon opened its mouth before a giant pink balloon extended out, ready to destroy Rhodos so Pony could get a clear shot to Novo. But when the tongue struck Rhodos, the girl was pushed back but didn't get destroyed. "What?" Pinkie asked, only to spot something behind Rhodos. A Trap.

"Say hello to my Mythic Totem Trap," Novo announced. "This Continuous Trap makes it so any monster that's special summoned is unable to be destroyed in battle for that turn."

"You're kidding me?" Pinkie looked shocked by this. "But that means..."

"It means my mother's created the perfect defence!" Skystar yelled. "Next turn, she'll re-summon herself with my skill. Then, if you destroy her, I'll be revived and her Trap will let me stick around until she can use my skill again. It's a flawless cycle!"

"And with it, I'll be able to take on anything you throw my way."

"We'll see about that," Pinkie told her. "I'll throw down two face downs and end call it a turn." Griffon's ATK returned to its normal state. (A2200/D1800/L6)

"Then it's my turn," Novo drew her card. "And I'll start with the Pot of Greed, which will allow me to draw two new cards." She drew again and smiled, "then I'll play the Continuous Spell card, Spell Salvage. This card lets me return a Spell in my graveyard to my hand when it's activated. Then, during my Draw Phase, I can do the same thing instead of drawing. So now, I'll be returning my Salvage to my hand in order to activate it once again!"

"But that means she can use Rhodos's ability," Marble quivered.

"And Amphitrite's," Maud agreed. "Those cards coming together might just be unstoppable."

"I'm incline to agree," Novo smiled as she grabbed her cards before slapping on on her Duel Disk. "Now I summon Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince!" A pillar of light appeared before her before exploding, the young Atlantean appearing besides his sister. (A800/D0/L1) Novo looked up at her son, a single tear flowing from her eye.

This did not go unnoticed by the Pie sister, nor by Skystar.

"I now sacrifice these two monsters to activate Rhodos's ability!" The two were both sucked into a water spout that then exploded, revealing their mother. (A3000/D2500/L8) "And since Neptabyss was used to activate a Water monster's skill, his skill lets me revive another Water monster to my field. Atlantean Attack Squad, rise!" Another water spout exploded before dropping to reveal the fish-man, whose ATK points increased because Amphitrite was one the field with him. (A2200/D0/L3)

"This isn't good," Pinkie gulped as she watched Novo discard another card.

"Now I'll discard Marksmen in order to activate my own skill." Amphitrite raised her staff as the pearl glowed, the light hitting her monsters and once again filling them with water. "Now I will attack you Balloonimal Chameleon!" The queen created a bubble of water, ready to fire it at the balloon animal. "And with three monsters on the field, my power grows!" (A3600/D2500/L8) "Do it!" The bubble was sent flying at Chameleon. But before it struck, the balloon animal suddenly vanished and was replaced by Griffon. "What?"

The bubble struck griffon and exploded, destroying it.

Novo: 1600
Pinkie: 1300

Pinkie smirked, "you're probably wondering why Griffin got popped instead of Chameleon? Well it's because I used my Shift Trap, which lets me change the target of an attack to another monster on my field." Novo seemed impressed by this, while Skystar simply glared. "And since Griffon got destroyed, I can activate my other Trap." Her last face down flipped up, "Balloon Blast!" Twelve balloons appeared where Griffin had been before they split into two groups that flew at Novo's monsters.

"What are you doing?" Novo asked as her monsters were struck by the balloons, both looking winded because they were hit. (A2400/D2500/L8) (A1600/D0/L3)

"Balloon Blast makes your monsters lose ATK points equal to my monster's Level until the end phase." Novo was almost impressed by this, the Zealot ordering Attack Squad to attack and take down Chameleon.

Novo: 1600
Pinkie: 800

"I place two cards face down and end my turn." (A3000/D2500/L8) (A2200/D0/L3)

"My draw! And now my Party Cannon's effect activates." She reached for her deck, "Level four." She drew three cards before she got a monster, smiling when she saw what it was. "Balloonimal Alligator!" The cannon fired out a bunch of green balloons that tied themselves into the animal in question. (A1600/D1400/L4)

"How is she picking the right Level every time?" Skystar asked, the Pie Sisters all smiling before giving the same answer.

"Pinkie Sense." Pinkie looked over her other cards, seeing she had a trio of Traps and a single monster. Emergency Magic, Magic Cylinders and a Trap called Parade Blockade were her options, but she feared putting them all out there. She was worrying about what might happen if Novo managed to summon her Zenith Dragon.

"You can do it Pinkie!" Maud called out to her, seeing a worried look appear on her face. "Just remember what's at stake here." Pinkie glanced back and saw Marble, the worried look on her face making Pinkie feel bad. Then she remembered something.

"Where's the fun?"

"What?" Novo asked, "did you really just say that? You're Duelling to save your sister and you're asking about fun?"

"Yes," Pinkie looked back at her, "because that's why I Duel. I've been so worried about Marble's safety that I forgot that. I have to do more then just save Marble from your and Gaia-Maiden. I have to help her find her smile again. And that starts right now. I switch Balloonimal Pony to DEF mode, then summon Balloonimal Doggy!" The balloon canine appeared infront of her in DEF mode. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Then I'll throw down two face downs and end my turn."

Maud and Marble looked over her shoulder, seeing she still had her Magic Cylinder Trap in her hand. "Why didn't she place it down?" Marble asked, "is she planning something else with it?"

"Possibly," Maud nodded. "She must be thinking ahead."

"Is that all?" They then heard Novo ask, "not a very fun move."

"Just wait. I'll show you something awesome."

"We'll see," Novo drew her card and smiled when she saw what she'd gotten. "Reincarnation of Hope's effect now activates, letting me add a monster from my deck to my hand." A card slotted out and she placed it in her hand, the Pies not liking the smile she had.

"She's planning something," Maud realised.

"Next, I play Premature Burial. With this, I'll send one card from my deck to my graveyard." Another card slotted out of her deck, Novo taking it and placing it into her graveyard. "Now I'm only one turn away." Pinkie frowned, knowing that her next turn might be her last. "Amphitrite, attack!" The Atlantean queen created another bubble of water, while her ATK points rose up. (A3200/D2500/L8) She aimed her attack at Balloonimal Pony, all the while Pinkie smiled.

"Go, Parade Blockade!" Her face down flipped up before a bunch of her Balloonimals appeared in a line, all dancing and playing balloon instruments New Orleans style.

"What is this?" Novo asked, Skystar growling at Pinkie's childish behaviour.

"Parade Blockade. Now I pick a card type before you check the top of your deck. If that card's the same type, your attack ends." Novo frowned before reaching for her deck. "I pick Spell." She drew her card and turned it over, everyone seeing the bluish green of a Spell card. "YES!" Amphitrite fired her bubble, but it hit one of the parade Balloonimals and exploded without harm. "Plus, my Trap sticks around, so this'll happen every time you attack."

"Fine, then my Attack Squad will launch an assault on your Balloonimal Alligator."

"Fine then," Pinkie's head bobbed from one shoulder to another for several seconds. "Monster card." Novo drew her card and looked to be getting highly irritated before he turned the card around to show it was the type Pinkie had guessed, Pinkie smiling as Attack Squad was intercepted.

"I place one card face down and end my turn." (A3000/D2500/L8) She looked down at her Duel Disk, a constant smile on her face. "Soon. Soon you will taste battle and lead my people to a better world."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Pinkie told her.

Skystar smiled. "But that's just it, you don't. There's not a card in your deck that could save your right now. Face it, it's over."

Pinkie didn't believe that. There was a card that could save her and she was only one card away from getting it out. 'It all comes down to this. Marble's fate. Our family's future. Everything.' She looked around at her sisters, seeing them both smiling at her. They nodded at her and she nodded back before turning to Novo. "Here I go. I...DRAW!" She spun on the spot before looking over at her card, her eyes going wide when she saw what it was. "I got it!"

"Got what?" Novo asked, Pinkie simply smiling.

"The card that's gonna help me win. But first, Party Cannon's effect kicks in. I pick, Level three." She drew her cards and sighed before turning it around, showing a Level six monster. "Oh well. It's no fun if I'm always right. But I'm still gonna win. And here's why. Go, Fusion Pop!" A portal opened up before the remains of brown, white and yellow balloons flew out, while Balloonimal Pony also burst. The remains flew up as a portal opened, the lot getting sucked inside and Pinkie cried out. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The portal exploded, revealing Pinkie's new monster. It looked like Balloonimal Griffin, only now it had elements of Balloonimal Pony in it. The lion hind-section was now that of Pony's, while its white head was now pink with a white beak. "Balloonimal Hippogriff!" (A2500/D2100/L8)

"A new Fusion monster?" Marble asked.

Maud nodded, "one that should be very useful against what's coming. That's why she summoned Griffin before."

"Hippogriff gains three hundred ATK points for every Balloonimal on my field!" Pinkie explained as Alligator and Dog glowed, that light flowing into Hippogriff. (A3100/D2100/L8) "Now, Gaia-Maiden, and all those that treat Marble like she was Gaia-Maiden." Hippogriff leapt into the air, "I'm gonna blast you away!" The Fusion monster came crashing down onto Attack Squad, destroying it and dealing Novo a lot of damage.

Novo: 700
Pinkie: 800

Skystar growled, "don't think you're hot stuff because you took the lead. My mother's still got the stronger monsters!"

"It takes more then having super strong monsters to win a Duel," Pinkie told her. "It takes courage to face off against monsters stronger then yours. Brains to find a way to stop those monsters. And the will to keep going, even if it looks like you have no hope of winning. That's what you guys lack."

"Courage, brains and will?" Novo asked. "Don't underestimate us. You know nothing about us or what obstacles we've face." Her Spell Salvage activated, letting her return a card in her graveyard. "Coming to this world was terrifying. Building Void and our others plans were more complicated then anything you humans have ever accomplished. And after what we've been through, we wouldn't be standing here today if we didn't have the will to keep going despite everything."

"And that gives you the right to try and destroy our world?" Pinkie asked, "you're cray cray."

"You humans have lived such cushy lives, of course you wouldn't understand. But if you faced true horrors, like the horror of seeing your own child come close to death for absolutely no reason, you wouldn't be so quick to dismiss us as being crazy." She activated the Spell she'd gotten back. "I play Salvage, the return to Water monsters to my hand." Her deck slotted out a pair of cards, the Pies all knowing what one of them was.

"Be ready," Maud told Pinkie.

"First, I discard Rhodos to activate Amphitrite's skill!" She raised her staff and transformed all of Pinkie's monsters, filling them with water. After that, she looked at the other card she's gotten back thanks to Salvage. A smile glistened her face before she turned towards Marble, "You know what's coming. Don't you think it's time for this charade to end?"

As she said this, something within Marble snapped. "Heeerrr!" She gasped as she staggered backwards, Pinkie and Maud growing worried as they watched their little sister's body shiver whist she clutched her head and fall to her knees. "NAAAAARAAAH!"

"Marble?" Pinkie's heart began to ache.

"What's wrong?" Maud asked, only for Marble's shaking to completely stop as she lowered her hands from her head. As she did, her sisters saw something on her hands. The Earth Symbol.

"No," Pinkie whispered.

"So it was just an act," Novo frowned. "Why would you do something so cruel and pointless?"

"I gave them hope," Marble replied. Her gentle tone was gone, replaced by a confidant voice that was filled with malice. "Hope that they could save her." Her eyes rose, allowing them to see the sinister expression on her face. "And then I snatched that hope away from them, the same way it was snatched away from me."

"But why?" Pinkie asked.

"Because your investigation of me has been quite bothersome. That's why I needed to crush your hopes, so you'd stop following me. I am impressed you recognised the truth. Up until just now, the one you'd been with was indeed your sister. I just loosened up my control on her, but now she's gone forever." She smiled at the sisters, "now I get to watch as the despair washes over you." But then, too her surprise, Pinkie and Maud didn't seem to fall into despair. Instead, they simply smiled.

"Despair," Pinkie started, "you're kidding right? The one thing that you gave us...was more hope."

"What?"

"Now we know Marble's still there," Maud explained. "She's still fighting, never submitting to you or whatever hatred you have. That's enough for us to be happy."

"And from now on, we'll work double hard to save our sister." Pinkie smiled, "I don't even care if we're not the ones that boot you out of her. As long as she's home." Marble glared at the two, all the while Novo just smiled.

"You underestimated the bonds of a family," she explained. "And that is why, you will never truly be able to wield lord Zeronull's will!" She held up her card, the mark on the back of her hand beginning to glow brighter. "With this card, I put my entire future on the line." Pinkie and Maud both grew worried, knowing that that meant. "Should I happen to lose this Duel, then every card in my deck will be destroyed."

"As if that were possible," Skystar said with a smug expression.

"Quite," Novo smiled before she discard the other copy of herself. "First, I must tribute a Water Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." As she did this, Amphitrite leapt up into the air before the water in the Thames shot out and began to wrap around her and form a sphere of water that grew larger and large by the second.

As the taxi exited off the bridge, Tempest was the first within the spot what was happening. "Look!" Grand and the driver turned towards it, Grand gasping as he spotted the orb of water fly into the air.

"What is that?" The driver asked.

"Trouble," Grand pulled himself over to him. "I'll pay you double if you can get us over there stat!" The driver didn't look so sure at first, but eventually turned to drive down the street towards the orb. "Hold on girls."

Pinkie and Maud could only watch in horror as the sphere reached full size, the two seeing a dark shadow appear within before a pair of bright red eyes glared out.

"Awaken," Novo chanted, "beast of water!" She slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the orb exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans, FABULAQUA!"

This dragon was entirely snake-like, being mostly light blue with a white stripe running from its white lower jaw down its body before reaching the end of its tail. Said tail looked like a whale's tail, being blue with a white fin. Around the centre of its body was a piece of metal armour that was mostly white with a blue line running down the front and back. Four white blades stuck out of the armour, positioned so they formed an X when looked at from straight on. A metal helmet could also be seen around its head, covering all but the beast's fact, jaw and forehead, that was connected to the armour by a series of black rubber tubes. A pair of robotic mandibles pocked out of the helmet, clicking together at the tips. And finally, on its forehead, was a blue orb with the water kanji on it.

The entire city of London turned to stare at the giant beast, as it fell to the ground and splashed down into the Thames. It was so large, that it filled up the entire river with a snug fit.

Pinkie and Maud both stared up at it in awe and terror while Marble took everyone's distraction as an opening to slip away, slowly stepping backwards as Novo explained. "Zenith Dragons can only remain on the field for a turn, being banished during the end phase and replaced by one of my Amphitrite. But for this turn, it's ATK and DEF points become to total of the monsters used to summon it. (A6000/D2500/L12) "Now its skill will activate!"

The girls watched as the four metal fins opened up, revealing ten metal water cannons that folded out of each fin before blasting out a surge of water that hit the ground and became a powerful tidalwave. "LOOK OUT!" Pinkie cried as the water struck her field, washing Balloonimal Mouse, Party Cannon, Parade Blockage and her other face down away. The water then hit Pinkie and Maud, the girls barely able to brace themselves in time to prevent being knocked off their feet,

When the water finally vanished, Pinkie looked down at her hand and saw her cards were back in her hand. Now all she had was Hippogriff, Alligator and Dog.

"Fabulaqua can return any Spell or Trap on your field to your hand. And for ever one returned-" Four pillars of water shot out of the ground, "I can revive a Level four or below Water monster until the End phase!" The pillars exploded to reveal Rhodos, Neptabyss, Attack Squad and Neo Barrier Statue of the Torrent, the four landing down besides Fabulaqua. Two were on the dragons left and two on its right. (A1600/D800/L3) (A800/D0/L1) (A1400/D0/L3) (A1000/D1000/L4) "They'll only be here until the end phase and until then, their abilities are negated. But with these five monsters on my field, nothing you can do will stop me."

"We'll see about that!" Pinkie told her, a smile on her face. "The Duel's not over until the last card is played."

"The last card has been played," Novo told her. "You have nothing on your field that can save you. Fabulaqua, END THIS!" The dragon roared as the gem on its head glowed before sucking moisture into its mouth. "It's over! OCEANIC OBLITERATION!"

"Don't think so!" Pinkie cried, "because I've got a Trap!"

"Weren't you paying attention!" Skystar asked, "my mother sent all your Traps to your hand."

"Which is exactly where I wanted them!" Pinkie smiled, "because now Hippogriff's skill activates. When he's attacked, I have to pick as many Traps in my hand as I have empty Spell or Trap slots." She took her three Traps and placed them face down, the cards appearing infront of her. "Now you have to pick one and whichever one you choose, I can play."

Novo and Skystar's eyes went wide, realising what might happen. Maud also realised and smiled, she already knowing what all her Traps were. "So that's why she didn't set it. And that's why she summoned Hippogriff. She wants to beat the Zenith Dragon."

"Roll up role up!" Pinkie cheered, "pick a trap and get your butt whooped. Come on, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Idiotic tricks won't save you!" Skystar told her. "My mother will still win no matter what."

"You sure?" Pinkie asked, "then why's she looking so flustered." Novo did look a little nervous, not liking that the Duel had come down to just dump luck. "Come on. Get the led out before we all go grey."

Novo growled, "the middle!" She pointed to the card in question, which flipped up to reveal Pinkie's Trap.

"And the Trap you picked was, Emergency Magic." Maud sighed, having been hoping for Magic Cylinder. "Now I can draw a card and if it's a Spell I can play, I'm allowed too." Pinkie reached for her deck and took a deep breath, everyone else holding theirs as she drew her card. She looked down and saw what she'd gotten, her eyes going wide. 'I can't believe it. I drew,' "BATTLE FUSION!" The card in question activated, Hippogriff beginning to glow while the others all went wide eyed. "This card activates when a Fusion monster battles. And with it, my Hippogriff gains...all the ATK points of crome dome up there!" (A9100/D2100/L8)

"WHAT!" Skystar screamed, "over nine thousand. There's no way there can be that much!"

Maud couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Pinkie's gonna win!"

"GO!" Pinkie cried as Hippogriff flew towards Fabulaqua, the dragon finally unleashing a stream of high-pressure water from its mouth. Hippogriff struck the water and cut right through it, flying at high speed until it tackled the dragon and caused a massive explosion.

"MOTHER!" Skystar screamed, fearing what was gonna happen next. Pinkie and Maud both smiled, only for those smiles to drop when they heard Novo begin to chuckle as the smoke cleared around her. And as it did, she stood with a smile on her face whilst her dragon was shown to still be kicking as its head was lowered so it was behind her.

Novo: 700
Pinkie: 800

"B...b-but how?" She looked around and realised her monster was destroyed, confusion setting in as she looked down at her Duel Disk. Then she saw the answer. (A0/D2100/L8) (A0/D5000/L12) "Both of their ATK points dropped to zero. But how?" Pinkie looked up and quickly spotted the reason. Novo had a Trap.

"My Equal Footing Trap card. Whenever two monsters battle, this card drops both their ATK points to zero until the end of the Battle Phase."

"But if both our monsters lost all their ATK points, they should have both been destroyed. So why did-" Pinkie stopped when she remembered Novo's Mythic Totem card. Since Fabulaqua was Special Summoned, it couldn't be destroyed by battle this turn. "Oh no."

"Now you understand," Novo smiled. "It's over. Your Fusion Monster's gone, meaning there's nothing stopping me from destroying the rest of your monsters. Starting with your Balloonimal Alligator!" Rhodos charged forward and destroyed the green balloon animal. "Then your Balloonimal Dog!" Attack Squad swam forward and slashed Pinkie's last monster to shreds, leaving her defenceless.

"PINKIE!" Maud screamed as Neptabyss began to swim forward.

"Now my dear child," Novo showed a loving expression as he reached her opponent. "END THIS!" With that, the young prince swung his trident down and slashed at Pinkie.

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" She screamed as she was thrown backwards, Maud rushing forward to catch her as her life points dropped.

Novo: 700 (Winner)
Pinkie: 0

Novo smiled as all her monsters vanished, removing her Zenith Dragon from the Duel Disk and smiling down at it as Skystar moved over to her. "Mother?" She turned to her, "was it enough. Fabulaqua wasn't the one to actually defeat her. But-"

"Yes," Novo nodded, "it was enough. Fabulaqua is fully awakened and can now be used in master Zeronull's revival." Skystar smiled before looking around, her smile slowly fading before she let out a scream.

"AHHH! Gaia-Maiden, she's gone!" Novo seemed surprised by this and looked around, her reaction not as bad as her daughters.

"So she is."

Skystar pulled out her Duel Disk and started tapping away, eventually groaning. "She must have figured out how we tracked her and found a way to block her. I can't get a trace."

"That's alright," Novo assured her. "We discovered what she was planning and prevented it from going to far. She would have likely left her big reveal until she was in enemy territory and if she did, she may have ended up getting captured and her Zenith Dragon taken. We managed to prevent that." She turned to walk off, "come along."

"Of course." She followed after her mother, the two only taking several steps before Pinkie called out.

"What are you doing?" They stopped and turned back to her, Maud helping Pinkie stand up shakily. "What's you big plan? You get Zeronull to Dominate someone, then what? How are gonna destroy the whole world then?"

Maud nodded, wanting to know the same thing. "Does it have something to do with the Zenith Generator?" Novo and Skystar both froze hearing that, Novo glaring at them.

"What do you know of the generators?"

"Nothing really. I managed to get a brief glance at the designs, but I have no idea what they do. As far as I can tell, they turn some kind of energy into another kind of energy. But types of energies, I have no idea."

Novo growled, "you know far too much." She pulled out her Zenith Dragon card, "I'm afraid I have no choice." Pinkie and Maud both tensed as they watched her hold her card up, a light gleam covering it. "I'm sorry."

"Get away from them!" The four turned to see two people jump between them, three of them surprised while Novo just started at them in an intrigued manor.

"You two!" Skystar cried, growling under her voice. "That's him mother!" She pointed at Grand, "he's the one that beat me!"

"Is that so?" Novo stepped forward, smirking as she stared the two down. "I am Amphitrite, queen of the Atlanteans." She held up her hand, "and Omega Zealot of Water."

"We know who you are," Tempest glared at her while Grand turned to Pinkie and Maud.

"You girls alright?"

Pinkie nodded, "yeah. I lost though."

"But she managed to protect herself against the Zenith Dragon."

"I know," Grand smiled. "We saw from the phone. Thanks to you girls, we know what we're up against." He looked around, "where's Marble?" He saw the two girls frown, "she's gone, isn't she?"

Pinkie nodded, "and you were right. She was still Dominated."

"It was the real Marble, but Gaia-Maiden took control of her again and escaped. We're sorry."

"It's fine."

"HEY!" They turned back to Skystar, who was glaring at them. "Don't just ignore us. How dare you turn your back on the great queen of the Atlanteans!"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Grand asked her, causing both Dominators the frown.

"You dare insult my child?" Novo asked. "For that, you must be punished." She reactivated her Duel Disk and slotted her card into her deck, the cards shuffling. "It is time you saw just what kind of power you're up against."

Grand frowned and pulled out his Duel Disk. But before he could start, Tempest raised an arm. "No way. This one's mine." Novo seemed surprised as Tempest took out her Duel Disk and placed it on her arm. "If you want to hurt Grand or anyone else, you'll have to go through me to get to them."

Novo's surprised look slowly faded and was replaced by a smile. "I like your audacity. Very well, I will deal with you before I face off against Grand. But not here." The sound of sirens filled the air, everyone realising the Duel had attracted some unwanted attention. Novo pulled out another card and threw it, a portal opening up. "If you truly want to Duel me, follow me through." She and Skystar walked towards it, "unless you're scared."

Tempest frowned as the two vanished through it, the portal remaining for them. "Tempest," she looked back at Grand, "it could be a trap."

"I know," she looked back at the portal. "But I have to see this through." She strode forward and stepped through the portal, vanishing.

The three all frowned before sharing a glance, the lot nodding before following them through. Once the last one stepped into the portal, it vanished before the police cars arrived on the street.

When the four arrived on the other side of the portal, they found they were in a very different place.

Gone was the noise and commotion of the big city, replaced by the the gentle sounds of nature. A tied could be heard, making them think they were near the ocean. But looking around, they found they were in a grassy land surrounded by mountains.

They spotted Novo and Skystar a ways off, the two standing infront of a lake. "Where are we?" Tempest asked as they strode forward.

"A place called Lake Windermere," Novo explained. "It's one of my favourite places here in your world. Almost makes me sad it'll be destroyed. I do hope Lord Zeronull will be able to recreate it in the dream realm."

"Dream realm?" Tempest sighed, "you're another fool who thinks Zeronull can make everything better for them."

"He can and will," Novo told her. "He will lift my people from their suffering and create a truly perfect world for them to live in. And to help him accomplish that, I will give everything. Even my own soul." She raised her Duel Disk. "You are Tempest Shadow, the one previously Dominated by Storm King."

Tempest felt her entire body freeze up, "so what if I am?"

"It's really thanks to you that our salvation is at hand. You brought Gaia-Maiden into this world and she, in turn, called the rest of us. You also managed to find the vessels we need to sacrifice to Zeronull. You have truly done wonders for our cause!"

"THAT WASN'T ME!" Tempest yelled so loud it echoed through the mountains. "It might have been my body, but I had no say in the matter. And I won't let what happened go uncorrected anymore. Right here, right now, I'll put my past behind me and fix what I did, by sending your butt back to your own world."

Novo smiled at her, actually beginning to like the girl more and more. "I admire that determination. You remind me of a young me, back when my people's downfall began. I was so eager to fix my mistakes, that I did everything I could to keep them safe. And that path lead me here, to you. Destiny is a funny thing."

"Destiny had nothing to do with this," Tempest told her. "I choose what happens in my future and nothing else. And right now, I am choosing to take you down!"

"Then let this game begin," Novo announced as they drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Author's Note

Well...that happened. Sorry Pinkie, I still love ya. Let's hope Tempest will have better luck.

Turn 15: A Storm on the Ocean

"Hello...HELLO!" Cold growled as he lost Grand and Tempest's signal, their call getting completely cut after the four of them jumped through whatever portal they'd travelled through. "Those fools!"

"It'll be alright," Sunset tried to calm him down. "We just need to find out where their signals went."

"They could have been sent to another planet for all we know," Cold sat in his chair and huffed. "How are we supposed to keep ahead of them if they can escape so easily?"

"We'll find a way," Sunset assured him. "Don't forget, we managed to get a lot of data from Heath's Duel Disk." That was true. Despite no longer being Dominated, Heath's Duel Disk still held a connection to whatever system they had. It wasn't long before that connection was cut but before it was, they managed to get some useful information from it. Including a location they believed my be the Zealot's base.

"True," Cold nodded, "but that doesn't help us now." He turned to Sunset, "we need to find them now. Before it's too late." Sunset nodded and turned to rush out the room, planning to get their best coders working on this as soon as possible. Once she was gone, Cold sighed again before leaning back in his chair. "Be careful."

Lake Windermere

At the Lake District in the United Kingdom, we find Tempest, Grand, Pinkie and Maud staring down Novo and Skystar.

Tempest and Novo had just started a Duel, Novo wishing to get revenge of Grand while Tempest wanted to protect her friends. That was why they Duelled and why neither of them could afford to lose right now.

"I'll take the first move!" Tempest reached for her deck and drew her card, looking over her cards as a plan formed in her head. "I'll start by summoned Storm Guard Liberator, Sword, in ATK mode!" In a flash of lightning, a monster that looked similar to her old Storm Guard monster appeared. Only now its armour and weapon were both gold instead of black. (A1500/D1200/L4) "When Storm Guard Sword is summoned, I can look at the top three cards of my deck and add a Level four or below Liberator amongst them to my hand." She did so, taking one and adding it to the rest of her cards while shuffling the rest back into her deck.

Novo smiled, "so is this new deck supposed to symbolise something?" Tempest raised an eyebrow. "Please don't tell me you're gonna give me some long winded speech about breaking the chains of oppression you once helped forge. I'd rather not hear that dribble."

Tempest frowned, "you are right that my new deck symbolises something." She looked down at her Duel Disk and cards. "You said it yourself, that I'm the one responsible for Marble getting Dominated. And that means I'm also at fault for what happened to everyone Marble helped Dominate." She glared at the two, "that's why I'll fix my mistakes and liberate everyone under the thumb of you Zealots!"

"What did I say about dribble," Novo rolled her eyes. "Just get on with your turn."

"Fine," she placed two cards face down, "I end my turn."

"Finally," Novo drew her card and smiled, "I'll start by playing Reincarnation of Hope!"

"Not that card again," Pinkie frowned.

"She's not screwing around," Grand growled as Novo discarded two cards.

"Now, in two turns, I'll be able to add a monster of my choosing to my hand. But for now, I'll summon Atlantean Dragoon!" From out of the lake behind her, the seahorse riding Atlantean appeared. (A1800/D0/L4) "Go," she pointed at Tempest's monster, "attack!"

Tempest watched as the Atlantean swam through the air before slashing at Storm Guard Sword, destroying it.

Novo: 4000
Tempest: 3700

"I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"My draw," Tempest drew her card before summoning a card. "Go, Storm Guard Liberator, Spear!" The gold armoured beast appeared before her. (A1800/D800/L4) "Then I'll play the Spell card, Black Lightning!" Black sparks flew around the Liberator, increasing its ATK power. (A2800/D800/L4) "Attack!" The beast pointed its spear at Novo's monster before unleashing a bolt of lightning, which struck Dragoon and destroyed it before flying over to zap Novo.

"GYAH!" She cried as her life points dropped, Skystar looking horrified.

Novo: 3000
Tempest: 3700

"MOTHER!" Skystar was about to rush over to her, but Novo raised a hand to stop her.

She then smiled at Tempest. "Impressive. Almost as ruthless as the Tempest I saw in the Double X. Makes me wonder how much of that was really Storm King's influence."

Tempest just glared at her as she reached for her deck. "Since Spear destroyed a monster, I can look at the top card of my Deck." She drew the card and nodded before turning it over, revealing a monster similar to one they all knew. "Tempest Unicorn Liberator. Since it's a Liberator monster, I can add it to my hand."

Novo smiled. "Well your attack activated my Mythic Totem Trap," her face down flipped up. "Now, monsters can't be destroyed in battle on the turn they're special summoned."

Pinkie and Maud both frowned, "this is just like what happened in our Duel."

Maud nodded. "If she get Amphitrite and Rhodos where they need to be, she'll have an unbreakable wall of defence."

"I'll just have to beat her before she can," Tempest announced. "I end my turn."

"My draw!" Novo drew her card and smiled before summoning it, "I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Torrent." The giant toad statue appeared on the field. (A1000/D1000/L4)

Everyone frowned seeing that card, "I'm really getting sick of those things."

"Me too," Maud agreed despite her face not showing any annoyance or anger. "Now Tempest won't be able to attack directly."

"Let's just hope she has a plan for dealing with it," Grand explained as Novo played her next card. "

"Then, I play the Spell card Natural Spring Water!" A bottle of water appeared infront of the statue before pouring its contents into its mouth. "This card will increase the ATK of a monster on my field by five hundred points, for every Water monster in my graveyard." The statue glowed a blue aura. (A2500/D1000/L4)

"That means she has three water monsters in her grave," Tempest realised.

"I bet I know what one of them is," Pinkie gulped as Novo gave her next command.

"ATTACK!" The statue pointed its trident at Storm Guard Spear before a torrent of water shot out the end, hitting the beast and destroying it.

Novo: 3000
Tempest: 3000

"I activate my Trap!" Tempest cried as he card flipped face up, "Liberator Recruitment! By banishing Liberator monsters from my graveyard, I can add a Liberator monster to my hand as long as its ATK and DEF are equal too or lower then the monsters banished!" She took out Sword and Spear, the others doing the math.

"Eighteen hundred and fifteen hundred make thirty two hundred ATK points," Pinkie said out loud.

"And twelve hundred and eight hundred make two thousand," Maud went on. They all gasped before smiling, seeing a certain card slot out of Tempest's deck.

"Impressive," Novo announced, "but it won't save you. This Duel's outcome has already been decided." She ended her turn, her statue's points returning to normal. (A1000/D1000/L4)

"Nothing's decided," Tempest drew her card. "Not as long as I have cards the play. And right now, I have several. I activate the Spell card, Pot of Greed!" She drew two cards and smiled, "then I'll activate the Paralysing Mind Spell card. This card negates the effect of one monster on your your side of the field." A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and electrocuted the Neo Barrier, lightning sparking around it. "Next, I set Scale one Spine-Hog Liberator and Scale eight Tempest Unicorn Liberator into the Pendulum Zones!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of her, with both her monsters flying up into them. They looked just like the ones everyone had seen her use in the Double X, except now their black armour and clothing had been replaced with bright gold.

As they flew up, the portal began to form between them. "Unshackle the chains of space and time and free all those with the courage to push through their limits." The portal was completed. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

It opened before two bolts of lightning shot out and struck the ground, the first becoming a Storm Guard carrying a giant golden shield. "Storm Guard Liberator, Shield!" (A1000/D2000/L4)

The other was a monster everyone had once dreaded seeing, but now the sight of her filled them all with hope and joy. "It's time, to stand up my faithful avatar. Tempest Rogue Liberator...SCARVOLT!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)

"YEAH!" Pinkie cheered, "go Tempest."

Grand nodded. "I'm interested in seeing what Scarvolt is truly capable of, now that she's freed from the Dominator's influence."

"Well let me show you. First, Spine-Hog's ability activates." She drew two cards. "Whenever a Liberator is Special Summoned, I draw a card. Next, Scarvolt's effect activates." Lightning surged around her ace before she let out a might roar and the electricity shot up into the air. "Whenever she's Special Summoned, I can select a monster on your field and summon a Liberator from my deck with less ATK points."

Everyone's eyes went wide as she looked up, spotting clouds forming in the air above them. Seconds later, a bolt of lightning shot down and struck the ground before fading to reveal a new monster. "Storm Guard Liberator, Katar!" (A800/D1300/L3) "I draw a new card thanks to Spine-Hop and Katar's ability activates."

"What now?" Novo watched as Katar's daggers sparked before it swung them through the air, unleashing a wave of lightning that struck her monster.

"When he's Special Summoned, I can cut the ATK of a monster on your field in half." The lightning struck her statue and sparked around it. (A500/D1000/L4)

"Then I'll summon Storm Guard Liberator, Scimitar, in ATK mode." Another bolt of lightning signalled the arrival of her next monster, swinging the twin curved blades around. (A1600/D1500/L4/P4) "It's time to end this Duel," Tempest announced while Novo raised an eyebrow.

"You trying to bluff me?" She asked. "Even with my monster's power decrease, yours isn't strong enough to beat mine."

"Don't be so sure," Tempest told her. "Scarvolt has another special ability. One that increases her ATK points during the Battle Step, by five hundred for every other Liberator on the field." Novo and Skystar's eyes went wide hearing this.

"Are you serious?" Skystar asked as Scarvolt raised her sword, all the while lightning shot off Tempest's monsters and struck the blades.

"Deadly," Tempest replied as Scarvolt's power increased. (A4000/D2000/L7/P4) "And there's more. During the Battle Phase, Tempest Unicorn's Pendulum Ability increases the ATK of all my Liberators by one hundred points for every Liberator on the field. Unicorn fired bolts of energy at each of her monsters, supercharging the four and making the roar in power. (A4400/D2000/L7/P4) (1400/D2000/L4) (A1200/D1300/L3) (A2000/D1500/L4/P4)

Skystar began to hyperventilate, "this can't be happening. This simply can't be happening."

"Oh, it's happening!" Tempest told her as Scarvolt leapt into the air, "time for the queen to get crown. DO IT!" Scarvolt swung her blades in an X formation, unleashing an X-shaped blast of lightning that flew down towards the Barrier Statue.

Grand, Maud and Pinkie's eyes were filled with hope while Skystar's eyes were filled with dread, both Novo and Tempest remaining stoic as the attack struck Novo's monster and exploded into a smoke cloud that covered the entire area. Everyone coughed as they waved the smoke away, it eventually beginning to fade.

"What happened?" Pinkie asked.

"Did she win?" Maud asked. However, when the smoke cleared, Novo was revealed still standing despite her monster's destruction.

Novo: 2500
Tempest: 3000

"What happened?" Pinkie asked, only to see Novo's other face down card was now face up.

"My Trap. Atlantean Barrier. It lets my pay five hundred life points to negate any battle damage I take this turn. What's more, it's a Continuous Trap."

"Are you kidding me!" Pinkie cried, "just lose already!"

"No thank you," Novo told her. "And with Barrier Statue's ability, it'll be a lot harder to make that happen. Come, Atlantean Heavy Infantry!" The lake behind her exploded as a giant fish-man carrying a large split shield jumped out and landed behind her. (A0/D1600/L4) It knelt down and brought its two shield pieces together. "And with Mythic Totem on my field, you can't destroy this card.

Tempest sighed before placing a card face down, "I end my turn." Her monster's ATK points all returned to normal.

"My turn," Novo drew her card. "And since it's been two turns since I activated it, my Reincarnation of Hope's effect lets me add a monster to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she added to her hand before summoning another one. "Now, witness the arrival of my dear and faithful daughter. Rhodos, the Atlantean Princess!" The lake exploded again, with the princess appearing before landing next to Heavy Infantry. (A1600/D800/L3)

"Not good," Grand gulped. He and the girls knew what this meant.

"Now, I activate her ability!" A water spout exploded out of the lake before the two Atlanteans leapt inside, seconds before it exploded to reveal Novo's ace monster. "Behold, foolish child, my true form. Amphitrite, the Atlantean Queen!" (A3000/D2500/L8) And since Heavy Infantry was tributed to activate an Atlantean monster's effect, his ability activates and allows me to destroy one monster on your field of the field." The fish-man appeared before Storm Guard Shield before stabbing it with his shield's blade.

The beast flinched before it exploded. "She didn't destroy Scarvolt," Pinkie realised.

"She's playing it smart," Grand explained. "She knows if she destroys Scarvolt, Tempest will just summon her again and use her ability. She must have picked Shield because she's worried it'll have a skill to stop her next attack."

"Next, I play the Spell card Salvage!" He Duel Disk slotted out two cards, "so now I'll return Dragoon and Barrier Statue to my hand. Then, I'll discard Barrier Statue in order to use Amphitrite's ability!" The queen raised her staff before the pearl on the end began to glow, the light flying out and hitting Tempest's monsters.

The teen watched as they all transformed, gaining gills while their clothes and fur became waterlogged. "What?"

"Amphitrite has the power to change the Attribute of every monster on your field to the Attribute of the monster I discarded. So now all your monsters are Water types, just like Barrier Statue."

"Not good," Tempest realised.

"So good," Skystar almost squealed. "Deal some damage mother."

"With pleasure," Amphitrite formed a bubble of water infront of her. "I now attack your Storm Guard Katar with Amphitrite! And when she attacks, she gains two hundred ATK points for every other Water monster on the field." Amphitrite glowed as her power rose up. (A3600/D2500/L8) She fired her attack at Katar, everyone but Tempest growing worried.

"This is gonna hurt," Pinkie flinched as the bubble got closer. But then, to her surprise, Scarvolt leapt infront of Katar and took the attack for it.

"What?" Novo asked as Scarvolt was consumed by the bubble and drowned, exploding while leaving Katar safe. "What did you do?"

"Activated my Interception Trap Card," Tempest smiled as her points took the hit.

Novo: 2500
Tempest: 1900

"It let me tag in one of my stronger monsters to take the hit for Katar, so Scarvolt took the hit instead." She expected Novo to be mad, but the woman actually did something she wasn't expecting. She smiled, followed by a sincere clap. "Okay. Wasn't expecting that."

"I'm just commending your Scarvolt on being a true leader. After all, those given that responsibility must always put the needs of their followers before themselves. To be the first to charge into battle and the last to retreat from it. Well done."

"Err...thanks." Tempest quickly shook her head, getting back into focus. "Scarvolt's destruction also activated my other trap," the face down flipped up. "Scarvolt's Spirit. Whenever she's destroyed, I can pick a Storm Guard Liberator on my field and search my deck for one whose ATK is higher then its but lower then hers." Katar glowed as the spirit of Scarvolt appeared behind her, while Tempest's deck slotted out a card. "Then I can send Katar to the bottom of my deck and summon the new monster to the field."

Novo watched as Scarvolt's spirit exploded into lightning that wrapped around Katar before eventually fading, revealing almost the exact same monster only this one was carrying a large bladed staff in its hands. "Storm Guard Liberator, Glaive!" (A1900/D1200/L4/P3) "And since a Liberator was Special Summoned, I draw a card."

Novo chuckled, "I end my turn." Amphitrite's ATK returned to normal. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"It's my turn!" Tempest drew her card before the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lightning bolts shot out and struck the ground, revealing her monsters. "Storm Guard Liberator, Ryyk!" (A2000/D1500/L5/P9)

"Stand again, my avatar! Tempest Rogue Liberator, Scarvolt. (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Tempest drew her cards, "Scarvolt's skill!" Her monster roared as she shot a lightning bolt into the air, forming storm clouds that unleashed another lightning bolt that struck the ground to reveal Tempest's newest monster. One they remembered caused a lot of people problems back in the Double X Tournament. "Storm Guard Liberator, Puppeteer!" (A1000/D1000/L4)

Novo raised an eyebrow, wondering why she picked that card when she must have much stronger choices.

Tempest drew her card thanks to Spine-Hog, an idea forming in her head. "Scarvolt, time to end this!" The battle phase began, causing Scarvolt and Tempest Unicorn's abilities to activate. (A5000/D2000/L7/P4) (A2500/D1500/L5/P9) (A2100/D1500/L4/P4) (A2400/D1200/L4/P3) (A1500/D1000/L4) "ATTACK!"

Novo watched as Scarvolt charged forward and slashed right through Amphitrite, the damage she would have taken likely huge if she hadn't had her Atlantean Barrier Trap.

Novo: 2000
Tempest: 1900

"I activate Amphitrite's special ability," Rhodos suddenly appeared out of the lake and knelt down infront of her. But as she did, Tempest smiled.

"She's smiling?" Skystar asked, "she shouldn't be smiling. Why's she smiling. Mother, make her stop smiling!"

"Let me show you why I'm smiling," Tempest explained before her Puppeteer launched a bunch of strings that attached to Rhodos.

"What are you doing?" She saw herself begin to stand up. "What? No! Don't do that! Let me go!"

"Not happening," Tempest smirked. "Puppeteer has the power to change the battle position of a monster on your field, with the cost of tributing one Liberator on my field." Once Rhodos was on her feet, Puppeteer vanished. "Now you're open for an attack." As she said that, Scimitar charged forward to try and destroy Rhodos. But the combo of Mythic Totem and Atlantean Barrier protected both her and Novo.

Novo: 1500
Tempest: 1900

"Glaive!" Her next monster charged and sliced at her, Novo's points dropping nowhere as much as they should have."

Novo: 1000
Tempest: 1900

"Ryyk!" Her last monster charged and finished the triple attack, leaving Novo with barely any life points."

Novo: 500
Tempest: 1900

"MOTHER!" Skystar looked like she was about to panic, while Tempest's friend all cheered.

"Way to go Tempest!" Pinkie cried. "Now her Barrier card's useless."

Grand nodded, "even if she uses it in her next turn she'll still be out of life points."

"Just survive this next turn!" Maud told her.

"No problem," Tempest ended her battle phase as her monsters all returned to their normal points. "I place one card face down and end my turn by equipping Scarvolt with Raregold Armor!" Said armor appeared on Scarvolt, making it so she was the only one Novo could target.

"My turn," she drew her card and smiled when she saw what she'd gotten. "And I summoned Atlantean Field Medic." From the lake, a female fish-man with armour covered in medical symbols flew out and landed besides Rhodos. (A1200/D1200/L3) "Next, I activate Rhodos's ability!" The water spout shot into the air before the two leapt into it, the spout then exploding to reveal. Amphitrite." And since Field Medic was tributed for a Water monster's ability, he effect grants me an extra three hundred life points for every water monster in the grave.

Novo: 1700
Tempest: 1900

"What's more, by banishing her from my graveyard, I can add a Level three or lower Atlantean Sea-Serpent from my graveyard to my hand." Her Duel Disk slotted out a card that she took before discarding it again. "Now I discard Rhodos to activate Amphitrite's ability!" The sea-women rose her staff before the pearl unleashed the light that struck Tempest's monsters and changed them into their Water type forms. "ATTACK!"

Tempest watched as Amphitrite formed a bubble, her ability powering her up as she tossed the bubble towards Scarvolt. (A3800/D2500/L8) The Liberator was captured in a bubble, finding herself drowning before she exploded.

Novo: 1700
Tempest: 600

"I'll end my turn there," Novo smiled before looking down at her deck. It was as if she could almost sense it. The power resting on the top of her deck. "Soon."

"My turn!" Tempest drew her card and nodded when she saw what it was, the portal forming above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot out and struck the ground, revealing Tempest's best card as she stood tall. "Stand again, my avatar! Tempest Rogue Liberator, Scarvolt!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) She drew her card, "skill activated!" Scarvolt once again roared before launching a lightning bolt into the sky, the clouds reforming before launching another bolt that struck the ground.

The monster revealed was a Storm Guard, only this one was carrying a box with a medical symbol on it and a stretcher attached to its back. "Storm Guard Liberator, Medic!" (A1000/D1500/L4) "Thanks," Tempest smiled as she drew her card, "your medic monster gave me an idea for my own. Medic's skill!" The ape exploded into lightning that flew over and struck her other monsters before flying off and hitting Tempest's Duel Disk. "By sacrificing himself, Medic powers up my life points by four hundred for every Liberator on my field."

Novo: 1700
Tempest: 2200

Tempest entered her battle phase, Scarvolt and Tempest Unicorn's abilities activating and powering her monsters up. (A4400/D2000/L7/P4) (A2400/D1500/L5/P9) (A2000/D1500/L4/P4) (A2300/D1200/L4/P3) "Scarvolt!" The women shot forward and slashed at Amphitrite, destroying her while Atlantean Barrier protected Novo.

Novo: 1200
Tempest: 2200

"Amphitrite's skill activates!" She announced as Rhodos shot out of the lake, again, before once again entering DEF mode infront of her mother.

Tempest sighed. "I switch my other monsters to DEF mode, then place a card face down and end my turn."

"Such a shame," Novo smiled as she looked over the situation. "Had you still been using your true deck, you might have been able to beat me by now. Such a shame you lost the enlightenment that the Soulink gave you."

"Enlightenment?" Tempest growled hearing this, "you think the Dominate enlightened me. You're wrong. The only thing that accused experience ever did was put me further and further into the darkness."

"You didn't think that back then," Novo pointed out. "Back then you understood that we Zealots are not the villains in this story. We are the ones that seek to save the world and all those within it." She pointed at Tempest. "You wish to liberate those lost in the darkness, then you should be helping us. Help us wipe away the darkness of this world and lead the world into a new utopia."

"By destroying everything we care about?" Tempest asked. "No way. I'd rather die then help further that cause more then I already have."

"Very well," Novo raised her hand as the symbol on its glowed through the glove. "I will make that wish come true." She reached for her deck and drew her card, smiling when she saw what it was. "I summon Atlantean Dragoon!" The sea-horse rider appeared before he and Rhodos leapt into a water spout that appeared behind Novo. "And with Rhodos's ability, I revive Atlantean Queen Amphitrite!"

Those watching all had mixed emotions, knowing what was gonna happen. Pinkie was hyperventilating. Maud was stoic, though on the inside she was panicking. Grand was also worried, but trusted Tempest could handle this. And Skystar was almost giddy.

"Yes mother. Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!"

"Gladly," Novo smiled as she held up her card. "With this card, I put my entire future on the line." The card glowed blue as she said that. "Should I happen to lose this Duel, then every card in my deck will be destroyed."

"You sure you wanna take such a risk?" Tempest asked her.

"A true leader must be willing to risk everything for the sake of her subjects. For my people, and the children I allowed to be raised in this monstrous world, I will gladly risk everything to grant them peace. That includes using the power of a Zenith Dragon!" Her face went from serene to serious in milliseconds as she began. "First, I must tribute a Water Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." As she did this, Amphitrite leapt up into the air before the water in the lake shot out and began to wrap around her to form a sphere of water that grew larger and large by the second.

For hundreds of miles, the many hikers and such around Lake Windermere caught sight of the giant bubble. Many wondered what it was while other grew scared. Down beneath it, the four undominated humans watched in horror as the orb flew above their heads. They then saw the shadow of the creature within, its deadly eyes glaring down at them.

"Awaken," Novo chanted, "beast of water!" She slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the orb exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans, FABULAQUA!"

The water from the orb rained down on them as the Zenith Dragon came crashing down into the lake, sending a tidalwave of water in every direction.

"So this is what if feels like to face off against a Zenith Dragon," Tempest realised.

"Zenith Dragons can only remain on the field for a turn, being banished during the end phase and replaced by one of my Amphitrite. But for this turn, it's ATK and DEF points become to total of the two monsters that were used to summon it. (A6000/D2500/L12) "Now its skill will activate!"

"Look out Tempest!" Pinkie cried as the dragon's four metal fins opened up, revealing the water cannons. Each one unleashed a blast of water that hit the ground and became a powerful tidalwave. It flowed across the ground and struck Tempest's field, washing her face downs and the cards in her Pendulum Zone away before hitting her and her friends.

The four groaned as the water struck them, but each was able to keep themselves on their feet. When the water finally vanished, Tempest looked down at her hand and saw her cards were back in her hand.

"Fabulaqua has the power to wash away every card in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zone and returned them to your hand." Suddenly, four pillars of light shout out of the lake. "And for every card returned to your hand, I can now summon one Level four or below Water monster from my grave by negating their effects." The pillars bent at shot down to hit the ground, exploding to reveal Rhodos, Dragoon, Heavy Infantry and Pikeman as they stood two on either side of the dragon. (A1600/D800/L3) (A1800/D0/L4) (A0/D1600/D2) (A1400/D0/L3)

The army of monsters stared each other down, each knowing this would likely be the final battle for one of their groups.

"It's over!" Novo smiled. "This is your last chance. Give up and maybe we can find a way to reestablish your link to Storm King. Then you'll be whole once again."

Tempest growled, "I am whole. And there's only one monster I'd ever let myself Soulink with." She turned to Scarvolt, who turned back to her and smiled.

Novo sighed, "very well. Then when this is over, I'll destroy that card. Fabulaqua," The dragon roared as the gem on its head glowed before sucking moisture into its mouth, "OCEANIC OBLITERATION!" The dragon shot a blast of water out towards Scarvolt, Tempest's friends all crying out.

"TEMPEST!"

"Nobody's taking Scarvolt from me again," Tempest cried. "NOBODY! Trap Summon!" A bolt of lightning flew down from the sky and struck the ground infront of Scarvolt, exploding to reveal a giant ape carrying a pair of shields appeared. "Storm Guard Liberator, Lightning Sentinel!" (A1100/D2300/L6)

"WHAT!" Skystar screamed while Novo looked shocked by the appearance, "you're cheating. Your cards were sent back to your hand. How could you activate your Trap?"

"With a little of your help," Tempest smiled. "You remember Storm Guard Shield?" They nodded, "well when you destroy it, you gave me just what I needed to stop your monster. By banishing it from my graveyard, I can activate any Trap in my hand. So say hello to Lightning Sentinel."

"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered, "that's the way Temp. Show those losers what for."

"I knew you could do it," Grand laughed.

Tempest nodded over her shoulder before turning back to the Duel. "While Lightning Sentinel's in DEF mode, it's the only Liberator you can attack. And thanks to your Mythic Totem, it can't be destroyed." Novo growled at having her own cards used against her. "Also, she gains three hundred DEF points for every other Liberator on my field." Her monsters all unleashed a bolt of lightning that struck the Trap Monster's back, powering it up as the water blast struck its combined shields. (A1100/D3500/L6)

Despite being weaker, Lightning Sentinel was able to withstand the amazing pressure of the hydro pump. And as the water finally ended, it detached its shield before jumping to the side. The rest of the monsters on Novo's field glared at Tempest's team, all realising that they'd lost their chance to beat her.

Novo also realised this, the queen seeing her hand was empty. "I...I...I end my turn." The Zenith Dragon suddenly vanished and in its place, the Dominator floated limply in the fair. "Fabulaqua is banished and in exchange, one of the Amphitrite I tributed is summoned in its place." She sighed, "there's more." Her other monsters all exploded into bubbles, leaving her ace alone. "The monsters summoned by Fabulaqua are returned to the field."

"She stopped the Zenith Dragon!" Pinkie cried.

"Now's her chance," Maud smiled. "She can end this."

"If she can get rid of Novo's other cards," Grand explained.

Novo finally managed to get her panic under control, "you managed to resist Zenith Dragon. But I am the queen and you will not be able to resist me. You know that in your heart."

Tempest just glared at her in response. "I recognise that you're a queen. I recognise that you're strong. However-" She drew her card and when she saw what it was, she smiled. "That doesn't mean you're going to win." Novo frowned hearing this. "You're doing this for the people you care about, well I'm doing it for the people I care about. The people who fought tirelessly to free me and who've stood by me since that day. They're way I stand before you, willing to risk everything to defeat you once and for all!"

The pillars of light appeared on either side of her as the two Pendulum Monsters returned to their places.

"Why do that?" Skystar asked, "her monster zones are full."

"Just watch!" Tempest shifted all her monsters to ATK mode. "Because now it's time for Scarvolt to awaken and show us her true power!" She raised the card she'd drawn before. "Her storming radiance will illuminate the darkness within your heart!" Tempest roared as a lightning bolt shot off of her into the sky, creating storm clouds that unleashed another thunderbolt that struck her. "TRANSCEND!"

Everyone watched as the light from the thunderbolt faded, revealing Tempest's newest monster. It looked like Scarvolt, only now she was decked out in golden armour. She ware a golden cloak that covered her shoulders, chest, side and back but left the front of her stomach, waist and legs visible. Her mask was now made of golden metal that covered her mouth, nose and ears. She wore a pair of golden arm guards that each had a lightning bolt shaped blade sticking out and pointing down her arm towards her hands that sparked with purple lightning. "Liberator of Bonds! Tempest Renegade, Scarvolt Miraculum!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

"What is this?" Novo asked as Tempest drew her card.

"This is the power forged from the bond shared by me and my friends." She turned to her ace, "it's time Scarvolt." Miraculum nodded as her arm blades sparked. "Skill activated!" Tempest showed Novo her hands, all eight cards, before she discarded them all.

"You're ditching your whole hand?" Skystar asked.

"True friends are willing to take the hits as long as it helps them succeed." Miraculum brought her hands together before pointing her blades to the sky, unleashing a bolt of lightning that flew upwards before splitting into six more bolts. "And by discarding five or more cards, I can destroy the same number of cards in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zones while also pumping up the rest of my monsters by one hundred points for every card discarded. The bolts curved down, two of them hitting Novo's two Trap cards.

"NOOOOO!" Both Novo and Skystar cried, realising their strategy was doomed.

The other four bolts struck Tempest's other monsters, powering them up by eight hundred ATK points each. (A2800/D1500/L5/P9) (A2400/D1500/L4/P4) (A2700/D1200/L4/P3) (A1900/D2300/L6)

"AWESOME!" Pinkie cheered, "now she can't protect herself."

Maud nodded, "she just needs to get rid of Amphitrite."

Grand smiled. "And with Tempest Unicorn, that'll be a whole lot easier.

Tempest entered her battle phase, her Pendulum monster's ability kicking in a powering her monsters up even more. (A3500/D2500/L8) (A3300/D1500/L5/P9) (A2900/D1500/L4/P4) (A3200/D1200/L4/P3) (A2400/D2300/L6) "ATTACK!" Tempest yelled as Scarvolt Miraculum leapt into the air, her blades raised as her body surged with lightning. In the blink of an eye, she transformed into a bolt that shot down at Amphitrite before appearing behind her with her blades down like they'd just cut through something.

Seconds later, Amphitrite screamed as an X-shaped explosion occurred infront of her and she burst into bubbles.

Novo: 700
Tempest: 2200

Novo grunted. "Since she was destroyed, I can now summon a Level three or below monster to my field from the graveyard." For one final time Rhodos leapt out of the lake before kneeling down infront of Novo. (A1600/D800/L3)

"She can't save you," Tempest told her as Lightning Sentinel charged forward.

'I know that,' Novo thought to herself. 'But my daughter must see this.' She looked back at Skystar. 'That no matter the obstacle, a queen must never stop trying until she's either dead or her people are safe and happy. That's something she taught me.' Rhodos was bashed by the electrified shield and exploded, leaving Novo defenceless.

"MOTHER!" Skystar screamed.

'Be strong my child.' Tempest ordered Glaive to finish the Duel, the ape leaping forward with its weapon primed. 'You'll have to stand alone now, for the good of your people. My father turned our people into a warmongering race that tried to conquer the world. Then, when he died in battle and I took the throne, I tried to protect our kingdom by hiding it underwater. Two generations of rulers, both trying to do what they thought was best for our people. Maybe this next generation will get it right.' Glaive reached Novo and raised its weapons. 'Rhodos,' she closed her eyes and stretched out her arms, 'our fate rests in your hands now.'

With that, Glaive slashed the electrified blade down Novo's front and caused her to scream out as the rest of her life points were depleted.

Novo: 0
Tempest: 2200 (Winner)

"ALRIGHT!" Pinkie cheered as Maud and Grand both smiled, Tempest sighing in relief while keeping her focus on her opponent.

"Mother," Skystar rushed over to Novo, "how could this happen?" Novo said nothing, instead looking down at her Duel Disk. Skystar did the same and gasped at what she saw.

Her cards were all glowing a blue light before they flew out of her deck, graveyard, extra deck and pocket. Every single card she owned floated infront of her and Skystar, including the Zenith Dragon. And then, to everyone but Novo's shock, they burst into flames.

"NOOOOO!" Skystar screamed as all but the Zenith Dragon were turned to ash, said card flying down to land in Novo's hand.

"Now that I have lost, the cards and the bond they represent are now destroyed." She looked at the symbol on the back of her hand, seeing it slowly fade away.

"Mother!" Skystar was frantic, "don't panic. There has to be a way to stop this. If we get you back to base, maybe we can reconnect you before it's too late. We just-"

"Rhodos," she shut up and focused on her mother, "you know that's not possible. My time in this world has come to an end."

"Mother," Skystar was close to tears. Then, Novo held out a particular card.

"I will return to our world and prepare our people for the perfect world you will create. With this," she placed the card in her daughter's hand, "you are now the Omega Zealot of Water." As soon as her grasp left the card, her entire body flinched and she cried out before falling forward.

"Mother!" Skystar quickly caught her, but sensed the connection within her shattering.

"I know...you'll make me proud, my child." With that, the symbol on her hand completely vanished and Novo fell unconscious. Skystar's eyes filled with tears as she felt the last vestiges of her mother's spirit vanish from the host, who she quickly dropped to the ground.

"I won't let you down mother." With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a card before tossing it behind her.

Tempest gasped as she saw the portal appeared behind the girl, "WAIT!" She tried to stop her her, but Skystar jumped through it before she could reach her and the portal vanished. "No!" She growled, "she got away with the card."

"Tempest," she turned to Grand as he and the Pies looked Novo over, "don't be upset. You did a good thing here today." He looked down at Novo, "you liberated someone from the Zealot's control. You should be proud." Tempest sighed, but couldn't help but nod in agreement. The Zealots were one less now and that was something she could hold her head up high for.

In another part of the world, Skystar stood in a lab looking down at her newest card.

But even so, her entire body shook in anger and sorrow. "Mother," she gasped, "I won't fail you. I swear, I will free our people from their pain." Her face then turned hard and dark, "and I will make those that tried to stop us pay for the pain and suffering they've caused."

Author's Note

Oh yeah. Go Tempest. So now that Novo's out of the way, Skystar can take her true place of the Omega Zealot of Water. But how will the other Zealots take this development?

For those wondering about Tempest's new boss monsters, here are its stats.

Liberator of Bonds, Tempest Renegade Scarvolt/A3000/D2500/L8/warrior/light
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Banishing 1 "Tempest Rogue Liberator Scarvolt" from your side of the field. Once per turn: Discard cards from you hand and activate these effects depending on the number of cards discarded.
● 1 or 2: Destroy 1 card in your opponent's Spell/Trap or Pendulum Zones for every card discarded
● 3 or 4: Increase the ATK of every other "Liberator" monster on the field by the number of cards discarded X 100
● 5 or more: Activate both effects at once.

Turn 16: Fall into Chaos, Draconequus Attacks

It had been a week since Tempest's Duel against Novo. Both she and Heath Burns were still recuperating from the Dominate.

Since then, much had happened. Mainly, the data they'd collected on the Dominators had finally hit upon a location that might pose as a possible base location. And that place was where we open this chapter of the tale on.

Romania.

"Alright!" Thorax announced as his armoured vehicles packed outside the cliff-top manor, "let's get this done quick before they have a chance to escape." The soldiers all nodded as they jumped out of their vehicles and began to surround the building.

Thorax stared up at the place while frowning. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be a dead end." As he said this, Pharynx stepped up with his gun in hand.

"We're ready to head in." Thorax nodded and he turned to the others. "Alright! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" With that, the small army began to bust down the door and rush inside, their weapons primed encase of any contact. After several minutes, many soldiers began to call out.

"Clear!"

Pharynx continued to survey the building but eventually came to the conclusion it was empty. He switched on his radio and spoke into it. "The building's secure. No sign of hostiles." That was Thorax's cue to enter, the teen stepping inside and looking around before sighing.

"Dang it." He made his own sweep of the place but eventually came to the same conclusion his cousin had. Every room in the house was bare and empty. If anyone had been living here, they'd either been gone for a while or done a very thorough job of cleaning up after themselves.

"I'm sorry," Thorax's face filled Cold's screen and showed a sorrowful frown. "It looks like they were onto us. By the time we got there, they'd already moved out."

Cold growled as he sat back in his chair. He, Sunset and Misty was in his office, talking to the young king over video chat. "That's disappointing, but should have been expected." He remembered back to what Tempest had told him about the Zealot's ability to teleport themselves. That would make escaping easy. "Did they leave anything behind?"

"A few loose documents here and there, but nothing that'll give us anything we don't already know."

"They were one step ahead of us."

Sunset saw how upset her mentor was and knew he needed to be lifted up. "On the bright side, we're definitely making progress on reducing the number of Zealots."

"Maybe," Misty sighed.

Sunset turned to her, looking curious at her frown. "What's up?"

Misty turned to another computer, showing an image that looked like a seismograph page. "Even though we destroyed Void, the distortion in space-time is still active."

"What does that mean?" Thorax asked.

"It means that there's still a connection between our world and the Duel Monster Spirit World. And it isn't like the Shadow Gate or natural breeches. If we're not careful, who knows what that could cause. And I'm sure whatever the Zealots have planned, this distortion has something to do with it."

"It's possible it's a backup of some kind," Sunset pointed out. "The Zealots must have known we'd target the place, so they put it in as a safeguard."

"Maybe," Misty sighed again, "or maybe they deliberately let us destroy the place."

"Why would they do that?" Thorax asked. "They wanted to have Zeronull Dominate someone, but that can only happen in Void. Why would they let the only place their master can awaken in be destroyed?"

"Who knows," Misty told him. "Maybe they planned for us to destroy it, only after Zeronull Dominated someone and we just managed to do it early. I might be wrong about this but I might also be right. We can't assume anything without more information."

Cold sat up and stared at Thorax, "keep up the good work. We'll message you if we get any leads on where the Zealots are hiding out." Thorax nodded and the screen went blank, Cold sitting back.

"Now what do we do?" Sunset asked, Misty turning towards the window and staring at the setting sun.

"We've done all we can for now. At this moment our best course of action is to relax and recharge. No doubt the Zealots are thinking the same thing. They've lost two of their members, so they'll likely need to rest and regroup to re-plan their next step."

Cold turned to her, "then we should be taking this opportunity to strike while they're off balance."

"We can't until we know where they are," Misty pointed out. "And if we just go off half-cocked, we'll end up too exhausted to put up a good fight. Right now, we need to do something that'll de-stress us. Like, say...a party." Cold sighed as he looked away, Sunset pouting.

"Come on. Flash and the others have worked really hard on this welcome home party. Don't you want to show how much you appreciate Pinkie and Maud's hard work?"

"I guess," Cold growled. To be honest, parties weren't really his thing. Nine times out of ten, he'd leave the event more stressed than when he arrived there. But he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting out of this easily.

In another part of the world, in an old junkyard, Discord was sitting on the remains of an old car flipping through his deck.

He stopped when he came to a certain card, smiling as he looked it over. "Soon. Very soon. Just wait a little longer and then you can come out to play." He was then pulled from his thoughts by a flash of light, looking up at the source and spotting Guto standing atop a pile of cars. "How is everything?"

"Good," Guto replied, "all things considering. Glorianna has begun setting everything up in the new base."

"She always did work fast," Discord smiled. "How goes the work on the Void Space projector?"

"It's coming along. Rhodos is working harder than ever to get it done. No doubt what happened to her mother has inspired her to push beyond her natural limits."

"Glad to hear some good came from her loss."

Guto turned to look down at him. "I would have thought you'd be more upset about that."

"Before she went back, she managed to awaken the Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans. Now, Lord Zeronull can awaken. She might not have been here long, but she managed to achieve her mission. And with the title of Omega Zealot passed onto her daughter, everything can still go forward on schedule."

"Still," Guto went on, "these humans are starting to get the edge on us. First Hellfire and now Amphitrite. They're beginning to organise themselves."

"That's why I'm going to throw a wrench into their works," Discord put his cards away before getting up.

"What are you planning on doing?" Guto asked, Discord's reply coming as he turned to give him a sinister smirk.

"What I do best. Cause chaos and disorder. And the best way to do that is to follow the old proverb, cut off the head and the body will die."

Guto's confusion turned to a smile, "you're going after Cold Steel."

Cold nodded. "He was the one that orchestrated Sombra's defeat at the hands of Flash Sentry and he was the first to suspect Storm King. Take him out of the equation and they won't know what to do."

"Well be careful," Guto told him. "Cold Steel isn't a Duellist to be messed with."

"Oh, I know that. But I have a little trick to help even the odds." He looked down at his gloved hand, "a gift from our master." Guto's eyes went wide at this, Discord looking back up at him. "You'll be in charge until I get back."

Guto nodded in return, "and what if you don't come back."

"You know what needs doing," Discord pulled a card out and threw it to form a portal. "Make sure it gets done." Guto nodded back. "And if Gaia-Maiden should show up again, don't hold her previous actions against her. She likes to play games and I like that in a Zealot. She may be a little unorthodox, but her wishes are the same as ours."

"Alright," Guto nodded before Discord stepped up to the portal.

Before he stepped through, however, he turned back to say just one thing. "See you, at the moment of destruction."

Over at Freeze Stadium, our heroes were busy decorating the room they'd had the Celestic Cup and victory over Sombra party. The former hostages had all been let off from house arrest, so they got to enjoy the outside world as long as they were careful.

"What do you think?" Scootaloo asked as she and Applebloom hung a banner with the words 'Welcome Home' written on it. Her target for the question was Sweetie Belle and Spike, the two staring up at the sign while the other two were standing on step ladders.

Spike hummed, tilting his head. "A little bit higher on the left side."

"Like this?" Applebloom adjusted it.

"Perfect," Sweetie smiled. As the two climbed down, Twilight stepped past carrying a box of decorations. She was taking them over to Flash, how was sitting on another ladder hanging decoration.

"Here you go," she handed them over to her boyfriend.

The teen smiled down at her as he took them. "Thanks." But as the box was placed in his hands, Twilight noticed he was wearing a pair of fingerless black gloves. This made her frown as she watched him work, her mind flashing back to when they'd escaped.

Twilight was battling Moondancer when she suddenly heard Flash's voice cry out, causing her to look over as the darkness around her faded to show her boyfriend.

She gasped seeing him floating in the air, a dark light exploding off his hand. "Flash!" She cried, trying to get to him. He didn't seem to notice her, "Flash!" He didn't hear her again. "FLASH!" This time he heard her, his eyes opening and turning towards her before the darkness returned and blocked her from view.

"FLASH!" She heard her brother cry out.

"FLASH!" Sunburst's voice echoed.

"FLASH!" All their friend's voices yelled.

Despite getting out of Void, that image still haunted Twilight. And the sudden addition of gloves to Flash's ensemble made her even more suspicious.

"Flash?" He turned to her questioningly.

"What's up?" But before the teen could reply, the elevator pinged open.

"Hey guys!" They all looked to see Rainbow and her team step out into the room, "what's up?"

"You made it!" Flash smirked as he climbed down, rushing over to them. "About time."

"Sorry," Soarin smirked as he showed them the bags of goodies they were all carrying. "Gilda couldn't decide what to get. It took forever to-YOW!" He cried out as Gilda trod down on his foot, shooting him a death glare. "I mean, it's all my fault. I couldn't decide what to get."

Flash chuckled before hearing a door open and looked around. "Hola mi amigos!" Tidal cried as he, Shining, Cadance and Flurry stepped into the room. "Who's ready to part-A!" Flurry giggled at this, Flash smirking as he moved over to took her in his arms and started playing rocket.

Seeing this, Twilight couldn't help but feel bad about her attempted grilling. After everything that'd happened to him recently, Flash deserved to spend the entire party enjoying himself. "Just for tonight." She'd grill him tomorrow.

Everyone kept working on decorating the place, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sunburst, Starlight and Mac arriving soon after to help out.

"Alright guys," Twilight called out once everything was done. "I just gotta text from Pinkie. Their taxi's pulling up and they'll be here any minute." A dinging of the elevator told them it was about to make its way up there. "They're here!"

"Hide!" Flash yelled as everyone hid behind the furniture and the lights went off. They waited several seconds until the elevator announced its arrival and opened.

"SURPRISE!" They cried as the lights flashed on and everyone leapt out. But as they did, they realised they'd just surprised Misty and Sunset.

"Err...thanks," the redhead spoke up.

"Oh," Everyone deflated as Flash spoke up, "wrong person." The elevator closed and began to travel downwards, indicating it was going down again.

"This time it should be them," Twilight told them as they once again hid and turned the lights back off.

Inside the elevator, Pinkie and Maud were waiting for it to reach the floor. All the while they both wondered the same thing.

"Why'd you think the others asked us here?" Pinkie turned to Maud, who turned back to her.

"I'm not sure. We'll find out in a minute." And they did, the elevator coming to a stop before the doors opened and showed there was nothing but darkness.

"Hello?" Pinkie called as they stepped into the room, pulling their suitcases with them. But seconds later, the lights flew on and their friends suddenly appeared infront of them.

"SURPRISE!" The two girls gasped but quickly realised what was happening, Pinkie's face making her signature smile.

"Aw, you guys."

Once the two'd said their hellos, including Pinkie hugging each of them for thirty seconds each, they all grabbed some snacks and talked about the two's time abroad. "It's good to have you back," Twilight told them. "Grand's been keeping us up to date with everything you've been doing."

Flash smirked, "you girls did a great job. So this party's also to thank you for all your hard work." This statement got the girls to frown.

"But Flash," Pinkie looked down in shame. "All we did was-"

"Hey," they both looked back at him, "we'll chat about your adventures later." He raised a glass of orange juice. "First, let's have a toast." The two looked confused by this, but then smile and nodded before everyone raised a glass.

"CHEERS!" Everyone called out before taking a drink and beginning to eat, talk, laugh and so much more.

"So Tempest and my father are still out in the field?" Misty asked the girls, who nodded.

"They're trying to track down more Zealot bases," Maud explained.

"I wish Tempest was here," Flash said. "I wanted to congratulate her on beating another Zealot."

"I'm sure she knows you're glad," Cadance assured him before turning back to the Pie Sisters. "We heard about what happened with Marble. That must have been tough."

"Yeah," Pinkie nodded, "but we managed to see her again for a little bit."

Rarity smiled at them. "I'm sure she sensed you were thinking about her."

Applejack nodded, "just keep believing in one another and things'll always turn out fine."

Pinkie and Maud nodded in agreement before turning to one another. "Then we can't waste any more time," Maud announced.

"We need to get stronger," Pinkie agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for," Flash smirked as he pulled out his deck. "Let's Duel!" This announcement got everyone hyped, the lot quickly setting up tables and split into opponents for sit down games.

"DUEL!"

Meanwhile, Cold was calmly making his way through the darkness of the night. His destination, the area Flash had been taken to Void from. The distortion spot.

He had his Duel Disk out and was currently video chatting with Grand about the distortion. "Do you really need to investigate that now?" The older man asked, "it's gotta be pretty late there. Why not wait until tomorrow."

"Might as well get it done now," Cold told him.

But then, in that moment, his Duel Disk began to glitch. "C-Cold?" Grand asked, the screen glitching. "W--ot --ong? I'm loo-ing...con----on." That was all he got before the screen went dead.

Cold was about to reboot when something new caught his attention. From out of nowhere, a burst of purple lightning sparked around him. "What?" That was all he could say before the world around him when black. "GYAH!"

"Flash Heart Dragon," Flash was about to call an attack when he suddenly froze as a pulse of pain surged through his hand. "Ahh!" He pulled it back, catching his opponent's attention.

"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked, seeing Flash stare at his gloved hand.

"I...I have no idea," he told her. Something about that felt strange, the fact it was happening to his marked hand causing even more worry.

When Cold's eyes finally opened, he found himself standing in a dark void.

All around him, there was nothing but darkness. "Where am I?" He tried to walk forward, but as far as he could tell each step lead him absolutely nowhere. It was as if he was walking on a treadmill, remaining stationary no matter how hard he tried to move forward. "What is this place?"

"Somewhere special, made just for you." Cold's eyes went wide as he turned towards the voice, frowning when he saw Discord step out of the darkness.

"Chaos Fiend, Draconequus."

Discord smiled, "thank you for using my true name." He then showed his arm had a Duel Disk, "for that, I'll be sure to make your end swift."

"So, you want to Duel me?"

"Of course. After all, that's how you silly humans settle everything on this world. Instead of using words or violence, you use cards."

"Never failed us before," Cold pointed out as he attached his own Duel Disk.

"Quite. But this won't be like any Duel you've had before. Here, you play for keeps. I intend to take out your annoying little group and the best way to start is with its leader."

"You're not taking me or anyone else down. I hope you enjoyed your time here because after this, you're going back to your world. And getting rid of you will put a major dent in your plan to resurrect Zeronull."

"We'll see," Discord stated as their Duel Disks activated. "For the resurrection of Lord Zeronull and the destruction that would follow.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Cold: 4000
Discord: 4000

"Ahh!" Flash cried again, feeling another pulse of pain flow through his hand.

"Is everything okay?" Pinkie asked. "Seems like you're in pain."

Flash frowned while staring at his hand. "Honestly, I'm not sure." This caused Twilight, who'd just finished her own Duel, to turn to him and frown. But before she could say anything, the sound of a phone made her turn to Misty.

She looked down at her phone before answering, "hey dad. What's-" She suddenly stopped before her eyes went wide. "Cold what!?" This got everyone's attention.

"I'll take the first move," Discord drew his card and smiled. "And I'll summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Abyss, in DEF mode!" From out of the darkness came a statue of a black demon with large wings, covered in purple gems with a skull for a face. (A1000/D1000/L4) "Then I activate the Continuous Spell, Chaos Control. This card will matter later. I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

Cold frowned as he looked over his options. He could only Special Summon Dark monsters but didn't have any. He had to find a way around that. "My draw!" He drew his card and nodded. "I summon Frozen Heart Wolf, in ATK mode!" An egg of ice appeared before shattering, revealing a large dire wolf that had fur as white as snow with two ice spikes coming out its back and ones coming off its knees. (A1200/D1300/L3/P4) "ATTACK!" The wolf charged at the statue and pounced on it, the monster exploding into darkness.

However, Discord simply smirked. "You activated my Trap!" His face down flipped up to reveal, "Shadow Reaper! This Continuous Trap's effect activates whenever a Dark Attributed monster is sent to the graveyard by battle. It then deals you one hundred points of damage for every Dark monster in my graveyard." A dark shadow shot out from Discord's feet, flying across the dark void until it reached Cold's feet.

Cold watched as it shot passed him and flew up out of the ground, the man turning to see it looming behind him with a large scythe. It then swung the scythe downwards, slashing him in the back. And when it did, pain like nothing Cold had ever felt surged through him. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, the pain making him fall to his knees.

Cold: 3900
Discord: 4000

He clutched his chest as he panted, looking up and glaring at Discord. "What was that?"

Discord smirked before opening his arms wide. "Didn't I tell you? This is a Duel especially for you." He glared down at Cold with a look that showed he was enjoying this. "Witness the special power granted to me by Lord Zeronull, which can be used once and once only. And with it, I cast a curse on the one that leads those foolish enough to oppose us." He pointed at Cold. "You won't just be losing life points in this Duel. You'll lose your very life force. And when those points hit zero, your life will come to an abrupt end."

Cold grunted as he pushed himself back to his feet. "Needed to put me under a handicap, huh? That doesn't paint you in a very favourable light."

"All that matters is your end. With you gone, your friends will be so distraught and without direction that they won't have a hope of standing against us."

"That's only if you win," Cold pointed out.

"What chance do you have?" Discord asked. "You felt how much pain losing a hundred life points dealt you. You won't be able to stand losing anymore." He smirked, "you're just a mere human. You can't hope to stand up to the curse of Lord Zeronull."

"Don't be so sure," Cold smiled. "For a long time, I've risked my life and suffered for this game. It'll take more than this to stop me."

"We'll see," Discord replied before something appeared in the darkness. "But for now, Neo Barrier Statue's ability lets me summon a Dark monster from my deck that has fifteen hundred or less ATK points. Arise, Chaos Fiend, Dark Jester!" A man in purple jester clothes appeared, having four lanky arms and four glowing green eyes hidden behind a mask. (A400/D400/L4)

Cold frowned before continuing on with his turn. "I now set scale two Frozen Heart Orca and scale nine Frozen Heart Yuki-Onna into the Pendulum Zone!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him, the two monsters appearing within them before the portal formed above him. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" He chanted as the portal was completed. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened up before a single light shot out of it and hit the ground, revealing Cold's ice monster. "Frozen Heart Mantis!" (A1700/D1200/L4/P3) "And when Mantis is Special Summoned, he deals you three hundred points of damage for every card in your hand!" The insect slashed its arms through the air, sending out two blades of freezing air that struck Discord.

Cold: 3900
Discord: 3100

"I place a card face down and end my turn." He shot a glare at Discord, "you might think you're something special but in the end, you're nothing but a mad man looking to get his kicks causing others pain. But your days of causing those on this world misery will end now."

Discord just smiled back, "we'll see."

"Alright," Misty nodded, "I'll head back there right now." She hung up as everyone else moved in closer.

"Mom," Flash spoke up, "what's happening with Cold?"

"Is he okay?" Sunset asked, looking worried.

"We don't know," Misty explained. "He was investigating the distortion of space-time when he suddenly disappeared." This made everyone look worried, "I'm gonna head back to the office and see-WAIT!" Flash rushed towards the open elevator and hit the button, the doors closing before anyone could stop him.

"FLASH!" Twilight pressed the call button but the elevator refused to return until it'd dropped Flash off on the ground floor. So as the others were riding the metal box down, Flash had already rushed out of the building and ran over to his Duel Runner.

"Cold," he whispered as he got on and kick-started the engine.

"It's my turn," Discord drew his card. "And since it's my Standby Phase, Dark Jester's ability activates." The clown snapped its fingers before a purple die appeared above them, the six-sided game piece falling to the ground and rolling around. "Now whatever number this dice lands on, Dark Jester's ATK and DEF will increase times it."

Cold frowned, hoping he'd get a one.

"Hoping for a lucky roll?" Discord asked, "I'm afraid your luck has run out. Thanks to my Chaos Control card." His Spell glowed, unleashing a light that flew over to the die. "Thanks to this card, I can dictate the outcome of a dice roll once per turn." Cold's eyes went wide as the die stopped, showing a monstrous-looking six to points straight up. "Now Dark Jester's ATK and DEF increases by six times its natural amount." The clown roared as a dark aura wrapped around him, his power increasing. (A2400/D2400/L4)

"Impossible," Cold whispered as Discord summoned another monster.

"Now, Chaos Fiend Mirror Phantom, appear!" From out of the shadows, a black gothic mirror appeared and floated next to Dark Jester. Inside the mirror, a dark figure with bright red eyes could be seen but had no distinguishing features. (A100/D100/L1) "Now I activate Mirror Phantom's special ability." The mirror turned towards Frozen Heart Mantis as a purple coin appeared in Discord's hand, the man showing it to Cold. "Heads," he showed a side that had the image of his ace monster's tail on it before flipping it around to show the other side had his ace's head on it, "tails." He then flipped it up into the air, "call it!"

Cold watched it flip upwards, spinning around and around until it reached its tip. And as it flew back down, he called out. "Heads!" The coin hit the ground and bounced around until it came to a stop, both seeing the image of Draconequus's head staring up at them.

"Oh, looks like you called it wrong." Discord smiled as the creature within his mirror began to shift and change. "Now, Mirror Phantom's skill lets it copy your monster. That includes its ATK and DEF points." The shape finally stabilised, revealing a dark reflection of Frozen Heart Mantis. (A1700/D1200/L1)

Cold growled as Discord ordered an attack, Mirror Phantom shooting out of the mirror and flying towards Frozen Heart Wolf. "I activate my Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Damage Diet!" Seconds later, the fake Mantis sliced through wolf and Cold once again bore the damage. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed once again, Damage Diet halving the damage but the pain was still great.

Cold: 3650
Discord: 3100

Discord smiled, "now Dark Jester!" The clown began juggling dark fireballs before throwing them in Mantis's direction, destroying it and causing Cold to once again scream out in unbelievable pain as his life points dropped again.

Cold: 3300
Discord: 3100

The Zealot watched as Cold stood there, grasping his chest in pain as he swayed from side to side. "You must be so scared. Not even down a thousand life points and already you've likely endured more pain then any human has possibly endured in your silly little existence." He placed a card face down as his monster's ATK points returned to normal, "makes me wonder just how much longer you'll be able to go on for."

Cold continued to pant as he reached for his deck, "long enough to beat you!" he drew his card as the portal above his head began to form. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before three lights shot out revealing his monsters after they exploded from their ice eggs. "Frozen Heart Wolf!" (A1200/D1300/L3/P4)

"Frozen Heart Mantis!" (A1700/D1200/L4/P3)

"And Frozen Heart Golem!" (A2800/D1800/L7) "Mantis's skill!" The insect swung its blades around, slashing right through Discord and making him cry out.

Cold: 3300
Discord: 2800

Despite having fewer life points, Discord smiled as he watched Cold pant. Clearly, he was feeling the exhaustion from the pain he'd felt.

"Look at you," Discord laughed. "You can't keep Duelling. You can barely stand up. You won't even make it to the end of the Duel. Soon you'll be gone and Flash Sentry will be ours." Cold's eyes went wide. "What, he didn't tell you. Before Void's destruction, his link with Master Zeronull fully realised. Had he remained in Void, he would have become the vessel. Now, all we need is to get him and master Zeronull will finally awaken!"

Hearing this caused new flames to explode in Cold's heart, "I won't let you lay a hand on him!" He placed his last card into his Duel Disk, "I place Ice Sculpture Carving. By shuffling Golem back into my deck, I can draw cards equal to his Level." Cold's monster exploded as he drew seven new cards, all the while thinking about the boy the Zealots were targeting.

'When we first met, I saw him as nothing more than a tool to use to undo the mistakes my family made.'

"I now sacrifice Mantis and Wolf, in order to summon Frozen Heart Neo Dragon!" The two monsters exploded into snow, which began to spiral around each other to form an ice egg that quickly began to crack. It then shattered, revealing Cold's ace as it roared and flew behind him. (A3000/D2500/L8/P5)

'I thought he would never have the strength and drive needed to save the world. But I pushed him, maybe even further than was necessary, so he could grow and mature. And during that time, he taught me just as much as I taught him. He showed me the true worth of what we were fighting to protect.'

"Neo Frozen Heart, ATTACK!" The dragon flew up as Cold reached for his Duel Disk. "Neo Dragon's skill!" He pulled a card from his Extra Deck, revealing Frozen Heart Wolf. Said monster appeared infront of the dragon before exploding into a bunch of ice, Neo Frozen Heart forming an ice ball that it tossed at Mirror Phantom.

'And now he stands as the light, that will act as a beacon leading us into a new world.'

The snow struck the mirror, freezing it and lowering its ATK points. (A0/D100/L1) The Chaos Fiend shivered within the mirror as Neo Frozen Heart flew down, its claws primed to destroy it and end this Duel.

"And now, my next path in life is clear." The attack landed and caused an explosion, filling the void space. "To protect that light, until it can attain its full strength!"

Flash was racing down the street, the pain in his hand returning constantly and almost directing him towards his destination.

Meanwhile, the others were following after him in their own vehicles. Twilight and Spike were riding with Misty and Scootaloo, "I've got Flash's signal," the teen girl explained. "He's not too far."

"Good," Misty looked at her satnav as Twilight told her the coordinates. "He's heading towards the distortion. But he doesn't know where he is. How is he getting there?"

Twilight had a feeling she knew and now she was seriously scolding herself for leaving it before now. "Flash."

Cold waited as the smoke began to fade, hoping to see a defeated Discord standing on the other side.

But when it finally dispersed, Cold's eyes went wide when he saw Discord standing there looking unscathed. "What?" He looked down at his Duel Disk and saw Discord's points remained unchanged, Cold asking a million questions until he realised what had happened.

He looked over at Discord's side of the field and saw another face up card, a Trap, along with another dark coin laying on the ground by Discord's feet. "Damage Flipper. Another Continuous Trap that lets me flip a coin whenever I'm about to take damage. Heads, it's negated. Tails, the damage is doubled."

Cold looked down at the coin and saw it showed the tail, a growl escaping his lips as he remembered that meant heads.

"And let's not forget about my Shadow Reaper!" The shadow shot across the field before appearing behind Cold and striking him with its scythe, the man screaming out once again.

Cold: 3100
Discord: 2800

Cold fell to his knees again, but quickly finished his turn before his strength left him. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

Discord drew his card and smiled when he saw what he'd gotten, the die appearing infront of him as Dark Jester's ability activated. But strangely, Chaos Control didn't activate. This caused the die to roll a three, the clown's power raising but not as much as before. (A1200/D1200/L4) Discord then played the other card in his hand. "I place the Spell card, Monster Gate!"

Cold frowned, "that card's risky. Why use something that could destroy your whole strategy?"

"Where's the fun in playing things safe?" Discord asked as Dark Jester vanished into the darkness, "now I draw until I get a monster I can normal summon. And then I get to summon it."

'Is he trying to get to his ace?' Cold watched as Discord drew his cards, stopping after the third card as a smile appeared on his sinister face.

"Arise, Chaos Fiend, Dark Smile Magician!" From out of the darkness came a man wearing purple wizards robes with deranged smile patterns all over it. (A500/D1500/L4) As soon as it appeared, a large coin materialised in his hand before it flipped it into the air. "Tails." The coin landed showing the head, Discord smiling. "With that, Dark Smile Magician can now be treated as two tributes when summoning a high-level Dark monster." Cold's eyes went wide as Discord raised his card into the air, while Dark Smile Magician was consumed by a tornado of darkness. "Witness the arrival of my true self," he cried as he slapped the card on the Duel Disk. "Chaos Fiend, Draconequus!" The tornado exploded, revealing the amalgamation of body parts. (A3000/D2500/L8)

Cold could only watch in horror as the creature Dominating Discord floated behind him.

"Draconequus's skill!" The beast snapped its fingers before the purple die appeared and fell to the ground, Chaos Control activating and making it stop on a demonic one. "Now I can draw cards equal to your current hand." Discord drew four cards and smiled. "Now I activate Riryoku." Cold's eyes went wide as he watched a dark hand appeared out the darkness and grabbed Neo Frozen Heart, pulling back and ripping a spectral version of the dragon out of it. "This Spell lets me steal half your monsters ATK points and give them to my monster." The hand pulled the spectral image into Draconequus, powering it up. (A1500/D2500/L8/P5) (A4500/D2500/L8)

Cold's eyes filled with fear as Draconequus floated up into the air as its horns sparked with black lightning between them. The lightning then shoot off them and flew towards Neo Frozen Heart, electrocuting the dragon and causing it to explode. The lightning then flew off it towards Cold, zapping him.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He bellowed out at the top of his lungs, the pain of the lightning and the loss of his life points more then any human body can take. And so, as the lightning dispersed, he fell to his knees with his entire body smoking.

Cold: 100
Discord: 2800

Discord laughed as he stared down at the man, believing this was the end until he saw Cold reach for his Duel Disk. "I activate... my Trap," he forced out and his face down flipped up. "Healers... Breath. Now... I gain Life Points equal to half the damage... I just took."

Cold: 1600
Discord: 2800

Discord was actually impressed, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Cold tried to reach for his deck, but his arm dropped in pain. His body was completely dead to him. He couldn't continue to Duel, which meant he'd lost.

"Finally reached your limit, have you?" Discord chuckled. "I commend you for lasting this long. I thought for sure you wouldn't survive that last attack. Very impressive. But this moment was inevitable."

Cold cried out as he tried to raise his arms again, "I'm not... done yet!"

Flash felt another stab of pain as he continued to race through the town, eventually arriving at the spot he'd first been captured and released from Void.

"Augh!" He cried as he pulled his runner to a stop and clutched his hand, looking around until he spotted it. An orb of shadows surrounded by purple lightning, a sense of dream filling Flash as he stared at it. "Over there?" He suddenly sensed something and rushed forward, reaching out with his gloved hands. But as he did, his hand surged with pain once again. "AUGH!" He flinched at the pain, seeing the Omega Symbol glowing through his glove. But he kept pushing forward, feeling himself beginning to phase through it.

And as he did this, Twilight and the others arrived on the scene.

Getting out of the car, they spotted him and gasped. "Flash," Twilight called out, "wait-" But that was she was able to say before Flash disappear into the darkness. "FLASH!" They all yelled, rushing forward to try and go with him. But as they touched the orb, a pulse of energy exploded off of it and they both found themselves crying out in pain as he was thrown back.

Inside the dark space, Flash appeared out of the darkness and gasped when he saw what was going on.

"COLD!" He cried, spotting him on his knees staring down Discord and his ace monster. He rushed over to him and caught him, helping him from falling as he looked up at Discord. The two stared one another down, Discord smiling while Flash frowned. Flash barely understood what was happening, but he knew that whatever it was had Cold's fate on the line.

Author's Note

Geez, that hurt to read. How's Flash and Cold gonna get out of this one.

Turn 17: The Curse Known as Fate

For one so young, Twilight Sparkle had experienced more worry and stress than anyone three times her age. And no time was she more stressed then right now, after seeing her boyfriend recklessly rush into a ball of unknown energy. A ball she could not currently get into.

"Come on!" Scootaloo cried as she threw a rock into the orb, only for the lightning around it to blast it back at her.

"Twilight!" They looked around and spotted Sunburst and Starlight rushing towards them, having just arrived. "What's going on?" The former member of team Dominator asked, "where's Flash." Twilight's response was to point at the orb, the two only now noticing its presence in the darkness.

"He's in there."

Sunburst looked around, "isn't this the same spot Flash was first taken?"

Scootaloo nodded, "yeah. This is where we fell into the Void."

Sunburst looked back at the orb. "It's possible this is a residual effect of that occurrence."

"But Void was destroyed," Spike pointed out.

"That doesn't mean the energy from the place isn't around," Sunburst pushed his glasses back up his nose. "And if this thing is made up of the same energy, that means Flash is in danger of being taken over."

Twilight nodded, "Void was created so Zeronull could Dominate the person inside." Her memory flashed back to earlier when she spotted Flash's gloved hand. "This is all my fault!" She cried, placing her hands on her head. "I knew I shouldn't have ignored it."

"Ignored what?" Misty asked her.

"Flash was wearing gloves, just like the Dominators. And why did they do that?"

"To hide the markings on their hand," Misty's eyes went wide.

Twilight looked down at her hand. "When we were in Void, we had an Omega symbol on our hands. When they were complete, that's when Zeronull would take us over. And none of them was more complete then Flash's." She turned to the others, "it's possible the mark was completed before we escaped. And if that's the case..." She couldn't keep going, instead turning to look into the orb. "Flash."

"DARN IT!" Spike cried, punching his hand into his fist. "What were we thinking, letting Flash go off like that."

"We couldn't have known this would happen," Starlight told him.

"Yes we could," Scootaloo cried. "Who else were the Zealots gonna target? It's always my brother that has to be put in danger. Why can't somebody else be the one who has all this stuff happening to them."

"ENOUGH!" They all turned to Misty as he cried out, "Rather than talk about what we should have done or about stuff being unfair, let's actually do something. First things first, we need to contact everyone and let them know what's happened." She then turned to the orb, "there has to be some way in there. With more people helping, we'll get it there and save both Flash and Cold." Everyone remained still for a moment before all nodding, agreeing wholeheartedly.

They were gonna find a way into that orb. And hopefully, it wasn't too late.

Within the dark orb, Flash had just arrived and found the most worrying of sights

Cold on his knees, looking like he was a strong wind away from keeling over. Discord was also there, his ace monster floating behind him. And as Flash rushed over to him, the man almost fell over until Flash caught him. "COLD!"

Discord chuckled, "the Pendulum Singularity."

"Hey," Flash cried as Cold clutched his chest, "pull yourself together." Cold just let out another pained cry, Flash glaring up at Discord. "You did this to him?"

Discord smiled while opening his arms. "You will see my curse in action," he then pointed at Cold's Duel Disk. "Every time he loses life points, his life force is reduced bit by bit." Flash looked confused by this, clearly wondering how he was doing this. "In this form my powers are limited. But thanks to the blessing of Lord Zeronull, I have a one time use of great power. And with it, I will slay he who threatens our most noble quest."

"There's nothing noble about your quest," Flash growled. "Stop this now."

"No," Discord shook his head, "not when I'm so close. With you here, everything is ready." He snapped his fingers, Flash and Cold unsure what it was for until they suddenly felt the world around them move at high speed.

"WOW!"

Twilight and the others were trying to come up with a way to get into the orb when it suddenly flew up, shooting straight into the night sky. "FLASH!"

They tried to keep an eye on the orb, but it seemed to merge into the darkness of the night and completely disappear. "NO!" Scootaloo cried.

"Not again," Misty worried while the others just stood their slack-jawed and terrified. One could only wonder what was happening in that orb at that moment.

"What did you do?" Flash asked once the moving had stopped.

Discord smiled, "made sure no one else would disturb us. This'll also make transporting you a lot easier."

"Me?"

"If your friend wins this match, you'll be set free. But if he loses, his life will end and I'll take you to complete your destiny and become the vessel of our Lord."

"That...won't happen," Cold grunted as he tried to pick himself up. But as soon as he tried to stand up straight, another burst of pain flew through his body. "RAAAAARRRRRHAAAAAAAAAAR!"

"COLD!" Flash grabbed him again, his heart aching at the sound of his pain. "Hang in there." He turned to Discord, "we won't die if he wins the Duel?"

Discord nodded, "if he can survive to the end of the match." He then smiled a sinister smile. "But right now, it doesn't look too good."

"Then I'll take over." To say Discord wasn't expecting that would be an understatement.

"What?" He asked as Flash took Cold's Duel Disk off him and placed it on his own arm. "You're offering to Duel in his place?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded.

"Sure you want too? You're aware that if you lose, your friend will die. Sure you want to put his life in your hands?"

Flash looked unsure at this question. But then, Cold grabbed his jacket. "Flash," he turned to him and saw a look of confidence like he'd never seen before. "I'll leave it...to you."

"Cold?" His mentor just nodded, Flash smiling back. "Alright." He held Cold sit down before grabbing the cards he'd dropped before.

"Very well then," Discord smiled as Flash began looking over all the cards. The ones in his hand, the ones on the field and the ones in the grave.

'Life points, sixteen hundred to twenty-eight hundred.' He glanced back at Cold. 'Looking at the cards, I can get an idea of what strategy you were using and how you wanted the Duel to continue from here.' His mind suddenly flashed back to all the Duels they'd had over the time they'd known each other, while a certain phrase echoed.

"In a Duel, a person's true nature is revealed."

"I know I can figure out how he Duels better than anyone," Flash stated before looking back at Cold. "We'll win this and live."

Cold smiled. "Yeah. Go for it."

Discord chuckled. "This is sure to be an interesting exchange. Just don't be too heartbroken when you lose."

"I won't," Flash stated as he drew his card. "My turn!" The portal formed above his head, Cold's strategy fresh in the teen's mind. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot out of it, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal Cold's ace monster as it stood behind Flash. "Frozen Heart Neo Dragon!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Neo Frozen Heart's skill!" The dragon's hip-mounted blasters aimed at Discord's Shadow Reaper Trap before firing, the card freezing before shattering into multiple pieces. (A3300/D2500/L8/P5)

"Not bad," Discord smirked.

Flash didn't reply, instead focusing on his turn. "Then I summon Frozen Heart Diplocaulus!" An ice egg appeared before shattering to reveal the ice fish. (A1000/D1000/L3/P8) "And when its Normal Summoned, its ability activates." Flash drew five cards, picked one and shuffled the rest back into the deck. "Level six."

Discord thought for a moment before deciding. "Higher."

Flash smirked, "nope. Lower. Come on out, Frozen Heart Fencer!" An ice egg appeared before shattering to reveal a young woman in ice-themed clothing carrying a sword made of ice. (A1600/D1400/L4/P6) "When she's on the field in ATK mode, every Frozen Heart monster gets a four hundred points ATK boost." The three monsters glowed as their attack power rose. (A3700/D2500/L8/P5) (A1400/D1000/L3/P8) (A2000/D1400/L4/P6)

Discord nodded. "You're making good use of the deck. Almost as if it were your own."

"He's my friend," Flash explained. "I've known him a long time. Besides," he glanced back at Cold while smiling, "he's done so much for me." Memorised of all the times Cold had helped him grow and learn to push past his limits, even willing to stand in for him during the dangerous moments. "You've helped me out. And now I'll help you." Cold nodded back as Flash turned to Discord, "starting now! Neo Frozen Heart, ATTACK!"

The dragon leapt into the air as it brought its hands together. "Neo Frozen Heart's skill!" Mantis appeared between its hands before shattering into millions of ice shards, which the dragon used to make a snowball that it tossed towards Draconequus. (A2400/D2500/L8) Seconds later, Neo Frozen Heart flew down and slashed at the serpent-like jigsaw.

"My Damage Flipper now activates," another coin appeared in his hand before he flipped it up. The coin landed, showing the tail. "Heads." Flash raised an eyebrow, "all damage is negated."

"Fine," Flash placed a card into his Duel Disk, "well you activate my Spell card." Out of nowhere, a humanoid shark made of ice appeared. "Frostbiter! I can only activate this Spell when you activate the effect of a Spell or Trap card. It then destroys it." The shark dived into the dark ground and swam toward the Trap, its fin visible, then leapt out and began biting down on Discord's Trap until it was destroyed.

"Not bad," Discord smirked.

"Now," Flash cried, "Fencer will attack you directly!" The knight charged forward, sword at the ready. But when it got within striking distance and thrust her weapon, it instead struck a barrier of dark energy. "What?"

"His face down," Cold pointed out. Flash turned to it and saw it flipped up to reveal another Continuous Trap. Infront of it was a strange-looking device that appeared to be made of stone. It was a pillar of some kind and had a large skull on the top with a black crystal orb in its mouth. Under the pillar was a stone cube with a round clock-face on it. The clock only had one hand and was split into four sections, two black and two white.

"Meet my Chaotic Totem." The crystal orb suddenly had a demotic one floating within it. "By placing a counter on it, I can reduce any battle damage I take to a mere five hundred."

Cold: 1600
Discord: 2300

Flash frowned, "Diplocaulus!" The fished swam forward but struck the barrier as well, the number in the orb changing to a two.

Cold: 1600
Discord: 1800

Flash sighed, "I activate the Spell card Exhaustion. This card lets me change an ATK position monster to DEF mode." Frozen Heart Fencer shifted positions, doing so causing her and the other Frozen Heart monsters to lose ATK points. (A3300/D2500/L8/P5) (A1000/D1000/L3/P8) (A1600/D1400/L4/P6) "I end my turn." Neo Frozen Heart's ATK points returned to its normal amount.

"You are an impressive Duellist. Truly worthy of being the vessel of Zeronull." He then frowned, "if only that silly little dragon hadn't gotten in the way." Flash raised an eyebrow at this. "What, you don't remember. Just before you were released, Lord Zeronull tried to Dominate you. You two were seconds away from becoming one in the same, then something happened."

Flash thought back and remembered the event, along with that something that happened. "Flash Heart."

"Somehow, your monster was able to protect you from master Zeronull. How, I do not know, but I look forward to finding it out once your friend is gone and I take you with me."

"Not happening," Flash told him.

"We'll see," Discord reached for his deck. "It's my turn," He drew his card and smiled at it before a coin appeared in his hand. "First, I'll use Draconequus's ability." He flipped it, "heads." The coin flew through the air until it hit the ground, revealing the side representing heads. "Excellent. Now Draconequus revives."

"What?" Flash asked as the dragonoid beast suddenly reappeared behind Discord, "you gotta be kidding me."

"No joke," Discord told him as two more coins appeared in his hands while the number in his Chaotic Totem changed to zero. Now for my totem's effect. I have the flip the same number of coins as the counters it lost. And if I call any of them wrong, it's destroyed." He flipped the first totem, "heads!" It landed on that side and vanished as he flipped the second, "tails." Once again, it landed on the right side.

"I call hacks," Flash almost yelled.

"Oh, no cheating here. I just happen to be on a very lucky streak. Now," Draconequus snapped its fingers as the die appeared before them, "my other ability activates." The die was cast, with Chaos Control kicking in and changing the roll so it landed on a four. "Now my Draconequus...has Piercing Damage." Flash and Cold's eyes went wide. "What, didn't think I knew about Fencer's ability. You put it into DEF mode because her ability makes her the only monster I can attack. But with his effect, I can wipe you out with one shot."

Flash and Cold both appeared worried by this, but where also confident they could protect themselves.

"Oh, and since I know you'll likely find a way to survive, I'm activating the equipped Spell Plunderseeds." The seeds in question appeared in Draconequus's hand. It threw a few into its mouth to snack on before tossing the others at the ground beneath Neo Frozen Heart's feet. "By banishing a Dark monster from my graveyard, I can now take control of a monster on your field." Flash and Cold's eyes went wide as they turned to the dragon, right as a bunch of black tendrils shot out of the ground and began wrapping around him.

"NOOO!" Cold cried as the beast roared while being pulled over to Discord's side of the field.

"Oh yes. Your Dragon's working for me now."

"Give him back!" Flash yelled, but Discord shook his head.

"I don't think so." He pointed at Flash. "I think it'll be quite fitting for Cold's own monster to bring about his end. But first, Draconequus!" The beast's horns sparked with dark energy before shooting off towards Fencer. If it hit, the Duel was over.

"I activate my face down!" Flash cried as the card flipped up to reveal a Trap. Seconds later, a copy of the Chaotic Totem appeared infront of the card. "Trap Pretender!" He discarded a card. "By ditching a card from my hand, this Trap lets me copy the effect of a Trap on your field and give it to this one." A barrier appeared before Fencer that blocked the lighting, though it was still able to break through a zap her. But as the ice knight was destroyed, the totem's number changed to a one.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" Cold screamed as his life points were reduced.

Cold: 1100
Discord: 1800

"COLD!" Flash cried as he looked back at him, seeing the man clutch his chest in pain. "Just hold on."

"I don't think he'll be able too," Discord told him as Neo Frozen Heart was forced to attack Diplocaulus. The dragon slashed at the fish, shredding it while the fake Chaotic Totem's number turned to a two.

"GLAAAAAAAAAAHAAARAAAAAAAAAA!" Cold screamed again, Flash needing to clutch his eyes closed to try and drown out the sound.

Cold: 600
Discord: 1800

Discord smiled at the sight before him, giving Flash a sinister look. "I commend you for trying to save him, but you must now see how hopeless it is."

"Nothing's hopeless," Flash told him. "Not while I've still got cards to play."

"If you say so," Discord turned to Neo Frozen Heart. "I end my turn." As he said that, the dark vines wrapped tighter around the dragon and made it cry out in pain as the thrones dug into its body. "During my end phase, the monster equipped with Plunderseeds loses three hundred ATK points." (A2700/D2500/L8/P5)

"My draw," and when he saw what he'd gotten he smiled. But before he could play it, his Chaotic Totem's effect kicked in and two coins appeared in his hand.

"Time to test your luck," Discord smirked.

Flash frowned before flipping the first coin into the air, "heads." The coin landed on the side he'd called, Flash breathing a sigh of relief.

"Don't forget. It's two coin tosses you need to get right." Flash glared at him before flipping the seconds.

"Err...heads again!" The coin hit the ground and bounced around until it landed, showing Draconequus's head sticking its tongue out at Flash.

"Orr, too bad." Flash's fake totem exploded, "no more protections for you."

"Maybe not," Flash then activated the card he's drawn. "But now I play the Spell card, Fissure!" A crack opened up where the Plunderseeds were located, causing them and Neo Frozen Heart to fall into the darkness. "Sorry," Flash told Cold, "had to happen."

Cold nodded, "I'd rather he be destroyed then under his control."

"But he won't be gone for long," Flash told him as the portal appeared above his head before opening up to allow a single light to shoot out. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The light hit the ground and exploded, Neo Frozen Heart appeared from the light. "Skill activated!" The dragon grabbed its blasters before pointing them at both Discord's cards, firing and freezing both Chaos Control and Chaotic Totem before they shattered. (A3600/D2500/L8/P5) "ATTACK!" The dragon flew up before bringing its claws together, as Diplocaulus appeared between them before exploding and forming a snowball that the dragon launched at Draconequus.

Discord watched as the ice pelted the monster dominating him, the mismatched beast's ATK power growing weaker.(A1400/D2500/L8) The dragon then shot down, ready to claw at Draconequus and end this Duel.

"DO IT!" Flash screamed as the dragon slashed Draconequus, cutting it in half and causing an explosion that swept towards Discord. But before it could make contact-

"I activate the effect of Chaos Fiend, Shadow Masquerade!" A dark figure looking like Tuxedo Mask at Halloween appeared and opening his cape, causing a bust of dark wind that struck the smoke and slowed most of it down before it destroyed him and struck Discord. "Augh!"

Cold: 600
Discord: 700

As the smoke faded, Discord smirked. "Shadow Masquerade's effect kicks in whenever a Chaos Fiend is attacked, allowing me to discard him and cut the damage I take in half." Flash growled hearing this, knowing Cold would now have to suffer another round of pain from the damage he'd take.

"I end my turn." Neo Frozen Heart's ATK returned to normal. (A3000/D2500/L8/P5)

Discord chuckled as he drew his next card, his eyes going wide at what it was before his chuckle turned into a full-on maniacal laugh. "I commend you on making it this far. But fate has destined you to lose in this moment." He held up the card, "and this is the card that'll make that destiny into a reality."

Flash and Cold both glared at him, "destiny isn't something that's written. It's what we make of it."

"Oh how foolish you are," Discord told him. "Strangely enough, I was once just as naive. Believing my fate was my own to, until I learned the truth. The truth of my existence."

"What?" Cold asked.

Discord held his arms out. "Lord Zeronull created the Zenith Dragons. But they were not the only heralds of his design. Others were created and given the purpose of sowing chaos and anarchy into the world. And I was one such creation."

"You were created by Zeronull?" Flash asked in shock.

"Yes," Discord nodded, "though I wasn't as destructive as his other creations I was by far the most crafty. His other creations prefer the more direct approach, but you've seen how well that worked out."

"We have?" Flash raised an eyebrow.

"When I learned of the truth behind my creation, I realised my destiny had always been set in stone. When I found no way of reviving our lord, I felt that destiny was one of failure." A smile then adorned his lips. "But fate, has a mischievous way of showing itself." He pointed at Flash. "Thanks to you, the Pendulum Singularity, our worlds became connected. We could enter it and reclaim the keys needed for lord Zeronull's resurrection." Flash growled at this. "Coming here was something I never imagined would be possible, even with my great power." He placed his hand on his heart and bowed, "Flash Sentry. I can never thank you enough for enabling this to happen. You were brought into existence for only one purpose. To enable we Zealots to come here and to become the vessel of he who will reshape the world. Everything up to this point. Every moment. Every Duel. Every loss and victory were all leading to this inevitable outcome. You, becoming Lord Zeronull."

"NEVER!" Flash and Cold both cried.

"Oh, it'll happen alright." A coin appeared in his hand before he flipped it. "Tails." The coin landed, revealing Draconequus's head letting out a maniacal laugh. "Fate has declared it so." The demonic creature appeared behind him before the die appeared and fell to the floor, eventually landing on a six. "Just as fate has declared this moment to be the moment of awakening." Flash and Cold grew tense. "By rolling a six, Draconequus's ability lets me add another copy of it to my hand from my deck." A card slotted out of his deck that he took.

"Now he has all that he needs," Cold realised while picking himself up. "Be careful." Flash nodded back.

Discord smiled. "You two truly share a close bond. I look forward to seeing how well it holds up, against the power of Lord Zeronull." He held up his card, the mark on the back of his hand beginning to glow brighter. "With this card, I put my entire future on the line." Flash and Cold both grew worried, knowing that that meant. "Should I happen to lose this Duel, then every card in my deck will be destroyed.

"Here it comes," Cold growled.

"First," he discarded the Draconequus card he'd just gotten, "I must tribute a Dark Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." As he did this, Draconequus flew up into the air before the darkness that surrounded them began to fly towards the mismatched beast and began to wrap around it into a dark cocoon that began to grow larger and larger by the second.

"Augh!" Flash cried, feeling another pulse of pain from his hand. Was the mark reacting to the Zenith Dragon?

They both looked up into the cocoon as the shadows began to turn into some kind of purple slime that started dripping of it, slowly fading to reveal the beast beneath.

"Awaken," Discord chanted, "beast of darkness!" He slapped his card down on the Duel Disk, the last of the sludge exploding off the monster that was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Chaotic Darkness, GRANEBRIS!"

This new dragon was just as big as the others. It looked like a giant skeleton of a quadrupedal dragon, with the purple slim filling its rib-cage and the other section that would usually be empty. The only part of it with any skin was its wings, which had a dark purple membrane. Its skull-like head had six horns, four near the back with two curving up and two curving down along with two coned horns coming out the hinge of its jaw. Its eye-sockets had a purple glowing light shining within them and on its forehead was a round purple crystal with the Dark symbol inside it.

The dragon skeleton stared down at the two before unleashing a mighty roar that deafened them, both forced to cover their ears and almost miss Discord's explanation. "Zenith Dragons can only remain on the field for one turn and then they are banished. But until then, Granebris's ATK and DEF points become the combined total of the monsters used as tribute for him. (A6000/D5000/L12) "And while Granebris is on the field, he casts a curse on your field."

"What?" Flash asked before the dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a purple mist from its mouth that struck his side of the field. Neo Frozen Heart and the monsters in the Pendulum Zone began to clutch their necks like they were having trouble breathing. "What's happening?"

"My curse," Discord explained as Neo Frozen Heart fell to his knees. "Now the effects of all the monsters, Spells and Traps on your field are negated as long as Granebris is on the field." Their eyes went wide hearing this as he continued. "What's more, the ATK and DEF of every monster on your field are cut in half." Flash turned to Neo Frozen Heart, seeing it become limb as the curse took effect. (A1500/D1250/L8/P5)

"So that's...its power," Cold grunted.

"With this, my victory is assured." Discord pointed at them. "Time to say goodbye, Cold Steel. And thank you, to you. Pendulum Singularity." The dragon took a deep breath, charging up its attack.

"No way," Flash gasped as Discord announced the attack.

"CHAOTIC OBLIVION!" The dragon unleashed another roar, firing a burst of purple smoke that headed straight for Neo Frozen Heart. "YOU'RE MINE!"

"NEVER!" Flash cried as he discarded a card, "FROZEN HEART SHIELD BEARER!" In a flash of light, a knight in ice armour appeared infront of the dragon carrying a large shield. "His ability lets me nullify your attack and end the Battle Phase."

"What?" Discord asked in absolute horror, all the while Flash looked back at Cold.

"But to do it, I have to discard him and pay five hundred life points." Cold nodded, understanding before he let out another scream of agony.

Cold: 100
Discord: 700

Discord was still in absolute shock at the idea of his Zenith Dragon being so easily beaten. "I...I place two cards face down and end my turn." Granebris vanished and was replaced by Draconequus, while Flash started his turn.

But before he drew his card, he thought for a moment. "If I'm the reason, our two worlds became connected. And if...because of that," he turned to Cold. "A good friend like him has to suffer like this." He closed his eyes, "then that's why-" He turned back to Discord as his eyes shot open in a serious glare. "I have to win this Duel. I'll do whatever it takes to save his life. Whatever it takes to protect...OUR FUTURE!"

Cold smirked as the stared at Discord. "So you believe your life is controlled by fate." He pushed himself back to his feet, being shaky but stood strong. "In fact, true destiny...can be influenced by our own actions."

Discord looked at Flash's hand and saw it empty, making him smile. "You've got no cards left."

"I DRAW!" Flash drew his card and smiled seeing what it was. "Go, Icicle Crash!" The card appeared infront of him before unleashing a powerful burst of freezing wind, Discord crying out as he was bombarded by the blizzard while the darkness around him turned to ice. And there, between him and Flash, were five ice spikes coming out of the ground. And inside them were the five Frozen Heart monsters in Cold's grave, Wolf, Mantis, Diplocaulus, Statue Norr and Shield Bearer. "By banishing these monsters from my graveyard, I can add the same number of cards to my hand from my deck." The icicles exploded as Flash pulled out Cold's deck and selected the cards he needed.

"So now you have five cards to use against me?" Discord added and Flash played the first one.

"That's right and the first one I'll use to help Cold," Flash explained as Neo Frozen Heart exploded. "Mystic Wok! Now Cold's life points increase by three thousand!" The ice from his dragon snowed down upon Cold, who suddenly felt almost all the pain and agony vanish as his points increased.

Cold: 3100
Discord: 700

"You destroyed your best monster, just so you could protect your friend?"

"Mostly," Flash smirked as the portal formed above him formed, "but it also means I can Pendulum Summon him back!" Discord's eyes went wide. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, revealing his monsters. "Frozen Heart Fortress Golem!" (A0/D2500/L6/P6)

"And Frozen Heart Neo Dragon!" Cold turned to Flash's hand, seeing two of the cards he'd gotten were Traps. Seems he was prepared for if Discord was able to protect him. Though he doubted that would happen. "Neo Frozen Heart's skill!" The dragon grabbed its hip-mounted blasters and fired at Discord's face down, freezing them before exploded and the dragon's power increased. (A3600/D2500/L8/P5)

Discord growl as he moved his Traps to the graveyard.

"Now, I activate the Equip Spell Freeze Cannon!" The dragon's arm morphed into the robotic gun barrelled arm. "Now, let's go!" He was about to announce his attack, but before he could he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Cold smiling at him. Both stared at one another before Flash smiled back and they both nodded, then turned back to Discord before calling out in unison.

"Attack!" The dragon flew up as Frozen Heart Fencer appeared before exploding, the snow raining down and hitting Draconequus. (A1800/D2500/L8) "Now for Freeze Cannon's effect!" They both announced as the cannon was pointed at Draconequus before a barrage of snowballs was fire, hitting the mismatched beast dead on and covering its body in ice. (A200/D2500/L8)

Flash turned to Cold, "I won't let you die."

Cold turned to him, "I won't let you become the vessel." They smiled at one another once again before turning back to the battle, once again speaking in unison.

"ATTACK!" The dragon flew down, claws primed, and slashed at the Dominator.

Both Draconequus and Discord cried out as the beast was cut in half, exploding with the shockwave flying towards the Duellist and sending him flying backwards. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Cold: 3100 (Winner)
Discord: 0

Cold took a massive gasp of air as the pain he'd been suffering completely vanished, Flash managing to catch him before he fell to his knees. "You alright?"

Cold nodded, a smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He turned to Flash, "and it's all thanks to you." Flash smiled back but his focus was then pulled away by movement coming from Discord, both turning to see him pick himself up.

"Things are now clear," he stated as he picked himself up. "My role in these events have now come to an end." His cards suddenly started glowing a purple light before they flew out of his deck, graveyard, extra deck and pocket. Every single card he owned floated infront of him, including the Zenith Dragon. Then, before anyone could say anything, the cards burst into flames and turned to ash that fell to his feet. Now only Granebris remained, falling down to the ground between them.

"No matter. Everything else is working perfectly." He cried out and clutched his hand, pulling his glove off to reveal the mark as it started to vanish. "Once an actor completes their role, they must graciously leave the stage." He then shot a look at the two, "however." He pointed at them, "don't think you can stop the march of fate. Pendulum Singularity. Flash Sentry." His body began to sway. "The dramatic climax and final curtain draw near." The two glared at him as he looked up at the ceiling of their prison. "And so, the stage is yours-" He fell backwards as his mark now completely faded from his hand. "Ouravas."

With that, he fell to the floor. Flash focused his concentration and was able to see Draconequus's spirit phase out of the man before he hit the ground, watching as the beast smiled at him for one final second before vanishing into the darkness as Discord lay unconscious on the ground.

Outside the orb, back where it had first been when Flash and Cold fell into it, Twilight and the others were waiting on news.

Sunset had Freeze industry's best scientists trying to track down the orb, but so far they hadn't had any luck. So now all they could do was wait and hope the orb would return to the spot they were. And to pass the time, everyone did different things.

Spike simply sat on the ground, curled up. Sunburst and Starlight were discussing possible ways of finding the orb. Misty was clutching Scootaloo as the young girl did her best not to cry. And Twilight paced.

This went one for a while before they were suddenly caught off guard by Twilight's phone.

She took it, expecting it to be Sunset, but gasped when she saw who's name was on the screen. "It's Flash!" It caught everyone's attention as she answered the call, putting it to her ear. "Flash! Are you okay? Where are you? Is Cold with you?"

"He's with me," Flash smiled.

He and Cold were both in a random street, the dark orb having deposited them there for seemingly no reason. Cold was sitting on the ground, leaning against a metal fence and looking like he hadn't slept in a week.

"Sorry if we had you worried." Flash suddenly had to pull his ear away from the phone so Twilight's yelling wouldn't make him go deaf. She was so loud Cold thought he'd put the phone on speaker. "Twilight. Twilight. TWILIGHT!" The girl finally stopped and let him speak, "I get it. I'm an idiot. I'm reckless. All that stuff. But can by head biting wait a little while. A lot of stuff's happened and I think Cold might need a doctor."

"I'm fine," he tried to tell him but Flash wasn't buying any of it.

"Try and get over here as quickly as you can. I don't wanna risk moving him, so could you bring some of Freeze Industry's medical staff."

"Got it. I'll call Sunset and let her know. Sit tight until we get there. Your mom's got your location already and by the look of her, a few choice words to give you as well."

"Great," Flash said drily, "see you then." He cut the call before turning to Cold, "the others will be here soon."

"The medical team's really not necessary," Cold told him as he tried to get up. But his legs gave out and he slid back to the ground and a grunt.

"Yeah, you're in tip top shape. I'm surprised you're not running a marathon." Cold shot him a glare, "there's nothing wrong with taking it easy."

"Stop treating me like I'm an old man."

"Fine." Flash watched as Cold reached into his pocket, then pulled out a card.

"Here," he held the card out to him, "call it a present."

"Really?" Flash took the card, "I don't remember the last time you gave me a gift." He turned the card over and gasped when he saw what it was. The Granebris. "You sure," he turned back to Cold. "You really want to give me this?" Cold nodded back.

"It's clear the Zealots plan on targeting you. I don't intend to let them anywhere near you, but this should help if you find yourself facing them."

"Yeah," Flash looked down at the card, "but still. It's pretty risky. So much power in this one card." It was then he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him look up at Cold.

"I trust you. You're not one overtaken by power. I know you'll be able to use it for good."

Flash nodded before looking back at the card. He swore he'd use it for good, no matter what happened. He'd finally but the power of these dragons to good use and save not only himself but the whole world from the Zealot. That was his responsibility, as the Pendulum Singularity.

Germany.

The snow was beginning to fall from the sky, littering the ground by Guto's feet as he and Trixie stood there.

"He's been gone too long," the man told the teen. "We would have heard something by now if he'd won." He let out a sigh, "that can only mean one thing."

Trixie sighed, "now we're down two dragons." She then turned to see Skystar heading their way, "but luckily we still have enough to revive him." She was about to say something to Skystar, but the girl froze as she spotted something behind the two of them.

"You!" She cried, Trixie and Guto spinning around and spotting Marble as she stepped out of the darkness. Before either of them could say anything, Skystar passed them and grabbed the girl by her dress. "You're gonna pay for what you did!"

"What I did?" The girl raised an eyebrow, "what did I do. It wasn't me that sent your dear old mommy back to our world."

"That only happened because you were off messing around!" Trixie yelled at her, "you put our entire mission in jeopardy!"

"I guess you've got a point," Marble turned back to Skystar. "What's say, to make it up to you, I'll help you get your own back on the ones that did all that."

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Skystar screamed.

"ENOUGH!" Everyone froze before turning to Guto, "we don't have time mess around with these petty arguments." He turned to Skystar, "is it done?"

The girl snarled at Marble one last time before letting her go, then took something out of her pocket. It was some kind of cube, that appeared to be made of four grey cubes linked together. "It's right here." She tossed it at Guto, the man catching it easily. "You get one use out of that before it's completely useless. But while it's working, Void will be back in business."

"Good," Guto smiled as he looked down at the cube. "It's time for us, the remaining Zealots, to fulfil our final mission."

Author's Note

Well, Discord didn't last long. But now that he's out of the way, the true big bad can step up. But when will that be? Find out next time.

Turn 19: Zeronull's Vessel

Flash stared at his hand, the omega symbol glowing back at him.

He couldn't tell why, but something felt...different about it. He was probably imagining it, but he could swear it felt different now. It probably didn't help that Twilight and Spike were still not responding to anyone's calls, no matter how many times they tried to reach them.

"Anything?" He asked Starlight as she tried to call Twilight, but the girl shook her head.

"Nothing."

"What the heck could be going on with them?" Sunburst asked, right when Flash's phone suddenly started ringing.

Flash grabbed it, hoping it was Twilight, but sighed seeing Sunset's name on the screen. "Hey," he answered on speaker, "find anything?"

"Nothing," Sunset replied, "and that's what's worrying us."

"What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked.

"I mean there's nothing. No sign of them. We tried tracking their phone signals but they completely vanished in the middle of town. The same thing with their Duel Disks. The tracking signals on them vanished in the same spot. One minute they're there, the next they blip out of existence."

"So what does that mean?" Sunburst asked, worrying at the answer.

"It means someone or something is blocking their signals to stop us from tracking them, the same way we haven't been able to track the Zealot's Duel Disks." Everyone quickly realised what that meant.

"The Zealots are doing this," Flash sighed.

"Why?" Scootaloo looked to the others as Starlight explained.

"It's obvious. They must be planning to use them as bait," she turned towards Flash. "In order to lure you out into the open."

Flash's entire body began to shake in anger. "Damn them."

"Calm down," Sunburst told him. He tried to put a hand on Flash's shoulder, but the teen pulled away and rushed towards the door. "Hey!"

Starlight quickly jumped infront of him, "what are you doing?"

"I'm not just gonna sit here while my friends are put in danger," Flash told her.

"If you leave, the Zealots will take you and turn you into the vessel of Zeronull. You have to stay here."

"Why? I'm gonna have to go to them anyway." The others looked confused. "If the Zealots do have Twilight and Spike, you know they'll order me to meet them. If I don't, who knows what they'll do to them. It's better if I head out there now before the Zealots can do anything to them."

"You make it sound like they'll just lay down and let themselves be caught," Starlight reminded him. "Don't forget, they're strong Duellists. Even if the Zealots do try to catch them, there's every chance they'll beat them."

"Well, I'm not just gonna sit around and wait to find out if they did or not!"

"You have too!" The two stared at one another for several seconds before Flash finally let out a sigh and slumped his body.

"Fine." He turned away from the door and headed back towards the living room, only to stop and look up at one of the walls. "Hey, what's that?" The others all turned to where he was pointing and saw nothing, their distraction giving Flash the opening he needed to sidestep around Starlight and rush for the door.

"HEY!" The three yelled as Flash leapt out into the world, all rushing after him as he headed for the stairs.

"Hang on guys," he told them. "I'm coming."

Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike both stared down the Omega Zealots of Wind and Earth.

The two had just announced how they were intending to protect Flash from them, no matter what the cost. However, as they said this, a familiar mark appeared on their hands without them noticing. But that was no the only reaction gotten from their outcry.

Skystar had been staring at them while this was going on, only to then notice a strange glow coming from her left. She looked down and her eyes went wide when she saw the Void Cube, which was beginning to emit a red light from the gaps between the four sections.

"No way," she stated as she picked the cube up. "Glorianna, look at this." Trixie looked around and spotted the glow, her eyes going wide at the sight.

"Impossible," she stated. "That's only supposed to happen in the presence of..." She turned back to the siblings and focused on their hands, gasping when she saw the marks. "Come on!" She jumped out and rushed out from behind the ramp barrier, alerting Twilight and Spike to their location.

"What are you doing?" Guto asked as the two girls ran over to him and Marble.

"Look!" Trixie pointed to Twilight's hand, making everyone look down at it.

"What?" Twilight asked in shock seeing the mark, then looked over at Spike and saw the same image on his hand.

"What's going on?" Spike asked, trying to rub the mark to see if it went away.

"This can't be real."

"Oh, it's very real." They looked up at Guto as he pointed to the cube. "This devices contains the remaining energy of Void, meaning Zeronull's power resides within it. The fact you two both hold those marks means there's still a chance you can become the vessels."

"No," Twilight her head. She looked down at her hand and saw the symbol was just under halfway full. "This can't be happening."

"Oh," Marble smirked, "it's happening. All we have to do is keep Duelling and you two will become suitable vessels."

"Not if we quit," Spike was about to place his hand on his deck to forfeit only to then stop. "But then..."

"Then there's nothing stopping us from taking you hostage and using Sentry," Guto smiled.

"We're trapped," Twilight shook in fear. But then she realised something. "We'll be safe if we win." The Zealots frowned, "I thought so." She turned to Spike. "We just have to beat them and we'll be fine."

Spike nodded back. "Yeah. We'll save Flash and ourselves."

"I don't think so," Marble told them. "You're strong Duellists but nothing compared to us."

"Others have beaten you," Twilight told her. "And we'll do the same. Zeronull's reign of terror ends here and now!" She drew her card and smiled seeing what she'd gotten. "I'll start by resetting the Pendulum Scale, with scale one White Wing Magician and scale eight Magi-Beast, Dracoteen!" The pillars appeared on either side of them before the two monsters flew up into them, the portal beginning to form above their heads. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out of it, revealing Twilight's monster. "Twilight Warlock." (A2500/D2100/L7/P4) "Then, I'll use his ability to search the top five cards of my deck for a Spellbook." She drew five cards and smiled when she saw one, taking it and adding it to her hand. "So now, I'll play Spellbook of Secrets!" Another card slotted out of her deck, Twilight taking it and instantly playing. "And with that, Spellbook of Power is activated."

"She's powering up her wizard?" Skystar asked.

"That's right," Warlock glowed with power as his ATK rose. (A3500/D2500/L7/P4) "Now attack!" The wizard pointed its staff at Ouravas and unleashed a magical blast, hitting the griffon and destroying it while Guto was zapped.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 2300
Twilight: 2900
Marble: 3300

"I activate my face down," his face flipped up to reveal a Spell. "Rival's Stand. With this, I select a monster in my graveyard and a monster on your field with less ATK points. Then I can revive my monster, but his ATK points drop to equal the ATK of your monster." A portal opened up and Ouravas flew out of it, though he was looking a little tired as he panted while his ATK points dropped. (A2500/D2500/L8)

Twilight frowned. "Well since a monster empowered by Spellbook of Power destroyed a monster, I can now add a Spellbook from my deck to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took before pointing at the revived Ouravas. "Blazelord!" The giant dragon raised his blazing sword and attacked, slashing the Griffonic Sky Commander and destroying him while unleashing a wave of heat that struck Guto.

Spike: 3000
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 2900
Marble: 3300

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Spellbook of Power's effects wore off, Warlock's ATK points returned to normal. (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

"Then it's my turn," Marble smirked as she drew her card. "And since two turns have now elapsed, I can use Reincarnation of Hope's effect to add a monster to my hand." She did so as a tornado exploded infront of her, "Then I'll add a counter to Griffon's Horde in order to summon back Griffonic Sky Commander!" The tornado exploded, the armoured griffon hovering above them. (A3000/D2500/L8) "Then, I'll activate the Spell card Painful Choice." The siblings frowned as Marble selected five cards from her deck, those cards appearing as holograms infront of her and Guto. "Pick one. The rest, go to the graveyard."

The two looked them over, seeing they were all Rock-type monsters. Spike turned to Twilight and nodded, leaving it to her to decide. She nodded back before pointing at one of the cards. "I pick that one, Gaia-Knight Coal."

"Alright," Marble placed that card into her hand while ditching the others. "Doesn't matter either way," she held up a card. "All that matters is I can now play this card!" As she did this, the concrete that made up the parking structure began to shake before breaking off and forming a giant moon. "Queen of the earth, grace us with your glorious majesty!" An opening appeared in the moon that then transformed into a staircase like construct, with a familiar monster stepping out of the moon to make her way down them.

"Great," Spike sighed as she stepped onto the battlefield.

"Gaia-Maiden, Lady Marble!" (A3000/D2500/L8) "Now, witness her skill." Gaia Knight Sapphire appeared infront of the Gaia-Maiden before breaking into eight pieces flying through the air. Those pieces struck Dragonic Blazelord, each rock powering it down. (A2200/D2000/L8/P4) "And with that, I'll now attack!" The monster tapped her staff onto the ground and caused a large chunk of earth to break off, then be sent flying towards Blazelord.

It struck the dragon, shattering into pieces that flew through it as it was destroyed and began to rain down on Spike. "Augh!"

Spike: 2200
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 2900
Marble: 3300

"Spike!" Twilight cried as she watched him stagger backwards.

"You're next," she then heard Marble announce. She looked around just in time to see Ouravas fly forward and impale Twilight Warlock, destroy it.

Spike: 2200
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 2400
Marble: 3300

Marble smirked, "I think I'll place one card face down and end my turn there."

"Then it's my turn!" Spike drew his card and nodded. "And I'll start by play the Spell card Emergency Provisions!"

Skystar smirked, "you sure you wanna do that? With if your sister needed that card she put face down."

"Who said I'm using Twilight's face down?" Skystar raised an eyebrow. "Are you forgetting that Pendulum Monsters count as Spell card," Skystar's eyes went wide before she looked up at Mystic Dracoteen. The dragon exploded as Spike regained his life points.

Spike: 3200
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 2400
Marble: 3300

"Haaa," he sighed in relief before focusing on the Zealots. "With that out of the way, I can now place Repulser Dracokid back into the Pendulum Scale." The gun-wielding dragon flew up into the pillar as the portal began to form up above their heads. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball and a light shot out and struck the ground, revealing the sibling's monsters. "Dragonic Blazelord!" (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

"Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

"And Soulburner Dragon!" (A2300/D1500/L6/P2) "And since Blazelord was special summoned, his ATK goes up for every Dragon in my graveyard." (A3600/D2000/L8/P4) "Now, Blazelord will activate his special ability!" The dragon swung his blade around, unleashing a wave of fire that flew towards Ouravas and Gaia-Maiden.

"Trap activated!" Marble's face down flipped up, "Destruction Jammer! By Discarding a card, I can protect both Lady Marble and Griffonic Sky Commander from being destroyed by a card effect." A shield appeared around the two that blocked the flames, reflecting them back towards Blazelord. "Not only that, but it also destroys the card that unleashed that effect." Blazelord was struck and destroyed, leaving the siblings with only Twilight Warlock and Soulburner Dragon."

Spike sighed before placing a card face down. "I end my turn."

Marble smirked before turning to Guto. "You're welcome." Guto and the others just rolled their eyes

Meanwhile, Flash and the others continued their search for Spike and Twilight.

"Flash!" Starlight cried out from behind him, "will you just stop!"

"No way!" Flash yelled, "I won't let Twilight or Spike be hurt because of me."

"Even if it means you might get taken over by Zeronull?" Sunburst asked.

"I won't," Flash told him as he finally came to a stop before pulling out a card. Everyone caught up to him and saw he was holding his Flash Heart card. "I don't know what, but somehow I was protected before from being Dominated. And it has something to do with Flash Heart."

"Really?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah. Somehow, Flash Heart disrupted the Soulink. And if he was able to do it once, I can do it again. That means I can fight."

"That's a nice theory," Starlight told him. "But you don't have any proof. Why take this risk?"

"Because it's something I have to do," Flash told her. "I'm the Pendulum Singularity. I'm the one who helped the Zealots get her so I'm responsible for stopping them from hurting anyone." He rushed forward again, "you can't stop me."

"ARRRRRHHHHH!" Starlight screamed in frustration, "he's too stubborn for his own good."

"Come on," Sunburst told her. "If he's gonna be an idiot, he'll need us there to help him." The three followed after the Pendulum Singularity.

"It's my turn," Guto reached for his deck. "I draw. And first I'll activate my face down Spell, Dian Keto the Cure Master!" The women appeared before holding the orb of light she carried above Guto's head, the ball exploding and raining light down on him.

Spike: 3200
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 2400
Marble: 3300

"Then I'll use Griffon's Horde to pay for Ouravas's ability, allowing me to add a Spell to my hand." The number in the crystal rose to two as his deck slotted out a card, which he instantly used. "Now I'll play Shrink and use it on your Twilight Warlock!"

"Not happening!" Twilight cried as her face down flipped up, revealing a Spell. "Say hello to Spellbook of Wisdom, which protects any Spellcaster on my field from the effects of either Spell or Trap cards. And I pick Spell cards." Warlock began to glow as Guto's Spell exploded, leaving the magician unaffected.

Guto frowned. "Fine, but I've still got Gaia-Maiden's ability!" Lady Marble tapped her staff on the ground before Blast Stone Wyvern appeared, the dragon then exploding into seven pieces that flew forward and struck the magician. With each strike, its power decreased. (A1800/D2100/L7/P4) "GO!" The two monsters launched their attacks, Gaia-Maiden tossing a giant rock at Twilight Warlock while Ouravas flew forward and impaled Soulburner Dragon.

The two monsters exploded, their owners grunting as their life points dropped.

Spike: 2500
Guto: 2800
Twilight: 1200
Marble: 3300

Guto smirked. "Then I'll use Ouravas's skill once again." The crystal number rose once more, a card slotting out of his deck. "The card I selected is called Griffon's Amulet, which I'll be equipping to Gaia-Maiden." A necklace appeared around the monster's neck, being that of a griffon's head with a jewel in the forehead. "Now, Gaia-Maiden can't be destroyed by a card effect."

"Thanks," Marble smiled, "I always adore a good accessory."

"Just paying you back for earlier," Guto told her. "With that, I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Twilight and Spike both swayed from side to side but eventually managed to regain their balance, Twilight looking up and frowning.

"This Duel isn't over," she assured him while reaching for her deck. "I draw." She still didn't have anything that could get rid of Griffon's Horde, but the card she did get could be useful. "I play Pot of Greed," she drew two new cards and smiled. "Perfect. I play Pendulum Roulette!" The others looked confused. "This card lets me swap a Pendulum Monster in my Extra Deck with one in my hand that has the same level. So I'll be swapping Twilight Unicorn for Magi-Beast, Mystic Dracoteen."

"What?" Skystar asked.

"Don't forget about their Pendulum Monsters," Trixie told her.

"I use the Pendulum Ability of Repulser Dracokid, to discard Dracoteen and draw four cards." She did so and smiled. "Perfect." The portal formed above their heads, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before three lights and two fireballs shot out, exploding and revealing an army of monsters. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

"Dragonic Blazelord!" (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

"Twilight Unicorn!" (A1800/D1300/L4/P7)

"Soulburner Dragon!" (A2300/D1500/L6/P2)

"And Shadow Charmer!" (A1200/D700/L3)

"Quiet the menagerie," Guto told him. "But do you really think they'll be enough to stop us?"

"We'll see," Twilight told him. "First, Blazelord's ATK points rise." The giant roared as the ghostly dragons appeared and were absorbed into him. (A3800/D2000/L8/P4)

"Yeah!" Spike cheered, "go for it."

"You bet!" Twilight cried as Unicorn and Shadow Charmer leapt into the air. "Now watch, as I tune Level Three Shadow Charmer with Level Four Twilight Unicorn!" The wizard transformed into a trio of lights, which carved three circles that Twilight Unicorn leapt into. "It's time to embrace the power given by those we call friends and ascend to a higher plain of life." Instead of disappearing in a flash, the light was infused into Twilight Unicorn as two new appendages appeared on its back. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded from the monster's body, revealing Twilight's other ace monster as it fluttered down towards the ground. "Twilight Alicorn!" (A2600/D1900/L7) "Now for Twilight Warlock's ability!" She drew five cards and smiled seeing one, taking it and placing the others into her deck. "I now Equip Twilight Warlock with the Magic Tome of Starswirl!" The book appeared in the wizard's hands, powering him up. (A3000/D2100/L7/P4)

"That won't be enough," Guto told her.

"But this will. Twilight Alicorn's ability!" Twilight removed a card from her graveyard as the winged horse's horn began to glow. (A3600/D1900/L7) "By banishing a Spellbook from my hand, I can power her up by one thousand points."

"Though your Warlock's power now decreases," Marble told her. (A2900/D2100/L7/P4)

"Wait for it," Twilight smiled as the book in his hand glowed. "I'm using the Magic Tome of Starswirl's effect to send a Spellbook to the graveyard and activate its effect." Her deck slotted out a card, which she placed in her graveyard as the power activated. "Spellbook of Power." (A4000/D2100/L7/P4) "Now, ATTACK!" Twilight Warlock unleashed a magical blast that struck Ouravas, destroying him.

"Augh!" Guto cried, taking the damage.

Spike: 2500
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 1200
Marble: 3300

"Blazelord!" The dragon flew forward and slashed at Lady Marble, but the Gaia-Maiden lifted up her staff and blocked the attack.

Spike: 2500
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 1200
Marble: 2500

"Gaia-Maiden's skill!" Guto cried, Marble removing a card from her graveyard. "Banish a Rock-type and negate her destruction."

"I'm still got Twilight Alicorn!" She explained as the winged unicorn fired a magical blast, hitting her and dealing more damage to Marble as Guto activated her ability again.

Spike: 2500
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 1200
Marble: 1900

Twilight sighed, "I place three card face down and end my turn." Her monster's ATK points returned to their normal totals. (A3000/D2100/L7/P4) (A2600/D1900/L7) (A3000/D2000/L8/P4) As her turn ended, she suddenly felt a burning pain in her hand. "Ahh!" She clutched it while seeing the mark on her hand had increased. "No."

Marble smiled. "The hard you Duel, the more Zeronull's power overwhelms you." She reached for her deck and drew a card, "My turn. I activate Ouravas's skill!" The crystal's number rose again as the tornado appeared infront of her, the griffon flying out of it. "Then, I'll activate the card Guto left me." Her face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Sixth Sense." A Die appeared in her hand. "With this, I select two numbers on this die and roll it. If it lands on that number, I can draw the same number of cards." She hummed and nodded. "Six and five."

They watched as she tossed the die into the air, the cube hitting the ground and rolling until it came to a stop. And the side it stopped on had five dots on it.

"Well, what do you know," Marble drew. "Just what I needed." She looked down at her hand and her eyes went wide seeing it, a smile creeping on her face."

"I don't like the look of that," Spike told Twilight."

"Me neither," she nodded. She knew that only meant one thing. "Zenith Dragon."

"Next I'll play Graceful Charity," Marble went before drawing three cards and ditching two. "Then I'll have Lady Marble use her skill to banish Gaia-Knight Emerald, to de-power your Twilight Alicorn." The knight appeared before exploding into eight rocks, which struck the Alicorn and weakened it. (A1800/D1900/L7) "Now, Gaia-Maiden, attack that oversized donkey."

"I don't think so!" Twilight cried as her face down flipped face-up, "Spellbinding Circle!" Said circle shot out of the Trap and encased the Gaia-Maiden within it. "Now your monster can't attack."

Marble growled. "Fine, then Ouravas will take you down!" The Griffon flew forward and prepared to impale the alicorn, only for it to suddenly be replaced by Warlock. "What?" She gasped as Ouravas stabbed the Spellcaster, who fired a magical blast point-blank. This caused both monsters to be destroyed, "how?"

"My other Trap," Twilight smiled as her other face down flipped up. "Magician's Trick. It lets me swap the target of your attack from one Spellcaster to another."

"Nice!" Spike cheered while Marble just frowned.

"I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Spike drew his card and smiled. "Alright." The portal began to form above his head as he cried out, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out, hitting the ground and revealing their monster. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

"And Underling Dragon!" (A500/D500/L2) "Now I can use Scorcher Dragon's ability!" The tuner dragon appeared before exploding into a pair of fireballs. "He's usually Level three, but by dropping it to two, I can Synchro Summon with him from my hand." They all watched as the fireballs carved a pair of rings that Underling Dragon flew into. "Ignite the flame of potential and shower the world in the fire of hope!" His two monsters were consumed in an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

"This isn't good," Skystar turned to Marble and saw the worried look on her face. "Do something!"

Spike smirked as his Synchro Tuner leapt into the air. "Now watch!" Mystic Flame burst into a quartet of fireballs, which carved four fire rings. "As I Synchro Tune Dragonic Blazelord and Mystic Flame Dracokid together!" The Synchro Pendulum flew up into the rings, Spike beginning to chant as the flames expanded. "Blaze the path to victory and burn away all who stand before you." The flaming rings exploded, wrapping Blazelord into a ball of fire. "GO ACCEL SYNCHRO!"

The flaming sun began to extinguish, revealing Spike's Accel Synchro monster in all its blazing glory. "Dragonic Blazemaster...VICTORY ACE!" (A3300/D3200/L12)

"So what," Trixie smirked, "that's the only monster that can hurt Gaia-Maiden and it'll only deal three hundred points of damage."

"Don't forget about Twilight Alicorn," Spike told her as Twilight removed a Spellbook from her graveyard to power it up. (A3600/D1900/L7)

"Alright," Skystar did the math, "nine hundred points of damage. Big whoop."

"Then I'll summon the Dragon Mystic Flame Dracokid gave me," Spike announced as a new dragon appeared. This was a red serpentine dragon with a metal blade coming out of the tip of its tail. "Meet my Neo Sabre Dragon." (A500/D500/L3) "And the best part is when he's summoned-" The dragon suddenly started glowing before the light shot off and hit Victory Ace's sword, causing it to transform. "He can equip himself to another dragon on my field." The light faded to reveal a new sword in Victory Ace's grasp, looking like Neo Sabre only the blade on its tail was now coming out of its mouth with the rest of its body being the handle. (A3800/D3200/L12)

Trixie and Skystar looked between the giant dragon and Marble, seeing the horror apparent on her face. "No," she shook her head, "no."

"It's over!" Spike told her. "Victory Ace, ATTACK!" The dragon shot forward and prepared to slash right through Gaia-Maiden.

Marble had two choices. Protect Lady Marble and have the rest of her light points taken out by Twilight Alicorn, or let it be destroyed and allow the other monsters to attack her and Guto head-on.

"Marble might be freed," Twilight smiled. But that all changed when she spotted Marble's fear vanish, replaced by a smirk.

"Fooled ya'h," she cried as her face down flipped up. "I play Waboku!" The three women appeared as a shield appeared infront of Lady Marble, Victory Ace's attack bouncing off it and leaving her fine. "Denied!"

Spike frowned at this. "She played me."

Marble laughed, "I love that look. The look that appears when the hope you have shatters. Thank you for that. I needed it after your friends Pinkie and Maud denied me it."

The siblings frowned as Spike ended his turn. "You're not welcome." Twilight Alicorn's ATK points returned to normal. Spike then felt a pain in his hand, making him cry out and clutch it.

"Spike!" She looked down and saw the mark on his hand fill out more and more. "We're running out of time."

"My turn." Guto drew his card as a tornado exploded, Griffon's Horde raising once again in number. The tornado exploded, revealing Ouravas. (A3000/D2500/L8) "Gaia-Maiden's Skill!" Lady Marble tapped the ground, Gaia-Knight Diamond appearing before shattering into eight pieces that flew forward and struck Soulburner Dragon.

The beast roared as its power dropped. (A1500/D1500/L6/P2)

"GO!" Guto cried, the Griffonic Sky Commander flying forward and impaling the dragon as Spike cried out.

Spike: 1000
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 1200
Marble: 1900

"Then I'll use Ouravas's ability, to add a card from my deck to my hand." Griffon's Horde increased to six. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Twilight drew her card and nodded before playing it. "Go, Magical Mallet. Now," she placed her hand into her Deck, "I can add the cards in my hand back to my deck, then shuffle and redraw." Her deck shuffled around before she drew four new cards, gasping at what she saw. "This is it."

"Wotcha get?" Spike asked as Twilight raised a card above her head.

"Just watch!" She cried as her Synchro Monsters shot into the air, "I tribute Twilight Alicorn and Twilight Warlock!" Twilight Warlock then transforming into a stream of light which spread around Alicorn and encased it in a cocoon-like form. "By tributing her and a Synchro Spellcaster Monster, Twilight Alicorn's true power is revealed!"

The cocoon broke open, revealing one of Twilight's best monsters as it soared above her before landing next to her. "Arise, Perfect Harmony Alicorn!" (A3500/D3000/L10) "That's not all. Perfect Harmony Alicorn's ATK power rises by half of Warlock's ATK points." (A4750/D3000/L10) "But I'm not done!" She cried as the portal began to form above their heads. "I PENDULUMS SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball and two lights shot out of it, hitting the ground and revealing her monsters. "Twilight Warlock!" (A2500/D2100/L7)

"Twilight Unicorn!" (A1800/D1300/L4/P7)

"And Soulburner Dragon!" (A2300/D1500/L6/P2) Twilight smiled at the army of monsters standing around her, knowing that with them they had a shot at winning. "Ahh!" She cried as her hand burned again, looking down and seeing all but the right foot of the symbol was now filled. "Not yet," She growled before playing another card. "I play Magic against Magic!" The Spell activated as Twilight Warlock, Twilight Unicorn and Perfect Harmony glowed. "With this card, I can destroy the same number of Spell cards on your field as the number of Spellcaster on my field."

Guto watched as the three monsters shot a blast of magic from their horns and staff, one heading for his Griffon's Horde and the other heading for his face down. However, instead of looking worried, he smirked. "Trap card, open!" The face-down flipped up, "Griffon's Vault. I pay five hundred life points and negate the destruction of a Spell or Trap on my field." Griffon's Horde's number went up to seven before a barrier appeared infront of it, blocking the magical blasts.

Twilight frowned, "I'm not done yet! Perfect Harmony Alicorn, attack Lady Marble and wipe out the last of her life points!" The winged unicorn flew up, its horn glowing. "Perfect Harmony's skill!" Warlock and Unicorn glowed. "Plus one thousand power for every other Spellcaster on the field." (A6750/D3000/L10)

With that, the alicorn unleashed a rainbow blast that headed straight for Marble's monster. If it hit, her life points would be wiped out.

"NO!" Trixie cried, the two having no cards to save them. Or so they thought.

"Trap activate!" Guto cried, as the robed women appeared infront of Gaia-Maiden and summoned the barrier to protect them.

"What?" Twilight asked as Perfect Harmony's attack bounced off it. "How?"

"Griffon's Vault," Guto explained. "It had another effect whilst its in the graveyard. I pay a thousand life points and banish it, then I can activate a Trap in our graveyard." Griffon's Horde's number rose to eight.

"No," Twilight whispered as her battle phase ended. "I...I place two cards face down and end my turn." Perfect Harmony's ATK returned to normal. (A3500/D3000/L10) "I'm not done," she told herself. "Even if it seems impossible, I'll find a way to win and send you all back to your world." But as she said this, her hand exploded with pain once again. "AUGH!" She clutched it and stared at the symbol, gasping when she saw it was now complete. "No."

Guto smiled seeing this. "Finally. The vessel is ready."

"Now we must take her," Skystar cracked her knuckles.

"Hold on," Trixie told her. "Even if she's now a suitable vessel, her will is too strong. If she is to be taken, first we must break that will. And to do that, she must lose."

"No problem," Marble smiled as she drew her card. And when she saw what she'd gotten, she gasped and smiled. "Finally." The tornado exploded infront of her as Griffon's Horde increased its number, "arise Ouravas!" The griffon appeared as Griffon's Horde's number rose again. "And now I'll use his ability to add a Spell to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took.

"I don't the look in her eye," Spike told his sister.

"Now I play the Continuous Spell card, Dark Prophecy!" Said card appeared before he and unleashed a wave of dark energy. "With this card, I can pay a thousand life points in order to announce a card's name. And if that card happens to be in the hand or deck of any Duellist except me, it's added straight to my hand."

"What?" Guto cried as the young girl smiled at him.

"What are you scheming," Skystar cried but Marble kept her focus on Guto.

"I'll be using Griffon's Horde to pay the cost," she told him as the number in the crystal increased into the double digits. "And I think I'll pick...Griffonic Sky Commander, Ouravas!" Guto's eyes went wide before he glared at her, his deck slotting out a card. He then took it and tossed it towards Marble, the girl catching it with ease. "Thank you. Now I think I'll use Griffon's Horde to pay for its cost again."

"She can use it more than once a turn?" Spike asked as the number increased yet again.

"Oh yes," she turned to Guto again. "And I think you know which card I want. Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies, Marventus." Guto's eyes went wide before he shot a glare at her, his deck slotting out that precious card. Once again, he threw the card at Marble, the girl catching it with each and smiling. "Finally, I have what I need."

Twilight suddenly felt a twinge of fear fill her. "You're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Marble asked before holding up a card. "Could it possibly be...this." Her hand's marking glowed brighter, "I now put my entire future on the line."

"Here it comes," Spike gulped as Marble discarded a card.

"First, I must tribute an Earth Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." The pieces of rock that made up the parking structure began to break off the building and formed a moon around Lady Marble, destroying Twilight's Spellbinding Circle, the cocoon flying into the air as it grew larger and larger.

"Where are they?" Flash asked as he and the others continued to look around, trying to find where Spike and Twilight were.

"LOOK!" He suddenly heard Sunburst yell, causing him to turn towards where he was pointing. And he soon saw what he was pointing at, seeing a giant rock moon appearing above a building that was growing larger and larger.

"is that..." Starlight couldn't finish her question.

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "Greaterra." He quickly began to rush off in that direction, the others following after and praying they weren't too late.

"Awaken," Marble cried as the rock egg began to break apart, "beast of the earth!" The rocks fell away, revealing the tortoise-like Duel Monster that hovered above the building. It stared down at them, ready to crush them under its enormous bulk. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, GREATERRA!" (A6000/D5000/L12)

"No way," Spike whispered in fear.

"That's the monster that beat Flash," Twilight told herself. As she said that, the giant dragon unleashed a roar that sent a bunch of rocks flying down towards their field. "Oh no." Before she could react, every card in their Spell and Trap Zone was buried under a bunch of rubble. Even White Wing Magician and Repulser Dracokid were trapped beneath the rocks.

"And I'm not done yet," Marble smiled as she discarded another card. "By ditching a Wind monster and sacrificing one with the same name on the field, I can summon my partner's ultimate creature." Ouravas leapt into the air as a powerful gust of wind blew across the rooftop. All everyone could do was brace themselves so they weren't blown off the roof, while Ouravas was surrounded by the spiralling wind that took the form of a sphere that flew up into the air while growing larger and larger each second.

"What the?" Scootaloo asked as they spotted the wind sphere appear besides Greaterra, growing larger and larger by the second.

"A second Zenith Dragon," Starlight whispered in almost horror. This didn't stop Flash at all, the teen only redoubling his efforts to get there as fast as he could.

"Hold on guys."

"Awaken," Marble cried as a shadow appeared within the wind sphere, "beast of the winds!" The last of the gale faded, the dragon within finally breaking free and beating its giant winds so much it unleashed a gust that swept over the whole city. "Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies, MARVENTUS!" (A6000/D5000/L12)

Twilight and Spike could only stare in horror at the sight before them. Two Zenith Dragon, ready to wipe them out and turn them into the vessels of Zeronull.

"Now, for Marventus's ability!" The dragon beat its wings and unleashed a powerful gust of wind, which blew all the cards trapped beneath the rubble away. "Return all Spell and Traps to your hand!" The siblings saw their hands now much heavier, nothing now protecting them against the Zenith Dragon's oncoming assault. "What's more, all Wind monsters gain five hundred ATK points for every card returned. (A8500/D5000/L12)

"No way," Spike whispered as he turned to his sister. "T-Twilight.

"Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies!" he turned back to see Marventus raise its tail before a bolt of lightning flew down and struck it. "Attack Dragonic Blazelord!" The lightning sphere formed in its mouth before Marble cried out the attack's name. "RAGING WONDERBOLT!"

The electro-ball flew forward, causing the building to shake as it approached, Victory Ace shooting forward to protect its friends. The dragon collided with the attack and both exploded, the shockwave flying down towards the siblings. Twilight was knocked off balance but left relatively unharmed. But her brother-

"AUGH!" He screamed as he was sent flying backwards, the static surging around his body as his life points were obliterated.

Spike: 0
Guto: 1800
Twilight: 1200
Marble: 1900

"SPIKE!" Twilight cried, seeing him hit the ground rolling.

"Worry about yourself!" She turned back to Marble as she gave her next command. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, ATTACK!" The beast opened its mouth as a giant rock appeared within it, Greaterra roaring with enough force to send the rock flying out and rocketing towards Perfect Harmony. "CONTINENTAL CRUSHER!"

The giant rock struck the rooftop, crushing all of Twilight and Spike's monsters beneath it, with so much force that the ground beneath everyone's feet to crumble.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed as the entire building shattered, she and Spike falling down the hole beneath her feet while the Zealots leapt to safety.

Spike: 0
Guto: 1800 (Winner)
Twilight: 0
Marble: 1900 (Winner)

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Flash cried as he watched the building implode, crumbling beneath the force of Greaterra's attack.

"Twilight," Starlight whispered in shock.

"Spike," Sunburst did the same.

Flash didn't wait around any longer. He rushed towards the building as fast as he could, praying that they were okay. If they weren't... "Please be okay," Flash begged as he and the others rushed down the street. "Twilight...Spike."

Spike moaned as he felt himself coming around.

The first thing he noticed when his brain finally rebooted was intense pain, flowing through his body but mostly focused in his right leg. He opened his eyes and tried to look around, finding he was no longer on the roof of the parking structure. It appeared that the Zenith Dragon's attack had sent him down to the ground floor.

The building was a complete mess, having been ripped to shreds with pieces of debris scattered everywhere. And that included on top of him, Spike only now noticing his bottom half was buried beneath some rubble.

But all the pain in the world wouldn't make him forget about the danger his sister now faced. And as he continued to look around, he finally spotted Twilight and the Zealots up above.

Twilight had landed one level above Spike, on a piece of still secure flooring, while the Zealots stood opposite her. Twilight stood there, staring at the completed insignia on her hand.

"So," She looked up to see Guto take the cube from Skystar, "the time has finally come." He, Skystar, Trixie and Marble took out their Zenith Dragons, the four cards glowing as the cube began to float out of his hand. "The time when our mission is fulfilled."

"The resurrection of the Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull!" Skystar screamed as the cube suddenly split into its four pieces. As they moved further and further from one another, blackish-red energy could be seen connecting them. And as they shot outwards, Twilight and Spike suddenly found a wall of that energy flying towards them.

Soon enough, the entire destroyed building was encased inside the energy cube.

"What the heck is that?" Flash asked as they arrived at the building, only to see it completely surrounded by the energy.

"This can't be good."

Over at Freeze Industries, Sunset and several scientists had just detected something.

"There's a big distortion in space-time," one of them announced while Sunset stared at the screen. Finding the point of origin and frowning at the sight of the energy being given off.

"What could be causing it?" She asked as the power continued to rise. "What is going on?"

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" Twilight screamed, clutching her hand in pain.

She then felt a presence, causing her to look up and gasp. There, floating above the remains of the destroyed building, was the being she'd been told about. The monster behind all of it. Zeronull.

The giant figure stared down at her, terror gripping her body as she watched him move. Each of its wings raised to pull length as the orbs on them glowed before unleashing the light of a different colour, which moved towards Twilight like a tentacle and began to wrap around her body. "No!" She cried as she tried to fight them off, but couldn't and was soon lifted off the ground. "Get off me!"

"Twilight!" Spike screamed as she was pulled closer and closer to Zeronull. He tried to pull himself free, but that did nothing but cause him more pain.

Twilight felt her strength begin to leave her as she was pulled towards the gem in the monster's chest. But despite feeling her consciousness fade, her mind continued to cry out. "You may Dominate me, but you'll never win." She looked up into its eyes, "you'll never defeat Flash. Never. Nev...er." With that, her eyes went blank as her body was pulled into the crystal and a dark light explode out of it as she was absorbed by it. Her last thoughts as she was Dominated were of the person she knew would save her, "Flash."

The owner of that name suddenly looked up, swearing he had just heard Twilight whisper his name.

But before he could comprehend this, he clutched his hand as a strange feeling flew through it. Not pain, but something different. He looked down at it and was surprised to see the omega symbol completely vanish off his hand. "What?" This was all he needed to be pushed into action, teen rushing towards the encased building.

"Flash!" Starlight cried as the other followed him, "what are you doing?" Flash didn't answer, his goal squarely focused on getting inside.

What he didn't know was that inside his pocket, in his Duel Disk, the Zenith Dragon card began to glow. And as he reached the energy field, he simply phased right through it without issue. Something that could not be said for Starlight and the others, who were forced to jump back as the slightest touch of the field caused them to cry out in pain.

"FLASH!" They screamed, unable to see what was happening.

Author's Note

Well, that was something. I'm sure a few of you were expecting that but I hope I at least surprised a few of you. So, what'll happen next. You'll just have to wait and find out.

Turn 20: Midnight Descends

Flash rushed into the remains of the destroyed building, looking all around to try and find out where Twilight and Spike were.

Had the Zealots already taken them? "HEY!" He cried out, spinning on the spot and holding out his arms. "You there? Show yourselves! I'm right here, so come out already! Don't drag my friends into this! It's me you want!"

"Flash!" He turned towards the voice, Spike's voice, which was coming from over a pile of rubble. The teen quickly climbed up to the top of it and gasped when he spotted Spike half-buried under another pile of rubble.

"Spike!" He leapt down to the bottom of the pile and rushed over to him, seeing Spike's leg pinned under a beam. "Hold on!" He grabbed the beam and used all his strength to lift it, managing to hoist it a few inches. "Crawl!" Spike did, flinching as he used his arms to pull himself forward. Once he was completely clear of the rubble, Flash dropped the beam and it fell to the ground as he turned to look Spike over. "Are you okay?"

Spike tried to move his leg, only to cry out as he looked down. "I think my leg is broken." Flash looked over the leg in question and quickly held Spike roll over and sit against the pile of rubble.

"Where's Twilight?" He then asked him, causing Spike to think back before remembering everything. Running into Marble. Duelling her and Guto at the top of the parking structure. Getting wiped out by the Zenith Dragons and-

"No," Spike's eyes went wide as he remembered the marks appearing on his and Twilights hands. He looked down at this and saw it was gone, the images of what'd happened after the Duel flashing infront of him.

"Spike!" Flash shook him, "what happened to Twilight?" But before the teen could reply, Flash heard movement behind him. He tensed up at a sudden dark chill that raced through his body, goosebumps and the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as he lifted his head. Then, slowly, he turned towards the sound and his eyes landed on the most important person in his life. "Twilight?"

Outside the field, Starlight, Scootaloo and Sunburst just stared out at the destroyed building.

As they waited to see what was gonna happen next, Starlight had called Cold. "What do you mean Flash went in there?" He almost yelled, causing Starlight to pull her phone away from her ear. "Your job was to keep him out of harm's way."

"I know," she replied. "I tried, but that boy's stubborn. Once he gets going, he's like a freight train."

Cold let out a sigh, "Don't I know that. Alright, just sit tight. I'm on my way with Cadance and Misty. We'll be there as soon as we can. Until then, just...don't do anything stupid and keep us up to date."

"Got it," Starlight nodded before cutting the call and turning to the others. "You heard the man. We have to stay here and keep out of trouble."

"But we can't just sit around doing nothing," Scootaloo told her. "Flash could be in serious trouble in there. We have to help him."

"But we can't," Sunburst reminded her before pointing at the field. "With this thing up, we can't get through." Scootaloo frowned before slowly reaching out to touch it, only to cry as she felt a zap that made her pull back. "Bad idea. I don't think anything's getting in there."

"Flash got in," Scootaloo pointed out.

"Flash is someone they want in there," Starlight told her. "We're not. At least...I think that's why he was able to get in." She sighed, not liking this wait and see approach they were forced to adopt. But they didn't have any other choice. Now, this was all up to Flash. "Don't do anything stupid," she told him.

Flash continued to stare at Twilight as she stood several feet away, a blank look on her face.

"Twilight?" He looked her over, "are you okay." He was about to step towards her, but-

"Don't!" He felt a hand grasp his, stopping him in his tracks. He glanced back at saw Spike, a look of pain on his face from moving to grab him, whose gaze didn't leave his sister for a moment. "That's not Twilight."

"What?" Flash looked back at her.

"Looks at her hand." Flash's gaze slowly shifted down towards her hand, where a black and red symbol he knew all too well shone brightly.

"What?" Flash asked, only to hear Marble's voice call out.

"The moment has finally happened." He looked up to see all four Omega Zealots standing on a piece of the remaining higher level, smirks adorning their faces. "The arrival of the Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull."

Flash's heart stopped hearing this, looking back down at Twilight. "No," he shook his head, "this...this can't be happening."

"I'm afraid she's not lying." He looked back at Spike. "Twilight, she was trying to protect you. But now."

"How?" He asked, his panic increasing every second. "How could this happen?"

"Twilight and I were Duelling, then...the crests appeared on our hands. Then, when we lost, she was taken over."

"That's right," they looked back up at Guto. "Lord Zeronull has finally awakened. Now, his goal to create the perfect world can finally come to pass."

Flash frowned before looking down at Twilight. "Are...are you really Zeronull." The girl remained silent for a moment, her blank stare her only response. But then, she shut her eyes before a strange smile cracked onto her lips.

"Of course not," she told him but her eyes shot open to show a wicked confidence they'd never seen Twilight possess. "I'm so much more." The two were surprised by this, even more so when Twilight spun around and pointed at the Zealots. "And don't you idiots think you can call me Zeronull or my lord. I might have him inside of me, but I'm still a girl. It's my lady, understand?" The Zealots seemed surprised by this but nodded anyway.

"Err...yes, my lady," Guto explained.

"Good," she nodded. "Honestly, what made you think Zeronull was male in the first place. He's an outer god. Outer gods don't have genders."

"So what should we call you by?" Skystar asked, "will you still be going by Twilight?"

"No," she shook her head while thinking it over. "I'm not Twilight, nor am I Zeronull. I am a being born from their unified spirits." She looked down at her hands, "Twilight's mind and Zeronull's wisdom. Twilight's strategic skills and Zeronull's unbreakable resolve to complete his mission." She smiled up at Flash, "I'm so much more than the two of them. I am a being who is greater than the sum of her parts. I am..." She looked up at the night sky, doing so causing a name to appear in her mind that suited her perfectly. "Midnight." She looked back towards Flash and Spike, "Midnight Sparkle."

"Midnight...Sparkle?" Flash whispered, his face turning to one of rage. "Release her, right now!"

"Not happening," Midnight told him before holding her hand up. "I've got way too much to do." As she said this, her mark unleashed a burst of light that struck the field around them. In doing so, it caused the Void space to vanished as the cube reappeared in her hand.

"It's gone!" Scootaloo cried as the field vanished, the teen rushing towards the building.

"Wait!" Starlight told her.

"Scootaloo!" Sunburst yelled as they ran as fast as they could, "we don't know what's waiting for us in there." But Scootaloo wasn't listening, too focused on getting her brother out of there and someplace safe.

"Hold on," she told him as she stepped into the destroyed building.

Midnight stared at the cube for a moment before nodding. "Good, still operational." She tossed it behind her, "catch."

Skystar was quick to react, catching her precious creation and looking it over. "I don't understand. It was supposed to vanish once it was done."

"Switched it off a little early," Midnight explained. "We'll be needing it for a grand plan. But first," she pointed at Flash. "You clearly have issues with me."

"You're damn right I've got an issue!" Flash almost yelled at her. "You're holding my girlfriend hostage and using her like a puppet. I won't let you get away with this."

"Alright then," Midnight took out Twilight's Duel Disk and attached it to her arm. "Then come and get her back." To say this surprised everyone was an understatement. They didn't expect her of all people to give out a challenge.

But then, Guto let out a smile as he seemed to have realised something. "Yes, my lady. Show him the power you now possess as the vessel of Zeronull. Let him see why it's pointless to try and fight what is coming."

Flash and Spike both looked unsure by this, both worried what a Duel might do to Twilight in this scenario. But then, Flash's face became one of intense focus. "Alright," he took out his Duel Disk and attached it to his arm, "let's do this."

"You sure?" Spike asked him, "can you really Duel Twilight like this."

"I have too," he told him. "This is a Soulink, like any other. Beating her, especially this soon after the link is made, might be enough to break the connection."

Spike nodded, understanding wholeheartedly. "Then do it. If anyone can save my sister, it's you."

Flash nodded before turning back to his opponent, "you ready?" Midnight smiled back at him before sensing approaching company.

"First, a little change of scenery." She held up her hand as her Zealots leapt down, holding their hands up as well. "Zeronull's awakening has brought about a new power. One that'll make keeping undercover so much easier." Her omega crest glowed again. "Omega Field, OPEN!" With that, the crest exploded with dark light that flew outwards from her. In enveloped Midnight and extended outwards until it enveloped her Zealots, then Flash and Spike.

"WHOA!" Spike yelled as the wall of black energy touched his skin and pulled him in, Flash alongside him.

As this happened, Starlight and the others reached their destination. But by the time they'd arrived, all they found was a large dome of black energy with red lightning sparking around it. "What's this?"

"Nothing good," Sunburst assumed. He moved up to the orb and reached out to it, only to suddenly get a static shock that made him cry out and pull back. "I thought so. We're locked out."

"Meaning whoever's in there is also locked in," Scootaloo realised. The three all began to worry, fearing that Flash might be in serious danger. And what about Spike and Twilight.

When the wall of energy arrived, Flash had been forced to shut his eyes as the sensation of the energy passed over him and Spike. But when he felt it vanish, Flash opened his eyes and looked around.

It almost looked like they were in outer space, with nothing but darkness around them that was filled with teeny tiny lights that resembled stars. Flash looked down and found that it looked like he was floating in the void around them, but he could clearly feel solid ground below his feet.

"What is this place?" Spike asked as they turned towards Midnight, who was standing a ways away with her Zealots behind her.

She smiled. "Welcome to the Omega Field. It is here that all Omega Duels shall now take place. It may look infinite in here, but outside its only a few feet. Now we can summon monsters of any size without attracting attention, including the Zenith Dragons."

Upon hearing that name, Flash looked down at his Duel Disk and remembered the Zenith Dragon sitting in his deck. If he wanted to save Twilight, he needed to pull out all the stops. And that included using Zeronull's own power against them. But could he really use it, knowing the heavy cost that came with it?

"You ready?" He looked up at Midnight as she activated Twilight's Duel Disk.

Stealing his nerve, Flash nodded and activated his Duel Disk. "I'm ready. Let's do this!"

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Flash: 4000
Midnight: 4000

"I'll take the first move!" Flash drew his card and nodded, "I summon Reflector Scale Magna Snake in ATK mode!" The robotic satellite serpent appeared infront of Flash. (A1600/D1300/L4/P7) "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My draw," Midnight drew her card and smiled seeing what she'd gotten. "I summon Disharmian of Betrayal, in ATK mode." In a flash of dark light, Midnight's monster appeared before her. It looked like Rainbow...scratch that, it was Rainbow. Her skin and hair weren't as vibrant but it was definitely her. She was wearing a purple bodysuit under black armour with a large black sword in her hand and a pair of black metal wings on her back. Around her neck was a black metal necklace with a red gem at the front shaped like a lightning bolt. The look on her face was a sour one, a big frown adorning her lips as she stared Flash and his monster down. (A1700/D1400/L4/P8)

"Rainbow?" Flash asked. 'Her deck's completely different. It must be Zeronull's influence.'

"Betrayal, destroy his Magna Snake!" The Disharmian leapt into the air as her sword sparked with lightning, which she swung around and fired a wave of black lightning that struck the robotic snake head-on.

And as the snake was electrocuted, Flash's entire body was suddenly racked with a burning sensation that flew through his whole body. "ARRRRRHHHHH!" He cried in pain as his monster was destroyed.

Flash: 3900
Midnight: 4000

"Flash!" Spike yelled seeing this, watching Flash fall to his knees.

"What the? That hurt?"

"Now you understand the power of the Omega Field," Midnight told him. "The power to link our two worlds. Whilst in this void, we and our monsters are linked. So every injury they receive, we also feel the pain"

"This is just like what Discord did to Cold," Flash realised as he pushed himself back up. "Doesn't matter. I'm not gonna let it stop me."

"We'll see," Midnight told him as she placed a card face down. "I end my turn."

As the Duel went on, the Zealots watched with both Marble and Skystar looking confused. "I don't get it," Marble turned to Guto. "Why is Lady Midnight Duelling?"

"It is the final step," Guto explained. "Zeronull has taken root within Twilight Sparkle and the two have Soulinked. But this isn't just any ordinary Soulink. This isn't just any ordinary spirit." A crazed look appeared on his face, "it's the long-awaited reincarnation!" The girls turned to him in shock. "The ritual is only complete once two stipulations are fulfilled. Victory and sacrifice."

"Victory?" Skystar asked.

"Sacrifice?" Marble looked intrigued before Trixie explained.

"Should she claim victory in this Duel, the Soulink will be completed and she'll be here to stay.

"But if she loses?" Skystar asked.

Trixie turned. "Then like any Soulink, the connection will break." Only now did Skystar and Marble understand the importance of this Duel.

"What about the sacrifice?" Marble asked, Guto explaining.

"To awaken the full power of Zeronull that now sleeps within her, a soul must be offered in return. And not just any soul, but one with incredible strength and power. And what better soul is there then the Pendulum Singularity himself."

"Alright," Flash looked down at his hand and saw he had all but one piece for a pretty good move. He just needed to draw that last component. "Come on," he reached for his deck. "Help me out here." He took a deep breath, "I draw!" He drew his card and saw it was just what he needed. "Yes." He smiled at his possessed girlfriend, "just hold on. I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale Magna Caster Ratio and scale nine Nightlight Magna Sheep!" The pillars of light appeared beside him before the monsters flew up into them. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, revealing his monsters. "Get to work, Reflector Scale Magna Snake!" (A1600/D1300/L4/P7)

"Howl to the moon, Shining Fang Magna Wolf!" (A1500/D1200/L4)

"Those monsters can't help you," Skystar told him. But it was Midnight that told her otherwise.

"Maybe not alone, but if he combined them."

"That's right," Flash announced as the light-bulbs on Magna Sheep's armour glowed before unleashing a blast of light. This light struck the spot above them and created a vortex, which Magna Wolf and Magna Snake were sucked into. "Let the raging fury of these two mighty beasts now become one, to give birth to a creature of devastating ferocity!" The vortex exploded, "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light of the explosion faded, revealing Flash's new monster. It looked like a combo of a wolf and snake. Its top half appeared to be that of a wolf, though its front legs and paws were more bear-like, wearing white armour around its chest. Its bottom half was a robotic green snake's tail, with gears running along its side. From out of its head pocked two long white horns that ran down the length of its nose before curving up at the ends. From out of its back armour and robotic tail, curves spikes could be seen leading to the very tip of the tail. The beast let out a mighty roar as it swung its razor sharp claws through the air, swishing sounds following. "Magna Beast, Feral Lindworm!" (A2300/D2100/L6)

"Woohoo!" Spike cheered, "that's a new one. Go Flash!"

Flash continued to stare at Midnight. 'You were trying to protect me, but instead, you were taken. I'm sorry Twilight.' An angry look appeared on his face, determination burning in his eyes. "Just hold on!" He reached for his Extra Deck. "With Feral Lindworm's skill," he removed a card and revealed it as Magna Snake. "I can send a Pendulum Monster from my extra deck to the graveyard and destroy a card on your field." Lindworm curled itself up, biting down on the tip of its tail before spinning forward, turning into a wheel that shot towards Midnight's field and crushed her face down under it.

"Alright!" Spike cheered, "there goes her Trap."

"Now I use the Pendulum Ability of Magna Caster Ratio!" He drew three cards and frowned. It appeared his earlier lucky draw had drained his luck since he only had one monster amongst them and it wasn't a great one. "I banish Aura Pulse Magna Rat, to increase Feral Lindworm's ATK points by its Level times two hundred." The robotic rat appeared above him before exploding, the light entering the beast. (A2500/D2100/L6) "ATTACK!"

The beast once again curled up into a wheel that flew forward, slamming into Disharmian of Betrayal and crushing her into destruction. All the while Midnight grunted at the pain her monster felt.

Flash: 3900
Midnight: 3200

But despite the pain she felt, Midnight smiled. "You've just activated the effect of Disharmian of Betrayal," she explained as the ghostly image of Rainbow's monster doppelganger appeared. "When she's destroyed by battle, I can take control of the monster that destroyed her."

"What?" Flash and Spike cried as Betrayal's ghost touched Lindworm's forehead, her red crystal glowing as the same mark appeared on the beast's forehead. The ghost vanished and Lindworm slithered over to Midnight's side, the girl scratching the beast behind the ear.

"Good doggy."

"No way," Flash whispered. He quickly shook his head and reached for his hand. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn then," Midnight drew her card and smiled. "First, I summon Disharmian of Misery, in ATK mode." In a flash of dark light, another monster that looked like one of Flash's friends appeared before him. This one looked like Pinkie, her skin and hair paler than the real one, wearing a black dress with purple armour over it. She had a bunch of black balloons attached to her hip by a series of leather belts and her around her neck was a necklace with a blue crystal in the shape of a balloon. The look on her face was an angry one, her eye twitching and strands of hair pointing out like a crazy woman. (A1000/D1000/L3/P9)

"Another one," Spike wondered.

"Then, I'll set the Pendulum Scale with Scale two Raging Greed Dragon and Scale nine Dark Abyss Owl!" The pillars appeared on either side of her before two new monsters flew up into them. One was a large dark purple dragon with green spikes while the other looked like Midnight Owl, only it wore purple armour and had black metal talon gloves. Once high above her, the portal formed. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single dark light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal the monster Flash had just destroyed. "Disharmian of Betrayal!" (A1700/D1400/L4/P1) The Rainbow clone knelt down in DEF mode, confusing Flash. "Now, Lindworm, go show your love to your former master!" Lindworm spun forward, ready to crush Flash.

"I activate my Trap!" Flash cried as his face down flipped up, "Defence Draw!" A shield appeared infront of him that blocked Lindworm's attack, Flash drawing a card.

"Not bad," Midnight said before pointing at him. "Disharmian of Misery!" The Pinkie clone pulled a balloon off her belt and tossed it at Flash, the balloon slamming into him and bursting as a dark liquid drenched him and caused a burning sensation.

"Augh!" He cried as the liquid evaporated.

Flash: 2900
Midnight: 3200

"I'll place two card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Flash drew his card. "And I'll start with Starburst Reload!" He removed Magna Snake before drawing four new cards, the portal forming above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal Flash's monsters. "Unleash your roar, Star Fang Magna Tiger!" (A2400/D2100/L7)

"Hop to it, Bright Bounce Magna Bunny!" (A1200/D600/L3/P2) "Now I'll use Ratio's Pendulum Ability!" Flash drew three cards and nodded before taking one and placing it in his pocket. "I banished Magna Fighter Gun Runner and increase Magna Tiger's ATK point by eight hundred." The image of the Magna Fighter appeared before exploding into light, which was absorbed into Magna Tiger's claw. (A3200/D2100/L7) "ATTACK!" The tiger-man shot forward and slashed at Feral Lindworm, destroying it and making Midnight grunt in pain.

Flash: 2900
Midnight: 2300

"Now for Magna Tiger's skill!" The Tiger turned to Disharmian of Betrayal. "Since he destroyed a monster in battle, he can now banish another monster on your field with less ATK points."

"Nice try," Midnight's face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Disharmony Circle!" A magic circle appeared around her monster. "This card allows me to make one Disharmian on my field immune to Card Effects for the turn." Flash glared at this. It was clear she wanted to protect these Disharmian monsters, but what for?

"Bright Bounce, take out Misery!" The rabbit rushed forward and jumped at the Pinkie clone, spinning around and slamming its foot into her stomach and making her explode.

Flash: 2900
Midnight: 2300

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Magna Tiger's ATK points returned to normal.

"My turn then," Midnight announced as her card shuffled around. "And instead of drawing, I'll be using Dark Abyss Owl's Pendulum Effect to add a Spell from my deck to my hand." She took the card and instantly played it. "Disharmony Regrouping. This Spell lets me pick a face-up Disharmian on my field and prevent it from attacking this turn, but in exchange, I card draw cards equal to its Level." Betrayal glowed as Midnight drew four cards and smiled.

"I don't like that look," Spike gulped.

"I summon Disharmian of Deceit!" In a flash of dark light, a new Disharmian appeared before Midnight. This one, however, looked like a paler Applejack wearing the same clothes as Betrayal, only she didn't have wings and instead of a sword, she had a pair of large metal gloves. Her necklace had an orange crystal embedded within it, this one in the shape of an apple with greens leaves. (A1800/D1200/L4/P2) It was then the portal formed above Midnight's head, confusing Flash. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of dark lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal her monsters that appeared in DEF position. "Disharmian of Misery!" (A1000/D1000/L3/P9)

The second one was a monster that looked like Rarity, paler like the others, wearing the same dress and armour as Misery. The gem on her necklace was purple and had a simple four points gem design going for it. "Disharmian of Greed!" (A1300/D1700/L4/P9)

"I don't get it," Flash asked. "Why is she Normal Summoning some monsters and Pendulum Summoning others?" He then realised it had to be a game mechanic, quickly looking down at his Duel Disk and highlighting one of Midnight's cards. Each one had the same sentence at the start of their card text.

This card cannot attack on the turn it's Special Summoned.

"That explains it," Flash told himself as Midnight took this moment to continue her turn.

"Misery's skill!" The balloon-shaped gem embedded in the girl's armour began to glow before unleashing twin beams of blue light, heading straight towards the two. "When she's Special Summoned, every monster on your field lose one hundred ATK points for every Level they have." The beams hit the monsters, both flinching in pain as their points began to drop. (A1700/D2100/L7) (A900/D600/L3/P2)

"Not good," Flash realised as Deceit began to rush forward.

"Give Magna Tiger the one-two punch!" Midnight cried as Flash pressed a card on his Duel Disk.

"Trap card, open!" His card flipped up, "Dimensional Prison!" He smirked at this, but then saw Midnight mirror that smirk.

"Deceit's skill!" The apple gem on her chest glowed before it unleashed an orange light, which hit Flash's Trap. "Once per turn, she can negate the effect of a card targeting a Disharmian monster. Making it as if your card's effect is nothing but a lie." Deceit punched her way through the trap, destroying it, then continued forward before punching Magna Tiger and destroying it.

"Augh!" Flash clutched his gut, feeling like he's been punched instead of his monster.

Flash: 2800
Midnight: 2300

"I'll end my turn by setting a card face down and playing the Spell, Disharmony Rejuvenation!" All four Disharmians began to glow a dark light. "This Spell lets me regain life points equal to the number of Disharmians on my field times three hundred." The lights flew off her monsters and hit her, getting absorbed into her Duel Disk.

Flash: 2800
Midnight: 3500

Flash frowned as the pain of the punch whined. 'She definitely has Twilight's tactical skills. She knows how to use her deck, even though this is her first time using it.' He looked down at his hand, 'I'm gonna need something big to stop her.' "It's my turn!" He drew his card and smiled seeing what he had. "I summon Neo Lightspeed Dragon!" Lightspeed Dragon appeared in a burst of light, only this one's armour was slicker and its boosters were larger. (1700/D1100/L4) "Now for Ratio's Pendulum Ability!" Flash drew three cards and smiled before taking one. "I banish Charge Horn Magna Bull!" The robotic minotaur appeared above Magna Bunny before exploding into light, which flew into the robotic rabbit and powered it up. (A2400/D600/L3/P2) "ATTACK!" The rabbit rushed forward before slamming its foot into Disharmian of Deceit, destroying it as Midnight moaned.

Flash: 2800
Midnight: 2900

"Now, Neo Lightspeed, destroy Disharmian of Betrayal!" The armoured wolf's boosters ignited, pushing it forward until it reached the Rainbow lookalike. It then used its claws to slash at her, destroying the Disharmian.

"Did you forget about Betrayal's skill?" Marble told him. "Now your dragon's Lady Midnight's."

"Wrong," Flash told her. "Neo Lightspeed's skill cancels out the skills of any monster it attacks, so Betrayal won't be taking any of my monsters." The Zealots all frowned, but Midnight just smiled.

"Well destroying my Disharmian has activated my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Disharmony Replacement. Now I can add a Disharmian to my hand that has less ATK than the Disharmian you just destroyed." her deck slotted out a card, which she placed in her hand.

Flash frowned but didn't let that rattle him, his monsters leaping into the air. "Now, I think I'll tune Level three Magna Bunny with Level four Neo Lightspeed Dragon!" Magna Bunny split into a trio of lights, which carved the rings for the dragon to fly into. "Memories of strength long forgotten, return in an explosion of power!" The two monsters disappeared in an explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded to reveal Flash's monster. "Flashback Dragon!" (A2300/2200/L7) "I end my turn."

"My draw!" Midnight drew a card as the gem on Disharmian of Greed's armour glowed. "And thanks to Greed's skill, every time I draw a card I can draw another one." She did and smiled seeing the card she'd gotten. "Perfect." The portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a trio of dark lights shot out, exploding upon impact with the ground and revealing her monsters in DEF position. "Disharmian of Betrayal!" (A1700/D1400/L4/P1)

"Disharmian of Deceit!" (A1800/D1200/L4/P2)

The final monster was something Flash and Spike had been expecting, a paler version of Fluttershy wearing the same outfit as Misery and Greed. She had a seriously evil look on her face like she was about to kick your puppy just for the heck of it. And around her neck was the same metal necklace the others had, only this one had a pink gemstone that was shaped like a butterfly. "Disharmian of Cruelty!" (A1200/D1100/L3/P2) "Cruelty's skill!" The monster's gemstone glowed before unleashing a burst of pink light, which struck Flash's hand and caused them to glow.

Seconds later, he felt a burning sensation touch his fingers. "Ahh!" He hissed, almost dropping his cards.

Flash: 2600
Midnight: 2900

"When she's Special Summoned, Cruelty deals you a hundred points of damage for every card in your hand. Now," she played a card, "I equip Greed with the Disharmony Shield!" A shield appeared in Rarity's hand, which hand markings in the shape of each of the Disharmian's gems. Each one was circling around a reddish-pink six-pointed star. "This card lets any Disharmian it's Equipped to attack while it's in DEF mode, using its DEF points to do it."

"So what?" Spike asked, "Greed can't touch Flashback."

"She will once I activate the Spell card, Disharmony Brace!" Betrayal, Misery, Deceit and Cruelty all glowed a dark light before it shot off them and flew into Greed. "This card increases the DEF points of a Disharmian on my field by three hundred, for every other face-up Disharmian monster I have." Greed smiled as her body tensed, the dark aura entering her body. (A1300/D2900/L4/P8) "Disharmian of Misery, switch to ATK mode!" The Pinkie clone stood up as Greed held her shield. "ATTACK!" The symbols on the front of the shield began to glow, ending with the central star lighting up before unleashing a beam of light that shot out and struck Flashback and destroyed it.

"AUGH!" Flash cried as his body felt like it was being burnt by the laser.

Flash: 2000
Midnight: 2900

"Now, Misery!" The Disharmian took one of her balloons and prepared to throw it a Flash, but the teen wasn't scared.

"Go," his face down flipped up, "Beacon of Hope!" He reached for his deck and drew a card, smiling as he slapped it onto the Duel Disk. "I summon Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" The robotic monkey appeared infront of Flash, Misery stopping herself from attack.

"I end my turn," Midnight announced as Greed's DEF points returned to normal.

"It's my turn!" Flash drew his card and when he saw what it was, he felt a sense of hope well up inside him. "Just a little longer Twilight." The portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out, striking the ground and exploding to reveal his monster. "Spino-Gear, Magna-Saur!" (A2100/D1500/L5) "Ratio's skill!" Flash drew his cards but frowned when he saw none of them were monsters, "doesn't matter. Spino-Gear, take out Misery!" The beast roared and charged forward, its tail drill spinning to impale Pinkie's doppelganger.

"I activate the effect of Disharmony Shield," Midnight cried as the shield suddenly teleported into Misery's hands. "When you attack another Disharmian that's in ATK position, I can ditch this card to change her to DEF mode." Misery struggled under the weight of the large shield, falling to her knees seconds before Spino-Gear's drill struck the shield and shattered it as Misery exploded.

Flash growled but wasn't letting this stop him. "Spino-Gear's skill!" He drew two cards and placed them in his pocket, Spino-Gear's back gear spinning before it turned to Deceit and crushed her underfoot. "Now, Magna Chimp!" The robotic monkey charged forward, its claws unleashing a bright light that blinded Greed. "Magna Chimp's skill!" (A1300/D1100/L4/P8) With a single slash, Greed was destroyed. "I place one card face down and end my turn." He sighed, 'I couldn't even deal a little bit of damage to her. I've gotta get the lead out.'

"You truly are a skilled Duellist," Midnight told him as her turn started. "Though I already knew that thanks to her memories." Flash just glared at her, not liking this impostor talking about the person whose life she stole. "But it won't be enough to stop me. I activate Dark Abyss Owl's Pendulum Ability," a card slotted out of her hand. for her to take. "Then, I'll use Raging Greed Dragon's ability!" The dragon opened its mouth before unleashing a burst of green fire, which struck her side of the field. Betrayal and Cruelty both cried out in pain as they were destroyed.

"What?" Flash asked, only to see Midnight draw two cards.

"For every Disharmian destroyed, I draw a card."

"You gotta be kidding me," Flash frowned. "Why would you do that? Your monsters can't attack now, even if you summon them back."

"I don't need them to attack," Midnight told him as she held up a card. "Now that I have this, the Duel is all but won." Flash wondered what she meant, as the portal formed above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

With that, the portal opened before the fire dark lights shot out, striking the ground and exploding to reveal all five Disharmians. At that moment, Misery and Cruelty's skills activated. Their gems fired out beams that struck Flash's hand and monsters. (A1400/D600/L4/P9) (A1600/D1500/L5)

"Augh!" Flash cried as his hand burn him again.

Flash: 1900
Midnight: 2900

"Now," Midnight played the card her Dark Abyss Owl got her, "the time has finally come." As she said that, the five Disharmians leapt up into the air as their gems began to glow. "I activate the Disharmony Ritual!" The five formed a circle in the air as the light from their gems flew out into a stream and connected to form a ring. "With this card, I can sacrifice five Disharmian monsters to summon the most powerful of all Disharmians!" From within the ring, a portal formed that sucked in the five Disharmians that created it. And once it did, it shifted to point down at Midnight before a pillar of dark light exploded out of it.

Everyone else gasped as the pillar struck Midnight, blocking her from being seen. They then spotted a figure appearing within it, looking almost angel-like as it floated out of the pillar to reveal itself.

It was Twilight, only with darker skin and hair that had a dark flame-like aspect. She wore a purple dress and long purple socks with shining crystal slippers on her feet, with a pair of purple fingerless arm long gloves running from her hands to her elbows. A pair of black and blue wings were sprouting from her back, a similar-looking tail dangling from her lower back. Around her neck was the same necklace the other Disharmians wore, only this one had a six-pointed star on the front of it. There was also a long horn made of light blue crystals growing from her forehead, along with a pair of crystal glasses around her eyes, which opened to show an almost sinister look.

"Disharmian!" They heard Midnight cry as the pillar began to disappear, "Midnight Archangel!" The pillar fulled vanished, revealing the girl as Flash and Spike gasped.

She now wore the same outfit as the monster she'd just summoned, minus the wings, tail, horn and necklace. Her hair was similar to Archangel, though it didn't have the same fiery aspect as her monster, while her glasses had turned silver-ish with three white spikes coming out the side of them that got small as they went down. Her Duel Disk had turned black with a purple blade.

She smiled as she looked over her new form, then turned back to Flash. "Behold, my true form. Born from the power of Zeronull and the spirit of Twilight Sparkle." Everyone looked up at the archangel, who smiled down at Flash and his monster. "Against this, you don't have a chance of beating me."

Flash refused to believe that. Her deck may be powerful, but it wouldn't stop him from saving the one he loved. No matter what it took, he was going to win this Duel and free Twilight. No matter what it took.

Author's Note

Well this got heavy. What do you think of the situation and what do you think to Midnight's deck?

Turn 21: Flash's Last Duel

"RAAAAAH!" Scootaloo screamed as she charged forward, slamming into the orb but bouncing off after getting a jolt of the red lightning.

"Scootaloo!" Sunburst moved to her side and helped her up, "don't go doing something stupid."

"But we've gotta do something!" Scootaloo cried as Starlight stepped up to the orb.

"I know it's hard, but we have to be patient."

"She's right," they all turned to see Cold, Misty and Cadance step in through the wreckage. Cold stared at the orb with an intense frown. "We won't solve anything panicking. We need to stay calm."

Cadance frowned staring at the orb, "so Twilight and Spike are in there."

"Possibly," Starlight nodded, "we didn't see them go in there. It was here when we arrived."

Cadance just nodded as Misty stepped up to it, about to put her hand on it. "I wouldn't," she turned to Sunburst. "It'll jolt you if you get to close." Misty seemed to consider this for a moment before holding her hand out, getting zapped like he told her. "Why'd you do that."

"To better understand it," Misty explained while rubbing her hand. "This energy isn't like what the Zealots have used before. This is...different."

Cold took out his Duel Disk and held it up as the orb appeared on the screen. "Alright Sunset, what are you getting?"

"Not really," Sunset's voice replied through the Duel Disk. "We're picking up a weird energy signature, but our systems can't make heads or tails of it. By all accounts, this sphere shouldn't exist. The amounts of energy inside that thing is equivalent to a supernova."

"And Flash and the others are inside it," Cold realised before lowering his Duel Disk. "This isn't good."

Cadance was still trying to call her sister and brother, but now the signal was completely gone. And while staring at the orb, the young women couldn't help but get a terrible feeling. Like when the orb finally faded, she'd discover something horrifying had happened. And another terrible feeling made her mind focus on one person, like her intuition was telling her she was the most in danger. "Twilight," she whispered, "please be safe."

Within the dark sphere, Flash and Spike stared down Midnight Sparkle and her Zealots as she and Flash Duelled to decide the fate of Twilight and the rest of the world.

Flash currently had Glow Claw Magna Chimp and Spino-Gear Magna-Saur on his field, while Midnight had just summoned a monster like no other. Disharmian, Midnight Archangel. (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) But it wasn't the monster they were focusing on right now, instead more concerned by the new look their possessed friend was sporting.

Midnight looked herself over and smirked seeing her new cloths. "Oh yes," she nodded. "Now this is a look I can get behind. Goodbye schoolgirl science geek and hello future destroyer of the world."

"That's not going to happen," she turned back to Flash as he glared at her. "I won't let you use Twilight's body to destroy the world. I'm gonna beat you and free her, I can promise you that."

"Oh please," she pointed to her Duel Disk. "The way I see it, you don't have must of a chance at beating me."

"I will beat you," Flash said with more seriousness then anyone had every heard from him.

"We'll see," Midnight smiled. "But right now, it's still my turn and Archangel's ability activates since she was special summoned." Twilight discarded a card. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can add another card of that type from my deck to my hand. And since I discarded a monster card, I get another monster card." Her deck slotted out a card for her to take. "Then I'll summon it. Disharmian of Resentment!"

A flash of dark light signalled the arrival of a new Disharmian, this one looking like a paler Sunset Shimmer that was wearing the same armour as Betrayal and Deceit. This one's necklace had a red and yellow sun shaped crystal on it, the monster taking a defensive stance. (A1800/D900/L4/P4)

"Next, I'll have Midnight Archangel attack your Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" Archangel raised her hands as a ball of dark energy appeared between them, which she then pointed at Magna Chimp before it exploded into a beam of dark magic.

"Trap activate!" Flash's face down flipped up, "Interception!" Spino-Gear jumped infront of Magna Chimp and took the hit instead, getting destroyed and dealing Flash some serious damage.

Flash: 1000
Midnight: 2900

"AUGH!" Flash cried out, feeling the same pain as Spino-Gear. Despite this, he still realised something. "So that monster doesn't have the same weakness as the others. It can attack even after it's Special Summoned."

Midnight smiled. "After all the hopes I went through to get her on the field, she had to be worth something. I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Well now it's my turn," Flash drew his card and smiled as an idea formed in his head. "First, I'll use the ability of Magna Caster Tempusidium. Since she's removed from play, I can add a Spell from my graveyard back to my hand."

"But how'd he banish that card?" Skystar asked.

"Spino-Gear," Guto realised as Flash activated the card he'd gotten.

"Now I play, Stardust Reload!" He took Spino-Gear out of his graveyard before drawing six new cards. And when he saw who he'd drawn, hope welled up within him. "Now watch, as my two monsters set the Pendulum Scale!" The portal began to form above him. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal was soon complete and began to open. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

A single light shot out of the portal, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal his ace monster in all his glory. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Skill activate!" A portal appeared behind Resentment before she was pulled inside. "Then I activate the Spell card Dimensional Aid, which grants me another two hundred life points for every one of my banished monsters."

Flash: 2400
Midnight: 2900

"Now I'll have Flash Heart attack your Midnight Archangel!" The robotic dragon's boosters ignited to propel the dragon forward, confusing the Zealots.

"But Lady Midnight's monster is stronger?" Skystar asked.

"Not once he plays that," Marble pointed out as Flash played a card.

"Go, Lightspeed!" Flash Heart began to glow as his power rose up. (A3500/D2000/L7/P4) The dragon that socked Midnight in the jaw, destroying her and making Midnight flinch while holding her cheek.

Flash: 2400
Midnight: 2400

"Now, Magna Chimp, attack her directly!" The robotic monkey rushed forward, ready the slash at Midnight with its glowing claws.

"I activate my Trap!" Midnight's face down flipped up, "Defence Draw!" A shield flew up and blocked the attack, Midnight drawing a card as Magna Chimp jumped back.

"I place three cards face down and end my turn."

"My draw," Midnight explained as a portal appeared before her. "And now I activate the ability of Disharmian of Resentment." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, as the Sunset clone appeared infront of him before taking a defensive stance again. "If she's removed from the field due to a card effect, she's special summoned back to the field during my Standby Phase." Flash frowned, realising she was protecting her Archangel from Flash Heart's effect.

"Not good," the teen realised as the portal formed above Midnight's head.

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal shot out a single dark light, which struck the ground and exploded to reveal her ace. "Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Now for Archangel's skill!" Midnight discarded a card before another slotted out of her Deck, which she drew before playing. "I activate the Spell card, Pendulum Draw!" Midnight's extra deck opened before five lights shot out and took the form of the Disharmians used to summon Archangel. "Now, for every Pendulum Monster face up in my Extra Deck, I can draw a card."

"Seriously!" Spike cried as Midnight drew five cards.

"Seriously," she replied before playing another card. "Next, is the Spell card Disharmony Whirlwind!" Black whirlwinds wrapped around Archangel and Resentment, getting stronger and stronger by the second. "With this card, I can destroy one Spell or Trap of my choice for ever Disharmian on the field. So I think I'll destroy that face down," she pointed at the card in question before shifting her figure to one of Flash's Pendulum Zones. "And your Magna Sheep. No more Fusions for you." With wing exploded off the Disharmians and hit Flash's cards, destroying his Reflection Barrier and Magna Sheep."

"Awe man," Spike huffed.

"Now, Archangel, take out that robotic orangutan!" The dark angel charged her attack, preparing to obliterate Magna Chimp and deal Flash some serious damage. But as she fired the laser, Flash pressed his Duel Disk's screen.

"I activate my Quick-Play Spell!" His card flipper face up, "Magna Guard! You're not the only one who can change their monster's battle position!" Magna Chimp knelt down right before Midnight's laser struck it, getting destroyed but having Flash save and unharmed.

"Huh, not bad." Midnight placed a card face down, "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Flash drew his card and smiled seeing it was just what he needed. He looked up at Midnight's field and nodded seeing what he was up against. 'She didn't destroy Flash Heart so he couldn't be special summoned and remove her monsters. But that's fine. I'd rather destroy her in battle.' "I'll start by resetting the Pendulum Scale, with scale eight Magna Caster Attriborn!" The pillar of light appeared besides him as his new monster flew up into it.

This one was a spellcaster whose robes were a combo of red, blue, green, brown, yellow and purple with a hood up over his head. In his hand, he held a large staff with a spinning dial on the end of it that had six different coloured crystals with kanji representing the six attributes that made up the Duel Monsters game.

"Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" Flash cried out as his new Pendulum Scale caused the portal to form above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened above Flash's head before it spit out a light, which hit the ground and exploded to reveal his monster. "Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" (A1800/D600/L4/P9) "Now I activate Ratio's Pendulum Ability!" Flash drew three cards and smiled seeing one of them, "I got Magna Caster Lunara!" He placed that card in his pocket as Flash Heart's power increased. (A3700/D2000/L7/P4) "ATTACK!" The dragon's boosters exploded and propelled Flash Heart X across the field before it socked Midnight Archangel in the jaw, causing it to explode and deal Midnight serious damage.

Flash: 2400
Midnight: 1700

"Now for Magna Chimp." The robot leapt forward, "destroy that Disharmian of Resentment and get her out of my hair!"

"I don't think so," Midnight announced as her face down flipped up. "Go, Disharmian Grudge!" The gem on Resentment's necklace glowed before firing a blast at Magna Chimp, hitting it head on before she vanished through a portal. "By banishing a Disharmian on my field, I can reduce your monster's ATK points by hers."

Flash's eyes went wide before turning to Magna Chimp, seeing the spot the beam had struck radiate a light that spread around the rest of his body. (A0/D600/L4/P9) Despite Midnight's field being empty, the Magna monster couldn't hurt her and instead leapt back to Flash's field.

"Dang it," Flash placed a card face down. "I end my turn." Magna Chimp's ATK points returned to their normal sum. (A1800/D600/L4/P9)

"This Duel's getting kinda boring," Marble told the other Zealots. "After all the trouble we went through to get her here, I was expecting something a little more interesting from the vessel of Zeronull."

"You dare call Lady Midnight boring?" Skystar asked Marble in an almost enraged voice.

"This is about as much as we can expect from her," Trixie told them both. "She hasn't reached her full power yet. And she won't until she has all six Zenith Dragons in her possession."

Skystar's rage changed to one of worry. "But if she's not at full power yet, does that mean she's vulnerable to being defeated."

"Until she awakens her full power, yes."

"My turn," they turned back to Midnight as she once again used Dark Abyss Owl's ability to add a Spell card to her hand. Seconds later, Resentment returned before the portal began to open. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal her monster once again. "Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "With Archangel's skill, I discard a monster to add one monster to my hand." She did so as he deck slotted out a card for her to take and add to her hand. "Now, I play the Spell Pendulum Assault!"

"Pendulum what?" Spike asked before hearing a roar, making him and Flash look up to see Raging Greed Dragon jump out of the Pendulum Zone and land besides Midnight Archangel. (A2600/D1300/L6/P1)

"Pendulum Assault lets me special summon a monster in my Pendulum Zone until the End Phase. And now I can get rid of your Flash Heart Dragon!" Flash raised an eyebrow at this before looking down at his Duel Disk and tapping her dragon, bringing up its stats and card effect.

It read-

When this card destroys a monster in battle, that monster is sent to the bottom of your opponent's deck.

"Oh no," Flash realised what this meant. If he lost Flash Heart, there was no way he could win this Duel.

He then remembered one of his face downs and realised he had a way to protect him. "Now, Raging Greed Dragon, destroy Flash Heart Dragon X!" The dragon opened its mouth before launching a burst of green fire in Flash Heart's direction.

"I activate my Trap!" Flash yelled as his face down flipped up. "Mirage Summon!" In that moment, a second copy of Flash Heart Dragon appeared besides the original. The real Flash Heart turned into a light that shot into the air before flying into Flash's hand, morphing into a card. "Mirage Summon creates a Mirage copy of the monster I send back to my hand. This Mirage copy has the same name, ATK, DEF and Level of the monster its copying and it can't be destroy in battle." (A2500/D2000/L7) The green fire hit Flash Heart Mirage Dragon, but simply phased through it like a ghost and hit Flash instead. "Augh!"

Flash: 2300
Midnight: 1700

Flash panted as the flames vanished and he lowered his arms. "The down side is I can't attack with this monster. And during my next standby phase, I need to pay five hundred life points or destroy it."

"Huh," Midnight smiled, "not such a great monster then. Especially since you're about to lose a bunch more life points when Archangel destroys Magna Chimp!" The dark angel fired another blast at the robotic monkey, but Flash wasn't as worried. "I activate the effect of Magna Guard in my graveyard!" A shield appeared around him as the attack struck Magna Chimp, destroying it. "By banishing this card from my graveyard, I can cut the damage I take in half."

Flash: 1700
Midnight: 1700

Midnight didn't say anything else as she ended her turn. "With that, Raging Greed Dragon returns to my Pendulum Zone." The dragon flew up into the air and the light pillar appeared around it. "It's your turn."

'Yeah,' Flash thought, 'and I'm gonna need something big if I wanna win this.'

"You can do it Flash," Spike called out to him. "Remember. Twilight's counting on you."

"I know," Flash reached for his deck. "I draw!" He pulled the card off the top of his deck and looked it over, becoming shocked when he saw what he'd gotten. "No way." It was the Zenith Dragon, Granebris. He looked over his field and realised everything he had was perfect. "With Mirage Summon's effect, I now take five hundred points of damage."

Flash: 1200
Midnight: 1700

"Why'd he take the damage?" Skystar asked.

"We're about to find out," Guto as the portal opened.

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a light shot out and revealed Magna Chimp, who floated down next to Flash Heart Mirage Dragon.

Everything was set up. Now Flash could use the card. But should he?

He thought back to what Cold had told him about not being controlled by power. If that was the case, he should just use it. But was it too much power? But without it, he might not be able to save Twilight. Could he really-

"Flash!" The teen looked up after hearing the voice, one that he recognised. "Flash." Flash spun around, expecting to see Spike behind him. But instead of Spike, someone else was there. Vail Pixie.

And she wasn't alone. Every monster in Flash's deck aside from Flash Heart stood behind her, each with a worried look on their face. He looked back at Twilight and saw she was frozen, along with the rest of the people in the Omega Field. "What's going on?"

"Don't do this Flash," Vail Pixie told him. "Don't use that card. It's nothing but evil."

"What other choice do I have?" Flash asked as he turned away from her, his gaze falling back on Twilight. "With its power, I'll win and free Twilight."

"But what if you don't win?" Vail Pixie asked. "You know the cost of using those cards. If you lose-"

"That won't happen!"

"Flash, please reconsider. You can beat her without the Zenith Dragon."

"Maybe," Flash looked down at his Duel Disk, "but I can't take that risk." He raised his hand with the Zenith Dragon in it.

"FLASH!" Vail Pixie grabbed his arm, "don't!"

Flash glared at her, "let go."

"No," she shook her head, "you don't know what you're doing!"

Flash tried to shake her off, "let go!"

"I'm begging you," her eyes filled with tears. "Please listen to me." It was here that Flash finally reached his breaking point.

"I'm the Duellist and I decide what cards I use!" He finally threw her off, "so just shut up and let me win!" The look on Vail Pixie's eyes was one of betrayal and heartbreak, Flash looking away from her as she and the rest of Flash's monsters vanished while time seemed to return to normal. "I activate Attriborn's Pendulum Ability!" The Magna Caster raised its staff into the air as the dial on the end started spinning until the dark crystal was at the top. That crystal started glowing before it unleashed a wave of dark energy, which hit every monster on the field and every card in the Duellist's hands.

"What's going on?" Skystar asked.

"Attriborn has the power to change the attribute of every monster on the field and in our hands," Flash explained. "And with it, I changed all our monsters to the Dark Attribute."

"But why?" Guto asked, "why change your monster's attributes?"

"So I can use this!" Flash raised his card into the air as a dark energy exploded off of it, one Midnight, Spike and the Zealots recognised. "With this card, I put my entire future on the line."

"Wait," Spike's eyes went wide, "isn't that..."

"You gotta be kidding!" Skystar cried.

"If I lose this Duel, these cards of mine will be gone forever."

"He's really doing it," Trixie realised. "The nerve."

"First," he discarded Flash Heart, "I must tribute a Dark Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." As he did this, the Flash Heart Mirage Dragon flew up into the air before the darkness that surrounded them began to fly towards the robotic dragon and wrapped around it to form a dark cocoon that grew larger and larger by the second.

Despite what was coming, Midnight didn't look at all scared. In fact, she seemed to be smiling as the shadow cocoon began to turn into the purple slime and started dripping of it.

"Awaken," Flash chanted as the creature within started to emerge from the slime, "beast of darkness!" He slapped his card down on the Duel Disk, the last of the sludge exploding off the monster that was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Chaotic Darkness, GRANEBRIS!" Everyone just stared up at the dragon as it flew down behind Flash, Spike having to move around so his view wasn't blocked.

"Come on Flash."

Meanwhile, Skystar's entire body was shaking in rage. "He's not even a Zealot and he's daring to use a Zenith Dragon. What nerve!" Both Guto and Trixie looked just as insulted, while Marble just looked intrigued.

'Huh, what'll you do now Midnight?'

"The Zenith Dragon's ATK and DEF points become the combined total of the monsters used to summon it," Flash stated as Granebris's points were shown. (A5000/D4000/L12) Flash felt bad for what he'd said to his monsters, but he could just apologise to them later. Right now, only one thing mattered. "I will free you, Twilight! Skill of Zenith Dragon of Chaotic Darkness!" The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a purple mist from its mouth that struck his side of the field. "It's very presence casts a curse on your field, disabling the effects of all your Monsters, Spells and Traps! What's more, all your monsters lose half their ATK and DEF points"

Midnight looked up and saw her ace, along with the monsters in the Pendulum Zone, begin to clutch their necks like they were having trouble breathing. Midnight Archangel then went limp as she ATK and DEF points dropped down to half their full value. (A1500/D1250/L8/P5) The possessed teen then turned towards Flash, their eyes locking in an intense stare.

"Twilight," Flash told her, "you've always been there for me. Even when I was an idiot, or a jerk or a total loser, you stood by me and helped me grow. I wouldn't be where I am today without you." He shot her an intense look. "That's why, I'LL SAVE YOU! Zenith Dragon of Chaotic Darkness, ATTACK!" The dragon opened it's mouth, charging its attack. "CHAOTIC OBLIVION!" The dragon unleashed another roar, firing a burst of purple smoke that headed straight for Midnight Archangel. But as it approached-

"Skill activate!" Flash shot Midnight a surprised look.

"You can't! Granebris-"

"Will lose its abilities, thanks to the effect of a monster in my hand." Midnight discarded a card as a new Disharmian appeared, this one looking like a paler Starlight with the same dress armour as Misery and the others, along with her necklace having a grey equal sign shaped gemstone. Her hair was different however, instead being cut short at the front. "Disharmian of Inequality!" The Disharmian's necklace glowed before the gem fired a beat that hit Granebris in the forehead, replacing the Dark kanji in the crystal with the equal sign. "By discarding her, she negates the abilities of one monster on your field of the field."

"What!" Flash asked before looking down at his Duel disk, seeing the red Xs over Midnight's cards vanish. Then, Archangel's points changed back to their normal value. (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "No way."

"Your attack'll still wipe out her life points," Spike told him. "You've still got this."

"Don't be so sure," Midnight told him. "Did forget about my face down?" Her card flipped up, revealing a Trap. "I play Disharmian Unification!" Her Extra Deck opened up before firing out a bunch of lights, which took the form of Deceit, Betrayal, Misery, Greed and Cruelty. "Now, for every Disharmian I send from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, a Disharmian on my field gains three hundred ATK and DEF points." The five transformed back into lights, which flew around Archangel and powered her up. (A4500/D400/L8/P5)

Flash gasped seeing this as Granebris's attack struck Archangel, destroying her but not doing the damage he'd hoped.

Flash: 1200
Midnight: 1200

"Don't give up!" Spike cried, "you can still win this!"

Flash nodded back before turning to Midnight. "ATTACK!" The monkey shot forward, ready to slash at Disharmian of Resentment.

"I don't think so," she told him before a monster appeared infront of Resentment. Disharmian of Inequality took a defensive stance between her and Manga Chimp. (A1500/D1500/L4/P3)

"What?" Flash asked before Magna Chimp destroyed the Disharmian, "how?"

"Disharmony Grudge," Midnight explained. "By banishing it during an attack, I can summon a Disharmian with fifteen hundred or less ATK points from my graveyard and my that the target of your attack."

"No way," Spike whispered in despair. "Even with a Zenith Dragon, he couldn't beat her."

"I...I end my turn," Granebris suddenly started to fade into nothingness. "At the end of my turn, my Zenith Dragon is banished from the field and replaced by the monster used to summon it." He reached into his Duel Disk and took out the Flash Heart X he'd discarded, the monster appearing in Granebris's place. "Flash Heart's skill." Resentment was sucked into a portal, Midnight's field becoming empty.

Flash looked up at the robotic dragon as it flew back down, landing infront of him. But something felt...off. Flash expected Flash Heart to turn towards him, like he usually did when Flash looked up at him. But he didn't. It was almost like he was turning his back on Flash.

Then, after a few seconds, Flash realised the truth. Flash Heart wasn't turning his back on Flash. Flash had turned his back on Flash Heart, along with every other monster in his deck. "What have I done?"

"HA!" He looked up at the Zealots and saw Skystar laughing. "You actually thought you could use a Zenith Dragon's true power. How hilarious. The Zenith Dragons are the ultimate power, created by Zeronull, from elements that make up the world around us. There is no way a pitiful human could ever awaken their full power."

"She's right," Midnight said as her turn started and she used Dark Abyss Owl's ability. "The Zenith Dragon can no longer remain in your possession." Flash looked confused by this as Resentment returned to the field and the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and shot out a dark light, which struck the ground and exploded to reveal Midnight's ace. "Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Skill of Midnight Archangel," Midnight discarded a card and drew another one. "Now I have everything I need."

"To do what?" Flash asked as Midnight played a card.

"To win! I now pay half my life points to play Interdimensional Pillager!"

Flash: 1200
Midnight: 600

"This Spell lets me take any card you currently have removed from play...and add it to my hand!"

"WHAT!" Flash cried as he realised what that meant, "you don't mean-"

"I'm taking back that Zenith Dragon!" Midnight yelled while holding out a hand. "Hand it over!" Flash wanted to refuse, but he knew he couldn't and reached into his pocket before taking out the card and tossing it in Midnight's direction. The Zealots all smiled when she caught it.

"Brilliant my lady!" Guto cried. "Taking back what's rightfully ours! I'm so happy you became Zeronull's vessel."

"Quite right," Midnight them held up the card. "Now, let me show you what this beast can truly do." Flash's eyes went wide hearing this, as the card in her hand once again unleashed the dark light. "I now discard a Dark Attributed monster from my hand, as well as tribute the same monster from my field." Midnight Archangel leapt into the air as the shadow began to wrap around her and form the cocoon.

"Not again," Spike cried as the cocoon flew up into the air and transform into an orb of slime.

"Awaken!" Midnight cried as the slime slipped off and revealed the creature, "beast of darkness!" The slime exploded off the orb and once again, the Zenith Dragon was revealed. Only this time, it was floating behind Midnight instead of Flash. "Zenith Dragon of Chaotic Darkness, GRANEBRIS!"

"No," Flash whispered as Midnight continued.

"You already know Granebris's ability," she told him as the dragon unleashed the cursed breath onto his field. Flash could only watch as Flash Heart, Magna Chimp, Ratio and Attriborn all choked as their abilities were negated and their power cut in half. (A1250/D1000/L7/P4) (A900/D450/L4/P9)

Flash's entire body shook with fear as he looked over his situation, having zero way of protecting himself from what was about to happen. "Flash!" He turned back to Spike, "come on. Are you seriously giving up?"

"I...I..."

"You have to win! We have to get Twilight back." Like Flash, Spike's body was also shaking. "Please Flash."

Flash stared at him for a moment before nodding, "He's right." He turned back to Midnight, "this is one Duel that I...can't afford to lose." He continued to stare at the possessed girl, their eyes remaining locked onto one another. "TWILIGHT!" And upon this outcry, something happened.

In the blink of an eye, everything around Flash changed.

Them Midnight and everyone around him had vanished, but the Omega Field remained. However, now it wasn't just black with stars all around. Instead it was a mixture of colours, with clouds of space gas floating around him along with swirling galaxies and what not. "What the?...Where am I?"

As he looked around, his gaze finally landed on someone that made his heart stop. "Twilight."

His girlfriend floated there, dressed in her real clothes, looking like she was asleep. Flash tried to rush towards her, but no matter how fast he ran he didn't move an inch. And instead, Twilight floated away from him. "Twilight!" He cried, only to then see a new figure appear behind Twilight. Zeronull.

The outer god was floating behind Twilight as she moved towards him, eventually disappearing into him. "No." As this happened, a new image appeared between him and Zeronull. This image was of two planets, one being earth and the other being the Duel Monster Spirit World.

Flash was suddenly reminded of something he'd seen during his second Duel with Tempest, with this image repeating the same situation as the two planets grew closer together. Then, as they were about to touch, a bright light exploded out from between them that blinded Flash.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he closed his eyes, the light almost burning his skin it was so bright.

"FLASH!" Hearing Spike's voice, he opened his eyes and found he was back in the Omega Field with the others.

"What was that?"

"It's time to end this!" He turned back to Midnight as she pointed at him, the Zenith Dragon opening it's mouth and charging its attack.

Flash frowned as he prepared for what was coming. "I can feel that you're still in there," he told Twilight. "If I reach out, I can get to you!"

"CHAOTIC OBLIVION!" Midnight screamed as the dragon unleashed another roar, firing a burst of purple smoke that headed straight for Flash Heart. The ground shook from the force, but Flash wasn't giving up.

"I have to win, for you!" The blast struck Flash Heart and exploded, causing it and every other monster on Flash's field and Pendulum Zones to disintegrate before moving towards Flash. "TWILIGHT!" With that, the blast struck him and he was sent flying backwards.

Flash: 0
Midnight: 600 (Winner)

Spike could only watch and wait as the smoke finally cleared. When it did, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Flash lay on the ground of the Omega Field, though it looked like he was floating, his body smoking while his face showed a look of pain "No," he whispered in shock, "you...lost."

"Augh!" Flash cried as he pushed himself back into a sitting position, then tried to push himself back up. But his legs gave out and he fell to his knees, panting in exhaustion.

It was then that he noticed his cards start to glow a purple light before they flew out of his deck, graveyard, extra deck and pocket. Every single card he owned floated infront of him.

"No," he said while realising what was about to happen. Seconds later, Neo Lightspeed and Feral Lindworm burst into flames. Reality Buster and several other cards followed suit, Flash's deck quickly turning to balls of fire one by one. "NO!" More and more his cards exploded until all that was left were some that he knew better then any other. Solaris, Lunara, both exploding at the same time and leaving two more.

"Vail Pixie, please-" He didn't get to finish as the card burst into flame and fell to the ground as nothing bust ash. Flash then turned to his ace, which seemed to be staring at him with judgement. "I'm sorry." This didn't stop the card from exploding and joining the rest of his deck on the ground, Flash dropping to his knees and scooping as much of the ash up as he could.

He didn't care that it was still hot, his eyes filling with tears as he realised what he'd just done. "No."

"The cards, and the bond they represented, is now gone." He looked up at Midnight, seeing her hold up the Zenith Dragon. "You knew the risk this card possessed and you still used it. Strange. From the memories I have from Twilight, you usually wouldn't have risked them for anything. She must mean an awful lot to you. Or should I say, meant an awful lot to you."

Flash's face turned to one of rage, the look causing nothing but a chuckle from the possessed girl.

"At least you won't have to worry about making that mistake again. Now that this card is safe back where it belongs."

"Not only that," Skystar smiled. "Your victory with it in this Duel has allowed the Zenith Dragon to finally awaken its full power."

Guto nodded, "now all we need is to reacquire the Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno. Once we have it, Zeronull's full power will awaken."

"But first, I need something else." Midnight held out her hand, Skystar quickly rushing over to place the Void Cube in her hand. Midnight then moved the box around and pointed it at Flash. "Flash Sentry, your spirit will act as the fuel needed to allow my full awakening." Flash's eyes went wide hearing this, seeing a red light escape from the gaps in the cube. "By the way, I'm dumping you." With that, the cube opened and unleashed the light that flew towards the defeated teen.

"FLASH!" Spike cried, trying to get up and save him but his broken legs forced him to stop.

All Flash could do as the light flew towards him was flinch and brace himself, waiting for it to hit him and suck his soul out. But after several seconds, nothing happened.

A gasping made him open his eyes and look around, gasping himself when he saw something blocking the light from touching him. Another light, which was wrapped around his body and blocking the Void Cube's power. The light from the cube was sucked back inside before all the power could be used up, Midnight holding it close to her as she stared at the light around Flash.

"How?" Her answer came when the light flew off Flash's body and began to take shape up above them all, morphing into a form everyone knew. Flash Heart Dragon.

"Flash Heart?" Flash picked himself up while staring at his ace...former ace, the dragon keeping its focus squarely locked on Midnight.

"How?" She once again asked, "the card was destroyed. You shouldn't have a connection to this world." Flash Heart didn't respond, instead unleashing a light from its body that flew out and caused the Omega Field to shake and unleash sparks or red lightning around them.

"What's happening?" Marble asked while trying not to fall over.

"Flash Heart's destabilising the field!" Guto yelled back, "but how is that possible? How can that one monster have the power to destabilise something created using Zeronull's power?"

"That's no ordinary monster," Midnight told them before spinning around and glaring at her Zealots. "We're leaving. NOW!" The Zealots nodded as Guto pulled out a card and threw it, creating a portal that the Zealots rushed into. When Midnight was about to step into it, she stopped and looked back at Flash for a moment.

Their eyes locked for a single moment, Flash only now realising what was happening.

"WAIT!" He jumped to his feet and rushed forward, but Midnight turned away and leapt through the portal before he could reach her. Once she was through, the portal vanished. "TWILIGHT!" The was all he could say before the Omega Field was consumed by a light and both he and Spike cried out as they were blinded.

"What is going on?" Scootaloo cried as the lightning around the dark orb starting going haywire, forcing the lot of them to step back.

"I don't know," Misty told her. "But I'm betting it's not good." Then, before anyone could say anything else, the orb completely exploded and unleashed a bright light that blinded them all. They cried out and shielded their eyes until the light finally faded, letting them look over at where the orb had been before gasping.

"FLASH/SPIKE!" They yelled as they saw the two laid out on the ground. They rushed over to them, Misty, Cold and Scootaloo circling around Flash while Cadance, Starlight and Sunburst circled Spike. "Are you okay?" Misty asked as Cold sat Flash up, but the teen didn't respond.

"Spike!" Sunburst shook the teen, but Spike also didn't respond. They began to worry until they both let out moans, their eyes beginning to crack open. "Oh, thanks goodness."

"What happened?" Starlight asked, but they still didn't respond. Then, Cadance noticed something.

"Wait," she looked around, "where's Twilight." This seemed to get the boy's attention, Cadance looking down at them. "What happened. Where is she?"

The boy remained silent for a moment until Spike finally spoke up. "I'm sorry. Twilight...is gone." This statement caused everyone to go deathly silent as they heard this, Flash meanwhile feeling himself lose consciousness again.

And as he slipped into the darkness, his thoughts were only on one thing. "Twilight."

Author's Note

Well, that happened.

I know many of your are probably upset about Flash risking his deck like that. But can you honestly tell me that if the love of your life was possessed by an evil being and the only way to save them was to do something risky like that, you wouldn't be tempted.

Turn 22: What Might Have Been

The first thing Flash noticed as he began to wake up was a gentle breeze.

If flew over him, causing mild goosebumps by the fresh air it hit him with made him smile and feel completely relaxed as the rest of his body woke up. In doing so, he noticed his head on one something soft and firm. He also felt a pair of fingers tracing through his hair, filling him with a happy feeling as he began to open his eyes.

In doing so, he found himself looking up into the bespectacled eyes of his beautiful girlfriend.

Twilight stared down at him with a smile on his face. "Hey you."

Flash smiled back, "hey you." He then looked around and saw they were in the park, relaxing under a tree with Flash's head on Twilight's lap. "What happened? I...I don't remember anything. And I'm...so tired." This caused Twilight to giggle and continue to stroke her hand through his hair.

"I'm not surprised. After what you went through."

"What I went through?"

"Don't you remember. Zeronull took me over and turned me into Midnight Sparkle. Then we Duelled and you won, freeing me."

"Oh yeah," Flash smiled. "I did do that, didn't I."

"You saved me," Twilight said. "You're my hero. That's why we're all here, celebrating."

"All?"

"Flash!" The teen turned his head towards the voice, seeing Vail Pixie and all his other monsters scattered around the park. The lower Level monsters were running around, playing and laughing while the mid-level monsters were talking to one another and the higher-levelled ones were simply sitting around enjoying the experience. Vail Pixie flew over to them. "Come on. Let's play together. It'll be great."

Flash laughed and closed his eyes. "Sorry, I'm just too tired. Maybe later."

Vail Pixie pouted, "spoil sport!" With that, she flew back over to the other low level monsters and enjoyed herself while Flash just laid there on Twilight's lap.

He then noticed Flash Heart standing not to far off, the two locking eyes before Flash Heart gave him a thumbs up. Flash smiled back before giving his own thumbs up and looking up at Twilight. "Everything's perfect."

"It sure is," Twilight nodded. "Zeronull's gone. The Zealots have been sent back to their world and their hosts are all free." To prove that, Marble, Guto, Trixie and Skystar stepped into view.

"Flash!" He turned to see Marble waving at him, "thanks for saving me." She then turned and rushed off, Flash following her and seeing both Pinkie and Marble standing off to the side and hugging their sister when she got to them.

"You should be proud," Twilight told him. "You've made a perfect world where humans and Duel spirits can live in harmony." With that, she slowly lowered her head. "That's why I love you." Flash smiled and began to life his head, their lips getting closer and closer by the second. But just before they could kiss, the gentle breeze vanished and the voices of his friends went quiet.

"What?" Flash pulled away from Twilight and looked around, seeing everyone except the two of them were gone. "Where is everyone?" Exhaustion forgotten, Flash pushed himself to his feet and stepped forward. "Guys!?" There was no reply, just the ominous silence. "Something doesn't feel right." As he said this, the whole park was suddenly shrouded in darkness.

He looked up and saw a bunch of ominous storm clouds begin to appear above the park, blocking out the sun as a rumble of thunder made Flash shudder.

"Something's happening. Something bad."

"AUGH!" Flash's head shot up hearing Twilight cry out before he spun around, seeing her being attacked by something. Below her feet was a puddle of black liquid that had black tendrils shooting out and wrap around her arms, legs and waist. "What's happening?" She cried as the tendrils dragged her down into the puddle, Flash rushing towards her.

"Twilight!" Flash jumped forward to try and grab her, but Twilight was pulled under the liquid before it vanished as he landed where it was. "NOOOOO!" More thunder caused him to look up and see something appearing from out of the thunder clouds. And that something was Zeronull. "You!"

Zeronull stared down at Flash, barely appearing to have noticed him before spreading its six robotic wings. It then unleashed burst of different coloured lights from the orbs on its wings, with flew out and hit the city around them to cause explosions.

Flash could only watch in horror as Canterlot was destroyed, the teen rushing out the park into the wrecked city. Upon seeing all the destruction caused by Zeronull, his anger only grew more and more as he stared up at the beast.

Then, a moan of pain made him look towards one of the destroyed buildings. And as he did, he saw Spike half buried under the debris. "Spike!" He rushed over to the teen, but no matter how hard he pushed he couldn't lift the rocks off of him.

"Why?" Flash looked down at Spike, the injured teen looking up at him. "Why couldn't you save us."

"Us?" Flash then heard more moans and turned to see all his friends scattered about the streets, all in some form of pain caused by Zeronull. "No." He rushed over to them and found Scootaloo and his mother a ways off, both looking badly wounded.

"Why couldn't you save us?" Scootaloo asked him.

"I...I tried," Flash whispered. He tried to reach out and touch her, but when he did she exploded like a Duel monster would. "NO!" He looked around and saw the rest of his friends begin to explode, each one asking the same thing.

"Why?" Rainbow asked.

"Why?" Sunburst asked.

"Why?" Cadance asked.

"No," Flash shook his head, "please no." Eventually, the last of his friends vanished and he was left all alone. And then, when Flash thought things couldn't get any worse-

"FLASH!" He looked up and saw his monsters all floating in the air, each on looking down at him with a look of betrayal on their faces. "Why?" Vail Pixie asked through her tears, "why did you betray us."

"I...I...I didn't have a choice." As soon as he said that, his monsters all burst into flames and cried out in pain as they were destroyed. "STOP!" Flash fell to his knees, tears filling his eyes. "Please stop."

"Why?" Flash's eyes shot open hearing that voice, making him look up and see Twilight floating above him with a sad look on her face. "Why couldn't you save me?" She asked, Flash unable to find the words to respond before she began to scream in pain as the darkness wrapped around her.

"Twilight!" Flash pushed himself back to his feet, trying to reach out to her as the shadows exploded off of her. But Twilight no long floated there, Midnight Sparkle flying in her place and letting out a sinister laugh as he continued to reach for her. "TWILIGHT!" He screamed as the world around him went dark.

"TWILIGHT!" Flash cried as he sat up, arm stretched out infront of him to grasp something.

He panted, heavily, as his brain began to catch up and realise that what he'd just seen was a dream. When that thought finally sank in, he lowered is arm before looking around and seeing he was in some kind of hospital room and he was dressed in some kind of hospital gown.

Before he could think anything other then that, the door opened and Misty rushed inside. "Flash!" She hugged him tightly as Scootaloo and, too Flash's surprise, Shining stepped into the room. "Thank goodness you're awake."

"Mom?" Was all Flash said as she let him go, "where am I?"

"Freeze Stadium," Shining explained. "They brought you and Spike here for a check-up."

"Spike?" It was then Flash remembered what'd happened, including Spike's injured leg. "Is he alright? Where is he?"

"He's fine," Scootaloo assured him. "He's a few rooms over. His leg is broken, but that's about the worst he got." Flash nodded as more and more memories came flooding back to him, including one that made his heart stop before turning to Shining.

"Twilight-"

"We know," Shining frowned. "Spike let us know what happened when they found you." Despite the calm exterior Shining had, Flash could tell that beneath the surface he was holding back a storm of rage.

Flash turned to his mother, "how long was I out?" He knew Shining was in New York when Twilight was taken, so he had to have been out a while for him to get back there.

"About two days," Misty told him. "You had us worried." Flash nodded before his eyes fell upon his Duel Disk, the sight triggering another memory that once again made his heart stop. "I wouldn't," Misty said when he reached out to take it. This made him hesitate for a moment, but eventually grabbed the device and pulled it over to him.

Opening the slot where his deck should be, Flash felt sick when he saw it was empty. "They're gone," he whispered. Everyone else was quiet, knowing how hard all this was for him. Not only had he failed to save the girl he'd lost, he'd also lost the most important thing he owned. His very soul as a Duellist.

Misty slowly placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay Flash. We'll...figure something out." Flash didn't say anything else, instead simply staring down at his empty Duel Disk. "Come on everyone," she stood up. "Let's give him some time to rest." The others nodded and headed out the door, Misty being the last ever telling Flash, "the doctors should be by shortly. They'll wanna make sure you're okay now that you're awaken." Flash nodded as she headed out, the teen taking this moment to lay back in his bed and let everything about his situation sink in.

And as it did, nothing but a frown covered his lips.

Meanwhile, in another part of the building, Cold, Adagio and Cadance were in a boardroom.

A holographic screen showed images of Grand, Tempest, Tidal and Rainbow. "According to Spike, the Dominate caused Twilight and Zeronull's consciousnesses to merge into a new being calling herself Midnight Sparkle. She's the one who intends to fulfil Zeronull's goal of destroying both worlds."

Rainbow sighed, "I can't believe Twilight got taken over."

Tidal looked close to tears, "amiga." He opened his eyes and turned serious. "We must do something to free her from Zeronull." Cadance hugged herself, squeezing her arms at the thought of her sister becoming the destroyer of the world

"We will," Cold told him. "But we need more information."

"He's right," Grand agreed. "And luckily, our investigation have brought up several spots we think might be the Zealot's hideout."

"We should try and hit them all at once," Tempest told them. "It's the only way we'll be sure we've got them."

Rainbow nodded before punching her fist into her hands. "And once we capture them, we can find a way to force Zeronull out of Twilight."

The others all nodded until Adagio finally spoke up. "Not to sound indelicate, but isn't there something else we should be focusing on first." This caused Cadance to shoot a glare at her.

"What could be more important then saving Twilight?" She almost yelled, "I would have thought you'd want to help save her. Considering she's the one who saved you from Sombra before."

"I'm not saying it's not important," Adagio told her. "But if we don't take this factor into account, we may not get a chance to save Twilight."

"Which is?" Grand asked.

"The fact that this Midnight Sparkle intends to destroy the world. While we sit here, twiddling our thumbs and deciding what to do, she's preparing to destroy us all."

"She has a point," Tempest agreed. "But that raises another question. If Zeronull's finally free and in our world, what's he waiting for?"

"Spike may have answered that," Cold said. "After Flash lost, Midnight tried to do something to him using the power of Void. But before she could, the process was interrupted. It's clear that simply Dominating a host isn't enough to awaken Zeronull's full power. And without that full power, Midnight can't destroy the world. That gives us some breathing room."

"So awakening Zeronull's power has more requirements then we thought," Tidal stated. "Any idea what those are?"

Grand sighed. "Right now, we can only speculate. But it's clear Void is one of them. And another one might be...the Zenith Dragons."

"You're right," Adagio agreed. "If the Zenith Dragons are the key to Zeronull destroying our world, then getting our hands on them is our best bet to stopping that plan."

"We've already got the Fire Dragon," Rainbow pointed out. "So as long as we have it, Zeronull's up a creak."

"You're right," Cold nodded. "But that also means they'll be gunning to take the card back. And no matter how well we hide, I'm sure they'll track it down."

"So what are you going to do?" Tempest asked.

"I've already put some plans into motion to make sure the card stays safe."

Las Vegas.

At the giant casino city, we find both Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst stepping off the plan from Canterlot. The three made their way through the airport, eventually stopping when they spotted a group of four standing in the terminal waiting for them.

Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack and Maud all smiled at the three, ready to do whatever it took to keep the Zealots from reclaiming the Zenith Dragon.

"Good," Grand nodded, "nice to know the card's in safe hands."

Cold nodded in agreement. "I don't think we need to discuss anything else at this time. Keep looking into your leads and be ready to mobilise when the time comes." The four on screen nodded before the holograms disappeared. And as they did, there was a knock at the door. "Enter." A nurse from the medical staff stepped inside.

"Excuse me sir. You asked to be informed when Flash Sentry regained consciousness. Well he just has." This drew all of Cold's attention as he picked himself up and rushed out the room, Cadance following as they headed towards the hospital wing. "Sir," the nurse chased after them, "he's still being examined. You won't be able to talk to him for a while." Cold didn't listen and kept going, arriving at the medical wing and spotting Misty, Scootaloo and Shining standing outside the room.

Misty was the first to notice them approaching and frowned as Cold asked, "how is he?"

"How do you think he is?" Misty asked. "His girlfriend as been taken over and when he tried to free her, he lost not only the Duel but also his entire deck." Cold, Shining and Cadance frowned hearing this, Shining and Cadance looking sad at the mention of Twilight while Cold just looked ashamed. "What were you thinking, giving him that card?"

Cold sighed. "I thought that if anyone could use it for good, it was him. And I didn't actually expect him to Duel. I hoped we'd take out the Zealots before he had a chance to use it. And since they were after him, I thought that it would help if the worst should occur and he did get stuck Duelling them. I thought saving himself from getting Dominated was worth the risk the dragon's use possessed."

"But they didn't Dominate him," Cadance moved over to Shining as he pulled her into a hug. "And now Twilight's gone and the one with the best chances of saving her has lost his Deck."

Scootaloo turned to Misty. "Why don't you just remake the cards? Then he could Duel again." But Misty just shook her head, turning to look into the room her son was in as the doctors examined him.

"It's not that simple. It wasn't just the cards that Flash lost when he used the Zenith Dragon. It was the link those cards represent to the Duel Spirits." She turned back to Scootaloo. "That link as been shattered and simply replacing the cards isn't going to fix that." She shook her head. "No, I'm not even sure this is something that can be fixed."

Scootaloo looked down, "so what do we do?" Before anyone could answer, the door opened and the doctors stepped outside.

The head turned to the group and explained, "he's fine...physically."

"But mentally?" Cold asked, the doctor frowning as he looked down.

"It's clear he's suffered some serious mental trauma. I've seen it a few times in others who have had something terrible happen to them. He barely said anything to us, only saying just enough to get the info we needed out of him."

"So what do we do?" Misty asked.

"In situations like this, the best thing for him is to know he's not alone. Let him know you're there for him, but don't overdo it or you could only make the issue worse. Let him come to you and just be willing to listen to whatever he has to say. If he's gonna get through this, he'll need help." The others nodded as the doctors all left.

Once they were gone, Misty could only sigh. "I can't imagine how Flash must be feeling right now. The two things that have been the biggest support for him are gone."

Cadance nodded. "Twilight was always the person he felt the most comfortable explaining his issues to. Meanwhile, his deck was what gave him the confidence to be himself."

Scootaloo nodded. She remembered back to how life was before Flash got his deck. It was hard to believe the happy and friendly teen she'd grown to love over the last year and a half was ever a gloomy loner who refused to even acknowledge her as his sister when they weren't in the house together. His deck had been the catalyse that helped him open up and Twilight had been the one to help him break through his previous issues. Now that they were gone, the girl began to fear that her brother might revert back to that state.

It was in that moment that the door to Flash's room opened and the teen stepped out.

"Flash?" Misty raised an eyebrow, "you should be resting."

"I've just spent two days resting," Flash told her as he stepped into the hallway. "I can't just sit around and do nothing. I was hoping to see how Spike's doing."

"I don't see any issue with that," Cadance told him. "Come on, I'll show you where his room is." Flash and Cadance both headed down the hall with Shining following them. As they headed off, Misty turned to Cold.

"We have to do something" He turned to her. "As much as I hate to force him into this, you and I both know Flash may be the only person who has any hope of freeing Twilight and stopping Zeronull's plan. But if he's gonna do that, he needs to regain his connection to his Duel Monsters."

Cold nodded. "I caused this. It's only right I find a way to fix it."

"So what are you going to do?" Misty asked.

Cold remained silent for a moment before finally saying something. "I think I might know someone who can help. I'll have to make a call."

Flash, Cadance and Shining soon arrived outside Spike's room and Flash knocked, hearing Spike reply.

"Come in."Flash opened the door and stepped inside, instantly flinching when he saw Spike laying on the bed with his right leg in a cast. The teen smiled seeing him and he slowly shifted so his legs touched the floor. "Flash, you're awake."

"Yeah," Flash nodded. "I just woke up a little while ago." He looked down at the encased leg and frowned, "how are you feeling."

"I'm okay," Spike assured him. "It's not as bad as it looks. As long as I do my physio, I should make a full recovery." Flash didn't seem happy with this news.

"You shouldn't have to do any of that at all," he said while walking over to the window. He looked out at the city for a few moments before turning back to Shining and the others. These were the three people who probably cared about Twilight even more then him. "I'm so sorry," they all seemed surprised by this. "It's my fault this all happened. Spike's leg getting hurt...and Twilight..."

"Flash," Cadance spoke up, "you shouldn't blame yourself."

"Twilight got Dominated because she was trying to save me. And when I had the chance to save her, I failed." Flash's fists scrunched up, his pants fabric held in them. "Because of me, she's trapped in her own body is probably being forced to watch as this stranger uses her as a puppet to try and destroy the world, all because of me."

"We're gonna get her back," Shining told him. "We'll free her and stop this Midnight Sparkle's plan."

"Even if that does happen, think of what this is gonna do to her. Twilight might never be the same after this. And it's my fault. I've ruined her life."

"Flash," Spike began before Flash moved towards the door.

"I should go." He moved passed the and reached to door, opening it. Before he stepped out, he said something that would shock them all. "Everything would be so much better if I never came into her life to begin with." This statement caused the three to gasp as Flash stepped out of the door and walked off.

African desert.

At an abandoned army base, in an underground bunker, we find the Zealots in a redesigned laboratory. Within it, Midnight laid within a metal egg shaped pod with a glass cover. A strange camera pointed at her from above. In the room next to hers, Guto, Trixie and Skystar were looking at a computer that showed images of Midnight with energy coming off her. Marble was sat behind them, eating a bag of chips as Trixie spoke.

"This is a time rest," she explained. "Despite not being able to absorb Sentry's spirit, Zeronull has formed a stable connection within Twilight's body."

"Good," Guto nodded. "Then we won't have to worry about body decay, at least not for a while."

"I'm amazed a human body can contain that much power," Skystar told them. "I would have thought she'd eventually pop like a balloon."

"Remember," Trixie told her, "she's not accessing all of Zeronull's power yet. That won't occur until we have all the Zenith Dragon back. Once we have them and a soul powerful enough to power Void, Zeronull's true power will awaken and the perfect world will finally be created."

It was then that the door opened and Midnight stepped out of the room. "My lady," Guto turned to her. "You shouldn't push yourself. It will take time for your body to adjust."

"That's time we don't have," Midnight told them without looking. She walked forward with her arms behind her back, "what is the state of Project Omega Zenith?" She asked them, Skystar standing to attention.

"My lady. All six Zenith Generators are ready. Once we have Perfignis back, we'll have almost everything we need to accomplish your goal."

"Almost?" Midnight turned to her, Skystar looking down at her gaze.

"We...em...still lack a way to get them into position. The teleportation method we have cannot transport something that big as far as a few miles. There's no way they can transport them high enough."

Midnight smirked, "no problem." She looked away. "Once I have access to my full power, I can transport them where they need to be." The Zealots looked impressed by this as Marble stood up and moved over to her, the other Omega Zealots frowning at how close she was getting.

"Can you really do it?" She asked the dominated Twilight. "Destroy this world and create a better one, with everything we could ever want in it?" The Zealots expected Midnight to yell at Marble for doubting her godly power, but she didn't.

Instead, she simply placed a hand on Marble's cheek. "Yes. Help me destroy these worthless worlds and I'll create a whole knew world for you to live it. A dream world that'll have everything you ever wanted within it. Everything...and everyone you want." Marble's eyes went wide hearing this, the other Zealots seeing her hand shift to her stomach at that moment.

"But it won't be real?" Marble asked, Midnight smiling.

"It'll be real to you. I'll wipe your memory so you think the dream you're having has always been your life. Everything bad that every happened to you will be forgotten and replaced by everything you've ever wanted." Marble smiled at this. And not the sinister jester smile she was known for, but a genuine smile.

Midnight then turned to the others. "And it won't just be you. Anyone you've ever cared for." She turned to Guto, "friends." He smiled as she turned to Skystar, "family." Skystar looked close to tears as she turned to Trixie, "and everyone else. They'll all experience the perfect world I intend to create in place of this disease we call the universe. But I'll need your help to accomplish that goal." The moved over so every Zealot was in view, "do I have your support?" The Zealots all nodded as she held up her marked hand. "Then take this."

Before anyone could ask what she was doing, four red light shot out of the mark and flew over to their hands. Each one hit them and as the Zealots looked down at the circular symbols on the hands, a red omega symbol appeared around the mark.

"What is this?" Trixie asked, Midnight smiling in response.

"With this, you'll each be able to create your own Omega Field. You'll also be given a few more abilities that'll come in handy during our mission." As she said this, she suddenly began to get wobbly.

Guto rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulder. "You can't overexert yourself this soon. You must rest." Midnight nodded and allowed him to help her back to the pod she'd been laying in.

As they left, Marble stared down at her enhanced mark before moving towards a nearby window and staring out of it. "Soon."

Back in Canterlot, Flash was out in the stadium's seating area.

He was leaning against the railing, his mind forcing him to remember all the battles he'd had in it. The Celestic Cup and Double X flashed infront of his mind, along with all the Duels he'd had within them. But then his brain showed him the image of Twilight when she was defeated by Shadow, laid out on the ground looking like she was in serious pain.

"Because of me," he told himself. Now that he thought about it, the only reason Twilight had been in the Celestic Cup was because she'd been trying to help him uncover the truth about his deck. If he'd never picked up that deck, she probably would have still competed but not have the drive to make it all the way to when she fought against Shadow. "My fault again." His whole body shook and he eventually slammed his fist down on the railing. "All I ever do is cause problems!"

He closed his eyes and let his thoughts continue to swirl around, his imagination taking hold of him.

So, when he opened his eyes, he wasn't in the stadium any more. Instead, he was at school. Standing infront of his locker, he opened it up and looked down to see a deck of cards infront of him atop his books.

He reached out to take the deck, but stopped inches before he touched it and pulled his hand away. Shutting the locker, he walked away and left the deck where it was.

The dream then changed to show Flash in the park, looking over the situation where Spike was getting picked on by Garble. And instead of intervening, he turned to walk away. Flash forwarding to present day, Flash was walking through the street alone. And as he turned the corner, he almost ran into somebody. Twilight.

The two pulled back from hitting each other, Flash seeing the rest of the old gang behind her. "Excuse me," he said as they moved aside without really noticing him. Once that'd happened, he passed by them and they forgot he even existed once they were gone. This was the way things were suppose to be.

Flash never picked up that deck. He never got back into Duelling. He never caused the Dominators to come to earth and Twilight remained safely away from him. She would spend the rest of her life happy and safe. Zeronull would never escape his prison and the world would never be placed in danger. All this because he chose to never touch those cards in the first place. Because he never made the mistake of taking up Duelling again. This was how things should have been.

But, alas, it wasn't what happened.

"Flash!" The teen was pulled out of his daydream by Shining's voice, making him open his eyes and looked around to see Shining marching towards him. Cadance and Spike were behind him, slowed down by Spike's need to use crutches.

Before Flash could say anything, he suddenly felt a burning pain in his cheek and the next thing he knew he was laid out of the floor. "Shining!" He heard Cadance cry as he opened his eyes and looked up at Shining, whose fist was raise. "What are you doing?"

"Hopefully, knocking some sense back into him." Shining reached down and grabbed Flash's shirt, pulling him back up to his feet. "What do you think you're doing, saying everything would be better if you'd never come into Twilight's life?"

"I'm right!" Flash told him as he pulled himself free. "The only reason Twilight was in that situation was because of me. The only reason any of you have ever been in danger is because I was dragging you into it."

"That's not true," Cadance told him.

"Is it?" Flash asked. "If I had just left that deck where it was, Twilight never would have had any interest in me. She would have gotten to enjoy her life, safely far away from me. But because I did, not only did she get pulled into this stupid situation, but so did you and everyone else." Tears began to fill his eyes. "I'm the one that showed the Dominators how to get here. I'm the one that caused Tempest, Starlight, Marble and all the others to get taken over and lose a part of their lives. Wonderbolts Academy wouldn't have been destroy. Everyone whose been hurt by the Zealots would be fine. Zeronull would still be locked away-"

"And the world would have destroyed by the Doom-Vaders!" Spike cried out, shocking Flash. "Did you forget about that little detail?"

Shining nodded. "You might have showed the Zealots the way to this world, but you saved it from Sombra."

"Someone else would have done the same thing," Flash told them.

"You don't know that," Cadance replied. "For all we know, you might have been the only one able to stop Sombra. You can't just assume someone else would have stepped in and stopped him. You stopped him. You saved the world."

"But at what cost? Thanks to me, Twilight-"

"It's thanks to you that Twilight is even the person she is today," Shining interrupted. "You don't know this, but before Twilight met you she had no confidence in herself. She was bullied at her previous school, forcing our parents to move her to Canterlot High. Sure, she made a few friends when she was there. But she didn't really open up until she met you."

Cadance nodded. "If you hadn't come into her life, she might have slowly fallen back into her old habits. Avoiding people and not opening up to anyone else except us."

"And her Duelling would have suffered," Spike went on. "Do you remember the first time she Duelled Trixie. If it hadn't been for you, she would have lost and not known why. She would have lost her best card and her confidence might have been shot. She never would have entered the Celestic Cup"

"Did you forget what happened in the Celestic Cup?" Flash asked them. "When she faced Shadow. She got seriously hurt."

"But she recovered," Shining reminded him. "And everything leading up to that moment, along with everything after it, helped her grow. Because of those events, she had the confidence to go to France and meet Moondancer. She entered the Double X and grew even more, becoming more incredible then I ever thought she'd be."

"But now she's been Dominated," Flash pointed out.

"We're gonna get her back," Shining assured him. "And don't give me that trash about her not being the same after we free her. Twilight's too strong to let something like this ruin her life. When she's freed, she'll be back to her happy amazing self. And if she does have issues after it, we'll be there to help her through them. And that includes you. Because no matter what you think Flash, you are the best thing that ever happened to Twilight."

Flash didn't say anything, instead turning away from them and looking out at the field.

Shining continued. "If I could go back in time right now and convince my parents not to transfer Twilight to CHS, I wouldn't." Flash seemed surprised by this. "Even knowing what was gonna happen to her, I wouldn't let anything stop her from meeting you."

"None of us would," Cadance agreed. "Even if we knew what the future had in store for her, we wouldn't deprive her of that experience. Because the Twilight we know and love, wouldn't exist without you in her life." Flash continued to simply stare out at the stadium, not looking at any of them.

"Flash," Spike almost yelled out, "you can't let things end like this!"

Flash just shut his eyes and tried to block everything out, silence falling upon him. He then opened his eyes and saw he was in a dark void, with nothing around him. But that didn't last long as a presence appeared behind him and he looked around to see someone he never thought he'd see again. Flash Heart Dragon.

The robotic Duel Monster stared down at him, Flash staring back unable to think of what to say. But before he could, Flash Heart spoke to him, using the voice he'd heard during the Double X. "Do you truly wish you'd never met me?" Flash felt flawed by this question, remembering the daydream he'd had.

If he'd never picked up that deck, he never would have met Flash Heart.

Another presence made him turn to see Vail Pixie, who had the same sad look she had the last time he saw her. And she wasn't alone, as more of his friends started to appear. Spike, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Sweetie, Applebloom. They all appeared, one after the other. Cold, Shining, Cadance and Tidal too. Sunburst and Starlight. Sunset and Tempest. Even people he hadn't seen in ages, like Derpy, Time Turner and Shining Spoon.

Soon, the void was filled with people he'd met since he'd started Duelling. People who'd taught him so much.

Then, another person appeared between him and Flash Heart. Twilight.

She smiled at him without a care in the world, while Flash's eyes just filled with tears before he looked down. His entire body shook, Flash unable to stop it as he cried. But then, he felt a hand on his head and suddenly his shaking just stopped.

He looked up and saw Twilight move her hand down to touch his cheek, the two staring into each other's eyes for several long seconds. And in those seconds, all she did was smile without a single regret.

It was then Flash blinked and he suddenly found himself back in the stadium with the others. His body shook once again, but this time it was different. "I can't," he finally said. The others worried what this meant, Flash continuing to stare down at the stadium and remember everything he'd done there. "The fact that I met them. And through them, I discovered Duelling." His mind once again began showing him images, only this time they were memories the happy times he'd had Duelling. And to his surprise, they far outnumbered the bad ones. "Now it's all...apart of me." Flash's shaking stopped as his face became serious.

Meanwhile, Misty and Scootaloo were both standing in a higher up part of the stadium. They'd been listening for a while, Misty smiling at Flash. "It's strange," Scootaloo turned to her mother. "They seem like such different people on the surface. But at times like this, Flash really does remind me of your father." Scootaloo smiled at this before they continued to see how this played out.

Flash continued to remember his time since he started Duelling again. All the battles he'd had. All the wins and loses. And all the lessons he'd leaned. "All this advice," he told the others. "This is what I live by. All of it. Everything I've learned from the people Duelling brought into my life." His mind then flashed back to when he first defeated Cold, when he'd beaten Sombra and stopped the Doom-Vaders. And when he'd beaten Tempest and freed her from the Dominators. Everything, leading up to those moments. The journey he'd been on to reach those goals.

"Nobody ever fights to lose. That's the same, for everyone. They fight with all their might giving everything they've got and they chose what they believe to be the best path for themselves." The others smiled, seeing something they were scared they'd never see again. A look of conviction appeared on Flash's face as he turned to them. "If Twilight were here, what do you think she would tell me?"

Shining smiled, "that you shouldn't give up yet. And you shouldn't regret anything that's happened up until now."

Flash nodded back as he looked down at his hand, squeezing it tightly into a fist. "No regrets. Not now or ever. Not when I met Twilight that day. Not when I took possession of the deck. And never, about making the friends I have."

"So what are you gonna do?" Shining asked.

Flash smiled back at him before showing him his fist. "I will grab hold of the future, because it's mine for the taking. I'll get Twilight back. I'll take Zeronull down and I'll make up for all the mistakes I've made."

"Hey," Spike told him, "don't go hogging all the fun for yourself."

Cadance nodded, "you're not alone in this. A lot of people care about Twilight and want to help her in some way. And they also want to help you. That includes us." Shining and Spike nodded as well, Flash doing the same as he heard footsteps that made him look up and see Misty and Scootaloo heading towards them from higher up.

"We'll be there for you too," Misty assured him. "No matter what obstacles we face, we'll face them together and make sure the world isn't destroyed."

Flash smiled at them, "thanks." He then frowned, "but before I can do anything, I've gotta get my deck back. I've gotta find a way to let my monsters know I'm sorry."

"And I think I can help with that." They all turned to see Cold heading towards them, holding something in his hands. Plane tickets "I've talked to someone and they have a way for you to get your deck back. But to do it, you and your family are gonna need to meet him where he is right now." He held out the tickets, Flash, Scootaloo and Misty taking them. Cold then reached into his pocket and took something else out as well. A Duel card. "Here, I know it can't make up for the mistake I made, but I hope this proves useful too you."

Flash took the card and saw it was a monster. "Dark Portal Master?" Flash read its effect and was surprised by it. "Seriously?"

"It's a gut feeling," Cold told him. "You may end up needing this card." Flash nodded back and pocketed the card, then looked down at his ticket and saw where they were heading.

Egypt.

In the ruins of an ancient town at the base of a mountain, a single figure sat on a broken piece of rock. That figure was wearing a large hooded cloak that covered his head and protected him from the sand laced winds. But then he stood up and pulled the hood down, revealing his face.

"Soon," Trail Blazer announced as he looked to the sky. "Soon, we'll all be together."

Author's Note

Well, that hurt to write. Having Flash feeling bad was hard, but necessary. Now he can focus on what's really important. Getting his deck back and using it to save Twilight.

Turn 23: Pegasi's Rise

Long ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit World.

On one of the highest mountains of that world, we find the mighty griffon kingdom.

For generations, the kingdom lived in peace and harmony. Ever since the first king, Grover, discovered the Idol of Boreas, the once scattered and desperate kingdom was united and began to prosper. The citizens were happy and living the best life they can, including a young squadron leader named Ouravas.

The griffon had gotten up that morning believing that today would be an amazing day. And he had a good reason to believe that since every day was a good day thanks to the idol. Ouravas was flying through the capital and arrived at the castle that housed not only his hero, King Guto, but also the mighty idol itself.

Guto was a proud and wise king, who wore a golden crown and sash along with a black scarf around his neck. "Ouravas," he smiled at the squadron leader's arrival, "right on time."

"Of course, your majesty." Ouravas bowed as Guto got up off his thrown.

"Please rise." He stood up and waited for the king to talk. "I'm sure you're wondering why I summoned you here this day." Ouravas nodded as Guto went on. "You see, due to your recent actions in the field, I've come to the decision that giving you the rank of squadron leader at such a young age was a mistake." Ouravas's eyes went wide hearing this. Had he done something to anger the king?

He couldn't think of anything. In fact, a recent battle they'd had the Valley of Haze army had turned out quite well. He'd defended the kingdom and didn't even lose anyone in battle. What was going on?

"As of today," Guto went on. "Your rank will be that of sky commander." At first, Ouravas sighed in disappointment. But then his brain caught up with him.

"Wait," he looked up, "that's a higher rank then squadron leader." The looked up at the king and saw him smiling at the young griffon, Ouravas realizing what was happening. "Your highness-"

"Be proud, Ouravas. You are the youngest sky commander our kingdom has ever had. And you've earned that title." The rest of the soldiers applauded hearing this, Ouravas smiling and blushing at the praise as another soldier flew over carrying the bronze armor and badge while another flew in carrying a spear of him.

Ouravas happily put the armor on and held the spear, feeling truly content with his life at that moment.

"Never forget, our kingdom's fate rests in your claws." He pointed to the idol on its pedestal. "And the protection of our greatest treasure is a duty only the greatest warriors can be trusted with."

"You can trust me, your majesty," Ouravas assured him.

"I know I can," Guto nodded. "Now get to work." Ouravas nodded and was about to march off, but then felt something. A presence. As if someone or something was staring at him.

He turned towards one of the castle windows and when his gaze landed on it, he came face to face with a giant eyeball. "What-" Was all he could say before the window shattered and something leaped into the castle. A creature he'd only heard about in legends and myth. The Fiend of the Dark Abyss, Arimaspi.

Guto's eyes shot open, the man having been asleep in a chair.

He looked around and found he was back in the lab, the computers continuing to show the reading taken as Midnight lay in the metal pod.

It was then that Trixie entered the room, seeing the look on his face. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Guto told her before focusing on the computers. "How's it looking?" Trixie moved over to look over the reading, nodding before turning back to him.

"She's fine. The little upgrade she gave us didn't seem to cause any issues. As long as she doesn't overexert herself, she'll be fine."

"Good," Guto nodded before something new caught his attention. An alarm, making both him and Trixie looked up in shock. "Now what?" Trixie tapped at the computer before the image changed to show what was outside the bunker, allowing them to spot a quartet of people they recognized. "Just great," he whispered.

Outside the army base, Fluttershy and Team Wonderbolt were watching as a drone they had with them flew over.

"Well?" Rainbow asked Fluttershy, who was flying the drone.

The usually shy girl hummed as she stared at her Duel Disk, which was showing the images the drone caught. "There doesn't seem to be any signs of-wait, look." She zoomed in, allowing them all to see something. Footsteps. "They are new. The wind and animals would have gotten rid of them if they weren't."

"Sweet," Soarin smirked, "so someone's been here recently."

"Doesn't mean it's the Zealots," Gilda told him. "Don't get your hopes up yet."

"We still need to check it out," Rainbow stated before turning back to Fluttershy. "Can you see where the footprints go?" Fluttershy nodded and had the drone follow the footprints until they reached a door that went into a staircase building that looked like it headed underground. "That's our target. Let's go." The others nodded and stepped out from their hiding place, rushing towards the building.

Within said building, Marble and Skystar had arrived and all three Zealots were staring at the screen.

"Just great," Skystar growled. "Don't these fools realize Lady Midnight is trying to rest?"

"What do we do?" Trixie asked as the screen showed the four at the door, Gilda starting to pick it. "Even if we manage to take them down, this site is compromised." She turned to Guto, "we need to evacuate."

"But we can't risk removing Lady Midnight from the recovery pod," Skystar pointed out. "And moving the entire pod is going to take at least three of us. Not to mention the time it'll take to move it into the transport. We won't even be halfway done before they get here."

Marble hummed before looking down at her mark, seeing the new Omega Symbol around it. "Maybe the powers Lady Midnight gave us can help us out." Guto nodded, thinking the same thing.

He held his hand up before the mark glowed, unleashing a black and red light that flew up into the air before splitting into three. Those lights hit the ground and turned into a type of red and black slime, which slowly shaped itself into a humanoid figure.

Guto smirked, "interesting."

"Got it!" Gilda cried as the lock finally gave, allowing the door to open and reveal a staircase.

"Come on!" Rainbow led them down the staircase, which went down the equivalent of three stories before leveling out into a hallway. When they reached the end of that hallway, they found a large set of double doors that they managed to push open without issue.

When they did, they found themselves in a large square room, big enough that several large vehicles could fit within it. And by the look of the ramp over to the side that appeared to lead up to the surface, that's what the room was meant to be for.

Rainbow spotted another door on the opposite side and moved over to it. "Come on." But as the four moved forward, something caught their attention.

From the gap between the doors, a black and red slime slipped through before hitting the ground and sliding towards them. It was followed by a second, then a third. The three slime piles moved closer until they were a few feet away, lining up began they began to shift and mold themselves into humanoid figures.

"What are these things?" Fluttershy asked as she hid behind Rainbow.

"I'm not sure," she replied as the slime creatures started changing once again. This time, the slime began to change color while what looked like hair began to grow out the heads. Within seconds, perfect copies of Rainbow, Soarin, and Gilda were staring them down.

"What the heck?" Soarin asked slowly as they looked over their doppelgangers, seeing the three of them had paler skin and hair and their posture was very different.

"Now I'm mad," Gilda growled. It was clear she didn't take to kindly to being mimicked. "Let's crush these things," she punched her fist into her hand.

"I'm not sure we can," Rainbow told her. "They may look solid, but they're probably still slimy underneath."

Fluttershy nodded. "They'll probably just repair themselves." It was then she noticed the slime clones had their Duel Disks on their arms. "I think you need to Duel them."

Gilda smirked at that, "that's even better than smashing." She and Soarin took out their Duel Disks and attached them to their arms. But when Rainbow tried, Fluttershy stopped her.

"I'll Duel," she explained when Rainbow turned to her. "You go on ahead."

"You sure?" Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy nodded as she stepped infront of her, the Rainbow clone transforming into a clone of Fluttershy. "These things were either made by a Zealot or the one controlling Twilight. Either way, our best Duellist should be the one the face them." She turned to give Rainbow a smile, "we'll take these things down and follow you once we're done." Rainbow was surprised by the confidence she had, then turned to see Soarin and Gilda smiling at her with nodes.

Rainbow finally smiled back along with a node. "Alright," she stepped back," good luck." The others nodded again before turning towards their clones, the six activating their Duel Disks.

"LET'S DUEL!" They all yelled as the matches began.

As they did, Rainbow moved around and finally managed to get behind the clones before heading through the doors. "Don't worry guys," she stated as she ran down the hallway. "Whoever's here, I'll take them down."

Guto frowned when he saw Rainbow leave to continue on, the girl soon to be arriving in the lab.

"What do we do?" Skystar asked as she and Trixie pulled the many pipes out the side of the pod. "Summon more of those things!"

"I can't," Guto had already tried. "I guess we can only send out three at a time."

Skystar growled before raising her hand, "I'll do it then." But before she could, Marble grabbed her arm.

"We still don't know the limits of these new powers," she explained. "If you said one of them out, you might not be able to escape. For all we know, these things vanish if we get too far away."

"She's right," Trixie told her. "We need you to drive the truck."

"I'll deal with her," Guto explained as he turned to the door. "Once she's taken care of, I'll transport to the rendezvous sight and meet you there."

"You sure you wanna risk it?" Trixie asked. "What if you lose?"

Guto smirked. "I've defeated this human before. I'm not worried." He reached the door." She wasn't even worthy of being a vessel candidate. I have no fear of her." He turned back to them, "just get out of here." With that, he stepped out of the room as the other three continued to work.

Rainbow was rushing down another flight of stairs, eventually reaching the bottom and finding herself in another corridor.

It was then she stopped, surprised by who she saw infront of her. "Guto," she glared at the man as she moved closer to her. "No," she too stepped forward, "that's not your name. Ouravas, right?"

"Correct," Guto nodded before raising his Duel Disk. "You will not be getting passed me."

Rainbow smirked, "we'll see about that." She looked around the hallway, seeing how small it was. "There's barely any room in here to summon normal Duel monsters. There's no way you can summon your Zenith Dragon. Not unless you wanna bring the place down on top of us."

"Oh?" Guto asked, "I thought you'd been told." He raised his right hand as the mark glowed, "about the Omega Field!" With that, the mark unleashed a dark light that flew out and engulfed Rainbow before she could react.

When she could finally see, Rainbow realized she was in the outer space location. "Wow," she turned back to Guto as he activated his Duel Disk.

"Still think you've got a shot?"

"I've been training a lot since our last encounter," Rainbow told him as she placed her Duel Disk on her arm. "It's time I got payback for what you did to Wonderbolt's Academy."

"I doubt that," he told her as they activated their Duel Disks

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Guto: 4000
Rainbow: 4000

"Youth before skill," Guto gestured. This made Rainbow frown at him before she reached for her deck.

"I draw!" She did so and nodded. "I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Supporting Filly and scale eight Rainbow Wing Knight Pink Owl!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of her before the two monsters flew up into them, the numbers appearing beneath them as Rainbow started chanting. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal began to form above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

"The portal opened before a light shot out and hit the ground, exploding into a tornado that faded to reveal Rainbow's monster. "Rainbow Wing Knight, Falcon!" (A1600/D1400/L4/P4) "And since Falcon Knight was Special Summoned, I can add a copy of Rainbow Wing Blue Falcon to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took and was about to summon.

"Hold on," Guto discarded a card. "I activate the effect of Griffonic Scout." What looked like a younger version of Ouravas, wearing normal metal armor, appeared infront of him. "By discarding him, I can pick a card in your hand and guess what it is. If I'm right, you have to put it on the top of your deck." Rainbow's eyes went wide as Guto pointed to the one in her right hand, "Monster."

Rainbow growled. "That's cheating." She placed the card back on her deck.

"You shouldn't have frozen when I played the effect," Guto smiled back at her. "Are you done?"

"Hardly!" Rainbow told him. "I equip Wing Knight Falcon with the Courageous Shield of Netitus." Said shield appeared in her monster's hand. (A1600/D1700/L4/P4) "I place a card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Guto drew his card and nodded. "And I summon Skyborn Griffon!" A tornado exploded infront of him before exploding to reveal his monster. (A1600/D1300/L4) "Attack!" Skyborn Griffon leaped into the sky before dive-bombing towards Rainbow's monster. "Skyborn's skill!" He discarded Neo Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds, powering the monster up. (A2600/D1300/L4)

Rainbow gasped as Skyborn struck Wing Knight Falcon, who used his shield to defend himself and keep from getting destroyed. But the shield could not protect Rainbow's life points, "augh!" She cried as her points dropped.

Guto: 4000
Rainbow: 3000

"That felt...real?" Rainbow suddenly remembered what she'd been told about the Omega Field, the girl realizing this was gonna be a painful Duel.

"I now place a card face down and end my turn." Skyborn Griffon's ATK points returned to normal. As they did, Guto stared at Rainbow and watched her focus on keeping herself upright. "How pathetic. It's almost sad seeing you try."

Rainbow just shot him a glare, "I'll give you something to be sad about." She took a deep breath and calmed her nerves, "just watch. I'm taking you down."

Back upstairs, Fluttershy, Soarin, and Gilda continued to Duel their slime clones.

Fluttershy currently had her Rush Rabbit out on the field, while Soarin had his Defence Convoy and Gilda had a Cyber Harpie Lady. But it was proving harder then one might expect.

The reason was that the slime clones copied more than just their looks. "My turn," clone Fluttershy announced as she drew her card. "I summon Sacred Guardian Beast, Rush Rabbit!" The same monster on the real Fluttershy's field appeared on her side of the field. (A1800/D1300/L4)

"I Pendulum Summon!" Slime Soarin cried after setting his Pendulum Scale, three lights shooting out and exploding to reveal Jet Jammer, Sub Surfer, Armoured Assault. Within seconds, these three merged together and Soarin soon found himself staring up at Attack Convoy. (A2800/D2600/L8)

"I summon Harpie Queen!" Slime Gilda yelled as her monster appeared. (A1900/D1200/L4)

"ATTACK!" The three clones yelled as their monsters flew forward.

"I play Rush Rabbit's ability!" Fluttershy announced as she took a card from her deck and sent it to the graveyard. "I send Sphere Kuriboh to negate your attack."

"I activate Defence Convoy's skill!" Soarin discarded a card before Defence Convoy's helicopter rotor spun around, creating a shield that blocked the incoming missiles.

"Trap Card, open!" Gilda yelled as her face down flipped up, "Protective Winds!" Cyber Harpie Lady flapped her wings and sent out a blast of wind that blocked Harpie Queen's attack, pushing it back to fake Gilda's side.

Fluttershy sighed, not liking that they had to fight their own decks. "This feels horrible."

"Maybe," Gilda told her, "but we've gotta beat these fakes so we can go help Rainbow."

Soarin nodded. "This is actually good for us. These are our decks, so we know all their weaknesses. That means we can easily take them down faster than anyone."

Fluttershy sighed before nodding. "Let's do this," she turned back to her fake with a serious look of determination. "You're going down."

"My turn," Rainbow drew her card and instantly slapped it down. "Go, Rainbow Wing Blue Falcon!" A tornado exploded infront of her before fading to reveal the blue bird of prey. (A1600/D1400/L4)

"Ha," Guto chuckled, "is that painted poultry supposed to scare me?"

"Maybe not on his own," Rainbow told him as both Blue Falcon and Falcon Knight began to glow. "But when I overlay him with Falcon Knight, you might quiver just a little." Her two birds transformed into lights that then shot into the air as a black hole opened, the two lights flying inside as Rainbow began to chant. "Wings of freedom, descend upon this land, and unleash a hurricane of power." The black hole exploded in a burst of light. "I XYZ SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Rainbow's ace. "Rainbow Battle Wing, GOLD!" (A2500/D1500/R4/P7)

Guto remained silent as Rainbow pointed at him, "scared yet?" Guto didn't respond, causing Rainbow to growl. "Well, maybe this'll make you flinch. "Battle Wing Gold's Special Ability!" Battle Wing crushed one of the Overlay Units as Rainbow drew her card. "I look at the top five cards of my deck and if one's a Winged-Beast, I can summon it." She drew her cards and smiled, "Tornado Bird!" A tornado exploded infront of her before the bird in question flew out of it, landing next to Battle Wing. (A1100/D1000/L4) "How are those fear levels holding up?"

"They're holding steady at zero," Guto replied.

"Well, this should make it spike! Battle Wing, attack Skyborn Griffon!" Battle Wing drew its katana and shot forward. And with Tornado Bird on the field, he gains another three hundred points. (A2800/D1500/R4/P7) With a single swipe of his sword, Skyborn Griffon was destroyed and Guto grunted.

Guto: 2800
Rainbow: 3000

"Trap card, open!" He yelled as his face down flipped up, "Open Territory! You remember this card, right?" A tornado exploded infront of him before fading to reveal a strange-looking Griffon whose feathers were white on its left side and black on the other. "Meet, Gemini Griffon. (A1200/D1100/L3)

Rainbow frowned at this but knew she had to keep a cool head. "I end my turn. Battle Wing's ATK points go back to normal." (A2500/D1500/R4/P7)

"Then it's my turn," Guto drew his card and smirked. "Perfect. I now tribute Gemini Griffon in order to summon... myself, Griffonic Sky Commander, Ouravas!" Rainbow was about to state he couldn't, but then Gemini Griffon suddenly split in half.
"What?" She asked as the black and white halves suddenly transformed into full griffons, one black and one white, which were then sucked into a tornado. "It's a double tribute," she realized as the tornado exploded to reveal the monster Dominating Guto. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"Then I'll pay five hundred life points, to activate his ability!"

Guto: 2300
Rainbow: 3000

A card slotted out of his deck, which he instantly took and played. "Now, for Griffon's Horde!" The chest, statue, and gemstone appeared before him, showing the zero within the orb. "Then I'll use it to pay for Ouravas's ability, to add three Spell cards from my deck to my hand." The number in the gem changed to a three as three cards slotted out, Guto taking them and playing on right away. "Go, Dian Keto the Cure Master!" The women appeared before him and used her magic to increase his life points.

Guto: 3300
Rainbow: 3000

Guto expected Rainbow to look annoyed, but the expression she wore when he looked at her was anything but. "I knew you'd play that card," Rainbow explained as her face down flipped up. "That's why I had this card ready." The card she revealed was a Trap, "Energy Beacon!"

"Energy what?" He asked as the trap unleashed a bat-signal-like light up into the air.

"This Trap only activates whenever you gain life points. Now it lets me add a monster from my deck to my hand, as long as it has less ATK than the points you just gained." Her deck slotted out a card.

"No matter," Guto explained as he played a card. "I'm activating the Spell card, Gold Sarcophagus." The golden box appeared infront of him before a card slotted out of his deck, Guto taking it and placing it in his pocket as a holographic card appeared above the box before floating into it. The lid then closed and sealed, waiting for the two turns to pass.

Rainbow frowned, "that's gotta be his other Sky Commander card." Once he had that, he'd be one step away from summoning the Zenith Dragon.

"Now," Guto pointed at Tornado Bird, "wipe out that oversized chicken!" Ouravas took to the air and charged at Rainbow's monster. But before he could stab it, a tornado appeared infront of it and pushed Ouravas backward. Guto looked down at the source and spotted Tornado Tortoise standing on the ground, spinning its propellers to stop the attack before vanishing.

Rainbow smirked as she put the card into her graveyard, "thanks bud."

Guto frowned, "you're not out of the woods yet." With that, the Griffon's Horde's number went up to six as three more cards were slotted out of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Ookazi!" Rainbow suddenly felt the ground beneath her feet explode, the girl crying out as she felt herself getting burnt.

Guto: 3300
Rainbow: 2200

"Next, I play the Spell card Giant Trunade!" This that, a large hurricane exploded infront of them before sucking all their cards up into it. The two returned their Spells and Traps to their hands, Guto then placing three cards into his Duel. "I'll end my turn pay once again playing Griffon's Horde, along with two face downs." The card in question appeared along with the two face down, the crystal once again showing a zero.

Rainbow frowned, Guto obviously having known what she was planning. "Whatever," she reached for her deck, "my turn!" She drew her card and nodded before pointing at her monster. "First, I'll use Battle Wing Gold's ability once again!" The Xyz monster crushed the Overlay Unit in his hands as Rainbow drew her cards and smiled, "I summon Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" A tornado exploded infront of her before fading to reveal Rainbow's equine doppelganger, who flew down and landed next to Battle Wing and Tornado Bird. (A1800/D1200/L4/P5)

"That it?" Guto asked, Rainbow smirking.

"Skill of Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" Her deck slotted out a card. "Since she was special summoned, I can add a Level four or below Winged Beast from my deck to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took before slapping down on the Duel Disk. "I summon Shield Wing, in DEF mode!" A tornado exploded infront of her before fading to reveal the skin and bones monster. (A0/D900/L2)

Guto looked over the four monsters staring him down. "Quite the menagerie. But I guess it is true that birds of a feather flock together."

"You know it," Rainbow nodded. "Me and my friends will stand by one another, no matter what obstacle you throw at us." She pointed at him. "No matter how many times you knock me down, as long as I'm with them I'll keep pushing myself back up."

Guto smirked. "Respectable. But pointless. Nothing you do will stop what we've begun."

"I won't let you destroy the world," Rainbow told him. "You might have given up hope, but I've got too many people I care about in this world to let you destroy it." Hearing this caused the smirk on Guto's face to vanish.

"But for how long?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You may have friends now, but how long will they last in this flawed world. A world where everyone is out for themselves." The shot her a glare, "I learned a long time ago that this world's only objective is to give you something and expect so much more back later. That's the way the world works."

Years ago.

The castle exploded as the Arimaspi leaped out and crashed into the ground, the Idol of Boreas in its claws.

The citizens gasped seeing this as Arimaspi's eye glowed, unleashing a laser that struck them all. As the light passed over them, the griffons suddenly felt themselves growing weak and fell to the ground. This allowed Arimaspi to run off, towards the bridge that was the only way off the mountain by foot.

It was at this moment that Guto, Ouravas, and the rest of the army flew out of the castle and saw where it was going. "After it!" Guto yelled, flying forward and rushing towards Arimaspi. They managed to reach it as it was halfway across the bridge, the beast roaring as it launched more blasts from its eyes.

Guto and Ouravas managed to dodge, but several soldiers were hit and lost the strength to fly. "NO!" Ouravas cried as his friends fell into the abyss the bridge was built over. This distraction made it so that when Arimaspi fired another blast, he wasn't prepared to evade it.

"Ouravas!" Guto yelled as he pushed the young griffon out of the way, getting hit instead and crying out as he lost his strength.

Ouravas gasped as he watched his hero fall towards the abyss, trying to fly down and catch him but was stopped by another laser that flew between them. By the time the blast faded, Guto had vanished into the darkness. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed, dropping his spear as he landed on the bridge with tears in his eyes.

Arimaspi growled down at its defeated and broken opponent, only for its growl to make Ouravas freeze before reaching for his spear. "You will pay," he muttered before spinning around and launching himself at the beast. It fired at him, but Ouravas easily dodged them until he got in close. And with a mighty scream, he thrust his spear into the beast's chest.

Arimaspi roared in pain as it staggered backward, eventually falling off the side of the bridge.

Ouravas smiled at this, but only for a moment before he remembered what the beast was still holding in its claws. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" He once again screamed as he tried to grab the Idol, but Arimaspi's grip was too tight and soon both it and the Idol vanished into the darkness of the abyss.

Ouravas tried to chase after it, but the wind that blew up from the abyss made it impossible to fly down. The Idol of Boreas, was lost.

Present.

"With no king. No Idol. And no hope, my home fell into ruin. The people fought over everything they could get their claws on. Even the tiniest bit of bread would cost insane amounts of money. Eventually, riots and fighting broke out and it was a complete and utter slaughterhouse." He let out a sigh, "I...was the only one left alive."

Rainbow couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's...terrible." She then frowned, "but that doesn't give you the right to try and destroy our worlds and hurt my friends."

"Don't you see," Guto told her. "I'm trying to help the people you care about. As long as they live in this world, they'll be doomed to a life of turmoil and strife. I'm trying to save them from that fate."

"Not everybody lives that kind of life," Rainbow told him. "A lot of people live happy, normal lives. They're born, they live and they die, all without any issues in their lives."

"But those that do suffer far outweigh those that don't," Guto told him. "That's why I have to do this."

"And that's why I've gotta stop you," Rainbow told him before slapping to cards down onto her Duel Disk. "I reset the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Supporting Filly and scale eight Rainbow Wing Knight Owl!" The pillars of light reappeared on either side of her before the monsters flew up into them. "Then, I activate the Pendulum Ability of Wing Knight Owl!" Rainbow discarded a card before her deck slotted out a new one, which she smiled at when she took it. "Oh yeah."

"What did you get?" Guto asked.

"Let me show you!" Rainbow cried as she activated the card. As she did, a rainbow-colored tornado exploded around Battle Wing. "Go, Rank-Up-Magic Infinite Spectrum!" The black hole appeared above their heads, which the rainbow tornado flew up into. "With this card, I can Rank-up my Xyz monster into a Spectrum Battle Wing!"

Guto rolled his eyes, remembering how this turned out last time.

"Radiant colors of the universe, infuse your powers !" The rainbow tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battlefield. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The tornado exploded, revealing Rainbow's hyper-evolved Xyz monster. "Spectrum Battle Wing...PRISM BOLT!" (A3000/D2500/R5/P6) As Prism Bolt floated down and landed next to Rainbow's other monsters, illuminating the void around them, Rainbow and Guto just glared at one another.

Both knew the real Duel was only just about to start.

Back with Rainbow's friends, each of them intended to finally end their Duels again their clones.

Soarin currently had a single face down monster and nothing else, while his opponent had Grand Convoy out. Both Fluttershy had Kindness Dragonoid on the field and the clone had a face down card. The Gilda twins had Zephyr Blitz on the field while the clone had the Spell card Nightmare Steel Cage in play and the real Gilda had Harpie Lady Commander in the Pendulum Zone.

"Attack!" Soarin's clone yelled as Grand Convoy prepared to destroy his face down, but that was just what Soarin wanted.

"Go, Blast Sphere!" He yelled as his face down flipped up to reveal a round machine monster with five mechanical spider legs. "Too bad for you, because when this card's attacked it attaches itself to the opponent's monster." The machine flew over to Grand Convoy and attached itself to its head.

"It's my turn," Fluttershy drew her card and smiled. "I summon Kindness Pegasus!" Her equine counterpart appeared before her. (A1000/D1800/L4/P5) "Then, I'll use Kindness Dragonoid's ability!" The dragon breathed the pink mist down on Kindness Pegasus, causing its ATK power to drop and Pegasi's to rise. This kept up until their points were as follows. (A3600/D1800/L4/P5) (A0/D1900/L7/P5)

Fake Fluttershy remained stoic, though that was probably because these things showed no emotion, her eyes shifting to her face down. Said face down was the Spell, Shrink. With it, she would be safe.

"My turn!" Gilda drew her card and smiled. "And I'll set Harpie Griffon in the Pendulum Zone!" The other pillar of light appeared before Gilda's monster counterpart flew up into it. "And now I can use Griffon's ability!" Commander suddenly exploded, the energy beginning to swirl between Harpie Griffon's claws. "If I have another Harpie monster in my Pendulum Zone, I can destroy it to Rank-Up a Wind Xyz monster."

The fake Gilda watched the griffon toss the sphere of light into the air, which then exploded to create a black hole.

Gilda smirked as Zephyr Blitz flew into the blade hole. "I rebuild the Overlay Network to power up my monster. Ancient winds, blow onto this battlefield and give life to the ultimate harpy!" A tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The tornado exploded, revealing Gilda's monster."Harpie Lady, Zephyr...MAJESTY!" (A3300/D3000/R6/P5)

"I end my turn," fake Soarin announced as the real Soarin drew his card.

"Now," Fluttershy played her next card. "I activate the Spell card, Ritual of the Sacred Guardians!" In a flash of light, a stone tablet with multiple animals appeared infront of her. On either side of it were a pair of stone animal statues.

"But you don't have enough monsters," clone Fluttershy reminded her. But as she said that, a flash of light revealed Sphere Kuriboh.

"Sphere Kuriboh lets me banish him to use as a cost for a Ritual Summon." With that, the two monsters transformed into a pair of lights that then flew into the mouths of the animal statues. The statues then spun around until they were facing each other before the lights shot out and met infront of the tablet. "The power of nature flows through us all, and only by understanding it can our greatest strength awaken." The tablet absorbed the light into itself before shooting a beam into the sky. "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

The beam of light hit the skies, as clouds began to form around it. Then when it faded, the clouds floated down before disappearing to reveal Fluttershy's monster. Sacred Guardian Deity, Kindness...DRAGONERA!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

If Fake-Fluttershy could show emotions, she'd be looking terrified right now.

"Skill activate!" Fluttershy reached for her graveyard, as a card slotted out. "By moving a Level one monster from my grave to the bottom of my deck, I can double the ATK of a Level four or below Sacred Guardian Beast." Dragonera held up its claws, as a Kuriboh appeared before transforming into a sphere of light. "Kindness Pegasus!" The pegasus flew up into the sphere, the light being absorbed into her. (A7200/D1800/L4/P5)

"Majesty's skill!" Gilda cried as her Xyz monster slashed through her overlay unit with her rapier, then spread the wings on her shoulders before they unleashed a blast of powerful air. "Now for every Overlay Unit I remove from her, I can flip one card on your field face down." Fake-Gilda watched as her Nightmare Steel Cage vanished from around them. "What's more, she now gets seven hundred points. (A4000/D3000/R6/P5)

"I end my turn!" Soarin yelled, causing Fake-Soarin to draw a card and for Blast Sphere to beep. Now my monster detonates, taking yours with it and dealing you damage equal to your monster's ATK points.

"ATTACK!" Both Fluttershy and Gilda cried their monsters unleashed their attacks on their fake's monsters. Kindness Pegasus slapped Kindness Dragonoid with its tail while Zephyr Majesty impaled Zephyr Blitz with her rapier. At the same time, Blast Sphere exploded and destroyed Grand Convoy's head.

All three monsters exploded, sending out shockwaves that struck the fakes and caused their life points to hit zero.

The fakes roared in pain as they slowly started to melt, each reduced to piles of goo on the floor that quickly evaporated. As they did, the three breathed sighs of relief as their monsters vanished. "We did it," Soarin smirked.

"Yeah," Gilda turned to them, "but this ain't over."

"Rainbow needs our help," Fluttershy said firmly before rushing towards the door. The others followed her as they entered the stairway and headed down them. "Hold on Rainbow."

Back in the lab, Trixie had finally finished unhooking the tubes from the pod.

"Alright," she stepped back while taking out her Duel Disk, "ready?"

"Set?" Skystar's voice replied from the device. With that, the floor beneath the pod suddenly retracted and felt a hole that the device was slowly lowered through.

Trixie stared down the tunnel the pod was lowered through and eventually lost sight of it in the darkness. She then stepped into the other room and found Marble, who was at a computer. "Let's go."

"Hang on," she told her while still typing. "Just gonna leave a little something for our friends should things turn out badly for Ouravas." She turned to Trixie, "never hurts to be sure." Trixie nodded as she kept typing, eventually stopping. "There, that should do it." She turned to Trixie as the Omega Zealot of Light took out a card, "let's roll."

Trixie nodded and threw the card, creating a power that the two stepped through.

When they stepped out the other side, they found themselves in yet another hanger. In it, a large transport truck could be seen with a metal trailer that was open at the top. Skystar stood in the trailer and was looking up at a hole in the ceiling, which the pod soon descended out of.

Once the pod cleared the hole, it landed perfectly in the center of the trailer as the top of the metal transport closed. "Good," Skystar smirked as she jumped down, "you two start hooking it up while I get us out of here." Both nodded and climbed up into the trailer, while Skystar moved over to the cap and started the engine.

With a click of a button, an opening appeared infront of the truck. And once Trixie and Marble had the transport doors shut, Skystar began to drive into that opening and up the long ramp-like tunnel leading up to the surface.

Inside the trailer, Marble and Trixie worked to plug a bunch more tubes into the side of the pod. As they did, Trixie looked up. "Don't you dare lose Ouravas."

Author's Note

Well, Rainbow and Guto's rematch in on. Will Rainbow finally manage to defeat Guto and add her name to the list of Duellists who've defeated Dominators?

Turn 24: Griffon's Fall

Fluttershy, Soarin and Gilda continued to rush down the hallway, having just defeated the strange clones of themselves.

Rainbow Dash had gone ahead of them to investigate the underground bunker, which was believed to be the base of the Omega Zealots, hoping to find out what they were up to. But as they got closer to the bottom, they started hearing a strange noise.

And when they finally reached the last step, they found themselves in a long hallway with a strange black dome filling it. It was so big that it filled the entire room, making it impossible to get passed. "Is this..."

"Yeah," Soarin nodded at Fluttershy's question. "This must be the Omega Field we were told about."

"So Rainbow's in there?" Gilda asked before stepping up to it and holding out her hand, getting a static shock from the energy of the orb. "How are we suppose to get in."

"We're not," Soarin sighed. "There's no way in and no way out."

"So Rainbow's trapped in there," Fluttershy looked worried. "Alone and facing off against an Omega Zealot." She remembered how badly Rainbow had been injured after her last Duel with an Omega Zealot, causing her worry to intensify.

"Would you relax," Gilda told her. "This ain't gonna be like last time."

"Gilda's right," Soarin nodded. "Ever since Guto beat her, Rainbow's been training like crazy." His mind flashed back to all the practise Duels he'd had with Rainbow. Whenever they had a spare moment, she was adjusting her deck and seeing how the changes worked. Hopefully, the changes she'd made would help her. "We might not be able to be there for her in person, but she knows she has our support."

"Rainbow's not gonna let being alone slow her down," Gilda agreed before turning to Fluttershy. "You trust Rainbow." Fluttershy showed the most serious of faces.

"More then anyone."

"Then we just have to wait and be ready for whatever happens," Soarin explained before turning to the Omega Field. "You can do this Rainbow."

Within the Omega Field, Rainbow Dash and Guto continued to Duel with Rainbow having just summoned one of her best monster. Spectrum Battle Wing, Prism Bolt.

Guto meanwhile, had only his Ouravas on the field along with two face downs and his Griffon's Horde Spell. Rainbow also had her Rainbow Wing Pegasus and Tornado Bird on the field, meaning if everything goes right this turn should be her last.

"I activate the effect of Prism Bolt!" She cried as her Xyz monster raised its wings, the light flying around passing behind them. The crystals on its wings reflected the light from the Overlay Unit, creating a rainbow beam that flew down towards Guto's field. Rainbow stared at the two face downs on Guto's field. One of them was likely a card he planned to use to stop her next attack. But which one? "The one on the left!" She pointed at said card before the rainbow beam struck it, destroying the face down.

Guto, however, simply smirked. "Bad choice." As he said that, two balls of black light appeared on either side of Ouravas.

"What the?" Rainbow asked as the lights changed into strange reddish black sludge balls, Rainbow being reminded of the strange creatures her friends had stayed behind to Duel. "What did I destroy?"

"Dark Mimic," Guto explained while showing the Spell card. "It's a special Spell whose effects can only be activated when it's destroyed. "It creates a Mimic Token for every monster on your field that's Level four or below, which have the power to mimic the appearance and points of any monster they battle. (A0/D0/L1)X2

"Great," Rainbow sighed. She wouldn't be deterred though. "I remove an Overlay Unit to activate Prism Bolt's other ability." The shining bird-man crushed its Overlay Unit between its hands before Rainbow Wing Pegasus flew in front of it. "Now, I can lower the ATK power of a monster on your field by the ATK of any Rainbow Wing, Rainbow Assault Wing or Rainbow Battle Wing on my side of the field until the end of the turn." Prism Bolt raised its wings before the crystals on them unleashed lightning that was the same colour as the crystals. The fourteen bolts of rainbow lightning wrapped around Pegasus before flying off it towards Ouravas.

Guto sighed as the light struck Ouravas, reducing the Sky Commander's power by that of the blue winged horse he was facing. (A1200/D2500/L8)

"Now!" Rainbow cried as her Xyz monster flew into the air, "Prism Bolt will destroy Ouravas!" Once high enough, Prism Bolt spread its wings and dive-bombed towards Ouravas. As it flew down, rainbow tail was left in its wake.

"Go!" Guto yelled as his other face down flipped up, "Shrink!" Rainbow gasped before looking up at Prism Bolt, seeing it suddenly shrink in size. "Now your monster's ATK points are cut in half!" (A1500/D2500/R5/P6) Prism Bolt slammed into Ouravas, destroying the griffon and dealing Guto minimal damage.

Guto: 3000
Rainbow: 2200

"Pegasus!" Rainbow cried as her horse counterpart flew towards on of the Mimic Tokens. As it did, the slime-ball transformed into a copy of Rainbow Wing Pegasus that was paler. It's ATK and DEF points also changed, matching the winged pony's. (A1800/D1200/L1) Both monsters collided, destroying each other as Tornado Bird flew forward. "GO!" Once again, the slime transformed into a clone of Rainbow's monster. (A1100/D1000/L4)

Both monsters collided and destroyed each other, leaving both field much more empty with Prism Bolt being the only monster left on said field. Guto smirked at this. "Is that all?"

Rainbow frowned, "I place a card face down and end my turn."

"My draw," Guto drew his card and smiled as a tornado exploded infront of him. "And now I'll use Griffon's Horde to pay the cost of Ouravas's ability!" The number in the crystal went up as the tornado exploded, revealing the monster dominating Guto. (A3000/D2500/L8) "Then, I activate The Dark Door." Rainbow gasped as the card appeared infront of Guto. "Now only one monster will be allowed to attack during the Battle Phase."

"Not good," Rainbow realised as Griffon's Horde went up once again as Guto used Ouravas's ability to add a Spell to his hand.

"Now I play the Spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon!" Rainbow's eyes went wide as a tornado exploded between them before sucking up Rainbow's face down, revealing the Trap Mirror Force.

"No!" Rainbow cried as the Trap was destroyed, Guto chuckling as his Griffon's Horde increased again.

"Once again I'll add a Spell card from my deck to my hand!" He did so, his deck slotting out a card that he took and instantly played. "Now brace yourself for the power of my Blustering Winds!" A powerful blast of wind exploded through the void and began to wrap around Ouravas, the griffon letting out a mighty roar as its attack power went up. (A4000/D2500/L8)

Rainbow gasped seeing this, Ouravas flying up into the air and shooting straight down before thrusting its spear forward. She cried out as she felt the same stabbing pain Prism Bolt felt, both clutching their stomachs before Prism Bolt exploded and left Rainbow's field completely open.

Guto: 3000
Rainbow: 1200

Guto laughed as Ouravas flew back and landed infront of him. "Now do you understand? Just how pitiful you are compared to me?"

Rainbow, still groaning from the phantom pains in her stomach, stood tall and glared at Guto. "Just end your turn already."

"Fine," Guto stated as Griffon's Horde went up again, "I now play Monster Reborn." In a flash of light, Neo Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds appeared. (A1000/D1000/L4) "I end my turn."

"GO ZEPHYR!" Gilda cried as her Xyz monster flew forward. It slashed the dome with its claws, but the dome was undamaged and the shock Zephyr got from the contact destroy it.

"AUGH" The three cried as the shockwave from the explosion forced them to brace themselves. When the force ended, they looked at the dome and saw it was still intact.

"Rats!" Gilda cried, "I was sure that would work."

"I don't think any of our monsters are strong enough to get through," Soarin told her. "Even if they attacked together."

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Gilda cried out.

"We're not doing nothing," Fluttershy told her. "We're supporting Rainbow." She turned to give them both a serious look. "Even if she can't see or hear us, she knows we're here for her. And as long as we are..."

"She'll win," Soarin smirked. Fluttershy smiled and nodded.

Gilda smirked back, "you're right." They turned back to the dome, "give him heck!"

"It's my turn!" Instead of drawing, a card slotted out of her graveyard. She took it as the portal began to form above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal both her monsters. "Spectrum Battle Wing, Prism Bolt!" (A3000/D2500/R5/P6)

"And Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" (A1800/D1200/L4/P5) "I didn't get passed Prism Bolt last time," Rainbow told him. "But this time's different!" In that moment Prism Bolt was engulfed by a rainbow coloured tornado. "I'm coming at you with everything I have. With everything I've learned since the day I started Dueling!"

"Don't tell me," Guto realised the issue he now faced as Rainbow played the card she'd removed from her graveyard.

"I once again activate my Rank-Up-Magic Infinite Spectrum!" The black hole appeared above their heads, which the rainbow tornado flew up into. "Now I can once again evolve my monster and summon and Spectrum Battle Wing that's one Rank higher!"

"You think this'll be enough to stop me? "Guto growled a Rainbow began to chant.

"Let's find out. Now watch, as the multicoloured forces of the universe clash to give life to this mighty being!" The rainbow tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battlefield. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The tornado exploded, unleashing a blindingly bright light that quickly faded to reveal Rainbow's best monster. "Spectrum Battle Wing...BRAVE REFRACTOR!" (A1000/D3000/R6/P5)

Rainbow frowned seeing the Dark Door before glancing at Rainbow Wing, which was currently in DEF mode. If it weren't for that Spell card, she'd be able to deal some pretty big damage to him. But for now, she just had to focus on what she could do. "Brave Refractor's skill!" The Xyz monster unleashed a mighty light that blinded Neo Barrier Statue, making it cry out before turning to run away. "Since he was summoned using Infinite Spectrum, I can make the weakest monster on your field head for the hills for every Overlay Unit he has."

Neo Barrier Statue vanished when it reached Guto, who removed the card from his Duel Disk and placed it at the bottom of his deck. Despite this, he didn't look at all worried. "You think I didn't see that coming. Remember, I watched every battle that took place in the Double X. I saw that Rank Up Xyz Summon coming a mile away. Why do you think I summoned Neo Barrier Statue when I did."

"Because you're an idiot," Rainbow told him. This made Guto raise an eyebrow as she explained. "You could have won last turn if you hadn't played Dark Door and summoned something like Skyborn Griffon, then attack me directly." Guto slowly put the pieces together as his eyes slowly went wide.

"I...I...I-"

"You were clearly too focused on your Zenith Dragon," Rainbow told him. She quickly remembered the Gold Sarcophagus card, which would be opening next turn and likely give him exactly what he needed. "That's the problem with you Zealots. You put too much faith in these cards, the same way you put too much faith in Zeronull." She pointed at him with a stern expression. "Instead of putting all your faith in this phoney god, you should start believing in your own abilities."

"You dare speak blasphemy towards the mighty Zeronull?" Guto growled, his rage clearly building. "Zeronull is the light that will burn away the darkness shrouding both worlds and those that live in it. Zeronull is the one that will create a world where everything is perfect. Where my king and my comrades are alive. Where my kingdom is flourishing and peaceful. He'll-"

"Create a world that's a complete sham!" Rainbow cried back. "It won't be real."

"I won't know that!" Guto screamed, "my mind will be purged of all the memories of either this world or mine. All I'll know is the world created for me. I won't know it's a lie."

"Yes, you will," Rainbow told him. "Even if you don't remember the life you've live in this world or yours, that time can't be washed away." She pointed to her heart with her thumb. "Because even if those memories are wiped from your mind, they'll be forever engraved into your heart. Even if you make this perfect world and remember nothing of the ones you destroyed to make it, you'll still know something's wrong in your heart."

"I can ignore it," Guto explained. "What we will create is something so amazing that it'll be easy to ignore those thoughts." He pointed at Rainbow, "don't you want that? A perfect world, where everyone you care about can live happily forever."

Rainbow didn't reply for a moment, looking down and thinking about it for a moment or so. "Of course I want that," she told him. "I don't think there's a person alive who doesn't want it." The image of her friends appeared infront of her, each of them happy and living without a care in the world. "I'd do anything to make that world a reality."

"Then join us," Guto told her. "Help lady Midnight fulfil Zeronull's objective and everything you ever wanted could be-"

"No," Rainbow shook her head, "I won't join you or Zeronull."

"But you just said-"

"I do want the world you described, but I don't want to have to destroy two worlds to do it." She pointed at Guto, "and I don't want some outer god doing it for me." She pointed at her heart again. "If the perfect world's ever gonna be created, then I wanna make it with my own two hands. I don't want to abandon my real friends just to live in dreamworld with a bunch of fake ones." She then started moving towards Guto, shocking him as she passed her Brave Refractor and moved towards him.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she passed Ouravas.

Rainbow's reply was to hold out her hand. "Giving you a chance to change before it's too late." Guto still looked confused. "You wanna create the perfect world, then make it. But do it with your own hand-er... claws." She moved her hand closer, "so let's stop this Duel before it goes too far and start working together to make the perfect world we both want."

Guto stared down at her hand, looking like he'd just been asked to dress like a clown and sing the hokey pokey.

He looked up into her eyes for a moment and saw the look in her eyes, which told him she was genuine about this. And slowly, he raised his hand to try and meet Rainbow's. The girl smiled at this, thinking she'd gotten through to him. But then, Guto slapped her hand away and then tried to punch her. "NEVER!"

Rainbow leapt back as Ouravas tried to swing its spear at her, but she back-flipped away from it and did several cartwheels until she was back to the safety of her side of the field. "Guto-"

"I will never join you!" He yelled. "My place is and always will be with Zeronull. And nothing you say or do will make me stray from that path. We will create the perfect future, together."

Rainbow just sighed, "so there's no getting through to you." She then shot him a serious look, "fine! Then you leave me no choice. I now remove one Overlay Unit from Brave Refractor so that his skill can activate!" One of the lights flew into the spike on Brave Refractor's chest, causing it to glow red as it raised its gauntlets. "Since he's about to do battle, his ATK points increase by the ATK of the monster he's battling!" Each of its claws began to glow one of the six remaining colours of the rainbow, the light flowing out and extending them until they were twice as long. (A5000/D3000/R6/P5)

"You think that scares me?" Guto asked. "Compared to a Zenith Dragon, the power you and your monster possess is nothing!"

"We'll see about that!" Rainbow cried as Brave Refractor flew up into the air, then shot straight down as he swung his glowing claws around. In a flash, the hyper Xyz monster was behind Ouravas before an X-shaped blast of rainbow light exploded along the griffon.

"Augh!" Guto cried as he and his monster felt this burning pain, Ouravas roaring as he suddenly exploded and left Guto's field empty.

Guto: 2000
Rainbow: 1200

Rainbow nodded, satisfied with the damaged she'd managed to pull off. "I end my turn." As Brave Refractor returned to her side, his ATK points returned to normal. (A1000/D3000/R6/P5)

Guto, meanwhile, just growled as he picked himself up. "You made a big mistake. Several, actually. Coming here, challenging me, and doubting the power of the great Zeronull." He pointed at Rainbow, "you who weren't even worthy enough to be a vessel candidate! Who already faced off against the power bestowed upon me by the great one and failed to stop it. You will no longer go unpunished for your insolence!" He reached for his deck, "It's my turn!" He drew his card before a golden light exploded above him, the two looking up and seeing the Gold Sarcophagus begin to open its lid as a single card slowly flew out. Once it was completely out, the box vanished while the card shrank down to normal size and flew into his hand. "Finally."

"I'm begging you," Rainbow told him. "Don't do it!"

Guto didn't reply as the tornado exploded infront of him, Griffon's Horde rising in number as the spiral faded to reveal his monster. (A3000/D2500/L8) "Ouravas's skill!" The number in Griffon's Horde went up once again, Guto taking a card from his deck and playing it. "I play the Spell card, Fissure!" Rainbow's eyes went wide as she turned to Brave Refractor before a giant crack appeared beneath him, the Xyz monster falling into the hole before it closed up and vanished. "That gets ride of that annoyance. Couldn't risk you having a way to grant that thing another Overlay Unit."

Rainbow growled as Guto's Griffon's Horde increased again, another card slotting out of his deck.

"Now for your Rainbow Wing Pegasus. I now play Stop Defence, forcing your overgrown pigeon to switch at ATK mode." Pegasus grunted as she was forced to her hooves, Rainbow now at risk of taking damage from his next attack. She stared at Griffon's Horde and as expect, the number went up three more times as Guto added cards to his hand. "You should remember this card. The Spell, Aerial Calling."

"Not again," Rainbow cried as Griffon's Horde went up one final time.

"That's right," Guto told her as his deck slotted out a card. "Now, I can now add any Wind Attributed monster from my deck to my hand." Guto took the card and smiled at it before turning to Rainbow. "Now you will once again bare witness to the power gifted to me by the almighty Zeronull!" He held up the card. "With this, I place my entire future on the line." Rainbow frowned as said card began to glow. "Should I lose this Duel, then every card in my deck will be destroyed."

"Please," Rainbow told him, "don't do it!"

Guto wasn't listening, instead discarding the card he'd gotten from the Golden Sarcophagus. "By ditching a Wind monster and sacrificing one with the same name on the field, I can summon my ultimate creature." Ouravas leapt into the air as a powerful gust of wind blew throughout the void space. All Rainbow could do was brace herself from being knocked over, while Ouravas was surrounded by the spiralling wind that took the form of a sphere that flew up into the air while growing larger and larger each second.

Outside the orb, Rainbow's friends suddenly noticed the energy shooting around the sphere beginning to intensify

"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked, fearing Rainbow may be in danger.

"It's going nuts!" Soarin cried, yelling as a stray bolt of energy flew off and almost hit him. "Get back!" The moved as far back as they could while keeping the sphere in sight.

"What the heck is she doing in there?" Gilda asked as she jumped up onto the stairwell.

Fluttershy then gasped and turned to the others. "You don't think she's about to face a Zenith Dragon, do you?" This made the others frown, both hoping Fluttershy's theory was wrong. "Rainbow," the girl quivered.

"Awaken," Guto yelled as a shadow appeared within the wind sphere, "beast of the winds!" The last of the gale faded, the dragon within finally breaking free and beating its giant winds so much it unleashed a gust that swept through the Omega Field and almost blew Rainbow and Rainbow Wing Pegasus off their feet. "Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies, MARVENTUS!" (A6000/D5000/L12)

Rainbow sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, you'll be sorry alright!" Guto yelled as the dragon began to beat its giant wings, "Marventus's skill! When he's summoned, he's able to return every card in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zone to your hand." The wind created a tornado that sucked up Rainbow's face down and the monsters in her Pendulum Zones, returning them to her hand and leaving her defenceless. "What's more, every Wind monster on my field gains five hundred ATK points for every card returned until the End Phase." Marventus let out yet another mighty roar, its power increasing. (A7500/D5000/L12)

The very presence of the dragon sent pulses of energy across the field, making it shake as the giant dragon prepared to attack Pegasus and end this Duel.

"It's over," Guto told Rainbow as he saw her looking down at the ground. "I told you you'd regret your blasphemy." Marventus raised its tail before a bolt of lightning flew down and struck it, causing the yellow lines and dots to glow. The dragon opened its mouth as lightning sparked from its whiskers and began to pool together into a sphere within its mouth. "You, with no solutions and no answers, be eradicated and unable to see the perfect world Zeronull will create!" The electro ball fired, "RAGING WONDERBOLT!"

Rainbow stayed quiet as the attack shot towards Rainbow Wing Pegasus, the girl sighing before finally speaking up. "You had the strength to make that perfect world on your own. But now," her head shot up and showed a serious expression. "You'll never get to see it!" With that, a tornado exploded infront of Pegasus. It sucked the electro ball inside, saving Pegasus before shooting the attack up into the air.

"WHAT!?" Guto screamed as he saw the electro ball exploded safely above their heads, "how?" He looked down at the base of the field and saw the cause. Tornado Tortoise.

Rainbow smirked, "by banishing this little guy from my graveyard, I can put your Battle Phase to a complete end."

Guto's mind was completely fried as he tried to put the pieces together. "The Zenith Dragon, the power given to me by Zeronull, was stopped...by a turtle?"

"Tortoise," Rainbow corrected as said monster vanished. "I told you you shouldn't have put your faith in that thing. All you've done is risk your future for nothing."

Guto's rage was reaching its peak, the Omega Zealot quickly reaching for his hand. "I activate Giant Trunade!" With that, another tornado swept through the Omega Field and sucked his cards back to his hand. "I'm not done," he told her as he played the cards once again. "Griffon's Horde and The Dark Door, activate!" The cards reappeared on the field, along with another one. "I place one card face down and end my turn." As he said that, Marventus slowly began to vanish. "At the end of the turn, the Zenith Dragon is banished and in its place I must summon one of the monsters used to summon it." Ouravas appeared and floated down, his expression matching Guto's.

"Look," Gilda pointed at the dome as the energy died down, "it's stopped."

This made Soarin smirk as he stepped closer. "If that was a Zenith Dragon's doing, then it stopping must mean it's gone."

Fluttershy smiled, "that means Rainbow stopped it."

"Alright!" Gilda cried, "I knew she could!"

Fluttershy nodded. "Now it's her turn to show Guto here full power." She placed her hand over her heart. "Rainbow, I believe in you."

Soarin did the same, "show him why you're our school's number one."

After a few second, Gilda also did it. "Don't you dare lose now. That'd just be lame." The three stayed like this for a second before speaking in unison.

"Rainbow."

"Huh?" Rainbow looked up, swearing she heard her friend's voice.

After a few seconds of confusion, she smirked. "Thanks guys." She then reached for her Duel Disk, removing a card from her graveyard. "Ouravas, you're about to find out what true power is. The power earned through hard work, and from having those you care about standing behind you and supporting you!" As she said that, she slapped her two Pendulum Monsters down onto the field. The pillars appeared besides her as the two monsters flew up into them, forming the portal above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot, exploding to reveal her monster. "Spectrum Battle Wing...BRAVE REFRACTOR!" (A1000/D3000/R6/P5) "And since Refractor was Pendulum Summoned, his ability lets me equip any Wind Attributed Xyz Monster in the graveyard to him as an Overlay Unit."

Guto growled as he watched the spirits of Battle Wing and Prism Bolt appear around Brave Refractor before transforming into lights that began to float around it.

"Next," Rainbow went on, "I'll use the Pendulum Ability of Supporting Filly!" Guto looked confused as he watched both it and Wing Knight Owl explode, allowing Rainbow to draw a single card. "Come on," she prayed as she drew her card. When she saw what it was, she gasped. "YES!" Guto's worry increased. "I set scale seven Rainbow Wing Knight Osprey into the Pendulum Scale!" The man in purple bird armour appeared in the pillar, confusing Guto.

"Why?" He asked, "that does nothing to help you."

"You'll see," Rainbow told him as the rainbow coloured tornado exploded around Brave Refractor. This shocked Guto as he turned to Rainbow, who'd just activated her card. "Now, for one final time, I'll activate my Rank-Up-Magic Infinite Spectrum!" The black hole appeared above their heads, which the rainbow tornado flew up into. "And with it, I'll summon a Spectrum Battle Wing that's one Rank higher!"

"But...but you don't have a monster that's higher," Guto told her.

"I do now," Rainbow pointed at him. "Thanks for showing me I had to up my game. Now, my deck is more powerful then ever."

Guto growled as he stared up at the black hole, actually worried since he had no idea what was coming as Rainbow began to chant.

"Majestic colours that make up the multiverse. Chase away the nothingness and fill the void with wonder, giving new life to those that fight to protect that wonder." The rainbow tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battlefield. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The tornado exploded, unleashing a blinding light that prevented Guto from seeing Rainbow's monster. But eventually, the outline became clear. It was similar to Brave Refractor, only the gauntlets and chest spike were gone along with the turbines in the wings. In its hands was a large long-sword made of crystal, the blade being seven different colours. The center of the blade was red, with blue and yellow on either side of it. Next to blue was green, then purple while yellow had pink next to it with orange after that. The guard of the blade had a large crystal V-shape and it the sword so large the monster needed both hands to lift it and swing it around. Three lights also circled around it. "Spectrum Battle Wing...WONDER BEYOND!" (A?/D?/R7/P3)

"So this is your new monster," Guto asked. "He doesn't look like much."

"You'll be surprised," Rainbow told him before pointing at her monster. "First, Wonder Beyond's ATK and DEF is equal to the number of Overlay Units he has times one thousand!" The lights around him glowed brightly, powering up to Xyz monster as he lifted his sword up. (A3000/D3000/R7/P3) "There's more!" The sword unleashed a bright light, which flew over and struck Guto.

"What?" He looked over himself and saw his hand and graveyard glowing a rainbow aura, "what'd you do?"

"When Wonder Beyond is summoned using Infinite Spectrum, he can nullify the effect of the cards in your hand and graveyard. Now!" Wonder Beyond raised its sword as its three Overlay Units flew into it. "I activate Wonder Beyond's special ability!" The monster swung its sword around, unleashing a rainbow wave of light. "For every Overlay Unit I remove, one of your Spell or Traps is destroyed."

"What?" Guto cried as the rainbow wave split into three, then began to change shape until they appeared as the spectral images of Battle Wing Gold, Prism Bolt and Brave Refractor. Prism Bolt and Brave Refractor slashed at Guto's face up cards, while Battle Wing used its katanna to stab the face down. All three cards were destroyed, leaving Guto complete defenceless. "This can't be happening," he stated as the spectral images vanished.

"Oh, it's happening." Rainbow smirked as Wonder Beyond spread its wings and charging forward, dragging its sword around. "Spectrum Battle Wing, ATTACK!"

"Why?" Guto asked as Ouravas flew forward, "it'll be a tie? And even if you destroy them both, your Rainbow Wing Pegasus doesn't have enough ATK points to beat me." They both watched as their monsters clashed, Wonder Beyond swinging its sword around. Ouravas tried to block it with its spear, but the sword cut right through it and slashed the griffon down the middle.

The beast roared as it was getting cut in half, but managed to react in time to thrust the spearhead part of its weapon forward and stab Wonder Beyond. With that, both monsters exploded and their Duellists grunted as the smoke flew passed them. But when the smoke faded, Rainbow was revealed to be smirking. "Skill of Wonder Beyond!"

"Another one?" Guto asked as a light made him look up and see the Xyz monster appear in the empty pillar of light. "What?"

"When he's destroyed by battle, I can put him in an empty Pendulum Zone." Rainbow looked up at her monster and smiled. "What's more, now his Pendulum Ability activates!" With that, the Pendulum Portal started forming. Only now, it was rainbow coloured.

"What are you doing?"

"Whenever Wonder Beyond's put into the Pendulum Zone by it's own effect, I can search my graveyard for any Wind Xyz monster whose Rank is between the Pendulum Scale. Then, I can Pendulum Summon them back to the field.

"But that means-" Guto looked up at the portal glowed brightly

"Go beyond what is possible and let the impossible become a reality!" Rainbow chanted as the portal finished forming, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The rainbow portal opened before a trio of rainbow coloured lights shot out and hit the ground, exploded with a light so bright if burnt Guto's eyes. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!"

When the light finally faded, all three of Rainbow's Xyz monsters were revealed standing there with Pegasus. "Rainbow Battle Wing, GOLD!" (A2500/D1500/R4/P7)

"Spectrum Battle Wing, PRISM BOLT!" (A3000/D2500/R5/P6)

"And Spectrum Battle Wing, BRAVE REFRACTOR!" (A1000/D3000/R6/P5)

Guto looked horrified as he realised his situation. No monsters. No Spell or Traps. No way to activate effects from his hand of grave. And he was now staring down an oncoming attack from three powerful monster. He was defenceless. "No," he shook his head, "this can't be happening."

"Oh," Rainbow told him, "it's happening."

"How?" Guto asked, "how can you be...this! You, who were nothing but a weakling who couldn't even be a candidate for Zeronull, have now stopped a Zenith Dragon and is about to defeat me." His shock turned to anger. "You're nothing, so where is this power coming from?"

"I've always had it," Rainbow told him. "It's been inside me all along." Rainbow sighed, closing her eyes. "Sure, I've lost a lot since I started Duelling. But that didn't mean it was over for me. It's not over because you lose," her eyes shot open again. "It's only over, when you give up and refuse to try again!" This statement actually shocked Guto, scaring him as Rainbow looked up at her monster. "And sure, sometimes I wanted to give up. But then my friends helped me find the strength I needed to try again." As she stared at her monsters, imaginary images of Soarin, Fluttershy and Gilda became overlaid over them. She smiled before turning back to Guto. "As long as they're supporting me, I'll never give up the fight. Not now, not ever!"

"What trash," Guto growled as Battle Wing shot forward.

"The only trash is your belief in a false god!" Rainbow cried. "And with this attack, that belief will never bring harm to people ever AGAIN!" Battle Wing drew its katana and prepared to slash at Guto, who was quivering at his impending defeat. "This one's for Wonderbolt Academy!" With that, Battle Wing swung its sword around and slashed right through Guto.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed as the slashing pain filled his body, his life points quickly dropping to zero.

Guto: 0
Rainbow: 1200 (Winner)

Fluttershy, Soarin and Gilda suddenly heard a cracking sound and stared at the dome as a crack appeared on the surface, followed by another and another.

Eventually, the dome completely shattered and the pieces flew everywhere before fading into smoke. The three quickly stepped back for fear of getting hit, but then spotted Rainbow and Guto standing where the dome had been. Rainbow panted while Guto staggered backwards, grunting and groaning until he fell to his butt.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy cried as they rushed to her side, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Rainbow nodded, "I'm fine." As she said this, Soarin stared at Guto and put the pieces together before smiling and turning to her.

"You won, didn't you?" Rainbow slowly turned to him and smirked with a thumbs up. "Alright!"

Gilda smirked, "way to go loser." It was then that a light made them turn to Guto, whose deck was beginning to glow green.

"No," he whispered as he watched his cards fly up into the air. Everyone stepped back, knowing what was coming next as the cards burst into flames and turned to ash. They slowly disintegrated, leaving only the Zenith Dragon as Guto clutched his hand. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" The symbol on the back of his hand was slowly fading away, along with the connection Ouravas had to his host.

But then, he looked up and glared daggers as Rainbow before pushing himself up. "If this is the end for me, the last thing I'll do is wipe you out." He charged at them, hands out ready to grab Rainbow's neck.

Gilda got ready to use her martial arts skills to defend her friend, but they were unnecessary.

Before Guto could get close, the mark on his hand completely vanished and his entire body tensed up before he began to fall forwards. Though nobody could see it, the spirit of Ouravas was pulled out the back of Guto and began to fly towards the ceiling. His claws were out, just like Guto's hands had been, but in his current form he was completely harmless.

"Just you wait," he told them as he began to fade away. "Lord Zeronull will create the perfect world. One you'll never get to see. In the end, I've still won." With that, the Sky Commander finally vanished and left the teens to look over his host.

"Is he okay?" Soarin asked Fluttershy as she rolled him over and checked his pulse.

"He's fine. Just exhausted." As she said that, Rainbow and Gilda stepped over to where the Zenith Dragon had fallen before the blue skinned girl picked it up.

"Now we have two," Rainbow stated before looking towards the door Guto had been guarding. "Now to get-" Before she could finish, the room around hem began to shake.

"What's happening?" Fluttershy asked, looking scared at cracks began to appear in the walls.

"We need to get out of here," Soarin told them before hoisting Guto up and placing him on his back. "Come on!" With that, they rushed back up the stairway they'd come down. It was a good thing they did because seconds later, the door exploded off its hinges and flames shot out from the exploding library.

As the group rushed through the base, the explosions weren't far behind them. And when they finally got to the exit and leapt out of safety, a large cloud of flames blasted out and almost hit them before fading away. The group fell to the floor and grunted as they rolled along the ground, Rainbow looking around and seeing the building they'd just been in completely wrecked.

She sighed in relief and laid back, glad they'd managed to get out. But it was clear whatever Guto had been guarding was now long gone.

Marble sighed seeing the five through the security camera, quickly cutting the connection to her Duel Disk.

"Well, we've lost Ouravas." Trixie sighed hearing this.

"He knew the risks of using the Zenith Dragon. Now we have to get it back along with the other one." She looked down at Midnight as she slept in the pod. "Don't worry my lady. We're not out of this yet."

Once they'd recovered from the shock and exhaustion of running for their lives, the group quickly called Cold and explained what happened.

"That's good news," he explained with a smile. "I'm proud of you all. Especially you Rainbow. You've brought us one step closer to stopping Zeronull." Rainbow smiled at the praise, glad all the training and preparation she'd done finally payed off. "Now onto our next step. We need to get the Zenith Dragon to a safe place. Luckily, I already had someone heading to the location where Perfignis is being kept. I'll have their plane redirected to pick you up. They'll take the card from there and drop you off somewhere you can get back home. I'll need you to give a report about what happened, then head out to check out another possible Zealot location."

The others nodded as Cold hung up, Rainbow reaching into her pocket and taking out the Zenith Dragon. "It's too bad I can't just rip you in half right now. Payback for destroying my school. But making sure you never see the light of day again will have to do." The others nodded in agreement before looking up at the night sky, wondering what the Zealots were doing right now and if they knew they were down a member.

Skystar had stopped the truck a good twenty miles from the base, far enough away that they couldn't find them.

The Omega Zealots were outside the truck, Marble sitting atop the trailer while Skystar leaned against it and Trixie stood several feet away. "We can't risk losing any more members," she explained before turning to the others. "For now, we should stop using the Zenith Dragons in Duels unless we absolutely have too."

Skystar and Marble frowned, clearly not happy with that idea but nodded. "So what now?" Marble asked, Trixie staying quiet.

"Now we prepare to get the cards we've lost back." They turned to the edge of the trailer and gasped in shock at the sight of Midnight, stepping around to smile at them. "But until then, we need to protect our assets." She turned to Trixie, "head to the generators and make sure they're safe. If they found that base, they may find the other." Trixie nodded before Midnight turned to the others. "You two, I need protecting me. If I'm to locate the Zenith Dragons, I can't be wasting energy Duelling."

Skystar bowed. "As you command, my lady."

"How are you gonna find them?" Marble asked, with Midnight just smirking.

"Zeronull created them. And I have his powers within me. It'll take time, but I'll locate the cards no problem. Until then, we just have to be careful." The others nodded, all agreeing to the plan. No matter what, they weren't letting their enemies get any more lead over them.

That, they swore.

Author's Note

In the words of the great John Deacon, another one bites the dust.

Hope you liked Rainbow's new monster. It took forever to come up with its name and effect, but I'm proud of what I came up with. Now, onto the next chapter and Flash's mission.

Turn 25: A Quest for Redemption

"That's great to hear," Flash smiled as he sat in his hotel room. He was staring at his Duel Disk, which was showing the picture of Rainbow.

It'd been several days since Rainbow had defeated Guto and freed him from the Dominator's control. The four teens had returned to Canterlot and dropped Guto off at a hospital before reporting to Cold, telling him in every detail what'd happened. With that over, the seven colour haired girl had contacted Flash and told him the good news.

"You should be really proud of yourself," he continued to tell her.

"Thanks," Rainbow nodded. "It wasn't easy, but I'm glad all that hard work finally payed off."

"So what's happening with the Zenith Dragon?"

"Already taken care of. Cold had somebody pick it up and take it to the base where the other one's being held."

"Who was it?" Flash asked, wondering who Cold would trust with the safety of the Zenith Dragon more then Rainbow and her friends.

Nevada.

It was night time in that part of the world, the desert air cold while blowing strongly and kicking up large clouds of sand. And from out of that sand came a fancy black car that was rolling down a road that looked like it was hardly used.

Inside that car, Shining Armor and Cadance were sitting quietly as their driver lead them to their destination.

Cadance had a black metal briefcase on her lap, which was handcuffed to her to prevent it from being taken. The married couple were keeping a vigilant eye out, staring out into the desert to make sure they saw if and when someone would attack them.

Eventually, their car came into view of the place they were heading too.

It was a large compound surrounded by high cliffs. It had an attack on titans vibe with three large circular walls surrounding it, with only one entrance and multiple guard towers shining spotlights into the darkness constantly. it would be impossible to sneak into the place.

The car pulled up to the gate and Shining lowered the window to show the guard his access badge.

The guard scanned it and after a few seconds, nodded before the gate opened the the car drove up to the next gate. There, Shining's ID was verified and they were allowed through to repeat the process a second time. When the third gate opened, they were treated to the sight of what looked like a large office building.

And standing infront of said building, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and Maud Pie stood with smiles on their faces.

Shining and Cadance got out of the car, Pinkie rushing over to and hugging the two of them. "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Cadance smiled back as Pinkie pulled back and allowed Maud to talk to them.

"We're sorry about Twilight," she placed her hand over her heart. "We know what it's like to lose someone like that." The two frowned back but Shining quickly shook it off.

"We can't change what happened," he told her. "All we can do now is whatever it takes to keep Midnight from getting her hands on the Zenith Dragons."

"Then you'd better come with us," Sunset told them before they all headed into the building.

"I see," Flash nodded in understanding.

He should have known Shining would want to be near the Zenith Dragons. If Midnight wanted them, then she would likely try to take them back personally. Shining was trying to be the one to free his sister.

"Cold's actually sending me, Soarin, Gilda and Fluttershy to another location he thinks might be a Zealot base. He's trying to make the Zealots sweat, not letting them have a moment to breath so they can't do anything to cause more problems."

"That makes sense," Flash agreed. "Just be careful. The Zealot might try to use this to take you out with traps."

"Don't I know the half of it," Rainbow sighed. "We barely managed to make it out of the last little surprise they left for us after I beat Guto." She then looked at him with a serious look. "Don't worry about us. Right now, all you need to focus on it getting your deck back."

Flash frowned but nodded, "I know."

"Any ideas how you're gonna do that?"

"Not really," Flash got off his bed and moved over to the window. He pushed the curtain and stared out at the desert he was expected to cross. "Cold sent me and my family here to Egypt, but he didn't give us any other instruction other then to met this guy. I'm not really sure who he is or how he's suppose to help me get my deck back."

"Well I'm sure Cold knew what he was doing sending you there. Listen, I've gotta get going. Our flights about to start boarding. Tell Scootaloo I said hi."

"Will do," Flash turned back to the Duel Disk before the two cut the call. When they did, Flash pocketed the device and turned to his backpack. He opened it up and checked its contents, nodding as he noted everything within that he'd need for his trek into desert.

Once the bag was zipped up, he hoist it onto his back before heading out of his room. He headed down to the lobby and there, he spotted his sister and mother standing there with their own bags. "You ready?" Misty asked him, Flash nodding. "Then let's get going."

They headed out of the hotel and Misty quickly lead her children over to an open top land-rover that Cold had prepared for them. They climbed up onto it before Misty kicked the engine into life, driving towards their destination. "Mom?" She turned back to Scootaloo, "how'd you know where to go?"

"Yeah," Flash realised, "Cold didn't tell us a location...did he?"

Misty smiled back. "I know where he wants us to go. I've known since I saw where the plane tickets were sending us." This confused her children even more, both wondering why she'd keep that information to herself. "Trust me, you'll be pleasantly surprised when you she where we're going." Again, the kids were confused but Misty refused to tell them anything else as they turned off the road and began heading into the desert.

Back in Nevada, Sunset was showing Shining and Cadance through the facility.

It turned out the building was just the tip of the iceberg, as most of the place was underground. Riding an elevator down, Sunset explained why the cards were to be kept there. "This facility has a special kind of experimental energy shield that's impossible to get passed as long as its active. It's powered by four different generators that's connected to different energy systems. There's no way to take them all out at once. And as long as one generator is active, the shield will remain in tact."

"Plus both da'h shield and generators are in the lowest part of the compound," Applejack explained. "There's no way they're gonna get to them before running into us."

"Exactly," Sunset nodded as the elevator came to a stop.

When it opened, everyone found they were in a long hallway with turns on both sides every couple of feet. "This place is also a maze," Rarity told the two as they made their way through the labyrinth. "Even if they managed to get down here, they'd have trouble navigating their way to the generators of the shield room."

They eventually arrived at a door and when Sunset opened it up, they found it lead into a round room with computers all over the place. "Welcome to home base," Sunset another before moving over to a door that was on the other side of the room.

She opened it up and the group found themselves stepping into a giant hanger like room, which was so large you could fit a jumbo jet inside of it. And on the far end of it was a doom like structure made of black metal with a single door on the front of it. Four large metal cables came down from the ceiling and was connected to the dome.

"Is that it?" Shining as as the stepped towards it.

"Yup," Starlight nodded. "That's the energy shield. A lead structure designed to keep the energy contained."

"It's quite a remarkable feat of engineering," Sunburst explained as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

Maud replied say, "as long as it keeps the Omega Zealots from getting these Zenith Dragons, that's all that matters." The others nodded in agreement as they stepped up to the doom, Sunset quickly pressing buttons on the keypad besides the door. It took almost thirty whole seconds before she got the whole code typed in, causing the door to finally open and allow them to look inside.

The room was filled with red lightning that was coming off the walls and circling an orb of empty space in the middle of the room, thought it wasn't exactly empty. Inside the orb, the Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno was floating in the air.

Sunset took out her Duel Disk and pressed something, "get ready to toss the card inside." Cadance nodded and undid the briefcase, opening it up so Shining could take out the card. He held it up as Sunset deactivated the energy field, "now!" Shining tossed the card into the room, right as the red lightning stopped.

The card flew through the air until it reached the area Perfignis was floating. When it got there, the energy returned and trapped Marventus inside with Perfignis. Sunset closed the door, trapping both cards inside.

"There," she smiled one the lock was set, "there's no way those cards are getting out of there."

Shining frowned. "Even so, we shouldn't let our guard down." They headed back towards the control room, "the Omega Zealots can be unpredictable. Who knows what they'll do in order to get these cards back. They might even try to blow the whole place up." The others went wide-eyed at this.

"I hadn't considered that," Sunset told him.

"But wouldn't blowing the place up destroy the cards?" Pinkie asked, Cadance shaking her head.

"If those cards can survive what Cold put one of them through, they'll survive an explosion. Even so, I doubt they'd want to go that far. Even if they survive the explosion, they'd be buried beneath the rubble and possibly lost forever."

"I'm just saying it's a possibility," Shining explained as they entered the control room. "We need to stay on our toes and be ready for anything." The others nodded as Sunset placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," she assured him. "We won't let them get close to these cards. And we'll get Twilight back as well." Shining nodded back with a smile, turning to the others.

"While we're waiting, let's get some practise in. We'll need every trick we can com up with if we won't to show those Omega Zealots why messing with our planet's a mistake." The others nodded and took out their decks, ready to start practising and making any changes to their deck. Those Omega Zealots wouldn't know what hit them.

Flash let out a cough as he wrapped his scarf around his face and nose, his mother and sister doing the same.

They were driving at such a speed that it kicked up a bunch of sand, which flew into their open top car and made things difficult. "Couldn't Cold have gotten us something with windows?" Scootaloo asked as she put on a pair of goggles.

"This was kinda last minute," Misty told her as Flash put her goggles on over her eyes. "We're lucky he managed to arrange anything at all."

"I just wish you'd tell us where the heck we're going," Flash stated. "What's so special about this place anyway."

"You'll find out soon," Misty said as she looked ahead. "We're almost there." The two followed her gaze and spotted a small mountain in the distance, with seemed to have a bunch of buildings infront of it.

As they got closer, they saw the buildings were in ruins. Many had large holes in the walls while others had simply collapsed and were nothing more then stacks of stone. "What is this place?" Scootaloo asked.

"We're not sure," Misty told them. "We think it was a village that was under the protection of a great pharaoh. The same pharaoh that originally learned how to open a doorway between our world and the Duel Monster Spirit World." This shocked her children as she pulled the jeep to a stop. The three got out and looked around, Flash and Scootaloo still completely lost about why they were there.

"So what now?" Flash asked, Misty looking towards the mountain. Flash and Scootaloo did the same, but couldn't really see anything through the sand that was being blown by the wind. They stayed like that for about thirty seconds and Flash was about to ask what they were doing, when suddenly he noticed something appearing through the sand.

It was a figure dressed in a brown cloak, who was moving through the desert towards them.

Flash and Scootaloo turned to Misty in concern, but she looked positively calm as this figure got closer and closer. Eventually, he got within a few feet of them and stopped before standing perfectly still. "I've been waiting for you."

"Who are you?" Flash asked, still cautious as he heard the figure laugh.

"You know who I am Flash." This got the teen really worried.

"How do you know my name?"

"Why wouldn't I know your name," he reached up and removed his hood. "I'm the one that gave it too you." Flash and Scootaloo's eyes went wide when they saw the face of a man they hand't seen in over a year. One they'd only seen for real once before. The face of Trail Blazer.

"DAD!" Scootaloo rushed over to her father and leapt into his arms, Trail managing to catch her and pull her in close.

"Hey Scoot!" He hugged her tightly for several seconds before pulling back and looking her over, "have you gotten bigger. Must have. You've shot up a whole foot since I last saw you." Scootaloo blushed at this as Misty stepped up to him. "Hello beautiful."

Misty smiled before hugging him, the two quickly sharing a kiss. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," he told her before turning his attention of his son. "Hello Flash." Flash just stared at him for several seconds before looking away.

"Hey." Trail frowned at this but decided not to push it, Scootaloo catching his attention instead.

"What are you doing here?"

Trail smirked before turning away from them. "Come with me. I'll show you why I'm here. It'll explain why I haven't come home yet and why you've been brought here." He became to make his way towards the mountain, his family following after him. They continued to trek through the desert until they arrived at the base of the mountain, Trail leading them around it until they came across a cave-like opening leading down into the darkness. "Here it is."

"It's a hole," Flash pointed out.

"Not just any hole," Misty told him. "This is the entrance to an ancient tomb. And not just any tomb."

Trail nodded. "This is the tomb your mother and I were exploring with Sombra before he betrayed us." Flash and Scootaloo's eyes went wide when they realised what they were getting at.

"You mean-"

"That's right," Trail interrupted Scootaloo before patting the cave. "This is the place Misty and I first entered the Duel Monster Spirit world from."

"No way," Flash whispered as he looked into the cave.

"This is also where I first returned to this world," Misty told her children. "Thanks to Vail Pixie, I returned to this tomb and met your father before returning home.

Trail turned to his soon. "I hope you're ready." Flash raised an eyebrow, "the trek into this cave will be a long one. You up for it."

"I... um..." Flash turned away for a second while scratching his knows, only for Scootaloo to slide up next to him and thrust her elbow into his side. "Ah!" He cried before turning back to his dad and faking a smile, "I got plenty of rest on the plane and in the hotel. I'll be fine."

Train nodded, "then lets go." With that, they headed into the cave and began to navigate the tomb. The cave system had many different turns, either going left or right. Trail seemed to be able to navigate it without a second's thought, though Flash did notice an old rope on the ground that went the same way they were going.

Eventually, they found themselves heading down a slope and when they reached the bottom, they found themselves staring at what looked like a stone door that's been blown apart. Rocks were scattered across the ground and the edges of the hole in the door were chard. "This is it," Trail explained. "In there is the tomb that once held a breech between our two worlds." He turned back to Flash. "It there's any chance of you getting your deck back, it's only by reopening that breech and sending you through it."

Flash's eyes went wide. "You want to send me to the Duel Monster Spirit World?"

"We don't want to," Misty stated. "But if you really want to get your deck back, this might be the only way."

"Are you up for this?" Trail asked, seeing an uneasy look on Flash's face. But after a few seconds, he took a deep breath before nodding.

"Let's do this." The others nodded before making their way through the doorway, finding themselves in in a large open room with a bridge leading out from the doorway to the center of the room. It was there that the bridge stopped, looking like it'd been destroyed by an explosion if the singe marks were any indication. "So what do we do now?"

Trail frowned. "To be honest, I'm not sure." Flash turned to him. "This is the only spot we know a breech has opened naturally. After Sombra's defeat, I chose to stay here and be ready encase another breech opens. But in the year I've been here, this tomb as been as silent as the grave." He turned back to Flash, "but I'm sure we'll find a way to reopen it. All we have to do is work together."

Flash didn't say anything and instead focused on the room itself, the teen truly wondering if he could actually open a breech to the Duel Monster Spirit World.

"Let's give it a try," Misty told him as they stepped forward. Flash slowly made it to the end of the bridge and stared down at the bottom of the room. "Just close your eyes and focus." Flash did as he was told. "Now, imagine it. A breech. A portal to the other world. Just like the ones you've seen Vail Pixie create." As she said that, Flash's mind suddenly broke from the image he was trying to create.

Instead, he saw Vail Pixie's face infront of him mind. And the expression on her face was the one he'd seen when he'd pushed her away. The face of betrayal from him using the Zenith Dragon despite her warning.

Misty noticed the troubled expression on Flash's face knew he wasn't doing what he suggested. "Flash," his ears twitched at this, "you need to stay calm and focus on the breech." Flash nodded and tried to force himself to do so, but as he did the image of Vail Pixie's expression and Flash Heart keeping his back turned from him kept blinking infront of him mind. "Focus on the image of the ruins you've seen in the Duel Monster Spirit World. Envision a doorway with that place on the other side. You can do this."

"I'm...trying," Flash grunted as he clutched his head to try and force himself to envision it like she was suggesting.

"Don't force it," Trail told him. "That won't work. You have to let it flow naturally. Remember, the world you're trying to enter is the one you were born in. It's a part of you. So dig deep and feel yourself connect with that world."

"I don't know how," Flash told him.

"Yes you do," Trail nodded. "The way to do it is inside of you. Just reach within your soul and you'll find the answer." Flash had no idea what he meant by that and kept trying to force it like he had done before, but the image of his monsters kept flashing infront of his mind. Each one had a betrayed looked on their faces, or simply kept their backs turned away from him.

Manga Wolf, Lunara, Solaris, Vail Pixie, Flash Heart, and so many others who'd stood by him through thick and thin. And he'd simply pushed them away. The monsters he once said he'd die to protect, he betrayed and risked without a second's thought.

"Flash!" Trail placed a hand on his shoulder, but Flash quickly jerked away and stepped back.

"I can't do this!" He cried while turning to them, "I can't open a portal to the other world."

"Yes you can," Misty told him. "You just have to-"

"No!" Flash almost yelled, "this was a stupid idea." He rushed forward and pushed through them. "Even if I managed to go there, they'd never forgive me." With that, he headed out the door and followed the rope back to the surface. As he left, his family shared a worried look as they turned to one another.

"What do we do?" Scootaloo asked.

"Something's clearly wrong with him," Misty stated. "And unless we find a way to help him through it, he'll never be able to open a breech."

Back outside, Flash rushed out the cave and power walked towards the ruins.

Once there, he stopped and just stood there as he let all his bottled up emotions slowly raise closer and closer to the surface. And eventually, the cap burst off the bottle. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He fell to his knees and started panting after his outburst. He stayed like that for several minutes, the intense heat of the sun washing down on him.

Eventually, he sensed a presence appear next to him and looked up to see his father standing besides him drinking from a canteen. "Here," he said once he'd finished his drink, "it's never a good idea to be out here without something to drink." Flash hesitated for a second before taking the bottle and drinking it down, all the while keeping his back turned to his dad. "It's clear you have a problem with me." Flash glance back at him. "I wish I could say sorry, but I don't even know what it is." Trail turned away from him, "I hope you'll tell me what I did so I can apologise." With that, he walked off and left his son alone to drink his water while moving over to Scootaloo and Misty.

Flash just stood there, having finished his drink and removing he canteen from his lips. His vision remained on his father before he finally turned away, not wanting to lock eyes with him.

Hours passed and Flash remained where he was, though he'd moved over to a more shady spot.

Meanwhile, the rest of his family had set up camp. Scootaloo and Trail laughed as he showed her how to make a campfire, while Misty simply smiled at the two before turning to her son and frowning. "Oh Flash."

Flash continued to just sit there watching as the sun slowly began to set, the light of the campfire the only think keeping away the pitch darkness. He remained like this for several minutes until he noticed someone step up to him, looking up to see his mother smiling down at him while holding a bowl of food.

"Hungry?" She asked, offering it to him. Flash took the bowl and started eating, Misty taking this chance to sit down besides him. "You don't have to stay here you know. You'll probably be much warmer by the fire." Flash didn't say anything as he ate. "If there's something wrong, you can tell me." Flash stopped eating a just stared into the bowl. "Remember what Cadance told you. You're not alone in this. If you're having issues, you can tell us." Flash stayed quiet as Misty got up, "please come sit with us. This is the first time our family's been together. Don't waste that time." With that, she returned to the campfire and watched Scootaloo and Trail's Duel.

Several minutes passed until, finally, Flash came over and sat with them.

The others stared at him for a few moments before sharing a look, Trail then speaking up. "Flash-"

"You never came to see us," he interrupted. This surprised them as he went on. "You were here, in this world. You had Vail Pixie. You could have easily come and spent time with us when we were growing up." He turned to Trail. "But you didn't. You left gramps to raise us, even though you could have spent time with us while stopping Sombra." He looked down, "you could have taught us how to Duel. Heck, you could have given me my deck yourself. I could have had years learning to master my cards. Summoning the stronger ones here. But I didn't."

"Flash," Trail whispered, "it wasn't that simple." He looked into the flames of the fire. "I wanted more then anything to come and see you. But I was scared."

"Scared of what?" Scootaloo asked.

"Scared that Sombra would learn of you and try to do something. He knew your mother and I were trying to stop him, but he didn't know about you until you entered the Celestic Cup. He was keeping an eye on me, so I couldn't risk being around you. That's why I entrusted Cold with the deck and your training. I kept Sombra distracted while Cold worked on helping you get stronger and summon the monsters needed to defeat him. If I had communicated with you, he might have tried to do something. Kidnap you as a way to stop us from fighting back. Forced us to exchange you for the deck." Trail turned back to Flash, "I was trying to protect you. That didn't mean I didn't want to be with you. That's all I've ever wanted." He looked back at the mountain, "but I had to make sure this world wasn't put in danger."

Flash frowned while staring into the flames, feeling terrible about being mad at him. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for," Trail told him.

"Yes I do." His hands clutched together, rubbing against one another. "You and mom trusted me with the deck, a deck you made and brought to this world, but I was willing to throw it away for the sake of power."

"Flash," Misty placed a hand on his shoulder, "you did what you did because you felt you had too. The one you loved was in danger."

"That doesn't mean I had the right to put my friends on the line." Flash felt tears well up in his eyes, "if it was dad-" He turned to his father, "or mom-" He turned to his sister, "or someone you loved. If they had been possessed and you were trying to save them, do you think it's right to put the cards you've formed a connection with on the line. Those cards that symbolise your friendship with them. That connects you too them."

The three took out their decks and held the cards, each now understanding just how much guilt Flash must be feeling.

"You see," Flash looked back to the fire. "Vail Pixie tried to warn me against doing it, but I didn't listen. I even pushed her away." The others frowned hearing this, all knowing how special Vail Pixie is...was to Flash. "The look on her face. Every time I close my eyes, I see it. The betrayal she felt."

"That wasn't you!" Scootaloo told him, "you wouldn't do something like that. It had to be the Zenith Dragon. Or...or Void. Remember what that guy said. Inside Void, a person's connection to their Duel Monster erodes. If you hadn't been in Void, there's no way you would have done that."

"No," Flash shook his head, "I'm not blaming this on someone else. I chose to use that card. I chose to put my deck on the line because at the time, I didn't care about the consequences. I didn't care about what happened to them."

"So that's it," Flash looked up at his father. "That's why you couldn't open a breech. You didn't want too. You didn't want to face them again." This statement made Flash realise he was right.

"I can't face them again. Not after what I did."

"Flash," Misty whispered, "you made a mistake. A big mistake, yes, but a mistake none the less. Just because you did what you did, that doesn't mean you should hide away from them. Making a mistake is one thing, but not trying the fix what you did is another mistake."

"But how am I suppose to fix what I did?"

"Maybe you can't," Misty told him. "But you still have to try. Vail Pixie and the others deserve an apology. You have to go there and tell them you're sorry. Then, it'll be up to them. If you're genuine and speak from the heart, I'm sure they'll forgive you. But even if they don't, at least you tried."

Flash sighed, letting what his mother told him sink in. He slowly nodded while still looking into the fire. "You're right. I do need to at least try to apologise. Those monsters have gotten me through more scraps then I can count. They do deserve an apology."

"And maybe you can convince them to help you save Twilight," Scootaloo told him.

Flash frowned. "I do wanna save Twilight, but I can't force them to work with me again. If they don't want me as their Duellist, I'll have to let someone else save her." He turned back to the mountain. "But what if I can't open a breech. Even if I want too?"

"We'll find a way," Trail told him. "This time, you won't be doing it alone." He looked around at his family. "The four of us are all connected to the Duel Monster Spirit World. Your mother and I spent years there. And I was the anchor for Vail Pixie. Flash was born in this world and even Scootaloo has the power to communicate the Duel Spirits like her mother." He looked up at the sky, seeing the many stars that filed it. "Our family is as much apart of that world as it is this one. That's why we must do whatever it takes to stop Zeronull and the Zealots. Not just for this world, but for the other one." They all nodded in agreement as Trail looked down at them. "That's why, by working together, I'm sure the three of us will be able to open a breech.

Again, they nodded. The four all understood that together, they would be able to open a breech and help Flash find a way into the Duel Monster Spirit world.

The next morning.

As soon as the sun rose, the family of four returned to the mountain and headed down into the cave. Once they were back in the tomb, Flash stared out at the bridge. He once again felt an uneasiness about the idea of entering the other world.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to his dad, Trail smiling at him. "You ready?"

"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready," Flash told him. A serious look then appeared on his face, "but I won't let that stop me." No matter what, he was going to the Duel Monster Spirit World. He would go there and finally apologise to his monsters. Whatever happens after that, he would accept. "I'm ready."

"Then let's do this thing," Trail reached into his cloak and pulled out an honest to god grapple gun. He pointed it at the ceiling and fired, the harpoon slamming into the rock and connecting. "Hop on kiddo."

Scootaloo laughed before jumping on Trail's back, the man leaping forward and swinging over to the over side of the bridge. Once there, he tied the rope to the bridge and turned back to his son and wife. "You ready?"

Flash nodded as Misty stepped up to the edge besides him, Scootaloo and Trail standing on the other edge. The four of them closed their eyes and held out their arms. "We must focus on the same place."

"Just imagine it," Trail went on. "Try to picture it in your mind." They did so, the lot letting their imagination run wild and mould at Trail's description. "Imagine a tunnel, which starts at this very point and pushes passed the dimension boundaries. It passes through the void and eventually connects to the Duel Monster Spirit World. Pushing its way through that worlds barrier and slowly descends down into the ruins you once saw."

They followed his instructions and focused on that image, unaware that the four of them were slowly starting to glow.

"It's a long, long tunnel. So long that you could wrap it around the earth over a thousand time."

'Please,' Scootaloo thought. 'If you can hear us, please respond.'

'For the sake of both our world and yours,' Misty thought as the glowing got brighter and brighter. Slowly, the light began to fly off of them like misty. Floating out of their hands, the four trails of light slowly met in the center of the bridge gap and began spiralling together.

Flash's mind once again fell upon the image of the monsters he'd betrayed. But he didn't let that stop him. Instead, he let it fuel his imagination as he focused on what had to happen. 'Flash Heart... Vail Pixie... everyone. We used to share a vision for the future. One where humans and Duel Monsters can live, together, on either world. I threw that vision away, but I know now that that was a mistake. So please... please...' "Let me have that vision back!" He cried as the light coming off the four exploded with brightness as their opened their eyes.

They all gasped when they saw the ball of light floating between them. After a few seconds, it began to fall towards the ground and when it hit the floor, it exploded and caused a crack to appear that was floating above the ground and made entirely out of light.

"That's it," Flash realised. "The breech. On the other side of that crack is the Duel Monster Spirit World."

"That's right," Trail nodded as he and Scootaloo swung back over to their side. "And I'm afraid you're on your own from this point."

"Can't we go with him?" Scootaloo asked, her parents shaking their heads before looking down at the crack.

"By the looks of things, that breech is very weak." Misty turned to Flash, "it'll barely support one person going through it. If we all go, the connection will probably brake and we'll be lost between worlds."

"So only one person can pass through it," Flash reasoned with his parents nodding.

Misty stepped over to him and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"No," Flash shook his head, "I have to do this." He looked down at the breech, "I owe it to them." Misty sighed and nodded before pulling him into a hug, holding him tightly. Flash hugged her back as Scootaloo got in on it, Trail being the last to put his arms around the three. Flash basked in the comfort of his family until the three finally pulled away from him. "I'm ready."

"Not yet you're not," Trail reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a familiar deck of cards. "Here."

Flash's eyes went wide as he took the cards. "These are..." He turned them around and saw they were his dad's Blazing Soul cards, "are you sure?"

"Who knows what you'll run into through that," Trail told him. "Better to be prepared. And this way, you'll have a piece of me with you." Flash smiled at this and nodded before taking out his Duel Disk and placing the cards inside. As he did, Misty reached into her pocket and pulled out another card.

"Here," she held it out to him. Flash took it and saw it was Divine Sky Angel, "a piece of me to take with you as well."

"Me too," Scootaloo held out our cards. Flash saw they were Rush Raptor and her two Xyz cards, along with the Rank-Up-Magic.

Flash smiled as he took them and added them into the deck, then remembered something and reached into his own pocket. He pulled out the Dark Portal Master card and after a second, placed it in with the rest of his cards. "Okay," he turned to the edge of the bridge, "now I'm ready." The others nodded and stepped aside, allowing Flash to move to the edge and look down at the breech.

He stayed still for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting himself lean forward, gravity eventually taking hold and pulling him over the edge. His family watched as he fell towards the portal, arms out and eyes closed.

When he finally reached the breech and touched it, the crack exploded with a bright light that filled the entire room and blinded his family. They all cried out as they shielded their eyes, waiting almost a minute before the light completely cut out.

Opening them up again, the three stared down at where the crack had been and were shocked to see it was gone. "What happened?" Scootaloo asked.

"The breech closed," Trail told her. "But Flash made it through." He let out a sigh and placed a hand on Misty's shoulder, "he's on his own now."

Misty nodded before staring back at where it'd been, "be strong Flash."

Flash opened his eyes and found himself in a strange void willed with every colour he could imagine. It was a long tunnel, just like his father had described. And at the end of it, the world he was born in was waiting.

"I'm coming guys," Flash told them. "I'm coming to apologise."

Author's Note

Well, Flash is on his way to the Duel Monster Spirit World. What'll happen when he gets there? Only time will tell.

Turn 26: A Shadow in the Light

Long ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit World.

On a cliff overlooking the ocean, a large castle could be seen. And around that castle, multiple people were flying around while holding staffs of varying designs and materials. In the courtyard of the castle, several of these wizards were sitting around talking, reading, showing off new spells and whatever else they could think of.

Every type of spellcaster imaginable could be seen there. Breaker and Defender, Valkyria and Blast. Timegazer, Dragonpulse, Stargazer and Timebreaker. Many amazing magicians.

But up in one of the castle's towers, a young girl with silver hair was currently sweep up. She was wearing a light blue turtle-necked sweater with an open back and a dark blue skirt. She also wore a pair of light blue boots and white socks, along with a pair of white fingerless gloves.

The girl swept at the floor while simply staring at it, not looking where she was going as she stepped backwards. Doing so caused her to accidently knock into a suit of armour, causing the helmet to fall off the top and crash to the ground. She flinched with each hit until the helmet stopped before throwing her broom away and picking the helmet up, turning to the armor sheepishly. "Sorry."

The armor suddenly started moving and crossed its arms in an unimpressed way before reaching out and yanking the helmet out of her grasp. It placed the helmet on its head before using it to shoot death glares at the girl, who flinched back.

"I said I was sorry!" The armor continued to glare at her for several seconds before returning to the pose it had been in before and going still, the girl sighing before she picked up the broom. She then looked out at the room and sighed seeing the mess it was in, with books thrown about the floor and dust covering every bookshelf. "I'm never gonna get this all done." It was then she had an idea.

Staring down at the broom, she took a quick look around as if expecting to suddenly see someone in the room. But when the cost was clear, she smirked before holding out the broom and whispering something in another language. Her hands glowed a silver light that quickly spread to the broom, the girl letting it go and seeing it floating in place. It then started sweeping on its own, the girl smirking as she turned to the books and whispered something else.

The books then began to float up and place themselves on the shelves, the girl smiling as she sat down and sighed in relief.

"Glorianna!" The girl gasped as she opened her eyes, just in time to see the freshly shelved books fly out while the broom swung around and swept the chair she was on so she would fall on the floor. The owner of the voice was a middle aged man with greying hair, wearing silver ropes over an armoured chest piece with a wooden staff in one hand and blue book in the other. The man was standing at the doorway with an unimpressed look on his face. "What have we talked about?"

Glorianna sighed as she pushed herself back to her feet, "magic isn't a permissible shortcut to hard work."

The wizard nodded as the broom was currently swinging itself through the air for no reason. "Carrying on and don't-"

"But master-"

"But master me," he stepped passed the girl and moved towards a cauldron next to a table covered in jars that were filled with strange-looking things.

Glorianna groaned. "It's just...I know I'm capable of doing more then pushing a broom." She summoned said broom to her hand, but even then it kept moving wildly and she had trouble keeping hold of it. It even managed to get a few hits off on her head. She grunted as she wrestled with the broom, "please teach me to be a proper...sorcerer!"

The man didn't even look at her as he opened his book, which was floating infront of him. He then used his magic to lift several objects out of their jars before dropping them int he cauldron. "If there is a universal truth in this world, it is that struggle is the flame that forges one's soul into steel." He dropped the items into the cauldron, causing it to let out a puff of green smoke. "Magic cannot be a crutch."

"Haa!" Glorianna pinned the broom to the ground, only to find herself hit in the face again and falling to the ground. The broom them started sweeping her face.

"To take the easy way out is to merely exist, Glorianna." His staff glowed again and the light around the broom turned green, causing it to stop sweeping the girl's face before falling on top of her.

Glorianna looked up at her master. "So why am I learning spells if I'm not suppose to use them?" She sat up, "I wanna be a magician like you. With a staff and everything."

Her master smirked as he looked down at his wooden instrument, "staffs are for those with mastery over magic." He then turned to Glorianna, "magic, is mastery over life. So first, you must learn how to live."

Glorianna pouted. "Everyone else has a staff. So why can't I? Am I not as special and your precious favourite student. He just got a title, right? What was it again? Twilight...Sorcerer, right?" She crossed her arms, "I haven't seen him sweeping any floors."

"Glorianna," Starswirl sighed. "I accepted you into this school so you could learn magic, yes. But learning magic isn't cheep. This work isn't just to teach you the value of a hard day's work, it's a stand-in for your tuition."

"Everyone else gets to earn their tuition fund doing jobs. Hunting and gathering items. Proper Spellcaster stuff. If you let me do that-"

"No," he shook his head, "this is your path." He summoned the broom and held it out to her. "Continue to study and work hard and you will be rewarded. Then, I vow your days of pushing brooms will be over."

Present day.

Trixie yawned as she pushed the broom across the floor, sweeping up the metal control room she was standing in.

By her leader's instructions, the Omega Zealot of Light had travelled to the base their Zenith Generators were stored. So far, nothing had happened and she'd found herself simply doing manual chores like cleaning and making sure their generators weren't malfunctioning. And so far, it was boring as heck.

The girl held out her broom and sighed, wishing she had her magic and could make the broom sweep on its own. But then she remembered something. "Magic, isn't a permissible shortcut to hard work." And so she kept sweeping, completely unaware that her boredom was about to disappear.

"There it is," Tidal stated from a rooftop.

He was currently staring at an old warehouse building that looked no different from the hundreds of other warehouses currently surrounding it. But this one was different, hopefully.

"Are you sure this is the place?" His cohort asked as he turned to her, seeing Aria Blaze with crossed arms. "It doesn't look any different from the rest of the place."

"That's why it's a good hiding place," Adagio pointed out. "If it stood out, the place would be easy to find. The Zealots want to stay hidden. They wouldn't have a big sign hanging over the doorway saying 'Zealot hideout.'"

"It'd be funny if it did," Sonata giggled while sipping out of the milkshake she was currently drinking. "So what now?"

Tidal smiled. "We get in there and see if we can't find anything useful. If they have a computer system, we could tap into it and maybe find out what they're planning."

"What if we run into a Zealot?" Aria asked. "Please tell me we can take them down." Tidal didn't look so sure, remembering what had happened when Twilight faced off against Trixie.

"We'll have to wait and see. Now come along." The four of them headed down the building and crossed the street, unaware that they'd just triggered an alarm.

"What now?" Trixie asked as the alarm went off.

She turned to the computer and checked the cameras, groaning when she saw who was in the warehouse. "Seriously. How do they keep finding us?"

She knew there was a chance they might not find the entrance, but she had to be sure. As such, she removed her glove and raised her right hand. The mark glowed before it unleashed a black and red light, which flew up into the air before splitting into three. Those lights hit the ground and turned into a type of red and black slime, which slowly shaped itself into a humanoid figure.

The creatures the Zealots had come to call Shades stood there, waiting for their orders. "Go. If you see them, keep them busy as long as possible." They nodded before turning to piles of slime and moving across the floor, leaving the room while Trixie turned to the computers. "Need to be ready to transport the generators if needs be." With that, she started typing.

Tidal and the Dazzlings looked around the large warehouse, but found nothing but stacks and stacks of empty boxes.

"Find anything?" Tidal asked them, the girls frowning as two of them stepped out from between the aisles.

Aria huffed. "You mean other then enough dust bunnies to make a perfectly scale version of Adagio, hair included? No. Nothing."

"I didn't find anything either," Adagio frowned before looking around for Sonata. "Where is she?"

"Up here." They looked up and spotted the girl standing atop a large stack of wooden boxes. "I thought maybe I could find something from up here. But all I see are boxes, boxes and more boxes."

"Well get down from there before you hurt yourself," Tidal told her.

"It's fine," she smiled. But in that moment, she suddenly found herself losing her balance as the stacks began to rock. "Wow, wow, WOW!" She cried out as the stacks collapse and see fell into the boxes as they broke apart, the others rushing over to the pile and seeing her pick herself up with tears in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Tidal asked, Sonata holding up a finger.

"I got a splinter." The others all huffed, unable to believe she was complaining about that considering she had just survived something that should have injured her far more. But then, Aria spotted something that'd been hidden under the box stack.

"What's that?" The others looked around and saw it was some kind of hatch, similar to something you would see on a submarine.

"That doesn't look like it belongs there," Tidal hummed.

"Meaning only one thing," Adagio stepped over to it and began spinning the wheel until the hatch opened. It revealed a long metal tube with a ladder, the four of them smiling. "Bean-pot." She turned to Sonata, "knew we kept you around for a reason." Sonata smiled, completely oblivious to the insult as Tidal began to descend the ladder with the girls following after it.

"Seriously?" Trixie asked as she four headed down. "What does a girl have to do to get some privacy?"

She quickly got to work, preparing the transport. But when the system was online, she groaned seeing it would take a while. "Just gotta keep them occupied until the transport is done." She hummed. "The Shades should deal with most of them, but that'll leave one unaccounted for." She turned towards the door and nodded, an idea forming in her head.

When the four got to the bottom of the tunnel, they found themselves in an underground building.

They were in a large hallway that went straight ahead, but had multiple entrances to other hallways along the walls. It was quiet...too quiet. "Well this place isn't creepy at all," Aria sarcastically commented.

"Come on," Adagio lead the way. "Let's see if we can't find a computer terminal." But as she said this, an alarm went off that surprised the four. Then, before they could ask what was happening, part of the ceiling descended behind them and formed a new wall cutting them off from the way in.

"We're trapped!" Sonata cried.

"Really?" Aria asked, "what was your first clue."

"Someone's here," Tidal pointed out. But before they could make a plan, the floor beneath their feet moved. "WOW!" Tidal found himself being travelated into one of the adjoining hallways. And when he was within it, a wall came down and separated him from the Dazzlings.

The girls didn't have time to react as the floor moved under them, Aria and Sonata being thrown into another hallway before the walls came down. "NO!" Adagio tried to rush towards them, but another wall came down and blocked her from them. "Not again!" She cried as she hit the wall, then heard a sound and looked around to see another wall coming down behind her.

She frowned and rushed forward, managing to slide under the wall Indiana Jones style before it closed.

She looked forward and spotted a door infront of her. The Dazzling had a feeling she knew what was waiting for her behind it and got up, rushing to open it. When she did, she found it was a computer room that had several monitors beeping and buzzing. She then spotted someone standing infront of said computer. "Trixie Lulamoon."

The Omega Zealot spun around and smiled, "Adagio Dazzle." She stepped forward, "so nice to meet you."

"The feeling isn't mutual," Adagio frowned before spotting something on the monitor behind her. A countdown, with words above it.

Self-destruct sequence, phase one.

"What have you done?" She asked, only for Trixie to suddenly rush forward. And when she was right infront of Adagio, she raised her hand before a light exploded out of the mark.

"Nothing you need to worry about," she smiled as the light enveloped them both.

Tidal moaned as he recovered from the surprise and stood up, looking back at the wall and banging on it. "Girls, can you hear me. Hola!"

It was then that he sensed a presence behind him, the Mexican Duellist spinning around and seeing a blob of black and red slime behind him. It quickly began to morph and take humanoid shape, the slime eventually fading to reveal a paler version of himself. "So, you're the strange creature I heard about from Rainbow."

He wasn't the only one facing a dark reflection of himself. Both Aria and Sonata were also looking at perfect copies of themselves, both frowning as they all knew what was about to happen.

Adagio opened her eyes and found herself within the dark, space-like, Omega Field.

Trixie stood a ways off, attaching her Duel Disk to her arm. "I'm sure you realise what happens now?" Adagio smiled back and pulled out her own Duel Disk. 'I don't need to win. I just need to keep this Duel going until the transport's complete. Easy'

"I hope you're ready," Adagio smirked. "You're about to find out what happens to people who try to mess with me or my sisters."

"Oh," Trixie smirked, "I'm so scared." Both of them activated their Duel Disks and drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Trixie: 4000
Adagio: 4000

"I'll take the first move!" Adagio drew her card and nodded. "And I'll start with the Spell Card, Double Summon! With this, I can normal summon twice this turn. Then, I'll summon Ocean's Idol Nera!" A portal opened before her mermaid pop-star swam out of it. (A1400/D1300/L4/P8) "This'll be followed by Ocean's Idol, Allegra!" Another portal appeared with a second mermaid swimming out of it. (A1000/D1000/L3/P8) "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My draw then!" Trixie drew her card and nodded before focusing back on Adagio. "I'll start by playing the Spell card, Reincarnation of Hope." She discarded two cards, Adagio frowning as she had a feeling she knew which card she'd be getting with it. "Then I'll summon Dunames Dark Witch!" A flash of light revealed a women wearing brown valkyrie armour, with a pair of metal wings on her back. (A1800/D1050/L4) "ATTACK!"

Adagio watched as the valkyrie flew forward, aiming for Allegra. "Trap card, open!" Her face down flipped up, "Idol's Harmonic Blast!" Nera glowed before transforming into a light, which flew into Adagio's hand as the Trap unleashed a blast at the Dark Witch. "Now I can subtract half of her ATK points from your monster's ATK points." Dunames grunt as the blast hit it (A1100/D1050/L4)

Trixie frowned, "that's still not enough to save your monster." Dark Witch fired a blast of magic from the orbs on her armour, hitting Allegra and destroying her and making Adagio grunt.

Trixie: 4000
Adagio: 3900

As she recovered, Adagio reached for her deck. "Since Nera was sent back to my hand, I can now draw two cards." She did so and smiled when she saw what she'd gotten.

"I place one card face down and end my turn." As she said this, Trixie's Dunames Dark With returned to its normal points total. (A1800/D1050/L4)

Adagio took a deep breath. Despite her field being empty, she's managed to reduce the damage she had taken and increased her hand. As long as she stayed calm, she would be fine. Her friends on her other hand.

Tidal and his doppelganger were in the mist of battle, both appearing even with Tidal having Riptide Gunner on his field and his opponent having Big Wave General Stain on his.

"Alright falso," he reached for his deck. "It's my turn." He drew his card and smiled, "I set scale eleven Torpedo Jet Dolphin into the Pendulum Scale!" The pillar of light appeared next to him before the monster flew up into it. "And with him in my Pendulum Zone, I can now discard a card and search my deck for a Spell card of my choice." He did so as a card slotted out of his deck. "And now I'll activate it. Raging Storm Ritual, which by sacrificing monsters of seven stars or more will allow me to summon Commander of the Raging Storm, Soveruin!"

An underwater tornado appeared behind Riptide Gunner as Splash Sargent appeared besides him, the two then getting sucked into the vortex. "I RITUAL SUMMON!" The tornado exploded, revealing Tidal's ace riding the giant seahorse and swinging its cutlass. (A2400/D2200/L7) The fake remained stoic despite the danger it was clearly in, while Tidal simply smiled. "Let me show you what a true Duellist can do."

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Both Aria and Sonata cried as the portals opened above their heads, shooting out a bunch of lights that struck their fields.

On Aria's field, Arietta, Rhapsody and Vespers appeared. And on Sonata's field, Sonatina and Nera appeared.

"Arietta's skill!" Aria cried as Vespers returned to her hand, now I can send one card from your field to the bottom of your deck." Her fake had three face downs, so she had to pick wisely. "Middle one." Her fake placed it on the bottom of her deck, while the effects of Vespers and Rhapsody activated. "Now, Vespers deals you three hundred points of damage. And whenever a monster is sent from my field to my hand, Rhapsody gains five hundred ATK points for the rest of the turn. (A2800/D1900/L6/P2)

"I activate Sonatina's skill!" Sonata cried as Nera returned to her hand, "now I can return one card on your field to your hand." The fake Sonata's Sonatina returned to her hand. "And now, thanks to Nera, I can draw two new cards." She did so and smiled. "Then I'll place the Spell, Card Sniper!" She held up her hand. "Now we both pick a card in each others hands and that card's sent to the grave before he draw a new card."

Sonata's fake only had two cards in her hand, while Sonata had many more. So when Sonata's fake picked a card, it was one she didn't mind losing. Meanwhile, Sonata got lucky and managed to pick the fake's Sonatina. Both discard the cards and drew new ones, the fake now much worse off then the real on.

"Adagio," Tidal whispered as he decided on his next move, "just be careful."

"I know you're probably Duelling a Zealot," Aria whispered. "Don't you dare lose."

"You promised we'd never be apart again," Sonata said. "You're not allowed to break that promise."

As the three continued to Duel, they all said the same thing. "We're here for you."

"It's my turn!" Adagio drew her card. "And now, I set the Pendulum Scale with scale one Ocean's Idol Medley and scale eight Ocean's Idol Crescendo!" The pillars of light flew up before the two mermaids flew up into them. One was a new mermaid who had a orb-like gem on the front of her dress. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal formed above her, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out and struck the ground, revealing Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idol, Allegra!" (A1000/D1000/L3/P8)

"And Ocean's Idol, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8) "Now I play the spell card, Idol's Spotlight!" Nera swam behind Allegra and patted her shoulder before morphing into a light that shot into Adagio's hand. "By returning an Ocean's Idol to my hand, I can power up a lower levelled Idol by half Nera's ATK. (A1700/D1000/L3/P8)

"That won't be enough to destroy Dunames," Trixie pointed out.

"I know that," Adagio drew two cards thanks to Nera's skill. When she saw what she'd gotten, she smiled. "But don't forget about Crescendo!" The orb on the mermaid's dress suddenly had a one within it. "Whenever an Ocean's Idol returns to the hand, she gets a Voice Counter. Next, I'll summon Nera back to the field!" The portal opened before the mermaid swam out of it. "ATTACK!"

Trixie raised an eyebrow as Allegra swam towards her Dark Witch. "But she's not strong enough." But then, she heard a beautiful sound and looked up at Crescendo. As she sang, Nera and Allegra glowed.

"During the Battle Phase, Crescendo powers up any Ocean's Idol by three hundred points for every Voice Counter she has." (A2000/D1000/L3/P8) (A1700/D1300/L4/P8) When Allegra got close, she unleashed a sonic blast that flew forward and struck Dunames.

"Augh!" Trixie cried as her monster exploded, dealing her damage.

Trixie: 3800
Adagio: 3900

"Now, Nera!" The mermaid unleashed a burst of sound, which struck Trixie and made her stagger back in pain.

Trixie: 2100
Adagio: 3900

"Trap Card, open!" Trixie's face down flipped up, "Cleansing Light of the Heavens! Now I gain four hundred points for every Light monster in my graveyard."

Trixie: 3300
Adagio: 3900

Adagio smirked. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Her monster's ATK points returned to normal.

"My turn!" Trixie drew her card. As she did, she looked down at her Duel Disk and spotted a timer in the corner. She still had a while before the transport was complete. "I play the Spell Card, Stardust Reload. And by banishing my Dark Witch, I can draw four cards." She did so and smiled, "then I'll play Monster Reborn, to revive my Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens!" In a flash of light, the statue appeared infront of her. (A1000/D1000/L4) "Then I'll summon Lustre Mage, Alina!" Another flash of light revealed the teenage witch. (A1400/D1100/L4)

Adagio frowned, wondering where she was going with this.

"Now," Trixie cried as the monsters morphed into lights that flew into the air, "I'll use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network." A black hole opened before the lights shot it, said black hole quickly exploding. "I XYZ SUMMON!"

From out of the portal came a blonde witch with blue and white robes, carrying a silver spear with a round gemstone embedded in the blade. "Dimensional Spear Mage, Saranay!" (A2300/D2200/R4) "Skill of Saranay!" One of the lights shot into the gemstone on the spear before the monster swung it at Allegra, unleashing a light blade the flew through the air. "By removing an Overlay Unit, I can send the weakest monster on your field to the bottom of your deck." The light blade caused a rip to appeared in the fabric of space, which began to slowly suck Allegra inside it while Nera watched in horror.

"NO!" Adagio cried as her monster vanished, turning to glare at Trixie. "I should have expected as much. You just love ripping people from those they care about."

"I do what I must," Trixie told her.

"Don't you have any empathy?" She asked. "You were the one that sent Twilight to Void, causing her to be Dominated. She was a living person and you just ripped her away from her friends and family. The same way you ripped Starlight away from those she cared about when you Dominated her. And again when you did the same to Trixie. Don't you regret anything." As she said this, Trixie seemed to stand still while she looked to the ground, thinking this all over.

"There are many things I regret," she explained. "Many...many things."

Years ago.

An older Glorianna frowned as she stood at the back of the hall, which was filled with magicians that were currently clapping for their guest of honour. Said guest of honour was Twilight Sorcerer, who'd just graduated from the magic program top of the class.

"I hear he's been offered a position at the royal court," she heard Apple Magician Girl tell her friend, Lemon Magician Girl. "If he takes it, he'll gain the title of Imperial Magician."

Lemon nodded. "I heard he's also been offered the chance to study at the brotherhood of the Celestial Body. Can you imagine what he could learn there?"

Apple nodded. "Maybe he'll stay here and eventually take over the school. He might even get a new title. Something higher then sorcerer, like a sage or warlock."

Glorianna rolled her eyes and left the hall, wondering about the place until she eventually arrived at her master's quarters. When she stepped inside, she looked around the room at all the magical items. Then down at the book she saw her master use regularly. It was a blue book with light blue stars and dark blue swirls on the cover, with red flaps coming out of places.

She picked it up and frowned. "I bet if I learnt a spell out of you, people would start seeing how good I could be." It was then a smile crept onto her face. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'll do." She cast an invisibility spell on the book before rushing out, being careful not to look suspicious. "Master won't even know it's gone." He was expected to leave for a meeting at the royal court tomorrow and by the time he got back, she would have learnt the spell and returned the book. "Perfect."

She soon got to her room and rushed inside, leaping onto her bed and making the book visible again. Once that was done, she prepared to open it up and find a spell that interested her. But before she could, a magical alarm went off and she grew scared. Had her master found out she had taken the book?

She quickly hid it away, making it invisible again, and rushed out of her room towards the tower. On the way, she spotted her master come around the corner and begin to make his way to the tower. "Master?" He turned to her as she caught up, "what's going on?"

"An army was just spotted approaching the castle. It's a bunch of archfiends."

"Archfiends?" Glorianna had not been expecting that, "why are they here?"

He frowned. "Over the centuries, my family has guarded this realm and collected many mystical items of great power. Even my spellbook, which was granted to my ancestor by a divine being, could be a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. That's why they're here. To get their hands on something that could increase their power and allow them to conquer this world. But I won't let that happen. I have the perfect spell in my spellbook that'll completely wipe them out." Glorianna's eyes went wide when she realised what was about to happen.

She was gonna need to tell her master where his book was and why it was there, meaning she was in big trouble. "Master-"

"Oh, that reminds me." He turned to her before gasping a spell, a flash of light occurring before something appeared in his hands. That something was a staff, which made Glorianna gasp.

"Is that..."

"I was hoping to present it to you in a more befitting manor, but you'll need it if you wish to join us in battle." Glorianna could hardly breath as she reached out and took the staff, feeling a rush of power as she took it in hand. It felt right. Like it was meant to be hers. "I told you your hard work and patience would be rewarded. Now," he turned towards his tower, "we must prepare for battle." He began to walk off with prideful strides, Glorianna suddenly remembering what she needed to do.

"Master," he stopped and turned to her. She was about to tell him about the book, but then she looked down at the staff. Fear rushed through her at the thought of losing it, something that would clearly happen if he knew what she'd done. "I...I...I just wanted to thank you for everything." Her master smiled and nodded before turning to walk off, leaving Glorianna to shake in regret. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't need that book."

"I've made many mistakes in my life," Trixie explained. "Mistakes I can never make up for." She looked up at Adagio, "that's why my only hope...is to start again!" With that, Saranay shot forward and impaled Nera with her spear.

"AUGH!" Adagio cried in pain as her monster was destroyed.

Trixie: 3300
Adagio: 3000

She panted as Trixie placed three cards face down, "I end my turn." She continued to stare at the timer, seeing there was still a lot of time left. "I have to keep going."

Back with Tidal, he and his fake now both had their Ritual Monsters out and its was currently Shade-Tidal's turn.

"I activate Soveruin's ability!" Tidal's Pendulum and Face Down were sucked into the tornado of water that Soveruin had produced, turning back into cards that flew at him and sliced right through him.

"Augh!" He cried as his life points went down.

"Then, I equip Soveruin with Neptune's Trident!" In a flash of light, Soveruin's cutlass turned into a giant golden fork. "This Spell raises Soveruin's ATK points by one thousand points." (A3400/D2200/L7) "Finally, I summon Officer Cadet Andrew!" The young naval officer appeared besides Soveruin. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Soveruin now attacks!"

Tidal watched as his ace monster began to charge towards him, the real Soveruin blocking it. If Soveruin was destroyed, the damage done coupled with Andrew's attack would knock him out of the game. "I pay half my life points to activate a Trap card from my hand!" His life points went down as the played the card, "Maelstrom Guard!" A tornado of water exploded around Soveruin as the fake tried to impale him, but the trident couldn't get through the water. "Maelstrom Guard prevents any Water Monster from being destroyed and negates any battle damage I take for this turn."

The faker remained stoic as he placed a card face down. "I end my turn."

"Then it's my draw!" Tidal drew his card and smiled as a plan formed. "First, I'll use Soveruin's ability to send your trident back to your hand." Soveruin created a tornado that sucked up the Equip Spell and shot it at the fake, who didn't even flinch when it sliced through its cheek. Then I'll set Torpedo Jet Dolphin back into the Pendulum Zone, allowing me to use its Pendulum Ability!" The dolphin appeared in the pillar as Tidal discarded a card, with another one slotting out of his deck. "And with that, I activate my Rebirth Ritual!"

The shade remained stoic as the tornado exploded around Soveruin, appearing to not care that it was about to face off against one of its deck's best cards.

"RITUAL EVOLUTION!" The tornado exploded, revealing the evolved version of Tidal's best card. "Master of the Storm, Admiral Soveruin!" (A2800/2500/L8) "And I'm sure you already know this, but Rebirth Ritual increases his ATK points this turn." (A3800/D2500/L8) "GO!" Soveruin swam forward before slashing through its weaker form, destroying it and leaving Shade-Tidal with only eight hundred points. "And when Soveruin destroys a monster he can destroy a weaker monster on your field and deal you its ATK points as damage!" Soveruin's leviathan opened its mouth and fired a powerful burst of water, which struck Andrew and destroyed him.

The Shade finally screamed as its life points hit zero, causing it to melt away and vanish.

Tidal sighed in relief as he took off his Duel Disk, looking around. "There has to be a way out of here." He then noticed an extension in the wall and smiled. "That could work." He moved over to it and plugged his Duel Disk in, connecting to the system. "Let's see what we can do with this."

"It's my turn!" Adagio drew her card and smiled as the Portal formed above her head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a trio of lights shot out and exploded when it hit the ground. "Ocean's Idol, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)

"Ocean's Idol, Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2)

"And Ocean's Idol Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) Trixie frowned seeing Adagio's best monster. "Operetta's skill!" Vespers and Nera glowed before flying into Adagio's hand before her monster unleashed a powerful sonic wave, which struck Saranay and powered her down. (A1300/2200/R4) "And since they were returned to the hand, Crescendo, Vespers and Nera's abilities activate." Adagio drew her cards as a ghostly Vespers appeared and unleashed a sonic blast before disappearing, the blast striking Trixie.

"Augh!"

Trixie: 3000
Adagio: 3000

"Trap card open!" Trixie cried as one of her face downs flipped up, "Numinous Healer! With this, I gain a thousand life points."

Trixie: 4000
Adagio: 3000

Adagio frowned. "Well I summon Vespers back to the field," the mermaid pop-star once again appeared before swimming forward. "And don't forget about Crescendo's Pendulum ability!" The monster sung, Vespers and Operetta glowing. (A3300/D2100/L7/P4) (A2700/D900/L4/P2) She then unleashed a sonic blast that struck Saranay and destroyed her.

Trixie: 2600
Adagio: 3000

"You've activate my Trap!" Trixie's other face down flipped up, "Shining Intervention! With this, I can now summon a Light monster from my graveyard with less attack then Saranay!" In a flash of light, Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens appeared. (A1000/D1000/L4)

"Fine!" Adagio announced as Operetta took a deep breath, "then I'll destroy that monster too!" Operetta unleashed a sonic blast, hitting Neo Barrier Statue and making it crumble to dust. But both girls knew what that meant.

Trixie: 300
Adagio: 3000

"Since Neo Barrier Statue was destroyed, its ability lets me summon a new Light Monster to take its place. So now I summon Generous Mystical Elf!" In a flash of light, the elf appeared in ATK position (A800/D2000/L4)

"I end my turn."

In the other room, both Sonata and Aria were about to finish up their Duels.

Both had their aces, along with Allegra, Vespers, Nera and Medley, while their fakes had only their aces and four face downs. "I activate Arietta's/Sonatina's skill!" They cried as their other monsters returned to their hands, activating their ace's effects and removing all but one of their fakes face downs.

"Now for Nera, Vespers, and Allegra's skill!" They drew their cards as Vespers dealt their opponents three hundred points of damage and Allegra destroyed their last face down. "NOW ATTACK!" They both screamed as their aces unleashed a sonic wave, which struck the opponent head on and wiped out their life points.

The shades screamed as they were destroyed, leaving the two safe but still trapped.

That was until the wall began to lift, freeing them. "Aria!" Sonata waved at her, "you're alright!"

"Obviously," Aria rolled her eyes before looking around, "where's Tidal and Adagio?"

"I'm over here," they heard Tidal's voice and rushed over to his hallway. There they spotted Tidal with his Duel Disk hooked up to the wall. "I've managed to get into the base's computer system. I managed to open the walls but that's all I've been able to do?"

"So where's Adagio?" Sonata asked.

Aria then heard a crackling noise and looked around, spotting an open doorway. But said doorway was blocked by a black and red mass, which she had a feeling she knew the name of. "I'm guessing she's in there." The others looked around the corner and saw it, both frowning before Tidal looked back at his Duel Disk.

"Maybe I can find out a little more." He continued to type away and the tablet, but all the other files were much more encrypted. It was then that he managed to break into a document. "Hello, what do we have here." The girls stared at the screen as it showed the image of something they had heard about. The strange looking shape Pinkie and Maud had told them about.

Said shape then multiplied into six, each one having a particular element kanji in the round part. The image that shifted, showing a picture of the planet. After a few seconds, the devices appeared around the planet. Once all six appeared, they began to connect to one another by a blackish-red light that flew from one device to another. Eventually, they made a hexagon around the planet.

"What is this?" Aria asked.

"I don't know," Tidal looked back to the door. "But I doubt it's anything good."

"It's my turn!" Trixie drew her card. "And since two turns have escalated since it's activation, Reincarnation of Hope's effect lets me add a monster card to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took. Looking at it, she couldn't help but remember what Adagio had said earlier.

'Yes, I do regret things. Many things. But on thing I regret more then anything, is the thing I'm trying to put right.

Years ago.

Glorianna cried out as she fired a magical blast at an Archfiend Solider, destroying it before casting a protection spell to push several more away.

As the shield was raised, she looked around and saw the battlefield littered with corps. When he master discovered his book was missing, he had assumed the archfiends had snuck in and taken it to keep him vanquishing them. This had caused the spellcasters to march out and meet them head on. Now, many archfiends and magicians had fallen.

"Glorianna!" She turned to her master, who had just destroyed several high level archfiends. "You must be strong. Ignore the carnage or you'll join these unfortunate souls." She nodded and continued fire at the monsters. But no matter how many of the she took down, another would just show up to replace it. They were unending.

A flash of purple light made her look up and see Twilight Sorcerer literally flying through the horde of demons, destroying anything that came close to it.

Meanwhile, her master blasted several back and spotted the Imprisoned Queen approaching. She was the strongest monster of the army and as the wizard charged, it launched a burst of dark fire at him. But he easily deflected it and fired a beam of green magic that wrapped around the archfiend and pulled it to its feet, the demon struggling as tried to escape. "Where is my spellbook. You will return it this instant." He then saw a confused look on the creatures face, a genuine one. It had no idea what he was talking about.

He didn't get a chance to find out more as a cry of fear broke his focus and made him turn to see Glorianna surrounded by monsters. His instincts kicked in and he fired a burst of magic from his hand, exploding at their feet and blinding the monsters. This allowed Glorianna to blast them away before smiling at her master, though that smile quickly vanished.

The reason was simple.

The Imprisoned Queen broke free of the magic and before he could react, it fired a blast of dark energy right in his face. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he was thrown backwards, crashing into the ground while his armour shattered.

Glorianna gasped seeing this, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Present.

Trixie's eyes shot open, "and I will fix it!" With that, Generous Mystical Elf exploded into a pillar of light. "I now tribute my elf to summon...myself, Shining Magician, GLORIANNA!" The light faded, revealing the monster currently dominating Trixie. (A3000/D2500/L8) The spellcaster swung its staff around, ready to put an end to this Duel. As she did, Trixie looked down at the timer and smiled. "This game is mine."

Author's Note

Well, now we know Glorianna's backstory. Hope you liked it. Now, will Adagio be able to beat her before it's too late?

Turn 27: A Dazzling Duel

Long ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit World.

In a small city of humans and human-like monsters, a small crowd had gathered around a young girl. She was standing behind a barrel with three identical cups, which she started moving around. "Gather round, gather round. Test your luck with the girl of fortune." She lifted the center cup, revealing a black ball. "Just remember, keep your eye on the prize." She put the ball back and dropped the cup, which she started spinning around. "Find the ball to win it all."

From out of the crowd, Marauding Captain stepped out and flicked a gold coin onto the barrel. "I'll give it a try." The girl smiled before upping the pace, the swordsmen following the cup he had seen her put the ball under.

"Alright," she stopped, "which one?" He smiled before grabbing the middle cup.

"Easy." He pulled the cup up, only to see there was nothing under it. "What?"

The girl smirked as she took the coin, "too bad. Wanna try and earn this back?" Her smirk vanished when he kicked the barrel, causing the other cups to fall and reveal nothing under them. She smiled a nervous smile as he and his friends glared at her, all reaching for their weapons. "Time to go." She snapped her fingers and whispered something before a flash of light blinded them all. When the light faded, the girl was gone.

Glorianna sighed in relief as she hid around a corner, believing she had gotten away with it.

But when she came out of the alley, she found herself on the wrong side of several swords. "You made a big mistake trying to swindle me," Marauding Captain told her as she was backed up into the alley. "Let this be a lesson to you." But before he could do anything, he and his men suddenly froze before falling to the ground.

"What the?" She looked them over and saw they were all sleeping, "how did-"

"I did," she turned to see a man step into view. Her eyes went wide at the sight.

"You...you're-"

"I know who I am," he replied. "You're lucky I happened to be passing by."

"I am," she fell to her knees. "Thank you. I owe you my life."

"And what sort of life would that be?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "Have you ever asked yourself that?" She frowned. "Your ruse with the light spell was rather cleaver."

Glorianna's eyes went wide, "really?"

"No," she pouted, "but it was real magic." He turned to walk away, "why not come with me. I'm sure I could help you find better uses for your talents then being a common street swindler." Glorianna's eyes went wide as she picked herself up and followed him. "Who knows, you might turn out to be something rather special."

Years later.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Glorianna screamed after seeing her master blasted down.

She rushed forward, seeing the queen preparing to attack again. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She jumped between them and pointed her staff forward, putting everything she had into her next spell. With a mighty scream, a powerful beam of magic shoot out of the staff and struck the archfiend.

A shining burst of light exploded, blinding everyone as the beast screamed in agony. When the light faded, a beast had a giant hole in its chest. It then slumped back and hit the ground before exploding, shocking everyone.

The archfiend army gasped seeing its leader destroyed. Several began to retreat, followed by more and more. The battle was won, thanks to Glorianna. But she didn't care.

"Master!" She rushed to his side and looked him over, "please be alright!" He coughed and looked up at her, a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry. But it looks like this is the end."

"No," tears escaped her eyes, "I'm so sorry."

"No," he shook his head, "I did what any true teacher would do. But now, you must go on without me." It was then his body slowly began to turn to specks of light.

"NO!" She cried, "please don't go."

"I must. But do not fear. You will make a great spellcaster, I'm sure of it. Be strong, be brave and don't-"

"But master-"

"But master me." All but his head vanished, the smile on his face brighter then ever. "You will do great things, my Shining Magician." With that, he completely vanished and the lights flew up into the sky. The other magicians all felt saddened by the loss, but none more so then Glorianna. And young magician's cries were unstopping.

"This is all my fault," she whispered so no one else would hear her.

Present day.

Trixie was pulled out of her memories as she opened her eyes and stared at Adagio, who was glaring up at the monster she had just summoned. Herself, Shining Magician Glorianna.

"So this is the monster controlling her," the Dazzling realised.

"And it's also the monster that'll destroy you," Trixie announced. "Glorianna's ability now activates!" She placed a card in her hand into her deck, which then shuffled before she drew a card and smiled at it. "Perfect. I play the Spell Card, Spell Memory. With this, I pay half my life points to activate a Spell card in my graveyard."

Trixie: 150
Adagio: 3000

"I activate Stardust Reload, to banish Alina and draw four cards." She did so and smiled before playing one. "Next, it's I'll play Soul Thief. This card lets me gain life points equal to half my opponent's current life points." Adagio glowed before the light shot off her and flew into Trixie, making her sigh in relief.

Trixie: 1650
Adagio: 3000

"Finally, I'll play Rising Light." Three pillars of light exploded infront of her. "This spell lets me summon any Level four or below Light Attributed monster from my graveyard in DEF mode, but they're destroyed at the end of my turn." The pillars vanished revealing Neo Barrier Statue, Generous Mystical Elf, and Saranay.

"Not good," Adagio whispered as the four took a defensive stance on either side of Glorianna.

"Now, Glorianna will attack your Vespers!" The magician raised her staff, ready to blast the mermaid with its light. However-

"I activate my Trap!" Adagio cried as her face down flipped up, "Idol's Stage-Fright!" Vespers suddenly looked terrified and transformed into a light, which flew into Adagio's hand and returned to being a card. "I can return one Ocean's Idol to my hand. And that activates her ability." A ghostly formed of Vespers appeared before firing out a blast of sound that struck Trixie.

Trixie: 1350
Adagio: 3000

Trixie winced but didn't let that stop her. "Well since Vespers is gone, Glorianna's attack can be directed straight at Operetta!" The magician turned to the mermaid, right as she and the rest of Trixie's monsters started glowing. "Glorianna's skill." The light flew off the monsters into Glorianna's staff, which then exploded with light. "Decrease the ATK of a monster Glorianna's attacking by one hundred, for every Light monster on my side of the field. The light struck Operetta's eyes and blinded her. (A2000/D2100/L7/P4) Glorianna then pointed her staff at Operetta, unleashing a beam of light that struck the mermaid and destroyed her.

"AUGH!" Adagio cried as the light struck her, the intensity of it giving her a sunburn.

Trixie: 1350
Adagio: 2000

Trixie smiled. "I place two cards face down end my turn." As she said that, the four defensive monsters exploded. "Now things are a little more even," she watched as Adagio stood wonky after getting hit with the intense light. "Let's see how well you do now?"

"Don't worry," Adagio told her as she straightened herself out. "I'll be just fine."

Outside the Omega Field, Adagio's sisters were staring at it as Tidal tried to hack into the bases's system.

"You think she's alright?" Sonata asked Aria, who turned to give her an 'are you serious' look.

"How the heck should I know. I don't have weird energy seeing through eyes." She turned back to the orb and crossed her arms. "Typical of Adagio to get the cool Duel while I'm stuck out here."

"You should count yourself lucky," Tidal told her while continuing to try and hack into the system.. "You haven't seen what a Zenith Dragon can do senorita Blaze. I have and It's not something I wish on anyone."

"Ha," Aria smirked, "I could take it. I bet I could beat having all six of those things attacking me at once."

"But there's only five monster slots," Sonata pointed out.

"Shut it," she turned back to Tidal. "You find anything yet. How long's it take to hack into a server?"

"I'm not exactly a technical expert," Tidal reminded her. "I'm impressed I've been able to get this far. The Zealots security systems are very complex. I wouldn't be surprised if Midnight used Twilight's intelligence to up their computer's protections."

Sonata then spoke up. "Have you at least figured out what that video we saw was about?" Tidal shook his head, the three still confused by the image they had seen before. Whatever these Zenith Generators were, they were clearly important to the Zealot's plans.

It was then that a beeping could be heard From Tidal's Duel Disk, making him look back and see something new appear on the screen. A timer. "Que?"

"What is it?" Aria asked while she and Sonata stared at the screen, both quickly getting a bad feeling about it.

"I think... yes," Tidal nodded. "I think it's a count down."

"Thank you captain obvious," Aria said. "What's it counting down too."

"That's obvious silly," Sonata smiled. "Haven't you ever seen a movie. When it hits zero, this whole place will go kaboom." But after she said that, her smile slowly turned to a look of terror as her eyes went wide. "We've gotta get out of here!"

Tidal nodded, "agreed." He went to unplug his Duel Disk, but Aria grabbed his wrist before he could grab the cable.

"Hold it!" She told him. "We're not going anywhere without Adagio. If she's not with us, we're staying put."

"But this place could go up any minute," Tidal told her.

"We're not leaving!" Aria glared at him. "You wanna stop us going boom, get hacking." Tidal gulped before turning back to his Duel Disk and started doing as he had been told. As he did, Aria and Sonata looked back around the corner at the orb. "Come on Adagio, beat her already."

Sonata looked just as worried. "If you don't, we'll all be going bye bye before our singing and Duelling career can get off the ground." She put her hands together and started praying. "You promised we wouldn't be kept apart again. So please stay safe."

"It's my turn!" Adagio drew her card, frowning as saw it was the Trap card, not something she was hoping for. She turned to the other cards in her hand, two of which were her main focus. Sonatina and a Spell called Idol's Dazzling Harmonics. She could use this card now, but the nest effect required one more monster.

"I'll just have to use what I've got for now," Adagio announced as the portal began to form above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before four lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idol, Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4)

"Ocean's Idol, Sonatina!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4)

"Ocean's Idol, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)

"And Ocean's Idol, Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2)

"Activate Trap!" Trixie's face down flipped up, "Warp Roll. Now, I pick six cards on your field and give them each a number." The monsters on Adagio's field got a number, Operetta getting a one, Sonatina getting a two, Nera getting a three and Vespers getting a four. Adagio's Pendulum Monsters also got a number, Medley getting a five and Crescendo getting a six.

"What's the point of this?" Adagio asked as Trixie smirked, a die appearing in Trixie's hand.

"The point is that now your fate is sealed. With a roll of the die, I can banish any card that has the same number as the one I roll." Adagio's eyes went wide as she realised what this would mean. If she landed on a one, two, or six, she could be in real trouble. "Let's go!" Trixie threw the die into the air and it spun around as it flew up before being pulled back down.

When it hit the ground, it bounced around until it finally came to a stop with the number four pointing upwards. Adagio turned to Vespers and saw a portal open under her, the light shooting out and wrapping around the mermaid before she was pulled down into it.

When the portal closed, Trixie sighed. "Oh well. Still got rid of a pretty annoying monster."

Adagio growled. But she would have the last laugh. "I play Sonatina's ability!" She cried as Nera glowed and returned to her hand, causing the mermaid's skill to activate. "Now I can send a card on your side of the field back to your hand."

Trixie frowned at this, but smiled as her face down activated. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card, Prism Shield!" A pyramid-shaped force field appeared around Glorianna. "Now, once per turn, I can select a monster on my field and make it immune to any monster effects."

"Seriously?" Adagio asked as Sonatina unleashed her sound blast, but it simply bounced off the field. "Fine, but Nera's skills till activates." She drew her card. "What's more, Crescendo's Voice Counters have now reached their maximum." The number in the mermaid's crystal changed to five. "Then, I'll summon Nera back to the field." The mermaid appeared alongside the other two, all ready to do battle. "ATTACK!" Operetta prepared to attack, as Crescendo sang her song and powered them both up. (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) (A2900/D1300/L4/P8)

"Go," Trixie cried as her last face down flipped up, "Magical Hats!" In that instant, Glorianna got into Defence mode as a large hat with a question mark appeared above her. The hat dropped down on her before tripling in number. "Glorianna is under one of these hats, while the other two are empty. Now," she smiled, "test your luck with the girl of fortune!"

"Seriously," Adagio asked before sighing. "Fine. The middle hat!" Operetta unleashed a sonic blast that struck said hat, causing it to explode. But when it exploded, it was revealed to be empty. "Dang it."

"Oh," Trixie smiled, "too bad. Care to try again."

"Gladly," Adagio yelled as Sonatina unleashed another sonic blast that hit the far left hat. And this time, when the hate exploded, Glorianna was revealed.

She cried out as she was destroyed, though Trixie didn't look worried. "When Glorianna's destroyed, I can summon another Light monster in my grave to replace her." In a flash of light, Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens appeared in DEF position.

"Fine," Adagio cried, "then Nera will take her out!" The mermaid sang, the blast hitting the statue and crumbling it.

"You know what happens now," Trixie stated as a card slotted out of her deck. "I summon Witch of Heavenly Guidance!" In a flash of light, the aforementioned witch appeared. (A1000/D1000/L4)

Adagio sighed, "I end my turn with a face down."

"Then it's my turn," Trixie drew her card. When she saw what it was, a smile slowly appeared on her lips. "First, I have to pay three hundred life points in order to keep Prism Shield active."

Trixie: 1050
Adagio: 2000

"And now, Heavenly Guidance's ability activates." The witch swung her staff around as she began to glow. "By ditching a Light monster in my hand while tributing her, I can revive a Light monster in my graveyard. So now, I discard Zenith Dragon of Glorious Shine in order to revive Glorianna."

"What?" Adagio's eyes grew wide as the information sank in, "why would you get rid of your absolute best card?"

"After what happened to the others, I'm not about to risk you possibly defeating it." She discarded the card as her witch's began to play the harp on the end of her staff, causing a portal to open up above her before the shrunken down ghostly form of Mesmeridiem appeared besides her. The two then flew up into the portal when they entered it, it unleashed a blast of light blinded Adagio. And when the light began to fade, Adagio looked up to see the Dominator floating down and landing infront of Trixie. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"She's scared of the power?" Adagio wondered as Trixie activated another card.

"Next, I equip Glorianna with the Crystal Spear!" In a flash of light, Glorianna's staff morphed into a coned lance made entirely out of yellow crystal. "Thanks to this card, I can give a Light attributed monster a serious power boost." She reached for her graveyard, as a card slotted out of it. "By banishing another Light monster from my graveyard, I card increase her ATK points by that monster's Level times two hundred until my next standby phase." She placed the card into her pocket as said monster appeared.

The beast in question was Mesmeridiem, the massive dragon quickly morphing into a stream of light that flew into the spear and made it glow. That light spread to the rest of Glorianna, the magician basking in the energy that now flowed through her body. (A5400/D2500/L8)

"Now you've banished it?" Adagio asked.

"Yeah, so what?"

Adagio frowned. "You Zealots go on and one about the power of Zeronull and his Zenith Dragons. You normally can't wait to bust them out and cause some serious damage. So what's different now. Am I not worthy of your all mighty beast?"

"Yes," Trixie replied, "but that's besides the point. Why should I risk the possibility of losing and being sent back home, when this way of using them gives me just as much power as the normal way."

Adagio smirked, "so that's it. You're scared." This made Trixie frown.

"I am not scared. I'm simply being smart. Losing to you means nothing, so I have no reason to risk using the power of the Zenith Dragon."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that."

Trixie growled. "You think you know me. You know nothing. Unlike you, I know what can happen when you blindly seek power. You end up giving up everything you care about and even then, the world still makes you pay."

Years ago.

A week had passed since the battle and the master's death.

They had held a memorial for him and hundreds of Duel Monsters had shown up to give their respects. Twilight Sorcerer had been selected to step into the master's shoes, being re-titled Twilight Warlock to commemorate his new position. The first thing he'd ordered upon his placement had been to rebuild the castle just how it'd been previously.

The work was slow, even with magic, but It was slowly coming together.

Glorianna frowned as she walked through the repaired courtyard, seeing many magicians working on it. As she passed, they smiled at her. "Hey Shining Magician." Glorianna smiled back, the name her master had given her sticking. She had to admit, she liked the name but couldn't enjoy it right now.

Some part of that was the guilt she had for what happened, while another part was fear that her crime would be discovered. She had hoped to find a way to sneak the book back into her master's room, but Twilight Warlock seemed to want to spend all his time there when in the castle.

"Gotta find someplace else to put it," she whispered as she entered the castle and went up to her room. But when she arrived, she found the door open. She hadn't left it like that.

She grabbed her staff and rushed inside, the fight vanishing when she saw who it was.

Twilight Warlock was standing next to her bed, a look of anger and disappointment adorning his face as he turned to her. When he did, Glorianna saw he was holding something and the sight made her heart stop. Her master's book was in his hand, having been discovered and made visible. She had been caught.

Trixie stood there as the memory washed over her, Adagio watching and wondering what she was thinking about.

"Having power isn't a problem. It's what you do with that power that makes it good and bad. That's a lesson I learned a long time ago. One I wish I'd learnt a lot sooner." She shot Adagio a glare. "So don't you say I'm scared of power. I just know not to be reliant on it." She pointed at her opponent's weakest monster. "Shining Magician Glorianna, attack Nera and end this Duel!" Adagio turned to Trixie's monster and watched her jump into the air before shooting down towards her weakest monster. The former villain saw no other choice.

"I activate my Trap!" Adagio's face down flipped up, "Idol's Lip-Syncing! This Trap returns an Ocean's Idol on my field to my hand but their abilities are negated. And in exchange, I can activate a Trap in my graveyard." Sonatina glowed before turning to Adagio's hand, the girl smiling as she selected the Trap in her graveyard. "I select Idol's Stage-Fright, to return Nera to my hand." The other mermaid morphed into a light that shot into Adagio's hand, leaving Operetta alone on the field against Glorianna.

"Nice try," Trixie smiled. "But you're forgetting I can just switch my attack to your last monster. And even though it's stronger, my monster has more then enough power to wipe out your life points." Glorianna turned to Operetta and repeated the process.

"Well your forgetting Nera's ability," Adagio reached for her deck. 'If the cards I draw aren't the right ones, I'm in serious trouble.' She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, time appearing to slow down. 'Aria. Sonata. I can't do this alone.'

"Huh?" Aria looked up, having just felt something. She turned to Sonata and noticed the same expression on her face. "You feel that?"

"Hmm, hm," Sonata nodded. "It has to be. Adagio." They looked back at the field, "she needs help."

Aria nodded and moved forward, Sonata right behind her. "Hey," Tidal called out, "what are you doing?"

"Our sister needs us," Sonata told him.

"So pipe down." The two were right next to the orb now and both reached out, their other hand grasping each other's, and touched the orb. Both flinched at the pain but didn't let that stop them, the two closing their eyes and thinking the same thing.

"Adagio."

Adagio gasped while opening her eyes, feeling a pair of hands on her shoulders as she heard her sister's voice. She smiled and drew her cards, right as Glorianna shot forward to impale Operetta.

As she did, Glorianna's skill activated and unleashed a blinding light that hit Operetta's face and made her flinch. (A2300/D2100/L7/P4)

Adagio looked down at the cards she had drawn before her eyes went wide. "With these." She looked down at her face down and nodded. "Go, Idol's Echo Shield! By discarding Sonatina from my hand, I can add her ATK points to Operetta's." The ghostly form of Sonatina appeared besides Operetta before the two unleashed a sonic wave that formed a shield, blocking Glorianna's attack. (A4700/D2100/L7/P4)

"Nice try," Trixie smirked. "but that still isn't enough to stop Glorianna." The spear pierced the shield and stabbed Operetta, making her cry out as she exploded and Adagio clutched her chest.

Trixie: 1050
Adagio: 1300

"The spear also has another effect," Trixie explained. "When the equipped monster destroys another one, you take damage equal to its Level times one hundred." Glorianna flew infront of Adagio as the spear unleashed a light that burnt the girl, making her cry out.

"AUGH!"

Trixie: 1050
Adagio: 600

"AUGH!" Aria and Sonata cried as they finally had to pull back, both clutching their hands and feeling them slightly burnt.

"You okay?" Tidal asked them, the two focusing on the orb.

"Adagio," Aria whispered.

"Stay strong," Sonata finished.

Trixie smiled as she placed two cards face down. "I activate the effect of Prism Shield and use its power to make Glorianna immune to monster effects." The pyramid of light appeared around Glorianna once again. "I end my turn."

Adagio, who was still reeling from the last attack, felt her legs growing weaker and weaker. "One more hit and I'm done for."

"I know," Trixie smiled. "Why not save yourself some pain and give up." Secretly, she didn't want Adagio to give up. She still had a few minutes left to buy, but she couldn't let her know that.

"No way," Adagio shook her head. "That ain't...happening."

"Oh really?"

Adagio finally took a deep breath as her legs finally stopped shaking, letting her stand tall while focusing on Trixie. "I get the feeling that you an I aren't so different?" Trixie raised an eyebrow at this. "We both wanted something and at the time, we didn't care what it cost us. But then the choices we made caught up to us, making us both regret it. Not just because it hurt us, but because it hurt someone we care about." The image of her sisters under Sombra's mind control flashed infront of her, the pain in her chest horrible.

Trixie frowned, "how do you know that?"

Adagio's mind focused on her opponent. "I can see it in your eyes. Your eyes are the same ones I once had. The eyes of something who caused great suffering for someone important in their life." She pointed at Trixie, "but that's where the similarities end!"

"What?"

"We may have both caused pain for those we care about, but I chose to do something about it. Unlike you, I learnt from my mistakes. And when the opportunity to make up for what I did came along, I took it!"

"You dare-"

"Oh I dare," Adagio interrupted. "I dare a lot. Because unlike you, I still have someone to watch out for. Someone I need to protect from monsters like you." The mental images of her sisters flew into the forefront of her mind. No matter what, she would protect them. "It's my turn," she reached for her deck. "I DRAW!" She did so, not even looking at her card as the portal formed above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before four lights shot out and struck the ground, revealing Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idols, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)X2

"Ocean's Idol, Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4)

"And Ocean's Idol, Arietta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4)

Her and Aria's ace monsters swam around one another, Trixie not at all looking worried.

"Oh please," Trixie smiled. "What do you intend to do. Prism Shield protects my monster from you's effects." 'And even if she finds a way to get rid of them, my other two face down will take care of her no issue.

"Let's test that," Adagio told her as the two Nera glowed and returned to her hand. "Arietta's skill!" Arietta unleashed a sonic wave that struck Trixie's face downs and caused them to go flying, the two cards shooting to the bottom of her deck.

Trixie smirked, "is that all?"

"No," Adagio drew four cards thanks to Nera. "Now," she activated the one she had gotten last turn, "I play Monster Reborn!" in a flash of light, a portal appeared and Sonatina swam out. The three Dazzling aces swam around one another, ready to put on a real show. (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) "Now I have everything I need."

"For what?" Trixie asked.

"For this," Adagio played her card. "Idol's Dazzling Harmonics!" The three mermaids began to glow as they lined up and started singing in vocal harmony. "This card requires me to have at least two of these monsters on my field, but what's the fun of no going all out." The glow spread out from them and connected to the other, creating a single light surrounding the three as they swam out.

"What are you doing?" Trixie asked as they swam higher and higher.

"Uniting their power," Adagio told her. "This spell lets these Ocean's Idols share their power and attack together, granting one of them an additional two thousand ATK points for each of her sisters on the field. And with two, that's an additional four thousand power." Arietta and Sonatina swam behind Operetta, acting as her backing singers as her power increased. (A6400/D2100/L7/P4) "Now do you see, the power that comes from those that care about one another sharing their strength?"

Trixie could only stare at her in shock, then blinked when she seemed to see something behind Adagio.

It was Adagio's sisters, Aria smirking with crossed arms while Sonata smiled a goofy smile and waved. The three stood united, ready to take the Zealot on. "It's okay," she whispered while doing the math. "I have just enough life points to survive this. Come next round, the game is mine."

"By the way," she heard Adagio tell her. "You haven't forgotten about my Pendulum Monster, have you?" Trixie's eyes went wide as she looked up at Crescendo, seeing her begin to sing and cause Operetta to glow even brighter then before. (A7900/D2100/L7/P4)

"No," Trixie whispered.

"Let's do it girls!" Adagio pointed at Glorianna, "ATTACK!" With that, the three unleashed a powerful scream that sent a triple strength sonic blast in Trixie's direction.

"No," Trixie shook her head as the blast shattered the Prism Shield and struck the monster that was dominating her. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as her monster was destroyed and she was sent flying backwards.

Trixie: 0
Adagio: 600 (Winner)

Tidal, Aria and Sonata all began to panic when they saw the timer get close to two minutes.

"We're running out of time," Tidal told the girls. "If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get out in time."

"You can go if you want," Aria told him. "I'm not leaving Adagio behind."

"Neither am I," Sonata nodded. "I don't care if it kills me, I'm not letting Adagio stay here alone."

Tidal groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Girls, think about this. If Adagio was here right now, what would she tell you to do right now." The girls didn't say anything, simply staring down at the ground. "She'd tell you to leave, wouldn't she. She'd tell you to run and survive." Still, the girls didn't reply. "I don't want to leave her either. But we need to get what we've learnt here to Cold. They need to know about that video we saw. It could help discern what the Zealots are planning."

"But Adagio-" That was as far as Sonata got before they suddenly heard a cracking sound and turned to the dome as a crack appeared on the surface, followed by another and another.

Eventually, the dome completely shattered and the pieces flew everywhere before fading into smoke. Doing so revealed Adagio and Trixie, the Zealot staggering back and falling to her knees while Adagio stood shakily.

"Adagio!" Sonata and Aria rushed to her side and helped her stay balanced, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Adagio smirked as they focused on Trixie. In that second, she clutched her hand and cried out in pain as her mark burnt away.

"You beat her?" Aria asked in amazement.

"Was there any doubt?"

"No," Sonata shook her head. "Well, maybe just a little. Like...a teeny tiny hair of doubt."

Tidal stepped over to Trixie, "it's over."

"Hardly," Trixie smirked, "I might have lost but I'm far from done." She showed her hand and her mark was still visible, though slightly dimmer.

"How?" Sonata asked, "she lost-"

"But she didn't use her Zenith Dragon," Adagio explained. "Her deck won't be destroyed, so she's still got a connection to her host."

"That's right," Trixie stood up. "Nice try, but I'm not that dumb."

"You're still coming with us," Tidal explained. "We'll be confiscating your deck, including the Zenith Dragon." But as he said this, a beeping caught their attention and made them look to the screen. Doing so allowed them to see it read, 'self destruct, phase two.'

"Ow," Trixie turned to them, "too bad." With that, the room around them exploded. "You didn't beat me in time."

"What have you done?" Adagio asked, the room shaking again.

"She set the place to self destruct," Aria told her. "That's why she was Duelling you."

"I had to buy time so the generators could be transported," Trixie pulled out a card. "And with that done," she tossed it towards the wall and opened a portal. "See you." She rushed through the portal before anyone could react, said portal closing seconds later.

"NO!" Adagio cried, pulling herself out from her sister's grip. "We can't let her get away!"

"There's no time," Tidal told her. "We have to get out of here before this place goes auge." The Dazzlings nodded and turned to rush out the room, heading back up until they reached the hatch leading back into the warehouse.

Once through it, they ran out the building and managed to get out seconds before it exploded. The shockwave knocked them forward, but a few bruises were better then getting fried.

Half an hour later, the police and fire crew arrived, though by then the building was nothing but ashes and the tunnel down into the base had been completely collapsed. There was no evidence a base ever existed there.

Up on a nearby rooftop, Tidal and the Dazzlings watched while Tidal spoke to Cold. "I'm sorry amigo. The Zealot got away."

"Don't worry," Cold told him. "You all did good work. The Zealots have one less place to hide. And every base destroyed will leave them more and more vulnerable, making them more and more desperate. They'll slip up eventually."

"You're right," Tidal nodded. "There's something else you need to know about Cold. Something we discovered while hacking into the lab's systems."

"Save it for now," Cold told him. "I want the four of you back in Canterlot. You can tell me what you found when you're here. Grand and Tempest will be there too. They're close to discovering the location of yet another base. Hopefully, this time the raid will let us capture some of the Zealots." They nodded and cut the call before heading off to their hotel, wanting a good nights sleep before tackling another base.

In a desert in the middle of the night, Trixie slogged her way through the sand.

She groaned as she pushed herself forward, annoyed that her haste had caused her to miss-fire her exit. Now she had to walk the rest of the way to her destination. "Well," she whispered, "this is familiar."

Years ago.

Glorianna was trogging through the desert, with everything she owned shrank down and placed in a small bag.

After she had been outed as the one who took the master's book, along with the reason for his and many other's untimely deaths, she had been cast out of the only home she knew. She counted herself lucky they hadn't decided to take her staff from her, knowing it was the only thing she had that she could use to survive until she found another way to live.

She had been walking for a week now, having eaten all her food and had no other way of procuring anymore.

Eventually, her body gave out and see fell to her knees. This seemed to shatter the last of her resolve, the tears flowing as she let everything she had done wash over her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She started crying into the sand, "I wish I could go back and fix everything."

"There may be a way." Glorianna gasped before she looked up and saw a creature floating above her, said beast being a mixture of different creature parts. "You might not be able to fix it in this world, but what about another world?"

"Another world?"

"A world that is exactly how you want it to be. Where your master is alive and everyone loves and respects you."

"How could such a world be created?"

"With the help of a powerful being known as Zeronull."

Present.

Trixie finally reached the location she was aiming for. A simple wooden hut in the middle of the desert.

She rushed up to it and opened the door, stepping inside and finding both Skystar and Marble sitting around a table. Both got up, looking ready to strike until they saw who it was. "What are you doing here?" Skystar asked.

Trixie staggered over to the table and sat down. "They found the base. I was able to transport the generators, but we're in serious trouble."

"Glorianna?" She turned to see Midnight at the back of the room, not sure if she had been there the whole time.

"My lady," she fell to her knees. "The base-"

"I know. Excellent work protecting the generators."

"But we've lost another base," Skystar commented. "The generators might have been transported, but if they find this base we'll have nowhere else to keep them safe. And considering the location of the last base, it won't take long for them to find it."

"That's why we need to act quickly," Midnight smiled.

Marble was the first to catch on, "does that mean-"

"Yes," Midnight nodded, "I've located the cards. It's time to mount our final assault on our enemies." The Zealots all smiled, happy they could finally get the cards back and be one step closer to their goal. No matter what, they would create their perfect world.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this. Now we know how all but one of the Zealots chose to follow Zeronull. Now, onto what you've all been waiting for.

Turn 28: Flash Heart Genesis

Flash had experienced many strange things since he first took possession of his deck.

Had someone told him he would one day do any of the insane things he had done since returning to the world of Duelling, he would have phoned the police to arrest them of insanity.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, felt stranger then what he was doing right now.

Travelling through a portal to another world. Not just seeing the place in a dream or projecting his spirit there, but actually travelling to another world in both body and soul. But despite the insanity of it all, Flash was still nervous.

He wondered what would happen when he arrived there? What would his monsters think when they saw him? Would they accept his apology and agree to join him once again? "Ah man," he tried to steady his heart as he noticed the end of the tunnel. "This is it." He closed his eyes, "I hope you're ready everyone." With that, he finally reached the end of the tunnel and felt the light of it wash over him.

And as that light faded, he suddenly felt a wind blowing in his face. A strong wind and nothing but wind, including the ground.

"Huh?" Flash opened his eyes and looked down, his eyes going wide when he realised there was nothing under him for about fifty feet. "Oh no," was all he got to say before gravity took its hold on him and he began to fall towards the ground. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he fell towards the ground, spinning and rolling in the air as his hands flailed around. "THIS IS GONNA HURT!" He screamed seconds before he crashed into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

When the cloud began to fade, Flash was revealed laying face down with his arms and legs spread out. "I was right," he slowly moaned before rolling over and looking up at the sky. He stayed there for a minute or so to let the pain wash away, the realisation slowly sinking in. "I'm here."

He sat up and looked around, seeing he was sitting in a field of some kind with a few rocks of varying sizes scattered around it. A mountain was a distance off in one directions while a forest wasn't too far off in another. A large structure of some kind could be seen in another direction, though it was probably ten miles or so from him. But he was there.

This wasn't just a dream and he wasn't there in only spirit. He was actually there, in the flesh.

He sat back and stared at the sky. "I can't believe it. I'm actually here." He clutched the grass in his hand, the feel just like it was in his world. "The world where I was born. I'm actually here."

"And we'd certainly like to know why you're here." Flash shot up and turned towards the voice, his eyes going wide when he saw who it was.

"Sombra." The former villain turned Duel Monster stood atop one of the nearby rocks, arms folded as he stared at the teen. Someone else stepped out from behind the rock, that someone being a person he knew. "Scarvolt." The Tempest Liberator frowned as she looked at him, but slowly stepped over and held out a hand.

"You've got some explaining to do."

Flash sighed as he took the hand and was pulled up to his feet, Scarvolt leading him over to the rock as Sombra jumped down. The three sat against the rock, the Duel Spirits focusing on Flash and waiting for him to explain. "I came to try and get my deck back."

"After you lost it using a Zenith Dragon," Sombra finished. Flash turned to him in shock. "Your monsters explained what happened."

"You've seen them." He stood up and turned to them. "Where are they? You've gotta take me to them. I have to see them."

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea for you to see them right now," Scarvolt told him. "What you did-"

"I know what I did," Flash told her. "That's why I came here." He took a deep breath, "I came to apologise. To tell them I'm sorry for what I did. But to do that, I have to see them." He looked back at them. "So please tell me where they are." Sombra and Scarvolt didn't reply, both looking down at the ground.

This caused Flash to sigh as he stepped over to the two and sat back on the rock. "So what's been happening here? I'm guessing Draconequus and the other Zealots my friends sent back have been causing issues?"

Sombra nodded. "They're preparing for something. We're not sure what, but we do know it's connected to what's happening in your world. Now that Zeronull has been reborn in a flesh and blood body, they're preparing to enter the final stage of their plan."

"But we're not gonna let that happen," Scarvolt told him. "Our forces are working to take them down before they can pull it off. It hasn't been easy, but we've been able to keep them from gaining too much ground."

"That's good," Flash nodded. "But the real battle's happening in my world. With Zeronull dominating Twilight, the Zealots won't stop."

"It's worse then you think," Sombra told him. "We've done some research and we've found that if Twilight manages to awaken the full power of Zeronull, then Zeronull himself will be able to take physical form in your world." He turned to Flash. "A time may come where we might have to do something similar to beat him."

"What do you mean?" Flash asked him, "are you planning to Soulink with someone?"

"No," Sombra shook his head. "A Soulink wouldn't enable us to show our true strength. What we need to do is descend into your world, similarly to how the monsters were able to travel through the Shadow Gate. But that method isn't possible. Even if it was, it would risk other deranged Duel Monsters coming to your world and starting the whole problem over again."

"So what are you gonna do?" Flash asked.

Scarvolt explained. "In order to fight against the power of an outer god, we need another outer god's power." Flash looked at her confused. "It's hard to explain. Just know that it's complex method that can only be done using a human as a conduit and requires an unbreakable bond to exist between the human and the Duel Monster."

"Wow," Flash whispered, "who are the ones you're planning on doing it with?"

Sombra sighed. "Originally, it was going to be you and Flash Heart." The teen's eyes went wide. "But with everything that's happened, that might not be possible any more."

Flash sighed, "I'm sorry. I let my fear get the better of me and let that blind me from realising the mistake I was making."

"I can understand that," Sombra nodded. "Don't forget who you're talking too."

"So what now?" Flash asked them, to which Sombra got up and took a few steps forward.

"Are you serious about wanting to apologise to them?"

Flash stood up quickly, "Of course. I travelled to another dimension in order to say that. How much more serious do I have to be?" Sombra remained silent for a moment before glancing back at him.

"Follow me." With that, he turned to walk off. Scarvolt got up and followed him, Flash remaining where he was for a moment before finally getting up and rushing after them. When he caught up, the three trekked across the valley until they reached the forest. Sombra lead the two of them into it and they spent several minutes wandering through until they finally arrived at the location. "There it is."

Flash moved between them and looked at what they were staring at, seeing it was several large rocks positioned in a way that they formed a natural cave. He stepped up closer and looked inside the cave, the faint light of the sun allowing him to see that the rocks were hiding a staircase leading down into the ground.

The teen turned to Sombra, who nodded back before walking away with Scarvolt. "Where are you going?" He asked as he watched them leave. "Aren't you coming?"

"No," Sombra called back before glancing over at him, "this is none of our business. What happens down there is between you and them."

"Just do what ya'h gotta do," Scarvolt told him. "After that...we'll have to wait and see."

Flash let out a sigh before he looked back into the cave, the darkness filling it causing a sensation of dread to run up his spine. But he wouldn't let that stop him and with a deep breath, he stole his nerve and began to descend into the darkness.

Ten steps in, the sunlight no longer filled the passageway and Flash had to be careful not to trip or miss a step.

After a few minutes, he finally reached the bottom of the staircase and found himself inside a small tunnel with a light at the end of it. And so, he stepped towards it and was almost blinded when he stepped into the light.

His eyes soon adjusted and he found himself in a spot he knew better then any other place. The ruins that had been his parents home during their time in the Duel Monster Spirit World. The place he was born and where he had awakened some of the strongest monsters in his deck...former deck.

"Long time no see," he said as he stepped further and further into trench that housed the ancient ruins. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel he was being watched. And that was because he was.

A pair of eyes were staring at Flash from behind one of the remaining pillars, being bright red with a look of anger burning in the iris. The owner quickly stepped into the shadows and moved around as Flash got closer and closer to the statue in the far end.

Flash stared up at the dilapidated statue and let the familiarity wash over him, but that good feeling soon vanished when he realised the ruins were missing something important. His friends.

Sombra had told him his Duel Monsters would be waiting for him down here, but they were nowhere in sight. Had he been lying, or had they chosen to leave before the three of them got there. "Guys!" Flash called out to them, "can you hear me?" There was no answer. "Flash Heart? Vail Pixie? Solaris? Lunara...Anybody." Still, there was no reply. "Please, please let me see you. I just...I just want to say I'm sorry." The trench remained silent aside form the mild echo created by him.

Flash continued to stand there and wait for an answer, but none came.

"Please. Zeronull's been reborn into my world and taken Twilight over." He sighed, "why am I even telling you this. You already know. You were there." He continued to look around. "If this...Midnight, isn't stopped then both our worlds could end up being destroyed. And I know you don't want that to happened." He caught his breath and waited for a response. "You all know better then anyone that the deck with the best chances of beating Midnight and freeing Twilight is one with you guys in it."

Behind the leg of the statue, the red eyed watcher stared at Flash as he continued his speech.

"I know what I did was wrong, I'm not denying that. But please, lend me your power once again. It's the only way we can stop Zeronull. So I'm asking you, begging you. Lend me your power once again?" Finishing his speech, Flash remained silents and waited to see if his monsters would respond. And he soon got his answer, but not from who he had been expecting.

"You've got some nerve, asking that after what you did."

Flash spun around and finally locked eyes with the one who had been spying on him, the red eyes glaring at him from within the shadows of the statue. Flash didn't know who this person was, but he knew for sure that it wasn't one of his monsters. He got into a defensive stance and glared at them. "Who are you?"

The figure chuckled. "What, don't recognise your own voice?" Flash raised an eyebrow at this. "I guess that's understandable. I've given myself a makeover since the last time we spoke to one another." The figure slowly stepped out of the darkness and allowed Flash to get a better look at him, the teen's eyes slowly drawing wider and wider at the sight.

"You...you're...you're." He finally took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before opening them again, the image he was seeing confirmed not to have been at trick of the light. It was really him. "Shadow."

The near perfect replica of Flash stood between the legs of the statue and glared down at him, looking just like he had looked in the Celestic Cup. With darker orange skin, red eyes and black hair with red streaks. Even his clothes were the same. The only difference between him now and back then, was his hair. Like the real Flash, his had been cut shorter.

The two lookalikes stared at each other, both letting what they were feeling wash over them. "Well," Shadow asked, "aren't you gonna ask. You're clearly wondering what's going on?"

"How are you here?" Flash glared at him, "I destroyed you."

"I'm not who you think I am," Shadow explained as he stepped over to the edge of the statue's plinth and sitting down. "Do you remember during the Celestic Cup, when you ended up Duelling Garble and his group of cheating stooges?"

"How can I forget," Flash mumbled.

"And do you remember what happened at the end of the Duel? What you did in order to actually beat the lot of them?" Flash looked down and thought back to that time, reliving the moment he had cracked and let his anger get the better of him.

"I forced Chaos Command Dragon to awaken and the rage we both felt then gave life too-" He stopped, his eyes slowly going wide as he looked up at his double. "You...you're-"

"That same spirit," Flash smiled. "That's right."

"But...you disappeared."

"I was created from your heart. I'm apart of you. You can't get rid of me. I'm apart of you. Or at least, I was apart of you until you did what you did."

"The Zenith Dragon," Flash whispered.

"Bingo bango bongo, give the man a prize." Flash glared at Shadow. "When you used the Zenith Dragon, the hurt and pain the monsters you betrayed radiating out of them began to come together. Chaos Command Dragon was amongst them and through the connection I shared with both of you, I was revived." He then stood up. "But this time, I'm made of more them just two being's emotions. I'm fuelled by the anger, betrayal and pain of every monster you turned your back on. Now I'm more then just a spirit that lies dormant within you. I had enough power to fully realise myself into a completely physical form. I'm practically a Duel Spirit."

"So why do you look like that?" Flash asked, gesturing to his form.

"Oh," Shadow looked himself over with a smile, "don't you like it? I had hoped I could do more, but I didn't have as much control as I wish I could have." He then shot Flash a glare, "I mean, who'd want to look like a backstabber like you." Flash looked down and frowned. "So in the short about of time I had before my physical form solidified, I changed myself to look as different from you as possible."

"So you decided to make yourself look like a deranged Duelling robot?"

"Like I said, I didn't have as much control as I'd have liked. This was the best I could do. And hey, getting mistaken for that Shadow guy's still better than getting mistaken for you." Flash had to admit, that hurt. "Now, do you mind explaining what the heck you're doing here?" He turned away from Flash. "In case you haven't noticed, we're a little busy dealing with this mess you caused."

"I caused?" Flash rushed up to the statue and pulled himself up onto the plinth.

"Of course," Shadow turned back to him. "Don't forget, I was a part of you. I have all your memories. Including the ones where you let the Zealots enter your world and cause everything that's happening."

"Then you know why I'm here," Flash told him.

"Of course I do. I heard your little heartfelt speech. Doesn't mean I understand why you decided to come here and say all that stuff. You clearly showed how much you care about the monsters you used to have serving you."

"What?" Flash looked shocked by this statement, "of course I care about my monsters. And I never treated them like servants. We were partners. A team. FRIENDS!"

"Friends?" Shadow started laughing at that statement, "don't make me laugh. They were never your friends."

"What would you know?"

"More then you," Shadow spat back. "Don't forget, I'm also connected to the monsters you had in your deck." He tabbed his head. "Every memory they ever had, it's all stored up here. And with all this knowledge in my head, I can tell you you don't know jack about Flash Heart or any or the other monsters. So forgive me if I'm wrong, but I always assumed friends actually knew things about one another."

Flash just stood there, unsure how to argue against logic like that. "I...I..."

"Did you know Magna Wolf was the runt of the litter?" Shadow asked, "do you know why Solaris chose to learn the fire magic he wields? What about Lunara?" Flash just stared at the ground. "What about Flash Heart?" Flash looked up, surprise on his face. "The monster you had the greatest connection with, do you know anything about him? Where he came from or why he chose to fight against the Doom-Vaders when they first attacked." Flash just looked towards the ground, unable to say anything as he let the realisation sink in.

He really didn't know anything about his monsters. He knew nothing about them personally. Was Shadow right? Were they really not friends.

"Maybe it's time you learnt some history." Shadow snapped his fingers and before Flash could ask what was happening, the statue began to descend into the underground chambers. "Now you'll understand how little you knew about the monster you would consider your best friend. And then you'll see why you never deserved to wield their power to begin with." Flash watched as they moved past the chamber he had first met Destiny Bound within, then Chaos Command's chamber and finally Quantum Nexus's chamber.

Once they past that, Flash prepared himself. He knew what was coming next.

Finally, the elevator arrived at a passageway and came to a stop. Seconds later, the passageway was illuminated by torches that lined the walls. They eventually lead to a large wooden door that Flash and Shadow made their way towards. When they arrived at the base of the door, Shadow turned to his lookalike.

"This is it," he told Flash. "Behind these doors are the secrets to everything you need to know about Flash Heart. Are you absolutely sure you want to know what's behind here? You might end up hating yourself."

Flash didn't reply, instead stepping forward and pushing at the doors with everything he had. For a few seconds they wouldn't budge, but then Shadow pushed as well and they finally gave way and opened enough for the two to step through.

The chamber was dark, too dark for Flash to see, but after a few seconds it was filled with light. The source, a strange looking crystal that was sticking out of the ground in the center of the room. It filled the place with light and allowed him to see it was a dome shaped chamber with multiple squares lining the wall.

Flash looked around in confusion until he saw something that almost gave him a heart attack, "raaah!" He staggered backwards and fell onto his butt, his eyes never leaving the sight infront of him. "Zeronull." It was Zeronull, though once his brain caught up with him he realised it was merely a carving of Zeronull that was filling one of the squares on the wall.

"Relax," Shadow told him before he moved over and leaned against the wall, "it's just a drawing."

Flash sighed before standing up, "why is he even here? I thought this was supposed to be about Flash Heart's past."

"It is," Shadow replied before getting up and moving towards one of the squares. Flash followed him as they looked down at the square, seeing it was completely blank. "Long ago, there was nothing. No earth. No Duel Spirit realm. No nothing. No universe." She moved over to the next square, which showed a dragon. "But then, the Numeron Dragon came into existence. It's unclear how he came into existence, but just be glad he was." Flash gave him a 'seriously', look as he continued. "Feeling lonely, the dragon created the rest of the universe before going to sleep. And in doing so, he subconsciously created two new life forms." He stepped over to an image showing not just Zeronull, but also another more female looking figure. "You know who these are?"

"Zeronull and Harmonica," Flash realised.

"That's right," Shadow continued the story while pointing at the pictures portraying the events he was describing. "Harmonica saw beauty in the world created by the Numeron Dragon, loving nothing more then the many types of life that came into being during that time. But Zeronull saw this life differently. He saw it as a mistake. A disease that should never have infected the universe. Even his own life was sickening to him. So he vowed to destroy it."

The next few images portrayed something Flash already knew about, the creation of the Zenith Dragons.

"Zeronull created six powerful, though mindless, creatures that he intended to use to destroy the world. But Harmonica, whose love for this world's life continued to grow, granted them the power to protect themselves against the army of evil. Eventually, Zeronull and Harmonica were both sealed away and the Zenith Dragons sent to a world their powers could not be used...until now."

"I already know all this," Flash told him while thinking back to what Discord had told him back at Void. "What does this have to do with Flash Heart?"

Shadow smirked before moving over to the crystal in the center of the room and placing his hand on it. When he did, a bright flash of light exploded out of it that blinded Flash. When it faded, Flash opened his eyes and found himself with Shadow in a black void. Said void had only one thing within it, a reddish-black orb of light.

"Zeronull was trapped and could do nothing to enact his plans of destruction. But then he realised that if he couldn't destroy the world, he could create something that could?" Flash raised an eyebrow before looking up at the sphere, seeing something appear from out of the orb.

That something was another, smaller, orb of dark energy. It then started to grow and change shape, taking a form Flash recognised. "Is that..." He got his answer when the energy faded to reveal a monster he knew all too well. "Tyrant Reaper Dragon." More orbs appeared out of the large one, each taking shape and form before fading to reveal the rest of the monsters Sombra had used to try and destroy the world. "Zeronull created the Doom-Vaders?"

"That's right," Shadow nodded. "The seal used was only meant to hold Zeronull. Even though they were made by Zeronull, the Doom-Vaders were able to escape and travel to this world."

Flash couldn't believe what he was hearing. He remembered back to the day he battled Sombra and the vision he saw back then. At the time, he had been curious about the one who created the Doom-Vaders but since then it had drifted from his head. Now he knew the truth.

"Wait," Flash looked up as the pieces fell into place. He turned to Shadow, "are you trying to tell me what I think you're trying to tell me." Shadow just smiled as the world around them changed to show another void, this one not so dark.

Instead, it was bright and appearing to be filled with light. Looking this void, Flash's gaze fell on another figure. The same one he had seen in the stone chamber. "Harmonica," he whispered. The figure before him was floating in a golden orb, looking like an angel with six shining wings.

He watched as she brought her hands together and created a small orb of light, which flew out of the bigger orb and floated around it. Inside the orb, a small creature appeared.

Flash's heart beat heavily as he recognised the creature, through it was very different from what he knew.

It looked like Flash Heart Dragon, but it was almost the same size as Vail Pixie. His armour wasn't as defined, lacking many of the features. And his face was the most different of all, having an actual face with normal eyes and a mouth.

The tiny dragon appeared to be asleep, bathing in the warm glow of its creator's light.

"Harmonica could sense Zeronull's intentions, so she created her own disciple. A single being to which she entrusted her powers into and sent out into the world in order to protect it from Zeronull's horde."

"Wait," Flash thought back to when Zeronull tried to take him over. Back then, Flash Heart had somehow appeared and protected him from being Dominated. That was something even Draconequus had found strange. His memory then flashed back to after he lost to Midnight. He would be dead right now if Flash Heart hadn't appeared and protected him, something he guessed no ordinary monster would be able to do. "He was able to protect me from Zeronull's power because he was created by Harmonica."

"Exactly," Shadow nodded. "You had in your possession the single greatest weapon against Zeronull's power and you chose the throw it away." Flash prepared to counter that, but another flash of light transported them to a stone trench, as a portal of light opened up above it.

From that portal, the young Flash Heart Dragon descended into the world.

"He appeared much sooner then the Doom-Vaders, so he had time to grow stronger. And in that time, he found those willing to stand beside him and fight against the enemy." The image infront of him changes several times, each time showing Flash Heart talking to one of the monsters that once made up Flash's Deck.

Solaris, Lunara, Magna Wolf, Lucidum, Starbreak, Gladio, Volt-Edge, Arma and so many more. The last image showed Flash Heart flying through the air close to the ground, only to stop when he heard a voice.

"Wait!" He did so and turned, he and the two teens seeing Vail Pixie flying towards them. "I wanna help," she told him.

"I don't know," the young Flash Heart told her. His voice was very child-like. "It'll be dangerous."

"I don't care," Vail Pixie told him. "I wanna protect my home." She and Flash Heart stared at each other for a moment until the dragon finally sighed.

"Alright," he turned to fly away, "but you'll have to work hard and get strong. If we have to protect you, it might put the rest of us in danger."

"I'll be strong," Vail Pixie flew up next to him. "I promise."

"And they did," Shadow narrated. "The army came together and over the years, formed a strong connection with one another. Flash Heart had been imbued with a strange ability. The power to manipulate time and space, a power he passed on to several of his teammates. The power that your father would come to dub, the Pendulum power." Flash couldn't believe what he was hearing, the scene changing to show they were back in the trench.

The young Flash Heart stood in the center of the trench. Then, the trench around them slowly began to change. Pillars appeared, along with sections of the wall that were dug out to make rooms and the statue of a dragon slowly materialised. At the same time, Flash Heart began to glow before he started growing and changing shape until the light finally faded to show the dragon Flash knew all too well.

"With all these allies and the powers he was able to pass on to them, it's no wonder the Doom-Vaders were defeated." The scene changed again to show the image Flash had seen last year, showing the battle between Flash Heart's army and the Doom-Vaders. And just like last time, the same result was shown. "All seemed peaceful," Shadow continued. "But Zeronull wasn't done."

The scene changed again, returning them to the void with Zeronull within it.

Flash looked up at him and saw the outer god create another orb, which flew out and took shape before fading to reveal another monster Flash knew. Draconequus. "He created Draconequus and gave him a mission. To find and a way to free Zeronull and find the Zenith Dragons. And Draconequus did so, finding the ones who would come to be known as the Omega Zealots and discovering the Zenith Dragons had been sent to the world that was directly connected to this world. Ours."

Flash frowned, the pieces of this puzzle finally coming together.

"Meanwhile, the Doom-Vaders began to try and escape their own captivity. And since they couldn't create others to do it, they had to find someone willing. That's where you come into the picture." The scene began to flicker through hundreds of scenes a second, showing the entire adventure Flash had gone on. From the day he found his deck to the day he defeated Sombra, all flying by in less then a minute. "And of course, you know what happened when you defeated Sombra."

The scene changed to show the two worlds with the Shadow Gate infront of earth, seconds before multiple light shot off the Duel Monster Spirit World and flew towards the planet. Flash sighed. "I showed the world how to summon the monsters to this world, letting them arrive here."

"And that allowed Draconequus and his followers to come and find bodies to Dominate, allowing them to start their plans." In a flash of light, they were back in the chamber and Shadow was frowning at them. "You were born in this world, giving you a connection to it. And by the bond you forged with the monsters of your deck, you were able to acquire powers similar to the Pendulum. The ability to manipulate time and space, connecting the two worlds and allowing them to interact."

Shadow began to make his way towards the door, with Flash following after him. They made their way into the hallway and headed for the lift.

"But that wasn't enough for you. You got scared of losing your precious little girlfriend and decided you'd spend the rest of your life without the monsters that have saved your life countless times more then her."

"That's not true!" Flash told him as they stepped onto the elevator and it began to lift up. "I...I was just scared alright. Scared of losing her and what Zeronull would do with her. Zeronull won't stop while he's controlling her. Unless she's free, both our worlds are constantly in danger."

"That still doesn't make what you did right," Shadow told him.

"I'm not saying it does," Flash told him before letting out an exasperated sigh. "You know, I don't care what you think. I didn't come to all this way to apologise to you."

"Well since my very being is comprised of the monster's emotions, me forgiving you is the only way to prove they forgive you."

"I don't believe that for a second," Flash told him as the elevator arrived back at the ruins and came to a stop.

Shadow was about to retort, but then stopped and looked up before smiling. "Alright, then why don't you tell them yourself." Flash raised an eyebrow until he looked up, his eyes going wide when he saw what Shadow had and gasped.

Standing on either edge for the trench, looking down at them, were Flash's monsters. Each and every one of them. Magna Wolf, Solaris, Lunara and so many more. The only ones not there were most of his Extra Deck monsters, though he spotted Reality Buster and Flashback further back, and both Flash Heart and Vail Pixie

"Guys!" Flash jumped off the plinth and rushed to the center of the ruins, spinning around and catching sight of them all. "It's so good to see you." But then he noticed the frowns upon many of their faces, none appearing to be happy about this being there. "Guys." A bright light then caught his attention and made him look back at the statue, the light quickly dying down and revealing Flash Heart hovering infront of it. Hiding behind his booster was Vail Pixie, the little fairy not looking happy as she tried to keep out of his sight.

It was here that Flash realised Shadow had been telling the truth. They didn't want to see them.

Flash's gaze slowly shifted towards the one monster he thought would always have his back, no matter what. But when his eyes connected with Flash Heart's he could feel it. Despite not having a visible expression, Flash could tell his former partner was feeling the same thing the rest of his monsters were feeling. Anger, hurt and betrayal.

"I'm sorry," Flash looked down. "I'm so sorry." His legs began to grow weak and eventually, he fell to his knees. "I made a mistake and shouldn't even be trying to earn your forgiveness, but I need your help." He looked up at them. "I know you want to stop Zeronull and the only way to do that is by coming back to my world and giving me your cards again." He stood back up. "Midnight Sparkle needs to be stopped and you know more then anyone that you guys are probably the only ones that can do that." He looked back up at his monsters, determination burning in his eyes. "So please, lend my your power once again."

The ruins went silent as Flash waited for a response, hoping that they would forgive him and lend him their power. But the result was very different.

"Typical!" Shadow cried as he jumped down off the statue and stepped closer, looking up at the monsters surrounding them. "See. He just expects you to forgive and forget what he did to you and go crawling back to him. Letting him control you again and likely just risk you again later. Maybe this time he won't just put your cards on the line, but your very spirits themselves."

"That's not true!" Flash told him. "I admit I let my fear get the better of me before, but I won't let that happen again!"

Shadow pointed at them. "There was a time you and the monsters believed you'd never do it in the first place. What's to say it won't happen again?" Flash didn't have a response to this, just looking down for a moment before looking up at Flash Heart.

"Please. There has to be something I can do to prove how sorry I am. I'll do anything."

Shadow huffed with a smirk before his eyes went wide, the Flash lookalike staring up at the monsters. "Really?" They all nodded and he nodded back before turning towards Flash. "Very well then. Prove yourself."

"How?" Flash asked.

"What is the one thing Cold Steel always told you?" Flash raised an eyebrow until he realised what he meant.

"In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true nature is revealed."

"Exactly," Shadow raised his left arm as all the monsters started glowing and one by one, they transformed into lights and flew towards him. They struck his arm and formed a construct around it until the light finally faded, revealing he was now wearing a black Duel Disk with a red blade. "So prove you've changed. Defeat me and your deck and you can have it back. Fail...and you'll never see these monsters again."

Flash suddenly felt very conflicted. He didn't want to Duel against his own deck, but he didn't have any other choice if he wanted his deck back.

The teen reached into his pocket and pulled out his Duel Disk, attaching it to his arm. He then reached into his other pocket and took out the cards Trail, Misty, Scootaloo and Cold had given him. He might not be Duelling with his own deck, but with these cards he at least stood a chance.

He inserted the cards as both Duel Disks activated, the two similar looking humanoids staring one another down as they cried the same words. "DUEL!"

Flash: 4000
Shadow: 4000

The fate of two worlds might rest of the outcome of this Duel. If Flash couldn't win, Zeronull might never be stopped and the destruction of both worlds would be inevitable. No matter what, Flash had to win.

Author's Note

Well, there you have it. Flash reunites with his monsters but it's not the happiest of reunions. Now not only does he have to Duel them, he has to face his own dark self in the form of the angry spirit from the second story. How's this gonna turn out.

Hope you enjoyed it and tell me what you think of Flash Heart's backstory.

Turn 29: Flash Verses Shadow, a Duel of Redemption

In the deserts of Egypt, Flash's family were waiting for Flash to return from the Duel Monster Spirit World.

They had left the tomb and moved their campsite closer to the entrance. Misty was busy cleaning their lunch dishes while Trail was busy building a fire in case Flash didn't return before nightfall. At the same time, Scootaloo was pacing back and forth infront of the entrance.

"You're gonna dig yourself a hole if you keep that up," Trail laughed while Scootaloo stopped walking and looked down to see she had walked a small trench in the sand.

"How can you be so calm?" She asked them. "Who knows what Flash could be facing right now. Harpie Ladies, dinosaurs, the freaking god cards for all we know. You've been there. You know what's waiting for him."

"Yes," Misty nodded, "but we managed to survive several years in that world. If we can, so can he."

Trail nodded, "we just have to have faith in him."

Scootaloo sighed and turned back to the tunnel leading to the tomb. She couldn't help but wonder what Flash had been doing the last six hours he had been gone. She had expected him to go there, gets his deck and be back in no time. How wrong she was.

"Please be okay Flash."

Meanwhile, in the Duel Monster Spirit World, Flash was Duelling against his dark counterpart. If he won, he would get his deck back. But if he lost, he would never get to see his monsters again.

"I'll take the first move!" Shadow drew his card and smiled. "And I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale nine Glow Claw Magna Chimp and scale two Crystal Tusk Magna Boar!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him before the two monsters flew up into them.

Flash's heart ached at the sight of the monsters as they appeared in the pillars before the portal began to form between them.

"Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" Shadow chanted, mocking Flash with the words he had first coined when he brought Pendulum Summoning into the limelight. He smirked as the portal finished forming and began to open. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out and struck the ground of the ruin, exploding to reveal Shadow's monster. "Spino-Gear Magna-Saur!" (A2100/D1500/L5)

"H'oh boy," Flash gulped seeing one of his best monsters already out.

"Ha," Shadow smirked, "not so confident about winning now, are we? I place two cards face down and end my turn." Flash took a deep breath as he looked down at his own deck. "Oh please," he looked up at Shadow. "Do you really think you can win? I mean, we all now the only reason you ever won before was because you had this overpowered deck. How do you think you can win without it?"

Flash frowned. "It's true that the deck's strong, but I know better then anyone that it's not unbeatable. I also know better then anyone, what weaknesses it has. So if anyone can beat it, it's me."

"We'll see."

"Oh," Flash reached for his deck, "we will. I draw!" He did so and nodded as a plan formed in his head. "I'll also set the Pendulum Scale, with scale nine Blazing Soul Priestess and scale two Blazing Soul Dragon, Blast Burn Dragon!"

Shadow was surprised when he saw the pillars of light appeared besides Flash before a pair of monsters flew up into them. One was a young women in a red dress with red hair that carried an obsidian staff and had horns coming out of her head, while the other was a red quadrupedal dragon with cannons instead of wings. "So your dear old daddy lent you his deck, did he?"

"Not just him," Flash explained as the portal formed. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal formed and began to open, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

A light and a fireball shot out of the portal and struck the ground, revealing a pair of monsters. The first as a mainly black raptor with a red turtle shell-like construct on both its head and its back along with a fire on the tip of its tail. "Blazing Soul Raptor!" (A1000/D1000/L3)

"And Rush Raptor!" (A1200/D1400/L3)

"What?" Shadow asked, "Rush Raptor!?"

"A gift from my sister," Flash explained. "And that's not all she gave me. Blazing Soul Raptor's skill!" The little dinosaur swung its tail, unleashing flamed from it that formed a fireball. "When it's Special Summoned, I can take another one from my deck and summon it in DEF mode." The fireball exploded to reveal the identical raptor. "The down side is it's destroyed at the end of my turn and I can't Tribute Summon."

"So when why-" Shadow stopped when he realised, "don't tell me!"

"I now use these three monsters to build the Overlay Network!" The three monsters changed into lights, which shot into the air before flying into the black hole that had just formed. "Watch as the ancient powers of a Dinosaur are awakened!" The black hole exploded in light as a new monster appeared. "I XYZ SUMMON."

The light faded revealing Scootaloo's Xyz monster, Shadow's eyes growing wider and wider as it flew down to land infront of Flash. "Wild Rush Raptor." (A2000/D2000/R3)

Shadow quickly got over his shock and continued to smirk. "You think that'll be enough? Math never was your strong suit."

"And I guess memory isn't yours," Flash told him as Wild Rush let out a roar as an aura appeared around the dinosaur. (A2500/D2000/R3) "Since Rush Raptor is an Overlay Unit, Wild Rush gains five hundred points." Flash then discarded a card, "I activate Blast Burn Dragon's Pendulum Ability!" The dragon pointed its cannons at one of Shadow's face down before firing and destroying it, revealing Dimensional Prison.

"Ahh!" Shadow growled before Flash's Xyz monster flew up.

"Now, Wild Rush Raptor, attack!" The beast circled around before charging at Magna-Saur. "And with his skill, I remove an Overlay Unit to double the damage done!" The dinosaur bit into one of the light before crushing Spino-Gear underfoot, stray pieces of machinery flying at Shadow.

"AUGH!" He flinched.

Flash: 4000
Shadow: 3200

"Then, I'll use the Spell Eruption Reload to banish Burnout Dragon from my graveyard and draw six cards." He did so before placing two face down. "I end my turn."

Shadow took a deep breath as he stood tall and glared at Flash. "Alright, so you've got some skill despite not having this deck. But it still won't be enough." He reached for his deck and drew a card, then played the other one in his hand. "You're not the only one with a Reload card. I play Starburst Reload, to banish Magna-Saur and draw five cards!" He did so and smiled as the portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Shadow's monsters. "Time to shine, Magna Caster Tempusidium!" (A1000/D1800/L4)

"Howl to the moon, Shining Fang Magna Wolf!" (A1500/D1200/L4) Flash frowned seeing another of his favourite monsters standing against him. "Next, I play Reverse Polarity. With this, I can swap the ATK of a monster on my field with a monster on yours." Tempusidium and Wild Rush Raptor glowed as their ATK points began to change so they were completely swapped. (A1000/D2000/R3) (A2500/D1800/L4) "Now, Magna Wolf, wipe out that furry gecko!" Magna Wolf charged as it began to glow. (A1600/D1200/L4) "It slashed at Wild Rush Raptor and destroyed it, Flash grunting.

Flash: 3400
Shadow: 3200

"Now, Tempusidium, GO!" The magician raised her staff, ready to hit him with time magic.

"Trap activate!" Flash cried as his face down flipped up, "Defence Draw!" A shield appeared around Flash that blocked the magician's attack, with Flash drawing a card as he did.

"Hmm," Shadow frowned as he placed another card face down. "You escaped this time, but don't think you can keep this up." Tempusidium and Magna Wolf's ATK points returned to normal.

"We'll see," Flash told him as he drew his own card. He saw it was his sister's Rank-Up-Magic, but it was useless since Wild Rush Raptor wasn't on the field. Luckily, he had other cards to use until he found a way to revive it. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs and a light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Flash's monsters. "Blazing Soul Dragon, Magma Breath Dragon (A1800/D1500/L4)

"Blazing Soul Magician!" (A1400/D1200/L4)

"And Divine Sky Angel!" (A2300/D2600/L7)

"I should have known that would be in your deck," Shadow sighed.

"Well I'm sure you know what's coming next," Flash told him as Divine Sky Angel flew into the air. "ATTACK!" The angel pulled her bow back and aimed it at Tempusidium, then fired.

"I activate my face down," Shadow's card flipped up. "Lightspeed!" Tempusidium glowed as its power rose up. (A2000/D1800/L4) The arrow struck and exploded, making Shadow grunt.

Flash: 3400
Shadow: 2900

"And since you have another monster on your field, I can pay three hundred life points to let her attack again!"

Flash: 3100
Shadow: 2900

Shadow smirked as he watched the angel draw another arrow. "Really like hurting your monsters, don't you?" Flash frowned at this while Divine Sky Angel fired. "Don't worry. I at least care about them. Trap activate!" His other face down flipped up, "Brittle Shield!" Magna Wolf got into DEF mode as the arrow struck, destroying it.

"I'd hardly call letting it be destroy caring," Flash told him. "Now," he pointed as Shadow, "Magma Breath!" The dragon flew forward, ready to burn Shadow. But before it could.

"Magna Chimp!" In a flash, Shadow's Pendulum Monster appeared infront of him and blocked the dragon's attack. (A1800/D600/L4/P9) Both found themselves getting destroyed, Shadow moving both it and Magna Boar to his Extra Deck. "Did you forget about that ability?"

Flash said nothing and instead, turned to Magician. "Go!" The Blazing Soul monster pointed it staff at Shadow and shot a fireball.

"I activate Tempusidium's ability!" Shadow cried as he reached into his Duel Disk and removed the card, "I banish her to negate the battle damage." The magician appeared and waved her staff, causing the fireball to stop before flying back into Blazing Soul Magician's staff.

Flash sighed, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Shadow reached into his pocket and pulled out his Magna Caster. "I'm sure you remember Tempusidium's other little ability. Once, while she's banished, I can add a Spell in my graveyard to my hand instead of drawing." He took said card and instantly activated it, "Starburst Reload!"

Flash sighed as Shadow banished Magna Wolf before drawing four cards. And when his lookalike saw what he had gotten, a smile appeared on his face that Flash didn't like.

"Perfect. I now set scale one Magna Caster Ratio and scale eight Magna Caster Attriborn into the Pendulum Scale." The pillars appeared on either side of him before the magicians flew up, the portal appearing between them and growing bigger. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before three lights shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal Shadow's monsters. "Shred'em up, Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" (A1800/D600/L4/P9)

"Illuminate this battle field, Crystal Tusk Magna Boar!" (A1000/D1000/L3/P2)

The final monster was one that made Flash's eyes go wide, as the monster appearing in the light one he had hoped he would beat Shadow before he could summon it. The dragon that had always stood besides Flash and helped him win almost every Duel he had ever been in. His number one partner and friend. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)

"No," he whispered.

"Oh yes!" Shadow grinned. "And now for Flash Heart's skill!" A portal opened up below Blazing Soul Magician and sucked it down into the portal. "Next, I activate the Pendulum Ability of Ratio!" He drew three cards and frowned before placing it into his pocket. As he did, a monster appeared infront of Flash that made his heart stop.

"Vail Pixie," he whispered as the little fairy frowned down at him. But before he could say anything else, she exploded into light that flew into Flash Heart. (A2700/D2000/L7/P4)

"ATTACK!" Flash Heart shot towards Divine Sky Angel and punched her in the chest, destroying her and making Flash grunt.

Flash: 2700
Shadow: 2900

"Now, Magna Chimp!" The robotic monkey flew forward, its claws beginning to glow and blind Magma Breath. (A1400/D1500/L4) It slashed at Magma Breath and destroyed it.

Flash: 2300
Shadow: 2900

"Now Magna Boar, ATTACK!" The boar rushed forward, its tusks glowing as he prepared to tackle Flash. But before it could.

"I activate my Trap card!" His face down flipped up, "Beacon of Hope!" He reached for his deck. "If the card I draw is a monster, I can summon it." He drew his card and smiled, "oh yeah. I summon Blazing Soul Firefly!" An explosion of fire revealed the flaming insect, which appeared in a defensive position. (A900/D1400/L3) "And when Firefly's Special Summoned, I can summon any other copy of it in my Deck." His Deck slotted out two cards, which he placed on his Duel Disk. In another burst of fire, two more Fireflies appeared besides the original and all got into DEF mode.

Shadow sighed as Magna Boar jumped back, the lookalike glaring at the protective shield of Fireflies protecting Flash. "I place one card face down and end my turn." Flash Heart's ATK points returned to normal

"Then it's my turn," Flash drew and smirked. "Yes. I play the Spell card, Monster Reborn!" In a flash of light, Wild Rush Raptor appeared infront of him. (A2000/D2000/L3)

"Why would you summon that monster back? It's useless without its abilities."

"You wanna bet?" Flash asked before playing a card. "I activate Rank-Up-Magic, Jurassic Force!" Shadow's eyes went wide as Wild Rush transformed into a stream of light, which flew up into the air. "Now I can Rank up my Dinosaur-Type Xyz monster to create something even strong." A black hole opened up that the light flew into, Flash beginning to chant like his sister. "Let the primal instincts take over, and help you achieve power long since forgotten by history!" The black hole exploded. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The light faded, revealing Scootaloo's evolved Xyz monster. "Jurassic Raging Raptor!" (A2600/D2400/R4/P6) "Raptor's skill!" Flash reached for his deck. Since it was special summoned, I can look at the top three cards of my deck and add any dinosaur monsters amongst them to it as an Overlay Unit."

Shadow smirked. "I doubt there's any more dinosaurs in that deck."

"Time to find out," Flash told him before drawing his cards. And when he saw what he had gotten, he smiled. "Luck's on my side. I got another Blazing Soul Raptor." Shadow growled as what was likely the last dinosaur in Flash's deck appeared infront of Jurassic Raging before morphing into a light that flew around it. "Now," Flash pointed at Magna Boar, "ATTACK!" The dragon like dinosaur flew up, preparing to destroy the small robotic hog.

"I activate my Trap!" Shadow announced as his face down flipped up. "Interception!" Flash Heart flew infront of Magna Boar, as Jurassic Raging shot down.

Flash frowned but didn't let that stop him. "I activate Jurassic Raging Raptor's special ability." He beast bit into one of his Overlay Units before unleashing a powerful breath attack on Flash Heart. The breath struck and seemed to weaken the dragon. (A2100/D2000/L7/P4) Seconds later, the dragon dinosaur slashed at Flash Heart with its tail.

Shadow grunt as his monster was destroyed.

Flash: 2300
Shadow: 2400

Despite this, Shadow smiled. "You just can't help it, can you. You're even willing to destroy the monster you considered your number one, just so you can get its power back.

Flash frowned, "I don't enjoy this."

"Yet you do it anyway."

Flash continued to frown, not sure how to respond to that. "Because it has Wild Rush Raptor as an Overlay Unit, Jurassic Raging Raptor lets me draw cards equal to the Level of the monster it destroyed." He drew seven cards and instantly put down two of them. "I end my turn."

"Then it's my go," Shadow drew his card. When he saw what it was, a dark and twisted smile appeared on his face. At the same time, the portal began to form. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Shadow's monster. "Shine your light of victory once again. Flash Heart Dragon X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Flash Heart's skill!" One of Flash's Fireflies were sucked into a portal. "Next, I'll use Ratio's Pendulum Ability once again." He drew his three cards and selected on. "I banished Neo Lightspeed Dragon." The robo-wolf appeared infront of Flash Heart before exploding, the light flew into Flash Heart and powering it up. (A2900/D2000/L7/P4) "ATTACK!" The dragon shot forward and struck Jurassic Raging Raptor, destroying it

Flash: 2000
Shadow: 2400

"Magna Chimp!" The other beast flew forward and slashed at Flash's second Firefly, destroying it. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Flash drew his card and his eyes went wide when he saw what it was. "This might be just what I need," he smiled as the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light and a fireball shot out, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal a pair of monsters. "Jurassic Raging Raptor!" (A2600/D2400/R4/P6)

The second was a man in red armour, swinging a staff around that was on fire at both ends. "And Blazing Soul Knight, Gekaa!" (A1600/D1400/L4) "Then I activate the Pendulum Ability of Blazing Soul Priestess!" The women's hands glowed before she and Blast Burn Dragon exploded.

"What?" Shadow asked, "why would you do that?"

"Because now I tribute Gekaa, Firefly and Jurassic Raging Raptor!" The three monsters suddenly burst into flames which pulled together into a tornado of fire, as Flash began to chant. "With the flame of adventure burning in his soul, he will incinerate anything in his way to forge a path to the future!" A shadow appeared in the flames before they suddenly began to fade, revealing his father's ace monster in all its flaming glory. "Blazing Soul Dragon, Trail Blazer Dragon!" (A3000/D3000/L8)

"I should have known that was coming," Shadow growled as the dragon spread its wings.

"Trail Blazer's skill!" Flash cried. "Since he was summoned using three monsters, every other card on the field is destroyed and we take damage equal to the number of cards destroyed times two hundred." The dragon flapped its wings and unleashed a wave of fire, that destroyed Flash and Shadow's face downs along with Shadow's Pendulum Monsters and his monsters. The flames then flew towards them. But while they struck Shadow and burnt him, a force-field suddenly appeared around Flash and protected him.

Flash: 2000
Shadow: 1200

Shadow looked up at Flash and seemed confused, "why didn't you take any damage?" It was then he spotted something floating above Flash. Blazing Soul Priestess. "What?"

"It's her Pendulum Ability," Flash explained. "By destroying her and another monster in my Pendulum Zone, I'm completely immune the card effects this turn."

Shadow growled when he heard this, but then he smirked. "You must think you're pretty cleaver."

"Cleaver enough," Flash told him. "I'm just one attack away from winning this Duel."

"I don't think so," Shadow told him. As he said that, black chains shot out of the ground. Those chains wrapped around Trail Blazer Dragon and before Flash knew it, his father's best card was pulled to the ground and and tied up in a kneeling position. Everything but his neck, legs and the back of its head was covered in the black chains.

"What?" Flash looked Trail Blazer over, "what is this?" He turned back to Shadow and saw a Trap had appeared on his field, glowing the same dark colour as the chains. "I don't understand. That's...that's not a card my deck had."

"Of course," Shadow told him. "I created it myself. Using the dark emotions that sustain me, I created the Chains of Malice Trap card. A card that can only be activated when it's destroyed by a card effect. It returns that card to my field and then binds a monster on your field. That monster can't attack and is weakened by five hundred points during each of my Standby Phases. The best part. The monster equipped with this card can't be removed from the field, by battle or card effect."

"You...you're torturing it," Flash realised before glaring at him. "WHY!"

"I'm simply doing what you would do," Shadow told him. "Everything I am is simply what you and these cards are." Flash wanted to deny that, but how could he.

"Did I...do this?"

"Make your move," Shadow told him. Flash looked down at this hand and saw he had no other choice.

"I place three cards face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Shadow drew his card. "And with that, Chains of Malice weakens your monster's ATK points by five hundred." Trail Blazer roared as the chains around its body tightened, making it cry out in pain.

"Trail Blazer!" Flash yelled, his heart aching at the sight of his father's monster being put through so much pain. (A2500/D3000/L8) Flash turned to glare at Shadow, who simply smiled as he played his next card.

"Then, I activate Ratio's ability from the Extra Deck." The card slotted out and he placed it into his pocket. "By banishing him, I can draw three new cards."

"Great," Flash sighed as Shadow drew them. And when he did, a dark smile crept onto his lips. "Now what?"

"I activate Pendulum Loader. Since my Pendulum Zones are both empty, this card lets me take two face up Pendulum Monsters from my Extra Deck and add them to my hand." The cards slotted out and in one swift motion, Shadow slapped them down on them Duel Disk! "You know what happens now!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him before Magna Boar and Attriborn flew up into them. The portal slowly began to form above Shadow's head and grow larger. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a trio of lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal his monsters. "Sky high, Flash Wing Magna Pegasus." (A1400/D800/L4)

"Shred'em up, Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" (A1800/D600/L4/P9)

"Shine your light of victory once more, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Since Chains of Malice protects your monster from being removed by card effects, I'll have to just use Flash Wing's ability." He pointed at one of Flash's cards and the teen was forced to get rid of it, leaving him with only one card. "Next, I activate the Spell card Strike of Malice."

"Another Malice card," Flash realised. It was only now he realised Pegasus and Chimp were in DEF mode. He then noticed a pained look appear on the three's faces, all of them looking like their entire bodies where burning with pain. "What are you doing to them!"

"Just watch," Shadow replied as their eyes turned purple.

Flash looked down at his Duel Disk and saw Pegasus and Chimp's ATK points drop, getting lower and lower until inevitably. (A0/D800/L4) (A0/D600/L4/P9) "Why?"

"Flash Heart Dragon, attack Trail Blazer!" He looked up and saw the dragon's thrusters explode and push Flash Heart forward, Flash looking up at Magna Boar as its Pendulum Ability activated and raised Flash Heart's power by five hundred points. (A3000/D2000/L7/P4) With that, Flash Heart threw a punch and struck Trail Blazer head on.

Trail Blazer roared in pain as it staggered back, but the Chains of Malice kept it from falling and pulled it back.

Flash: 1500
Shadow: 1200

Flash expected that to be it, but then Flash Heart spun around and struck Trail Blazer with its tail.

Flash: 1000
Shadow: 1200

"What?" Flash asked in shocked as Flash Heart spun around again and slammed its foot into Trail Blazer's chest. The wheel spun against the dragon, grinding into it and making it scream as the chains kept it from escaping. "STOP IT!"

Flash: 500
Shadow: 1200

Shadow laughed. "What's the matter, didn't like Strike of Malice's effect?" Flash shot Shadow a glare, clearly not happy with what he was seeing. "Oh don't get so high an mighty. All I'm doing is having them work together, since Pegasus and Chimp couldn't hurt your dragon."

"If you hadn't bound Trail Blazer, there wouldn't be an issue."

"But where's the fun of that?" Shadow asked, making Flash growl.

"I activate my Trap!" Flash yelled as his card flipped up, "Power Draw! Now I can draw cards equal to the number of monsters you have on the field." He then pointed to another card as it flipped up, "I'm also activating my Emergency Provisions!" Both Power Draw and his other face down disappeared, Flash glowing as his Life Points went up.

Flash: 2500
Shadow: 1200

Flash drew three cards. "And since one of the cards I got rid of Trap Sleuth, it's effect activates and I can add a Trap from my graveyard to my hand." He took said card and added it to his hand, letting Shadow finish his turn.

"I place two cards face down and end my turn." The purple colouring left Flash Heart and the other's eyes, but all three of them soon fell to the ground and knelt down in exhaustion as their ATK points returned to normal. She turned to Flash, a dark smile on his face. "You might think of me as a villain, but everything I've done came from you. If you had that Strike of Malice card in your deck, you know you'd use it."

"No," Flash shook his head, "not if it causes this!" Flash pointed to the exhausted monsters. "I may have made you, and I admit I've made mistakes in my time. But this is too much. I refuse to believe I would cause my monsters this much pain."

"Why?" Shadow asked. "You caused this much emotional pain, so why wouldn't you go beyond that and cause the same amount of physical pain?"

"I...I..." Flash shock his head and gave him a serious look, "I will never cause that much pain to my monsters. Not physical or emotional. I know what I did was wrong and I vow, on my life, I'll never let that temptation overcome me again." As he said this, Flash Heart looked up at him. If his face could be seen, a curious look would be visible.

"Sure you won't," Shadow told him. "Just make your move so I can end this Duel."

"This Duel's far from over," Flash told him. He looked down at his hand and despite the cards he had gotten, he didn't have anything that could help him right now. "Alright." He reached for his deck, taking a deep breath and hoping he got something that could help him turn things around. "I DRAW!" He took the card and looked down at it, his eyes going wide when he saw what card he had gotten, "this is..."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, wondering what card Flash had gotten.

Flash smirked before taking playing the card. "I summon Dark Portal Master." In a flash of dark light, a black figure appeared infront of him. It was made of black slime and had only a red crystal in its chest, with no other features appearing on it. (A500/D500/L1)

"What's that?" Shadow asked.

"A gift from a friend," Flash explained before he pointed at Shadow. "Dark Portal Master's skill! Select one monster on the field and if you agree, I can swap it with Dark Portal Master!"

"What?" Shadow watched as Dark Portal Master fired a red beam out of its chest gem, which created a black portal between the two of them. "Why would I swap one of my monsters with that thing?"

"Because if you do, Dark Portal Master gains that monster's ATK, DEF and Level. Plus, Dark Portal Master can't be destroyed by battle."

"So you want to take Flash Heart back?" Shadow asked, getting a nod from Flash. "You think I'd let you have him. You're nuts."

"it's not up to you," Flash told him. "You said it yourself that you only speak for the monsters. You don't make any decisions for them." He looked up at Flash Heart. "It's his decision whether or not to join me on my field."

Shadow frowned, "you have a point. But even so, there's still no way he'd agree." He stepped forward and turned back to Flash Heart. "I'm right, aren't I? I sense the anger still within you. The feelings of betrayal felt when he threw you away. There's no way you'll go to him."

Flash stared up at the dragon, seeing it simply staring back at him. "Flash Heart...I know I made a mistake. That is something I will never forgive myself for." He looked down at the ground, "and I don't expect you to forgive me either."

"Then why are you even trying to get him back to your side?"

"Because the bond we share is stronger then that anger!" Flash yelled to him, looking back up at the monster. "I'm not asking you to forgive me. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I'm just asking that you don't let your anger make you forget everything we've been through. The day we met. All the Duels we fought together. All the obstacles we overcame together. The Celestic Cup, Sombra, the Double X. Through it all we stood together and you can't deny the bond we shared because of it."

"A bond he chose to throw away," Shadow pointed out. "A bond that was destroyed because he chose to turn his back on you."

"I know that bond still exists," Flash told him. "Even if it's only a hair's width, it's still there. I can feel it. If I didn't, I wouldn't hate myself so much for what I did."

"Any old excuse," Shadow told him. "He says he feels bad, but he didn't seem to care when he used the Zenith Dragon. You saw what he did to Vail Pixie. She tried to help him and he pushed her away."

Flash looked down and sighed, not able to defend that part. He knew there was no way to earn their forgiveness. Even so, he still had to get the deck back. "It doesn't have to be me." Shadow raised an eyebrow at this, as Flash slowly lifted his head and looked up at Flash Heart. "I want nothing more then to have my deck and my friends back."

"Why?" Shadow asked, "so you can save your precious girlfriend. Are you gonna sacrifice them again to try and save her."

"No," Flash shook his head. "I do want to save her, not just because she's my girlfriend." He looked down again, his hand clutching his pants. "It's my fault she was taken over. I showed the Zealots how to get here. It was me who allowed them to start their plans. I was the one they were targeting and it was me Twilight was trying to protect when she got taken over. Everything that's happening is because of me. I'm the Pendulum Singularity, so it's my responsibility to try and make things right."

Shadow was still confused about what he had said earlier, while Flash looked back up at Flash Heart.

"I know you want to fight against Zeronull and stop whatever he has planned. And we all know your deck is probably the only thing that can stop him. But if you don't want to be with me, I won't force you." He looked down. "You can just give me your cards and I'll give them to someone else. Anyone who could possibly use you as well as me." An idea appeared in his head. "My dad was the one that brought you to my world before. He was your first user and he was the one the deck was first made for, so I'm sure he'd Duel with you all." Silence continued to fill the ruins as Flash's words sank it. "My mom made the cards, so maybe she could be the one. Or Cold or...anyone."

Shadow rolled his eyes, not expecting this to work. But then he sensed something in Flash Heart and looked up at him, seeing him tilt his head in a way that indicated indecision. Was he...considering this?

"If you want someone else to Duel with you, I understand. But if there's any part of you that's willing to try and move past what I did and stand with me again, even if it's just for one last Duel, please come back to me." Flash and the dragon remained eye locked, the dragon still considering Flash's proposal.

Shadow also stared at the dragon, wondering what it's decision would be?

Then, something appeared on the forefront of his mind. An image, a memory from Flash Heart's past.

That memory was of the day Flash was born and named after the monster infront of him. The image of Flash Heart holding a finger out to a baby who would reach out and grasped it in both its tiny hands. The memory then changed to show the day Flash first Duelled with Flash Heart and beat Garble, then showed many other images of the times the two worked together.

As he watched these images, something began to change within Shadow.

He felt the sense of anger that made up his form slowly begin to grow weaker and weaker, causing his entire body to shake. "No," he whispered, "it...can't be." It wasn't just Flash Heart's anger that was waning. And when he looked up, he saw Flash Heart moving towards the portal.

Flash's eyes went wide as he saw this, while Dark Portal Master began to fly towards the other side of the portal. "Flash Heart?" The dragon turned to him, "are you sure?" After a few seconds, the dragon did something surprising. He spoke.

"Do you truly regret what you did?"

"Of course," Flash nodded. "It's something that'll haunt me for the rest of my life."

"Maybe," Flash Heart replied, "but if you truly wish to earn forgiveness from us, you must first learn to forgive yourself."

"What?" Flash asked, "why would you want me to forgive myself? After what I did to you."

"Because you're right," Flash Heart told him. "Despite what you've done, I can't forget everything we've been through. No matter how hurt I feel about what you did, I cannot deny the joy and excitement I have had during our time together. Those many amazing memories easily outweigh that one moment of weakness, a moment I myself would have trouble deciding upon if I were in your shoes at the time." Flash couldn't help but look down and smile at those worlds. "But more then anything, I need you to forgive yourself because only then will you be able to Duel at your best and defeat Zeronull alongside us." Flash looked up in shock.

"What?"

"You have and always will be, our Duellist. No matter what happened. You are our Duellist, our leader and our friend. And in order to defeat Zeronull, you must be at your best. So as hard as it is, you must try to forgive yourself."

Flash let the words he had been told flew through his mind and his heart, which was beating heavily after what Flash Heart had just said. Eventually, he reached the part of those organs that were flinging on to the hatred and self-loathing he had for himself and, after a deep breath, mentally let it go and fade away.

Shadow's eyes went wide as he sensed the anger slowly recede from Flash. It wasn't gone, but it certainly wasn't as strong as it had been before. He then looked up at Flash Heart and saw it fly into the portal, while Dark Portal Master flew into the other side.

A light then made him looked down at his Duel Disk and see his Flash Heart Dragon card was glowing, the card then morphing into a light that shot off his Duel Disk and flew towards Flash. At the same time, Flash removed the Dark Portal Master card and threw it at Shadow.

His lookalike caught that card and placed it on his Duel Disk as the monsters appeared out the other side of the portal. Flash Heart flew over to Flash's side of the field and hovered over him. At the same time, a monster appeared and flew over to Shadow's field. It wasn't Dark Portal Master though, or at least it didn't look like him. Instead, this monster was a dark version of Flash Heart. Where Flash Heart was blue, this beast was black and was grey where Flash Heart was yellow and orange. (A3000/D2500/L8)

Flash looked up at his best monster and couldn't help but smile, happy to finally have him back on his side. He turned towards his lookalike as a serious expression adorned his face. "Hope you're ready," Flash told him. "Because the Real Duel starts now."

Author's Note

Well that was...emotional. Hope you enjoyed it and I know the ending was probably a little cheesy. I wasn't really sure how to get Flash Heart to forgive Flash, so I hope this worked. Tell me what you think.

Turn 30: Alpha Zealots Rise

In the meadow of the Duel Monster Spirit World, Sombra and Scarvolt simply stared at the forest that they had exited out of a short time ago.

Scarvolt sighed, "I wonder what's taking him so long?"

"We just have to be patient," Sombra told her.

Scarvolt sighed again, "I'd be a lot happier if I knew what the heck Flash was even doing in there."

"Whatever it takes to earn Flash Heart and the other's forgiveness. And no matter how long it takes, he'll do it."

"But we're on a bit of a time crunch here," Scarvolt told him. "Every second we waste here, Zeronull and his lackeys have another second to do whatever the heck they're doing."

Sombra couldn't help but sigh himself, "I know. But the plan won't work if we rush things. Fixing the damage done will take time. Time we might not have, but time none the less. We just have to hope Flash can pull this off, whatever it is he's doing." He glared at the forest, hoping his thoughts got through to the teen within it. "Stay strong Flash. I know things look difficult, but you can pull through. Don't let your negative emotions bog you down."

For the first time in a long time, Flash felt truly happy.

The reason was obvious. Despite still Duelling against his own deck, being used by a dark reflection of himself, he now had his ace monster back on his side of the field. Flash Heart Dragon X stood strong above him, standing besides a chained up Trail Blazer Dragon.

Meanwhile, Shadow had Magna Chimp, Magna Pegasus and a dark reflection of Flash Heart. "Just because you got your favourite monster back, that doesn't mean this Duel is yours for the taking." He held up his Duel Disk, "I still command a vast army of vicious creatures that are ready to tear you a new one. And thanks to your little trick, I now have a very powerful monster who can't be destroyed or removed from the field by card effects. I think I'll call him...Dark Heart Dragon." Said dragon stared down at Flash and the monster it was mimicking, since it was slightly larger then Flash Heart.

Flash smirked. "Firstly, you commanding your monsters is why you're gonna lose. You and your deck are suppose to be a team. That's something I forgot and that's what brought you into being. But now, I'm ready to earn their respect and forgiveness."

"Like you can," Shadow chuckled.

"Let's find out." Flash looked down at his hand and noticed one of his cards was called Blazing Revival, a Trap that could help him but also had some serious downsides. And while he trusted his Deck, even if it was actually his father's, he knew he had to wait for the right moment. "I set scale three Blazing Soul Golem and scale eight Blazing Soul Lancer into the Pendulum Scale!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him before a pair of monsters flew up into them.

One was a bulky humanoid made of rocks with cracks that had magma leaking out of it. The other was a knight in red armour whose arms ended in a pair of long cone-like lances. Once the two were high enough, the portal slowly began to form between them as Flash began to chant. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal was completed, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light and a fireball shot out of hit and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Flash's monsters. "Jurassic Raging Raptor!" (A2600/D2400/R4/P6)

"And Blast Burn Dragon!" (A2300/D1800/L6/P2) "Now for Lancer's Pendulum Ability!" The knight raised its weapons as Trail Blazer began to glow. "I sacrifice a Fire monster on my field and in doing so, I can power up a Fire monster on my field by a thousand points until the End Phase." Trail Blazer exploded into flames, causing the Chains of Malice to fall to the ground and shatter, the fire shooting over to Blast Burn and surrounding it in an blazing aura that increased its power. (A3300/D1800/L6/P2)

Shadow frowned. "You say you care about your monsters, but you're all so happy to sacrifice them when they become a hindrance."

"It's called teamwork," Flash told him harshly. "Besides, I know Trail Blazer would rather be in the graveyard then trapped in your stupid chains. And his sacrifice will not be in vain." He pointed at Dark Heart Dragon as Blast Burn raised the cannons on its back. "ATTACK!" The dragon fired its cannons, hitting Dark Heart head on. It didn't destroy it, but it did deal Shadow some damage.

"Augh!"

Flash: 2500
Shadow: 900

"Now, Flash Heart, take out Magna Chimp!" The dragon's boosters exploded and caused it to shoot forward and sock Magna Chimp, destroying it. "Now, Jurassic Raging will attack Flash Wing!" The dragonoid dinosaur flew into the air before circling around and striking the pegasus with its tail. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Blast Burn's ATK points returned to normal.

"Then it's my turn!" Shadow drew his card and smiled, "and with it I'll play Spell Recovery. Now I simply banish the top card of my deck, then return a Spell in my graveyard to my hand." He drew his card, revealing Magna Fighter Gun Runner, which he placed in his pocket before taking out a card in his graveyard. No sooner had he done so, he quickly played it. "Now, I'll banish Magna Pegasus from my graveyard to activate Starburst Reload and draw four cards." He drew them and frowned, clearly not getting what he had wanted.

'He's after something,' Flash whispered. It was clear on his face he was trying to get to a certain card. 'But which one?' He asked as the portal formed.

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a pair of lights shot down and exploded next to Dark Heart Dragon, revealing his monsters. "Shred'em up, Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" (A1800/D600/L4/P9)

"Unleash your roar, Star Fang Magna Tiger!" (A2400/D2100/L7) "Next, I'll power him up using the Spell card Multiversal Spirit!" The ghostly image of Flash Dragon Accel appeared before exploding into light, which flew into Magna Tiger and powered it up. (A3200/D2100/L7)

"Not good," Flash realised.

"Now!" Magna Boar's ability powered Magna Chimp up, (A2300/D600/L4/P9) "I'll have Star Fang attack Jurassic Raging Raptor!" The humanoid tiger flew forward, ready to destroyed Flash's Xyz monster.

'Really not good,' Flash thought to himself. 'If it destroys my Raptor, Star Fang's ability will let it banish Flash Heart and I'll be in serious trouble.' He looked down at his face downs, knowing he didn't have a choice. "I activate my Trap!" It flipped up, "Shift!" Flash Heart and Jurassic Raging blurred out as the kept switching places, with Flash Heart eventually being the one to take the hit from Magna Tiger.

Flash: 1800
Shadow: 900

Shadow growled. "Fine then. We'll do it the hard way. Magna Tiger's skill!" A portal appeared behind Blast Burn Dragon. "Whenever it destroys a monster, I can banish another monster on your field with less ATK points." Blast Burn Dragon was sucked into the portal, leaving Flash with only Jurassic Raging Raptor. And that wouldn't last long. "Dark Heart Dragon, ATTACK!" The larger robotic dragon shot forward and struck Jurassic Raging Raptor, destroying it and making Flash grunt.

Flash: 1400
Shadow: 900

"Magna Chimp!" The robotic monkey charged forward, ready to end the Duel with a single slash of its claws. But both Flash and Shadow knew it wasn't going to end that way.

"I activate my Trap!" Flash yelled as his card flipped up, "Defence Draw!" A shield appeared around Flash that blocked Magna Chimp's attack, leaving him safe and in the came as he drew his card.

"At least that Trap's out of the way," Shadow smiled. "I end my turn by playing the Spell card, Malice Healing." All of his monsters suddenly quivered in pain as they glowed a dark light, that light flying off of them and into Shadow. "This card lets me gain five hundred life points for every monster on the field, though their ATK and DEF points drop to zero until the end phase. (A0/D0/L8) (A0/D0/L7) (A0/D0/L4/P9)

Flash: 1400
Shadow: 2400

"Your go."

"Then I'll draw!" Flash drew his card, then discarded one. "I activate the effect of Blazing Soul Healer." A women in fire-themed robes carrying steaming bottles of water appeared. "By discarding her during the Standby Phase, I gain a thousand Life Points." She uncorked the bottles, causing the steam to fly out and wrap around Flash.

Flash: 2400
Shadow: 2400

Flash then looked down at the card he had drawn. He was surprised by the card but realised he couldn't use it yet. As this happened, the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and a pair of lights shot and and struck the ground, exploding to reveal his monsters. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heard Dragon X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)

"And Jurassic Raging Raptor!" (A2600/2400/R4/P6) "Flash Heart's skill!" A portal appeared behind Magna Chimp and sucked it inside. "Now, Jurassic Raging Raptor, take out his Magna Tiger!" The dinosaur flew up and then shot down, striking Magna Tiger and destroying it.

Flash: 2400
Shadow: 2200

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

Shadow reached for his deck, a smile on his face. "I can feel it." Flash wondered what he meant. "The card that will end you. I DRAW!" When he looked at the card he had gotten, he smiled before playing it. "With this, your fate is sealed. Your deck will never be yours again. I activate...QUANTUM NEXUS RITUAL!"

Flash's eyes went wide before he looked up. Above Shadow, a giant magic circle appeared. Seconds later, Magna Chimp, Magna Pegasus, Spino Gear, Tempusidium, Neo Lightspeed Dragon and Magna Wolf appeared around the circle. One by one, they each morphed into a light that flew into the circle and made it glow and expand.

"By sending banished monsters to the bottom of my deck, I can now warp space and time in order to give life to a whole new monster!" The circle reached its limit and began to firing bolts of blue lightning before completely exploding, the light becoming a single beam that struck the ground. "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

From within the light, a monster Flash knew all to well appeared. Then the light began to fade, allowing it to be seen. "QUANTUM NEXUS DRAGON!" (A4000/D4000/L12/P0)

"Oh no," Flash couldn't help but quiver where he stood. That was by far his most powerful card. Against that, Flash didn't stand a chance.

"Flash," He looked up at Flash Heart as he stared down at him. "Stay strong. We can do this." Flash smiled and nodded back, seeing Quantum Nexus lift up its giant sword.

"Bring it on!"

"Oh, it's brought!" Shadow pointed at him. "Quantum Nexus Dragon, attack Flash Heart Dragon!" The giant dragon spread its wings and flew up, a green aura surrounding the blade of its weapon. It then flew forward and swung its giant sword downwards, while Flash Heart jumped forward.

"Flash Heart!" The teen cried, fearing what might happen.

Flash Heart raised its arms in an X formation, using them to block the sword. The impact caused a shockwave that made the entire ruin shake, as the green aura spread to Flash Heart. The shockwave struck Flash, causing him to grunt.

Flash: 900
Shadow: 2200

Shadow smirked at this. "You remember Quantum Nexus's Pendulum Ability, right? Instead of destroying your monster, he places a Quantum Counter on it." The green light took shape of the magic circle, Flash feeling himself begin to sweat. "And now I end my turn, causing Quantum Nexus Dragon's other ability to kick in." He reached for his deck. "I banish the top ten cards of my deck and for every monster banished, a turn is skipped and we go straight into the battle phase. And don't forget, for every standby phase that passes, five hundred points are deducted from a monster with a Quantum Counter."

"I know," Flash told him. "But I still have just as much chance as you do."

"Oh please," Shadow almost laughed. "This game is mine and you know it. You may have gotten Flash Heart back, but the rest of these monsters are on my side."

"I doubt that," Flash stated. "After what you've done to them. Made them suffer with all those Malice cards."

Shadow growled. "Everything I am, I am because you made me."

"I know," Flash nodded. "I accept that. But I won't accept what you're doing. And neither will the deck. I know they were angry and that anger gave birth to you, but I also know they won't let that anger overwhelm them. Because they have too much good in their hearts. No matter what, they won't let themselves be overtaken by all the hate and malice that make you up. That's why I'm not scared of you. I know how this will end."

"With me winning!" Shadow yelled before he drew his ten cards, quickly throwing them into the air. The pair of them looked up as each card pointed face up, preventing them from being seen. But then one flipped around, revealing Mystical Space Typhoon. "Nothing." The second flipped over, showing itself as Reflection Guard. Shadow growled, but smirked when the third card showed Space-Warp Dragon. "Now I've got you," he told him as Flash Heart's armour appeared to slowly begin to rust.(A2000/D2000/L7/P4)

"Come on," Flash whispered as the fourth card flipped over and revealed Soul Release. The next two flipped over, both showing Spell cards named Magna Guard and Pendulum Shift. But then the next card flipped over, revealing Aura Pulse Magna Rat. "Yes!" Flash smirked, while Flash Heart Dragon's armour rusted over even more then before. (A1500/D2000/L7/P4)

"Come on," Shadow whispered. "Just one more." The next card flipped over, revealing Pendulum Blaster. "Come on." The next card revealed itself as Magna Guardian, Arma Excess. "This is it. This next card will grant me the win I need." The card slowly spun around, Shadow smiling while Flash looked nervous. And finally, the card completely flipped around to reveal...another Malice Spell card. "What!" He cried in shock as Quantum Nexus's effect occurred and they entered Flash's Battle Phase. "This can't be!"

"It's over Shadow," he pointed at the lookalike. "You didn't respect your monsters and now they've payed you back for mistreating them. Something I swear I'll never do again."

"That's not true," Shadow raised his Deck. "I still have the cards. That's proof the anger that created me still burns within them!" It was then that Shadow's Duel Disk began to glow, confusing him while Flash just smiled.

And before either of them could say anything, the lights began to shoot off his Duel Disk and fly over to Flash's side of the field. One by one, all of Flash's monsters appeared around him. Each one had a smile on its face, causing Flash to smile as he felt the warmth and forgiveness coming off of them.

Shadow, meanwhile, suddenly felt his own strength wane. With each passing second, the anger and betrayal that made up his form slowly began to vanish from him. "No," he whispered while falling to his knees.

The last light shot off his Duel Disk, flying right over to Flash and coming to a stop right infront of him before it took shape and faded to reveal Vail Pixie. Flash and her stared at one another for a several seconds until tears appeared in her eyes. They were not tears of pain, but tears of joy.

"Vail Pixie," he whispered. "I'm-" He didn't get to finish as Vail Pixie shot forward and hugged him, Flash being shocked for a second until he smiled and hugged her back.

"I forgive you," she whispered before finally letting go and flying behind him as Flash focused back on Shadow.

"This ends now. I activate my Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Blazing Revival! With this Trap, I can revive any number of monsters in my graveyard to my field. The only down side is that during my end phase, I take a thousand points of damage for each of them."

"What?" Shadow looked back up. "You don't even have one thousand Life Points. If I stop you from winning, you'll lose."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Flash told him. "Because I believe in my monsters. I trust them and I know that trust will be rewarded." With that, three flaming pillars exploded infront of him. The flames quickly faded, revealing Trail Blazer Dragon, Divine Sky Angel and Wild Rush Raptor.

"None of those monsters can defeat Dark Heart Dragon or Quantum Nexus Dragon," Shadow told him. "They certainly can't deal me enough damage to end this Duel on this turn." He smiled, "you've lost."

"You'd be right," Flash played a card. "If I didn't have this." The card appeared on the field, revealing a Quick-Play Card, "United Bonds!" All five of Flash's monster began to glow, scaring Shadow. "With this card, only one monster can attack. But that monsters gets eight hundred ATK points for every monster on the field, including itself." The light shot off them and flew into the air, the five quickly forming one orb of light that flew into Flash Heart. The dragon glowed as the rust vanished from its body, his power growing. (A5500/D2500/L7/P4)

"That's not possible," Shadow shook his head. "How is this possible?"

"Because I believe in these monsters!" Flash leapt up, flipping through the air before landing of Flash Heart's back. "And I believe in those around me, who believe in me. As long as that belief exists, there's nothing we can't do!" Shadow was about to respond, but then gasped when he saw something.

Standing infront of their monsters were the ghostly images of Flash's family, standing firm and staring him down. The Duel Spirits did the same, clearly having made their choice. And at that moment, Flash Heart's boosters began to ignite.

"It's over Shadow!" Flash told him as Flash Heart shot forward, fist pulled back as it rocketed towards its dark lookalike. "LET'S GO!" Flash Heart threw a punch and struck the copy in the chest, causing the Dark Heart Dragon to explode. As it did, Flash leapt forward through the shadows towards his opponent, in the same pre-punching pose Flash Heart had been in. And with a mighty roar, he threw his fist forward and socked Shadow right in the nose.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed at the top of his voice as he was thrown backwards, his Life Points dropping.

Flash: 900 (Winner)
Shadow: 0

Flash landed and fell to his knees, panting as he watched Shadow fall back.

He then looked up at his Duel Monsters and saw some of them begin to vanish, that few being the ones that belonged to the rest of his family. All his monsters remained on the field, all appearing happy despite the fact that they lost. "Hahaa!" Vail Pixie cheered, "you did it!" She flew up and hugged him around the neck, Flash laughing back before hearing a moan coming from Shadow.

Looking back at him, Flash saw small shining dots of light beginning to fly off of him.

He stepped forward as Vail Pixie let him go, Shadow sitting up before looking up and Flash and seeing him approach. "Come to watch me vanish, have you?" He frowned, "don't think you'll get rid of me."

"I know," Flash nodded. "You'll never be gone because you're a part of me. A part I didn't want to admit exists within me. My own darker self." Shadow seemed surprised by this admittance, something he clearly thought would never happen. "And it's because I denied you existed, that I couldn't control myself when I finally gave into you. I was a man who couldn't swim, dropped into an ocean."

Shadow chuckled, "nice analogy." His chuckling suddenly stopped when he noticed Flash holding out a hand for him.

"Well I'm not gonna deny you any more. I know who you are and you're me. So come on. I'm taking you with me, back to my world. You won't be hidden in the shadows of my mind any more. I promise." Shadow stared at him for several seconds, confused and bewildered, until he finally smiled and took Flash's hand.

Flash pulled him up and as he did, Shadow began to glow. His skin turned lighter and his hair colour changed from black to blue. His clothes morphed so that they now resembled Flash's, making them now perfect duplicates. But Shadow didn't stop glowing, instead his body slowly began to fade into the dust lights that flew into Flash's body. With each second, he turned more and more transparent but didn't seem at all worried about it.

"I'll be counting on you," Flash told him. "I know now that having darkness within me isn't a bad thing if I keep it balanced by the light. We've been fighting for control, when we should have been working together."

"And now we will," were Shadow's last words before he completely vanished and was absorbed back into Flash's body.

The teen continued to glow for several seconds, taking a deep breath while bathing in a new sense of clarity he hadn't known was possible before now. He finally opened his eyes and turned back to the monster, talking as he moved towards them. "I know you've forgiven me, but I just want to say sorry one last time. I'm sorry and I understand if you don't want to be in my deck any more." He noticed the monsters rolling their eyes, clearly sick of the number of apologise he had been giving them. "But if you still want to stay with me..." He raised his hand, "then I promise I'll never risk you like that again. So what do you say? Let's go home and take Zeronull down."

The answer to his question came when most of his monsters started glowing, Flash Heart and Vail Pixie the only ones not. They then turned into lights that flew through the air and landed in Flash's hand, transforming into cards that slowly came together to make Flash's deck.

Within a minute, the final light struck the deck and became a card before it faded. Once that happened, Flash brought his hand down and shuffled through the cards, smiling when he saw every one he had lost was back. Well, almost every one.

"Alright," he turned to Flash Heart and Vail Pixie. "I guess it's time for me to head back home." The other two nodded, Flash Heart kneeling down while Vail Pixie hovered in place. "This is it. Once we're back, we'll be in for what might be the toughest battle we've ever been through."

"No problem," Vail Pixie smiled. "Together, there's nothing that can stop us." They turned to Flash Heart and his response was to hold out a hand. Vail Pixie smiled and placed hers on it. "Come on, let's go save your girlfriend." Flash smiled back before slowly placing his hand on their.

And as soon as he did, a bright light suddenly exploded around them. "WOW!" He cried, shutting his eyes.

When the light finally faded, he opened his eyes and looked around to see he, Flash Heart and Vail Pixie were floating in a strange white void. Within said void, he got a strange feeling he recognised.

"This is..." They looked around and gasped at the sight before them, "Harmonica."

The shining angelic figure smiled down at the three. "Hello my children. I am glad to see you have managed to fix things up."

"You were watching?" Flash asked.

"Of course. I had hoped you would make amends and be able to come together once again. I feared the rift that had developed between you would never be repaired, but it seems I was worried for nothing. Now you can focus your attention on the true enemy."

"Zeronull," Flash frowned while Harmonica sighed.

"It sickens me to see the pain and suffering he and his followers have caused. I was a fool to think he would give up on his insane quest to destroy all life."

"You thought he would?" Vail Pixie asked.

"I had hoped he'd see the light. That is why I sealed him away instead of simply destroying him. But now I see that I was wrong. He will never give up on this foolish vendetta."

"Then do something!" Flash told her. "If he was able to escape then maybe you can too."

"He escaped through stealing another's body. I will not do such a barbaric thing."

"So what are you gonna do?" Vail Pixie asked, only to see the angel smile down at them.

"I may not be willing to take over another, but I see no problem with lending my power to those I know will use them for only good." The three were confused for a second before realising what she was getting at.

"Us?" Flash asked, Harmonica nodding. "Are you sure?"

"Oh yes. I've been watching you since the day you were born. You've proven yourself to be a truly good person. Though you have made many mistakes, you have learnt from them and grown as a person. I see no one more worthy of wielding my power to finally destroy Zeronull." She held out her hands as a golden orb formed between them. "A time may come when my power is needed to save your worlds from this evil. Though I can only bestow a small amount of my power into you safely, when the time comes to wield my full strength you will know what to do."

"What?" Flash asked as the orb began to unleash a trio golden light strings that floated through the void. And one by one, they latched onto the three's chests and caused them glow the same golden colour.

Flash suddenly felt a rush of power flow through him, causing him to take a deep breath as he turned to the others and saw they were glowing just like him. Then, a blue light appeared on each of them. It appeared on the front of Vail Pixie's dress, over the shield and lightning bolt symbol of Flash Heart and on the back of Flash's right hand. They glowed brightly before slowly taking shape and becoming a symbol that caused Flash to raise an eyebrow.

It was a strange looking lower cased A, Flash's being surrounded by a while circle while the other two's was just it on its own.

As soon as the symbols solidified, they unleashed a bright light that spread around the three of them and turned them into a trio of shining figures. The light soon vanished and revealed the three's new forms.

Flash looked to his side and saw Vail Pixie's dress and hair were now pure white and she appeared to be a little bit taller. He then turned to Flash Heart and saw he looked very different. The formerly blue and black sections of his body were now pure white and the spikes on his shoulders, knees and head were longer.

Flash looked himself over but didn't really notice any change, but then a stray strand of hair fell over his eyes and he saw it was white. This led to him pulling his hair forward and seeing it was now the same colour as Vail Pixie and Flash Heart's new looks.

"Stand tall, Alpha Zealots. Protectors of life and creation. Only you have the power to stop Zeronull once and for all. But you cannot do it alone. Trust in those that stand besides them and you will discover the strength needed to defeat the evil one and his followers."

"I will," Flash nodded as he and the others stopped glowing. The light was sucked into the marks given to them, Flash's hair even turning back to normal. "But Zeronull has all of Twilight's Duelling skill. Midnight will be a tough opponent to beat."

"I understand that. But you can still defeat her. For even in the darkest of situations, when things look their bleakest, there is always hope as long as you never give up. For that is the most beautiful thing about life. No matter what the hardship. No matter what obstacles it must struggle through, it always finds a way to keep moving forward.

Flash nodded, "you're right."

Harmonica nodded back. "This world is filled with many amazing ways to grow stronger, each of them requiring many working together as one. The power to fuse into one, the ability to synchronise your powers together and even overlaying your strengths. The Pendulum Power I entrusted with Flash Heart to pass on was meant to help these abilities grow stronger. But in order to defeat Zeronull, it is time for the Pendulum to evolve."

"Evolve?" Flash asked, "how?"

"That is for you to discover. However, if the Pendulum could share its power with the others, it is possible they could share their power with the Pendulum." Flash wasn't sure what this meant, but something else caught his attention before he could ask.

The world around him was growing brighter and brighter, making it harder for him to see. "Stay strong my children and together, there is nothing you cannot do." That was the last thing Flash heard Harmonica say before he was blinded by a brilliant light.

Out in the meadow, Sombra and Scarvolt were surprised by a brilliant pillar of light that shot out of the forest and flew into the sky.

"What is that?" Scarvolt asked in shock, the two standing up and staring at the pillar.

Sombra wasn't sure. But as he stared at the light, he couldn't help but get an overwhelming sense of assuredness. "I think Flash succeeded in his task." Scarvolt turned to him in shock, then back at the pillar. "Now he has everything he needs to save his world from Zeronull."

"And we'll keep doing everything required to stop him from this end." Sombra nodded in agreement, his eyes not leaving the pillar.

"Good luck Flash. I fear this may be the toughest challenge you've faced yet."

Scootaloo, Trail and Misty sat around the campfire as the sun was beginning to set.

The three continued to sit there, waiting and hoping, only for a sound to catch their attention and make them look up and turn towards the entrance into the tomb. And in doing so, they spotted Flash stepping out the tunnel.

The teen smiled as he looked around, spotting the setting sun and wondering how long he had been in the Duel Monster Spirit World. It barely felt like an hour, but it was long enough for evening to arrive in this world. Either time was slowed down there or the journey to and from that world took longer then he realised, plus however long he had spent in Harmonica's realm after he had passed out.

"FLASH!" He turned towards his family and smiled seeing them rush towards them, the three stopping right infront of him and looking him over. "Are you alright?" Misty asked. "You didn't get hurt there, did you?" Flash shook his head.

"That's good," Trail sighed in relief before looking serious again. "So, how'd it go?" Flash remained silent for a moment, the three dreading his answer, until he finally smiled and held up a deck of cards.

They all gasped as Scootaloo took and cards and started cycling through them, smiling as they saw every card Flash had lost after his last Duel with Midnight. But that relief turned to confusion when they got to the last two cards, seeing they looked completely different to what they had once been.

"What's this?" Scootaloo took the two cards and gave them a closer look, seeing they were the new forms of Flash Heart and Vail Pixie. "Flash Heart Dragon...A?" She looked at the other card, "Vail Pixie A?" She didn't understand the strange lower case As following their names, but her parents did.

"Those aren't As," Trail took Flash Heart while Misty took Vail Pixie. "They're alpha symbols." The card shined in the setting sunlight, "Flash Heart Dragon...Alpha."

"Vail Pixie Alpha," Misty read before turning to Flash. "What happened over there?"

"It's a long story," Flash said as he took the cards back. When he did, the three of them couldn't help but notice a glow that seemed to appear around him as he held the cards.

Despite never seeing anything like this before, they all knew what this meant. 'Well done Flash,' Misty smiled. 'I can see it plain as day. The bond shared between you and your monsters is greater then ever.' Flash then turned his focus on them, a serious look appearing on his face.

"Right now, all that matters is getting back home and preparing to deal with Midnight and the Zealots." The others nodded in agreement, though they then frowned.

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow to head back," Trail turned to the sun as it was almost completely set. "Driving at night's seriously dangerous."

"And who knows how long it'll be until we get a flight back to the states," Misty placed her hand on her head. "By the time we get there, who knows what'll have happened." Scootaloo moaned while Flash just laughed, making the three turn to him.

"We don't need a plane." He held up his Vail Pixie card, the others realising what he was talking about. And so they quickly began to pack up their camp and when everything was safely put away, they stood in a circle around the now put out campfire. "Ready?" Flash held out his card, Misty and Scootaloo grabbing hold of it. Flash was then surprised to see Trail do the same, the teen turning to him. "Really? I thought you had to protect the tomb."

Trail smiled back. "I get the feeling this breech isn't gonna open again. Besides, I've been away from my family long enough." The others smiled back before focusing back down on the card. Flash then closed his eyes channelled the power he had been gifted by Harmonica, causing both his hand and the card to glow as the symbol appeared on his hand.

His family all became shocked at the sight and looked up at him, seeing his hair turning white and sticking up as the light exploded off the card and wrapped around them. And in the blink of an eye, they vanished in a flash of bright light that illuminated the area before fading in a second.

"Are you sure?" Cold asked Grand as they, Tempest, Fluttershy and Team Wonderbolt stood in a conference room in the Freeze Stadium.

"I'm sure of it," Grand nodded. "It's honestly a pretty perfect place to hide. The ground work was already there, so it wouldn't take much to convert it to serve their needs."

"They've been right under our noses this entire time," Rainbow growled as she punched her hand. "So when do we leave."

"As soon as we have everything we need to storm the base," Cold assured her. "Tidal and the Dazzlings should be landing soon. I'll contact them so they can meet us there to help with the investigation."

"But what if you're wrong?" Soarin asked. "What if there isn't a base there?"

"Then our search gets narrowed down," Gilda told him. "Either way, it can't hurt to look."

"It could hurt to look," Fluttershy gulped. "Especially if they've set this place to blow like the last few places."

"That's why we've gotta be careful," Cold told them. But before he could say anything else, the door flew open and one of his employees rushed in.

"Sir!" She cried, "there's...something happening outside!" This caught their attention and made them rush out the room, the lot fearing it may be the Zealots trying another attack thinking the Zenith Dragons were with them. But when they arrived at the entryway, they got the surprise of a lifetime when they saw who stepped through the doors.

"FLASH!" His friends yelled seeing the teen, along with the rest of his family. Grand rushed over to pull his daughter and granddaughter into a hug, then turned towards his son-in-law.

"Trail," he smiled.

"Hey," Trail nodded back before holding out a hand. Grand took it and both pulled each other into a hug and pat on the back, Trail they pulling away and turning to Cold. "Nice work. I'm glad trusting you with Flash's training was the right call." Cold simply nodded in a stoic fashion before turning to Flash.

He didn't even need to ask before Flash pulled out his deck, showing him the cards he had managed to get back. "Good," Cold smiled, "I'm glad you were able to get them back. You probably have much you want to tell us, but that'll have to wait." He turned his focus on the whole family. "I know you're all probably tired, but I'm sure you'll want to help us in our assault on what might be the last Zealot base."

"Really?" Misty asked, "is it near here?"

"You've been there," he replied. "I was surprised as you'll likely be. It's my brother's old base." This did shock the family, but they quickly shook it off and gained a serious look.

"Then let's get going," Flash told him. "It's time to end Zeronull's little game, once and for all." The others nodded, all in total agreement.

Across the country, Marble, Trixie and Skystar glared down at the building they planned to attack.

They stood atop a mountain located about a mile or so away from the compound they now knew held the Zenith Dragons they needed. Standing between them and the final stages of their plan were three walls, multiple guards and several Duellists they would likely need to beat in order to achieve their prize.

They then heard footsteps and turned to see Midnight stepping over to them, the thee quickly bowing as she looked down at the building. "You've all been given your assignment," she told them. They nodded back, "good. Then it's time to end this game, once and for all."

Author's Note

WOO! Flash got his deck back, with interest. Now he's ready to save his girlfriend. But it seems the Zealots are already moving. Hope you enjoyed it.

Turn 31: Dawn of the Decisive Battle

In the desert of Nevada, Midnight Sparkle and her Omega Zealots stared down at the compound that housed the Zenith Dragons they needed to complete their mission.

Each of them knew what they needed to do. Skystar was carrying a large dufflebag over her shoulder while Trixie was throwing a flash-drive up and down and Marble had the Void Cube. "It was convenient for them to hold all the Zenith Dragons in a single spot," Marble smiled while staring at the building. "Now we can take them out in one fell swoop and reclaim what is ours."

Midnight simply nodded. "Stick to the plan and everything should run smoothly."

"Of course my lady," Skystar nodded. "And once this is done, Project Omega Zenith will finally enter its final stage." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Zenith Dragon. "Once we have all six, we can unleash the final solution. The perfect world will finally be born and my people can finally live in peace." The other two also took out their cards.

"My mistake will be undone," Trixie spoke happily.

"I'll get to see them again," Marble whispered. A serious look appeared on their faces as they turned back to the compound, Midnight turning towards them.

"Complete your task and you will have what you desire." She pointed at the building, "go!" The three nodded and replaced their Zenith Dragons with teleporter cards, which they threw before rushing into. Midnight watched as the three portals vanished, then smiled. "Naive fools."

Down below, Skystar leapt out of the portal and found herself at the first wall.

She reached into her dufflebag and pulled out a stick of dynamite that had a super long chord, which she stuck to the wall before lighting it and rushing off. Once she was a good distance away, she created another portal and rushed through it. And as the portal vanished, the fuss reached the end of its rope.

KABOOM!

A few minutes earlier.

Inside the compound, Shining and the others were in the control room. They were all going through their decks, wanting to be ready for when the Zealots inevitably came to reclaim them.

Shining stepped up to Cadance, who was currently working to computer system. "How's it looking?"

Cadance didn't answer right away, her eyes glancing over the screens to take in the info. "It's looking good. The powers systems and working perfectly."

"I just thought of something," Sunburst spoke up. The others turned to him. "The Zealots need the Zenith Dragons, that's clear, and they're gonna come and get them. And to do that, they need to take out the generators powering the force field."

"Yeah," Starlight told him, "we know all that. Your point?"

"My point is they can teleport," Sunburst told her. "What's stopping them from teleporting next to the generators, destroying them with some weird Zealot power and then teleporting into the chamber?" This was a good question, causing the others to worry.

"Relax," Sunset told them. "We've taken that into account. We've been able to analyse their teleportation method and discovered it works though a form of energy conversion. And we've found a way to block it." She stepped over to the computer and typed something in, the screen changing to show a diagram of the compound it its surrounding walls.

Everyone watched as certain areas of the wall seemed to shoot a beam into the air and they all connected above the building, the energy flying down and morphing to create a dome around it. "This energy dome will block any attempt to teleport inside."

"So we're safe," Applejack realised.

"Safe from teleporting," Sunset corrected. "But who knows what the Zealots will-"

KABOOM!

Suddenly, the entire room began to shake. Everyone found themselves needing to grab onto a wall to keep from falling over. After about thirty seconds, the shaking stopped. "What the heck was that?" Pinkie asked as she and Maud pushed off the wall, Cadance already working to figure it out.

The computer screen changed to show an image taken from an outside security camera, which was pointed at the outer most wall. The image showed the wall smoking, with a large chunk of it taken out. "They're here," Shining realised before an alarm went off.

Sunset and Cadance started typing away and as they did, the screen changed to show the diagram once again. A part of the dome was now highlighted, with a label stating the word 'breech'. "The anti-teleportation field is weakening."

"What does that mean?" Rarity asked, Sunset turning towards her.

"It means they can teleport themselves in." She turned back to the computer. "But luckily, the breech isn't that big. The location they can teleport into is limited." She pressed something and the screen showed an image of another camera's footage, this one showing the lobby they had first entered into.

Several guards were there and as they prepared to head out and see what was going on, a flash of light signalled the appearance of two portals. And from out of those portals, Trixie and Skystar stepped out.

The guards appeared shocked by their sudden appearance but quickly got over it and charged, only for Trixie and Skystar to prove themselves as pretty impressive fighters. What they saw was what appeared to be out of an action movie, with the two girls beating their way through the guards like they were nothing.

Within a minute, the two stood amongst several a sea of unconscious bodies. "Seriously?" Pinkie cried, "where do a magician and a girl that's used to fighting underwater learn to kick butt like that?"

"Thank you Kung-Fu Kid," Trixie smirked as she dusted her hands off. "Who knew that wax on stuff could actually work." She moved over to a computer and pushed the flash-drive into it and started typing away.

"Alright," Skystar moved over to the elevator. "I'll head off to have a little fun."

"Enjoy," Trixie told her before Skystar stepped into the elevator.

"Stop her!" Shining told Cadance.

"Already on it!" Cadance and Sunset began typing away at a furious pace, going through the system until they found the elevator's power system. "Got it."

"And..." Sunset wait a few seconds before hitting the button, "gotcha." They stared at the screen as the power suddenly went off in the elevator, Skystar looking shocked by this and jerked when the the box suddenly stopped.

"But what if she teleports out?" Pinkie asked.

"Relax," Sunset turned to her, "I timed it perfectly. The elevator stopped when it left the opening in the shield. As long as the power's running, nothing's getting in or out of there."

Cadance nodded before pointing at the screen. "And look. The system's recovering from the explosion. In a minute or so, the hole in the defences will close and Trixie will be trapped."

"Nice work," Applejack smiled. "But what do we do with them now?"

"Trixie can still walk out of here," Shining pointed out. "And after what we just saw, I doubt the guards will be able to stop her. But we can still capture Skystar."

However, Trixie had other plans.

"Oh," she smiled seeing Skystar trapped in the elevator, "not bad." She then reached over and clicked a button on the flash-drive, causing it to light up as a window appeared showing an upload bar. "So sad." She watched as the bar slowly filled out, eventually becoming full.

When it was, the screen started flickering before going completely off.

The same thing happened in the control room, shocking those in it.

"What's happening?" Starlight asked as the emergency power switched one, "please tell me that was suppose to happen."

"I'm afraid not," Cadance and Sunset turned back to the computers and found them boot back up. When they did, the screen showed the elevator was once again moving down towards their floor. Not only that, but the field preventing teleportation was slowly fading away as well.

"How is this happening?" Rarity asked before every screen in the room changed to show a cartoon image of Trixie's face, blowing raspberries at them and going 'na, na, na, na, na'.

"It's a virus," Sunset realised. "Trixie must have uploaded it."

Cadance nodded. "Power's coming offline and if we don't do something soon, the entire system will terminate."

"Terminate?" Pinkie asked, "does that mean we won't be able to do anything?"

"Yes," Sunset nodded before the entire room began to shake once again. They all found themselves clutching the walls again, "now what?" The answer came when the computer screens changed to show the security footage of the hallways.

In that hallway, we find Skystar rushing through the maze of corridors.

As she did, she pulled small sticks of dynamite out of her bag and lit the fuse before tossing them behind her. "Come out come out, wherever you are!" She cried as the explosions went off behind her, making her laugh whilst skidded around a corner.

"Oh," she smiled as she found herself staring at a large generator with multiple cables running up into the ceiling and walls. "There you are." She pulled out an extra large stick of dynamite that she lit and threw before running off, jumping around the corner as the stick hit the generator right as the fuse reached its end.

KABOOM!

"NO!" Sunset yelled seeing the generator be destroyed, cutting off power to energy field currently protecting the Zenith Dragons. "The field will be down to seventy five percent now. If she manages to get the other three generators-"

"She's not going too," Applejack told her. "Because we're gonna stop her before she does." She turned to the others. "Let's split up and each take a generator. We'll get there before her, so she'll have to beat us before she can get to the generators."

"I'm up for that," Sunburst agreed.

"Let's go!" They all rushed out the room, Shining glancing back at Cadance and Sunset.

"You two see if you can get rid of that virus."

"We'll try," his wife told him. "But this thing's strong. It keeps jumping from one system to another before he can get a lock on it."

"Luckily," Sunset smiled, "I know these systems better then anyone. I know where everything's connected." She looked back at him, "just stop them already!" Shining nodded and followed the others out of the room. As they left, each of them grabbed an earpiece that was one the table next to the door. With these, they could keep in contact with anyone.

But as they began to rush through the corridors, something appeared on the security cameras.

Sunset turned to two separate screens and spotted a portal appear in each one. From out of the first stepped Trixie, who had appeared near another generator. And the second one showed Marble, who was also near a generator. Both held a stick of dynamite. "Not good." She grabbed a microphone. "Guys, we've got a problem. Marble and Trixie just teleported down and are heading for the generators." This statement got a reaction from Starlight and the Pie Sisters, making them stop.

"Where is she?" The three asked, Sunset knowing who each of them were talking about.

"I'm sending their locations to your Duel Disks." The girls pulled the tablets out and watched as the images appeared onscreen, the girls nodding before changing direction to head that way.

Starlight ran as fast as she could, winding through the corridors. As she did, Sunburst appeared besides her and ran along with her. "I'm not letting you face that crazy lady alone." He smiled, "I've got your back."

Starlight smiled back at him, "thanks Sunburst." She then focused back on the location they were heading. "Just you wait Glorianna. I'm coming to settle the score." Her eyes grew serious, "it's time to make you pay for what you did to me and made me do."

Skystar continued to laugh as she threw her last stick of dynamite, causing a piece of wall to explode. "Well, I've had my fun." She grew serious before pulling out a card, "time to get down to the real work." With that, she threw the card and created a portal.

Sunset smiled, believing she had the virus figured out.

She was quickly working to adapt an anti-virus program they had on file, which wouldn't take too long. "All those Zealots have done is buy themselves a brief reprieve," she told Cadance. But before she could really get to work, a flash of light caught their attention and made them turn to see a portal appear behind them.

"Surprise!" Skystar cried as she leapt out of the portal, pulling something out of her bag as she landed and pointing it at Sunset.

The bacon haired girl's eyes went wide when she saw it, believing it was a gun. But when Skystar pulled the trigger she saw something large fly at her before feeling a pressure on her arm. And when she looked down, she saw a metal claw of such holding her wrist. It was connected to a cable that went back to the gun Skystar was holding, the girl laughing as she pressed a button.

The next thing she knew, Sunset was pulled from her chair by the claw as the cable retracted.

"Sunset!" Cadance jumped out of her chair and rushed to her, but Sunset was already at Skystar's feet. The teens locked eyes as Skystar held up hand, the mark glowing before the light exploded off it and enveloped the two of them. Cadance could only gasp as the light began to take shape and eventually formed the Omega Field. "No!"

Sunset's eyes slowly began to adapt and clear after the bright flash, allowing her to see where she was.

She quickly put the pieces together and realised she had been pulled into an Omega Field, seeing the many stars that filled the mostly dark space. She frowned, annoyed that she would let herself get captured so easily. "Sorry guys. You might have to push ahead without me for a while."

"More then a while," Sunset turned towards the voice and saw Skystar standing a good distance away. "I plan on keeping you in here for an indefinite amount of time. In fact, you might never leave...alive that is."

Sunset just frowned at her.

Shining and the others were continuing their trek through the corridors, made more difficult by all the debris that Skystar's little party had caused.

Most of the time, they found they had to find an alternate route to their destination or climb over large pieces of rubble. Many of them were surprised the building hadn't completely collapsed on top of them. But it appeared the Zealots had managed to restrain themselves just enough and they would soon get to the generators.

"Guys!" They all heard Cadance cry, making them stop and listen.

"What's up?" Shining asked while trying to lift a beam out of his way.

"Skystar just showed up. She jumped out of a portal and grabbed Sunset before pulling her into an Omega Field."

"What?" Applejack asked in shock, "why would she do that?"

"She must have known Sunset was the one best suited to stop the virus," Sunburst told them. "Without her, it's gonna be a lot harder for us to fight back."

"He's right," Cadance agreed. "What I know about computers would normally be enough, but this virus is too advanced. I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight was the one who made it. Against this, I can't do anything more then slow it down. And Sunset knew these systems better then anyone."

"Well just do what you can," Shining told her. "I'm sure Sunset will be able to get herself out of that Omega Field, and hopefully take out the Zealot in the process."

"I'll do my best." With that, Cadance cut the call and they all continued to slowly push their way closer to the generators. Well...most of them.

Shining stopped trying to lift the beam and turned back the way he came, a bad feeling flowing from his heart. His gaze shifted between the two direction, wondering which way he should go.

Sunset continued to glare at Skystar as the two appeared to float in the Omega Field.

"Well?" The Dominated Princess asked, "you gonna say something?"

"Why did you bring me here?" She asked. "Last I heard, you had it out for Grand and Tempest." The mention of those names caused Skystar's face to turn into a frown, the spirit controlling her obviously still upset with them.

"While I am eager to find them and make them pay for what they did, it'll have to wait. Right now, I have a more important mission. Help Lady Midnight acquire the Zenith Dragons."

"Good luck with that," Sunset told her. "My friends and I won't let you anywhere near those cards."

"What can you possibly do from in here?" Skystar asked. "Without you, there's no way they'll be able to take out the virus Lady Midnight designed."

Sunset frowned, only now realising why Skystar had grabbed her. "Not very smart. You've just given me even more incentive to get out of here."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Skystar asked, a smile appearing on her lips when Sunset took out her Duel Disk and attached it to her arm.

"I've seen how this works. I beat you and the field vanishes."

"True," Skystar took out her own Duel Disk and attached it to her arm. "But if you lose, you'll never get out of here."

"I'm not gonna lose," Sunset told her. 'But it's not gonna be easy. Even if she's the backup up Water Zealot, she's still got some strong monsters. And if she summons her Zenith Dragon, I'm gonna be in serious trouble.'

"Is that a shiver of fear I see?" Skystar asked, Sunset stealing her resolve.

"You wish! I'm gonna take you down, get out of here and free your host all at the same time."

"You can try." With that, the two activated their Duel Disks and drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Sunset: 4000
Skystar: 4000

Pinkie and Maud had just finished climbing over some of Skystar's debris and spotted a corner that should have the generator around it.

"There it is!" Pinkie cried as she leapt off a beam and ran towards the corner, Maud hot on her tail. But as she reached the corner and swung around it, she suddenly found herself blasted by powerful force.

KABOOM!

Pinkie cried out as the explosion threw her backwards. She would have hit the wall and hurt herself if Maud hadn't jumped behind her and cushioned the blow. Both girls moaned as they let theirs ears stop ringing, both opening their eyes and seeing a large smoke cloud filling the hallway. And from it, their sister stepped out.

"MARBLE!" They both yelled as they jumped up and ran towards her. But as they reached out to grab her, Marble suddenly vanished. "What?" The girls looked down and gasped seeing not one, but two slime piles fly between their feet.

Once they were behind them, they came back together and reshaped into the form of Marble. She turned back to them and smiled before once again turning back to the black and red slime, which split into two before forming to take the shape of Pinkie and Maud.

"It wasn't her," Pinkie whispered.

"It was just those slime clones," Maud realised. "But...then where's the real Marble?"

In another corridor, a flash of light occurred as a portal formed before the real Marble Pie stepped out of it.

She smiled staring at her Duel Disk, which showed images she had gotten by hacking the security cameras. Those images were of her sisters staring down their doppelgangers while the four prepared to Duel. "Silly humans." She then took out the Void Cube, "now I can complete my mission."

Starlight and Sunburst were also making their way through the corridors, getting closer and closer to where Trixie was meant to be.

And as they turned the corner, they spotted the girl at the end of the hallway. "Stop!" Starlight cried, making Trixie do so before turning towards her. "You're not getting away!" She pulled out her Duel Disk, while Trixie simply smirked.

"Oh, I think I am!" With that, she raised her hand as her mark began to glow. And before either of them could say or do anything, the light exploded off the mark and shot towards them. It then split into two and hit the ground, morphing into a pair of slime-like objects morphed into humanoid shape before transforming into Starlight and Sunburst. "Have fun," Trixie laughed before running around the corner.

Starlight and Sunburst frowned as the clones created a pair of Duel Disks, showing that the only way passed was to beat them. "No choice," Starlight attached her Duel Disk while Sunburst did the same, both glancing at one another and nodding before turning back to them.

"DUEL!"

"I'll take the first move!" Skystar drew her card. "I'll start with the Spell card, Double Summon!"

"Great," Sunset sighed as Skystar continued.

"Next, I summon both Atlantean Dragoon and Atlantean Attack Squad!" Twin bursts of water exploded infront of her before fading, revealing to two monsters that swam around Skystar like the air was water before floating down infront of her. (A1400/D0/L3) (A1800/D0/L4) And since I have a Sea-Serpent monster on my field, Attack Squad gains eight hundred ATK points. (A2200/D0/L3) "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Sunset drew her card and nodded. "I'll set the Pendulum Scale, with scale two Rocket Smasher and scale nine Corona Paladin Squlder!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of her before her monsters flew up into them. Aside from Rocket Smasher, Sunset's other monster was a young knight with a blazing spear and white fur running in a V-shape from his shoulders to his chest. "Burn through space time and blaze the arc of victory!" Sunset chanted as the portal form. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal an armoured bird with two cannons on its back. "Duel Cannon Phoenix!" (A2100/D1500/L5) "Now Duel Cannon," the bird took flight as she pointed at Dragoons. "Wipe out those Seahorse riding freaks!" The Phoenix flew up before firing a blast from one of its cannons, hitting the Atlanteans and destroying them.

"Augh!" Skystar cried she felt the heat her monsters had felt.

Sunset: 4000
Skystar: 3700

"And with Dragoons gone, your Attack Squad gets weaker. (A1400/D0/L3)

"Doesn't matter," Skystar told her. "You don't have any other monsters to attack with." It was then she heard a sound and looked up, seeing the other cannon on the phoenix's back began to charge up. "What?"

"Surprise," Sunset smiled, "Duel Cannon can attack twice. The clue's kind of in the name. GO!" The phoenix fired again, hitting Attack Squad and destroy it while Skystar cried out in even more pain.

Sunset: 4000
Skystar: 3000

"I set two cards face down and end my turn." Sunset frowned as she looked behind her, staring at the darkness made up by the Omega Field. 'Just hold on everyone. I'll get out of here soon. Just try to old out as best you can.'

Back in the control room, Cadance continued to type away in an attempt to remove the Zealot's virus. But no matter what she did, the virus would not go down.

"Come on!" She cried in frustration after another failed attempt. It was then that she heard the sound of a door opening, the women looking around but couldn't see the door because of the Omega Field. A few seconds later, Shining stepped around the dome. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not sure." A frown appeared on Shining's face, his eyes not leaving the Omega Field. "I just had...a feeling. Like this was where I needed to be." He reached out to touch the field, only to get a quick jolt and pulled away. He then turned to Cadance, "any luck?"

"No," Cadance sighed while turning back to the screen. "I just can't seem overcome it. All I can do is try and slow it down until Sunset gets back...if she gets back."

"She'll be fine," Shining assured her. "She one of the best Duellists her age." He moved over and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, "she was chosen to be on a team by Twilight after all." A frown then appeared on his lips as he looked up at the ceiling, that strange feeling washing over him again. Was that why he came back here.

"You okay?" Cadance asked, pulling his attention back to her.

"Yeah," he nodded while trying to get rid of the uneasy feeling. "I don't suppose you know how everyone else is doing?"

"Hold on," Cadance typed away. "The virus has left the security system alone, so we should be able to see what's happening." Some of the screens changed. One showed Applejack and Rarity.

The two stood infront of one of the generators, both having their Duel Disk out.

"At least we managed to get ta this one before they did."

Rarity nodded. "Yes. Now we just need to keep it safe." She turned back to look up the corridor. "The biggest issue is if we get pulled into an Omega Field, the other Zealots can show up and deal with the generator before we can free ourselves."

"Then we'll have to be careful," Applejack told her. "If da'h Zealots try ta catch one of us, da'h other has ta stay out of the field and protect da'h generator."

"If we can," Rarity frowned.

In another corridor, Starlight and Sunburst continued to Duel against their clones.

Currently, Starlight had Celestial Spirit Taurus on the field while her fake had Virgo, Gemini, Pieces and two face downs. At the same time, Sunburst had Flare-Quill Hedgehog on his field while his clone had Sunburst Ravager and Burn Blader along with a single face down.

"It's my turn," Starlight drew her card. "And I'll start by summoning Celestial Spirit, Aquarius!" The constellation appeared before exploding to reveal the vase carrying mermaid. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Then, I'll discard a card and activate her ability!" The Mermaid pointed the vase at her opponent's field and unleashed a torrent of water that struck the ground and washed away her face down. "Now I'll have Taurus attack Virgo!"

The clone watched as the bull charged forward and slashed at the maiden, destroying her and dealing the clone some damage.

"Then, I'll discard Celestial Spirit Cancer to allow Taurus to attack again!" The minotaur turned to Pieces and slashed the two fish in half, destroying them and deal the clone even more damage. "Now, Aquarius will take out Gemini!" The mermaid unleashed the water once again, washing away the twins but since they were in DEF mode her clone didn't take any damage.

"Alright," Sunburst started his turn and smiled. "I summon Blaze Wizard!" A burst of fire revealed the young fire magician. (A1200/D1100/L3) "And with his ability, I can now add a Ritual Card from my deck to my hand." His deck slotted out a card that he instantly played. "Go, Sunburst Gate!"

The stone arch appeared behind his wizard, right as Sunburst Familiar appeared besides him before they exploded into six fireballs that flew into the archway's star holes. "Now I sacrifice Blaze Wizard and Sunburst Familiar!" The two leapt above the table before exploding into six fireballs, which then lit the candles. "Honourable inferno, that burns like the sun, give life to the archer whose quickfire aim is always true!" The fire on the candles shot up before flying into the basin, "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

The basin exploded, the fire shooting up and taking form before fading to reveal Sunburst's monster. "Sunburst Ranger!" (A2300/D1500/L6) "Ranger's skill!" Flare Quill burst into flames and flew into the monster's bow. "By tributing a Fire monster on my field, I can destroy one card on your side of the field." Ranger pulled back on the bow while aiming at the flower before firing, an arrow made of pure fire shooting out of the bow and hitting the clone's face down. "There's more," he said as the face down burnt away. "Archer's ATK goes up by three hundred points." Archer's body flamed up with a fiery aura. (A2600/D1500/L6) "Attack!"

The clone watched as the archer fired another arrow that struck Ravager and destroyed it.

Starlight and Sunburst ended their turn, seeing their clones simply starting their turns without saying anything. "These guys aren't gonna give up."

"Not unless we beat them," Starlight told him. "Then we can deal with Glorianna." Sunburst nodded as they focused back on their current opponents.

In another corridor, Pinkie and Maud's Duel were well underway as well.

Pinkie had Balloonimal Alligator on her field while her clone had Balloonimal Merlion and a face down on hers. Meanwhile, Maud had Fossil Tusker on her field and her clone had Muka Muka, whose ATK points were increased to twenty-one hundred, and two face downs.

"It's my turn," Pinkie drew her card and smiled. "And I play Polymerisation!" In a flash of light, a pair of Balloonimal Fish appeared on the field before they were both sucked up into a portal that appeared above Pinkie's head. "Now I fuse these two together to create the ultimate predator of the ocean!" The portal exploded, unleashing a brilliant bust of light. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing her monster. It was a giant balloon octopus with multiple tentacles of many different colours. "Balloonimal Kraken!" (A2200/D3000/L8) "Kraken's skill!" She pointed at her opponent's face down. "I select a face down card and guess what it is. If I'm right, that card goes back to the top of your deck." Kraken's tentacles stretched over and wrapped around the card, waiting for Pinkie's guess. "Trap!" Kraken pulled the card up and it was revealed to be a Trap, which Kraken threw into the air before it flew into the deck. "Now, Kraken, attack Merlion!" Kraken wrapped its tendrils around Merlion, popping it.

At the same time, Maud started her turn and drew her card. "And now I sacrifice Fossil Tusker in order to summon Granmarg, the Rock Monarch!" In a flash of light, Fossil Tusker was replaced by the giant metal behemoth. "Since Granmarg was tribute summoned, I can now destroy one face down on your field." The giant raised its colossal fist before bringing it slamming down onto the clone's face down, destroying the Trap that was revealed. "Now, Granmarg, go!" The giant raised its large fist and brought it down, crushing Muka Muka and making the clone grunt.

"My Trap now activates!" The Maud clone announced as her other face down flipped up, "Rock Bombardment. I now send a Rock monster from my deck to the graveyard and deal you five hundred points of damage." A card slotted out of her deck, which she took and discarded before the Trap fired a bunch of boulders that smashed into Maud.

"AUGH!" She cried at the impacts, but wouldn't let that knock her down. "I won't be stopped." She lowered her arms and glared at the clones, "you won't keep us from her."

"We'll fight," Pinkie told them as Alligator charged forward and slammed into her clone. "We'll fight and save our sister. No matter what you throw at us."

"WE'RE GOING TO GET HER BACK!" They screamed in unison.

"It's my turn," Skystar drew her card and smiled. "I play Graceful Charity! And with it, I draw three cards and then discard two." She did so before her Duel Disk glowed. "And now I activate the effect of a monster I just discarded."

Sunset wondered which monster she was summoning until she saw the ghostly image of a monster appear behind Skystar. It was a tall fish-man creature with bone armour around its body. "What is that?"

"Atlantean Sharman," Skystar explained. "And when he's in the graveyard, I can use his ability once in order to summon a high level Water monster without tribute." Sharman vanished as a pillar of water exploded behind Skystar, "so now I summon Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon!" The pillar exploded to reveal the giant shelled water dragon, which roared as it landed behind Skystar. (A2800/D1600/L7) "I might not be able to activate its ability, but it has more then enough ATK points to wipe out your little birdy." With that, the beast leapt into the air and swam forward before swinging its tail around and slashing at Duel Cannon Phoenix.

The bird squawked in pain as it exploded, Sunset grunting at the tearing pain in her chest.

Sunset: 3300
Skystar: 3000

"I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn," Sunset reached for her deck. 'I'm gonna need something big to beat that thing. Deck, don't fail me now.' She drew her card and frowned, not having got what she had wanted. But then, she remembered something. "I activate the Pendulum Ability of Corona Paladin, Squlder." She placed the card back onto her deck, "once per turn I can shuffle a card in my hand back into my deck. And then I draw a new card." Her deck shuffled before she drew her card, this time smiling. "I play Eruption Reload, to banish Duel Cannon Phoenix from my graveyard and draw five cards."

Skystar sighed watching this. "Is that really the best you can do. Scrounging to try and get the best card you can in a hopes of beating my monster?"

"Why not?" Sunset asked. "Isn't that what you Zealots like to do. Scrounging for a card that'll get your Zenith Dragon on the field. You guys are so scared of losing you'll put all your eggs in that one basket. I guess it makes sense. You guys aren't that great without them. Heck, you're not that great with them. Your mother can attest to that." That did it. Skystar's face was turning red with anger.

"YOU DARE MOCK MY MOTHER!" She pointed at her. "For that, your end with not be swift. I'll make sure it's slow and painful."

"Sure," Sunset told her as the portal formed above her head. "But first you have to beat me and that won't be easy when I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a trio of fireballs shot out and struck the ground, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal her monsters. "Knight of Summer, Aestas!" (A1500/D1200/L4)

"Corona Paladin, Stirder!" (A1700/D1400/L4/P6)

"And Corona Beast, Sunset Unicorn!" (A1800/D1300/L4/P7) "Unicorn's skill!" The yellow horse turned to Aestas before firing a blast at him. "Now I can reduce the Level of a monster on my field and turn him into a Tuner monster until the End Phase!" (A1500/D1200/L3) "Now watch, as I tune my now Level three Knight of Summer with Level four Strider!" Aestas leapt into the air before exploding into a trio of fireballs, which carved three blazing rings that Strider leapt into. "Ignite the inner flames of harmony, and let them shine for all eternity!" Her monsters were engulfed by an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Sunset's Synchro Monster as it flew down next to her. "Shimmering Phoenix, Princess Daydream!" (A2300/D2200/L7) "Daydream's skill!" The ghostly image of Strider appeared in front of Sunset's Synchro monster before morphing into a fireball that she held in her hands. "By sending a Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard, I can weaken every monster on your field by its Pendulum Scale!"

Daydream tossed the fireball at Poseidra, hitting it and causing it to roar in pain as its ATK was quickly burnt away. (A2200/D1600/L7) "ATTACK!" Daydream's hands ignited before if flew down and threw the fireballs at Poseidra, causing the sea dragon to explode and singe Skystar.

"Ahhh!"

Sunset: 3300
Skystar: 2900

"And with your field now empty, Unicorn can deal you some direct damage." The fire horse's horn lit up, preparing to fire at Skystar.

"I don't think so," Skystar told her as her face down flipped up. "Go, Abyssal Ascension!" A pillar of water appeared infront of her. "Since a Water monster was destroyed by battle, I can summon another Water monster in my graveyard." The pillar exploded to reveal Atlantean Dragoon. (A1800/D0/L4) Sunset Unicorn stared at it for a moment before its horn's fire went out. "Anything else?"

Sunset looked down at her hand before shaking her head. "I end my turn."

"Then I'll go," Skystar drew her card and smiled when she saw what she had gotten. "Perfect. I play Summon Dice!" A large dice appeared above her head, which began spinning around.

Sunset hummed, glancing over at Daydream. She could use her ability, but decided to see where Skystar was going with this.

"Now I'll roll a die and the effect it activates depends on the die rolled." She snapped her fingers before the dice fell to the ground, bouncing on the invisible floor for several seconds until he came to a stop with the three side facing up. "Three. That means I can now summon a monster in my graveyard back to the field." She smirked, while Sunset frowned.

"Poseidra," she guessed as a light appeared besides Dragon. But then that light faded to reveal a monster she hadn't been expecting. "Rhodos?" She asked, seeing the Atlantean Princess floating infront of her. "But how did that card get in your graveyard?"

"Graceful Charity," Skystar reminded. "And now, I can use Rhodos's ability." A pillar of water exploded behind her as Rhodos and Dragon were pulled inside. "Now I can sacrifice these monsters to summon the Queen of Atlantis from my hand, deck or graveyard." Her deck slotted out a card, which she took and stared at for a moment. "Mother," she closed her eyes, "I dedicate this battle too you and to all of our people. It won't be long before your suffering comes to an end." Her eyes opened as she rose the card up. "Now I summon the Atlantean Queen!" The water pillar exploded, revealing the regal fish women. "Amphitrite!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

Sunset frowned, knowing Skystar was now one step closer to summoning her Zenith Dragon. "I'm still in this," she assured herself.

"Maybe," Skystar smiled, "but for how long?"

The Zealots attack on our heroes had begun. With Sunset and the others occupied, one can only wonder how long they could old out against such a powerful offence.

Author's Note

And so it begins. Will our heroes be able to defeat the Zealots and keep the Zenith Dragons safe. Or will Zeronull's plan finally be fulfilled. You'll have to keep reading to find out.

Turn 32: The Hardships of Life

"AAAHHH!" Cadance cried in frustration, as the screen she was looking at began to show multiple windows filled with either red or blue code. "I can't do it!"

Shining turned to her and frowned, "how bad is it?"

"Really bad," Cadance told him. Shining turned to the screen and saw some of the blue code turning red. "The generator's control systems are the most secure. But if the virus manages to infect the other systems, it'll be able to get through and shut them down. And if the generators shut down, the shields go."

Shining frowned. "We've already lost two of the generators. We can't afford to lose the last two."

"I know," Cadance frowned. "But the virus is just too ingrained in the system." She turned back to the Omega Field, "come on Sunset."

Within the Omega Field, we find Sunset and Skystar in the midst of a serious Duel.

Currently, Sunset had Sunset Unicorn, Princess Daydream and two face downs while Skystar had just summoned her deck's ace. "Amphitrite's skill!" She discarded another card. "I discard Neptabyss in order to change the Attribute of every monster on your field to Water." The queen raised her staff before the pearl on the end began to glow, the light flying out and hitting Sunset's monsters.

Daydream suddenly gained gills while Unicorn transformed into a sea-pony. "Seriously?"

"Oh yes," Skystar nodded. "Now, Amphitrite will attack your unicorn!" The oceanic queen brought her hands together as a bubble formed between them. "When she attacks, my mother gains two hundred ATK points for every other water monster on the field." (A3400/D2500/L8) Amphitrite fired the bubble at unicorn, ready to deal some serious damage to Sunset with her destruction. But before the bubble landed-

"I activate my Trap!" Sunset cried as her face down flipped up, "Interception!" Daydream flew up to the transformed unicorn and pushed her away before the bubble hit. Once inside, Daydream clutched her gilled throat before she exploded.

Sunset: 2200
Skystar: 2900

Skystar frowned. "Why would you give up such a strong monster for something so useless?"

"Well for one, I just saved myself some serious damage. And the other is that when times are tough, the strong will always stand up for those weaker then them. No matter what, things will always be better when you stick together."

Maybe," Skystar frowned. "But sometimes things won't and can't get better. No matter how many of you stick together, the world is a dark and dangerous place that will never let you find peace." As she said that, he mind flashed back to the day her brother was attacked. The day she and her mother vowed to find a way to free their people of the dark world. She wondered how many more of their citizens had been hurt or lost whilst she was one earth. "It won't be long now. Everyone, please stay strong." She ended her turned and as she did, Sunset's unicorn returned to normal. "I will free you from the curse of this world and deliver you to one where you can live in piece."

"I don't think so," Sunset told her while reaching for her deck. "It's my turn. I draw!" She did so, but then took a card from her hand and placed in on the deck. "With Squlder's Pendulum Ability, I can now shuffle a card back into my deck and draw again." The deck shuffled around before Sunset drew her card, a smile appearing on her lips as the portal began to form above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out and hit the ground, exploding to reveal Sunset's ace. "Ignite your flame of victory, Solar Flare Phoenix." (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

The second became a large robot that was basically two metal boxes standing at around seven foot high, a small yellow one on top of a big red one, with robotic eyes coming out of the smaller box. It had thin legs and a large riot shield like objects on the end of each arm instead of a hand. On its back was a jet-pack like device that launched fire. Its legs suddenly retracted into its body and it positioned the shields infront of it. "Corona Guardian, Protegetal!" (A500/D2800/L6)

"Those monsters can't scratch the queen!" Skystar told her, only to see Sunset smirk.

"Just wait until I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Flame Enforcer. Once per turn, I can increase the ATK of a Fire monster on my field by half the ATK of another Fire monster on my field. The only down side is I can't attack with the second monster." The card appeared before unleashing a burst of fire that struck Sunset Unicorn and then flew off to hit Solar Flare. (A3400/D2100/L7/P4) "ATTACK!" The bird flew up high before its body ignited and shot down towards the Atlantean Queen before smashing into and incinerating her.

"AUGH!"

Sunset: 2200
Skystar: 2500

"Amphitrite's skill!" A pillar of water exploded infront of her before vanishing to reveal Rhodos. "You also activated my Trap card," said face down flipped up. "Atlantean Salvage. This card activates whenever an Atlantean Monster is destroyed. Now I draw one card for every Level Four or below Atlantean in my graveyard." She drew three cards, smiling when she saw what one of them was.

Sunset didn't like the look of that, "I change Unicorn to DEF mode and end my turn."

"Then it's my go." She drew her card, "and with it I summon Atlantean Field Medic to the field in ATK mode." A pillar of water exploded to reveal a fish-women in a nurses uniform. (A1200/D1200/L3) "And then, I'll use Rhodos's skill to tribute them both." The pillar of water exploded behind her before both of them were sucked inside.

"I should have known," Sunset sighed. But then Skystar did something unexpected. Instead of taking the card from the graveyard, a card slotted out of her deck instead.

"Now I once again summon Amphitrite, the Atlantean Queen!" The pillar exploded to reveal Amphitrite once again. (A3000/D2500/L8) "What's more, Field Medic's skill activates since it was sacrificed to activate a Water Monster's ability. And now, I gain two hundred Life Points for every Water monster in my graveyard." Sunset's eyes went wide, trying to recall how many Water Monsters were in her graveyard right now.

"Seven...no, eight. So that's-"

"Sixteen hundred Life Points," Skystar smiled as she began to glow.

Sunset: 2200
Skystar: 4100

"Seriously?" Sunset asked. "Is that why you chose to leave your other Amphitrite in the graveyard?"

"Partially," Skystar smiled. "And the other reason was because I also have these cards!" She played one, "Salvage!" She removed two cards from her graveyard, revealing them as Neptabyss and Field Medic. "And my other card," she played another one. "Monster Reincarnation!" She discarded Field Medic before removing Amphitrite and adding it to her hand.

"Not good," Sunset realised. "Now she has everything she needs to summon her Zenith Dragon."

"Now I activate Amphitrite's skill and discard Neptabyss, in order to change all of your monsters into the same types as him." The queen raised her staff as it unleashed the wave of energy that struck Sunset's monsters. Sunset Unicorn transformed into her seapony form while Protegetal turned blue while his jet-pack became some kind of water jet, with Solar Flare Phoenix's feathers moulting off of it and being replaced by scales.

"Really not good," Sunset gulped as she watched Amphitrite form a bubble in her hand.

Skystar smiled "With three other Water Monsters on the field, the queen now gains an extra six hundred ATK points." (A3600/D2500/L8) "GO!" She fired the bubble at Solar Flare Phoenix, the giant scaly bird being sucked into the orb and quickly having trouble breathing until it exploded. The bubble popped and the water slammed down onto Sunset, almost knocking her off her feet.

"AUGH!"

Sunset: 1100
Skystar: 4100

"I end my turn." Sunset's other monsters returned to normal, Skystar smiling at the sight of Sunset soaked and barely able to stand. "It won't be much longer. Soon you were be stuck down by the tsunami of power that makes up my deck and be washed of the face of this pathetic planet." Sunset finally stood firm and glared at her. "You will fall and the virus will destroy your system. And once Gaia-Maiden has completed her task, nothing will stand in Lady Midnight's way. Not you or your pathetic friends."

"Don't badmouth my friends," Sunset told her before reaching for her deck and drawing a card. "When she saw what it was, she smirked as the portal form. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball flew out of it, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal the revived ace of her deck. "Ignite your flames of victory once again, Solar Flare Phoenix!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4) "And since my life points are less then two thousand, her ability lets me double them!" The bird flapped its wings and unleashed a burst of fire that wrapped around her, healing her wounds.

Sunset: 2200
Skystar: 4100

"Then, I activate the Spell card Wildfire Draw!" She drew five cards, only for each one to suddenly be red hot and burn her hand. "Augh!" She cried, but fought through the pair. "This card lets me draw until I have six cards, then deals me three hundred points of damage for every card.

Sunset: 700
Skystar: 4100

"Are you insane?" Skystar asked, "why would you give up so many points."

'With what she has coming, I'm gonna need all the cards I can get.' She looked down at her hand and saw she had gotten three Traps, a Spell and a monster. And one of those Traps made her smile. "Perfect. I summon the Tuner monster, Sun-Ray Salamander!" In a burst of fire, the little yellow lizard with black spots appeared between Solar Flare and unicorn. (A100/D100/L1)

"Another tuner?" Skystar asked as Sun-Ray leapt into the air.

"That's right. Now watch as I tune level one Sun-Ray Salamander, with level seven Solar Flare Phoenix." The little lizard glowed before transforming into a fireball, which flew high up into the sky before carving a single flaming ring that Solar Flare Phoenix flew into. "Awaken the power sleeping within us all and allow your flame to burn brighter then ever." The Phoenix was consumed by a burst of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded revealing Sunset's monster. "Solar Phoenix Rebirth!" (A3000/D2500/L8) "Activating the effect of Flame Enforcer!" Protegetal ignited before the flames flew off her and into Rebirth, increasing its ATK by half of his very low ATK points. (A3250/D2500/L8) "I switch Unicorn to ATK mode and attack with Solar Phoenix Rebirth!" The giant bird flew up before its body ignited and it shot downwards, preparing to strike the Atlantean Queen down. "Then I activate the Solar Flare Spell card!" Rebirth's flames grew hotter. (A4250/D2500/L8) The attack struck and with a massive explosion, the queen of the sea was incinerated and screamed as she did so.

"AAARRRHHH!" Skystar cried at the intense heat.

Sunset: 700
Skystar: 2850

"Gyah!" She panted, "skill activate!" The pillar of water exploded infront of her before Rhodos leapt out, floating down infront of her. (A1600/D800/L3)

Sunset smirked, "she won't be around for long. Sunset Unicorn, blast her!" The Corona Beast's horn ignited before it fired a fireball at the Atlantean Princess, causing her to be destroyed the same way as her mother while Skystar grunt.

Sunset: 700
Skystar: 2650

"I place three cards face down and end my turn," Sunset announced as Rebirth's ATK points returned to the normal amount. (A3000/D2500/L8)

Skystar looked at her empty field, then back at Sunset. She pointed at her, "you think you're at an advantage. But the fact is, you're not. You're merely grasping at straws, trying in vain to delay your inevitable destruction. You will fall and after that, I'll go find those girls that are here. The ones that stole the data that allowed you to destroy the Void." Sunset frowned, realising she was talking about Pinkie and Maud. "When they're dealt with, then I'll find Grand Hoof and make him pay for what he did to me. And then, I'll have all the time in the world to make Tempest Shadow suffer for the crime she committed."

"What crime?" Sunset asked.

"The crime of causing my mother harm!" Skystar almost screamed. She was panting like a made lunatic, her mind flashing back to the day Tempest had beaten Novo in a Duel and sent her back to their world. "You fools dishonoured the name of one who was precious to me. One who was a brilliant, shining influence in not just my life, but the lives of my entire people. My mother has only ever done what she thought was best for our subjects. When the world turned against us, she hid us under the sea and protected us. But even then, the world refused to let her efforts bare fruit."

She remembered back to the day her brother had been injured, causing her mother to see the truth. The utter despair she had endured for the sake of her people.

"Even then, she refused to give up and kept pushing to find a way to keep us all safe. And eventually, she found it." Skystar then pointed at Sunset, "BUT THEN YOU FOOLS STOOD IN OUR WAY! You sent her back before she could complete her mission. So now, as the new Omega Zealot of Water, I must complete it in her stead." She reached for her deck and drew, "I play the Spell card Pot of Greed!" She drew two more cards and when she saw what those were, she smiled.

Sunset felt a shiver run down her spine, having a feeling she knew what was coming. But how? She didn't have Amphitrite or Rhodos on her field.

"I activate the effect of Atlantean Field Medic from the graveyard," Skystar removed a card from her Duel Disk and placed it in her pocket. "By banishing her, I can summon a Level three or below Atlantean Sea-Serpent from my graveyard. This monster can't attack and is destroyed during the End Phase, but she won't be around that long." In a burst of water, Rhodos appeared once again. "Next, I summon Atlantean Marksman!" In another burst of water, the crossbow wielding fish-man appeared. (A1400/D0/L3) "And then, I'll sacrifice both these monster to activate Rhodos's ability!" The pillar of water exploded behind her before the two monsters flew into it, the pillar exploding to reveal the revived Atlantean Queen who floated down behind Skystar.

Sunset frowned, knowing what was coming next.

"Since Marksman was sacrificed to activate a Water Monster's effect, his skill now activates!" The ghostly image of Marksman appeared and fired its crossbow at Sunset's face down, destroying what was revealed to be her Defence Draw. "Then," Skystar held up a card, "I pay half my life points to activate this Spell card. Ascension from the Abyss!"

Sunset: 700
Skystar: 1325

"Now, I can add any Water Monster from my deck to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took and held up. "I have it. The card that will help free my people from the utter despair they've suffered." Her marked glowed brighter then ever. "With the power entrusted to me by the queen of the seas, I will end this accursed world!"

"Here it comes," Sunset gulped.

"First, I must tribute a Water Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." As she did this, Amphitrite leapt up into the air before water exploded out of the void around them and began to wrap around her to form a sphere of water that grew larger and large by the second.

Sunset merely stared at the orb, genuine fear at what she was about to face swelling up within her. The shadow of the creature within the bubble appeared, its deadly eyes glaring down at Sunset

"Awaken," Skystar chanted, "beast of water!" She slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the orb exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans, FABULAQUA!"

The Zenith Dragon floated down behind Skystar, unleashing a roar that sent a burst of air into Sunset's face that was so strong it made the girl almost fall over.

"A Zenith Dragon's ATK and DEF points are equal to the combined ATK and DEF points of the monsters used to summon it." (A6000/D5000/L12) "Not only that, his skill activates." Sunset looked up and watched as the dragon's four metal fins opened up, revealing the water cannons. Each one unleashed a blast of water that hit the none-existent ground and became a powerful tidalwave. It flowed forward and struck Sunset's field, washing her face downs and the cards in her Pendulum Zone away before hitting her.

"AUGH!" She cried, feeling herself get pushed backwards while her cards returned to her hand.

"And for every card returned to your hand, I can now summon one Level Four or below Water Monster from my grave by negating their effects." The pillars bent at shot down to hit the ground, exploding to reveal Rhodos, Dragoons, Attack Squad, Marksman. (A1600/D800/L3) (A1800/D0/L4) (A1400/D0/L3) (A1400/D0/L3)

"I can't keep up!" Cadance cried, still typing away. "We've only got a few more minutes until the system's completely fried."

"You can do it," Shining assured her. "I know you can. To protect Twilight, we have to keep those cards safe." Cadance knew that, though mentioning it did cause her to redouble her efforts.

"You foolish humans," Skystar announced as her monsters prepared to attack Sunset with a tsunami of power. "Trying to face such overwhelming odds is foolish. Against an obstacle like this, you have no chance!"

Sunset frowned. 'Obstacle? Overwhelming odds. You're the one who's foolish.' She shut her eyes, Skystar thinking she had given up. 'My life has been almost nothing but obstacles and overwhelming odds. I grew up on the streets and was met with many challenges as I tried to survive. It was hard, and many times I found myself failing. But I always picked myself back up, forcing myself to try again and do it better. So while those days may have been hard, they held shape me into the person I am today..

She remembered the day she had first met Cold, how he had beaten her so many times. But not once did she give up. His words of that day echoed in her mind. "Be like the Phoenix and rise higher then you ever believed you could be."

"And that's what I did," Sunset said allowed as he opened her mouth.

Skystar looked at her in confusion, but quickly shook it off. "Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans, end this!" The dragon roared as the gem on its head glowed before sucking moisture into its mouth. "I dedicate this attack to my queen, Amphitrite!" She pointed as Sunset, "OCEANIC OBLITERATION!" The dragon shot a blast of water out towards Rebirth, ready to end wipe out Sunset's life points.

Sunset looked up at the water as it shot towards her, Skystar believing it was the end of this Duel. But she was wrong.

"Skill activate!" To Skystar's shock and horror, Protegetal flew infront of Rebirth and took the blast head on. "Once per turn, Protegetal can take the hit for any monster on my side of the field." Protegetal was ripped apart by the water, but Rebirth was completely unharmed while Skystar looked horror struck.

"Impossible," she whispered, "not again. The power of the Zenith Dragon, so easily stopped."

"Not stopped," Sunset smirked. "Just...redirected. I knew all about your Zenith Dragon's special abilities. Pinkie and Tempest told us all about it. So I added Protegetal to my deck to protect me." Skystar growled, clearly not thinking with what she did next.

"Dragoons, ATTACK!" The twin seahorse riders swam forward and struck Sunset Unicorn, the two monsters destroyed.

"Bad move," Sunset whispered as Skystar was forced to end her turn. As she did, the Zenith Dragon vanished along with her other monsters while Amphitrite replaced them.

"It's my turn," Sunset drew her card and smiled when she saw what it was. Perfect. Rebirth's skill!" The phoenix flapped it wings, unleashing flames that wrapped around Sunset and increased her Life Points.

Sunset: 1700
Skystar: 1325

"Then, I play Monster Reborn!" In a burst of fire, Sun-Ray Salamander reappeared. "Next, I summon Corona Beast, Sun-Heart Lion Cub!" In another burst of fire, the young lion cub appeared and landed besides Sun-Ray Salamander. (A800/D800/L2/P8) "Now I'm placing Rocket Smasher and Squlder back into the Pendulum Zone." The pillars of light appeared before the two monsters flew up into them, the portal forming above Sunset's head while Skystar stared in horror. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs flew out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Sunset's monsters. "Ignite your flames of victory one last time, Solar Flare Phoenix!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4)

"Corona Beast, Sunset Unicorn!" (A1800/D1300/L4/P7) "And with these two monster's special summoning, their abilities activate!" The two monsters unleashed flames from their wings and horn, which flew around Sunset and Lion Cub. (A800/D800/L1/P8)

Sunset: 3400
Skystar: 1325

"Two tuners," Skystar asked while Sunset smirked.

"That's right!" Sun-Ray and Sun-Heart leapt into the air. "Now watch, as I tune Level one Sun-Ray Salamander and Sun-Heart Lion Cub with Level eight Solar Phoenix Rebirth!" The two exploded into a pair of fireballs, which formed a pair of blazing rings. Solar Phoenix Rebirth flew inside the rings and began to glow.

"No," Skystar whispered in shock.

"Double Tuning!" Sunset screamed as her monster disappeared in an explosion of fire, which formed a blazing cocoon. "Appear, the embodiment of my new strength!" The flames of the cocoon faded, reveal Sunset's super monster. "Solar Monarch, FRIENDSHIP PHOENIX!" (A3500/D3000/L10)

"This can't be," Skystar shook her head.

"Friendship Phoenix's skill!" Sunset cried, "I can make the Life Points of any Duelist on the field four thousand!" The phoenix beat its wings, flames shooting off and wrapping around only Sunset.

Sunset: 4000
Skystar: 1325

"Next, I'll play Flame Enforcer and use its ability to power Friendship Phoenix up by half of Solar Flare's ATK points." The bird exploded into flames, which flew into its evolved form. (A4750/D3000/L10)

"No," Skystar shock her head in fear, "how is this possible."

"Through the hardships of life," Sunset replied. "Hardships are the driving forces of all evolution. We grow stronger to survive whatever life throws at us. Instead of giving up on the world and trying to start again, you should have worked to become someone that world couldn't hurt. But no, you just wanted the easy way out. Well this is what the easy way gets you."

"Shut up," Skystar cried. "You don't understand. You don't understand anything!"

"I understand that I've had a hard life as well," Sunset told her. "But I didn't let that stop me. I fought, even when my body screamed at me to give up. And because I kept fighting, I have everything I've ever wanted." She glared at Skystar, "and I am not gonna let you or your kind take that away from me." Skystar just glared at her. "Friendship Phoenix's skill!"

Sunset: 100
Skystar: 1325

"I transfer all but one hundred life point to it!" The giant bird's body exploded with flames, turning it into a bird shaped fireball. (A8650/D3000/L10) "It's time to send you back where you came from. And when you get there, trying doing the right thing and grow to be strong enough to lead your people into a bright future." She pointed at Amphitrite, "ATTACK!" Friendship Phoenix flew up before shooting down, the queen of the sea as its target.

Skystar could only watch in near horror as the attack came towards her mother's image, tears forming in her eyes. "Mother..." The attack finally landed and with a mighty explosion consuming the Atlantean Queen, obliterating her into nothing. "I'M SORRY-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She screamed as the shockwave struck her and sent her flying backwards.

Sunset: 100 (Winner)
Skystar: 0

Shining and Cadance suddenly began to hear a cracking sound and turned back to the Omega Field.

Large cracks began to appear on the orb before it suddenly shattered, sending pieces of the dome flying before they faded into smoke. The light unleashed by this blinded the two for a second, but then they saw Sunset standing over a downed Skystar

The girl was panting, but a smile was still on her face. "Sunset." She turned towards Shining, "you did it?" Sunset nodded back before hearing movement, turning back to Skystar as she started picking herself up.

"How...dare you," she growled before a light made her look down and gasp.

Her cards were all glowing a blue light before they flew out of her deck, graveyard, extra deck and pocket. Every single card she owned floated infront of her, including the Zenith Dragon. And then, they burst into flames.

"NOOOOO!" She screamed as all but the Zenith Dragon were destroyed. She didn't have long to process this before a crippling burst of pain exploded from her hand. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" She clutched her hand as the mark slowly began to fade away, signalling the end of her Soulink. But despite this, she glared up at Sunset through tear filled eyes. "You may send me back. You won't be able to stop the virus from destroying your system."

Sunset merely glared at her before turning away from her and quickly taking a seat next to Cadance, where she started typing away. "Don't underestimate me."

Skystar shot daggers at her before another burst of pain made her scream again, causing her to fall to the ground. "It's hopeless. Hopeless. No matter what you do, Lady Midnight will awaken her full power." The Zenith Dragon fell to the ground infront of her. "May people's wish for a perfect world will come to pass." She looked up at the ceiling, "WE WILL BE GIVEN A NEW LIFE, FREE OF STRIFE AND PAIN! AND I AM THE ONE WHO DELIVERED US TO THAT PARADISE! I AM THE ONE-" She didn't get to say anymore, as the light vanished from her eyes.

The next thing anyone knew, she fell backwards.

What they couldn't see was the spirit of Rhodos, who was pulled from Skystar's body and began to float up to the ceiling. "I am the one who gets to enjoy this perfect world, whilst you must suffer utter oblivion." With that, she finally vanished as her host fell unconscious.

"That's not going to happen," Sunset announced whilst she continued typing. "No matter what, your sham of a perfect world will never come to be. Not as long as my friends and I have anything to say about it." With that, she pressed the enter button and sat back.

She waited several seconds and nothing seemed to happen, the many windows of code on the screen remaining and turning red. But then, one of the code streams that had just turned red changed back to blue. This was followed by another stream and then another and another until the whole window was blue. The same happened for the rest of the windows, the code inside changed back to blue until every red stream was gone. Virus...eliminated.

Sunset sighed in relief, Cadance and Shining both smiling. "Sunset," Cadance patted her on the shoulder, "you did it!"

"Yeah," Sunset nodded, "I guess I did. But it'll take some time for the system to repair itself." She frowned. "with the anti-teleportation system being the last one to come back online." She turned back to Skystar's unconscious body before getting up and moving over to a card that lay on the ground, the teen crouching down and picking it up. "Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans," she whispered while standing up. "You won't be causing any more trouble."

"Maybe we should put it with the other ones," Cadance suggested.

"We shouldn't risk it," Shining told them. "Not until the teleportation barrier's back online. The moment we drop the shields, one of them could teleport in and hit us before we know what's going on. Then, we'll lose all the Zenith Dragons."

Sunset nodded, "then we'll have to keep it here until the barrier's back up." She turned back towards the monitors showing the other's Duels. "It's up to you guys now. Take them down."

Back in the corridor, Starlight and Sunburst continued to do battle against their own clones.

Both Starlights had Celestia Spirit Leo on their field, with the real one having a face down and Leo's ATK points increased to thirty seven hundred points. Sunburst had Sunburst Archmage on his field while his clone had Sunburst Paladin and no cards in his hand. And right now, it was the clone's turns.

"I now attack with Celestial Spirit Leo!" The fake lion man monster charged forward. "And with seven Celestial Spirits in my graveyard, Leo's ATK goes up by fourteen hundred." (A3900/D2200/L7)

Starlight just smirked as she activated her face down. "Go, Celestial Spirit Scutum!" A shield with the constellation appeared in Leo's hand and he used it to block the attack. "With this, I can negate your attack and then pump up Leo's DEF points by five hundred. (A3700/D2700/L7)

"Attack!" Sunburst's clone cried as Sunburst Paladin charged forward. "And with fifteen fire monsters on the field and in our graveyards, his ATK points increase by forty five hundred. (A7700/D2300/L8) The knight swung its blazing sword at Sunburst Archmage, but a shield suddenly appeared in its hand.

"Go, Draining Shield!" Sunburst's clone looked down at its hand, seeing it was empty and so he couldn't use Paladin's skill. The shield blocked the sword's swing and began to drain its power. "Now my life points increase by the ATK points of your monster." His Life Points grew until they outclassed anyone else's.

Both clones looked actually horrified that their attacks had failed, both unable to do anything except end their turns. This made Starlight and Sunburst smirk as they reached for their decks.

"I draw!" They both cried before Starlight continued. "I equip Celestial Spirit Leo with the Celestial Weapon, Orion's Sword!" Said sword appeared in Leo's hand, powering him up even more. (A4700/D2700/L7)

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Sunburst cried as the portal opened and a pair of fireballs shot out of the portal, revealing both Sunburst Enchanter and Coalizard. Seconds later, a giant flaming tornado exploded around his monsters and sucked them up. "Then, I tribute Sunburst Archmage, along with two other Fire monsters, to give birth to his ultimate form." He slapped his card on the Duel Disk, as the flaming tornado exploded to reveal Sunburst's ace monster. "Behold, the Great Sage of Sunburst!" (A3500/D3000/L10/P1)

"Leo's skill!" Starlight drew her cards and smiled before discarding three of them.

"Great Sage's skill!" The wizard raised his staff, "I can now summon a Sunburst monster from my graveyard and grant its ability to Great Sage!" Sunburst's own Sunburst Paladin appeared besides Great Sage, its power being transferred to the evolved Pendulum Monster.

"I attack with Celestial Spirit Leo!" Starlight cried as her monster charged forward, Orion's Sword primed and ready to attack. "And, with nine Celestial Spirits in the graveyard, Leo's ATK points go up by eighteen hundred." The nine constellations appeared around Leo before they flew into him, increasing his attack power to an insane amount. (A6500/D2700/L7)

"Great Sage of Sunburst, attack Sunburst Paladin!" The magician raised its staff and summoned a might blaze, which began to grow stronger and strong. "And thanks to my Paladin's ability, Great Sage gains forty eight hundred ATK points!" (A8300/D3000/L10/P1)

Great Sage and Leo before charged at their opponents, the Sunburst and Starlight clones having no way to protect themselves as their monsters were either cut in half or burnt alive. This caused a mighty explosion, which knocked the two fakes off their feet and caused their to melt back into slime as their life points dropped to zero.

"ALRIGHT!" The two cheered as they high-fived, happy they were able to beat...themselves.

"Come on," Starlight turned to rush down the hallway Trixie had gone down. "I'm not letting you get away."

"Starlight," she turned to Sunburst, "just be careful. I know you want to stop her, but you can't let yourself become blinded by that goal. That's what happened to Flash when he Duelled Midnight and we all know how that turned out."

Starlight sighed, "you're right." She turned back to the tunnel, "I need to stay calm." Her face got serious, "but I will still take her down." Sunburst nodded, though he was still glad he was going with her so he could help her if she did end up getting overwhelmed by the situation.

In another corridor, Pinkie and Maud continued their Duels against their clones.

Pinkie still had Balloonimal Kraken on her field along with a face down, while her clones field was completely empty. At the same time, Maud had Stone Serpent on her field along with a face down while her face down was a Trap that would deal her opponent serious damage when the clone attacked. Maud's clone had a completely empty field.

"I draw," the clones both stated as they drew their cards.

"I play Graceful Charity," Maud's clone announced before she drew three cards and discarded two. "Then, I activate the Spell card Monster Reborn!" In a flash of light, the giant known a Tectonic Colossal appeared behind her. Due too its immense size, it couldn't completely fit in the hallway and only its head, shoulders and upper chest were revealed. (A3500/D2000/L8)

"I play Fusion Pop!" Two portals appeared around Pinkie's clone, with Balloonimal Lion, Fish, Merlion, Hippo and Eagle appearing out of one before getting sucked into another. "With this, I can now banish Balloonimals in my graveyard and fuse them together." The five spiralled around one another from within the portal, which then exploded seconds later. "I Fusion Summon!"

The light from the portal faded to show one of Pinkie's best monsters that then floated down to the ground. "Balloonimal Chimera!" (A?/D?/L10) "Chimera's original ATK and DEF becomes the number of monsters used to summon it times eight hundred. (A4000/D4000/L10)

"Tectonic Colossal's skill!" Maud's clone announced as the giant's massive hand appeared in the hallway. "I skip my battle phase and destroy every monster on your field, then deal you two hundred points of damage for each one." Tectonic Colossal slammed its palm down on Stone Serpent, crushing it beneath its hand.

"AUGH!" Maud cried, despite only losing two hundred life points.

"Chimera," Pinkie's clone pointed at Kraken, "destroy her!" The Chimera bounced forward, preparing to crush its fellow Fusion. But the real Pinkie was having none of that.

"I activate my face down!" Her card flipped up, revealing a Spell card. "Super Polymerisation!" She discarded a card as a portal appeared between the two monsters, sucking them both inside. "Now I can Fusion Summon using monsters from both our fields, so now I'll be creating my own mega monster!" The portal exploded, unleashing a bright light onto Pinkie's field. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light faded to reveal another Balloonimal Chimera, though this one didn't have as many heads on it. "Since I only used two monsters, its ATK and DEF points are only sixteen hundred. (A1600/D1600/L10)

The clone frowned before it and Maud's clone ended their turn.

Pinkie and Maud both drew before Maud's Pendulum Portal opened. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Two lights shot out and struck the ground, revealing her monsters.

"Gaia-Rock Titan, Gaia!" (A3000/D3000/L8/P3)

"And Stone Serpent!" (A2100/D1500/L5/P3) "Then I activate Gaia's skill," the giant reached down and grabbed Stone Serpent before crushing it. "Now Gaia's power in increased by the ATK of Stone Serpent." Gaia began to glow with a green aura. (A5100/D3000/L8/P3)

The sisters turned to one another before sharing a smile and nodded. "For Marble," they said together before turning back to their opponents. "ATTACK!" Their monsters charged forward before slamming into the two or their monsters, wiping them out and reducing their life points to zero.

Pinkie and Maud sighed as they watched the two fakes begin to melt away, leaving them alone in the hallway while their monsters vanished. "No time to rest," Pinkie told her sister before they started running down the hallway. "We're coming Marble."

Applejack and Rarity were standing infront of their generator, the two on alert in case anything happened.

And then, a sound filled the air. The soft, rhythmic, clicking on heeled shoes on the metal flooring. The two turned towards the sound of the clicks and wait, until the cause of that sound appeared around the corner and smiled at the two of them.

"Hello," Marble Pie smirked before heading towards them. "I hope you don't mind, but I thought it would be fun to have a friendly Duel." With that, she held up two things. He hand with the mark on the back of it, and the Void Cube. "With a few raised stakes."

Rarity and Applejack frowned, both worried and curious about what Marble had in store them.

Author's Note

Well, Rhodos is out of the picture. Now, who will be the next Duellist to fall?

Turn 33: When Stars Align

At the Freeze Stadium, multiple armoured vehicles were parked outside with several men in SWAT gear standing infront of them.

They all stood to attention when the doors of the building opened and several people stepped out. Cold Steel and Flash Sentry lead their band of heroes outside. Trail, Misty, Tempest, Grand, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Soarin and Gilda marched behind the two, while Spike, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom remained at the doorway.

They stopped infront of the armoured vehicles and looked over the men in SWAT uniforms. Cold stepped forward and studied them, nodding as he began his speech. "Alright, listen up. This mission is simple, but imperative." Grand took out his Duel Disk and types something in, the screens on the armoured men's gauntlets each lighting up. "This is the location of our target and a map of the building's interior. It's located in an old warehouse district on the edge of town. Our objective is to secure it and prevent any of the occupants guarding it from escaping. They may also have several booby traps laying in wait for us, so we must be extra careful how we proceed in this matter. Is that understood."

"YES SIR!" The men cried.

Cold nodded before Flash stepped up, surprising him and the other before he too spoke up. "Another objective is to capture the occupants of this location without hurting them. Nothing that'll cause lasting or serious harm to them. It may be hard to understand, but they're as much victims in this situation as anyone else. Any major injury caused to them will make this a mission failure. Is that understood?" The men repeated their previous outcry, Flash nodding. "Good. Then lets get this done." The men nodded before turning to head into the armoured vehicles.

As they did, Rainbow rushed up and punched Flash in the shoulder. "Look at you, mister leader guy." Flash smirked while rubbing his shoulder, then turned back to the building and seeing Spike standing on his crutches.

"Don't worry. If Twilight's there, I'll save her and bring her back to us."

Spike smiled back, "I know you will. Just be careful. And don't let yourself lose control like last time. The only thing that's gonna save her is you, not Zeronull. Your power's what she needs."

"I know," Flash nodded back before looking down at his right hand. Even though the mark couldn't be seen, Flash could still feel its power. Unlike before, this power wasn't simply something he would use on a whim. He knew he had to be careful how and when he used it.

"Good luck," Scootaloo told him as he and the rest of their friends began to file into the armoured vehicles. "We'll try and watch from the control room." Flash nodded as he got in the truck, sitting between his parents as the vehicles revved up and headed out of the stadium's parking lot.

Cold sat across from him and had his phone out, a frown appearing on his lips.

"What's the matter?" Trail asked him.

"I'm trying to get in contact with the team keeping an eye one the Zenith Dragons," he explained as he removed the phone from his ear. "But I'm not getting through. Cell coverage should be pretty good there."

"You think something might be up?" Soarin asked him.

"Let's not go jumping to conclusions," Misty spoke up. "Just because you can't get through to them, that doesn't mean something bad has happened. If we start thinking everything's a trap, we'll be jumping at shadows."

"She's right," Cold nodded as he called someone else. After a few rings, it was answered.

"Hola amigo," Tidal's voice cried. "Our plane's just landed."

"Good. I've already sent a car to pick you up. meet us at the rendezvous coordinates."

"We'll be there." With that, the call went dead.

"Good," Cold looked down at the phone, "at least we won't have to worry about them." He was still a little concerned about not being able contact Sunset or the others. He would keep trying, but hopefully Misty was right and nothing bad was happening. And if it was, he would have to put his trust in Shining and the others to deal with it.

Had Cold been able to get in touch with those at the safe-house, he would have been alerted to the situation at hand.

The Zealots had completely invaded the base and used a powerful virus to knock out their systems. And though Sunset had both wiped out the virus and defeated the Omega Zealot of Water, they were far from safe. The systems were still recovering from the virus, meaning the defences were no long up. They had no way to stop the Zealots from teleporting in and destroying the generators creating the shield that protected the cards.

All they could do was try and get the downed systems back online. And that was proving difficult.

"What's the problem?" Shining asked, "you stopped the virus."

"But that hasn't undone the damage it caused," Sunset explained. "Think of it like cutting a puppet's strings. Even if you managed to stop every string from getting cut, the puppet still won't work properly until you fix those strings. And that's what we need to do."

"I see," Shining sighed. "Any idea how long that'll take?"

"Hard to say," Cadance replied. "Right now, we're just trying to restore the crucial systems. The teleportation shield, outside communications and ventilation."

"Ventilation?"

"We need to breath, don't we? Unless we get some air pumped in here, there'll be no point getting the other systems back online."

"Point." Shining then turned towards the monitors they had set to follow the girl's where about and his eyes went wide when he saw who was walking towards Applejack and Rarity, "this can't be good." The girls followed his line of sight and gasped when they saw who it was he had seen.

In their hallway, Applejack and Rarity stared Marble down.

Marble simply smiled as she moved closer and closer, while Applejack and Rarity felt themselves growing more and more tense with each step she took. "What da'h ya'h mean by raised stakes." She eyed the cube currently balanced on the girl's hand. "What da'h heck is that thing?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," Marble smirked. "Yet."

"I don't know what silly game you're playing," Rarity frowned at her. "But whatever it is stops now. You are not going to get any closer and wait there until Pinkie and Maud get here."

"Why? So they can Duel me and free their precious little sister."

"Yes," Rarity replied. "Family may not mean anything to you, but it's very important to us. So we won't just sit back and let you continue to torment the loved one of people we hold dear." But as she said this, a dark look appeared on Marble's face.

"You think family doesn't mean anything to me?" She asked in a low voice. "Don't you dare say such a thing. You don't even know me, or what I've been through.

"Don't try and play the sympathy card," Applejack told her. "Ya'h think ya'h da'h victim, but everything ya've done has shown otherwise."

Marble frowned, "maybe I have gone further then I originally thought I would. But it's all in the name of a good cause. Now," he held the cube up again, "shall we get down to business. If you're not gonna Duel me, step aside so I can complete my objective."

"No way," Applejack told her. She stepped forward and took out her Duel Disk, attaching it to her arm. "If ya'h not gonna wait for Pinkie and Maud, I'll do it ma'self." Rarity stepped back and took out her Duel Disk, clearly planning to not get caught in the Omega Field so she could protect the generator.

But before either of them could do anything else, Marble tossed the cube into the air.

This caught the two's attention and made them follow it, the distraction allowing Marble to run forward. By the time Applejack noticed her coming, the girl had dropped to the floor and slide passed her. She stopped between them, right where the cube fell, catching it in her hand before raising her other one.

This caused the mark to glow and unleash the energy in all direction, the dome appearing around her and expanding faster then the girls could react. In a flash, Marble, Rarity and Applejack were consumed by the Omega Field.

In another hallway, Starlight and Sunburst were running as fast as they could.

They were still a little warn out from their Duels against their own clones, but they wouldn't let that stop them. They soon reached the area where the generators were suppose to be. But before the could turn the corner-

KABOOM!

Both stopped as the room began to shake, cracks appearing on the walls and roof. Starlight even noticed a chunk of the ceiling get a complete circle crack right above Sunburst's head. "Look out!" She leapt at him and they both fell away from the area, seconds before the chunk fell to the ground and would have seriously hurt Sunburst.

The teen in question sat up and corrected his glasses, seeing what he had just been saved from. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Starlight nodded before turning back towards the area the explosion had come from. Smoke and dust flew in from around the corner and filled the air, making it hard to see. But they could clearly hear footsteps.

Those footsteps belonged to Trixie, who had just stepped around the corner wearing a surgical mask. "Oh," she pulled the mask down, "hello again. Finished with your last playmates I see."

"What did you just do?" Starlight glared at her, Trixie smirking back.

"I would have thought it was obvious. I took out another of those pesky generators." She smiled, "and then there was one. Hopefully, Gaia-Maiden will actually do something useful and finish it off. Then we can get the Zenith Dragons back and carry on with our true goals."

"Don't underestimate our friends," Starlight told her. "They're gonna take her down the same way I'm going to take you down."

Trixie giggled before reaching into her pocket. "Considering what happened the last time you saw me in all my form, I doubt that very much." She pulled out her card and upon seeing it, Starlight was suddenly transported back to the day she lost her body to this witch.

The girl's entire body began to shake as she remembered what had happened, the months spent as a prisoner of her own mind. Slowly, she felt herself moving backwards and catching Sunburst's attention. "Starlight," he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her out of her memories, "it's okay."

"Sunburst," her voice was filled with fear, "I..."

"It's alright," Sunburst assured her before turning to glare at Trixie. "I was hoping Starlight could take you down and get passed what you did to her, but if she can't then I'll happy stand in for her." He stepped forward and took out his Duel Disk, attaching it to his arm. "I've beaten you once and now I'll beat you again."

But before he or Trixie could do anything, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Starlight was now standing firmly while glaring at Trixie. "No Sunburst," he could still hear the terror in her voice. "You're right. I have to do this." She stepped passed him and glared Trixie down, "you stole a year of my life. And now you've stolen another person's body. I won't allow you to get away with this." She took out her Duel Disk and paced it on her arm. "We're Duelling, right here right now."

"Fine," Trixie told her. "I'll take you down and then I can make up for the loss I suffered against your boyfriend." Sunburst blushed while Starlight simply remained focused on the Duel at hand. Trixie took out her Duel Disk and attached it too her arm, then held her hand up as the mark on the back began to glow. The light flew off and began to form the Omega Field around them.

Sunburst stayed close to Starlight so he wasn't left out, the dome forming around them and solidifying.

"There they go," Shining said as the Omega Field was completed. He then turned to the other screen and stared at the Omega Field Applejack and Rarity were in.

"Hopefully," Sunset spoke up, "they'll both win and the Zealots will be sent back to their world."

"Maybe," Shining frowned, "but I doubt it'll be that easy." He pulled away from the computers and headed towards the door leading to the defence room.

"Shining," he stopped and looked back at Cadance, "where are you going?"

"I have a feeling I'll be needed in there," he explained. "Just...keep working." With that, he headed out the room and the two kept working to restore the systems. Sunset's gaze shifted between her work and the monitors showing the Omega Fields.

"Be careful guys," she whispered to the screens. "The fate of...everything may rest in your hands."

Inside one of the Omega Fields, we find Applejack and Rarity beginning to recover from the surprise Marble had given them.

Now they stood together, back to back, alone in the space like area with no sign of their opponent anywhere. "See any-thin?" Applejack asked while they stared out into the darkness.

"Nothing," Rarity replied. "I'm not sure whether or not she's even in here anymore." She suddenly grew much more worried. "You don't think she left, do you? That seems like something she would do. Trap us in here and leave the field so she could destroy the generator. I wouldn't but it passed the Zealots to have a way to escape the Omega Field."

Applejack frowned. "If that were true, then why'd Guto fight against Rainbow? He could have just trapped them in the field and scarpered."

"Good point," Rarity frowned. "So then where is she?"

"Only one way ta find out," Applejack began to move forward as Rarity turned towards her. "Maybe if we start walk'in, we'll run in-ta her or somethin. It's not like we can get lost. The Omega Field may be infinite in here but it's only a few feet on the outside."

"You make a good point," Rarity nodded before the two started marching through the darkness.

Inside the other Omega Field, Trixie and Starlight stared one another down while Sunburst stood a good distance behind his best friend.

Trixie laughed. "You know, it's kinda funny." Starlight didn't reply, clearly not caring what she thought was funny. "When I first arrived in your world and took you over, I thought you were such a funny little thing. Getting upset because you'd lost touch with your friend. But then I started to understand you better and felt that were almost...the same."

"We are nothing alike," Starlight told her firmly. "I might have let those bad times get the better of me, but that doesn't make me anything like you."

"Oh, we're more alike then you realise. Probably what made us so comparable in the first place. How strange that my final Duel is against you."

"Final?" Starlight asked, "I thought you planned on taking Sunburst down after you beat me. Or have you realised I'm gonna completely wipe you out."

"No," Trixie shook her head, "I'll still be the winner in this little game. But by the time I've dealt with you, Gaia-Maiden should have taken out the final generator and Lady Midnight will have the Zenith Dragons. There won't be time to get payback on your friend before Project Omega Zenith is completed." She sighed, "oh well. Can't have everything I suppose." She raised her Duel Disk, "shall we begin?"

Starlight frowned before she and Trixie activated their Duel Disks and drew their cards.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Trixie: 4000
Starlight: 4000

"I'll take the first turn," Trixie drew her card and smiled. "I'll start by summoning The Light, Hex-Sealed Fusion, in DEF mode!" In a flash of light, the amalgamation of different monster parts appeared on the field with it crystal glowing on the top. (A1000/D1600/L4) "I place a card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Starlight drew her card. She looked through her hand and nodded, then glared at Trixie. "I'll summon Celestial Spirit, Capricorn!" The constellation appeared infront of her before it exploded and revealed the lanky man in goat themed armour. (A1600/D1400/L4) "Then I'll attack your Hex-Sealed Fusion, using Capricorn's ability to discard Aries and power him up." The constellation of the ram appeared before the stars shot into Capricorn, causing him to glow and power him up. (A2200/D1400/L4)

Trixie watched as the ram man rushed forward, slamming his feet into the strange creature and destroying it.

"I place two cards face down and end my turn," Starlight announced as Capricorn's ATK returned to normal.

Sunburst smirked, "that it. Just stay focused on the Duel and don't let her get into your head."

"I've already been in her head," Trixie laughed as she drew he card. "Not much space in there, but that's to be expected." Starlight tried to ignore her and focused on the moves she made. "I start with the Spell card, Graceful Charity." She drew three cards and discarded two, "this also activates my Trap!" The card flipped up, "Light's Restoration. This lets me summon a Light Monster from my graveyard that's got fifteen hundred ATK points or less, though its effects are negated." In a flash of light, Hex-Sealed Fusion reappeared. "Then, I summon the Tuner Monster, Illumage!" Another flash of light signalled the appearance of a with whose robes were covered in glowing crystals, with another glowing crystal on the tip of its staff. (A1000/D1000/L3)

"A Tuner Monster," Starlight realised what was coming next.

"Next!" Trixie cried as Illumage leapt into the air, "I tune Level three Illumage with Hex-Sealed Fusion!" Illumage split into three lights, which carved a trio of rings that the strange creature flew up into. "Now watch as the mystical light of truth shines down upon us, revealing great and wondrous power!" The two monster were consumed by an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing a blonde haired women wearing white robes with blue trim and a tall hair of the same design. She was carrying a golden staff with a crucifix on the end of it that had a blue gem in the center. "Spiritual Priestess, Mercy!" (A2600/D1900/L7) "Mercy's skill!" Trixie's deck slotted out a card, "I can now add a Level four or below Light Monster to my hand."

"Great," Starlight sighed. "Strange that you use a monster with a name you know nothing about."

"Oh spare me the first year psych student crud," Trixie told her as Mercy raised her staff. "Take out that poorly dressed loser!" A beam of light shot out of the crystal. Starlight was about to say something, but Trixie interrupted. "And don't think you can activate one of your face downs. On the turn Illumage is used to Synchro Summon, you're not allowed to use Traps."

Starlight looked down at her Duel Disk as saw a pair of Xs over her cards, right as the mean struck Capricorn and destroyed him. "Augh!"

Trixie: 4000
Starlight: 3000

"I'll place two cards face down and end my turn," Trixie smirked as Starlight stood wonky.

After a few seconds, she managed to steady herself and glare up at Trixie before reaching for her deck. "It's my turn. I draw!" She looked at her card and smiled. "Time for something a little new! I summon my Lesser Celestial Spirit, Canis Minor!" The constellation appeared before her and exploded, revealing a wolf that looked like it was made out of the night sky and had stars covering it. (A1200/D1100/L3)

"Lesser Celestial Spirit?" Trixie asked.

"I had to up my game in order to take you down," Starlight explained. "You knew my deck so well, I didn't stand a chance unless I upgraded. And now, Canis Minor's skill" The wolf let out a howl as Starlight drew three cards. "I look at the top three cards of my deck and if any are a Celestial Spirit or Lesser Celestial Spirit that's Level four or below, I can summon it." She took one card and shuffled the rest into her deck. "Appear, Lesser Celestial Spirit, Aquila!" The stars shot off of Canis and formed a constellation, which exploded to reveal a women in pink eagle armor that was carrying a crossbow with wing shaped blades. (A1700/D1000/L4)

"So what?" Trixie asked. "Your monsters are still no match for main."

"That's where you're wrong," Starlight explained as Aquila aimed her crossbow at Mercy. "You see, on the turn she's summoned, my Aquila gains five hundred ATK points for every Celestial Spirit in my graveyard. And right now, I have two." The constellations of Aries and Capricorn appeared besides Aquila before exploding into lights that flew into her bow. (A2700/D1000/L4) "Fire!" The crossbow fired, hitting Mercy and destroying her while Trixie grunted.

Trixie: 3900
Starlight: 3000

"Mercy's skill!" Trixie cried as a card slotted out of her deck, which she took. "When she's destroyed, I can add a Light monster with one thousand or less ATK from my deck to my hand.

Starlight frowned but quickly shook it off. "Then I'll have have one of Canis Minor attack you directly."

"Alright!" Sunburst cheered as the star wolf rushed forward and before Trixie could react, she was slashed by its claws and the Dominated girl cried out in pain.

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" She cried, clutching her side.

Trixie: 2700
Starlight: 3000

"You've activated my Trap!" Trixie cried as her face down flipped up, "Loving Sacrifice!" A portal opened up. "With this, I can summon a Light Monster from my graveyard whose ATK is equal too or lower then the Life Points I just lost." From out of the portal, Hex-Sealed Fusion appeared on the field. (A1000/D1600/L4)

Starlight frowned, 'is she planning to Fusion Summon next turn with that?' She new she had to be ready in case of whatever Trixie through at her. "I end my turn." Aquila's ATK points returned to normal as Trixie drew her card.

"It's my turn and I'll start by summoning Herald of Creation!" In a flash of light, the robed women appeared and held up her staff. (A1800/D600/L4) "Then I'll use her ability and discard a card from my hand, then add a Level Seven or higher monster from my graveyard into my hand." She did so, smiling as she turned the card around to reveal a card she had discarded using Graceful Charity. Herself.

"Not good," Sunburst gulped.

"No," Starlight smiled, "this is good. Beating her before she summoned that thing wouldn't feel right." She pointed at Trixie, "when I beat you, it'll be when I finally destroy your true form once and for all."

Trixie just smirked, "we'll see. I equip The Light with the Spell card, Mage Power!" The strange looking monster began to glow with magical energy. Now The Light gains five hundred ATK points for every Spell and Trap on my field. So with two, that's one thousand points. (A2000/D1600/L4) "Then I'll use it to a attack your Canis Minor!"

"I don't think so!" Starlight cried as her face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "I activate my Starlight Veil!" A pink energy wave appeared to wrap around Starlight's monsters. "With this card, I can block up to three attacks."

"Normally," Trixie nodded before she played another card from her hand. "But not this time. Because I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" The cyclone appeared on the field and began to pull the pink energy inside of it, destroying Starlight's Trap. This allowed The Light's crystal to glow before it fired a beam that struck the weaker of the Lesser Celestial Spirits, destroying it and almost blinding Starlight with the intense light.

"AUGH!"

Trixie: 2700
Starlight: 2200

"Starlight!" Sunburst cried as he watched his friend rub her eyes, unable to help her Aquila as Herald of Creation unleashed another blinding light. It struck the armoured bird-women and destroyed her, Starlight managing to recover in time before she missed the chance she had to press something on her Duel Disk.

Trixie: 2700
Starlight: 2100

"You activated my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Celestial Device, Horologium!" A constellation appeared before exploding to reveal a large wooden grandfather clock. Everyone watched as the clock face glowed while the hands started moving backwards. "With this Trap, I can revive the last Celestial Spirit or Lesser Celestial Spirit to be destroyed." They watched as time seemed to reverse, causing the lights that Aquila had exploded into to return and reform into the women. (A3200/D1000/L4)

Trixie smirked, "not bad. I end my turn." Aquila's ATK points returned to normal as Starlight drew her card.

"it's my turn. And I'll start by play the Spell card, Starburst Reload. Now I banish Canis Minor in order to draw three cards." She did and smiled. "I tribute Aquila in order to summon Celestial Spirit, Taurus!" Aquila was consumed by a bright light that quickly faded to reveal a Constellation, which then exploded to reveal the bull armoured man that swung around a battleaxe. (A2300/D1800/L6) "Then I'll have him attack your Herald of Creation!" The man rushed forward and slashed at the priestess, destroying her.

Trixie: 2200
Starlight: 2100

"And since you have another monster on the field, I can discard Celestial Spirit Cancer and allow Taurus to attack again!" Taurus turned towards The Light and slashed it right down the middle, the freaking Frankenstein monster getting cut in half before exploding.

Trixie: 1900
Starlight: 2100

"You activated my Trap!" Trixie announced as her face down flipped up. "Blind Luck. When you destroy a monster and I have no other monsters on my field, you pick a card in my hand. If that card is Level four or below, I can summon it. If it's not, the card is sent to my graveyard."

Starlight and Sunburst frowned. "She's taking a pretty big risk," Sunburst stated. They both knew she had her own card in her hand. If Starlight picked it, she could lose it for good.

"I'll pick...the left one." Trixie held up the card, gesturing to ask if this was the one she meant. When Starlight nodded, Trixie's poker face dropped to reveal a smirk.

"Well too bad!" She slapped the card onto the field, "the card you picked was my Generous Mystical Elf!" A light exploded to reveal the blue skinned women. (A800/D2000/L4)

This made Starlight begin to worry, the girl knowing she need to put up some protection. "I activate the Celestial Device, Ara!" A large stone alter appeared infront of her, with a both in the middle of it made of gold. "With this card, I gain two hundred Life Points for every Celestial Spirit and Lesser Celestial Spirit on my field and in my graveyard." Taurus glowed as four more constellations appeared, the light flying off of them and into the bowl. Once that was done, the constellations vanished before the bowl floated off the alter and flew above Starlight. It then tipped so white glitter flew out of it and rained down upon Starlight.

Trixie: 1900
Starlight: 3100

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

Trixie smirked as she drew her card. "You know what's coming." Generous Mystical Elf exploded into a pillar of light, as Trixie slapped her card down onto her Duel Disk. "Thanks to my elf's special ability, she counts as two sacrifices whenever I summon a Light Monster. And now, witness the arrival of my true form. One you know all too well." The light faded to reveal the monster that had once tormented Starlight, who was now spinning her staff around before floating down infront of Trixie. "Shining Magician, Glorianna!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

Despite what Starlight had said early about wanting to face the monster, seeing it again sent a wave of terror through her body. One which Trixie noticed a smirked at.

"What's the matter Starlight?" She asked with a coy smile. "Are we having a few bad flashbacks. Maybe seeing the image of your former teammate is stirring up some unhappy memories."

"Starlight?" Sunburst stared at her back, all the while Starlight continued to look scared at the sight of Glorianna. "Snap out of it!"

Deciding to increase the bad memories, wanting to throw her opponent off her game, Trixie slowly raised her hand as the mark began to glow. Then, before Starlight could react, a blinding dark light exploded off the omega symbol. Starlight gasped as the light made her blink and when she opened her eyes again, she was in for a shock.

"No!" She cried when she saw she was back in the void that was her mind, the place she had been imprisoned within for over a year. "NO!" She suddenly felt herself getting ripped from her own body, her spirit getting pulled back from it while the only thing connecting them was a thin string like light. "Not again." She glanced behind her and saw the tablet appear, the girl's back slamming into it before the chains appeared from behind it and began to wrap around her body. "No," she struggled to escape but it was useless. No matter how hard she pulled against them, the chains would not break. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Starlight cried as she clutched her head and fell to her knees, Sunburst gasping as Trixie smirked.

"Starlight!" He rushed over to her, placing his hands on her shoulder and trying to wake her up. "Starlight, please talk to me." But she wouldn't. She simply knelt there, tears forming in her eyes. Sunburst then glared at Trixie, "what did you do?"

Trixie smirked back, flicking her hair. "She's reliving the worst time of her life. When she was Dominated by me." Sunburst looked horrified, that horror turning to anger.

"You dare do something like that too her."

"Duh," was all Trixie said back. "There's no way she'll be able to Duel now, even if she manages to break free. Reliving that moment will break her."

"You're wrong," Sunburst told her. "Starlight's strong. Strong enough to push passed whatever torment you throw at her." Trixie's expression told him she didn't believe him.

Sunburst turned to Starlight and pulled her into a hug. "Starlight, I know you can hear me."

Trixie cackled, "no she can't. It's useless." Sunburst ignored her and continued to speak.

Within her own mind, Starlight was still panicking and trying to pull at the chains. Tears were streaming down her face and she was unable to stop her heart from beating painfully against her chest.

"Please," she whispered, "let me go."

"Starlight." She gasped, her eyes opening at the weak but clear voice. "Starlight, can you hear me."

"S...sun...burst." With every word, the voice grew louder and clearer

"I know you're scared. What you're seeing must be horrible. But you can break free. You did it once." Starlight didn't think she could. She had tried and she had had no luck. "You just have to believe in yourself."

"I...I can't."

"I know what you're seeing is horrible. back then, you didn't have anyone you could count on to support you and help you break free. But it's different this time. You're not alone."

Starlight's mind began to swirl with the image of the person speaking to her, that very same image slowly appearing infront of her. "Sunburst," the image of her best friend was ghostly at first, but slowly it began to grow more and more solidified until he became completely formed.

"You have me with you. Now and always," he smiled. "And not just me." Another image began to form in her head, taking the and being revealed to be Twilight before she was controlled.

"That's right," she whispered. "It wasn't just you who helped free me." The images of Soarin and Gilda also appeared, "you all helped me." As this happened, more and more images appeared. Flash, Tempest, Cold Spike and so many more. "I'm...not alone." She once again began pulling at the chains, though they still wouldn't give. But she refused to give up.

Using all the strength she had, one of the chain links slowly began to split and eventually break. This was followed by another and another. "I...won't...let you...WIN!" With that, every chain shattered and she was able to pull herself away from the tablet. Said stone device suddenly crumbled to pieces, while Starlight began to float back towards her body. "I'm done letting you mess with me or anyone else. Glorianna," she merged into her body, "you're going down!" Once she was fully merge into her body, it unleashed a powerful glow.

Starlight's eyes shot open as her head snapped up, a glare on her face and she stared at a very shocked Trixie.

"What?" She asked, "impossible!" Starlight pushed herself back to her feet. "You shouldn't even be able to stand."

"I'm gonna do more then stand," she raised her Duel Disk. "I'm gonna take you down and make you pay for everything you've done."

Trixie growled, "you won't be so smug when I beat you." She pointed at Taurus, "Shining Magician will now attack your Celestial Spirit and wipe it out!" Glorianna raised her staff as a brilliant light flew out of it, hitting Taurus and blinding it. "And when she attacks, Shining Magician's ability activates and reduces your monster's ATK points by a hundred points for every Light Monster on the field. (A2200/D1800/L6)

Glorianna pointed her staff at Taurus before a beam of light shot out of it and struck the armoured man, destroying him and causing Starlight to grunt in pain.

Trixie: 1900
Starlight: 2300

Starlight was quick to act, "I activate my Trap card!" She cried as her face down flipped up. "Celestial Device, Argo Navis!" From out of the Trap, the constellations of Carina, Vela and Puppis appeared before they exploded to create a giant ship that appeared to be sailing through the Omega Field and had the three constellations on the mast. "This Trap activates whenever you destroy a monster on my field. It lets me sail a lower levelled Celestial Spirit or Lesser Celestial Spirit from my deck and navigate it right out onto the field."

A card slotted out from her deck, which she took and smiled at before slapping it down onto her Duel Disk. At the same time, a door leading to the ship's cabins opened up before someone stepped out on deck.

Trixie couldn't see who it was at first, but soon enough to figure stepped over to the edge of the ship and reveal themselves. They looked like Leo, only he was a teenager with short spiky hair and his armour wasn't as impressive. "Meet Lesser Celestial Spirit, Leo Minor!" (A1500/D1200/L4)

Trixie hummed, clearly wondering what this kid was supposed to do. "I'm so scared," she pretend as she ended her turn. As she did, the ship suddenly vanished and Leo Minor leapt down to land infront of Starlight as she reached for her deck.

"You should be." Starlight drew her card whilst Leo Minor suddenly started glowing. "You almost destroyed my life and then stole another's to fulfil your sick fantasies of some perfect world. And if that wasn't bad enough, you then tried to break my spirit by making me relive the hell you put me through. Well no more!" Leo Minor exploded with light. "Leo's skill! During my Standby Phase, I can sacrifice him and summon Celestial Spirit Leo from my hand or deck!"

"What?" Trixie asked as a card slotted out of Starlight's deck, which she took before slapping it down on her Duel Disk.

The light from Leo Minor's explosion faded, revealing the older version of Starlight's ace as he floated down and landed infront of the girl with crossed arms. (A2500/D2200/L7) As this happened, Starlight stared daggers at Trixie. The two locked eyes, both mentally announcing that they would beat the other no matter what.

Pinkie and Maud continued to rush through the destroyed hallways, Sunset having called them to say where Marble was.

They were moving as fast as they could, climbing over destroyed pieces of wall and under ceilings that had collapsed down and made the hallways only a few feet wide. Skystar had certainly done a number of the area before Sunset managed to free her. But eventually, the two turned a corner and were met with the image of the Omega Field.

"Marble's in there," Pinkie realised.

"And we have to find a way in as well," Maud agreed. The sisters stepped closer and closer to the orb, the thought of seeing their sister again driving them to try and do the impossible and find a way passed the Omega Field.

Author's Note

Will Starlight defeat Trixie and free her from Glorianna's control. And what will Pinkie and Maud do at the Omega Field?

Turn 34: Glorianna's Final Trick

Years ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit Realm.

In a secret temple many miles from any civilisation, there was a brilliant flash of light. And when the light died down, Draconequus and Glorianna appeared.

"What is this place?" The Shining Magician asked as she looked around, seeing the image of a large tablet that made up an entire wall. And on this tablet, the image she had been told about could be seen. "Is that him?"

"Yes," Draconequus turned towards it, "Lord Zeronull. The one who will liberate us from this accursed world." He then turned towards her, "but before then, we must work to free him from his prison."

"How?"

"A proper plan will have to wait until we've boosted our numbers. For now, we must find others like us. Those who see that this world must be rewritten. Only when we have enough, will our plans succeed."

"So where do we start?"

"Well that depends," Draconequus smiled. "How good are you at swimming?"

Glorianna swam down to the bottom of the ocean, protected from drowning and the pressure by the magic bubble Draconequus had given her.

She continued to swim until she finally reached the area she had been told about. And just as Draconequus had said, the secret underwater kingdom was there. "HALT!" She was stopped by a bunch of fish-men monsters, "state your business here!"

"I was sent to talk to your queen about a business opportunity," she explained. But by the looks of things, the fish-men didn't believe her. "Very well then!" She raised her staff and unleashed blasts of light, hitting them all and knocking them back. She took this moment to swim passed them and enter the castle.

She continued to fight her way through many more Atlanteans until she arrived at the throne room. And after blasting her way through the doors, she swam in to find Rhodos and Amphitrite. "Who are you?" The queen asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to you about freeing your people from this underwater prison you call a life." This caused the two to raise an eyebrow, leading Amphitrite to hold up a hand to stop the guards that just swam in and prepared to attack Trixie.

"You have five minutes," she told Glorianna.

The very next day, Glorianna was standing in the table with the Atlantean royals.

Both looked around in amazement, unable to believe such a place existed on the surface. And before anything else could be said, a flash of light revealed the arrival of Draconequus. And he wasn't alone, as an armoured griffon was with him.

"Ahh," he smiled, "you must be Amphitrite. I assume this means you've decided to join are little band of freedom fighters."

"Can this Zeronull truly free my people from their torment?" The queen asked.

"Oh, he most certainly can." He then turned to the griffon. "Allow me to introduce another member of our team. Ouravas." The griffon just nodded, not saying much. "We're getting close. Now we just need two more members to complete our group. But for now, welcomed to the Omega Zealots. May Lord Zeronull's light shine down upon us all."

Glorianna frowned, unsure how exactly they were suppose to revive an ancient deity. But if there was even a chance of undoing her mistake, she would take it. "No matter what happens," she whispered. "I'll see you again, master. And no one is going to stop me."

Present day.

Starlight and Trixie continued to stare one another down, both having their ace monster out on the field.

It was still Starlight's turn and she was looking forward to wiping that smug look off the Dominated girl's face. "Celestial Spirit Leo's skill now activates!" She cried before drawing five cards and smiling before she discarded three. The constellations of Gemini, Cancer and Virgo appeared around Leo before exploding into light that then flew into Starlight's Duel Disk.

Trixie frowned, knowing that meant over fourteen hundred extra points when Leo attacked. And Trixie had no way to stop it.

"Go get her, Leo!" Starlight cried as the lion armoured man leapt forward, the seven constellation appearing around him before they all exploded and the light flew into his claws. (A3900/D2200/L7) With one mighty slash, Leo's claws carved through Glorianna's staff before stabbing into her.

Glorianna exploded into millions of little lights, causing Trixie to cry out as he life points dropped. "Augh!"

Trixie: 1000
Starlight: 2300

"Way to go Starlight!" Sunburst cried Leo flew back over to Starlight, while Trixie steadied herself and growled at her opponent.

"You've activated Glorianna's skill!" She explained as the light that Glorianna had exploded into flew back towards one another before taking shape and fading, revealing Witch of Heavenly Guidance standing where Trixie's ace had been. (A1000/D1000/L4)

Starlight stared at the witch, then glanced at Trixie's empty hand. If she didn't draw a monster next turn, Starlight could get ride of Glorianna for good. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." She watched as Trixie reached for her deck, the three of them all watching her hand closely. 'Come on. Don't draw it. Don't draw it.'

"Come on," Trixie whispered. "Give me something." She drew her card and turned it towards her, a big smiling appearing on her lips.

"No," Starlight realised her opponent had gotten the card she had wanted.

"Oh yes!" Trixie discarded her card as Witch of Heavenly Guidance played the harp on her staff. "I'm ditching Card Caster in order activate my Witch's ability, letting me sacrifice her and summon a Light monster form my graveyard." The monster was consumed by a bright light, as her form began to change, the light then fading to reveal Trixie's ace once again. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"It's alright Starlight," Sunburst told her. "Leo's still got more ATK points and she doesn't have enough monsters on her field to power him down."

"Maybe not right now," Trixie told them. "But I've still got an ace up by sleeve." Trixie reached for her Duel Disk and removed a card from her graveyard, which she turned around to reveal Card Caster. "By banishing this card from my graveyard, I can draw another card." Starlight and Sunburst began to worry, knowing one card was all she might need. "Here goes!" Trixie drew her card a frowned, "oh darn. This card won't help me."

Sunburst sighed in relief while Starlight frowned. "Don't play games. You've still got your monster's ability."

"That's right!" Trixie acted like she had forgotten, "thanks for reminding me." She placed the card back on her deck, which shuffled before she redrew. "That's much better. I activate, Starburst Reload."

"Oh come on!" Sunburst cried as Trixie removed her Synchro monster from her graveyard, then drew seven cards. "How have those kinds of cards not been put on a band list." He didn't have much to complain about, since he had his own Reload card.

Trixie drew her cards and when she saw that one of them was another Glorianna, she smiled. Now she was only one card away from summoning her Zenith Dragon. "Not that that'll be necessary," she said before taking another card and playing it. "This should keep you from causing too many problems. I activate my Swords of Revealing Light."

"What?" Starlight asked before looking up and seeing a bunch of swords suddenly shoot down from the air and form a cage around her and Leo. "No!"

"Starlight!" Sunburst cried as Trixie laughed.

"With that card out, you can't attack for three turns." Starlight frowned as Trixie continued. "Then, I'll summon Dunames Dark Witch in DEF mode!" (A1800/D1050/L4) "I place one card face down and end my turn." Trixie then smiled at Starlight. "Go on. I wonder what you'll be able to do without getting to attack."

"Oh, you'll see." Starlight reached for her deck. "It's my turn. I draw!"

"And I activate my Trap!" Trixie cried as her face down flipped up, "Cleansing Light of the Heavens! With this, I gain four hundred life points for every Light Attributed monster in my graveyard!" A pillar of light exploded around her, causing some of her injuries to vanish as her Life Points went up.

Trixie: 2600
Starlight: 2300

Starlight frowned before looking down at the card she had drawn, which wasn't anything that could get rid of Trixie's swords. For now, she just had to focus on upping her defences until she could get rid of the sword. "I activate Celestial Spirit Leo's Special Ability!" She announced before drawing five cards, looking them over and nodding before she discarded two of them. The constellations of Libra and Aquarius appeared before exploding, the lights flying into her Duel Disk.

"Is that all?" Trixie asked, only for Starlight to frown.

"Not yet," Starlight played the card she had just drawn. "I summon Celestial Spirit Scorpio, in DEF mode!" The man in scorpion armour appeared, the man kneeling down and crossing his clawed arms while his tail wrapped around him defensively. (A1600/D600/L4) "And with that, I end my turn." Starlight frowned as she looked at the swords surrounding her.

"That's one turn down," Sunburst told her. "Just two turns to go. You can do this Starlight."

"Can she?" Trixie asked as she reached for her deck, "My turn!" Trixie drew her card and smiled. "First, I'll use Glorianna's ability to send a card from my hand to my deck." She did so, the card not being the one she had just drawn. "Then, I'll shuffle and redraw." She did so before throwing the card down on her Duel Disk. "Then I summon Lustre Mage, Aline!" A flash of light signalled the reveal of the young magician. (A1400/D1100/L4). "Then, I'll switch Dunames to ATK mode and equip Glorianna with this Spell card. Mage Power."

"Oh no," they both whispered as the Dominator began to glow.

"With this card, she gains five hundred ATK points for every card in my Spell or Trap Zone. And with two, that's a thousand extra points for her!" (A4000/D2500/L8) "Which gives her just enough to destroy your Celestial Spirit, especially since her ability will weaken him even more. The magician raised her staff as a blinding light flew out of it and hit Leo, blinding him.(A3600/D2200/L7) "Go!" The magician prepared the fire the laser out of her staff, but Starlight was ready.

"I activate my Trap!" Starlight's face down flipped up, "Celestial Weapon Scutum!" The shield appeared in Leo's hand, which he raised to block the laser and cause it to bounce off of him. "This Trap not only negates your attack, but it also increases Leo's DEF points by five hundred. (A3600/D2700/L7)

Trixie frowned, "smart. Alright, but Scorpio's still open for an attack." Dunames Dark Witch flew into the air before firing a blast of magic out and hitting Scorpio, destroying him. "I guess I'll have to end my turn there." Leo's ATK points returned to normal. (A3900/D2700/L7)

"That was close," Sunburst sighed in relief. "But Starlight can't hold out forever. If she doesn't find a way to turn this Duel around fast, she'll find herself in really big trouble."

"It's my turn!" Starlight drew her card, smiling when she saw what it was. "Alright, first I'll use Leo's ability!" She drew five cards and frowned seeing none of them were Celestial Spirits. So she shuffled them back into her deck. But then she played the card she had just drawn. "I play the Spell card, Starlight Energy. Since I have less cards than you in my hand, I can draw one card for every two Celestial Spirits in my graveyard. And right now, I have ten." She drew her cards and smiled seeing what they were. "Alright. I summon Celestial Spirit Sagittarius!" The constellation appeared before it exploded to reveal the armoured centaur. (A1700/D700/L4)

"Bit of a waste," Starlight smiled. "You know he's just going to get destroyed next turn anyway. Along with your Celestial Spirit Leo."

"We'll see about that." Starlight told her, "I equip Leo with the Celestial Weapon, Orion's Sword!" Said sword appeared in Leo's hand, powering him up even more. (A4900/D2700/L7). "I place two cards face down and end my turn!" Starlight stared at the sword. If she could just hold out a few more turns.

"My go!" Trixie drew her card. When she saw what it was, a low chuckle escaped her lips.

"I don't like the sound of that," Sunburst gulped.

"I activate Glorianna's ability!" Trixie placed a card onto her deck before it shuffled and she redrew. "Then I activate the Spell card, Blasting Thunder!"

"Blasting Thunder?" Starlight raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of it."

"That's because it's a very powerful card that's not easy found," Trixie explained. "And with it, I can select a monster on my field and then destroy one on your field whose original ATK points are less then hers."

"Wait!" Starlight gasped, "but before Leo's abilities and the Equip cards-"

"His ATK points were less then Glorianna's," Trixie finished as her monster raised her staff. Seconds later, a bolt of Lightning shot down and struck the staff before she pointed it at Leo. The lightning then shot off the staff and hit him, causing Leo to cry out before he exploded. "The only down side is that this card prevents Glorianna from attacking. But that's okay. My other monsters will still be able to do some damage!" Dunames fired a blast of magic, which struck Starlight's last monster and left her field empty.

Trixie: 2600
Starlight: 2200

"Now, Alina, blast her!" The young mage prepared to fire at Starlight, but she had other plans.

"TRAP SUMMON!" She cried as her face down flipped up, revealing the women with a flute and large snake around her. "Celestial Spirit, Ophiuchus!" (A1700/D1000/L4)

"Yes!" Sunburst cried while Trixie frowned.

"Alina!" The mage still fired at the Trap Monster, destroying it. But doing so caused the snake to slither up to Aline and wrapped around her leg.

"Since you destroyed Ophiuchus, she now becomes an Equip card and will drain your monsters ATK points during each of my Standby Phases."

"Whatever," Trixie told her. "I place one card face down and end my turn." Glorianna's ATK increased due to Mage Power. (A4500/D2500/L8)

"Then it's my turn," Starlight reached for her deck. "I DRAW!" And when she saw what card she had gotten, her eyes went wide. "Draco Starlight," she whispered as she stared at her most powerful card. One that could help her win this Duel is she used it right.

Trixie frowned. She hadn't heard what Starlight had said, but she knew it was something to do with the card she had. And since she knew Starlight's deck so well, she had a feeling she knew what that card was. "I activate my Trap!" She cried as her face down flipped up. "It's Card Blockade! I pay a thousand Life Points and in exchange, you're not allowed to summon a monster from your hand this turn."

"What?" Starlight cried as Draco Starlight flew out of her hand and floated above her, as an energy sphere similar to the Omega Field appeared around the card.

Trixie: 1600
Starlight: 2200

Sunburst panicked while Starlight frowned, Trixie smirking back while Glorianna's ATK points dropped due to losing a card. (A4000/D2500/L8) "Well don't forget about Ophiuchus's ability." The snake bit into Alina's leg, making her hiss. (A200/D1100/L4)

"Like that'll matter!" Trixie told her. "Your field is empty and you can't summon any cards. Not that you could attack with them anyway."

"Well it's a good thing I've got this!" Starlight cried as she played the other card in her hand. "My Celestial Device, Sextants!" The ancient device appeared infront of her. "With this card, I can revive a Celestial Spirit Monster in my graveyard back to the field." Lights shot out of the device and took the shape of a constellation before it exploded, revealing Leo once again. (A2500/D2200/L7) "I end my turn." As she said that, the energy field around her other card faded and it floated back down for her to catch.

At the same time, the Swords of Revealing Light finally faded. Glorianna's ATK points once again dropped down. (A3500/D2500/L8)

Trixie frowned as she reached for her deck and drew her card. When she did, she gasped at the sight of the card she had gotten. Her Zenith Dragon. "With this..." She looked over her field, weighing the options. She could easily defeat Leo and have her other monsters finish Starlight off. But those two face downs worried her. If they were a way to destroy her monsters, then wouldn't she have used them already. One of those face downs had been down for a while, but left un-played.

"What's the matter?" Starlight asked, "scared too attack?"

Trixie growled, "I'm not scared. I'm cautious. Playing this game foolishly and rushing your moves can cost you."

Starlight smirked before looking back at Sunburst, "she's scared." Sunburst smirked back and nodded, while Trixie continued to seethe. "I mean, why else would you have used that Swords of Revealing Light card. You were pretty confident while they were here, but now they're gone and you realise you're defenceless."

"I'm not defenceless!" Trixie cried. "And why would I be scared of you. You're nothing by a pathetic human. Why would I be scared of something so...weak."

"Well if we're so weak, then why aren't you still controlling me!" Starlight asked, shocking Trixie. "You had to take Trixie over because you lost my body. And you lost it because you were defeated. Defeated by weak pathetic humans."

"Be quiet."

"You lost to Soarin, Twilight, Gilda and then Sunburst. Humans, who shouldn't have stood a chance against you because they were weak. But they're not weak. They may have started out that way, but they embraced that weakness and learned to overcome it. And in doing so, they overcame you! While you stayed weak and started relying on powers other then your own to win for you!" Though she didn't know it, Starlight had hit a nerve when she said that.

Trixie's entire body froze as she remembered the time she stole her master's book, wanting to use it to grow stronger and earn his respect. And because of that, she ended up losing everything she cared about.

"Honestly, the only pathetic one here is you."

"SILENCE!" Trixie screamed, shocking the two. "You wanna see my power!" She held up a card as it began to glow. "I'll show you it! With this card, I place my entire future on the line." The two teens began to grow nervous hearing her say that. "Should I happen to lose this Duel, then every card single in my deck will be destroyed."

"Not good," Sunburst gulped. "I hope Starlight prepared something for this."

"To summon this card, I must sacrifice a Light Attributed monster while discarding a card in my hand with the same name." As Trixie did this, Glorianna leapt into the air as light exploded off of her and formed a sphere.

Starlight and Sunburst cried out at the light of the sphere grew brighter and brighter, burning away the darkness of the Omega Field. Starlight forced her eyes open and look up at the orb, right as a feathered wing broke free of it with a second one following afterwards.

"Awaken," Trixie chanted, "beast of light!" She slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the orb exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Glorious Shine, MESMERIDIEM!" The sphere exploded, revealing the colossal shining dragon. Said dragon unleashed a mighty roar, the force pushing the two teens backwards several feet. Trixie just smirked. "A Zenith Dragon's original ATK and DEF points become the combined total of the two monsters used to summon it. (A6000/D5000/L12) "At the end of my turn, this card will be banished and one of the monsters used to summon it will replace it. Not that I'll have an end of turn."

"Don't get over confident!" Starlight told her, "those Zenith Dragons aren't unstoppable."

"Maybe," Trixie smiled, "but they're pretty hard to stop. Now, I tribute Dunames Dark Witch in order to activate Mesmeridiem's special ability!" The fairy exploded into light, which flew up into the dragon's forehead crystal. "Now I can subtract half my monsters ATK points from your monster's ATK points." A blinding light exploded from out of the crystal, about to blind Leo. (A1600/D2200/L7)

"Just hold on Leo," Starlight grunted at the light.

"Then I'll banished Dunames from my graveyard, allowing me to activate my dragon's other ability!" The ghostly image of the fair appeared before it exploded into a burst of light, which Mesmeridiem sucked into its mouth. "By doing this, I can destroy a card in your Spell, Trap or Pendulum Zone." Trixie smiled, "and you know what stopping it will cost you."

Starlight frowned before looking down at the only card in her hand. If she discarded it, she could stop the effect. But Trixie would just use it again. So instead of discarding it, she simply dropped her arms and looked down in defeat. This made Trixie and Sunburst have two very different reactions.

"Starlight," he cried, "no!"

"HAHAA!" Trixie cried before Mesmeridiem launched a laser from its mouth, hitting Starlight's face down and disintegrating it. "Now I banish Herald of Creation to destroy your other face down!" The priestess appeared and was also sucked into the dragon's mouth, seconds before it fired another laser and destroyed Starlight's last card. Now she only had Leo on her field.

"STARLIGHT!" Sunburst cried as he was blinded by the light, all the while Trixie laughed.

"WHO'S SCARED NOW!" She screamed before pointing at her ultimate monster, "finish this!" The dragon's entire body began to glow before the light flew off into its mouth, "BLINDING BLAZER!" The dragon roared, unleashing the light into one giant laser that flew down towards Leo and Starlight.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Sunburst screamed as the attack hit and filled the Omega Field with light, Trixie and Sunburst both expecting the field the vanish. But when the light faded, they were still in the space-like surroundings. And when they turned back to Starlight, she and Leo were still standing.

"WHAT!?" Trixie cried. "Impossible. You should have no more life points. FALL ALREADY!" She then looked down at her Duel Disk and gasped at the sight of their points.

Trixie: 1600
Starlight: 700

"How?" Trixie asked, "it's not possible. IT SIMPLY ISN'T POSSIBLE!" Her thoughts were then interrupted by laughter, courtesy of Starlight.

"Sorry Glory," she smiled at her. "But you did it to yourself." She glanced up at her monster, "take a look at your almighty dragon." Trixie looked confused before checking her monster, her eyes going wide when she saw what it's ATK points were. (A2000/D5000/L12)

"What?" She looked back at Starlight as she held up a card.

"See this," Trixie saw it was a Trap. "You sent it to my graveyard. And when Blinding Starlight is destroyed, it's effect activates and let's me discard a Celestial Spirit from my hand. And by doing so, I can lower the ATK of a monster on your field by my monsters ATK points."

"But then how is Leo still on the field?" Trixie asked.

"That would be my other Trap card," Starlight explained. "Mirror Trap. It can only be activated in the Graveyard. By banishing it an paying half my life points, I can activate the effect of another Trap in my grave. And the card I picked was Horologium, which revived Leo once again."

"No way," Trixie whispered.

"You're your own worst enemy," Starlight told her. "If you hadn't used your Zenith Dragon and simply attacked, there wouldn't have been anyway for me to stop you. But you fell for my taunt and used it. Too bad."

"You tricked me!" Trixie screamed.

"I did no such thing," Starlight smiled. "It's like I said. You should rely on your own power instead of the power of Zeronull. Now you've missed your only chance to beat me."

Trixie growled, but had no other choice. "I switch Alina to DEF mode and then place two cards face down to end my turn." The Zenith Dragon began to vanish. "At the end of my turn, Mesmeridiem is banished and one of the monsters I used to summon it is summoned in its place." Glorianna appeared and floated down infront of Trixie, she and Leo glaring at one another.

"You want to know the difference between you and me?" Starlight asked as she reached for her deck.

"I'm sure you're gonna tell me," Trixie sighed.

"The difference is in how we deal with the tragedies we've faced in our past." She drew her card and looked at it before smiling. "What you did to me is something I'll never forget. But I won't let it solely define me anymore. While you simply let the bad things of your past overcome you." Trixie glared at her. "I don't know what terrible thing happened to you, but it still doesn't give you the right to destroy our world. Maybe if you relied on your own power instead of someone else's, you might have realised the mistakes you've made aren't the end of the world."

"You dare lecture me?" Trixie asked, "saying I rely on another's power. Then what do you call what your monsters do?"

"Teamwork," She explained. "There's a difference between combining your powers and depending on a single power to win every time. Me and my monsters all work hard to make sure we're at our best, so that when we do work together what we bring to the team can create something that's greater then the sum of its parts. And now it's time to show you what I mean."

"What?" Trixie asked, "but your dragon's in the graveyard. What can you do?"

"I'll show you!" Starlight played the card she had drawn. "I activate this Spell card. Celestial Device, Corona!" The constellations of Corona Borealis and Australis appeared above Leo before they floated together exploded, the light taking shape before fading to reveal a crown that then flew down and landed on Leo's head. When it did so, Leo was suddenly consumed by light before his shape started morphing. "With this card, I can banish a Celestial Spirit on my field and give birth to its highest form. The Celestial Spirit King!"

"What?" Trixie looked up as the light began to fade from Leo, revealing his new form.

He was now a foot taller and his hair was cut shorter. His armour was bulkier and it now had five pointed stars on his knees, elbows and on the backs of bracelets around his wrists. He was wearing a cape that was tattered at the end and in his hand was a large sword that had a normal T shaped crossguard and a golden X welded onto that. The crown was still nestled on his head. "Behold, the Celestial Spirit King...LEO!" (A3000/D2800/L10)

"No way," Sunburst whispered as Trixie looked horrified.

"Leo's skill!" Starlight cried as her graveyard glowed, with the light flying out of it taking the shapes of the other twelve constellations. The ghostly images of each of Starlight's Celestial Spirits overlayed themselves on top of the constellations, while Starlight held up their cards. "I can now shuffle any Celestial Spirit from my graveyard back into my deck, then draw five cards." She placed the cards onto her deck, which then shuffled.

"So what?"

"So now, if any of the cards I draw are Celestial Spirits, I can summon them to the field."

"WHAT!" Trixie screamed as Starlight drew her cards, then smiled.

"I summon Celestial Spirit Libra, Cancer, Aquarius and Pisces!" The four constellations appeared on either side of Leo before they exploded, transforming into the four Celestial Spirits. "Then, I'll use Aquarius's ability!" She discarded a card as Aquarius threw her vase around, unleashing a torrent of water that swept out across the field and washed away Trixie's face downs.

"NO!" She cried as Leo raised his sword.

"It's over Trixie!" Starlight announced. "When Celestial Spirit King Leo attacks, he gains five hundred ATK points for every other Celestial Spirit on my field." The other Celestial Spirits glowed before the light flew off and was absorbed into the blade. (A5000/D2800/L10) "FINISH THIS!" Leo leapt into the air, "SLICING THE HEAVENS!" Leo swung the blade around and unleashed an energy blast that flew towards Glorianna.

Trixie couldn't believe this was happening. After everything she had done, she was about to be defeated and sent back by the very human she had once held her control over.

As the attack flew towards her, Trixie's eyes grew wider and wider. It was then that she felt a presence, causing her to look down and gasp when she saw someone standing just infront of her.

That someone was the ghostly image of a man she had seen die right before her eyes. "M-master?" The glowing spirit of her teacher stared back at her, a disappointed look upon his face.

"Oh Glorianna," he shook his head in shame before he vanished. Trixie suddenly felt her heart break the attack landed, destroying the monster dominating her and knocking her backwards as she cried out.

Trixie: 0
Starlight: 700 (Winner)

The Omega Field exploded, Trixie, Starlight and Sunburst falling to the ground by the force.

The three panted as they processed what had just happened, with Trixie the first to join the dots and gasp as her cards began to glow yellow. "No," she whispered before they flew out of her deck, graveyard, extra deck and pocket. Every single card she owned floated infront of her, including the Zenith Dragon. And then, they burst into flames.

"I did it," Starlight whispered as the ashes of the cards fluttered to the ground.

Sunburst smirked as he moved over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did it. I knew you could." They turned to one another and smiled, Starlight happy Sunburst had been there to help her through this.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" Their moment was shattered by Trixie clutching her hand, the mark on the back of it slowly beginning to fade. She shot Starlight and Sunburst a death glare, while Starlight smirked and pushed herself back to her feet.

"It's over," she told the Dominator. "Your days of ruining people's lives is over."

Trixie growled, then chuckled. "You think you've won? Beating me does nothing. I've already completed my goal. Soon Lady Midnight will awaken her true power and when that happens, my perfect world will be created."

"No," Starlight shook her head, "she won't. We'll stop her and free Twilight. Your sick excuse of a perfect world will never come to be. I can promise you that." The two girls locked eyes and stared each other down for several long seconds, until the mark on the back of Trixie's hand vanished.

"We'll see how well you keep that promise," were the last words Trixie said before she appeared to black on and fall forwards. As this happened, the spirit of the Shining Magician was pulled out of her body and began to float towards the ceiling. Her eyes remained firmly locked on Starlight, who was moving towards Trixie. "You're a fool to think you can defeat the power of Zeronull. A total fool." With that, she vanished from this world as Starlight and Sunburst rolled Trixie over.

"She okay?" Starlight asked as Sunburst checked her vitals.

"I'm feeling a pulse," he replied. "I think she'll be fine." Starlight sighed in relief, looking up at where the spirit of Glorianna had been floating. Despite not having seen her, she had almost sensed her former presence.

"It's over," she whispered. "It's finally over." The heaviness weighing on her heart since being freed finally lifted from her, making her feel lighter and less bogged down then she had been in a very long time. She couldn't help but smile before turning to where the Zenith Dragon card had fallen, Starlight reaching over to pick it up. "And then there was one."

Applejack and Rarity had been walking through the darkness for what felt like hours.

Both stayed close, not wanting to possibly be separated. Eventually, Applejack came to a stop and let out a growl of frustration. "This has gone on long enough!" She cried out to the darkness, "come out alright!"

"Yes!" Rarity agreed, "enough of these games. We know you're here Marble!" There was no response, at least at first. But after a few seconds, a feminine chuckle made the spin around to see the target of their animosity standing behind them.

"Well, here I am." The cube in her possession began to glow before it floated up towards the air, "are you ready to play?"

"Would you make up ya'h mind!" Applejack cried. "First ya'h capture use in this field. Then ya'h leave us waiting and now ya'h messing with that silly cube."

"Why do you even have that thing?" Rarity asked.

"There's a reason I left you waiting," Marble smiled. "I wanted to see how Glorianna did in her Duel." This caught the two's attention. "She lost and has now returned to my world." They smiled, happy another Omega Zealot had fallen. "Now you have four Zenith Dragons while we only have two. Things are looking bad for us."

"Well excuse me for not feeling sorry for you," Rarity frowned.

"Yeah," Applejack nodded. "Real tragic. Makes me wanna pull out a violin and play a sad song. Not."

"Funny," Marble said, "but you won't be laughing once I've defeated you."

"Let's go then," Applejack held up her Duel Disk. "A'll take ya'h down and free Marble for Pinkie and Maud."

"Oh no," Marble shook her head. "I don't intend for you to be my only opponent. In fact," her gaze shifted between the two of them before she smiled. "I want to Duel both of you, together." This statement shocked the two, Applejack and Rarity sharing a look before turning back to her.

"Why do you want to Duel us both?" Rarity asked.

"Simply," Marble pointed at the cube floating above them, "I must complete my mission."

"Mission?" Applejack asked.

"That's right. You see, in order for Lady Midnight to awaken her full power, she requires not only the Zenith Dragons, but the power of a strong soul. A powerful soul that can help fuel the process that will allow Zeronull to finally awaken and descend upon this world."

Rarity and Applejack began to feel fear flowing through them. "And you intend to sacrifice us?" Rarity asked, with Marble nodding in return.

"Why us?" Applejack asked.

"You two might not have the power needed to awaken her on your own, but together it'll be just enough. You proved in the Double X you were strong, even though you lost to the Dominators. Once the two of you have been defeated, your souls will be offered and the Void Cube will reactivate and allow Lady Midnight to finally awaken."

To say the girls were scared would be an understatement. It was one thing to lose a Duel. It was another to have your soul devoured because you lost. "But ya'h said it ya'self," Applejack told her. "She needs the Zenith Dragons and she doesn't have'em all. Two of them are still locked inside the energy shield." At least they hoped they were. Being stuck in the Omega Field made it impossible to know for sure if the generator was still working.

"You're right," Marble nodded. "But with only one generator left, I doubt that shield will be able to keep Lady Midnight out. Which means all I need to do is defeat you, and victory is ours."

"We won't let that happen," Rarity said as she stepped up besides Applejack. "We'll defeat you and free Marble." Applejack nodded as they both activated their Duel Disks, Marble doing the same.

"I doubt that," she told them. "here's how this'll work. You two will each have four thousand life points and I'll have eight thousand. Meanwhile, you share a field and take turns using it. You can use whatever cards your partner left on the field and you can share a graveyard. Don't say I'm not fair."

"A'm fine with that," Applejack told her.

"Same here," Rarity nodded. "There's no way you can defeat us both together."

"Don't be so sure," Marble said before they began. "I hope your last Duel before your devoured is a fun one." They drew their cards and all cried together.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Rarity: 4000
Marble: 8000
Applejack: 4000

Outside the Omega Field, Pinkie and Maud continued to stare at the dome.

The girls knew their little sister was in there and if they wanted to find a way to free her, they had to get in too. "Marble," Pinkie stepped forward and tried to place her hand on the orb. But doing so sent a surge of energy into her hand, causing her to cry out and pull it back.

"There has to be someway in," Maud frowned as she too tried to touch the field but got zapped.

Both girl shared a look before turning back to the dome. After a few seconds, they both had the craziest idea. It was ridiculous and was more likely to get them killed, but at this point they were despite. So, the two held the other's hand before raising the other one and slowly moving it towards the field.

As they got close, they felt the energy surge towards them and zap them. They flinched, but wouldn't let it stop them and kept pushing. "AUGH!" They cried as their hands touched the energy field, both feeling like their skin was being burnt off. "Can't...stop!" Pinkie cried.

"Marble!" Maud yelled, "we're coming!" They screamed as they tried to push through the barrier into the field, but it just wouldn't give. Their other hands clutched one another tightly as they felt the pain flowing through their hands. Their constant cries filled the room until they felt like their brains were about to explode.

"MARBLE!" They both screamed before something happened.

Their eyes shot open and they pulled their hands away from the field, seconds before they fell backwards and hit the ground. Both girls were laid out on the floor, totally unconscious.

"PINKIE!" Sunset stood up as she stared at the screen, having seen what they had just done and what happened to them. "Pinkie, can you here me?"

"Maud?" Cadance cried, "answer us." There was no answer, making the two fear for the worst. But they soon had other issues, as the security grid picked up another energy spike. One similar to the energy given off by the Zealot's portals.

It's location, the energy field room.

Within said room, the portal appeared before somebody stepped out of it.

That somebody was Midnight Sparkle, who began to march through the large room as the portal vanished behind her. Her gaze was square on the room holding two of her Zenith Dragons. But before she could get close to it, she stopped when she spotted someone between her and it. "Hello...brother."

Shining Armor stared Midnight down, a glare on his face. "You're not my sister." He took out his Duel Disk and attached it to his arm, "and I'm gonna free her from your control."

Midnight actually looked intrigued by this and took out her Duel Disk, "we'll see." She attached the Duel Disk to her arm before raising her hand, causing the light to fly off her mark and consume them both. Within seconds, the two were trapped within the Omega Field.

Author's Note

Well, Glorianna's gone and Starlight got her closure. Now that's only one Zealot left to deal with. Will Applejack and Rarity be able to defeat her, or will Midnight get the souls she needs to unleash her power.

Turn 36: Gaia-Maiden's Final Victory

Back in Canterlot, the assault squad had finally arrived at their destination.

The armoured trucks came to a stop infront of the warehouse before the SWAT teams leapt out and stormed the building, Cold and Flash leading the others as they moved towards it. "Remember," Cold told him, "nonlethal means should you run into anyone in there!"

"Amigos!" They turned to see Tidal and the Dazzlings jump out of their car and join them. "Flash! I'm glad to hear you managed to get your cards back."

"Thanks," Flash smiled back. "And I'm gonna put them to good use."

"Sir!" One of the soldiers rushed up to them. "We've secured the building."

"Good," Cold gestured for everyone to follow and they headed inside. The group stepped up to the area where the secret panel was located. Misty pushed part of the wall back and revealed it.

"Here goes nothing," she whispered before typing in the code. When it was finished, a loud beeping sound occurred. "Figures. They've changed the code." Cold turned to one of the soldiers and nodded, that man rushing over with a laptop that he plugged into the panel.

"This may take some time," he told the others.

"I just hope it's not time we don't have," Trail frowned.

At the same time, Fluttershy was still trying to contact the others. "Still nothing," she told them. "Now I'm really getting worried."

Rainbow nodded, "I hope everyone's okay."

Maud and Pinkie were making their way through the horrific memory, neither wanting to have to watch that heartbreaking sight even once more.

"Where's the exit?" Pinkie asked frantically, "I want to be out of here before the scene replays."

"MARBLE!" Maud cried out, "answer us."

"I'm...over here!" The voice was much louder then before, allowing them to easy pinpoint its location. Hopefully, they sister would be behind the light wall and they wouldn't have to see anything else.

But when the two pushed through it, they found they were once again at the farm. They both sighed before hearing a noise, one they knew quite well from their lives back home. The sound of metal on dirt.

The two looked around and flinched the second they saw what the cause was. Gaia-Maiden stood infront of a large part of turned up earth, which looked like it had been dug out before returned after something had been placed inside of it. A grave.

Two large rocks stood at the head of the grave, each with a name chiselled into it. Scayer Rockwood was on one of them and the name Daisy Rockwood was on the other. Gaia-Maiden was looking horrible. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were filthy and the look on her face was one of misery. It was like she was right back to how she had been during the start of the first memory.

She threw the last piece of dirt onto the grave and finally stepped back, looking it over before she finally snapped.

She dropped the shovel and fell to her knees, the tears exploding out of her eyes and she wept loudly. The girls couldn't blame her. Having something and losing it was hard. But having something and losing it, only to get something else even better and then losing that was even worse.

The girls now understood what Gaia-Maiden had said the day Pinkie Dueled Novo.

"I gave them hope,. Hope that they could save her. And then I snatched that hope away from them, the same way it was snatched away from me."

They now realised this was what she had been talking about. "It's not fair!" She screamed while slamming her hands into the ground, "it's not fair! It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!" She stopped slamming her fists and simply cried more and more, Pinkie and Maud unable to stop themselves from feeling sympathy for her.

"No, it's not fair." The three all gasped as they looked around, seeing none other then Chaos Fiend Draconequus floating above them.

"W-who are you?" Gaia-Maiden stood up, looking scared as she stared at the beast in front of her.

"I am a friend," he floated down and placed his hand on her shoulder. "And I sense that you are in a great deal of pain." Gaia-Maiden began to tear up again, "I can not imagine the pain you are going through."

"I just want them back," she whispered while staring at the ground. "Is that too much to ask?"

"Of course not," he told her. "You shouldn't have to suffer like that. But I'm afraid this world is quite a cruel place. As long as it exists, you'll never get to experience true happiness. Any hope you have will be ripped away."

"What am I suppose to do?" She asked, only for Draconequus to pull away from her.

"Help us create a better one," he snapped his singers before Gaia-Maiden was suddenly consumed by light. When that light faded, she had been transformed into the Gaia-Maiden Pinkie and Maud knew all too well. "Join us," Draconequus held out a hand. "And together, we will create a world where everyone can be happy."

"Not everyone," she turned back to the graves. "Without them-"

"You can see them again," she turned to him and stared in shock. "In the new world, they can be there waiting for you. All you have to do, is help us free the one with the power to create that would. His name...is Zeronull."

That was it for the memory, causing it to rewind.

"So that's how she joined," Maud realised.

"This doesn't help us find Marble though," Pinkie told her before looking around. "MARBLE! IF YOU CAN HEAR US, SAY SOMETHING!"

"I'm over here!" They heard Marble cry out. It was muffled, but they could hear her clearly. "Please. Help me!"

"We're coming!" Maud cried as they continued to rush, "just keep calling out! Help us find you!" Marble's voice continued to echo through the land, directing them towards it. And eventually, both girls found themselves coming up to the edge of the memory.

"This is the one!" Pinkie told her sister, "she's through there. I can feel it." They finally reached it and both leapt forward, crying out as they pushed their way through the light and felt themselves get blinded for a second.

When the light faded, the two found themselves felling to their knees and panting. They then opened their eyes and found themselves in some kind of black void, but a light was flowing in behind them. They turned around and found themselves staring at a bunch of TVs, each showing reruns of times in Gaia-Maiden's life. Some were the ones the two had already seen, while others were new clips they didn't recognise.

"What is all this?" Pinkie asked as the two stood up.

"She's been showing me this." The two gasped at the voice, now as clear as day. "It's all I get to see. Day in, day out." The two spun around and their eyes went wide when they saw her.

"Marble," they both whispered.

Marble Pie was still chained to the stone slab, looking weak and only half-conscious. She was very far away from the monitors, half hidden in the shadows. She blinked slowly and looked up, seeing her sisters staring back at her. "Pinkie. Maud. Is it really-"

"IT'S US!" Pinkie screamed, tears begin to leak from her eyes. "It's really us!"

"We've come to save you!" Maud told her before the two began to run towards their sisters. "Just hold on!"

"We'll get you out of here!" Pinkie cried.

"Oh, I think not!" Before they could do anything, a large stone wall appeared between them and Marble. They gasped before looking up, their eyes going wide at the sight of a giant Gaia-Maiden looking down upon them. "So it was you two snooping around my memories." She frowned, "you reminded me of some very painful times."

"We know," Pinkie frowned. "What happened to you was horrible, but that still doesn't give you the right to do what you're doing."

"Let our sister go!" Maud yelled.

"No," Gaia-Maiden glared at them, "I think I'll keep her until I'm done with her. Meanwhile, I think it's time I finally get rid of you two once and for all." In that moment, cracks appeared in the wall before something broke out of them. Those somethings were fists, which helped pull the rest of the creature's body out.

Soon enough, several rock monsters stood between then and the quickly repairing wall.

"Have fun. I have a Duel to win." With that, Gaia-Maiden vanished before the rock monsters charged. Pinkie and Maud quickly found themselves on the defensive, jumping back to avoid getting broken bones. This was not good.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity's Duel against Marble continued.

Marble had just summoned her ace, while the girls had only Gem-Unicorn on the field. "It's ma'h turn," Applejack reached for her deck. "And with two Pendulum Monsters in da'h grave, a'h can draw two extra cards." She drew her three cards and smiled. "Then a'll play Xyz Draw!"

"Xyz Draw?" Marble asked.

"With it, a'h can send an Xyz monster from ma'h Extra Deck to the graveyard." Applejack removed a card from her deck and showed it was Orchard Sheriff. "Then, a can add a card with Rank-Up-Magic in its name to ma'h hand." Her deck slotted out a card, which Applejack took before playing.

"Alright Applejack!" Rarity cried as the ground broke open and Orchard Cowboy leapt out of it.

"Rank-Up-Magic...ETERNAL GROWTH!" Applejack cried. "This card lets me revive an Earth Xyz Monster and then, a'h can rank it up!" Vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around Orchard Cowboy, as a black hole appeared above their heads. The vines then lifted the cocoon towards it. The cocoon entered the black hole before it began to pulse, as Applejack chanted. "Warrior of justice and nature, unleash ya'h powers on this world and rid it of all that might hurt it!" The black hole exploded, unleashing Applejack's monster. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The light faded revealing Applejack's monster. "Orchid Marshall!" (A3000/D1500/R4/P5) "Since he was summoned using Eternal Growth, his ATK points increase by five hundred points. (A3500/D1500/R4/P5) "Then, I'll use his skill!" The Overlay Unit flew into his shotgun before he pointed it at Gaia-Maiden. He then fired a beam that hit the woman and made her flinch and glow, then retracted back into the weapon while taking the glow with it.

"You dare," Marble growled as she checked her monster. (A1500/D2500/L8)

"Oh, a'h dare." Marshall then pointed the shotgun at Gem-Unicorn and fired the beam at it, making it glow the same light. (A3100/D1400/L4/P5) "Now Orchard Marshall will take clear shot at your Gaia-Maiden!" The western Duel Monster aimed its shotgun at Gaia-Maiden before firing a shot that struck her in the stomach.

Marble also flinched in pain, clutching the same spot as she pressed the button on her Duel Disk. "I activate my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Defence Draw!" She drew a card before reaching for her graveyard. "I'm also using Gaia-Maiden's skill, to banish Coal in order to negate her destruction."

Applejack frowned before pointing at her again. "Well now Gem-Unicorn will attack!" The horned pony unleashed a blast of magic that once again struck Gaia-Maiden and made her and Marble flinch.

Rarity: 1850
Marble: 2350
Applejack: 3400

Marble grunted before groaning out. "I'll banish Corundum, in order to keep her from being destroyed."

Applejack frowned before throwing two cards face down. "A'h end ma'h turn." Gaia-Maiden and Gem-Unicorn's ATK points returned to their normal value, while Marble drew her card.

She looked over her hand and smiled before playing on the the cards. "I activate my Graceful Charity Spell card. So now, I can draw three cards as long as I discard one."

"Well a'm playin ma'h Trap!" Applejack's face down flipped up, "Dust Tornado!" A twister exploded onto the field and sucked up Marble's Land Slide card, destroying it. At the same time, Rarity's Gem-Knight Mirror was destroyed as well.

"That's fine." Marble smiled as she drew her cards then discarded two. "One of the cards I discarded was another Different Dimension Salvage. And you know what that means." She drew five cards, seeing one of them and smiling at the sight. "Oh yes." The girls didn't like the sound of it. "I activate Gaia-Maiden's ability!" The ground broke apart before Gaia-Knight Diamond flew out and exploded into eight rocks, which Gaia-Maiden sent flying at Gem-Unicorn. They struck the pony powered her down. (A800/D1400/L4/P5)

"Not good," Applejack realised.

"GO!" Marble screamed as her monster fired another attack in the unicorn's direction, only this time there was no way to save her from the attack that was coming. It struck and destroyed the unicorn, Applejack crying out and the force struck her and sent her points soaring down.

Rarity: 1850
Marble: 2350
Applejack: 1200

"Applejack!" Rarity cried, "you okay?"

Applejack moaned, but managed to keep herself up. "A'm fine," she assured Rarity. "Nothing a'h can't bounce back from."

"We'll see about that," Marble smiled as she placed three cards face down. "I'll end my turn there." She looked down at her hand, then at the face down card. "Next turn, it all ends for one of you." The two frowned, knowing what that likely meant.

Back within Marble's mind, Pinkie and Maud continue trying to keep themselves from getting clobbered by the rock monsters.

"WOW!" Pinkie cried as she was knocked back by one, hitting the ground and flinching.

"Pinkie!" Maud cried, but was unable to get to her as two more rock monsters stood between them. Pinkie was left on her own, sitting up and the monster moved towards her.

She gulped, attempting to crawl backwards the try and get away but eventually felt her back hit the TVs behind her. And as the monster got closer, she suddenly wished she had a shield or something to protect herself with. And then it happened.

As the monster attempted to punch her, a brilliant flash of light appeared between the two and the creature suddenly felt itself hitting something metal. "What?" Pinkie asked as she opened her eyes, seeing the light fade to reveal a shield. The creature was staggering back as the shield fell in her lap, Pinkie looking it over and seeing it looked exactly like the one she had envisioned. "Wait..."

"Pinkie!" She turned to Maud, "how did you do that?"

"I just...thought about it and it appeared!" This made Maud think, an idea appearing in her head.

"I wonder." She closed her eyes and thought for a moment before a flash of light occurred infront of her, Maud opening her eyes and grabbing the light as it suddenly faded to reveal a giant war-hammer. "RAAAAH!" She screamed while swinging it around and hitting both monsters, crushing both their heads in a single swing.

Pinkie smiled as her monster attacked again. Pinkie's shield vanished as her hands were engulfed by lights, which faded to reveal large red boxing gloves. "Oh yeah!" She slammed her fists together before charging forward and slamming her fist into the creature, destroying it.

The sisters fought against the rock monsters and slowly began to whittle them down until they were all gone. But as soon as the last one crumbled to dust, the wall began to break and threaten to start this all over again. "I don't think so!" Pinkie's gloves appeared before she snapped her fingers. "I cast death muffin!" A large cupcake with a stick of dynamite for a candle appeared in her hand, Pinkie tossing that cupcake at the wall.

As soon as it hit, it exploded and created a giant hole that the sisters leapt through. It began to seal itself up as the two pushed themselves back to their feet and rush over to Marble. But as they did, more monsters began to break free.

"We've got to get her out of here," Pinkie said as they started grabbing at the chains. But no matter how hard they pulled, they chains wouldn't break. And in all the time they spent pulling, the monsters finally escaped the wall.

Maud turned back to them and quickly imagined something that could help, a flash of light signalling the appearance of pitching machine. It began firing the balls at the monsters, the impact smashing them up. Meanwhile, Pinkie imagined a buzzsaw that she tried to use on the chains. But all it did was create sparks with neither piece of metal giving way.

"Just hold on Marble," she told her half away sister. "Please."

"It's my turn!" Rarity drew her three cards and smiled when she saw one of them. "Perfect."

"Great," Marble sighed. "What's it this time. Another Fusion Card."

"Not quite!" Rarity said before playing one of the cards, "I play Spell Recovery! Now, by banishing the top card of my deck, I can return a Spell to my hand from the graveyard!" She drew her card and revealed Crystal Rose before removing it, as her Duel Disk slotted out a card. "Now," she instantly played the card, "for that Fusion Card. Gem Compression"

"I knew it!" Marble growled as the ground broke open, with three gems flying out of it.

"Now I banish Brilliant Diamond, Lapis Lazuli and Topaz, in order to fusion summon something extraordinary!"

"Ya'h fusing three Fusion monsters?" Applejack asked in wonder.

"That's what this monster requires in order to be summoned," Rarity announced. In that moment, a vortex appeared and the three diamonds were sucked inside. "Now watch, as the power residing within each of these gems unite to create a radiant beauty that the world has never seen before." The vortex exploded, unleashing a rainbow of light that blinded all but Rarity. "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing an all new Gem-Knight monster. This one was wearing armour similar to Lapis Lazuli, though this one's were purple instead of blue. It also had a head of purple stone hair, styled just like Rarity, while the body underneath the armour was snow white. Its face was almost exactly like Rarity's, with purple paint for eye-shadow and three blue diamonds on the edge of her hair. She was also holding a large sceptre in her hands, which had a white crystal orb on the top with four fingers spiralling around it that had multiple gems embedded within them. Other small gems were also embedded in her cloths, light around the cuffs of her sleeves and the trim of her robes. She was also wearing high-heeled saddles similar to Rarity, which were also gem-encrusted. "Gem-Knight Lady, CRYSTAL RARITY!" (A?/D?/L10)

"What?" Marble asked, "you've never used that monster before."

"One should always be equipped with the latest fashion accessory," Rarity smiled while flickering her hair. "Crystal Rarity's skill. Her original ATK and DEF becomes the number of monsters used in order to Fusion Summon her times by one thousand." (A3000/D3000/L10) "Now for her other skill!" Rarity announced as her monsters raised it staff. "By tributing another Earth monster, I can increase her ATK points by half of its." She turned to Applejack, "mind lending me a card darling?"

"Go for it," Applejack smiled.

Rarity nodded before Orchard Marshall glowed, that light flying into Crystal Rarity's staff before the Xyz monster vanished and the Fusion Monster powered up. (A4500/D3000/L10) Marble frowned as Crystal Rarity then pointed its staff at Gaia-Maiden. "Now I'll attack with Crystal Rarity!"

"And with that, you've activated my Trap card!" Her face down flipped up, "Late Reinforcements! This Trap allows me to take a Monster from anywhere in my deck and place it on the top of my deck!" A card slotted out, which she took before placing it onto her deck. But this didn't stop Crystal Rarity's attack from firing. The gems on the staff unleashed a beam of light, heading straight for Marble's monster. "I'll also use Gaia-Maiden's skill," she stated before the beam struck. "AUGH!"

Rarity: 1850
Marble: 850
Applejack: 1200

She banished a card from her graveyard before pressing a button on her Duel Disk. "Now I play my Numinous Healer Trap, to power my Life Points back up."

Rarity: 1850
Marble: 1850
Applejack: 1200

Rarity frowned, "I place one card face down." She an Applejack shared a look, knowing what was most likely coming now. All they could do was hope they had everything they needed to stop it.

"It's my turn," Marble drew her card and without even looking, she held it up. "And now, with this one card, I now put my entire future on the line."

"No," Rarity whispered.

"First, I must tribute an Earth Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." The ground was ripped apart once again, the pieces of earth flying out and forming a moon around Lady Marble.

"Here it comes!" Applejack cried as the rock solid cocoon grew larger and larger. Applejack turned to Rarity, fearing what might happen to her friend.

Within Marble's find, Pinkie and Maud were still fighting off the rock monsters.

Maud once again had her war-hammer while Pinkie had her shield. "Augh!" Pinkie cried as a rock fist slammed into her shield and made her stagger back. At the same time, Maud destroyed another one only for it to be replaced by two more.

"There's no end to them," she sighed before something happened. The stone wall they were coming from suddenly crumbled, allowing them to see the TVs that filled the void. "Now what?" The TVs all changed. Instead of showing memories, they showed them something else. A Duel.

"Rarity!" Pinkie cried in horror, "Applejack!"

"I thought I'd let you see one of your little friends lose their soul," Gaia-Maiden's voice called out.

"No," Pinkie whispered. She then turned to her captured sister. "Please Marble! You have to stop her!"

Marble's eyes opened, "I can't stop her. I'm...too weak."

"You're not weak!" Maud told her before crushing another rock monster. "You have something that's a million times stronger then Gaia-Maiden. You have a strong heart."

"Greaterra's skill!" Marble cried as the giant dragon unleashed a roar that sent a bunch of rocks flying down towards her opponent's field.

"No!" Rarity cried before every card in their Spell and Trap Zone was buried under a bunch of rubble. Even Apple Fairy and Stag of Great Seedling were trapped beneath the rocks.

"Now all your cards are trapped," Marble smiled. "Unable to be activated until next turn."

"Then there's no way to stop it," Rarity whispered. Applejack turned to her, fearing what would happen the minute her life points hit zero.

"Rarity..."

"Marble!" Pinkie cried, "please. Don't let that witch turn you into a monster."

"You have to fight it!" Maud cried. Marble heard this and was, the girl using all of her strength to pull against the chains. But no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to get her body to stop.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

Marble smiled as she stared down Rarity, "It's time to claim my first soul for Lady Midnight." She pointed at Crystal Rarity. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, ATTACK!" The beast opened its mouth as a giant rock appeared within it, Greaterra roaring with enough force to send the rock flying out and rocketing towards the Gem-Knight Lady. "CONTINENTAL CRUSHER!"

"RARITY!" Applejack, Pinkie and Maud screamed as the giant rock flew towards Rarity and her monster. But then-

"Skill of Crystal Rarity!" She cried as her monster raised its staff and unleashed a light, causing the same light to fly out of the rocks covering their cards.

"What's happening?" Marble asked.

"By tributing face down cards in our Spell and Trap Zone, I can increase Crystal Rarity's ATK power."

"What?" Marble cried in horror.

"Four hundred points for every card sacrificed. And with four face downs, that's sixteen hundred points." The others gasped in joy, realising Rarity was going to survive the attack.

But Marble had other ideas. "I don't think so," she smiled. "See my face down," she pointed to the card. "That's Divine Wrath." Everyone's eyes went wide. "This'll not only negate your monster's ability, but also destroy it. Meaning you'll be taking even more damage from a direct attack."

"No," Rarity whispered.

"I-" But before Marble could activate the card, she suddenly froze. "What?" She tried to touch the button, but her hand wouldn't do as sh said. "What's...happening?" Rarity and Applejack were just as confused.

Pinkie and Maud both turned to their sister, gasping when they saw her glowing and struggling.

"No," she groaned, "I...won't...let you!" With that, the chains around her began to break. "You stole...my body. You made me do...terrible things. No more. No...MORE!" She screamed as the light exploded off of her, causing the chains to be ripped off her body while the stone slab and monsters shattered.

"MARBLE!" The sisters cried, rushing over to grab her before she fell to the ground. "We're here," Pinkie told her.

"Just keep fighting," Maud said. "Just a little longer."

"I...I...

"I...don't activate my Trap card."

Rarity and Applejack gasped as the Gem-Knight Lady's skill activated, the rocks covering their face down exploding to reveal the cards. Those cards turned into a light that flew into Crystal Rarity's staff, increasing her ATK points seconds before the attack hit. (A4600/D3000/L10) Crystal Rarity was soon crushed under the rock, destroying her but the ATK difference wasn't enough to beat Rarity.

"AUGH!" She cried as the force from the attack struck.

Rarity: 450
Marble: 1850
Applejack: 1200

Rarity then smiled. "One of the cards sacrificed was Magic Retrieval, a Trap that activates when it's sent from the field to the graveyard." A card slotted out of her Duel Disk. "It lets me add a Spell back to my hand from the graveyard. And the Spell I pick is Spell Recovery." She took the card whilst the two of them focused on Marble, who was now clutching her head.

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" She screamed as she fell to her knees and her body shook, the two beginning to fear for the girl currently possessed. Then, she turned to them. "I'm...so sorry," she whispered in a shy tone.

"Huh?" Applejack asked, "Marble?"

"I'm sorry for everything," she began to cry.

"Marble," Rarity yelled, "before it's too late. End this Duel." Marble nodded and let go of her head, instead reaching for her Duel Disk.

"I...I..." All she had to do was place her hand on her Deck and she would forfeit. But before she could, she gasped as her body froze in place.

"AUGH!" Pinkie and Maud screamed as they were sent flying backwards by a force of energy that exploded from their sister, hitting the ground as chains shot out of the darkness.

"NO!" She screamed.

"This isn't over," Gaia-Maiden told her.

Marble's eyes shot open and she pushed herself up. "I set two cards face down and end my turn." Greaterra and the rocks on their cards vanished, Gaia-Maiden appearing in its place. But as she did, Marble screamed again and clutched her hair.

"MARBLE!" Applejack and Rarity cried.

"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" Marble screamed, "stop it you little whelp!"

"NO!" Marble cried as she pulled at the chains, breaking them off of her. "I won't let you control me anymore!"

Pinkie and Maud smiled before a light made them turn to see Gaia-Maiden appear, looking incredibly peeved. "I'll make you pay for this!" She charged at Marble, only for Pinkie and Maud to jump in the way.

"I don't think so!" Pinkie yelled as she grabbed her staff, "we won't let you touch our sister!"

"That's right!" Maud jumped behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, "just stay away from her!"

"Get off me!" Gaia-Maiden screamed.

"Marble," Pinkie cried, "hurry. End the Duel." Marble nodded and pulled at more of the chains, shattering them all and taking control once again.

Marble opened her eyes, Rarity and Applejack seeing the pain in them. "Please," she whispered, "I can't hold on much longer. Before she takes control again."

The two nodded with Rarity turned to Applejack, "it's all on you now."

Applejack nodded and drew her card, "here goes!" She saw what it was and a plan formed. "Alright. First, a'm flipped ma'h Pendulum Monsters back up!" The pillars reappeared with her monsters flying back into them, forming the portal above their heads. "A'H PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out of it, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal her Xyz monster. "Orchard Marshall!" (A3000/D1500/R4/P5) "Then I'll play the Spell card, Honest Guess!"

Rarity smiled, knowing what that card did.

"With that, a'h can guess a card an if it's in any Duellist's hand, a'h can add it to ma'h hand." She pointed at Rarity, "Spell Recovery!"

"Right here darling!" Rarity tossed the card in Applejack's direction, the girl catching and playing it.

"Alright. Now that I've got this, a'h can banish the top card of ma'h deck to recover a Spell card from ma'h grave." She banished said card, which was Apple-Buck Pony, then removed a card from her graveyard.

"Go Applejack!" Pinkie cried as her friend played the card.

"NOOO!" Gaia-Maiden screamed.

"Here we go!" The ground ripped open before Orchard Cowboy flew out of it and landed infront of Applejack. "A'm playing Rank-Up-Magic...ETERNAL GROWTH!" Vines flew out of the hole and wrapping around the gunslinger "Once again, a'h can Rank-Up ma'h Cowboy an summon somethin new." A black hole opened above their head, the vines then lifting the cocoon towards it.

"Please hurry!" Marble whispered.

"Just hold on!" Rarity told her as the cocoon entered the black hole before it began to pulse, as Applejack chanted.

"Warrior of the desert, fight against all odds and stand as the lone surviving gunslinger!" The black hole exploded, unleashing Applejack's monster. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!"

The light faded, revealing Applejack's monster. It looked like Orchard Cowboy, only his clothing looked more rugged and his hair was longer and less well kept. He was wearing a brown overcoat with apple patterns on the shoulders. His mouth bandanna was brown and his pistols were longer. He still had an apple on his hat, but her also had them on his boots and the cuffs of his sleeve. "Orchard Desperado!" (A2800/D1700/R4/P6)

"Eternal Growth's effect activates!" (A3300/D1700/R4/P6) "There's more." A flash of light caused Orchard Sheriff to appear, it and Orchard Marshall glowing before they morphed into Overlay Units that flew around Desperado. "Since he was summoned using Eternal Growth, Desperado can add any Orchard Xyz monster on the field or in the graveyard to him as an Overlay Unit!"

"I won't let this madness continue!" Gaia-Maiden screamed before throwing Pinkie off of her staff before grabbing Maud and pulling herself off of her. She then charged at Marble once again, but suddenly found her legs being grabbed.

"Applejack, HURRY!" Pinkie cried as Gaia-Maiden tried to pull them off.

"Desperado's skill!" One of its Overlay Units flew into its pistol. At the same time, ghostly image of Crystal Rarity appeared and morphed into a light that wrapped around Desperado's body and made it glow extra bright. "By removing an Overlay Unit, Desperado's ATK goes up by the Level of an Earth monster in ma'h graveyard times one hundred." (A4300/D1700/R4/P6)

"That's not enough!" Rarity told her.

"Maybe," Applejack smiled before the other two Overlay Units flew into its gun. "But a'h can use this skill as many times as a'h want." Suddenly, the twin ghosts of Crystal Rarity appeared and flew into Desperado. The aura around him grew brighter. (A6300/D1700/R4/P6) "NOW!" Applejack yelled, "ATTACK!"

Marble watched as Desperado pointed its pistols at Gaia-Maiden before firing. The twin blasts morphed into the forms of Desperado and Crystal Rarity, both flying towards her monster.

"I activate my Trap!" Gaia-Maiden screamed, "Mirror Force!" But nothing happened, "activate the Trap!"

"I don't think so!" Pinkie told her as Gaia-Maiden tried to reach out and touch Marble. "Your days of controlling out sister are OVER!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The spirits of the two monsters turned back into lights, which merged into a single blast that continued towards Gaia-Maiden.

And as the attack came, Marble's eyes closed and tears formed in her eyes. "Thank you. Everyone." With that, the blast struck Gaia-Maiden and exploded with enough force that Marble was sent flying backwards.

Rarity: 450 (Winner)
Marble: 0
Applejack: 1200 (Winner)

A loud cracking sound made Sunset look up and see the Omega Field begin to break apart before exploding, unleashing a powerful light that blinded her as the pieces vanishing into mist.

When the light faded, Sunset opened her eyes and saw Applejack and Rarity standing tall while Marble lay on the floor. A pair of gasps made her turn back to see Pinkie and Marble sit up, panting. "You guys okay?" She saw the two look themselves over.

"Yeah," Pinkie nodded, "I'm fine."

"Same," Maud agreed before they noticed their sisters. "MARBLE!" They yelled as they rushed over to her and knelt down besides her, helping sit her up.

"Marble, speak to us!" They looked down at her hand and saw the mark was still there, all wondering what was happening.

Inside her head, Marble was floating in the void staring at a panting Gaia-Maiden.

But the look on her face wasn't one of hatred or anger at what she did. Instead, it was one of pity. "I'm sorry for what happened to you," she told her. "I know it must have been awful. But, I don't think they would have wanted this."

Gaia-Maiden looked up at her, glaring. "What do you know?"

"A lot," Marble told her. "Don't forget, I've been watching your memories for a while. I know you and I know Scayer. He wouldn't have wanted to live at the cost of millions of others." Gaia-Maiden didn't say a thing, instead looking away. "I know this is hard, but you have to move on with your life. I'm sure that's what he-"

"ENOUGH!" She shot a glare at Marble. "You may have seen what he was like but you don't know him. So be quiet!" She suddenly felt herself being pulling into the air, towards a light that was beginning to appear. "Don't think this is over. It's barely begun." With that, she vanished into the light and Marble felt herself gasp.

When her eyes opened, the first thing she saw were her sisters.

Both were staring down at her, tears in their eyes. She blinked several times before crying herself, finally getting to talk for the first time in months. "Pinkie...Maud." That was all Pinkie needed to start balling her eyes out as she pulled her twin in close, Maud hugging both of them protectively.

The others all smiled until they noticed Marble's deck glowing. Except this glow wasn't as bright as the other ones they had seen. Instead of her entire deck slotting out, only a few of them flew out while others remained in Marble's deck. "What's going on?" Sunset asked as Marble looked the cards over, seeing which ones they were.

"Those are the cards Gaia-Maiden added to my deck." As she said this, the cards exploded into flames while the Zenith Dragon remained between them. One by one, each card Gaia-Maiden had placed in the deck she stole turned to ash. Marble's eyes fell of the three copies of her Dominator and eventually, they too disintegrated. At the same time, the mark that had been on the back of Marble's hand vanished.

With the cards destroyed, the Zenith Dragon fell to the ground.

Applejack stepped over to it, crouching down to pick it up. "Finally," she sighed, "it's over." She turned to the others as they all smiled, the Pies all continuing to hug one another.

"Oh, it's far from over." The girls gasped before looking up, their eyes going wide at the sight before them. Gaia-Maiden was floating in the air, the Void Cube besides her. Her body was ghostly, showing her Duel Monster Spirit form. "A family reunited. The relief that comes after victory and confidence in the future. The hope." She smirked, "I still have a way to crush it all. And what a joy that will be. Such pleasure in your pain."

"You've already lost!" Rarity told her. "There's no way you can take our souls."

Sunset nodded. "You can whine all you want, but there's nothing you can do. Not now that your Soulink is broken and your in this state."

Gaia-Maiden let out a small chuckle, which got louder and louder while growing more and more psychotic sounding. "YOU THINK YOU'VE WON!?" She clutched her head, "YOU THINK I'M DEFEATED THAT EASILY!?" The girls grew fearful, especially when a blackish red light began to seep out of the Void Cube's seams.

"What's happening?" Pinkie asked.

"I...don't know," was all Sunset could say as they were forced to look away from the cube.

"MY PERFECT WORLD WILL COME TO PASS!" Gaia-Maiden screamed, "EVEN IF I CAN'T BE THERE TO SEE IT!" The cuber floated above head head. "LADY MIDNIGHT, I WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED! A SOUL STRONG ENOUGH TO AWAKEN YOUR FULL POWER! MY SOUL!"

Marble's eyes went wide as she tried to pick herself up, "don't!" But it was too late.

"BEHOLD, MY FINAL VICTORY!" Gaia-Maiden's ghostly body wobbled and waved as she began to glow the same light that was coming from the Void Cube. Then, she was suddenly consumed by that light. And as it did, the smile vanished from her face. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed in agony before she was sucked into the cube, the girls all watching in horror.

Seconds passed and nothing happened, only for the cube to then explode with light as it divided into the four cubes.

The girls all screamed as the light flew over them.

The others had been watching from the control room and gasped when the Void Cube activated.

They then felt something in the air and turned to see the light phase through the walls and head towards them, everyone crying out as they were hit. But instead of hurting them, it simply passed over them without pain or injury. "What's going on?" Starlight asked.

"I'm...not sure," Cadance turned to the monitor and tried to get an image of the outside. She finally did and gasped at what she saw, Sunburst and Starlight moving to see the same thing.

The Void Space had engulfed the entire building, creating a cube of blackish-red energy.

"This can't be good," Starlight gulped before looking inside the hanger and seeing the energy pass over the Omega Field before engulfing the shield. "Really not good."

Inside the Omega Field, Midnight and Shining were still Duelling. But all that stopped when the energy passed over them.

"What the?" Shining asked before the energy flew over him, Midnight letting out a gasped when it happened to her. A smile then appeared on her lips, one that Shining did not like the look of.

"It's time," she whispered before a light appeared around her. "My awakening is here...AT LAST!" With that, the light exploded off of her and formed a beam that struck the ceiling of the Omega Field.

The force knocked Shining backwards as their Duel Disks sensed a danger and shut down, their monsters vanishing. "Don't tell me."

Outside the Omega Dome, they all heard cracking before the dome exploded and unleashed a light that blinded everyone once again.

"What is happening?" Sunburst yelled, while Starlight tried to open her eyes and see through it. But what she saw was another glow, one yellow and one blue.

She turned towards those glows and saw the Zenith Dragons were the cause, Starlight's eyes going wide as she rushed over to try and grab them. But before she could, they completely vanished. And they weren't the only ones.

Within the shield, the Zenith Dragons of Limitless Skies and Endless Inferno glowed red and green. They too suddenly vanished.

Back at the last remaining generator, Sunset and the others moaned as they recovered from the energy passing over them.

"What was that?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm not sure," Sunset replied. As she did, a brown light caught their attention and made them turn to the card in Sunset's hand. Greaterra glowed brighter and brighter by the second before it completely vanished, shocking them.

"What the hey?" Applejack cried.

"Where'd it go?" Rarity asked.

Sunset felt panic swell up inside of her, remembering what Gaia-Maiden had just done. "No," she turned to the generator, "it can't be. The shield should still be up."

"Except Gaia-Maiden said it didn't matter," Rarity explained. The others turned to her. "She said that when Zeronull's power awakened, it could get through the shield even if one of the generators survived." This made everyone worry.

At the source of the light, Shining stood infront of his sister and gasped when he saw a light appear next to her.

That light was from a card, the Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents. Another light appeared, this one being the dragon of light, followed by the dragons of water, wind and fire. A flash of light from her deck revealed the appearance of the dark dragon, the six now floating around her.

Meanwhile, Midnight just smiled a sinister smile. "Finally."

Author's Note

Well, I'm sure this is going to cause some...split opinions. For those of you who thought Pinkie and Maud should have beaten Gaia-Maiden...I'm trying to not be predictable here. Besides, I feel it was much better they actually fight to protect their sister instead of simply beating her in a Duel. But either way, Midnight got what she wanted.

Her powers are back.

Turn 37: Zeronull Awakens

"Sir! We're in!" Cold turned towards the soldier working on unlocking the elevator as he help out the laptop connected to the pad. "I can switch it on at the touch of a button."

Cold nodded and turned to the others. He gestured for them to follow while the guards would remain where they were and secure the perimeter. "Grand," he turned to him, "you, Tidal and Tempest stay up here in case the Zealots try anything. We may require help from above."

"Understood," he replied while Tidal and Tempest nodded.

"Good luck amigos!" Tidal smiled.

"Kick the butt of whoever's down there," Tempest stated.

"We will," Flash assured them. With that, he, Cold, Misty, Trail, Rainbow, Soarin, Fluttershy, Gilda and the Dazzlings got close before Cold nodded. The solider pressed the button, causing the elevator to activate and bring them all down into the laboratory.

"What do we do when we're down there?" Soarin asked as they fell deeper and deeper into the underground.

"Be on guard," Trail told him. "Even if the Zealots aren't here, they may have left some unpleasant traps to protect this place."

"He's right," Cold agreed as they finally reached their intended floor. Flash looked around and didn't notice anything different from the last time he had been here, the group filling out into the corridor. "Check every door and be careful. Expect every step you take to set off a booby-trap." The others nodded and began their careful search of the place.

Sonata was the first to reach one of the doors, the ditsy girl being careful as she opened it up. "Hello?" She asked while looking into the room, only to come face to face with the Winged Dragon and Guardian of the Fortress. "YAH!" She cried while everyone spun around, only for Sonata to sigh in relief before turning to the others. "It's okay. It's just a hologram." But when she turned back to the monster, she saw it unleash a stream of fire towards her that actually felt hot.

Before it could roast her alive however, she was knocked off her feet by Aria and the two fell away from the door before the fire exploded out of it. Everybody scream, jumping away as said fire struck the wall opposite the door.

"NOT A HOLOGRAM!" Sonata screamed before the flames vanished and showed actual burns on the walls it had touched.

As soon as it did, Trail rushed inside and reached the blue dragon before it could build up another flame attack. He quickly slammed his fingers into a spot on its neck and before anyone could ask if he was crazy, the dragon suddenly fell to the floor and exploded into a million specks of light."

Trail smirked before turning to the others, seeing a shocked expression on their faces. "What? You don't live in the Duel Monster Spirit World for several years without picking up a few tricks."

"Well I hope you have a few more of those tricks," Cold told him. "Cause I get the feeling we're gonna be needing them."

"I can't believe they're able to make real monsters," Soarin said as they approached another door. "But that's gotta mean there's somebody here, right? I really don't want to learn they can make real monsters from a distance."

"It could be that there's an ARC system in play," Adagio told him. "If the safeties were switched off, that would allow the monsters and their attacks to be real and do actual damage." As she said that, Soarin opened the door and looked inside to find Alligator Sword staring at him. He quickly shut it before it could charge, the others rushing to his side.

"Know how to take down a sword wielding crocodile?" He asked while holding his back to the door.

"Yeah." Trail took out his Duel Disk and attached it to his arm. "If it is an ARC system, then it'll mean our monsters will be made real as well." He slapped a card down on it, Magma Breath Dragon materialising next to him. He and Soarin nodded at one another before the teen opened the door. "Attack!"

Alligator Sword charged, only to get struck by a blast of augmented reality fire. It still seemed to work and the cutlass wielding caiman was destroyed, while the others took out their Duel Disks.

"Everyone be prepared for anything," Cold told them. "These are only low level monsters. There are probably more powerful ones waiting further in."

"Great," Rainbow activated her Duel Disk, "I always wanted to face off against an Egyptian God."

"I doubt we'll be seeing one of those," Misty told her. "They've got to be using real cards, so the monster we see shouldn't be too rare." With that, everyone began their search and prepared to face off against any Duel Monster they came across. All the while, a thought occurred to Flash.

"I wonder if Shining's team are having any better luck."

"Finally."

Shining simply stared at his sister as the six Zenith Dragon floated around her. "Twilight?" He asked, "what's happening?"

The door behind the possessed teen opened before Cadance, Starlight and Sunburst rushed inside. "Shining!" Cadance cried, but Shining raised his hand to tell her not to come any closer. They all stared at Midnight Sparkle, the girl continuing to smile as the balls of light started to move around her.

Faster and faster they went, so much so that they created trails behind them and soon joined up to create rings of multicoloured light. This gave Midnight the appearance of an atom, the girl smirking as she reached into her pocket and took out a blank card. "The time had come!" She threw the card into the air and the six rings followed it.

"What's happening?" Starlight asked as they watched the seven cards fly higher and higher, the light from the Zenith Dragons suddenly getting sucked into the central one.

"My full power has now awakened!" Midnight screamed as the several cards suddenly exploded with light, unleashing a wave of energy that hit everyone around Midnight and knocked them off their feet.

"AUGH!" Shining cried as he was slammed into the powerless shield room, while the others hit the back wall. He quickly recovered and opened his eyes, allowing him to see Midnight staring at the cards floating in the air.

The Zenith Dragons stopped circling around the card and shot straight down, each hitting Midnight and phasing into her body. With each one, the aura around them spread around her and once the last one was absorbed, she glowed a myriad of colours.

In that moment, the formerly blank card floated down and Midnight grabbed it. Doing so caused the energy surrounding the two to merge, shockwaves following that caused the whole building to shake.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Pinkie cried as she and Maud tried to keep Marble covered in case the ceiling collapsed.

"I don't know," Sunset told them. The six of them were trying to make their way back to the control room when the shaking started. "I'm betting this is connected to the Void Cube activating and the Zenith Dragons disappearing."

"Then we have to hurry up," Rarity stated. "We have to get back the control room, fast." The others nodded.

"Come on ya'll!" Applejack lead the girls forward, "let's high tail it before we're buried alive." With that, the girls ran as fast as they could through the hallway, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the ceiling in case in collapsed.

As the building continued to shake, Shining pushed himself up to his feet and moved towards his sister.

"STOP THIS!" He yelled at Midnight. "I don't know what you're planning, but I won't let you use my sister to fulfil your evil plot!" Midnight just smiled as her eyes started glowing, Shining not liking the look of this.

"Like you have a choice," she told him as pieces of the floor broke apart and started floating into the air. The same thing was happening throughout the rest of the building, pieces of debris caused by the previous attacks losing all sense of gravity.

But as quickly as this strange event occurred, it stopped and gravity returned to normal with the pieces of rock and metal beginning to crash back into the ground. Luckily, nobody was hurt by this and the shaking that was occurring soon began to weaken as well.

At the same time, the Void Cube currently encasing the building began to lose power. It's job completed, the energy surrounding the building depleted while the four sub-cubes began to crack until they finally turned to dust.

Back inside the building, the shaking had finally come to a stop. Shining was able to properly stand without risking falling over while Cadance, Starlight and Sunburst were starting to come around after hitting their heads. All the while, Midnight was staring at the card that she had gone through everything in order to awaken.

"Hmm," she stared at it while the energy surrounding her and the card faded away. She reached out with her other hand and as her fingers got close, a spark flew off the card and zapped her. "Completed, but still unstable." Her attention then turned towards Shining and he smiled. "Like the Zenith Dragons, its power must be used before it's ready to complete the plan." She started moving towards Shining Armor. "You and I have some unfinished business." She raised her hand as the mark on the back of it glowed.

Cadance moaned as she rubbed the back of her head, then turned to where she knew her husband and sister-in-law were. She spotted Midnight getting closer and saw the light about to explode off her hand. "NOOO!" She cried, pushing through her pain and rushing to her feet as she tried to get to them. But before she could reach the pair, the light exploded off of Midnight's hand and wrapped around the pair.

In the blink of an eye, the Omega Field formed and Cadance was trapped on the other side of it. "Shining! TWILIGHT!" Starlight and Sunburst had picked themselves up and were moving towards her, the three fearing what Shining was facing within the orb.

Shining grunted as the dark light blinded for a moment, but quickly recovered and opened his eyes to see he was once again in the Omega Field.

"MIDNIGHT!" He cried out, "SHOW YOURSELF!" As he yelled this, a shadow appeared behind him and took shape.

"I'm right here." He spun around to see Midnight standing there, the shadows fading to reveal her with her hand on her hip. "Are you ready?" She held up a card as it glowed, "to face the power that will end the plague you call life?" She spun it around and Shining got a good look at the card, seeing the same image on it that he saw when Heath had Duelled Cold.

"So that's it," Shining whispered. "The Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull."

"That's right," Midnight nodded before her Duel Disk reappeared on her arm. "And once I've defeated you, this card will allow my full powers to awaken and destroy everything." She slotted the card into her deck, "the world will be silenced."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Shining cried as he activated his Duel Disk. "I'll win and free my sister from her torment. Then I'll tear that card to shreds!"

"We'll see," Midnight smiled before their Duel Disks activated.

"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"

Shining: 4000
Midnight: 4000

"I'll take the first move!" Shining drew his card and nodded. "And I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale two Royal Paladin Grace Bringer and scale seven Royal Paladin Tactician." The pillars of light appeared before the two monsters flew up into them, said monsters being a woman in blue robes with a large blue graduation hat and the other being a kid in blue armour that was riding a robotic gold beetle. Once they were in the air, the portal began to form above their heads. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" He chanted as the portal began to form above the two of them. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out of it, hitting the ground and exploding to reveal a man in silver armour with a red cape carrying a pair of blue swords. "Royal Paladin of Virtuous Blades!" (A2100/D1000/L5/P6) "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"It's my turn," Midnight drew her card and smiled when she saw what she had gotten. "Perfect." Shining frowned hearing her say that. "I'll start by playing the Spell card, Disharmony Summons." Her deck slotted out a card. "This Spell lets me add a Disharmian of my choice from my deck to my hand."

"You gotta be kidding me," he told her. "There's gotta be a cost."

"There is," Midnight nodded. "But that'll have to wait until later. Right now, I'm setting scale two Disharmian of Deceit and scale nine Disharmian of Greed into the Pendulum Zones!" The pillars of light appeared before the dark counterparts of Applejack and Rarity flew up into them. "Now I'll cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal formed. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a dark light shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Midnight's dark ace. "Disharmian, Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Midnight Archangel's skill!" Midnight discarded a card. "Since she was special summoned, I can discard a monster from my hand and add another monster to it from my deck." Said card slotted out of her deck and she drew it before smiling. She then spun it around and Shining's eyes went wide when he saw what it was.

"Zenith Dragon of Chaotic Darkness?" Shining felt himself begin to sweat. She had that card and a dark monster on the field. If she got another copy of Midnight Archangel, she could summon it. And with that monster's ability...

"I set two cards face down, then attack your Virtuous Blades!" Archangel raised her hands as a ball of dark energy appeared between them, which she then pointed at Shining's monster before it exploded into a beam of dark magic.

Said beam struck Shining's monster and caused it to explode, making him grunt in pain.

Shining: 3100
Midnight: 4000

"Now I place two cards face down and end my turn." As she said that, her Disharmony Summons card appeared on the field before unleashing a blast of light that flew straight up before arching down and slamming itself upon Midnight. "Augh!"

Shining: 3100
Midnight: 3000

"What happened?" Shining asked in confusion, while Midnight corrected her stance.

"Now you see the cost of using Disharmony Summons. During my end phase, I take a thousand points of damage for every card in my hand."

Shining frowned, "seems like a pretty risky move."

"Maybe," she told him. "but it's a small price to pay." She looked down at her one remaining card and smiled. "It won't be long now. Soon my ultimate power will awaken."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Shining stated. No matter what, he couldn't let her get the cards she needed.

"Kindness Dragonoid!" Fluttershy yelled, "Silent Roar!" Her dragon unleashed a burst of wind that struck Vorse Raider and destroyed it. At the same time, Attack Convoy and the Ocean's Idol siblings destroyed Luster, Alexandrite and Koumori Dragon.

This is getting exhausting," Adagio told the others as they began to search the rooms they had just made monster-less. These were the last rooms of the hallway they had entered and every one had had a monster within protecting it.

"We can't stop now," Flash told them as he and Flash Heart Dragon Alpha rushed passed them. There was only one door left in the hallway and it was the one that entered into the next level of the facility. And when he opened it up, he found it was empty. "Clear!" He stepped inside, Rainbow and Misty following after him. But as they moved further into the room, they heard a noise before the floor opened up and created three round holes.

From out of those holes, a Cyber-Tech Alligator, Flame Cerebrus and Megazowler appeared.

"Scratch that," he said before the three's monsters charged forward to do battle with them. As they did, he turned to the others. "You guys notice something?"

"You mean how these monsters are stronger then the ones before," Misty pointed out while her son nodded. "If the monsters are stronger, that means we're getting closer to something they feel needs better protection."

Rainbow smirked, "meaning we have all the more reason to take them out!" The others filed in as the three monsters were destroyed, allowing them to move forward.

"Hopefully," Flash said, "whatever they're protecting can help us finally take the Zealots down and free Twilight."

"It's my turn," Shining reached for his deck. "I DRAW!" He saw what he had gotten and nodded before turning my to his sister. "Just hold on Twily. I'm gonna get your back."

"I look forward to seeing you try," Midnight told him. "Try and fail."

Shining growled before he slapped a card onto his Duel Disk, "I summon the Tuner monster, Royal Paladin, Regal Mage Apprentice!" In a flash of light, a girl in white hooded robe appeared holding a blue staff with a head made of a clear blue crystal. (A500/D300/L2)

"A Tuner monster?" Midnight smirked.

"That's right," Shining nodded. "And I bet you can guess what's gonna happen next." The portal formed above their heads. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a light shot out and stuck the ground, then exploded to reveal Shining's revived monster. "Royal Paladin of Virtuous Blades!" (A2100/D1000/L5/P6) As soon as the knight landed, Regal Mage Apprentice leapt into the air. "Now, I tune Level two Regal Mage Apprentice with Level five Virtuous Blades!" The Tuner transformed into a trio of lights, which craved the three rings that the knight flew up into as Shining chanted. "I call on the power of the proud white wings of fate!" His two monsters vanished in a brilliant explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Shining's Synchro Monster. "Royal Paladin Commander!" (A2500/D2100/L7) "And since Regal Mage Apprentice was used it a Synchro Summon, I can use his ability to add a Spell from my Deck to my hand." His deck slotted out a card, which he took before slotting into his Duel Disk. "I now equip Commander with the Dimensional Spear!" A lance suddenly appeared in the monster's hand, with had gems circling the base and a crystalline tip. "This card pumps my Commander up by seven hundred points." (A3200/D2100/L7)

"Not bad," Midnight smiled. "But you realise you're simply playing into my hands."

"Why?" He asked, "do you want your monster to be destroyed." He didn't give her a chance to reply. "Of course you do. Because then you can summon it back and use its ability again. Well that won't be happening!" He pointed at Midnight Archangel, "attack!" Commander flew forward on his pegasus and raised his spear as the crystals glowed, then shot forward to impale Midnight Archangel and destroy her.

Shining: 3100
Midnight: 2800

"Now Dimensional Spear's effect activates!" Shining announced as Commander raised the weapon and shot a beam of light out that created a portal, which the particles Archangel became were sucked into. "When the monster equipped with it destroys a monster, that monster is banished."

Midnight smirked. "Smart. You found a way to get rid of my monster so I couldn't use her effect." This made Shining frown.

"So why don't you look upset?"

"Because I totally saw that move coming." As she said that, one of her face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Parallel Counterpart. This activates whenever a monster is banished and it allows me to add another copy of that card from my deck to my hand." Shining's eyes went wide as Midnight's deck slotted out the card.

"No way."

"I knew you'd try to banish my Archangel. Don't forget, I know you all too well thanks to all your sister's memories. I figured Flash or Spike would have told you about my monster's ability."

Shining sighed before placing a card face down, "I end my turn."

"My draw!" Midnight drew her card as the portal began to form above her head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a light flew out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal her ace monster once again. "Disharmian, Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Archangel's skill!"

Shining frowned as she discarded a card, only to grow curious when something appeared infront of them. That something was a crystal orb, which had the symbol for the Dark Attribute. "What is that?" He asked as the orb flew over to Midnight and started circling her.

"That represents the card I just discarded," Midnight explained as her deck slotted out another card. She took that card and showed it to Shining, the man's eyes going wide.

"Fabulaqua?" Why would she pick another Zenith Dragon?

"Next, I activate the Spell card Dark Nullifier!" An black energy ball appeared in Midnight Archangel's hand before she threw it to the ground, making it explode and unleash black lightning that flew across Shining's field.

"What's happening?" Shining asked as Commander was zapped, causing the Dimensional Spear in his hand to vanish. (A2500/D2100/L7)

"Dark Nullifier lets me negate the effect of any active Spell or Trap on your field whilst stopping you from activating any other card on the field." Shining frowned as Midnight Archangel created another energy orb. "Now I will destroyed your Royal Paladin Commander!" She fired the beam and struck Shining's Synchro Monster, destroying it.

Shining: 2600
Midnight: 2800

"I end my turn."

As Shining regained his balance, he started putting the pieces together. "She discarded Granebris for Fabulaqua, but why?" He frowned at her, knowing he couldn't risk her continuing this strategy.

"It's my turn," he drew his card as the portal began to form above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot at and exploded, revealing his Pendulum monster as it took a defensive position. "Royal Paladin of Virtuous Blades!" (A2100/D1000/L5/P6) 'Until I can find a way to get rid of Midnight Archangel, I've gotta keep my defences up.'

"I activate my Continuous Trap!" Midnight cried as her card flipped up, "Coward's Punishment! This card forces all monsters into ATK mode and will destroy any monster that didn't attack during the End Phase." She smiled as Shining's monster was forced to stand up. "So what'll it be? Let your monster attack and destroy itself, or save yourself some points?"

"Neither," Shining sighed before placing a card. "I activate the Spell card, Intense Light!" Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shine incredibly brightly, causing Midnight and her monster to cry out while Shining and his monster seemed perfectly fine. "With this card, all Light Monsters gain five hundred ATK points. And at the same time, all Dark Monsters lose five hundred ATK points. (A2600/D1000/L5/P6) (A2500/D2500/L8/P5) "This is gonna hurt me more then it'll hurt you in the long run," he told her as Virtuous Blades rushed forward. And with one might slash, it cut Midnight Archangel in half.

Shining: 2600
Midnight: 2700

"I end my turn," Shining's monster regained its normal ATK points. (A2100/D1000/L5/P6) He frowned as Midnight drew her card, the portal forming above her. "Will she do it again?"

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and the dark light shot out, exploding to reveal her monster once again. "Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "And her skill now activates." She discarded her card, a blue crystal with the water emblem appearing as her deck slotted out another card.

She took it and showed it to Shining once again, the man frowning. "Now its Greaterra? Why is she doing this?" He asked, looking up at the crystals floating above her head. "Wait." He thought back to the card she had created before. "It this how she intends to summon Zeronull?" He stared back at this sister, "but how many more does she need?"

"Midnight Archangel, destroy Royal Paladin of Virtuous Blades!" The fiend fired her attack, hitting Shining's Synchro Pendulum monster and destroying it whilst he let out a grunt.

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 2700

"I place a card face down and end my turn."

Shining groaned as he stood up straight, "I have to find a way to end this Duel now."

"Cream it!" Gilda cried as her Harpie Lady Zephyr flew forward and slashed Hyozanryu to pieces.

"Wipe it out!" Trial yelled as his ace unleashed a blast of flames that caused Big Koala to explode.

"ATTACK!" Cold ordered before Frozen Heart Neo Dragon froze Gogiga Gagagigo before shattering it into a million pieces. At the same time, other monsters in the room were destroyed by Flash and the others. "Is that the last of them?"

"For this room," Misty sighed. "And hopefully that'll be the last obstacles we have to face."

"I can't think of any stronger monsters they could have," Trail told her. "Considering the monsters we've had before, there can't be much stronger ones then that."

"Let's find out," Flash moved over to the door and opened it up. As he did, he was treated to the sight of another empty chamber. But as the others filed in, they found said chamber wasn't very empty for long.

Once again, the floor split open and five monsters ascended from below. And their eyes went wide when they saw what those monsters were. "Three Blue-Eyes, a Red-Eyes and a Summoned Skull!" Soarin cried as the five roared, "you gotta be kidding me!" The dragons quickly unleashed a quartet of blasts aimed at Flash and the others.

Luckily, their monsters were able to take the hit for them and not be destroyed. "Spread out!" Cold told them before jumping onto his dragon, the others following suit splitting up.

"Assault Convoy!" Soarin yelled as his monster fired at Red-Eyes and Summoned Skull, but the two flew away and avoided the attacks.

A Blue-Eyes then unleashed a Burst Stream of Destruction that flew through the air and almost hit Zephyr, it and Gilda getting blasted out of the sky. "GYAH!" She cried before Fluttershy swooped in and caught her.

"You okay?" She asked was Gilda was safely on her dragon's back.

"I'm fine," Gilda picked herself up. "But these things are strong."

"Really strong!" Adagio cried as the three Ocean's Idols unleashed a sonic blast that struck one of the Blue-Eyes and pushed it back, but couldn't destroy it.

At the same time, Flash Heart found itself grappling with Summoned Skull while Neo Frozen Heart tried to claw at another Blue-Eyes.

"Fire!" Trail yelled as his dragon unleashed a blast at Red-Eyes, but it blocked with its own fireball and that allowed it to fly out of the way. "Dang it!"

"What do we do?" Sonata asked as Rainbow and Battle Wing flew towards another Blue-Eyes.

"Hey," Rainbow smirked before going to her Duel Disk, "this could work." She took out a pair of cards and instantly played one, causing Battle Wing to glow. Everyone watched as the monster transformed into Prism Bolt, the light exploding to reveal it. "Alright!" She played another and her Courageous Shield of Netitus appeared. "GO!" Her monster shot forward as she jumped clear, landing on Kindness Dragonoid.

Blue-Eyes fired its attack, but Prism Bolt used its shield to defend itself until it got close. Then it punched Blue-Eyes and destroyed it.

"Yeah!" Soarin cheered while Flash got an idea.

"Alright!" Flash Heart pulled away from Summoned Skull as Flash took a card from his deck. "Cold, move away from the Blue-Eyes!" Cold did so and his dragon pulled back, right as Flash played the card. "Go, Reverse Polarity!" Blue-Eyes glowed and that light quickly flew off and into Flash Heart, right as Flash and Cold shared a nod.

"GO!" They both yelled as their monsters shot forward, Flash Heart punching Summoned Skull while Neo Frozen Heart froze Blue-Eyes before it shattered.

Those monsters exploded, leaving only one Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes. But before the others could cheer, the dragons let out a roar. Doing so caused the lights from the destroyed monsters to fly towards them and phase into their body, causing them to glow.

"Now what?" Gilda asked before the two dragons began to change.

"They're absorbing their fallen comrades," Trail realised. "And they're...evolving." The light finally vanished to reveal the new monsters, that being the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Black Skull Dragon.

"Oh come on," Flash cried before needing to dodge a Neutron Blast while Cold needed to dodge a Molten Fireball.

The other two Ultimate Dragon heads fired off their attacks and flew across the field, exploding and causing Divine Angel, Assault Convoy and the mermaids to be destroyed while their Duellists were blasted away. "WOW!" Soarin and Misty cried as they fell to the ground, only for Trail and Fluttershy's monsters to catch them.

"This is bad," Aria groaned. "Do any of us have something that can take those things down?"

"I'm not sure," Adagio told her while Flash and Cold tried to fly in once again to attack.

"GO!" Flash yelled as his dragon tried to punch Black Skull Dragon, only for his attack to bounce right off its chest. "It's no use."

"Don't give up yet!" Cold told him as Neo Frozen Heart unleashed a blast of cold air, which struck Ultimate Dragon. But the cold air did nothing, not even a mild case of frostbite.

Once again, the dragons prepared to fire again. This time, all three Ultimate Dragon heads were pointed right at Flash Heart. And they soon fired their attacks, unleashing a trio of energy spheres that headed straight for him. "LOOK OUT!" Flash told his dragon, but it didn't have time to fly them to safety.

Luckily, Prism Bolt appeared infront of them and used his shield to block the attacks. All three slammed into the shining bird-man, but the shield protect it from being destroyed.

Flash sighed in relief before turning to Rainbow, who gave him a thumbs up and a smirk that said "win this."

"I'm taking that thing down!" Flash announced before reaching for his deck and drawing his cards. He didn't even look at them before playing said cards, having faith in his deck. "I activate Lightspeed and Multiversal Spirit!" The two Spells activated, causing Flash Heart Alpha to glow as the ghostly image of Magna Strider appeared around it.

"I activate Freeze Cannon!" Cold announced as the robotic arm replaced his dragon's right one.

"GO!" Flash yelled as his dragon shot forward and slammed its fist into Ultimate Dragon, while Neo Frozen Heart fired its cannon and froze Black Skull Dragon solid. The two Fusion Monsters screamed, seconds before they exploded and the room fell silent.

The others cheered as Flash and Cold flew down, their monsters fading away and letting them jump to the ground. "Great work guys!" Trail said as the other monsters faded.

"Thanks," Flash sighed and fell to his but. "Let's hope that was the last of them. I don't think I can do any more." The others nodded and helped Flash up before they headed for the nearby door, Cold being the one to grab the handle.

"Whatever's through here, let's be ready no matter what." They all nodded in agreement before Cold took out a radio. "Grand. You, Tempest and Tidal get down here. We're at the heart of the base."

"Alright," Grand replied, "we'll be there soon. Just be careful." Cold cut the call before turning the handle and pushing the door open, allowing them to look inside. And what they found was not something they had been expecting.

"It's my turn," Shining reached for his deck. "Come on. Give me something that can help me end this, here and now!" He drew his card and smiled when he saw what he had gotten, an idea forming in his head. "I summon Royal Paladin of Future Potential, Llew!" In a flash of light, a blond kid in light armour appeared. (A100/D100/L1)

"That's what you think will let you win this Duel and free your sister?" Midnight asked while shaking her head. "Shining Armor, you disappoint me."

"Don't go jumping to conclusions," Shining told her. "Especially not while I have Knight of Virtuous Blades' skill." His Extra Deck opened and he removed the card. "By sending him to my graveyard, I can now revive one Royal Paladin in my graveyard." A flash of light revealed the monster he was reviving, "rise again, Regal Mage Apprentice." The magician spun her staff around. (A500/D300/L2)

"He chose that instead of Commander," Midnight stated. "Why?"

"Because now I tune Level two Regal Mage Apprentice with Royal Paladin of Future Potential, Llew!" The two monsters leapt into the air before the wizard transformed into a pair of lights that quickly carved two rings around Llew. "Let the light of justice shine ever bright, unleashing new hope into this world." The two were consumed by light before it exploded "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded to reveal a a woman in white robes, carrying a white wooden staff with a glowing crystal on the end of it. "Royal Paladin, Glorious Mage!" (A1200/D700/L3) "Skill of Regal Mage Apprentice!" A card slotted out of Shining's deck, which he took and instantly played. "I activate Monster Reborn!" In another flash of light, Royal Paladin Commander appeared besides Glorious Mage. (A2500/D2100/L7)

"Wait," Midnight stared at Commander before turning to Glorious Mage, "don't tell me she's-"

"A Synchro Tuner!" Shining announced Glorious Mage leapt into the air and exploded into three light, which quickly carved a pair of rings that Commander flew into. "Enter the fray. Kneel before your king." The monsters disappeared in an explosion of light. "GO, ACCEL SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing a monster they all recognised as Shining ace. It rode onto the battle field, atop its blue steed. "Royal Paladin Grand Emperor!" (A3500/D2500/L10)

"You Accel Synchro Summoned your ace?" She asked in shock.

"No rule against it," Shining stated. "And now it's time to end this Duel, once and for all!" The king of knight raised his colossal sword before charging at Midnight Archangel, destroying her with one mighty swing of his weapon.

"AUGH!" Midnight cried as he monster was destroyed, feeling the pain from the attack.

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 2200

"I'm sorry Twilight," Shining told her. "But this has to be done." The king of knights galloped back and circled around him before charging at Midnight. "Grand Emperor's skill. He can attack once for every Tuner monster in the grave at the time of his summons. And I have two." Grand Emperor drew closer and closer, all the while raising his sword. But before he reached her-

"I activate my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Damage Diet!" A force field appeared around her that Grand Emperor slashed, managing to break through it but the force of his attack was weakened by doing so. The attack struck Midnight, making her cry out and fall to the ground, but her Life Points remained.

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 450

Midnight panted before pushing herself back to her feet. "Sorry bro, but Damage Diet cuts the damage I take from an attack if half." Shining growled as The king of knights returned to his side of the field. "I wasn't able to stop her."

"No, you weren't." Midnight reached for her deck. "And unless that last card in your hand is a card that deals me five hundred points of damage or more, I assume you're done." Shining frowned but simply nodded. "Good, then I draw!" As she did, the portal formed. "AND PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened up before the dark light exploded out of it, then hit the ground and exploded to once again reveal her ace. "Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "And with that, he skill activates once again." She discarded a card as a brown crystal with the earth attribute symbol appeared before floating up above her, while another card slotted out of her deck. Midnight took it and smiled, Shining suddenly getting a bad feeling.

That made feeling increased when the card glowed the same coloured light that made up the Omega Field. "Don't tell me."

"Oh yes!" She raised the card into the air, "the time has finally come! With this card, I put everything on the line." The light grew brighter and brighter. "Should I lose this Duel, every card in my deck will be destroyed. Even my Zenith Dragons and this card itself, will not be spared." She then raised her Duel Disk as a purple, blue and brown light exploded out of it, Shining blinded for a second but managing to look through it and see three cards fly out of her Duel Disk and up to the orbs above her.

"What's happening?" Shining asked as each card phased into the orbs.

"In order to summon my ultimate monster, I must first banish three Zenith Dragons from my graveyard." As Midnight said that, the orbs shot into the air while circling around one another. They got so high that Shining could no longer seen them, though that soon changed when an explosion of light occurred and filled the Omega Field.

"AAARRRHHH!" He cried at the intense light, forcing him to both close his eyes and cover them.

"ARISE!" Midnight slapped the card onto her Duel Disk, "OMEGA DEITY OF DESTRUCTION! ZERONULL!" The light finally faded and Shining opened his eyes, the blurry sight slowly fading to allow him to see. But what he saw surprised him.

"Well?" He looked around, "where is it?" He saw no sign of this ultimate monster, "where's Zeronull?"

Midnight simply smiled, "take a closer look." As she said that, something appeared behind her. A red light.

Shining stared at the light and slowly, his eyes went wide as his head craned up. "No...no way." He was staring at Zeronull, the outer god so large that he couldn't fit its entire body into his vision. It was just like the image he had seen in the temple, but he was massive.

The Zenith Dragons were tiny compared to him. In fact, Shining could see the three Zenith Dragons. Each one was comfortably floating inside one of the six orbs on Zeronull's wing, with enough room to freely move around if they so chose. Zeronull was practically the size of the moon, maybe even bigger.

"This can't be real," he told himself.

"Oh," Midnight smiled, "it's quite real." She pointed at him. "You, human, will be the first silenced by my gaze." Shining felt himself quiver at the sight of the Omega Deity of Destruction, but he couldn't let himself weaver. Even if this was an outer god, Shining still had to defeat it. To save his sister and the whole world.

"I'll win," he whispered.

Author's Note

And thus, Zeronull has appeared. What kind of power will it possess and what kind of power is needed to defeat it. Only time will tell.

Turn 38: Project Omega Zenith

Back in Canterlot, Flash and the others stared at the room they had just entered in amazement.

It was large and had several oversized computers up against the wall, but what really caught many of their eyes were the machines in the center of the room.

These machines were a bunch of large glass spheres, big enough to fit a person inside. Each of them were surrounded by a metal ring with eight metal spikes sticking out of them to form a star shape. Each sphere was a different colour and had one of the six attribute symbols on them.

"What are these things?" Rainbow asked, while Aria and Sonata recognised them.

"We saw these things when he hacked into the Zealot's computer systems," Aria explained. "No idea what they're for."

"Nothing good I imagine," Cold told them before moving over to what he hoped was the main computer. "Let's see if we can't figure out what they're up too." He started typing away while the others continued to look around the room, but all the while they kept an eye on the machines in front of them.

"These have to be important," Misty announced. "Why would the Zealots go to such lengths if they weren't."

"Then let's smash'em!" Rainbow cried, "then they can't use them."

"Maybe we should try and find out what they are first," Fluttershy told her. "In case damaging them does more harm than good." Rainbow huffed at this, but agreed.

"I'm just surprised the Zealots haven't shown up yet," Trail said. "If these things are so important, why aren't they here protecting them?" The others were wondering that too, all curious what Midnight and the Zealots were up too.

But as they got to work, Cold's phone suddenly went off.

He took it out and was surprised to see who it was. "Starlight?" The others turned to him in surprise, curious why she of all their friends in Nevada were calling him. "Cold Steel," he answered while putting it on speaker. "What's up."

"TROUBLE!" Sunburst screamed through the phone, making them worry. "Midnight and the Zealots attacked!"

"WHAT!?" They all screamed, rushing over to the phone.

"Sorry we didn't call you earlier," Starlight told them. "We just managed to get communications back up after the Zealots took them down."

"Give us the facts," Cold explained. "From start to finish, tell us everything that's happened."

As the two explained, Cadance continued to stand outside in the shield room staring at the Omega Field. She was going crazy not knowing what was happening inside of it, fear gripping her heart at the thought of the two Dueling against one another. "Shining," she whispered. 'It was dangerous to face her when she only had one Zenith Dragon. But now she has them all and some other crazy card.' She reached out to try and touch the field, thought every cell in her body told her not too. And the jolt she suddenly felt made her pull her hand back. "Please be careful."

"And now Midnight has all the Zenith Dragons," Sunburst finished.

"That's not good," Cold said back.

"At least the Zealots are dealt with," Flash's voice spoke up and surprised the two since they thought he was still getting his deck back. "Is Marble okay?"

"I'm fine." The two turned to see Sunset and her group step into the control room, Sunburst quickly grabbing a chair so Marble could sit in it and regain her strength. "But I'm sorry. Gaia-Maiden sacrificed herself and now Midnight has everything she needs."

"There's still a chance," Misty said back. "If the two of them are Dueling, then Shining might be able to beat her and free Twilight before Zeronull can bring his plan to fruition." Those in the control room nodded and one by one, they stepped into the shield room and stared at the Omega Field.

"Good luck Shining," Sunset said what everyone was thinking. Each of them hoped the Duelling Paladin would be able to claim victory against Midnight and save the world, before it was too late.

Within the Omega Field, Shining was still staring up at the biggest Duel Monster the probably every existed.

"So what do you think of Zeronull in all his majesty?" Midnight asked with a smirk. "Now you see why he needed such a strong Duellists as his host. No ordinary human can survive housing something that big and that powerful."

"I'll admit it's impressive," Shining nodded. "But it takes more then size to win a Duel."

"You're right," Midnight nodded. "It also takes power and Zeronull's ATK and DEF points become the sum total of every banished Zenith Dragon times one thousand." The three filled orbs glowed its dragon's colour, that energy flowing into the rest of Zeronull and powering him up. (A3000/D3000/L12)

"Only three thousand?" Shining asked with a smirk, "my Grand Emperor can easily beat that."

"Are you sure?" Midnight smiled before pointing upwards. "Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull." She then pointed at Grand Emperor, "ATTACK!"

Shining's brain shifted gears without the clutch as he looked up at the giant monster, seeing the round gem on its chest beginning to glow reddish-black. "Why?" He looked back down at Midnight, "she wouldn't order an attack unless she knew her monster could win. So that must mean..."

"I activate Zeronull's skill!" Midnight yelled as a card slotted out of her deck, which she took and held up to show Shining Armor.

"Marventus?" He asked in confusion before seeing Midnight throw the card into the air. As she did, the card glowed green and suddenly began to fly up towards one of Zeronull's empty wing orbs. Once it was in reached it, the card phased into the orb and in a flash of light, the Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies appeared within the orb. Said orb began to glow, the light flowing into Zeronull.

"Whenever Zeronull attacks, I have to banish a monster from my hand, deck or graveyard."

"But with another Zenith Dragon removed from play..." Shining looked down at his Duel Disk and saw Zeronull's score change. (A4000/D4000/L12) "So that's it," Shining growled as the crystal in Zeronull's chest unleashed a laser straight for Grand Emperor. But then, he smiled. "That's fine!" His face down flipped up, "because I have my Trap. Mirror Force!" The beam suddenly collided with a barrier at appeared in front of Grand Emperor and bounced the energy that hit it off. "With this Trap, all your ATK position monsters will be destroyed!"

Midnight watched as the rebounded energy began to rain down on her field and destroyed Midnight Archangel. But when the blasts got close to Zeronull, they simply faded away inches from him.

"What?" Shining asked, "how did-"

"As long as I have a Zenith Dragon removed from play, Zeronull is immune to the effects of all Traps."

"That can't be!" Shining yelled as Zeronull's attack continued and finally broke through the Mirror Force, hitting Grand Emperor and filling the Omega Field with an intensely dark light. "Grand Emperor!" Shining cried while covering his eyes, the light eventually fading and allowing him to see the results of the attack.

Grand Emperor...was still on the field. "What?" He looked down at his Duel Disk and saw his points hadn't changed. "What's going on."

"As long as I have a Zenith Dragon removed from play, neither Zeronull or the monster he battles will be destroyed by battle. Nor will we take damage from a battle involving Zeronull."

"So he nullifies Traps and makes all battle damage zero?" Shining asked, "this guy's really living up to his name."

"I end my turn by playing Dian Keto, the Cure Master!" The green haired women appeared infront of Midnight and held up her sphere, which exploded and unleashed a light that Midnight bathed in as her life points increased.

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 1450

Shining frowned as he stared Midnight down, then glared up at Zeronull. 'This doesn't make any sense. Sure, the monster's strong. But if it can't destroy a monster or deal me damage, how is she planning on beating me?' He reached for his deck and drew his card. "There's more to this monster then she's letting on and if I want to free Twilight from its control, I've gotta figure out everything there is to know about it." She glanced up at Midnight, "just hold on sis. Just a little while longer." He played his card, "I activate the Lightning Vortex Spell card!"

Midnight raised an eyebrow as Shining discarded a card, right as a giant tornado exploded between them. This tornado had lightning surging around it, the storm then shooting towards Zeronull.

"This card will destroy every monster on your field."

"Will it?" Midnight asked, Shining raising an eyebrow before looking up as the tornado reached Zeronull. But before it even got close to touching the Omega Deity of Destruction, it was blown away by some kind of invisible force and left Zeronull completely unscathed.

"What?" Shining asked while Midnight smiled.

"As long as I have a Zenith Dragon removed from play, Zeronull is immune to the effects of all Spell cards."

"You gotta be kidding me," Shining frowned. He was about to end his turn, but then remembered Midnight Coward's Punishment. If he didn't attack, Grand Emperor would be destroyed. And if he wanted to win, he needed his ace monster. "Grand Emperor, attack Zeronull!" The king of knights charged forward as his sword began to glow, then pointed it at Zeronull and unleashed a beam of light that flew towards the outer god and struck it. But the light rebounded and flew back to Grand Emperor, hitting him and knocking him backwards.

He slid to a stop infront of Shining, Midnight smirking. "Are you done yet?"

Shining sighed, "yes."

"Then it's my turn," Midnight drew her card before pointing at Grand Emperor once again. "And now I'll attack your Grand Emperor with Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull!" The monster's chest gem began to glow while a card slotted out of Midnight's deck. "Zeronull's skill!" She took the card and showed it to Shining.

"Now it's Perfignis?" He asked as she threw the card into the air, the card glowing as it shot up towards one of the two empty orbs remaining on Zeronull's wings. Like before, the card phased into the orb and in a flash of light the Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno appeared within it.

"Now Zeronull's power increases by a thousand points!" Midnight cried as th orb Perfignis was in glowed, the power travelling into Zeronull. (A5000/D5000/L12)

"All that power," Shining whispered. "It's on the level of the Egyptian Gods." Zeronull fired its blast at Grand Emperor, "but it's wasted!" The blast struck his monster and filled the void with a bright light, which quickly faded to reveal Grand Emperor was still standing with no a scratch on it. "What's the point in having such a strong monster if it can't even do any damage. All it's doing is increasing power and...wait." His eyes slowly grew wide as he put the pieces together

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Midnight announced before looking up at Shining. "Your turn." But his focus wasn't on her, "hello."

He looked down at her, "it's not an Egyptian God." Midnight raised an eyebrow at this, "it's Exodia!" He pointed at Midnight, "you're going for an auto-win."

Midnight couldn't help but chuckle, "the great Shining Armor. Of course you'd figure it out." She nodded and held up her Duel Disk so Shining could look at her deck, "that's right. All I need is to banish six Zenith Dragons, then during my standby phase I'll win the Duel automatically."

"I knew it," Shining growled before looking up at Zeronull and seeing the only empty orb. "She'll banish the last Zenith Dragon next turn, that means I only have two turns left to beat her with."

"If you can," Midnight smiled. "But I like to think of myself as an optimist, so why don't you give it a go."

"Fine!" Shining cried as he drew his card and instantly played it, "go Pot of Greed!" He drew two more cards and smiled when he saw what one of them was. "Or should I say, Pot of Need. I play Reinforcements of the Army, which lets me add a Level four or below Warrior Monster from my deck to my hand." He drew said card from his deck and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Royal Paladin of Twin Spear!" In a flash of light, a young knight carrying a pair of short spears appeared. (A1200/D1000/L3)

"You expect him to be the one to save you?" Midnight asked, while Shining smiled.

"That's right," The teen threw on of his spears onto the ground. "Because once I cut his ATK points in half, he can attack you directly." (A600/D1000/L3) Twin Spear then threw his weapon at Midnight, the javelin hitting her in the chest and phasing right through her.

"Augh!"

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 850

"Nice trick!" She told him as he face down flipped up, "now here's mine. Numinous Healer!" Light wrapped around her, granting her an extra thousand life points.

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 1850

"Dang it," Shining sighed before Grand Emperor charged at Zeronull and unleashed the burst of light. But once again, the outer good was unharmed. "I place one card face down and end my turn." Royal Paladin of Twin Spear's ATK points returned to normal. (A1200/D1000/L3)

"Your little monster was cute," Midnight drew her card. "But even without my trap, he wouldn't have been able to beat me next turn anyway."

"He would with this!" Shining's face down flipped up to reveal a Trap, "Just Desserts!" The Trap unleashed a burst of energy, which struck Midnight and made her cry out in pain.

Shining: 1700
Midnight: 1350

Midnight huffed and stood tall, "good thing I padded my points last turn."

"I still have a chance," Shining told her. "One card's all it takes to flip the odds."

"Maybe you're right," Midnight played something. "One card is all it takes." The ground beneath Twin Spear suddenly broke open and he fell into it, barely managing to grab the side of the crack so as to not fall into the abyss below.

"What?" Shining asked, "this must be-"

"Fissure," Twilight corrected as Twin Spear finally fell and the crack slammed shut once again. "Quite a lucky card to draw, wouldn't you say?" Shining looked up and shot her a glare, while Midnight simply smiled. "Now," Zeronull's chest gem glowed, "I'll attack your Grand Emperor. But first," her deck slotted out a card. "The final piece of the puzzle."

"Mesmeridiem," Shining whispered as Midnight threw the card into the air.

"With this, Zeronull has reached his-" She giggled, "his Zenith." The card flew up to the final orb and phased into it, the Zenith Dragon of Glorious Shine appearing to fill the orb and make it glow. The light flew into Zeronull and its power rose to its max. (A6000/D6000/L12) At the same time, the laser fired and struck Grand Emperor.

The force created a shockwave that pushed the Royal Paladin backwards while Shining was knocked off his feet. "WOW!" He cried as he hit the ground, while his monster remained unharmed.

"I end my turn," Midnight announced before looking up at her monster. "Soon, victory shall be yours and your true power can be used to end this world."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," she turned back to Shining as he picked himself up. Once he was back on his feet, he raised his Duel Disk. "I still have...one turn left."

Midnight smiled, "then you'd better make it count."

'I'd better,' Shining reached for his Deck. 'If I don't, then everything we've worked for. Everything we care about, it'll be taken away.' "I can't let that happen!"

"Found it!" The others looked around and saw Cold had managed to finish hacking into the Zealot's computer systems.

As they did so, the door of the room opened and Grand, Tidal and Tempest stepped inside. "Hola!" Tidal smiled as they stepped over to them, "what happened in the rooms before? It looks like a wars zone."

"It's a long story," Soarin told him.

"So what did we miss?" Tempest asked.

"Just that Midnight now has all six Zenith Dragons," Rainbow explained. The three's eyes went wide and they began questioning the others while Flash, Misty, Trail and Cold focused on the computer.

"So you're in the system?" Misty asked, getting a nod from Cold.

"Yes. Now let's see what we're up against." He began clicking on one folder after another. Then, he found a folder labelled Project Omega Zenith. "Here." He clicked on the image as the rest of the group tried to get a look at the screen, while an image appeared onscreen. The image was of the machines that filled the room, but that image didn't last long.

It changed to show a picture of the planet. After a few seconds, the devices appeared around the planet. Once all six appeared, they began to connect to one another by a blackish-red light that flew from one device to another. Eventually, they made a hexagon around the planet.

"I've seen this before," Aria told them. "It was in the other base."

"Si," Tidal said whilst he and Sonata nodded in agreement. It was then that another image replied that one, this being a pair of planets floating next to one another.

"And I've seen this before," Flash told them. He turned to Tempest, who appeared to recognise the clip. Even more so when the two worlds moved closer and closer before eventually colliding, then vanishing. "Storm King Dominator showed it to me, Spike and Sunburst."

"But what does it mean?" Gilda asked, while Cold slowly began to put the pieces together. And when he did, his eyes went wide.

"We need to destroy these things!" Cold stood up and turned to the devices, "I know what Midnight's planning with them."

"If I don't win this now, then everything will be lost." Shining closed his eyes and the first thing that came to mind was his daughter, so young and innocent. Millions of limitless futures awaiting her. All of that would be stolen from her, if he didn't win this Duel.

"One turn," Midnight told him. "That's all you have."

"One turn's all I need," Shining replied. "To save everything I care about. My daughter, my wife...my sister, and everyone else whose futures you want to steal away." He drew his card, "I'LL SAVE THEM ALL!" He looked at the card he had gotten and gasped, realising what he could do. "My only chance. I summon my Royal Paladin, Courage Seeker!" In a flash of light, a teenage knight with silver armour appeared. He had small metal wings on his back and carried a golden cutlass in one hand and a short-sword in the other. (A300/D200/L1)

"Let me guess,"midnight frowned. "Another tuner monster."

"You're right," Shining nodded. "And with his ability, I can now summon a Royal Paladin from my graveyard with five hundred or less ATK points!" In a flash of light, Llew appeared besides Courage Seeker. As soon as he did, he glowed and looked like he was beginning to weaken. (A0/D0/L1)

"So it weakens the monster summoned?" Midnight asked, "do you really think that can help you?"

"Of course!" Shining cried as the two low level monsters leapt into the air, "especially when I tune my Level one Courage Seeker with Level one Royal Paladin of Future Potential!" The tuner transformed into a single light and drew a circle around Llew, Shining chanting as he did so. "Both strength and strategy are key to claiming victory in battle. Now watch as a monster embodying both is given life!" The monsters were consumed by an explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing an aged knight with glasses and a gray beard, who was carrying a quiver filled with maps and scrolls. "Royal Paladin, Formation Scout!" (A800/D0/L2)

"So that's your new Synchro Tuner?" Midnight asked, only to see a smile appear on Shining's face.

"He's not a tuner monster," Shining explained. "But he does have a pretty impressive special ability!" Grand Emperor began to glow. "By tributing a Synchro Monster on my field, I can special summon two or my Synchro monsters in my graveyard whose Levels equal his." Midnight's eyes went wide as Grand Emperor exploded, with the lights forming forming two groups that took shape before fading to reveal Royal Paladin Commander and Glorious Mage. (A2500/D2100/L7) (A1200/D700/L3)

"You de-tuned your monsters?" Midnight asked, "why?"

"To win," Shining explained. He then smiled. "Synchro Summoning has always been special to me and my family. I learnt it and showed it to Cadance, who mastered it herself and then taught Twilight. She taught it to Spike and hopefully, Flurry will one day learn to use it. And now, to save my sister, I'll push Synchro Summoning to its absolute limits!"

"What are you talking about?" Midnight asked before seeing all three of Shining's monsters begin to glow.

They then leapt into the air, as Glorious Mage waved her wand. "I tune Level three Royal Paladin, Glorious Mage, with Level seven Royal Paladin Commander and Level two Royal Paladin Formation Scout!" Glorious Mage exploded, a trio of golden rings appearing where she was floating. Those rings lined up as Shining's other monsters flew into them. "I'll dig deep and push passed my limitations! The stars unite to brighten the future! Form the path of light!" The monsters were engulfed by an explosion of golden light, which formed a pillar that shot down on Shining. "LIMIT OVER ACCEL SYNCHRO!"

A form appeared above Shining within the pillar, said light vanishing to reveal his monster. It looked like Grand Emperor, but his horse was gone and his armour was slightly different. It had golden trim on it and connected to its shoulder-pads were hostlers with two large metal triangular spears linked to each one. it was also holding Grand Emperor's sword, which now had a golden line running down the middle of the blade. "The ultimate guardian of light. OATH-MAKER MONARCH! GRAND EMPEROR, EXCELSIOR!" (A4500/D4000/L12)

Midnight looked impressed, and a little bit scared, at the sight of the new Synchro Monster.

Shining smiled while continuing his turn. "Since Grand Emperor is in my graveyard, Excelsior gains an extra five hundred ATK points." The ghostly image of Grand Emperor appeared before exploding, the light absorbed into Excelsior and making his armour glow. (A5000/D4000/L12) "Plus, his other ability increases his ATK points even more. One thousand points for every Synchro Monster used to summon him." Commander, Glorious Mage and Formation Scout appeared, looking as ghostly as Grand Emperor. They also exploded, the light adding to Excelsior and making his armour glow brighter then before. (A8000/D4000/L12)

"Eight thousand ATK points?" Midnight whispered. "It's powerful, sure, but completely useless. Zeronull won't be destroyed if you attack and I'll take no damage."

"Maybe so," Shining told her. "But there are other ways of winning this battle then a straight up attack!" As he said this, Excelsior raised his sword as the triangular pieces flew off his shoulders. They zipped around him before connecting to the blade of his sword, forming a cubic rectangle with a pyramid shaped end. "Excelsior's skill!" Shining cried as his monster leapt into the air. As he did, he pointed the sword straight up and this caused the four pieces to shoot off the end. Connecting the two pieces was a long beam of light.

"What are you doing?" Midnight asked while Shining laughed.

"Now you're scared," he told her. "By skipping my battle phase, Oath-Maker Monarch can destroy one monster on your field whose ATK is lower then his and then deal you half the destroyed monster's ATK points as damage." Midnight's eyes went wide, causing Shining to smirk. "It's time to free my sister from your control, once and for all!" Excelsior's blade was miles long, shining brighter and brighter by the moment. "Excelsior, unleash your brilliant fury!" The knight began to swing his sword downwards, pulling the beam down with it. Doing so caused the light to draw closer and closer to Zeronull, ready to finally end him. "SHINING EXCALIBUR!"

The beam finally struck Zeronull and unleashed a brilliant explosion of light, blinding everyone in the Omega Field.

When Shining Armor opened his eyes, he found he was in a dark void. "What is this?" He asked while looking around, but saw nothing that could answer his question. However-

"Shining!" He gasped and turned towards the voice, as a light flashed infront of him. Twilight appeared from that light, looking scared as she held an arm out. "Shining. Help me!"

"Hold on!" Shining reached out as the two slowly drifted towards one another, "I've got you Twilight." He saw her tear up, "I'm taking you home." But as their fingers got within inches of each other, a dark light suddenly exploded and pushed them away from one another. "NOOOOO!"

"SHINING!" Twilight screamed as that light wrapped around her and started taking shape, becoming the form of Zeronull with a pair of blazing red eyes glaring down on Shining.

"LET HER GO!" Shining yelled, but Zeronull simply unleashed a burst of energy that pushed him away and made him crying out. "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" He was forced to close his eyes and as he did, he felt solid ground beneath his feet.

He opened his eyes and found he was back in the Omega Field, Midnight standing there panting. And behind her, Zeronull remained and he appeared completely unharmed.

"What?" Shining looked down at his Duel Disk and saw now change in their points. "How?" He looked up and saw Excelsior floating down to land in front of him. "How is this possible." Realisation that struck, "don't tell me."

Midnight smiled. "As long as I have a Zenith Dragon removed from play, Zeronull is immune to any and all Monster Effects."

"No," Shining whispered. He looked up at Zeronull, "that thing's indestructible."

"That's right," Midnight agreed. "Now you understand just how useless it is to stand up against a power like this. Now then, since you're out of monsters to attack with and your hand is empty, I'll assume you're done." Shining looked around, trying to find some way to win this now. But he had nothing. He was...finished.

"I...end," tears broke free from his eyes, "my turn."

Midnight laughed and drew her card, "it's over." As she said that, all six orbs on Zeronull's wings began to glow brighter then before. "Zeronull, ultimate ability activate." The light flew off the orbs and into the gem on its chest, which began to glow brighter and brighter by the second. "With six Zenith Dragons removed from play, Omega Deity of Destruction's ability activates and grants me...instant victory."

Back outside the Omega Field, something started happening.

The energy sparking around the orb started growing more and more erratic, making those outside it fearful it might blow up or something. "Shining!" Cadance cried as she cried to get near it, but was zapped and knocked backs until Applejack and Maud caught her.

"Careful," Applejack told her.

"It's too dangerous to be in here," Sunburst exclaimed. "We need to get back into the control room."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Cadance pulled herself out of the girls grasps and moved as close to the Omega Field as she could, "Shining. Please be safe."

The Omega Field began to shake as more and more power began to build within the gem, with Shining beginning to fear how badly this attack was going to hurt.

"Now," Midnight raised her hand, "be silenced. Omega..." she clutched her hand into a fist, "End." With that, Zeronull unleashed a wave of energy that was a mix of its light colour and the colour of the Zenith Dragon. This energy flew out in all directions, destroying anything it touched. The first things hit were Disharmian of Deceit and Greed, followed by Oath-Maker Monarch.

"No," Shining hissed as his monster was vaporised by the energy that flew towards him, "no." The energy struck and he felt himself knocked off his feet, as his entire body suddenly rived in sheer agony as a mixture of burning, electrocution, cutting and so much more flew through him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Shining: 0
Midnight: 1350 (Winner)

Cadance and the others cried out as the energy from the Omega Field suddenly exploded out in all directions, blinding them and knocking them stumbling backwards.

Cadance was the only one to stay on her feet and forced her eyes to remain open and stare at the Omega Field, which started doing something that made her gasped. It was slowly flowing off the ground, the energy reshaping to form a sphere that flew higher and higher into the air.

Then, when it was high enough, it suddenly...vanished.

The light disappeared in a flash, everyone suddenly flinching at the suddenly re-acquirement of their sight. They all turned to where the Omega Field had been but saw nothing, nor did they see the two who had been inside the orb. "What happened?" Pinkie asked.

"Where's Shining?" Starlight asked, "and Twilight?"

"They're gone," was all Sunset could say in return. She looked over at Cadance, who hadn't moved or pulled her eyes from the spot the Omega Field had been.

"Shining," she whispered, "Twilight." Fear flew through her body, making her worry for the safety of her husband and sister-in-law. "Where are you."

"AUGH!" Shining cried as he was thrown backwards and slammed into the ground, rolling along it until he finally came to a stop.

He panted as his entire body screamed, but he fought through it and looked around to see where he was. "This is..." He couldn't believe his eyes. He was back in Canterlot, standing in front of the Freeze Stadium.

A light made him turn to see Midnight standing a ways off, a card floating above her open palm. "Finally," she whispered, "I have everything I need." She turned back to smile at Shining. "Still alive, are we? That's fine." She began to walk off, "you can watch as your world comes to an end. Thanks to your failure."

Shining groaned as he rolled onto his front and tried to pull himself towards Midnight, only for her to be consumed by light and vanish. "TWILIGHT!"

Back at the secret base, sounds echoed through the building.

Those sounds were of our heroes trying to destroy the Zenith Generators. Some were hitting them with whatever they could find laying around, while others were seeing if they could find some part they could rip out.

"Come on!" Gilda cried as she punched the glass orb, trying to shatter it. "Break already!"

"Maybe this will work," Soarin placed his Duel Disk on his arm and activated it before slapping a card down. "Assault Convoy!" The robot appeared and started firing at the Generator, but the shots just passed through it.

"The ARC system must have switched off after the last battle," Trail guessed. "Our Duel Monsters aren't gonna be much help."

"And there doesn't seem to be a self-destruct," Misty told them while typing away at the computer. "Though I doubt they'd want their prize creations destroyed before they were used."

Flash turned to Cold, "you haven't exactly told us how they're gonna be used. What's Zeronull planning?" Cold turned to him and was about to explain, only for a light to flash and pull their gaze over to the center of the room.

When the light faded, Flash and the others gasped when they saw Midnight standing in the center of the room. "No way," Flash gasped while starting at her. "Midnight?"

She looked up and smiled at them, "oh. If I had known we were going to have company, I'd have put out snacks."

"If you're here," Cold couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. But he knew what must have happened, and what that meant.

"What did you do to Shining!" Flash yelled, the others worrying the same thing.

"Don't worry," Midnight smiled. "He's alive...for now." Flash glared at her, "he was helpful enough to be my guinea pig, allowing me to test out my new power on him." She held up seven cards, everyone seeing it was the Zenith Dragons and one more.

"What are you planning?" Soarin asked, but this time Midnight remained silent.

"Don't want to talk?" Rainbow asked, "fine!" She began to rush forward, "we'll just take you down and force you out of Twilight's body!" She was joined by Gilda, Aria, Trail, Grand and Tempest. But before any of them got close, Midnight raised her hand.

The mark on the back glowed and unleashed a wave of energy that struck everyone in the room, making them cry out before freezing in place. This caused her to chuckle, "humans." She was about to get down to business when another light caught her attention, making her look around and see the back of Flash's hand glowing. "What?"

Before he could investigate further, the light exploded off of Flash's hand. His hair turned white as the energy flew throughout the room, hitting everyone including Midnight.

"Augh!" She cried while staggering back, as everyone else suddenly unfroze. They all wondered what had happened until they spotted Flash glowing with white hair. "Harmonica," they heard Midnight growl. "I should have known she would interfere."

Flash smirked, "you're not the only one with the powers of an outer god." He walked forward, his hair changing back to normal while the glow vanished. "I'm the Alpha Zealot. And I'm taking you down."

"I don't think so," Midnight replied before raising her hand again and unleashing the light.

Flash tried to summon his power again, but it hit him before he could. And in the blink of an eye, everyone suddenly vanished from the entire building. Midnight was the only one left.

Back outside the Freeze Building, Shining laid there until he heard a noise.

"The light came from over here." He heard Scootaloo's voice and looked around the see Spike and Team Crusaders stepping outside, the four gasping.

"SHINING!" Spike yelled as Sweetie helped him hobble over to his brother, only for another light to appear in front of them.

When they looked up, they saw Flash and the others appear and stagger until they regained their footing. "Flash!" Scootaloo cried, getting her family members to look around and see where they were. Then they saw Shining and gasped, the lot rushing to where he was.

"Shining!" Flash called out, "are you okay? Say something!"

Shining forced his eyes open and looked up at Flash, then reached out to him. "Flash...I'm sorry. Midnight, she..."

"We know," Flash nodded. "She has all the Zenith Dragons." The four younger kids gasped at this.

"Not just that," Shining replied. "Zeronull...is now a card she can use." They had been worried they would hear that, some having hoped the new card was something else. They knew now Midnight had an incredibly powerful monster on her side, and wasn't afraid to use it.

With the nuisances out of the way, Midnight stepped over to the Zenith Generators.

As she did, her eyes began to glow and that light spread to the machines. One by one, the generators began to float and Midnight did the same. And once all seven of them were in the air, they were all consumed by a light and teleported.

They vanished from within the room and reappeared outside the building, floating above it and flying higher and higher. This caught the attention of the guards, who were shocked to see a floating teenage girl surrounded by a bunch of strange machinery.

Midnight smiled down at them before focusing on the machines. "Now go and complete my objective!" The light around the generators glowed brighter and brighter and suddenly, the six machines shot into the air while leaving a trail of light behind them.

"What's that?" Sweetie asked as she pointed off in the distance, everyone else turning to see the six light trail flying higher and higher.

It's begun," Cold stated to everyone's fear.

All around the world, anybody with sensors strong enough detected a group of strange energy signatures coming from the US that were beginning to fly higher and higher. Eventually, they broke out of the stratosphere and made their way into space.

"What's their trajectory!" Thorax asked one of his scientists as they detected the objects.

"They've started to separate," the scientist told him. "They're all heading off in different directions, but they've passed the moon's distance. Three hundred thousand miles. Four hundred thousand miles. Five hundred thousand miles." It was then then the Zenith Generators stopped and remained in their current position.

"Now what?" Thorax asked, only to get the answer when his computer beeped.

Each Zenith Generator remained floating in place but continued to glow. And as they did, something happened to them.

In a flash of light, the generators doubled in size. And in another flash, the doubled once again. This continued over and over until each Zenith Generator was big enough to fit a small city within it. Or, at least, something that size.

Back on earth, Midnight smirked as she held up her Zenith Dragon cards. Each of them began glowing their respective colours, while the teen spoke. "Awaken, beast of light, beast of flames, beast of wind, beast of earth, beast of water and beast of darkness! Do my bidding and bright order to this chaos!"

With that, the lights shoot off the cards and shot into space. Like the generators, they shot up and separated before taking the same course as them.

When each light struck a generator, it phased into the orb before exploding. When the light faded, one of the six dragons now floated inside of them. Each dragon unleashed their power and it began to flow into the generators, powering them up.

Black lightning slowly began to spark around the metal frame, growing stronger and strong until it eventually shot off one of the eight points it had. The energy shot in a straight light and eventually hit one of the other Zenith Generators, creating a hexagonal shape.

It remained like this for several long seconds, with more black energy shooting out of the spikes inside the shape. The lightning met in the center of the hexagon and then, slowly, something appeared at that spot. The something was a small black orb that slowly grew larger and larger by the second. Eventually, it filled the entire shape and when it did, it unleashed a bright light.

Back at Freeze Industries, the group arrived in the conference room with Trail and Grand helping Shining.

Cold and Misty began typing away and the computers, "maybe some of the Freeze satellites are close by." After a few seconds, the holo-screens appeared and showed an image that made them all gasp.

The hexagon was now in full few on screen and they saw the black orb form and grow until it unleashed the light. This caused the satellite to go offline for a moment but eventually reconnect. And when the footage came back online, everyone gasped at what they were seeing.

"What is that?" Adagio asked.

"That is Project Omega Zenith," Cold whispered as everyone stared at the screen. Within the hexagon was a giant portal and on the other side, was a planet many of them had seen before and recognised instantly. The Duel Monster Spirit World.

It was clear now what they were looking at, with Flash saying it out loud. "A Shadow Gate."

Author's Note

Well, that was a lot to process. Now you know not only Zeronull's abilities, but what he planned to do once his power was restored.

This is probably a good time to let you all know that I have no idea how many chapters this series could be. I know you're expecting 50 or 51, but I just couldn't stretch the story that far. But now we're in the end game. How will Flash and his friends stop this? Only time will tell.

Turn 39: The Silencing of Earth

In the Duel Monster Spirit World, two vast apposing armies stood against one another.

One army was made up of the many monsters that wished to save their world from the destruction that the Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull, intended to rain down upon them. The other army was one made up of Zeronull's Omega Zealots and the monsters that also wished to bring about two world's destruction.

Above these two armies was the Shadow Gate, which had appeared many miles away from the planet but was growing closer and closer by the second.

At the front of one army, Flash Heart Dragon stood with Sombra and Scarvolt by his side. Monsters such as those from the Magna corp, Frozen Hearts, Rainbow Wings, Royal Paladins, Shinobi, Gem Knights, Techno Force, Celestial Spirits, Harpie Ladies, Blazing Souls, Balloonimals and even the Gaia Knights made up the army behind him. Other solo monsters like Vail Pixie, Dragonic Blazelord, Wild Rush Raptor, Kindness Dragonoid, Solar Flare Phoenix, Divine Sky Angel, the Sunburst monsters and many more stood ready or filled the skies. Even the monsters belonging to the now possessed Twilight Sparkle had joined the fray.

Draconequus and his Chaos Fiends stood in the apposing army, along with the Atlanteans, griffons, and other monsters the Zealots had formerly used in their decks during their time on earth.

"Everyone," Flash Heart raised an arm, "listen! Zeronull has been resurrected and finally completed everything he needed to awaken his full power. Now the being known as Midnight has completed the Omega Zealot's ultimate plan." He looked up at the Shadow Gate, the image of earth within never looking more horrifying. "If we do nothing, then not only will our world be destroyed, but so will the world of the ones we call our friends and allies." He turned back to them, "are we gonna let that happen?"

"NEVER!" Scarvolt yelled before the rest of the army screamed and hollered in agreement.

Flash Heart nodded and turned back to their opponents, only for Vail Pixie to fly up and land on his shoulder. "As much as I hate to say this, we're in for a tough fight. This may in fact be our final battle."

"Then we'll make it a good one," Flash Heart told her. The fairy nodded with a smile and flew off his shoulder, while he raised an arm once again. "In the name of Harmonica!"

"IN THE NAME OF HARMONICA!" With that, the army charged forward. They all prepped their weapons and readied their spells.

At the other army, Draconequus smiled with Ouravas, Hellfire and Amphitrite standing beside him. "The fools think they still have a chance to stop what we've begun. But it's too late." He looked up at the Shadow Gate, "Zeronull has passed the stage of no return. Now nothing can stop him."

"So then why are we here?" He turned to Amphitrite. "If the plan can not be stopped, why risk more of my people's lives fighting against them."

"It'd be worse for them not to fight," Ouravas explained. "If they don't fight, that gives the enemy open season to do whatever they like against us."

"I'm just here to get some payback on the ones that beat me before," Hellfire growled while punching his fist into his hand.

"You and me both." The group turned to see Glorianna and Rhodos walking towards them, both with serious expressions on their faces.

"Rhodos!" Amphitrite almost yelled, "you're supposed to be resting."

"I'm sorry mother," Rhodos told her. "But I could not rest. Not while our moment of ascension is at hand."

"I'm not gonna sit around and let you have all the fun," Glorianna told them. She then pointed her staff at the approaching army, "and there's someone in that army I want to get some payback on before everything ends."

"Loving that attitude," Draconequus looked forward. "Now it's time to show these puny beings why trying to fight against fate is impossible." He raised a claw as a ball of dark light began to crackle within it. Then, he threw it towards the army.

Said army saw the attack coming and the magic users quickly began casting defensive spells. A magic barrier appeared in front of them and blocked the ball that struck it, expecting into a burst of chaotic energy. The barrier managed to hold until the energy depleted, but this effort had tired many of them out and left them vulnerable.

"In the name of Zeronull!" They heard Draconequus cry.

"IN THE NAME OF ZERONULL!" The rest of the army screamed before they charged. Those that could fly quickly took to the air and were countered by the defender's own flying squadron, the two air forces led by Ouravas and Battle Wing Gold. Meanwhile, Glorianna and Amphitrite led the ground forces and they charged forward and met the rest of the army.

Beast met wizard. Warrior met dragon. Fiend met machine. It was utter carnage with neither side wanting to give an inch to the other. Up above, Ouravas and Battle Wing clashed weapons. "Not so strong without your human here to tell you what to do," the griffon told him.

"Rainbow might not be here," Battle Wing grunted before pushing Ouravas back and flying straight up. "But she is still lending me strength!" With that, he soared straight down and tried to slash at Ouravas. The griffon managed to evade, but it was only just.

On the ground, Hellfire was throwing fireballs at Sunburst Magician. The spellcaster replied by shooting his own fireballs at the demon. "You're going down poindexter!" But as he said that, Dragonic Blazelord flew in and tried to slash at him. "And you're next you overgrown gecko."

Twilight Warlock swung his staff around and unleashed a wave of magic that struck several Chaos Fiends and sent them flying back. "HEY!" He turned to see Glorianna moving towards him, a glare appearing on his face. "Long time no see."

Twilight Warlock continued to glare. "It was bad enough you cost our master his life, but now you've stolen the body of my partner and are trying to destroy the world. I will not forgive you."

"Like I care," she told him. "I'm just here to finally prove my superiority against you!"

At the rear of the battlefield, Draconequus smiled as he watched the battle rage. "Yes. Fight. Fight so that you cannot stop what is to come." But as he said that, a portal opened up above him and Vail Pixie flew out of it. Behind her, Flash Heart and Neo Frozen Heart flew out. "And now my opponents arrive."

The two dragons attacked with punches and claws, only for Draconequus to form a barrier that stopped them. "We will stop you!" Flash Heart told him. "And our friends on earth will end Zeronull, once and for all."

Draconequus smiled. "I look forward to seeing that, Alpha Zealot."

Back on earth, everyone was still staring at the screen showing images of the Shadow Gate.

"This is really bad," Flash said.

"So what's Zeronull's goal here?" Aria asked, "make a Shadow Gate and summon his Zealots to earth so they have all their power."

"No," Misty shook her head, "that's not his plan." She was currently typing away at a computer, analysing the data they were collecting. "If that's the case, he would have created it much closer to earth. Besides, that kind of plan has a bunch of holes in it. Like us summoning our monsters to earth in order to counter them."

"So what's he planning?" Tempest asked.

"You know what he's planning," Cold explained. "We all saw it in the data files." He took out his phone and hit one of the names, but he kept getting the same response. No signal. "I can't get through to Sunset."

"Do you think she and the others are okay?" Fluttershy asked, looking worried with the others.

"Without communications, there's no way to tell for sure." Cold tried again, but there was still no response. "We need to focus on the Shadow Gate, but not knowing how our friends are isn't going to help us focus."

"Then we'll go check ourselves," Flash explained. The others turned to him in confusion until he took out a card, right as his hand suddenly glowed with a mark appearing and his hair turning white.

Back in Nevada, Sunset and the others had exited the building.

With all the damage done to the place and with the Zenith Dragons gone, they no longer saw it necessary to remain there. So they stepped outside and when they did, they were treated with the sight of the Shadow Gate in the sky.

"What is that thing?" Sunburst asked, having not been in Canterlot during the events of last year.

"A Shadow Gate," Starlight explained. She currently had Trixie on her back while Maud was carrying Skystar, both girls having yet to wake up. "But what's it doing here?"

"It must be because of Zeronull," Sunset explained as she tried to call Cold. But the discharge from the Omega Field's sudden disappearance had fried almost every piece of electronics in the building. Luckily, the elevator had not been effected.

But now they had no way of contacting Cold or finding out what the heck was going on. Or so they thought.

For a sudden burst of light appeared to their left, causing them to look around and see a portal open. They feared Midnight had returned, but they were quickly surprised when a white haired Flash Sentry half stepped out of it. "Come on!" He told them, holding out a hand.

"Flash?" Applejack asked, "how did-"

"No time!" The teen yelled, "hurry." They quickly did as he told them, rushing forward and stepping through the portal one by one. Cadance appeared unsure about this, being the only one not to enter.

"I can't. Shining-"

"Is with us," Flash grabbed her arm. "He's fine...ish." He pulled her through the portal and in a second, Cadance found herself in the Freeze Stadium bored room staring down at her husband.

"Shining!" She knelt down besides him, a nurse having brought a collapsible bed into the room and was tending to his injuries. "Are you okay?"

"I've...been better," he told her.

At the same time, Sunset stepped up to Cold. "What's going on? Why is there a Shadow Gate so far away?"

"It won't be far away for long." The voice came from the portal that was still open, Flash stepping out of it with Thorax. The young king had a frown on his face. "My scientists have indicated that the Shadow Gate is getting closer to earth."

"Closer?" Rarity asked, "but how. If she's going to just move it closer, why did Midnight send them so far away anyway?"

"That's the thing," Thorax explained as Cold typed something into the computer. In a flash of light, the holo-screen changed to show a digital image of the Shadow Gate and earth. "The Shadow Gate hasn't moved. The earth's moved. The portal is positioned in the earth's natural rotational path."

"So what does that mean?" Rainbow asked before Misty explained.

"It means that in several hours, the earth will naturally float into the portal without Midnight needing to do a thing."

"Into the portal?" Starlight asked. "How big is this thing?"

"Big enough that the earth can travel through it without an issue," Cold replied. "And it gets worse. You all saw the planet on the other side of the portal." He pressed something and another world appeared on the opposite side of the Shadow Gate's image.

"The Duel Monster Spirit World," Flash realised.

Cold nodded, "it's getting closer to the portal as well. I'm guessing that they're scheduled to enter the Shadow Gate at the exact same time."

"But," Pinkie stuttered, "that means..." She didn't finish while those who raided the base remembered the image they saw. And just to hit the nail in the head, the image on screen showed the two world entering the portal and the same time. And when they touched, they both vanished.

"Our two planets will collide and be ripped apart," Trail realised.

Misty nodded. "And because it'll happen inside the portal, the pieces will be sucked into the Void between worlds. And nothing can survive within it." Everyone shared looks of horror and shock as they let this information sink in, only now understanding the full scope of Zeronull's plan.

Midnight was standing atop a tall building, staring up at her beautiful creation.

"Now to begin the final silencing." With that, she disappeared in a flash of light and when said light faded from around her she was floating within the void between worlds. She looked to her right and saw the Duel Monster Spirit World in one portal and then looked to her left, seeing earth in the second portal.

She took out her Zeronull card and held it up, the card glowing blackish-red before firing out a light that formed a sphere above her head. It grew larger and large by the second, eventually glowing large enough to mimic a small moon. Slowly, the light morphed into a strange goop that bubbled and wobbled.

"Now go," she told the orb. "Bring silence to everything!" With that, the orb began spitting out bubbles that floated towards the portals. Once they exited the void, they accelerated towards the planet at incredible speeds.

Back on earth, Shining had started explaining what had happened within the Omega Field.

He explained how Midnight has summoned Zeronull. How it was impervious to any form of destruction. How it was immune to any and all card effects and how it prevented damage. And finally, how it was able to win the Duel. "That's insane," Soarin cried.

"How can one card have so many abilities?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's totally unfair," Sweetie agreed.

"Well this is an outer god we're dealing with," Rarity reminded her. "Something like that's bound to have a few special abilities."

"Still doesn't make it fair," Applebloom said. "How the heck are you supposed to stop something like that."

"There has to be a way," Cold told them before they all heard a loud beeping. they turned back to the computer, Sunset and Misty typing away at it.

"Something just entered the earth's atmosphere," the teen girl explained before making further inquiry. "Forget that. A whole lot of somethings just entered the atmosphere."

"And they're aimed towards Canterlot and other places on earth," Misty told them. "I'm putting it up on screen now." The holo-screen appeared and showed images from a CCTV camera. Said images showed the street and pointed up to show multiple blob-like balls falling towards the ground.

But before they could get any more details, one of the blobs slammed into the camera and knocked it out. "What happened?" Gilda asked.

"We lost the feed," Sunset explained.

"Then let's get a less technical look," Flash stated before rushing out the room.

"Wait Flash!" Trail cried as he and some of the others followed him, "it might be dangerous!" But Flash didn't stop, so they kept following. Even Spike was hobbling along on his crutch, at least until Thorax jumped in front of him.

"Hop on." Spike smiled and did so, the young king piggybacking him until most of the group were outside. They only hand to look around to see what these balls were, as they slammed into the ground and onto other things.

To everyone's shock, anything the slime-balls touched were sucked inside. A nearby car was struck and as soon as the slime hit, it exploded around the vehicle and completely engulfed it before it disappeared. "This can't be good," Flash gulped.

"It's Zeronull," Trail realised. "He must be doing this as a way to distract us from whatever he's planning."

"LOOK OUT!" Applejack yelled as she pointed up at the sky, everyone following and seeing a slime-ball falling towards them. They all leapt to the side as it hit the ground and splattered everywhere.

"Augh!" Spike cried as he and Thorax hit the ground, Spike rolling off him. As they did, specks of the slime landed on several of them. "Huh?" Spike looked down, just in time to see this speck on his cast before it suddenly grew and spread up his leg. "HEY!" He cried while trying to crawl away from it, but couldn't escape its grip.

"SPIKE!" Everyone yelled, Thorax trying to get to him. But before he could, a speck of slime on his arm began to expand. "Get off!" He yelled while the others suddenly found themselves getting consumed.

Flash tried to unzip his jacket and remove it before the slime spread, but it was too late. "No!" He cried, feeling it spread to his legs. But as it did, his mark suddenly reappeared and the light spread across his body. "What the?" He asked as his hair turned white and the slime started to evaporate off of him. "Alright!" He smiled once he was free, but the others weren't so lucky.

"FLASH!" Spike yelled as his entire body was engulfed, the last thing he heard before everything went black being Flash's voice calling his name.

Earth wasn't the only place getting bombarded with these slime-balls.

The Duel Monster Spirit World was also suffering a sudden downpour. Many balls of slime dropped down on the battlefield, catching the attention of those fighting. "What now?" Sombra asked as he dodged one.

Draconequus smiled at the sight, jumping away from Flash Heart and Neo Frozen Heart. "The time has come my brothers. Master Zeronull has sent his envoy to bring us all into a new world. Accept his offering and allow yourself to be consumed!"

Many in his army heard this and smiled, even stopping so the slime would hit them.

"Finally!" Glorianna cried, "my perfect world." She allowed some of the slime to hit her, Twilight Sorcerer seeing this and gasping.

"DON'T!" But it was too late, Glorianna was consumed as Ouravas allowed himself to be struck as well.

"I feel it!" Glorianna smiled as her body disappeared.

"Zeronull's power," Ouravas closed his eyes and vanished into the slime as well. Both slime cocoons remained in place for a second before they started shrinking smaller and smaller, then vanished completely.

Amphitrite saw this and had an uneasy feeling about her, right as she heard her daughters voice. "Our turn!" She turned to Rhodos, who was looking up at a slime-ball that was about to hit them. But before it could, the Atlantean Queen unleashed a burst of water that blasted it away. "What?" Rhodos turned to her mother, "what are you doing?"

"This doesn't feel right," she explained. "What if...what if we're being lied too. What if we just bring about the deaths of our people we've fought so hard to prevent."

"This is the way," Rhodos told her before seeing another slime-ball. "I'll show you!" She ran forwards and leapt into the air, Amphitrite gasping.

"NOOO!" She screamed before Rhodos struck the ball, a smile on her face as she sank into the slime before the sphere shrank and vanished. "RHODOS!" The rest of the Atlanteans began to think maybe this wasn't such a good idea, the lot of them beginning to try and escape the battlefield.

"I don't like the looks of this," Hellfire said as a nearby slime-ball exploded besides him. As it did, a piece hit his wing. And before he knew it, he was beginning to get consumed. "NOOO!" He cried, trying to burn it off but nothing worked. Soon all but his head, neck and arm were swallowed, the fiend turning towards the monsters he had been previously fighting. "HELP ME!" He screamed as all but his arm was dragged within, that soon following.

Sunburst Magician reached to try and grab it, but Dragonic Blazelord cried out. "Don't touch him!" The wizard pulled back as Hellfire's hand vanished, the cocoon suddenly shrinking into eventual nothingness.

"He's gone!" Sunburst Magician cried, right as another slime-ball hit the ground and exploded.

"Look out!" Blazelord pushed him away with his tail, only to get hit by pieces of the slime. That slime quickly expanded and engulfed the dragon, everyone gasping when they saw this before several of them found they were hit by the slime as well. "Spike," he groaned as everything went dark.

Spike opened his eyes and found himself in a dark void, the teen unable to see anything that wasn't directly in front of his face. "What is this?" He asked. If he could see, he would know his body was slowly disappearing from the feet up.

"Everything with a form will be returned to nothing." Spike's eyes went wide at the sound of that voice, the teen looking around but seeing nothing. Despite never hearing the mescaline voice before, he knew who it was. Zeronull. "Everything with a life shall be silenced."

"No," Spike groaned, "I won't let you." It was then he heard a roar, one that he recognised. "Blazelord?" As if answering his call, a light appeared ahead of him and showed his dragon. The beast was also disappearing, half its body already gone. "No! You have to fight it!" The dragon turned to him, as if asking how.

"Everything will be silenced."

"NO!" Spike scream, "you can't destroy...my memories!" He closed his eyes and remembered. "The life that I lived." He remembered all the good times in his life. Remembered learning to Duel from his siblings. Remembered meeting Flash, Thorax and all his other friends. Remembered forming Team V-Fighters and winning the Double X. "Everything in my past. I share with my friends...with everyone!" Unbeknownst to him, his body had stopped vanishing and was slowly beginning to reappear.

"Spike," Blazelord whispered as he too remembered all the battles they had fought together. And as he remembered, his body began to reappear. Spike opened his eyes and saw this, he and Blazelord locking eyes before they both reached out a hand.

"You can't...take our future!" The two floated towards one another, while the image of all of Spike's friends appeared at the forefront of his mind. "I won't...I won't let you take that away from me." The two finally reached each other and Spike grabbed his dragon's claw, "They mean...everything to me." As they touched, a light exploded off of them and pushed away the darkness. "And I will enjoy my future WITH ME FRIENDS!"

Flash was still panicking after seeing all his friends be grabbed by the dark slime.

But before he could try and save them, one of the cocoons exploded. "AAARRRHHH!" Spike cried as he broke free, the slime flying off his body and landing in a poodle away from him. "I'm free." And he wasn't the only one. All the cocoons exploded and everyone was freed.

"Guys!" Flash looked around, "what happened?"

Thorax smirked, "I wouldn't let him take me."

"But I wasn't alone," Rainbow said. "In the darkness...I saw someone."

"Me too," Spike nodded before looking up at the Shadow Gate. "Blazelord."

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" The dragon screamed as he ripped out of the cocoon holding him, followed by everyone else in their army that had been captured.

He turned to the slime as it congealed and began to take shape, forming a dark replica of him. And almost everyone else soon found themselves facing off against a mirror copy of themselves. "You won't take me!" He told the fake, "not while my partner is giving me strength."

The rest of the army also did the same, while others continued to face the rapidly shrinking number of monster that had yet to allow themselves to enter Zeronull's majesty. One such monster was staring at Scarvolt as she battled her clone.

The Tempest Rogue leapt back as the fake raised its sword, only to suddenly freeze in place. Scarvolt raised an eyebrow until she saw the slime turn to a familiar black stone. "But that's-"

"RAAAH!" Something charged passed the statue, shattering it as he did, then swung their staff at Scarvolt.

She responded by raising her sword to block the attack. "Storm King." The monster that had Dominated her partner glared at her, pushing down on the staff he held.

"Before I go, I'm taking you down."

"Not happening!" Scarvolt pushed back while the rest of the army fought.

Back on earth, everyone was recovering from their experiences in the cocoons.

"You okay?" Flash asked as he helped Spike to his feet, the teen about to respond until they sensed movement and looked around to see the slime they had thrown off of them. It began to take shape and slowly form humanoid bodies, everyone realising what they were.

"It's those slime monsters the Zealots used," Pinkie told them as the creatures created Duel Disks.

"And now it looks like they want ta Duel," Applejack realised. Everyone reached for their Duel Disks, but Flash stepped forward and raised his hand.

The mark on the back glowed before he punched the air, unleashing a wave of energy that struck every single slime monster. When it did, they cried out as they were destroyed. "Augh!" Flash fell to his knees, everyone rushing to his side.

"Careful son," Trail told him.

"I'm okay," he assured them. As he did, they all spotted more slime slamming down around the stadium. The slime splattered around and began taking shape, creating the humanoids that slowly began to advance towards them.

Flash pushed himself back to his feet and prepared to repeat the process, but Grand grabbed his arm. "Save your energy." He turned back to the creatures, "you'll need it for later." He stepped forward, Trail, Tempest, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Starlight, Sunburst, Soarin, Maud, Thorax, Tidal, Gilda and the Dazzlings moving with him. "We'll handle these things." They all nodded and took out their Duel Disks before strapping them to his arm, "you all get back inside and find a way to stop the source."

Flash nodded as he and the others returned to the stadium. As he did, the Duellists raised their Duel Disks as the slime creatures moved closer and began to reshape themselves into copies of the Duellists they were facing. "BRING IT ON!" They screamed before the Duels began.

Cold, Misty and Sunset continued to type away at the computers as the others returned.

"What happened outside?" Misty turned to him. "We managed to get one of the cameras to show us the place where you were and when we did, we spotted Flash surround by cocoons that suddenly exploded with the others appearing out of them."

"I'm not really sure myself," Flash turned to Spike and team Crusaders. The kids looked around and saw the adults wanted answers, so Spike began to explain what he saw. About the void and Zeronull's voice, along with seeing Blazelord and almost disappearing before explaining how he managed to escape.

"The next thing I knew, I freed myself from the slime."

"Same," the others who experienced it agreed.

"I see," Cold nodded. "So Zeronull is trying to clear out the deadwood before the world is destroyed." He turned back to the holo-screen and saw everyone Duelling as hard as they could. "But we won't let that happen."

"I just don't understand how you saw Blazelord," Sunset turned to Spike. "You've never shown that kind of power."

"Best guess," Misty spoke up. "Zeronull is trying the same thing in the Duel Monster Spirit World. The monsters must have been captured the same way you all were. And if the slime is connect to Zeronull, he's acting as a link between our worlds. One that a strong enough bond can use to connect two individuals."

"Bond?" Spike asked.

"Of course," Flash patted him on the shoulder. "You and Blazelord have been through a lot together. you can't say you don't care about him."

"Of course," Spike nodded.

"And he cares about you as well," Maud replied. "And that's created a bond that allowed the two of you to meet, which allowed you to escape."

"And it's not just you," Cold pointed to the screen. "Everyone has at least one monster they share a strong bond with. It's what connects our worlds, through Duelling. As long as those bonds last, Zeronull can't take us."

"And it's not just here." Misty pressed a button and the holo-screen changed to show a random street in Canterlot. There, a Duellist many recognised as Shining Spoon was Duelling against a fake.

"I don't know what you are!" He cried as Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon charged forward, "but you're not taking me down!" The monster struck his opponent's Xyz Dragon and destroyed it, causing the fake to melt.

Misty pressed another button and in the blink of an eye, the screen changed to show another street and there they spotted Time Turner and Derpy Muffins Duelling together against more fakes. "Your time is up!" Turner yelled as Chronodragon Gear Chronicle unleashed its attack and destroyed Thousand Dragon.

"Go get her!" Derpy cried as Ditsy Goddess charged, only to trip and accidently body slam the opponent into destruction. "WOO!" She jumped for joy, only to slip when she landed and fall on her butt.

Misty continued to show them images of the city and Duellists they both knew and didn't know could all be seen fighting against Zeronull's agents. "And it's not just in Canterlot," Misty pressed more buttons and multiple holo-screens appeared. All over the country, Duellists were fighting against the slime creatures. And even beyond.

France, England, Japan, Spain, Russia, Australia. Every county on the planet was covered in the slime-creatures and in each of those countries, Duellists were stepping up to protect non-Duellists from them. This was a war and planet earth was fighting back.

"Amazing," Flash whispered.

"But it'll all be made pointless if we don't do anything about Zeronull," Cold told them. "Even if we defeat every last monster, our planet will still be sucked into the Shadow Gate and destroyed. We need a way to stop him."

"How?" Scootaloo asked, "how are we gonna stop Zeronull. He's all the way in space and I doubt he'll show up if you challenge him."

"I'll find a way," Flash assured them. "Everyone on earth is fighting with everything they have to help give us a chance. I won't let those efforts be in vain. Even if it kills me, I'll find a way to stop Zeronull, free Twilight and stop our worlds from being destroyed. No matter what, I won't quit!" This that last outcry, his mark returned and glowed. "Huh?"

Everyone looked down at it and were confused, none more so then Flash. "What are you doing?" Cadance asked.

"I'm...I'm not doing this," he told them as the light got brighter and brighter. And soon, a new light appeared. One coming from around everyone in the room.

"What's happening?" Cold asked before turning to the screen, seeing the same rainbow white light appearing around every Duellist.

"Hey?" Rainbow looked herself over, "what's the deal?"

"Why are we glowing?" Rarity asked, "not that I don't think it's pretty."

"Could it be?" Trail turned towards the building they were protecting, "is Flash doing something?" As he asked that, the light suddenly flew off of him. It did the same with the others, all floating into the air and heading towards the stadium. And it wasn't just them. The same light was streaming in from all directions.

Within the void, Midnight had been watching through the eyes of her servants and was not pleased by the amount of time it was taking to wipe out the two world's populations.

But then something knew caught her eye and made her turn towards the earth portal, where she saw the entire planet appearing to become wrapped in a light she knew all too well. "Harmonica. What are you doing now?" She saw that the light was conjoining at the same spot and she quickly realised who it was making life difficult for her.

Flash had no idea what was happening.

One minute everyone was glowing and the next, that light flew off of them and began to be absorbed into his mark. And with each passing second, more and more of the light flew into the room through the walls. "What is happening?" Scootaloo asked her brother.

"I don't know!" He yelled back, feeling more and more energy build within his right hand.

"Do not fear, my Alpha Zealot." Flash's eyes went wide hearing this.

"Harmonica?" The others looked confused as he glanced around.

"Your desire for survival far outweighs Zeronull's desire to destroy. And with that desire, I can amass the power needed to protect you all." Suddenly, as the last of the light flew into Flash's hand, the mark exploded and sent out a shockwave that flew out in all directions.

"AUGH!" Flash cried at the energy being released, which could be felt by everyone but didn't hurt them as it passed over them. The energy continued and flew out through the universe, its effects unnoticed at first as everyone was temporarily blinded.

But when their eyes adjusted, they began to wonder the same thing. "What the heck was that?" Spike asked, everyone turning to Flash.

"Harmonica," he explained. "She was trying to help us."

"Help us how?" Sunset asked, only to suddenly get an alert from her computer. She typed away at it and her eyes suddenly went wide. "No way."

"What is it?" Cold asked.

"The computer's just stated that the Shadow Gate's approach has...ceased." This confused them, especially the more science orientated of the group.

"But that could only happen if..." Misty couldn't even finish that sentence.

"The earth stopped moving," Cold finished it for her.

"But how could the earth stop moving?" Shining asked from his bed.

"Guys," Sweetie spoke up, "look at the clock." Everyone did so and soon realised what had happened."

In England, a large group of people looked around in shock.

It had been raining mere moments ago, but now the rain had stopped. And by stopped, they meant completely stopped. Droplets of water were floating in the air as if by magic. And it wasn't just in England. Every area on earth currently experiencing rain was experiencing this effect.

And it wasn't just rain. The sea's tides were frozen in place. Rocks that were rolling down the sides of cliffs were completely still. And even the trees were frozen mid sway despite the wind vanishing. The earth was completed frozen.

Time...had stopped.

Everyone checked other clocks on their wrists or Duel Disks and found the same result. All of them were frozen.

"How is this happening?" Misty asked, while Flash smiled.

"Harmonica used our desire to survive as an energy source and was able to freeze time with it. Even though she can't fight Zeronull directly, she's doing everything she can to help us stop him."

"Well it gives us time," Cold agreed. "But I doubt Zeronull will just sit back and let this happen." As he said that, something happened.

"AUGH!" Flash screamed as he clutched his head, Misty gasping as he fell to his knees. They all rushed over to him as his eyes were forced shut.

"How cute." His eyes shot open at the voice, the pain in his head vanishing. He looked up and found himself in a black and white void. He stood in the white section and in the black one, Midnight was staring at him. "Harmonica's lap dog thinks he can stop me."

"I can stop you," Flash stood tall. "You can't destroy our worlds. I won't let you."

"I don't think you have much of a choice," she told him. "But I'll admit your little time stop gimmick is annoying. But it's easily fixable."

"How?"

"I'll simply destroy you," she raised her hand and fired a blast of energy from it. But before it could hit Flash, a force-field appeared around him to block it.

"Not so simple," Flash smirked. "I might not have all of Harmonica's power at my disposal, but I still have enough to keep you at bay."

"Fine then," Midnight glared at him. "Then let's settle this the way you beings love settling things. A Duel. If you lose, your connection to Harmonica will be broken. The power stopping time will vanish and I'll be able to blast you into dust."

"You're on," Flash agreed. "But when I win, you'll release Twilight and stop your insane plan to destroy our world."

Midnight smiled, "a bold set of demands but okay. It's not like I'll lose. I agree to these terms"

"Alright," Flash nodded. "Then get down here."

"Oh, I don't think so. I'd much rather you come to me. But let's compromise and meet halfway."

"Flash!" Misty shook her son, who had become catatonic as he held his head. Cold was about to call a doctor when Flash's eyes shot open. "Flash!" Misty hugged him, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Flash stood up. "Midnight wants a Duel." Everyone gasped hearing this, Flash going on to explain.

"Raaah!" Flash Heart yelled and he shot forward and tried to punch Draconequus, but the monsters dodged the attack and teleported behind Flash Heart.

But before he could hit him with his dark lightning, he had to dodge in order to escape a blast of cold air that almost hit him. "You two are truly an interesting pair," he told Flash Heart and Neo Frozen Heart. "Thinking you could defeat Zeronull, even though you haven't done a thing to stop us so far."

"We've done plenty to stop you," Flash Heart told him.

"Don't make me laugh. You think anything that happen on earth counts?" He smirked. "Every move you made against us was allowed, because we knew it wouldn't stop our overall objective. And now look." He gestured around, at all the slime monsters appearing. "Zeronull's ultimate victory is nearing completion. And even though you somehow managed to stop time, that's only a temporary setback. No matter what. The world will be silenced by our lord." But as he said that, something happened.

A sudden impact on his back made him jerk forward, surprised as he turned to see a large splotch of slime.

"What?" He asked as the slime began to spread, "wait!" He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "Not yet. I was supposed to be the last." The slime soon consumed his all body, "Master!" Were his last worlds before he was completely enveloped and the slime-ball shrank to nothing.

"Well," Flash Heart said, "that was anti-climatic." But as he said that, more slime fell down and hit the ground before taking shape and forming a copy of him and Neo Frozen Heart. "Great."

Back on earth, Flash, Misty, Spike and team Crusaders had made their way to the roof of the stadium.

Flash stared up at the Shadow Gate, knowing this was likely going to be his final Duel. "You don't have to do this." He turned to his mother, who looked sick with worry. "We'll find another way."

Flash shook his head. "No, this is the only way. With everyone working so hard, it's only right I finally step up and put an end to this." He turned back to the Shadow Gate, "I was chosen for this." He looked back at his mother, only to feel her tackle him into a hug.

Flash smiled and hugged back, right as Scootaloo rushed up and did the same.

"Promise me you'll come back," Misty begged. Flash wanted to, but he honestly couldn't make that promise. He had no idea what was gonna happen up there.

"I'll do everything I can." Misty seemed to accept this and pulled back, grabbing his cheeks in her hands and staring him in the eyes.

"I know you will," she nodded. "Maybe...maybe this was why you were born in the Duel Monster Spirit World. For this very moment."

"Just don't do anything stupid," Scootaloo told him.

"Ah, come on sis." Flash smiled at her, "this is me we're talking about."

"Exactly," she laughed. He and Misty laughed back before Flash pulled away. But before he could move-

"Flash!" He turned towards the door and spotted Cadance, helping Shining towards them. "I'm glad I made it."

"Shining?" Flash frowned, "you should be resting."

"I know. But I need to tell you something. Twilight...she's still in there." Flash hadn't been expecting this. "During my Duel with Midnight, I saw her. It was only for a moment, but she was there. She hasn't been completely consumed by Zeronull."

"What are you saying?" Flash asked.

"I'm saying there's still a chance Twilight can be freed from Zeronull's control, the same way Marble and Starlight broke free from their Soulinks. If you can make Midnight remember all the good times Twilight had..."

"Twilight might grow strong enough to break free." Shining nodded, Flash giving him a smile. "Thanks Shining. And I'll remember that." He turned back to the Shadow Gate in the sky. "Twilight, I'm coming to save you." He moved over to the edge of the building and at the same time, Cold's voice suddenly rang out from every Duel Disk activate on the planet.

"An important announcement for all who can hear. As you've noticed, a great danger is facing two worlds. One we must all fight in order to stop. And as long as you continue to dig deep and remember the connection between you and your monsters, that evil will have no chance of stopping us."

All over the world, Duellists continued to battle with everything they had. No matter how many of the monsters they were facing, they fought their best fight.

"As we speak, a very special young Duelist is about to engage in a battle against the source of this attack. He is our last hope. So I ask you to take a moment and send him good thoughts. Let him know that despite being alone, he will have us with him for support. Let us all pray for his safety, and most importantly...his victory."

The Duellists closed their eyes as they suddenly saw the image of the young man in question appear on the forefront of their mind. Whether it was through the power of Harmonica they were all taping into, or something much deeper, they all could see him and they were all giving him their support.

"Flash Sentry. You have our faith."

"YOU HAVE OUR FAITH!" Every Duellist yelled at the same time, Flash strangely able to hear that and smirking.

He raised his hand the clutched it as the mark appeared, unleashing a mighty rainbow of light. "Now is the time, to save and shape our future!" The light glowed brighter and brighter, but it hurt nobody. It was so bright, that it could be seen from space and even further then that.

Flash Heart shot passed several copies of himself and destroyed them instantly, then stopped as he sensed something.

Looking up, he saw the light coming from the planet on the other side of the Shadow Gate. "Flash," he realised, "the time has come."

"Go to him!" He heard Sombra yell, making the dragon turn to see the former human slash a monster with his sword. "He needs you!"

"We'll handle things here!" Scarvolt yelled as she continued to battle Storm King Dominator. Flash Heart turned to the rest of his comrades and saw them node, the Alpha Zealot nodding back before flying upwards.

"Vail Pixie!" The monster in question nodded and followed after him, the two heading straight up. "This is it. Everything we've fought for." He turned to her, "any regrets?"

Vail Pixie shook her head, "I'm glad I joined you. Because I got to meet Flash and so many of my friends." She then got serious, "now let's go save them." Flash Heart nodded back and they both suddenly vanished.

The light continued to grow stronger as Flash felt his hair turn white.

"Flash!" Scootaloo yelled to her brother, "good look up there!"

Spike nodded, "come back safe and sound. And bring Twilight home with you!" Flash glanced back at them and smiled with a node, then looked back as he felt a new presence. Misty and Scootaloo gasped seeing the Duel Monster Spirits of Flash Heart and Vail Pixie appear besides him, the two bathing in the light before the three were consumed by it.

The light exploded upwards, moving faster then the speed of light into the sky. All anyone could see was a twinkle in the sky, but they knew Flash was on his way. "Good luck," Misty whispered while the others mentally said the same thing.

Down on the ground, Trail and Grand Duelled side by side before feeling a presence and looking up to see the light climbing into the sky. "Go Flash!" Trail yelled, "we're behind you all the way."

Grand smiled. "He truly has come a long way."

A few hundred or so miles from the Shadow Gate, pieces of space debris were being pulled together by the power of both Zeronull and Harmonica.

Soon, the combined matter formed an upside-down pyramid with several columns and pillars on the top that gave it an alter kind of vibe. And upon it, a flash of dark light pulsed. Midnight appeared out of it, the possessed girl landing on a pillar while staring at earth.

From the planet, the pillar flew up to the battlefield and then shot straight down. When it faded, Flash was revealed in a pose you'd see a superhero in during a landing. His hair turned back to blue as he slowly picked himself up, his face pointed towards the ground.

"Zeronull...Midnight. Are you ready?" He finally looked up and shot her a glare, "I CHALLENGE YOU!"

Author's Note

WOO! That was fun. Hope you enjoyed it. Now it's onto the final battle.

Also, can the guys wanting to collab with me about his Yugioh flick please PM me. Sorry, forgot to follow you.

Turn 40: α V Ω, The Final Battle

Planet earth was battling for its own survival.

On almost every street, in every town or city in every country there was at least one Duel going on. Every Duel was between a member of earth and the mysterious slime creatures that were falling from the sky.

"Go, Technobot!" Gizmo Poindexter yelled yelled as his robot fired its missiles at the lesser version of itself, destroying it and causing the slime creature mimicking Gizmo to vanish. "Extraordinary," he staid while adjusting his glasses.

On another street, the Duellists Lyra and Bon Bon were battling their own clones in a double battle. "LET'S GO!" They both yelled as Maiden of the Enchanted Harp and Agent Striker charged forward and attacked the clones directly. The slime monsters vanished as the girls hugged one another, "YAY!"

"Arctic Archer, GO!" Sharp Shooter yelled as his monster fired its bow.

"Power Dog Cerberus!" The three dog brothers yelled as their monsters pounced.

"Laugh Maker!" Cheese Sandwich yelled as his Performapal threw several cards towards the opponent.

"Dread Pirate Nightmare!" Pipsqueak cried as his monster charged and raised its clawed hand to crush the opponent.

"Dark Rebellion Dragon!" Shining Spoon cried as his monster attacked, destroying the opponent. "Nice."

"Sound Striker/Melody Maker!" Vinyl and Octavia said together, "ATTACK!" Their monsters charged forward and unleashed blasts of sound that struck the opponent.

But the place where the most intense Duels were happening was at the Freeze Stadium.

There, all of Flash's closest friends were scattered around the parking lot battling their clones. "Come get it!" Rainbow cried as Wonder Beyond charged forward and slashed at her opponent directly, cutting it in half and destroying it. "Yeah!" Rainbow then noticed another slime creature approaching. "You want some!"

"Trap Summon!" Tempest yelled as her opponent's Scarvolt tried to beat her, only to be blocked by her Trap Monster. "You're not taking me down!"

"ATTACK!" Fluttershy screamed as Kindness Dragonoid silently roared at the opponent, splattering the slime creature to the far wind. Fluttershy panted as another slime creature approached. "I won't let you hurt my friends."

"Go!" Grand yelled as Duel Blade Shinobi spun through the air and slashed at the opponent. Grand looked around and watched as more and more slime creatures approached, the older man letting out a sigh. "They just keep coming."

"Well we can't give up," Trail told him as his dragon incinerated the opponent. "We have to keep fighting, so Flash can focus on defeating Zeronull."

"He's right." The two turned towards the doorway and saw Cold, Misty and Sunset step outside with their Duel Disks at the ready. "Until he can defeat him, we have to make sure he still has a planet to come back too." He spotted a slime creature and stepped towards it, the monster beginning to take shape and mimic him.

Misty and Sunset did the same, Trail and Grand focusing back on their opponent. "Let's not forget," Misty drew her cards. "It's not just our world we're fighting to protect." She looked up at the Shadow Gate.

Divine Sky Angel fired its bow and destroyed the slime creature mimicking it, all the while Sombra charged at slashed the opponent down.

"Keep going!" The former human yelled as he watched Scarvolt fight Storm King while dodging the attacks of slimes.

"I'm trying," the Tempest Rogue panted. "But there's only so long we can hold out for."

"We just need to keep it up a little longer," Grand Emperor announced. "As long as our allies on earth continue fighting, there's no way we can give up."

"No way I'm letting these freaks get me!" Harpie Lady Zephyr explained as she clawed at another one.

"We'll keep fighting no matter what," Orchard Cowboy explained as he fired another shot from his pistol.

"FOR THE SAKE OF BOTH WORLDS!" Many monsters screamed.

"Kneel before the king!" Thorax yelled as Changling King flew forward and bucked its clone with its horns, destroying it.

"That's the way," Starlight cheered as her monster destroyed the opponent.

"Give it everything you've got girls," Adagio stated as the three Ocean Idols unleashed a combined sonic blast that ripped their opponent's apart at the molecular level.

Cold's attention was split between his Duel and watching how everyone else was doing. Despite continuing to win their matches, he knew everyone would soon tire. When that happened, it would be much harder for them to play at their best. Losing was inevitable, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. All they could do was hold out as long as possible.

Cold then looked back to the sky, up at the Shadow Gate where his pupil was about to do battle. "Be careful Flash."

Up in space, where the Shadow Gate stood, the pyramid created using both Harmonica and Zeronull's power floated in the vast vacuum. And on that pyramid, Flash Sentry and Midnight Sparkle stared one another down.

Both humans were protected from the harshness of space by an energy field surrounding the plot of land, supplying them with oxygen and gravity so they could focus on their final battle. The two remained silent as they stared one another down.

"Flash Sentry," Midnight smirked. "I should have known you would be the one that would stand as my final obstacle in my crusade. You, who wields the power of Harmonica's disciple and who helped him banish Zeronull's Doom-Vaders. You, who defeated Storm King and became the most suitable candidate for becoming Zeronull's host. And now, here you stand. Chosen and empowered by Harmonica herself. How proud you must feel. And how heartbroken you'll be once you lose and my ultimate goal will finally be fulfilled."

"Yeah," Flash smiled, "that's not gonna happen. But I do have a question before we start."

Midnight sighed, "very well. What is it you wish to know?"

"Really, it's a two piece question. After you've destroyed my world and the Duel Monster Spirit World, then what? As an outer god, I assume you're pretty much immortal. So what exactly are you going to do then."

Midnight smiled before jumping down off the pillar and landing on the other side of the pyramid. "Once your worlds are destroyed, I will search the vast cosmos and find other worlds teeming with life. And like you, I will destroy them. I will continue to search and destroy, never stopping, never resting until all life is silenced by my gaze. And only then will my mission be complete."

"Oh," Flash nodded, "then what?" She looked at him afterwards.

"What?"

"What will you do once you're absolutely sure no other life exists. I mean, we both know all that stuff the Zealots said about a new world was total baloney. If you destroy these worlds and suck us into those slime things, we're dead, aren't we?" Her silence gave him the answer. "Thought so. So I ask again. What are you going to do once your mission is completed. The mission you have put yourself on since the very creation of everything."

"Everything that should have never been!" Midnight growled, "the Numeron Dragon's birth was a mistake and everything that came after it was also a mistake."

"Does that include you?" Flash asked, "you came after that dragon, so that means you're a mistake."

"Yes. But I know I am a mistake. And for that, it is up to me to correct that mistake. I will destroy everything, then I will destroy myself."

"If you're willing to destroy yourself so easily, then why don't you just do it now and leave the rest of us alone."

"No!" She glared at him, "all life must be silenced. The mistake must be undone."

"Who say's we're a mistake? Who are you to decide whether we should or shouldn't exist?" He pointed at his planet. "Even if we came into existence by accident, that doesn't change the fact we've grown into something so much more then that. We've evolved, grown into beings worthy of existing. All the hardships. All the trials. Everything the universe has thrown at us. Our world has fought and struggled on because we want to exist and even if we were never meant to, we have the right to remain. And nothing you do will take that away from us."

"Then you leave me no choice." Midnight raised her Duel Disk as the generators began to glow, differently coloured light shooting off them and flying into Midnight's hand to form the Zenith Dragon cards. She placed those card onto her deck before it shuffled, the Duel Disk activating. She then held up one final card, "I will defeat you in this Duel and destroy Harmonica's connection to this realm." She placed the card into the Duel Disk, "time will resume and your worlds will destroy themselves."

"Not gonna happen." Flash took out his Duel Disk and placed it on his arm, the device activating. He then took out his Flash Heart and Vail Pixie cards. "For the sake of our future. For the sake of everyone relying on us." He placed the cards in his deck as it shuffled, "let's end this."

The two got into a battle stance and drew their cards.

"ALPHA/OMEGA DUEL!"

Flash: 4000
Midnight: 4000

"Age before bone-headedness," Midnight drew her card.

"I'm pretty sure I'm both older and more bone-headed then you," Flash told him.

"But Zeronull's even older so it still counts," Midnight slapped a card down on the field. "I summon Disharmian of Cruelty, in DEF mode!" In a flash of dark energy, the evil version of Fluttershy appeared infront of Midnight before kneeling down with her arms crossed. (A1200/D1100/L3/P2) "Then I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

"Alright," Flash reached for his deck. "This is it. My last chance to stop Zeronull, once and for all. I draw!" He did so and when he saw the card he got, he smiled. "First, I'll play the Spell Pendulum Trick!" He took a card from his hand and showed it to Midnight, revealing Bright Bounce Magna Bunny.

Midnight raised an eyebrow at the new card, "and this does?"

"It sends a Pendulum Monster from my hand to the Extra Deck," Flash did so. "Now I can't Pendulum Summon for the rest of the turn. But instead, I can look at the top five cards of my deck and add one of them to my hand." He drew five cards before taking one and shuffling the rest back into his deck, then played that card. "Go, Magna Fusion!"

"Another new card?"

"With this, I can summon a Magna Fusion monster by banishing the cards I need from my hand, deck or graveyard." His deck slotted out two cards, which he took and placed in his pocket. "So I'm banishing Shining Fang Magna Wolf and Reflector Scale Magna Snake!"

Midnight watched as the two monsters appeared above Flash before they were sucked into a vortex, merging them together. "Let the raging fury of these two mighty beasts now become one, to give birth to a creature of devastating ferocity!" The vortex exploded, "I FUSION SUMMON!"

The light of the explosion faded, revealing Flash's monster. "Magna Beast, Feral Lindworm!" (A2300/D2100/L6) "Then, I'll activate it's skill!" He removed Magna Bunny from his Extra Deck, as Lindworm curled itself up. "I can send a Pendulum Monster from my extra deck to the graveyard and destroy a card on your field." The Fusion Monster rolled forward, turning into a wheel that shot towards Midnight's field and crushed Disharmian of Cruelty.

Midnight frowned while Flash smirked, while Lindworm rolled back over to his side of the field.

"Alright," Lindworm circled around him, "and that was just his ability. Now he can go right in for a direct attack!" The Fusion Monster charged at Midnight, ready to deal her some serious damage. But she simply smiled.

"Trap card open!" The card flipped up to reveal, "Defence Draw!" A force field appeared around Midnight, which Lindworm slammed into and bounced off as the possessed teen drew a card. "Are you done?"

Flash frowned, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Then I'll go!" Midnight drew her card and smiled, "perfect." She took the card she had drawn and one from her hand and held them up. "Now I set scale one Disharmian of Betrayal and scale nine Disharmian of Misery, into the Pendulum Scale!" She slapped the cards onto the Duel Disk before the pillars of light appeared on either side of her, with the evil versions of Rainbow and Pinkie appearing within them before the portal began to form above Midnight's head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of dark lights shot out of them, hitting the ground and taking shape before fading to reveal her monsters. "Disharmian, Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5)

"And Disharmian of Cruelty!" (A1200/D1100/L3/P2) "Cruelty's skill!" Fluttershy's evil clone fired a blast of light from her gem, which struck Flash's hand and made the cards heat up.

"Ahh!" Flash hissed at the heat.

Flash: 3700
Midnight: 4000

"And now for Archangel's skill," Midnight held up Disharmian of Deceit before discarding it. "By sending a monster to my graveyard, I can add another monster from my deck to my hand." He deck slotted out a card, which she too and held up.

"Marventus," Flash realised. 'This is just like how she beat Shining.' Flash quickly realised if he wasn't careful, he could end up meeting the same fate as her brother.

"Now for the fun part," Midnight smirked as Archangel flew up and formed a sphere of energy in her hand. "Midnight Archangel now attacks Feral Lindworm!" The Disharmian unleashed her attack, firing a beam that struck Flash's Fusion Monster and vaporised it.

"Augh!" Flash cried, feeling himself skid backwards from the force of Midnight's attack.

Flash: 3000
Midnight: 4000

"Now, Cruelty will attack you directly!" Fluttershy's dark clone shot forward, ready to punch Flash in a very un-Fluttershy way.

"Trap card open!" Flash's face down flipped you before a force field appeared around Flash, blocking Cruelty's attack. "You're not the only one with a Defence Draw," Flash drew his card while Midnight simply smirked.

"Think you're funny, do you?"

"Enough to make you love me. Or...the girl you're controlling love me. Although, I'm betting those feelings are still rattling around in there."

Midnight frowned, "don't be ridicules."

"Why's it so hard to believe?" Flash asked as he remembered what Shining had told him before. "You said it yourself when we first met, you're just as much Twilight as you are Zeronull. And I know that Twilight's love for me is strong enough to protect it from whatever influence Zeronull has on you."

"Blah," Midnight stuck out a tongue, "you're so sickeningly sweet I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Just look at me!" Flash yelled, "look into my eyes and tell me you don't love me!" The two locked eyes, Midnight glaring while Flash tried to look beyond her gaze and see the girl he loved. And slowly, Midnight's expression began to soften. It was only for the slightest of moments, but she seemed different. But before it could set in, Midnight clutched her head and moaned in pain. "Twilight-"

"That is not my name!" Midnight looked back up and shot a glare at him, as angry as ever. "Now just go already!"

Flash glared back at her and drew his card. "I play the Spell card, Starburst Reload!" His Duel Disk slotted out a card, Flash taking it to reveal Magna Bunny before putting it in his pocket. "Now I banish a card from my grave and draw cards equal to its level." He drew three cards, smiling as a plan came together. "Now, I set scale one Magna Caster Lunara and scale eight Lustrous Feather Magna Leghorn into the Pendulum Scale!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him before the two monsters flew up into them, the portal beginning to form as Flash chanted. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal slowly began to open as Flash yelled out, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

As single light shot out of the portal and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Flash's monster. "Unleash your roar, Star Fang Magna Tiger!" (A2400/D2100/L7) "Then I activate a Spell card!" Magna Tiger began to glow, "Reverse Polarity. With this, Magna Tiger and Midnight Archangel's ATK points switch."

Midnight frowned as Magna Tiger's light flew off and struck Midnight's monster, powering it down while pumping him up. (A3000/D2100/L7) (A2400/D2500/L8/P5) "Well bully for you."

"Magna Tiger!" Flash yelled while pointing at Archangel, "take her out!" The tiger themed warrior charged forward and slashed Midnight's monster with its giant gauntlet, causing it to explode.

Flash: 3000
Midnight: 3400

"Star Fang's skill!" Flash yelled as his monster slashed the air, creating a portal in front of Cruelty. "Banish one monster on your field with ATK less then the one he destroyed." Cruelty was sucked inside, leaving Midnight's field empty. "I place one card face down and end my turn." He looked down at their scores. He may be behind at the moment, but it was still early. "Don't worry Twilight," he looked up at her. "I'll get you out of this. I promise."

"FIRE!" Soarin yelled as Assault Striker unleashed its all out attack, decimating the slime copying it.

"Go!" Rarity cried as Crystal Rarity fired a beam from its staff.

"Crush it!" Maud yelled, as her Giga-Rock Titan slammed its fist into the ground and crushed the opponent.

"We have to keep fighting!" Tidal told the Duellists around him. "No matter what, our amigo is counting on us to hold down the fort."

"You got it!" Pinkie smiled as her Balloonimal Fusion Monster army charged.

"We won't give up," Sonata cheered.

"No way!" Aria yelled.

"We'll keep fighting," Applejack assured him. "Along with the rest of the world."

"Go!" Mac yelled as Cyber Handyman charged and sawed the opponent in half. The young man was outside his family's home, working to keep his grandmother safe. But with all the approaching slime beasts, it wasn't easy.

Two charged at once. But before they could get too far, a giant foot came crashing down and crushed one of them.

"What?" Mac turned to the foot and saw it was none other then Exodia, who had just stepped out from around his house. "Where did-"

"Well lookie here brother of mine," Mac and Granny Smith turned towards the voices as saw two men stepped into view. Flim and Flam. "We come looking for our old friend Applejack hoping for a rematch and what do we find?"

"Her family in serious danger by the looks of things," Flam smiled while Mac glared at them. "Now don't go getting upset that we're here."

"We've come to help," Flim announced before they turned to the slime beasts. "You're about to find out what happens to those who mess with the Flim-Flam Brothers."

"Rightly said brother," Flame nodded. Mac wasn't sure if he could trust them, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice.

In another part of the city, the Celestic Sisters were leading a bunch of non-Duellists to safety.

"Divine Sun Spirit of Harmony!" Celestia summoned the monster, which unleashed a burst of golden light that incinerated them.

"This way!" Luna cried as she lead the group down an alley, only for the slimes to appear. "Divine Moon Spirit of Harmony!" The monster appeared and unleashed a dark blue light that struck the slime and froze it in place. "Hurry!" They continued down the path as Celestia and her monster brought up the rear.

When they entered the street, several more slimes could be seen. "Sister!" Luna cried as Celestia joined her, the two's monsters coming together and crossing their staffs. They then pointed them forwards unleashing spiralling beam of light and dark energy it struck the slimes and destroyed them, creating a clear path for them.

In Cloudsdale, Spitfire and her students had taken to the streets to help those that didn't Duel.

They were using everything they had learned from Rainbow, Soarin and Gilda to protect the people, the way they knew those three and even the creator of their school had done. But despite the training they had undergone, many of them were struggling from inexperience.

But before any of them could lose, a barrage of lightning bolts shot down from the heavens and destroyed the slimes. Everyone who saw it looked up and saw a giant robotic bird flying above them, the bird beginning to circle a building and they all spotted someone standing there.

"Geez," the girl said, "I just came to settle the score with Rainbow. I didn't think I'd be getting caught up in all this." She looked around and spotted some more slimes appearing on the roof. "Jetstream Thunderbird!" The robotic bird roared as it unleashed more lightning.

"Sick'em!" Timber Spruce yelled as his Dark Timberwolf roared, unleashing a toxic breath the melted the slimes. "Oh yeah!" The teen smirked, "super hero right here."

"HELP!" He turned to see a girl getting chased by some slimes, causing him to sigh.

"Can't I get a minute to enjoy my victory," he rushed over and gave the girl a smile. "Hey beautiful! You look like you could use a hand." He turned towards the slime and smiled, "this should be easy." But then he looked around it and saw several more, "maybe not that easy."

"Attack!" Neo Frozen Heart unleashed a burst of cold air, freezing its opponent solid before spinning around and slamming its tail pick into it. Cold sighed as the monster shattered, the man feeling himself growing tired. "Have to...keep going."

"Not alone you don't!" Cold turned to the voice and saw Spike, Scootaloo, Sweetie, Applebloom, Marble, Cadance and Shining exit.

"What are you doing?" Rarity asked her sister, "it's not safe."

"I don't care!" Sweetie held up her Duel Disk, "I'm a Duellist too."

"So are we!" Scootaloo and Applebloom did the same.

"But you're hurt?" Sunburst told Spike and Shining, the two smiling.

"I don't need to stand in order to Duel," Spike sat on the steps on the stadium and activated his Duel Disk.

Shining did the same, "we can't just sit back and let you risk your lives."

Pinkie and Maud turned to Marble. "I helped cause this," Marble activated her Duel Disk. "I'm going to help end this."

"We're all helping," Cadance activated her Duel Disk. The others realised there was no stopping them and just focused on their own Duels.

As they started, Shining looked back up at the Shadow Gate. "Come on Flash. You have to win, soon."

"It's my turn!" Midnight reached for her deck and took a card, "draw." The portal began to form up above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of dark lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal her monsters. "Disharmian, Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5)

"And Disharmian of Greed!" (A1300/1700/L4/P9) "Archangel's skill!" Midnight held up Marventus before discarding it, her deck slotting out another card that she took to show Flash.

"Mesmeridiem," Flash whispered. As he said that, something else occurred. The generator holding the Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies suddenly began to glow, Marventus letting out a mighty roar that was heard on both world. "With every turn she's getting closer and closer to summoning Zeronull."

"Attack!" Midnight yelled as Archangel flew into the air, then brought her hands together to form the dark energy orb that she threw at Magna Tiger. But when the attack struck Magna Tiger, the monster shattered to reveal another Magna Tiger standing behind it.

Flash: 2400
Midnight: 3400

"Sorry," Flash smirked, "but my Reflection Guard keeps Magna Tiger on from being destroyed."

"That's fine," Midnight smiled. "It's not like it can hurt me. And even if you find a way to make it strong enough to beat Archangel, you're just doing me a favour."

'She's right," Flash frowned as Midnight ended her turn. 'If I destroy Midnight Archangel, she'll just summon it back next turn and be one step closer to summoning Zeronull.' He looked down at his hand. 'I don't have anything that can destroy her scale. I've gotta hope for a lucky draw.' "It's my turn!" He drew his card and saw it was Neo Lightspeed Dragon. 'Dang...' "Wait," his looked at his field and smirked, "that could work."

"Would could work?" Midnight asked.

"Let me show you!" Flash summoned Neo Lightspeed Dragon, the robotic wolf appearing besides Magna Tiger. "Now I activate Leghorn's Pendulum Ability!" The star on its stomach glowed before unleashing a light, which struck Magna Tiger and lowered its level. (A2400/D2100/L4)

"What's that supposed to do?" Midnight asked, "neither of them are strong enough to destroy Midnight Archangel."

"Are you sure you've got Twilight's memories?" Flash asked as his monsters transformed into a pair of lights that shot up into the air. "Because she'd know I'm using these two monsters in order to build the Overlay Network!" A black hole appeared infront of him, the two lights flying inside as he chanted. "Shatter the chains forged by the laws of physics and burst open the door to limitless possibilities!" The black hole exploded, unleashing a burst of brilliant light. "I XYZ SUMMON!"

The light faded, revealing Flash's monster. "Reality Buster Dragon!" (A2000/D2000/R4) "ATTACK!" The Xyz monster flew forward and swung its sword at Midnight Archangel, who fired her magical blast at it. "Reality Buster's skill!" One of its Overlay Units flew into its sword, which it used to block the oncoming attack. "When Reality Buster battles a monster that's stronger then it, I can remove an Overlay Unit and negate his destruction!" The sword appeared to absorb the energy Archangel fired, "and you take any of the damage I would have taken."

Midnight growled as Reality Buster swung its sword around and unleashed the energy in a single wave, which struck the possessed and sent her staggering backwards. "AUGH!"

Flash: 2400
Midnight: 2400

"I place two cards face down and end my turn." Reality Buster flew down and landed behind him as he watched Midnight slump forward, panting heavily. "Come on Twilight. You're stronger then Zeronull. Don't let it beat you!"

"Be quiet!" Midnight's head shot up. "How many times do I have to spell it out for you. I'm not your little girlfriend anymore. She's gone and she's never coming back!"

"I don't believe you," Flash told her. "Twilight's not so easily beaten."

"I don't care what you believe," Midnight reached for her deck. "All I care about is finally ending you once and for all, so my master plan can finally come to fruition. And you won't stop me. It's my turn. I draw!" She did so, then reached for her deck again. "Thanks to Disharmian of Greed, I can now draw an additional card." She did so and smiled, "perfect."

Flash didn't like the sound of that. "Reality Buster still has an Overlay Unit, so I should be fine."

"I activate Disharmony Kamikaze!" Archangel flew into the air, a dark aura forming around her. "With this Spell, I can tribute a Disharmian and then destroy a monster on your field with less ATK then it." With that, Archangel shot forward and morphed into a dark meteor that slammed into Reality Buster and exploded.

"Augh!" Flash cried as the explosion knocked him staggering forward, the smoke vanishing to reveal both Archangel and Reality Buster were destroyed. "Great."

"There's more," Midnight held up the card Flash knew was her Zenith Dragon. "With her destroyed, I can now summon her back to the field." The portal formed above her head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of dark lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal both her monsters. "Disharmian, Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5)

"And Disharmian of Inequality!" (A1100/D1500/L4/P3) The dark version of Starlight appeared on the field besides Archangel, both smirking at Flash as his field was completely empty. "Now for Archangel's skill!" Midnight turned her card around and showed it was Mesmeridiem, which she discard before a card slotted out of her deck. As she did, the generator holding the light dragon lit up as the beast roared.

Flash watched her take it and hold it up before turning the card around, revealing the Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno. "Not good," he whispered. "Now she's only one turn away from summoning Zeronull."

"Not like you'll survive long enough to see it," Archangel raised her hands and formed the orb. "Such a shame. All that talk and I didn't even need to summon my ultimate beast." She pointed at him, "ATTACK!" The Disharmian fired the blast right at Flash, Midnight laughing as it struck. "YES!" But then Midnight noticed something, or a lack of something. No scream of pain. "What?"

It was then that a light suddenly appeared at the point the beam struck, the girl flinching at it. The light formed a dome around Flash, originating from a monster that suddenly appeared around him. The one that Midnight swore she would never see again.

"Flash Heart Dragon?" The white version of Flash's ace stood infront of him, unleashing the a light that formed the dome around them. "How?"

"My Beacon of Hope Trap!" Flash explained. "When you attacked me directly, it let me draw a card. Since it was a monster, I got to summon it. And it's the best monster in my entire deck. One born of Harmonica and imbued with her power. "Flash Heart Dragon...Alpha." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)

Midnight growled, "so what? It's not strong enough to beat Midnight Archangel."

"Maybe not," Flash said. "But before he's destroyed, his abilities activate." A portal appeared behind Inequality. "The weakest monster on your field is banished!" Starlight's dark clone was sucked inside. "And now for his other skill," Flash reached for his deck. "Whenever a monster's banished, I can draw a card. If it's a monster whose Level is lower then the one banished, I can summon it." He drew his card but frowned, "luck's not on my side." He added it to his hand before the dome of light cracked and shattered, Archangel's attack hitting Flash Heart and destroying him. "AUGH!"

Flash: 1900
Midnight: 2400

Midnight smirked at the teen as he managed to hold his ground, though the blast had pushed Flash back a few inches. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"And that means it's my turn!" Flash reached for his deck, "I draw!" As he did, the portal formed above Flash's head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot out and struck the ground, revealing Flash's ace. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon...ALPHA!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Flash Heart's skill!" A portal appeared below Disharmian of Greed, causing her to fall and be removed from play. "Now for his other ability!" Flash drew his card and smiled before slapping it onto the field. "I summon Aura Pulse Magna Rat!" In a flash of light, the robotic rodent appeared in front of him. (A300/D200/L1)

"Ha!" Midnight chuckled, "those cards can't stop me. You realise the second I summon Zeronull, it's all over."

"Which is why I'm gonna beat you before that happens," Flash explained as a portal appeared above Flash's head. "Starting with Magna Rat's skill!" The Magna Rat leapt into the portal and out of the other side, Magna Wolf jumped out and landed besides Flash. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Then, I activate the Spell card Lightspeed!" Flash Heart began to glow as its power rose. (A3500/D2000/L7/P4) "Time to end this. Flash Heart, GO!" The robotic dragon's boosters ignited and sent him rocketing towards Midnight Archangel.

Midnight watched as Flash's monster sucker punched hers, causing the fiend to explode and push her backwards as she cried out.

Flash: 1900
Midnight: 1900

"And now Shining Fang Magna Wolf will take a bite out of you!" The wolf growled as its body began glowing. "And thanks to his skill, his ATK goes up by a hundred points for every card removed from play." He let out loud howl as his power went up. (A2100/D1200/L4) Flash let out a whistle and the wolf shot forward before he bounced, ready to make Midnight's life points hit zero. "TWILIGHT!"

"Stop calling me that!" The girl screamed before her face down flipped up, "Trap card open!" Pink portals opened up before a bunch of dark green vines shot out, several wrapping around Magna Wolf's legs and stomach. "My Venom Ivy Trap card equips to any monster that attacks me directly. It prevents them from attacking and during each of my turns, they lose eight hundred ATK points until it hits zero and destroys it."

Flash frowned, "dang it."

"You had your chance," Midnight announced. "If you had foreseen my face down, maybe you could have destroyed it. But now there's nothing you can do except end you turn."

Flash didn't want to admit it, but she was right. As he brought his turn to an end, Flash Heart and Magna Wolf's ATK returned to normal. (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) (A1500/D1200/L4)

"Such a shame," Midnight stated as she reached for her deck. "All that hard work and you weren't able to pull it off." She drew her card, "now all you can do is watch as your world comes crumbling down." As she said this, the vines around Magna Wolf began to constrict him.

Flash frowned as his friend howled in pain, while the Trap's effects kicked in and caused Magna Wolf's ATK to drop by eight hundred. (A700/D1200/L4) "Just hold on," Flash told him. "I'll find a way to save you."

"Save him?" Midnight laughed again, "you can't even save yourself. Not with what I have in store for you." The portal began to form above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a single light shot out of it, hitting the ground and exploding as Midnight's monster appeared one last time. "Midnight Archangel!" (A3000/D2500/L8/P5) "Archangel's skill!" She discarded a card, right as the dragon within the fire generator roared at the same time it began to glow. "I discard Perfignis in order to add another monster to my hand." A card slotted out of her deck and she took it before holding it up. "Now, the time has come."

Flash stared at the cards as a dark aura appeared around it and Midnight. "This isn't good."

"With this card, I put everything on the line." The light grew brighter and brighter. "Should I lose this Duel, every card in my deck will be destroyed. Including my Zenith Dragons and this card itself." She then raised her Duel Disk as a green, yellow and red light exploded out of it, Flash barely managing to keep his eyes opened and look through it to see three cards fly out of her Duel Disk and shot towards the generators holding their dragons. "In order to summon my ultimate monster, I must first banish three Zenith Dragons from my graveyard." As she said that, the three dragons roared before the light from the generators shot off and struck the cards. The cards glowed before shooting towards the Shadow Gate.

"Where are they going?" Flash asked as the three cards entered the void. As they did, they suddenly exploded with a light that was brighter then any Flash had ever seen before.

Back on earth, everyone continued to Duel only for a bright light to catch their eye and look up.

There, they saw something happening within the Shadow Gate. And whatever it was, they knew it wasn't something good. "What is that?" Rainbow asked, turning to Cold who didn't look like he had any clue.

"I...don't know." Slowly, the light began to take shape and form and image everyone was beginning to dread that they recognised.

Shining looked up from his own Duel, turning to look up at the figure and announce what everyone was scared it might be. "That's Zeronull."

"ARISE!" Midnight slapped the card onto her Duel Disk, "OMEGA DEITY OF DESTRUCTION! ZERONULL!"

The light exploded off of the figure and reveal the dark outer god in all his might, the three Zenith Dragons sitting within his wings. Its eyes glowed and stared down at Flash, then passed him towards his planet. A look of disgust was evident.

"So this is him in all his glory," Flash whispered.

Midnight laughed at Flash's face. "Behold, the last monster you'll ever see before your end. With powers the likes of which you'll never be able to stand against. With three Zenith Dragons removed from play, he gains one thousand ATK and DEF points for each of them. (A3000/D3000/L12) "And, of course, it can't be destroyed in battle. Nor are you able to destroy it with Spells, Traps or Monster effects."

"Okay," Flash sighed, "I get it. He's really strong, almost indestructible."

"There's no almost about it," Midnight announced. "It is indestructible and with it, this match's fate is set in stone." She pointed at Flash, "all you can do now is wait for your inevitable destruction by its hands."

"Well you'll have to wait for that destruction," Flash explained. "Since you banished a monster, I can draw a card and if it's a monster whose Level is lower then your Zenith Dragon, I can summon it." He drew his card, but alas it wasn't a monster.

"You're certainly using your Flash Heart Dragon effectively," Midnight smiled. "But it's power is nothing compared to Zeronull's. Although, I might not even have to use it." Midnight Archangel too to the air. "After all, one attack from Archangel and your Magna Wolf will be obliterated...along with the rest of your life points."

Flash watched as Archangel formed the orb between her hands, then threw it at the trapped wolf and unleashed a beam of dark magic. All the while, Flash Heart turned to his partner and nodded.

Flash nodded back before pressing the button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my Trap!" The card flipped up as Flash Heart leapt in front of Magna Wolf, "Interception!" The blast struck Flash Heart Dragon and destroyed him, Flash grunting in pain as his life points dropped.

Flash: 1400
Midnight: 1900

Midnight smirked, "you're a real sucker for punishment, aren't you. Could have let yourself lose the easy way, but instead you've only forced yourself to face a worse end." As she said that, Zeronull's central orb began to glow. "I attack with my Omega Deity of Destruction." As she said that, a card slotted out of her deck. "And whenever it attacks, I must banish one monster from my deck." She threw the card into the air as the Fabulaqua unleashed a roar while is generator glowed brighter.

That light flew off and struck the card as it flew into the Shadow Gate and phased into one of the three remaining empty orbs. The Zenith Dragon of Bottomless Oceans appeared within the orb, causing Zeronull's ATK and DEF to rise up. (A4000/D4000/L12) As this happened, Zeronull unleashed the laser from out of the Void.

It shot out of the portal and flew through space before striking the tied up Magna Wolf. Flash's eyes went wide as the beam exploded and unleashed a shockwave that slammed into him. "ARRRRRHHHHH!" Flash cried as he hit the ground and rolled for several seconds until he went over the edge of the upside-down pyramid. "WOW!" He cried, grabbing the edge and barely managing to get a grip.

He groaned as he pulled himself back onto the patch of rock, right as the light from the explosion vanished to show Magna Wolf still on the field and Flash's Life Points were unchanged. "Due to Zeronull's ability, your monster remains and you take no damage. But once I have all six Zenith Dragons removed from play, this Duel will end in my victory"

Flash let out a sigh as he stood up and walked forward. "That still gives me three more turns to end this."

"Please," Midnight stated, "nothing you do will end this Duel any way other than with my victory."

"We'll see," Flash looked up at her. "That's the beauty of this game. It never turns out the way you think it will. Anything can happen. With a single draw of a card, the whole game to be turned on its head."

"Well I know exactly how this Duel will end," Midnight announced before playing a card. "First, I'll play De-Spell in order to destroy a monster in your Pendulum Zone." Flash looked up at watched as Magna Leghorn glowed, the robotic bird crying out before it exploded. "Then, I'll continue to banish more and more Zenith Dragons while you pointlessly struggle to try and destroy Zeronull. But eventually, you'll be forced to accept that there is nothing you can do against this overwhelming power and I will end this Duel in my victory. After that, your connection to Harmonica will be lost and nothing will be able to stop me from finally completing my ultimate objective."

"No," Flash shook his head, "I won't let that happen." He then looked up at Zeronull as it stared down at him, the teen only now seeing just how hopeless everything seemed to be. But no matter what, Flash would find a way to win. For the sake of both his worlds, his friends and the people he loves, he would find a way to win.

Author's Note

Well, Flash's final battle is underway and right now he only has three turns left before he loses and the world ended. Hope you're holding onto your hats. Things are about to get crazy.

Turn 41: Hope Incarnate

The battle to save both words from Zeronull's evil clutches continues.

Every living thing on both worlds that refused Zeronull's offer to be silenced was now fighting back, whether it be through Dueling like the humans of earth or fighting like those of the Duel Monster Spirit World.

"I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" Cold yelled as his monster appeared. "Frozen Heart, Lord of the Javelin!" The monster appeared alongside Lord of the Sword. "Now attack Frozen Heart Fortress Golem!" Javelin threw its weapon and hit the ice giant, doing no damage since their points were exactly the same. "Javelin's skill!" The spear was stuck into the ice, the Synchro monster pulling the rope attacked to it and forcing Fortress Golem to its feet. "Your monster is switched to ATK mode, meaning Lord of the Sword can now attack!" The Fusion Monster rushed forward and slashed its Frozen Heart brother in half, destroying it and wiping out the clone Cold's Life Points.

In another area, Soarin was Duelling his clone and it had his Assault Convoy while he had Jet Jammer and Sub Surfer. "My turn," Soarin drew and smiled with what he saw. "And now I banish these two monsters in order to combine them together!" The machines leapt into the air before linking up, "Say hello to Techno Force Jet Surfer!" He cried as the machine landed. (A2300/D1500/L6) "Attack!"

"Your monster cannot defeat mine," Soarin's clone announced.

"It will after I play Limiter Removal," Soarin explained as his monster took to the air. Seconds later, the machine began to glow as its power rose. (A4600/D1500/L6). The jet and sub combo unleashed a barrage of attacks, hitting Assault Convoy and completed destroying it alone with the clone.

"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Misty cried as her monster shot out of the portal, revealing Divine Sky Angel. Her clone had Shining Valkyrie Queen and Angelic Dragon. "I play Lightspeed, to increase my Angel's ATK points by one thousand. (A3300/D2600/L7) "Attack!" The angel fired an arrow, hitting Valkyrie Queen and destroying her. "And since you have another monster on the field, I can pay three hundred points to attack again." The angel fired again, hitting Angelic Dragon and destroying it while defeating the Misty fake.

But then, another slime creature appeared and took her form. "They're endless."

"They won't stop until Zeronull's been defeated," Trail reminded her as his dragon destroyed its twin.

"We just have to keep holding out," Cadance told them as Crystal Empress destroyed Crystal Princess and whipped out the clone. As it did, Cadance's legs gave out and she fell to the floor. "But that's easier said then done."

"We're not giving up!" Shining told her.

"Giving up?" Rainbow asked as her ace destroyed its clone, Applejack and Rarity doing the same. "Who said anything about giving up."

"That's right!" Pinkie nodded, "Flash isn't giving up."

"So neither are we," Maud cried.

"We'll keep fighting," Marble agreed as the sister's monsters charged forward and destroyed their opponent.

"That's right," Cold nodded. "We keep fighting, even if we feel like we're going to fall from exhaustion, we must hold these creatures back." Everyone else cheered and continued to fight on, though Cold knew it was only a matter of time. "Flash. We can't last much longer." He looked up at the Shadow Gate, "hurry."

Up on the pyramid floated before the Shadow Gate, Flash stared down Midnight Sparkle and Zeronull. He only had three turns before Zeronull's skill activated and ended this Duel with Midnight's victory.

All he had was Magna Wolf, who couldn't even attack and would be destroyed during Midnight's next turn, and Lunara. If he didn't draw another Pendulum Monster, he wouldn't stand a chance.

"Go ahead, Alpha Zealot. Draw your card and try to find some way to defeat Zeronull. We both know that'll never happen."

"Never say never," Flash told her. "Anything is possible as long as you believe." He reached for his deck, "and I believe in my deck." He drew his card and smiled when he saw what it was, "and my faith has rewarded me with Magna Caster Solaris!" He slapped the card down onto his Duel Disk as the pillar appeared besides him, his Pendulum Monster flying up besides Lunara before the portal began to form. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal began to open as Flash cried, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

A single light shot out of the portal and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Flash's ace. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon...ALPHA!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) The spawn of Harmonica stood up and spun on its wheeled feet before pointing at Midnight Archangel. "Skill of Flash Heart!" A portal opened up and sucked the Disharmian in, leaving Midnight with only Zeronull. "And since a monster was banished, I can draw a card." He did so and found it was a monster, but not one that could help.

"So what did you get?" Midnight asked as Flash slapped the card on the Duel Disk.

"I summon Crystal Tusk Magna Boar, in DEF mode!" In a flash of light, the robotic pig appeared between Flash Heart and Magna Wolf. (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) Flash looked over the cards in his hands and on the field, but none of them could stop Zeronull. "No choice. I end my turn."

"Oh," Midnight gave him a sad look, "such a shame." She reached for her deck and drew her card. As she did, Magna Wolf screamed as the vines around it tightened. "Since it's my turn again, my Venom Ivy saps away another eight hundred points. (A0/D1200/L4) "And since your monster's ATK's hit zero, it's destroyed." The vines tightened to much and Flash's monster exploded, the teen grunting.

"Sorry boy," he told it as Midnight continued.

"Then, I'll use Fissure." The ground shook as an opening appeared in the ground beneath Magna Boar, the robot falling down into it and getting destroyed. "Poor Flash. His favourite style's all about surrounding himself with allies, but again and again he find himself alone."

"I'm not alone," Flash gestured to Flash Heart, Solaris and Lunara. "And even when my Pendulum Monsters are destroyed, they're never truly gone." He held up his Duel Disk as the spirits of Magna Boar and Leghorn appeared besides him, "they're still with me in spirit."

Midnight frowned. "Well when I'm done with you, not even your spirits will survive. Zeronull, ATTACK!" The outer god's crystal began to charge up, while a card from her deck slotted out. "And with another attack, his skill banishes another Zenith Dragon." She threw the card into the air and it shot into the Shadow Gate and phased into one of the last two orbs, Granebris appearing inside the orb as it began to light up and Zeronull's power level increased by another thousand points. (A5000/D5000/L12) "GO!"

Flash watched as the Omega Deity of Destruction unleashed its attack. As it rocketed towards them, Flash Heart flew down and landed in front of Flash before shielding his body. Seconds later, the blast struck with such a force that Flash would have been blown right off the pyramid if Flash Heart hadn't protected him. "AUGH!" He screamed as the blast force pushed him into Flash Heart, the teen feeling like an astronaut during liftoff.

The attack ended and Flash Heart Dragon's body was smoking despite taking no damage, the Alpha Zealot unfurling as Flash pulled himself forward. "Since another monster was banished, Flash Heart's ability lets me draw a card." He did so and when he saw what it was, he smiled. "Appear, Vail Pixie Alpha!" In a flash of light, the final Alpha Zealot appeared beside the other two. (A1000/D1000/L3/P12)

Midnight chuckled, "so it's just the three of you. Chosen by Harmonica to protect this accused world from my inevitability. How desperate she must have been, to pick such...flawed creatures to try and save this world."

Flash frowned. "We may be flawed, but it's those flaws that make us special. Because nothing's perfect."

"Which is exactly the problem," Midnight told him as she ended her turn. "This world is an imperfect mess, which should never have come to be. Look at everything that's occurred since it's creation. Countless wars and natural disasters that caused pain and suffering. Hatred and betrayal. Evil rising up again and again. What's the point of it all? Why let yourself endure that."

"The point is because of the people in my life that make it worth enduring," Flash told her. "If you understood that, you'd know why we don't want our worlds to end." He pointed at Midnight, "you'd know that if you let yourself feel Twilight's feelings. You'd understand-"

"NO!" Flash flinched. "I know her experiences. I know her existence. They are apart of me and I see nothing that proves my logic wrong. You are small. You are insignificant. You will be silenced!"

"Not gonna happen," Flash reached for his deck. "If you refuse to accept these things, then I refuse to accept you!" He drew his card before pointing at his two monsters. "I tune Level three Vail Pixie Alpha with Level seven Flash Heart Dragon Alpha!" The fairy morphed into the trio of lights, which began to carve the rings around Flash Heart. "Embrace your infinite destinies and stride towards a future of limitless possibilities!" The two monster disappeared in an explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The light shot down and struck the ground behind Flash, then faded to reveal Flash's hyper-evolved Synchro dragon. It let out a mighty roar that caused the whole area to shake, as blue lightning began to spark all around its body. "Flash Dragon...MAGNA STRIDER!" (A3300/D2500/L10/P10)

"Ahh," Midnight smiled, "excellent. Now I get to destroy one of every summoning style before the end of this Duel. And not only is this last one your strongest of the three, but it's also the silly style my former self loved so much." She mocked looking like she was about to cry, "it's almost symbolic."

"Don't go writing your victory speech yet," Flash told her. "Magna Strider packs a pretty big punch." The dragon roared as it began to open its mouth, with blue lightning sparking as light then appeared within said mouth. "Now I attack with Flash Dragon, Magna Strider!" The light shot out of its mouth and flew towards the Omega Deity of Destruction. "GOOOOO!"

The beam struck Zeronull, but it did no damage to it or the dragon firing. When the light of the attack, both Zeronull and Magna Strider were left unharmed while Midnight simply laughed. "Is that it. You honestly thought that would work."

"It was worth a try," Flash told her. "And I'm not done yet."

"What, you think your monster's ability will help you.!"

"Yes!" He reached for his Duel Disk as the Extra Deck opened before taking out two cards. "I now banish two Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck!" Magna Boar and Leghorn both appeared on either side of the dragon and patted its leg before they were sucked into a pair of portals, while Magna Strider's eyes glowed.

The next thing the two of them knew, Magna Strider suddenly jumped up and was now standing on its back legs. "With that, Magna Strider can attack one more time!" The beast let out a mighty roar, as its boosters began to ignite.

"What's the point?" Midnight asked, "attack a million times if you want. It won't change anything. Zeronull is completely immune to destruction as long as I have a Zenith Dragon removed from play."

"Let's test that!" Flash yelled, "Magna Strider's skill! During his second attack, he gains one hundred ATK points for each of the Levels of all my banished monsters!" Magna Snake, Bunny, Rat, Boar and Leghorn all appeared around Flash's dragon in an astral form before they were sucked inside the crystal on its chest, the crystal now beginning to glow brightly as the dragon's power increased. (A4700/D2500/L10/P10) Magna Strider opened its mouth as light began to fill it once again, this time with such power that if its boosters weren't firing it would be pushed back by the force. "GOOOOO!" The dragon fired, filling the area with a blinding light.

Back on earth, the tiring Duellists were forcing themselves to keep Dueling until they saw a light coming from the Shadow Gate.

"What's that?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm not sure," Rainbow told her. "Let's just hope whatever's causing it is on Flash's side." She would have said more, but her clone launched an attack and she had to focus on protecting herself with a Trap.

"Come on Flash," Cold told him as he beat another clone. "We can't keep this up forever." He looked up at the sky as the light began to die down.

The light of Flash's attack faded, allowing him and Midnight to finally open their eyes and look up at Zeronull. But alas, the outer god was still standing...floating.

"HAA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!" Midnight cried out the distant universe, "I told you. Nothing can stop the mighty Zeronull. All you've done is waste your time attempting the impossible. Now end your turn."

Flash growled but had no other choice, "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Magna Strider's ATK points returned to normal. (A3300/D2500/L10/P10)

"And with that, you only have one turn left." Midnight reached for her deck, "now let's see how much damage I can do until then." She drew her card and smiled. "I start by summoning Disharmian of Resentment!" In a flash of dark light, Sunset's evil counterpart appeared. (A1800/D900/L4/P4) "Then play the Spell card, Disharmony Sacrifice." Resentment, Betrayal and Misery all began to look like they were in pain, then started crying out before the three of them were destroyed.

"What did you do?"

"Disharmony Sacrifice, which destroys every Disharmian on my field and then lets me drew the same number of cards." She did so and smiled when she saw them, then pointed at Flash's Synchro Monster. "Now, Zeronull, attack Flash Dragon!" The outer god's crystal began to glow, as Midnight's deck slotted out one final card. "With this," she took the card, "the final piece is put in place." She threw the card up into the air, the card flying into the Shadow Gate and phasing into the final orb before it began to light up like the rest of them. "I now banish the Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, Greaterra." The dragon appeared and within the wing sphere and powered up Zeronull, every Zenith Dragon now floating in the orbs and granting their power to the Omega Deity of Destruction. (A6000/D6000/L12)

Flash could only watch as Zeronull unleashed a blast from its central orb, which flew across the field and struck Magna Strider. He reached down and grabbed onto whatever he could as the attack landed, causing a powerful shockwave that made Magna Strider scream despite not taking any damage. Flash grunted as he tried his best to hold on, losing his grip only seconds after the force died down and he was thrown backwards. "GYAH!" He cried as he hit the ground, while the light from the attack faded to show Magna Strider falling to the ground as well.

"Augh!" Flash rolled over and crawled over to his beast, placing a hand on its head as it moaned. "Stay strong."

"And now I play another Spell card," Flash turned to Midnight. "Devastating Curse." The card appeared before shooting out a blast of dark energy that struck Magna Strider and made it glow purple.

Flash picked himself up, "what's happening?" As he asked that, his dragon was lifted into the air.

"Devastating Curse. This Spell destroys one monster on the field and deals us both damage equal to that monster's Level times one hundred." With that, Magna Strider exploded and purple lightning shot down and struck both Flash and Midnight.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" They both screamed as they felt themselves be bombarded with all the power

Flash: 200
Midnight: 700

As the lightning faded, both Flash and Midnight stood shakily and still looked in pain. Flash's entire body felt exhausted, the strain of enduring Zeronull's attacks coupled with the last Spell's effects were pushing him to the limit. "Whenever Magna Strider is destroyed...I can chose to send him to either the Extra Deck of the Graveyard." He held up the Synchro Monster before placing it into the graveyard.

Midnight smirked before throwing her last two cards face down and ending her turn. "You realise this is hopeless, right? You only have one turn left and after that, your world and everything you love will end."

"Not if...not if...I..." Flash couldn't even get a sentence out due to his exhaustion, the teen's body hitting its limit and causing him to fall to his knees before hitting the ground face first.

Midnight was surprised by this, but smirked. "And so this is how it ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper. Pathetic."

Flash simply laid there, his body refusing to move. 'What happened?' He mentally asked himself as he tried to get up, but couldn't. 'I...I can't move my body.' A tear began to form, 'I wanted to save the world...and Twilight too.' The tear fell loose and hit the ground, 'is this as far as I could make it?'

He slowly began to feel his consciousness fading, Midnight's smile growing more and more sinister. But then, she noticed a light suddenly appear on the back of Flash's hand. His alpha mark.

"It's a little late for that," Midnight stated. Clearly, she thought Flash had no hope of getting back up.

Flash would agree with her, the Duellist now seconds away from completely fading. However, as he hung on the end of utter oblivion, a voice called out to him "What are you doing?" Flash knew that voice, one he had heard only a few times but knew better then anyone. Harmonica. "You cannot allow yourself to give up here. If you do, then everyone who had faith in you will be betrayed." After hearing this, Flash began hearing other voices echoing in his mind.

"I'm not giving up!" Spike's voice yelled to the high heavens.

"I won't let you take me down!" Sunburst cried.

"Flash will win!" Rainbow's voice hollered.

"Guys," he whispered.

"Neo Frozen Heart Dragon!" Cold yelled as his monster unleashed a burst of freezing cold air, hitting the opponent and making it suddenly freeze on the spot. Seconds later, it shattered and Cold was victorious. But as the opponent vanished, he fell to his knees.

"COLD!" Sunset yelled in horror, "get up."

"Raaah!" Cold pushed through his exhaustion and stood back up, "I won't let you beat me!"

"Augh!" Rarity's voice cried out as her monster was destroyed, making her stagger back.

"Rarity!" Applejack turned to her, "ya'h can't quit."

"I know," Rarity forced herself to stand tall. "But if I don't draw a good card , I'll be out next turn."

"Just hold on a little longer," Trail told him. "Flash will win."

"Of course he will," Misty told them. "But if we're not willing to push ourselves to beat these impostors, how can we ask him to beat Zeronull."

Sweetie groaned, "I'm just...so tired."

"We all are!" Tempest explained as her monster slashed at the opponent, "but we have to fight through that exhaustion. And not just us. The whole world has to keep fighting!" The others nodded and pushed themselves back to full height, refusing to let Zeronull beat them.

In another part of the city, Timber was also getting exhausted. "You're not...beating me." His monster attacked and destroyed his opponent, but many more were making their way forward.

Mac and the Flim-Flam Brothers were currently having difficulty.

"This isn't good brother," Flim announced as they stared up at Exodius. "The opponent's only one card away from victory."

"And we have no way of stopping them from getting that card," Flam agreed.

Mac was facing off against his best monster, completely maxed out with multiple equip cards, while all he had was a single Mecha-Worker. "A'm not giving up yet," Mac told them. "A'm not letting these things hurt ma'h family. Are you?" The brothers shook their heads and kept on Dueling.

"Ahhh!" Lightning moaned in annoyance, "just stay down already." Her Xyz monster flew around her as the opponent picked themselves up again. "This is getting old." She cracked her knuckles, "but I ain't quitting."

Celestia and Luna found themselves standing side by side in front of many people, the lot of them having been cornered by the slimes and forced to continuously Duel.

"This may be it sister," Luna told her. "We can't keep this up."

"I know," Celestia smiled at her. "But as long as I'm with you, I won't stop trying until the bitter end." Luna smiled back as the sisters turned back to their opponents.

In another part of the city, in the Sparkle home, Night Light and Twilight Velvet were also fighting against the slimes.

Though since they weren't Duellists, they couldn't fight in the traditional sense. Instead, Night Light was swinging a garden rake around to make any opponent go splat while Velvet held tightly onto her granddaughter. "It's okay," she whispered to try and keep Flurry calm. "It's okay. We'll all be okay. Mommy and Daddy will be back soon."

Despite the comfort, Flurry was still on the verge of tears. The fear she was feeling at the strange monsters, coupled with her parent's absence and the sudden disappearance of her aunt and godfather had her feeling vulnerable.

And it wasn't just on earth. Those of the Duel Monster Spirit World were fighting too.

Scarvolt screamed as she slashed at the Storm King repeatedly, her enemy unable to keep up with her fast movements. She then saw a slime slam down behind him and smirked, the Tempest Rogue rushing forward. "You want your perfect world so badly." She slashed at his staff and cut it in half, then spun around and thrust her foot into his chest. "Then have it!"

"Raaah!" Storm King cried as he felt backwards, getting hit by the slime. "NO!" He yelled while fighting against it, but the slime spread across his body. He turned to Scarvolt, "you'll pay for this! Zeronull will make you fools all pay!" With that, the slime completed engulfed him before shrinking down into nothing.

Scarvolt sighed, glad the one responsible for her partner's pain was finally gone. Her relief was short lived, however, as a slime suddenly slammed down onto her back and began to quick wrap around her body. "NO!" Luckily, Sombra was able to grab the slime and pull it off of her before throwing it away so it wouldn't start trying to assimilate him. "Thanks."

"Don't let your guard down!" Sombra told her while slashing away at more slimes before it could take his form.

"I know!" Scarvolt charged her sword and spun it around before thrusting it down into the ground, unleashing a shockwave of lightning. The shockwave struck the slimes, disintegrating them.

"FIRE!" Sunburst Magician and Dragonic Blazelord cried as they unleashed a burst of flames that roasted the slime monsters alive. Sunburst Magician then then raised his staff and created a fire dome around them, jumping up on Blazelord's shoulder before dropping the dome and allowing the dragon to spin around and slashing the monsters down.

Battle Wing, Orchard Cowboy and Crystal Rarity continued fighting, but they were having trouble with the amount and beginning to feel themselves tire. Twilight Warlock and Moondancing Guardian Scholar, Saltalunam, were shooting magical blasts at the slimes. The Celestial Spirits and Magna Corp worked together, keeping the slimes from getting to close to any of their comrades.

Even those that had once been part of the Zealot's army were fighting against it, Amphitrite and her Atlanteans fighting side by side with the Shinobi, Liberators, Balloonimal and Corona monsters they had previously fought against. "FOR MY DAUGHTER!" She unleashed several burst of water that struck the slimes and pushed them back, her legion following her example.

Neo Frozen Heart Dragon unleashed a mighty burst of freezing air, which it sent flying out in all directions in a hope to push the slimes backwards. Many of them froze and shattered, but even more appeared in every direction and slowly began creeping in.

"We're surrounded!" Scarvolt cried, the army feeling themselves getting backed into a corner.

"Stay strong!" Grand Emperor yelled as many monster unleashed their ranged attacks at the slimes, "we must have faith in our friends on the other side."

"He's right," Sombra raised his sword. "No matter what, keep pushing them back!"

The voices of everyone fighting against the evil rang in his ear, allowing him to almost see what was happening.

"Do you hear them? The voices of everyone who believes in you. Who refuse to give up, because they know you will find a way to push on."

'But I'm...so tired. And every time I push passed what's possible and defeat the bad guy, someone worse keeps popping up.'

"Have you forgotten your own words so quickly. You once said that no matter what, you'd never stop trying to protect this world. Not for yourself, but for the people you care about. Have you stopped caring?"

"N...no," he finally let out as he tried to start moving again. As he did, memories began to play on the forefront of his mind. The day her found his deck and met his friends for the first time. Duelling and growing close to them. Meeting Cold, Shining, Cadance, Sunset and so many others. Competing in the Celestic Cup and defeating Sombra and the Doom-Vaders. Meeting Tempest, Sunburst and forming team V-Fighters to compete in the Double X.

And it wasn't just big events. Small events like playing with Scootaloo when they were little. Going to the carnival with the others and experiencing his first Duel Festival while eating Kuriboh Dumplings. Taking the rainy day challenge with Spike and Sunburst. Taking Flurry Heart to the park to give her parents a break. Or just spending time with Twilight.

So many amazing memories, which had shaped his entire life and made him the man he was. How could he let Zeronull take those away? Make them appear like they never existed?

It was then that he heard a voice he thought he would never get to hear again. "Please...get up."

Flash's eyes slowly opened, the teen looking up and seeing a blurry image in front of him. That image being the ghostly form of his girlfriend. "Twi...light?"

The image of Twilight looked down at him with worry in her eyes. "I know you've been asked to do the impossible more times then it's fair to, but please...do it one more time. Please get up...and fight." With that, the image faded and Flash was once again alone. But despite this, Flash felt new strength well up within him. Strength that allowed him to finally move his body

"What?" Midnight's smile vanished as she saw Flash begin to pick himself up and stand tall, his hair turning white as the mark on his hand glowed brighter. "No, stay down!"

"Never!" Flash cried as he looked up at her, "not while I have so many believing in me." His deck began to glow the same colour. "No matter how many times I fall. As long as I have them behind me, I know I can stand up once again." He reached for his deck as the light from it and the mark combined and caused something new to appear on top of the deck. "I...DRAW!" Flash drew his glowing card with a mighty swing of his arm and didn't even look at it as the portal began to form above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and a single light shot out of it, and struck the ground. It exploded, unleashing a brilliant light that blinded Midnight as the monster within the light materialised for what could be the very final time. "Shine your light of victory, brighter then it's ever shone before. Let it bring hope to all those that have none. My friend. Flash Heart Dragon...ALPHA!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)

"It's pointless," Midnight told him. "That monster has no chance of defeating Zeronull."

"Don't be so sure," Flash told her he raised his Duel Disk. "I activate the ability of Vail Pixie Alpha from the Extra Deck." He removed the card as the fairy appeared in front of him and flew up. "By sending her to the graveyard, I can increase or decrease the Pendulum Scale of one of my cards by a maximum of three."

Vail Pixie turned to Lunara and held out her hand, unleashing the power within her. Lunara glowed the same colour as the number below her increased to four. Vail Pixie turned to give Flash and smile and nodded before vanishing, Flash nodding back.

"What's the point of that?" Midnight asked, "you can't Pendulum Summon again."

"Maybe not," Flash smirked before holding up the card that he drew. "But now that their combined Pendulum Scale equals twelve, I can now have Flash Heart evolve into his ultimate form."

"Ultimate form?" Midnight asked as a new light appeared between them. This one actually being three lights, which took the form of Feral Lindworm, Magna Strider and Reality Buster. "Now what?"

"Now the power of Fusion, Synchro and Xyz will be lent to the Pendulum in order for it to attain its final state of existence." The Pendulum portal once again began to form, as the ghostly Extra Deck monsters morphed back into light which shot up into it and caused the portal to glow a rainbow of colours. "Now, by banishing Flash Heart with those three monsters in the graveyard, I can unleash the ultimate power of creation!" Flash Heart's jets ignited and the dragon leapt up, firing the boosters and shooting right up into the portal. And as it did, the portal unleashed a bright light. "GO, PENDULUM EVOLUTION!"

The light exploded out in every direction, forming a shockwave that flew throughout the multiverse.

It shot towards the earth and washed over it. And when it did, every single slime clone was vaporised the second the light touched them. Within seconds, the earth was completely slime free. "What happened?" Scootaloo asked her parents, who were just as baffled as her.

Cold looked up at the Shadow Gate, where the light had originated from. "Flash."

The light even flew through the Shadow Gate and struck the Duel Monster Spirit World. And just like on earth, the slimes there were destroyed upon contact with the light.

"What?" Sombra asked as the slime in front of him vanished.

"They're gone," Scarvolt whispered. They looked around and saw not a single slime in sight. Within seconds, the army cheered at their victory.

"This isn't over yet," Sombra told them before looking back at the Shadow Gate. "This is just a brief reprieve. If Flash loses, the slimes could still return." Hearing that gave the monsters more incentive to cheer for the Alpha Zealot, as everything now rest on him.

Midnight had been blinded by the light, while also feeling her creations being destroyed. "This changes nothing!" She cried as the light faded, allowing her to see Flash's new monster.

This creature looked like Flash Heart Dragon Alpha, but it was twice the size. It had spikes coming out of the sides of its shoulders and large golden metal C-shapes on the front of them. The spikes on its head were now golden and fingers ended in golden tipped claws. Its knees had spikes on them and it wore golden cuffs around its wrists and ankles, which had blades coming out of the sides that looked like one of the C-shapes cut in half. Its wings were made up of three lightning bolt-shaped blades, with the top one having the same vents in the top and bottom that its base form had. Its tail had two golden gears around the area near the rip, with a green orb after that and a long golden spike on the very end of it. And finally, its most noticeable feature was the large sword it was carrying. That sword had a golden blade with a round crossguard that had a green gem in it, along with another gem on the end of the handle. It swung the sword around, unleashing another bright flash of light. "Alpha Deity Dragon...FLASH HEART INCARNATE!" (A4500/D4000/L12)

Midnight was utterly horrified by the image of the creature in front of her. Flash, meanwhile, simply smiled up at his ace's ultimate form. "Thank you, for the way you've guided me." Incarnate glanced down and Flash could tell it was smiling, as he looked back at his planet and remembered everyone there. "Thank you, for giving me a future." He then looked back at Midnight, as the image of the girl he loved overlapped with her. "And thank you, for risking your life...and fighting for someone like me." The image of Twilight vanished, replaced by Midnight as Flash glared at her. "And now it's my turn to fight for you."

"In your dreams," Midnight growled as she watched Incarnate raise its sword and spread its wings.

"This ends now!" Flash yelled as the green gems on his beast glowed, "skill of Alpha Deity Dragon. During the battle phase, it count as a Pendulum Monster." Incarnate's boosters ignited and caused it to shoot forward, "ATTACK!"

Midnight frowned, wondering what he had up his sleeve. 'Just in case,' "I activate my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, but before it could activate-

"Solaris!" Flash yelled as his Pendulum Monster raised its staff and unleashed a burst of fire, which struck the Trap and caused it to return to its face down position. "Thanks to his Pendulum Ability, all Traps are unable to activate when a Pendulum Monster battles."

"Ahh," Midnight yelled, "fine!" Another card flipped up, "then I'll use my Spell-"

"Lunara!" Flash cried as the other Magna Caster raised her staff, unleashing a blast of cold air that caused the card to flip back down and freeze over. "When a Pendulum Monster attacks, his Pendulum Ability makes all Spells useless."

Midnight growled as Incarnate shot passed her and headed towards Zeronull, its sword raised above its head as it glowed. When it neared the portal, the dragon swung the blade and unleashed a wave of energy. It flew towards the Omega Deity of Destruction and struck the crystal on its chest, but neither it nor the Alpha Deity Dragon were destroyed.

"You see," Midnight smiled. "Pointless. Nothing can harm Zeronull. Just end your turn and accept your fate." But then Flash did something that made her worry. He smirked.

"Oh, I'll end my turn alright." Flash Heart Incarnate flew back to him, "but I refuse to accept any fate you decide for this world. Skill of Flash Heart Incarnate!" The dragon raised its sword as the central crystal glowed and unleashed a beam of energy out towards Zeronull.

"What's happening?" Midnight asked as the beam struck the orb holding Granebris. The Zenith Dragon roared before it morphed back into a card that shot out of the orb and flew towards Midnight, the girl catching the card as Zeronull's power went down. (A5000/D5000/L12) Midnight turned back to Flash, rage in her eyes. "What have you DONE!"

Flash chuckled. "By returning one of your banished cards back to your hand, Incarnate's ability activates!" The sword's blade began to rotate like the hand of a clock. "Now I can skip your next turn and go straight to my battle phase, while preventing any card effect from activating." The blade finished its rotation, reaching the point as Flash's Battle Phase once again began.

"Wait," Midnight realised where this was going, "if you get another battle phase..."

"It means I get another attack," Flash finished as Incarnate shot forward once again.

"But if you attack and then end your turn..." Midnight's face became one of true horror as the evolved Flash Heart swung the sword again, unleashing another blade of light that flew into the portal and struck Zeronull but left it unharmed.

"Incarnate's skill!" The dragon raised its sword again and unleashed another beam, hitting Mesmeridiem and transforming it back into a card that flew into Midnight's hand. (A4000/D4000/L12) And once again, the blade rotated and skipped Midnight's turn. "Attack!"

"Stop it," Midnight whispered as Incarnate swung the blade again and struck Zeronull with another light blade.

"Skill activated!" The process repeated, Perfignis being the one returned this time as Zeronull once again lost power. (A3000/D3000/L12) And once again, the Alpha Deity Dragon's sword rotated around the crossguard and skipped over Midnight's turn. "Attack!"

"This can't be happening," Midnight whispered as Incarnate shot towards the portal again. "You can't defeat me." It unleashed another blade of light that struck Zeronull and did nothing. "You're just...a human." Incarnate's ability activated, Fabulaqua returning to her hand. (A2000/D2000/L12)

"I'm more then just one human," she turned back to Flash as the sword rotated. "The power to stop time didn't come from me or Harmonica. She only wielded it. The power came from everyone, on both worlds. Their drive and determination to survive, awakened a power beyond that of any god." Incarnate attacked again before using its skill, hitting Marventus and returning it to Midnight's hand. (A1000/D1000/L12) "No matter what evil like you thinks, good will always rise up against it. Even if it's only a single person, that one bit of light can shine brighter then any star. And that light will chase away the darkness you've created, as the people choose to defy you."

"No," Midnight whispered as Incarnate attack again. It unleashed the light and struck Zeronull before unleashing the beam that struck Greaterra returning the beast that had once beaten Flash to Midnight's hand and making Zeronull utterly powerless. (A0/D0/L12)

Incarnate landed behind Flash as the teen took a deep breath, then focused back on Midnight. "I'm coming for you...Twilight." The dragon's jets exploded and sent it flying towards the portal, its eyes glowing with determination. "There's a new future waiting here for you. You just have to reach for it!" The Alpha Deity Dragon shot into the portal and headed straight for Zeronull, who tried to defend itself by unleashing blasts of light from the gems on its wings.

But Incarnate either dodge of deflected the blasts with its sword, not even phased by them. And as it drew closer, the evolved Pendulum Monster pointed the tip of its sword towards Zeronull's gem.

"TWILIGHT!" Flash yelled as Flash Heart thrust the sword into Zeronull, the world appearing to freeze for a moment until a light suddenly exploded out that spot and blinded them all. That light consumed Zeronull and the outer good unleashed a scream of a wild animal before its dark silhouette suddenly vanished.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" Midnight screamed as the light struck them as she clutched her head, all the while her life points dropped.

Flash: 200 (Winner)
Midnight: 0

Author's Note

Happy Christmas Eve everyone. I hope this chapter puts you in good spirits. I like to think it turned out pretty well. Now that Flash has won, how will Zeronull respond.

I hope you enjoyed Alpha Deity Dragon. Since it's my version of God Neos and Shooting Quasar Dragon, it has to be pretty OP. Hopefully its tricky summoning condition makes it balanced. What do you think?

Turn 42: Dimensional Over-Link

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" Midnight screamed, clutching her head as her life points hit zero.

Flash was panting as his monster flew back to him, watching as his girlfriend withered around and cried out. But before he could say anything else, his hand suddenly lit up again and heated up. "Augh!" He clutched the hand as the mark appeared, "what-" He didn't get to finish as the mark suddenly unleashed a shockwave that flew out in all directions.

When it struck the earth, everyone who saw it was worried Zeronull had done something until it passed over them and they felt nothing. "What was that?" Tempest asked, only to notice a leaf that had fallen from a nearby tree floated down in front of her.

"Wait," Grand pointed to the leaf before looking down at his watch and saw it ticking. "Time's started again."

"What does that mean?" Sweetie asked, only for Cold to get an alert on his Duel Disk.

"What's this?" He tabbed a few keys until he got his answer, "no way."

"What is it?" Misty asked, seeing a smile appear on Cold's lips.

"The Zenith Generators are starting to lose power." Everyone's eyes went wide hearing this, the lot of them looking back up at the Shadow Gate.

Flash watched as Midnight suddenly stood slumped as her Deck began to glow.

Then, one by one, the cards from her Duel Disk flew off of it. They floated up and circled her, while her Zeronull card floated right above her with the Zenith Dragons circling it. Then, one by one, the cards burst into flames. Midnight soon found herself in a cocoon of fire, as all but her dragon cards turned to ash.

But once the last card was destroyed, the seven doomsday cards followed suit. Each Zenith Dragon card's corner ignited and spread to the rest of them. At the same time, loud roars echoed through space and made Flash turn to see the Zenith Dragons in sight were slowly disintegrating from the tail up.

Each one let out cries of pain and anger as their cards were destroyed, with them following suit and turning to stardust.

Then, finally, the Zeronull card began to burn up. At the same time, his body slowly began to fade away and turn to specks of light that began to vanish into the darkness of space. Flash couldn't help but smile at this before turning to Incarnate, who nodded back before vanishing. Flash then glanced back at his defeated foe. "It's over Zeronull...you've lost."

The outer god was silent as all but his head vanished, but that was soon to follow. "Over?" The Duel Monster then asked, shocking Flash. "It's not over until I say it's over." His head began to vanish. "I may have lost, but I can still finish what I set out to do." With that, he vanished into the ether.

At the same time, Midnight's Omega symbol hand mark exploded off her hand and her hair returned to its normal state along with her glasses. It was then she began to fall towards the ground, Flash quickly rushing across the battlefield to catch her before she hit the ground.

He slowly lowered himself to his knees and placed her in his lap. "Twilight?" He whispered, "please be alright." After a few seconds, Twilight let out a moan as her eyes began to open. The first thing she saw was Flash's worried expression, causing her eyes to tear up as she placed a hand up onto his cheek.

"Flash." Flash started tearing up himself, a smile appearing on his lips. Before either of them could say anything else, Flash pulled her up and kissed her on the lips. Twilight quickly reciprocated the kiss, the two staying like that for a good thirty seconds before pulling back and smiling at one another.

But before they could truly celebrate, something caught their attention. A light, coming from the Zenith Generators. The two turned to see differently coloured bolts of lightning beginning to spark within the orbs and grow stronger and stronger by the second. "What's going on?"

"I don't-AUGH!" Twilight clutched her head as her memories began to come flooding back, the girl beginning to remember everything that Midnight had done. That included a certain fail-safe. "Oh no." Flash looked down at her in confusion as a look of horror appeared on her face.

"Energy levels are building," Cold stated after detecting the energy spike. The others began to worry.

"What does that mean?" Rainbow asked.

"I thought Flash won and the Zenith Dragons were destroyed?" Soarin inquired.

"He did and they were," Sunset nodded after taking out her own Duel Disk and using it to see the energy levels for herself. "But it looks like the possibility of losing is something Midnight and the Zealots considered."

Cold nodded. "The generators weren't just using the Zenith Dragon's power to create a Shadow Gate. They were also storing it. And now that stored power's beginning to build up."

"And it won't stop until it hits critical mass," Misty realised. "And when that happens..."

"They'll unleash a shockwave so powerful that it'll likely wipe out all life on earth," Twilight finished explaining.

Flash frowned hearing this, then looking into the Shadow Gate. Said gate was quickly closing, but wouldn't do so for a good few minutes. "What about the Duel Monster Spirit World?"

"It'll be hit too," Twilight explained. "The energy will be sent through the Shadow Gate and hit the planet too. It won't be as powerful, but it will do some damage. The only possible way to survive this would be in a bomb shelter. Midnight wanted to make sure that even if she lost, she would go down fighting."

Flash picked himself up and stared at the machines that would likely bring about the earth's destruction. But before he could start feeling hopeless, something Sombra had told him in the Duel Monster Spirit World came flooding back to him. And with it, an idea formed in his head.

Twilight watched as Flash took off his Duel Disk and removed two cards from his deck. He then held on up as his mark reappeared, "Vail Pixie!" The card glowed for a moment before that light shot off the card and took shape, then faded to reveal the silver skinned fairy in white glowing.

The Duel Monster turned to Flash and looked worried. "Flash," she flew down, "what do we do? If we don't stop these things, then both worlds are gonna be destroyed."

"I know," Flash nodded. "Don't worry, I have a plan. First," he turned to Twilight, "I need you to make a portal back to earth. This piece of land won't last much longer." To prove his point, the pyramid's structure began to crack and crumble.

Vail Pixie nodded as her mark began to glow, the fairy holding out her hands and causing a portal to form in front of her. As she did, Flash moved over to Twilight and handed her his Duel Disk after returning Vail Pixie's card. "What are you doing?" She asked while taking the device, Flash picking her bridal style and carrying her towards the portal.

"I need you to look after those cards. What I'm gonna do is...risky. I can't risk them like that again."

"Risky?" Twilight asked, both she and Vail Pixie looking confused as he reached the portal. "What are you planning on doing?"

"Sorry," Flash told her, "no time to explain." He stared at Twilight's face for as long as he could, the girl wondering why he was focusing on her so much. Then, he gave her one final kiss before throwing her into the portal.

"FLASH!" She cried as she was thrown into said portal, Flash then reaching up and grabbing Vail Pixie before doing the same to her before the portal vanished.

The two cried out as they fell flew through the tunnel. Then, in a flash of light, both of them suddenly found themselves landing on the ground. Twilight groaned at this, then grunted as Vail Pixie landed on her chest. "Ow."

"Sorry," the Duel Monster told her as the portal they came out of vanished.

"TWILIGHT!" She heard a familiar deep voice cry out, the girl using all her strength to sit up and look around to see her brother rushing towards her with Cadance. Vail Pixie leapt off of her as the two knelt down besides her and pulled her into a hug. "You're alright!"

"Shining!" Twilight began to cry as she hugged them back, "Cadance."

"Thank goodness," Cadance was tearing up. "We were worried he'd never see you again."

It was here that the other reached them, Misty spotted her childhood friend. "Vail Pixie?" The fairy turned to her, "how are you-"

"Flash summoned me," she replied. "He needed me to bright Twilight back."

"But where is Flash?" Trail asked her, "why didn't he come with you?" Vail Pixie replied by turning to look up at the sky, the others following her line of sight towards the Shadow Gate.

Twilight tried to push herself back to her feet, Shining and Cadance helping her. "Flash. Be careful."

Back on the now collapsing pyramid, Flash stared up at the Shadow Gate as the generators built up more and more power.

He then held up the last card in his possession, the teen staring down at Flash Heart Dragon Alpha. As he did, the mark on his hand glowed again and he suddenly found his mind being teleported into a mental space. He was standing in front of an image of his world, while sensing someone else behind him.

Flash Heart was standing with his back to Flash, staring at the image of his own world. The two continued to look upon the worlds that were doomed if they didn't do anything, which made them both understand what had to happen.

"No matter what happens," Flash Heart told his partner. "This may very well be the very last time our worlds will be directly connected with one another, because of the path we have created and the bond that ties us both together."

"Maybe," Flash smiled, "but I still have faith in the dream you and I shared. Of a future where our two worlds will be joined together, as one." The two turned towards one another, a smile on both of their faces. "But simply dreaming it won't make it come true. That future has to be shaped by those who want it to happen, whether that's the two of use or someone else. The perfect world the Zealots wanted is something that can only be created with our own efforts."

Flash Heart nodded back. "But before that, we need to make sure that's still a world to turn into that perfect world."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Flash smirked as the two of them suddenly warped out of the mental space, the Duel Monster Spirit of Flash Heart appearing behind his partner on the pyramid as they stared up at the Shadow Gate. Flash then raised his hand to his chest as the mark glowed brighter and his hair turned white, while Flash Heart moved its hand towards the mark on its chest.

"NOW IS THE TIME TO UNLEASH THE POWER BORN FROM OUR BOND!" They both yelled in unison, their marks glowing brighter and brighter. "FUSE THE BODIES! SYNCHRONISE THE MINDS! OVERLAY THE SPIRITS!" The light from their marks spread to the rest of their bodies and glowed even brighter, "LET OUR STRENGTHS BECOME ONE!" The light exploded off of them with enough force that it caused the remainder of the pyramid to be disintegrated, while the two unleashed their final cry. "DIMENSIONAL OVER-LINK!"

Back on earth, everyone suddenly found themselves staring at a bright light that had appeared in front of the Shadow Gate and completed blocked it out.

"What's happening?" Sweetie asked, "is this it? Are they exploding?"

"I don't think so," Cold shook his head before getting an alert on his Duel Disk. More information from being filtered in from the main computer, which had just finished analysing the energy it had just sensed. "I'm detecting high level of Ener-D." The others turned to him, "higher then we've ever recorded before."

"What's happening up there?" Sunset asked, while Twilight just smiled and stared back at the light.

"Flash. That's what's happening." Everyone else smiled as they looked back up at the sky, all giving their silent support to Flash and pray that he can find a way to save them one last time.

"GO GUYS!" Vail Pixie cheered, giving her support to boy both and monster.

Back in space, the light slowly began to dim until it faded to reveal the result of the Dimensional Over-Link.

There floated not Flash, or the spirit of Flash Heart, but the fully embodied form of Flash Heart Dragon Alpha. It wasn't a hard light hologram like with an ARC system, or some magical spell. It was the Duel Monster's spirit, given physical form by using Flash as a conduit. This was the miracle brought about by the bond Flash and his dragon shared, with Harmonica's power giving them this chance.

But it wasn't Flash Heart in the drivers seat of this body, but the Duellist. Flash opened his eyes and looked down at his body, seeing he truly was wearing the metal skin of his ace. "Wow. I can feel the power of Flash Heart welling up within me." He then looked up and saw the energy inside the generators was growing more and more powerful. "And I'll need every ounce of it to stop those things." With that, Flash's boosters ignited and he was sent rocketing forward.

The monster formed human shot through space faster then any rocket, heading towards the first Zenith Generator. And as he got closer, he pulled his fist back and braced himself. "For earth. For the Duel Monster Spirit World. For EVERYBODY!" With that, he reached the Zenith Generator and threw his fist forward.

The giant glass orb shattered into an infinite amount of pieces as Flash Heart Dragon flew into the energy it had been storing.

"What's he doing?" Rainbow asked, the lot of them having watched the Ener-D signature move towards the Dark generator.

The signature then overlapped with the energy signature of the power stored within said generator, everyone fearing Flash had done something insane. And their fears were correct when the energy signature began to move away from where the generator had been. "He's not..." Cold looked flabbergasted, the others turning towards him.

"He's not what?" Spike asked, while the more science savvy members of the group put the pieces together.

"That's insane!" Sunset cried.

"That's my son," Misty smiled in amazement and bemusement.

"Does someone wanna tell use what the heck's going on?" Adagio asked.

Twilight smiled, "Flash destroyed the generator and is containing the energy it was building up." As she said this, the signature drew closer and closer to the Light Generator.

Flash Heart Dragon Alpha continued flying the millions of miles between the generators. As he did, he was now glowing a bright purple energy that was leaving a trail of purple light flowing behind him.

He eventually grew closer to the second generator, which was filled with a yellow light, Flash pulling the dragon's robotic fist back until he reached the orb and then threw it forward. The glass shattered like before and Flash propelled forward into the light, which began to mix with the purple light as he shot through it until flying out of the other side and pulling the light energy behind him.

Once again he was crossing hundreds of miles in mere seconds until he reached the Water Generator and struck it as well. The blue light was pulled into his wake and mixed with the other two, Flash Heart Dragon Alpha shooting forwards again and heading for the Fire Generator.

"What's he even planning on doing?" Soarin asked as they watched the energy signature get closer and closer to the Fire Generator.

Sunset nodded. "Even if he manages to destroy all the generators, that energy's not just gonna disappear. Unless he's able to fly all the way to Mars, that energy is gonna hit the earth."

"He'll find a way," Misty told them. "He's my son and the one chosen by Harmonica. He'll find a way to save our worlds."

"I hope you're right," Gilda told her as the signature overlapped with the Fire Generator signal. "Because I don't want the last thing I do in my life to be looking at a screen."

Cold nodded. "If even one of those Generators explodes before he can stop them, the energy wave will be enough to wipe out all life on this side of the planet. And the force of that energy will send the other side back to the stone age."

"He'll think of something," Twilight assured her with absolute faith in her voice.

"They both will," Vail Pixie nodded.

Flash shot out of the red energy and dragged it behind him, seeing he only had two more generators to get to before they exploded.

As he flew, he felt his body begin to strain at the amount of power he was now containing within him. Even with the light coming off of him as he flew, it was drop in the ocean compared to what was within him. And he still had to more to go. "Come on!" He cried as he got closer to the Wind Generator, "keep it together!" He slammed into the generator and shattered the glass before flying into the green energy, absorbing it into him and shooting out towards the final generator. "So...hot."

"You can do it Flash," the teen moved into his mental space and looked back at the real Flash Heart. "I'm with you." He placed a hand on his shoulder, "we'll bare this burden together."

Flash smiled back before leaving his mind and looking towards the final Zenith Generator, then back at the quickly closing Shadow Gate. They didn't have much more time. "RAAAH!" He cried as his boosters exploded once more, pushing him through the vacuum of space.

He got closer and close to the Zenith Generator, but felt wave after wave of energy shoot off of it as it drew closer and closer to critical mass. "You're not taking our future!" Flash yelled as he fought through the energy and finally reached the orb before shattering it with Flash Heart's fist.

The brown energy shot out and was absorbed into his body, mixing with the others to turn into a rainbow of light that wrapped around him.

Flash's entire body was screaming, but he refused to let the energy out yet. There was only one place he could safely release it.

Flash turned towards the Shadow Gate and saw the portal was getting smaller and smaller with each passing second. He didn't have long. But between him and the portal, the debris of the destroyed generators had morphed into an asteroid field that would take too long to go around. Flash only had one option.

"LET'S GO!" Flash screamed as his boosters ignited again and he was thrown towards the debris field, the transformed Alpha Zealot zigzagging around the large hunks of metal and glass.

"That's it," Flash Heart Alpha told him. "Keep going. Don't let anything stop you."

"Right!" Flash replied as he dodged one piece of metal and landed on a long strip, which he used his wheels to shoot across before flying off the end. A few smaller pieces were in his way, but Flash easily slammed them away without losing any momentum. But then a larger chunk suddenly appeared in front of him, "no!" He couldn't move in time and slammed into it, feeling himself getting knocked backwards.

"Don't give up!" He heard Harmonica's voice, "everyone's counting on you." As she said this, more voice echoed through Flash's ear.

"Flash," Vail Pixie whispered.

"Flash," Trail, Misty, Scootaloo, Grand spoke out.

"Flash!" Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike and Sunburst cried.

"FLASH!" Cold, Sunset, Starlight, Tempest, Tidal, Soarin, Gilda, Thorax, Marble, Maud and the Dazzlings all began to scream in unison.

Then, one final voice spoke up. "You can do it Flash," Twilight told him. "I believe in you."

Flash Heart Alpha's eyes began to glow again as he heard everyone's voices, the robotic dragon spinning around midair and planting his feet into another piece of metal. "Like I'd ever give up!" His boosters exploded again and he rocketed off the metal towards the Shadow Gate. "Everyone's put their trust in me and I won't let them down!" He barrelled through any object that got in his way, moving faster then he or Flash Heart ever thought possible. "And I am not gonna let you destroy our destiny." He finally got through the debris field and now had a clear shot towards the Shadow Gate, but the portal was now only seconds from closing. "This is for...OUR FUTURE!"

He felt his body beginning to crack as he got faster and faster, the energy within him reaching the point where it could no longer be held. But as the portal was about to close, Flash Heart Dragon Alpha shot inside of it seconds before his boosters finally gave out.

Flash felt himself beginning to drift helplessly through the void as both the portal to earth and the Duel Monster Spirit World vanished. Now it was safe.

Flash smiled as he finally let go, feeling the energy within him explode. "Thank you, everyone. You'll have to take it from here."

"You're not alone," Flash Heart told him. "We'll do this together." Flash felt the dragon's spirit hands wrap around him as his body gave out, the energy of the six Zenith Generators free to explode and harm nothing.

"What happened?" Spike asked as Cold stared at the screen, "where'd the energy go?"

"I... I don't know," Cold replied while looking up at the sky and seeing the Shadow Gate had vanished. "He couldn't have... could he?"

"What did he do?" Tempest asked him.

"Where's my brother?" Scootaloo asked with a face of annoyance and worry. Misty, Trail and Grand all shared a look, the lot of them beginning to put the pieces together. Misty turned to Vail Pixie, the two locking eyes as the Duel Monster looked close to tears and pulled away. This made Misty's breath hitch.

Twilight had a terrified look on her face, as she too had figured out what Flash had done and tears began forming in her eyes. "Flash," she hugged herself as Cadance pulled her closer. The others, seeing this reaction from her, feared the worst as Cold finally explained.

"Flash couldn't let the energy out or it would have still destroyed the world. And he couldn't contain it. So he used the Shadow Gate."

"You mean he went to the Duel Monster Spirit World?" Gilda asked, the others starting to think he had doomed one world to save theirs.

"No," Twilight shook her head as he pulled away from Cadance. "Don't you get it? There was only one place he could safely let the energy out without destroying both worlds. The Void." Now the others realised what she was getting at.

"No," Scootaloo shook her head, "please don't say it."

Cold frowned as he looked down at the ground, "he flew into the Shadow Gate as it closed and unleashed the energy within the void. It was the only way he could stop it from destroying both worlds."

"But that means..." Sunset couldn't finish sentence.

"Vail Pixie," Scootaloo turned to the Duel Monster. "You have to save him. Open a breech. Bring him back."

Vail Pixie continued to tear up, "I can't. I don't have enough power to open a breech. And even if I did, I can't make one that goes into the Void. Only an outer god like Zeronull could do that and survive." Everyone began to let the information set in, Sunset, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Sonata and Cadance beginning to tear up while others were fighting to keep from doing so.

"Flash," Spike whispered as Thorax and Sunburst put a hand on his shoulder.

Misty and Trail hugged, Misty crying into his chest while Grand looked down at the ground. Rainbow was clenching her fist while Applejack began slamming her fist into the wall of the stadium. Shining was looking as grim as Grand and Gilda was even close to tearing up, while Adagio and Aria appeared deeply saddened by Flash's loss.

"Flash," Scootaloo was also crying as Applebloom and Sweetie rushed over to hug her.

"Amigo," Tidal shook his head, "why did you have to be so selfless." Tempest leaned against a wall, putting her hands into her face while Soarin and Starlight just stood there unable to move.

Twilight, meanwhile, fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself and started crying hysterically. Mentally, she was telling herself that this was all her fault despite knowing that wasn't true. They should have been celebrating for the world's victory, but none of them felt like celebrating with what that victory cost. However, that feeling would soon change.

A small speck of light suddenly appeared in front of them, so small that nobody noticed it at first. But then, Tempest looked up and caught a glimpse of the light. She turned to the others, "guys!" Some of them turned to her and saw she was looking at the sky, then followed her gaze and saw it too.

The light started growing brighter, causing more people to look up at it as it got larger and began to take shape. That shape became one they were all very familiar with, shocked expressions beginning to appear on their faces. "It can't be," Misty whispered.

The only one not looking at the light was Twilight, until that very moment. She slowly shifted her head up until it saw the glowing shape, right as the light began to fade to reveal Flash Heart Dragon Alpha.

The robot was hovering above the shocked crowd with its hands cupped, then began to float until he touched the ground and knelt down. At the same time, Twilight stood up as a small speckle of hope appeared in her heart. Then, Flash Heart placed what it was holding in its hands on the ground and everyone saw it was a body.

"FLASH!" Twilight broke out into a run and rushed towards him, the other behind her as she knelt down besides him and started checking his vitals. She placed an ear onto his chest and waited for what felt like an eternity, but eventually heard the telltale beating of a heart. "He's alive!"

Everyone cheered hearing this, others breaking out into tears of joy while hugging those closest to them.

The commotion seemed to awaken Flash as he let out a moan and slowly open his eyes, the teen looking around and seeing Twilight smiling down at him. "Twilight? Where...where am I?"

"You're back on earth," she smiled while wiping her eyes of tears. "You big idiot." She hugged him tightly, "I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm sorry," Flash hugged her back. "I...I had too-"

"I know," she replied before pulled back. "That's why I love you." She kissed him, the others smiling at this until they pulled away. Flash smiled back at her before realising something.

"But how am I here?" He looked back at Flash Heart, "Did you-" He stopped when he saw his dragon shake his head, Flash telling he was just as confused as him. He then turned to Vail Pixie, who also shook her head. "Then how are we alive?"

The answer came with a sudden Flash of light, making everyone almost go blind before turning towards it. "I can answer that." Flash's eyes went wide as he heard the voice, the teen pushing himself back up.

"Harmonica?" The others were shocked to hear this, turning back to the light as it dimmed to reveal the glowing figure. Each of them was amazed to see Zeronull's pure opposite, the one they had to thank for giving them the chance to fight back against Zeronull's evil. "How are you here?"

"The seal holding me used Zeronull's power to do so, the same way my power was used to trap him. And while he escaped his seal, I was unable to leave the one that sealed me whilst he remained and had power to feed the seal. But now Zeronull is gone and the seal holding me weakened and eventually broke, freeing me. Once I was freed, the first thing I did was save the ones who were willing to sacrifice everything to protect their worlds"

"You saved Flash," Cold realised.

"Yes," the glowing figure nodded. "I wish I could have been of more help before now, but I hope this makes up for my absence."

"Are you kidding?" Twilight asked. "You've done more then enough. It's thanks to your power that Midnight had to Duel Flash. If you hadn't done that, there's no way he and the others could have stopped him."

Flash nodded. "And it was your power that helped me stop the Generators."

"But you had to risk your life in order to stop them," Harmonica told him. "And I thank you for stepping up in my stead and protecting these beautiful worlds. My Alpha Zealots." As she said that, the mark on Flash's hand appeared one last time. He looked down at it, seconds before it exploded off his hand. "Thanks to you and your friends, the world is safe from Zeronull and his Zealots. Never again will they threaten this or the other world." As she said that, her form unleashed a mighty light that blinded the lot of them.

When they opened their eyes, they all realised they were in the Duel Monster Spirit World.

"This is..." Starlight whispered.

"Incredible," Sunburst pushed his glasses up his nose. As he did, he and the others noticed they were covered in a white aura that glowed off their bodies.

"Each of you have helped play a role in protecting this world," Harmonica explained. "For that, you will all go down in history. That, I am sure of." As she said that, the humans noticed something coming over a nearby hill. It was all their ace monsters, marching towards them with smiles on their faces.

Cold spotted Sombra and smiled at his brother, while those like Pinkie, Spike and team Crusaders suddenly rushed forward to greet their friends. Soon enough, everyone and their Duel Monster Partners were together and happily embracing one another.

Twilight was hugging Twilight Warlock while Alicorn rubbed her head into her chest, while Rainbow and Gilda were fist bumping Battle Wing and Harpie Lady Zephyr. Soarin had been picked up by Assault Convoy and Spike was sitting on Blazelord's shoulder. Sunburst was shaking his monster's hands while Starlight and Leo were hugging.

"Well done little brother," Sombra told Cold. "You've done our family proud."

"Thank you," Cold nodded. "But it wasn't just me," he turned to the others as he and Sombra smiled. "We all worked together and because of that, our world is safe."

Those hearing that smiled while Flash turned to Harmonica. "You said Zeronull and his Zealots are gone. Does that mean our worlds are safe, forever?"

"Alas, it is not that simple." Everyone frowned hearing this. "Though the world is safe for now, that peace will not last. As long as there is good, then evil will also exist. It may happen tomorrow, or a hundred years from now, but eventually an evil will arise and threaten your worlds again. And when that happens, it'll be up to you or the future generation to fight back against the evil."

"We understand," Cold nodded before turning to the others. "That's why we have to work the best we can, in order to be ready for when that evil comes."

The others nodded as Flash smirked and stepped forward. "We won't just prepare to fight any evil that shows up. We're gonna work to build a better future. One where both humans and Duel Spirits can live together in peace. And when evil rears its ugly head, we'll be there to protect that peace no matter who or what tries to destroy it." They all smiled and nodded as a light suddenly appeared behind them.

"It's time for you all to return to your world. Go in the knowledge that your actions today and in all the days leading up to this moment will never be forgotten. And continue to work towards the perfect future you envision." Everyone nodded and turned back to their Duel Monster aces, many sharing hugs, high-fives and fist bumps before they began to make their way through the portal.

"Goodbye brother," Sombra hugged Cold who hugged him back. "Hopefully, the next time we meet won't be due to such dire circumstances."

"I hope so too," Cold nodded before they pulled away and Cold headed into the portal. Eventually, Flash was the only one yet to enter the portal. He watched as Flash Heart and Vail Pixie moved over to the Duel Monsters, as the aura around them vanished to show they had fully crossed over.

"I guess this is it," Vail Pixie frowned before Flash patted her on the head.

"For now," he told her. "But I'll be seeing you again. Don't forget, we're gonna find a way for humans and Duel Spirits to live together. And knowing my luck, something else might just pop up that needs me to stop it with your help."

Harmonica chuckled. "I do not think you need to worry much about that. I believe that your time as these worlds destined protector has come to an end. Enjoy your life, but be ready. Even if you're not the one saving the world next time, the one who is may require your guidance. The future is a mass of millions of uncertainties. You may never need to risk your life again, or you might have to do so within the week. Always remember to be ready, but to live your life to the fullest and remember everything you have learnt during your adventures."

Flash nodded before heading towards the portal, glancing back at his friends and giving them one final wave before stepping through the portal. The Duel Monsters gave him the same wave and the next thing he knew, he was back outside the stadium with everybody else.

They looked back at where Harmonica had previously been and saw a light that shot into the air and exploded like a firework, raining bits of light down upon them before fading away. Everyone simply stared at where it had been, some expecting something else to occur. But when nothing did, they all looked at one another.

"So," Soarin spoke up, "that's it? It's over?"

"I believe so," Cold nodded. "The door between our world and the Duel Monster Spirit World has closed."

"For now," Flash smiled. "But who knows. Maybe one day, we'll get to go back to that place. And hopefully, next time we won't have the fate of the world hanging on our shoulders."

"So what do we do now?" Applebloom asked, she and the rest of the Crusaders all looking confused.

"We do what Harmonica told us," Adagio smiled. "We live our lives. And be ready for the next time someone or something gets any ideas about world domination or destruction." She turned to her sisters. "From now on, we'll stick together and help the world see how amazing we are." Aria and Sonata smiled and nodded, Sonata even clapping her hands together.

Thorax turned to Spike, "I need to get back to Changeland. No rest for the royals." Spike smiled back and nodded.

Marble turned to her sisters and smiled a tearful smile. "I just wanna go home. I wanna see mother and father. Limestone too." Her sisters smiled back and pulled her into a hug.

Starlight and Sunburst smiled at one another, both knowing that whatever future lay ahead for them, they would face it together. Team Wonderbolt simply smirked with Rainbow giving the two a thumbs up, the three having their own plans for the future. Applejack, Rarity and their sisters smiled at one another, the lot happy they could get on with their lives. Cadance and Shining held hands, happy the world was safe and that they would get to see their daughter grow up. Fluttershy and Sunset shared their own smiled before looking up at the sky, knowing their own futures were filled with infinite possibilities.

Cold, Grand and Tidal shared a smiled before turning towards the Sentry family. Trail moved over to Misty and Scootaloo before pulling them in close. "Now we can get on with our lives and be a proper family. They all nodded and then turned to Flash, who stood next to Twilight and stared up at the sky.

"Did you ever think it would be like this?" Twilight asked, "when you first got your deck. Did you ever think your life would turn out this way?"

"Not in a million years," Flash smiled before taking out his Flash Heart Card. "When we first met, I was nothing. Barely a shadow of a person, with no friends and no ambitions of my own." He then smiled up at the sky. "But since then, my life as become so incredibly amazing. I don't regret a second of it." He turned to smile at Twilight, then back at all the people he called his friends and family. "Or regret meeting any of you." Everyone smiled back before Flash turned to look back at the sky, pulling Twilight close to him.

"No matter what people say or do, our futures belong to us. And it can be whatever we want it to be."

Author's Note

Well, it's over. The evil that threatened the whole universe is finally gone. But don't worry, this isn't the end of the story. There's still one final chapter. But what will it entail?

Final Turn

Canterlot City was bustling with activity, as people were living their day to day lives. Either working at their jobs, shopping, hanging with friends and family, or Duelling to their heart's content.

One such person doing a mixture of the first and last option was a girl in one of the laboratories of Freeze Industries. She was a young women of twenty, with purple skin and purple hair that was in a ponytail. She wore black glasses and a white lab-coat. She was currently tapping away at a keyboard before letting out a sigh. "Okay," she adjusted her glasses, "everything seems to be working perfectly." She turned towards the only other person in the room. "You sure you're up for this?"

The other person was an eighteen year old boy with purple skin and green hair. "You bet." He held up a strange looking device that looked like a helmet that would cover everything above his mouth, with several wires attached to a big machine. "Just tell me when."

The girl smiled and turned back to the computer. "Alright. I'm initiating the program now. Whenever you're ready Spike."

"Got it Twi," Spike put the helmet on and took a deep breath. "It's time to link into the VRAINS!" The helmet lit up as the screen in front of his eyes began showing him images. Suddenly, Spike's body went limp and he just stood there.

The woman named Twilight smiled at the screen, seeing everything was going well. "Yes," she whispered, "it's working. it's-" She stopped when he computer started giving out warning signals, making her gasp before sparks started flying off the helmet. "Oh no." She slammed a button on the side as the computer shut down, Spike suddenly flinching as he stopped being limp.

"What?" He quickly reached up and pulled the helmet off, said helmet beginning to spark and make him drop it. "WOW!" He jumped away as Twilight grabbed a fire extinguisher and started spraying the device, which finally stopped sparking. "I guess this means the test failed."

Twilight sighed, "back to the drawing board." As she said that, there was a knock at the door. It then opened and the man known as Cold Steel stepped inside.

He took a look around the lab, then fell on the foam covered helmet. "Any progress."

"He was able to enter the system," Twilight told him. "But we're still having problems."

"Well keep at it," Cold told her. "This could mean big things for the world of Duelling if you manage to pull it off."

"Will do," Twilight nodded as she picked the helmet up. "Was that all you came for?"

"No," Cold shook his head. "I just wanted to make sure you were both ready for today's match."

"We'll be there," Spike smirked. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Me neither," Twilight smiled. "It's sure to be a big event. One Duellist going battle royale against fifty others. If he actually manages to win, it'll be a miracle."

"The only one winning is me," Spike smirked. "First I'll take him out, then everyone else."

"We'll see," Cold told him before leaving. Once he was gone, Twilight and Spike sat down on a couch in the corner, Twilight turning on the TV as the two of them relaxed while they waited for the computer to finish cooling.

"In Duelling news, the World Tag Tournament is reaching its fourth round. The favourites to win this year are still the team of Sunburst and Starlight, who have managed to dominate the competition so far. The European Circuit will soon be starting, with many eyes being on the young Duellist known as Sunset Shimmer. Having come in fifth during her first Euro competition, all eyes are on her. Another top contender is the Glory Heavyweight Champion, Gilda. With her Kickboxing season over, she is now preparing to try and take top in the Euro League. Back here in America, the Double X Tournament is only one month away. I sat down earlier with last years winners, Team Crusaders."

Twilight smiled as the announcer told the viewers that interview would be shown later. This made her switch the channel to another news station, showing its own story.

"The peace treaty between Changeland and the Island of Seaquestria has been finalised. The image of King Thorax and Queen Novo in public together to announce the signing." The TV showed the two, with Skystar standing besides her mother. Twilight and Spike both still found it strange with how different the two of them were.

They remembered back three years, when they had first met the two after they had been freed from their Domination. It was bizarre how hyperactive Skystar was compared to her formally psychotic persona under Rhodos's influence.

Twilight changed the channel again, getting a sports channel this time. "America is set to bring home the trophy in next years world cup, thanks to the skills of two of the team's newest players. Rainbow Dash and Soarin Skies, despite only joining the national team this year, are already set to have a long a promising career. When asked if they had any plans for after those careers end, the two answered simply with the world. Dueling. In other news, rumours of the two dating have been confirmed as-" They didn't hear that last part as Twilight accidently hit the remote and changed the channel.

It was a music channel, showing a trio of familiar women dancing and singing together with a trio of mermaid Duel monsters.

"Well," Twilight turned the TV off, "we'd better get back to work. Maybe we can figure out what the problem is with this system before we have to leave for the stadium."

"I still don't get why this is so important," Spike told her. "What does a Duelling company have to do with virtual reality?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "If we can get this to work, we can create a global Duelling network. People from all over the world will be able to log on and both meet and Duel people on the over side of the planet. You could be here in America, but Duelling against someone in England or France. You could even have a face to face conversation with Thorax, without needing to get on a plane or waste money on phone or video calls."

"Huh," Spike smirked at that, "I like the sound of that." He grabbed the helmet, "let's get this thing working." As he said that, Twilight's phone went off.

She smiled when she saw who it was and answered, "hey there BBBFF."

"Hey Twily," Shining smiled while walking through his house. "Just making sure you're not so focused on your work you forget what time it is."

"I'm not gonna miss the Duel!" Twilight cried out in annoyance, causing Shining to laugh as he arrived at the living room. There, Cadance and Flurry were sitting on the ground with a bunch of Duel Cards scattered around it.

Cadance looked up and smiled, having heard Twilight's voice through the phone. "Are you teasing your poor little sister honey?" Shining pouted at her as he put his phone on speaker.

"And I'm not going to miss it," Twilight said halfway through her speech.

"Hey Twilight," Cadance smiled as Flurry laughed.

"Aunty Twi-Twi," the toddler cheered.

"How's my favourite niece," Twilight's voice said back happily.

"Hey Flurry!" Spike called back, making Flurry laugh and clap.

"Spike!"

"So what are you guys up too before the match?" Twilight asked.

"Flurry wanted another Duelling lesson," Shining replied. "At this rate, she might be able to compete in today's match." His daughter laughed as she picked up three cards. She stacked them one on top of the other, the one on top being an Xyz monster which was the same rank as the levels of the monsters below. "She's already learning some pretty advanced skills." He tried not to look upset at his daughter's Xyz interest. "So, are you guys gonna need a lift to the stadium later?"

"No," Twilight replied, "We've already made arrangements to get to the arena."

"We'll meet you there," Spike told them.

"Well then we won't keep you any longer," Cadance told them before picking Flurry up and holding her over the phone. "Say bye bye Flurry."

"Bye bye Flurry," the toddler said. The adults all laughed.

"We'll see you later Flurry," Twilight told her. "Do me a favour and cream your daddy in a Duel for me. It was hilarious the last time that happened."

"That only happen because I had a deck of high level monsters and no Pendulums!" Shining told her, making everyone laugh again as Twilight and Shining hung up. "Alright sweetheart." He pulled out his deck while his daughter reached for her own cards. "I'm settling the score," he put the cards on the floor while Cadance placed Flurry in front of him.

"Bring...it," she forced out while Cadance grabbed her phone and started recording.

Back at Freeze Industries, Cold was making his way through the building until he arrived at the cards department.

He stepped inside and found a large office cubical like structure in the room. Several boxed in areas where artists were working on the designs of new cards, some of them working on an electronic arts board while others were going old school and creating the art from scratch and scanning them into the computer. Whatever works.

Cold made his way through two lines of cubicles, catching the attention of several artists. Some of them looked worried about his sudden appearance while others were more relaxed and gave him a courteous node as he passed.

He came to a stop next to one cubicle and looked inside, seeing a young man who his company had just recently hired. "What are you working on?" The man was scared by the sudden question and quickly leapt to his feet, sweating.

"I'm...I'm just working on some rudimentary sketches for a possible new archetype...sir."

"What's it called."

"I haven't landed on anything permanent, but I was thinking maybe...Salamangreat."

Cold slowly nodded. "I look forward to seeing what you turn out." He walked off while the man sighed in relief, Cold arriving at the door to an office and stepping inside of it. There, he found an interesting series of decorations. Several drawings and sketches covered the walls, some looking like only doodles while others looked like something Leonardo would work on.

On the other side of the room was the office's owner, Misty Vail. She was working on another portrait, making slow careful brush strokes. "Did you need something?" She asked without looking away from her work.

"Your daughter is blowing up my lab again," Cold explained while Misty laughed.

"She's not my daughter yet. But hopefully, I'll get to start calling her that soon." She pulled the brush away and turned the picture towards Cold. "What do you think? My first creation of a new archetype. Trickstar Rhodode."

Cold looked at the image of the young women in the picture, "not bad. What type of play-style will this archetype use."

"I haven't decided yet," Misty sat back. "I can't even decide which summoning style it'll fall under. It needs more then just Standard Summoning, but Fusion, Ritual, Synchro or Xyz summoning doesn't feel like the right fit either. Heck, I can't even think of any Pendulum monsters for them."

"I've been noticing that problem with some of our other creators," Cold nodded. "I think they're starting to plateau on ideas for new cards. The time of the Pendulum Summon may be drawing to a close."

"Possible," Misty sighed. "Though it'll always have a place in the world of Dueling, it's time in the spotlight is growing shorter."

Cold nodded, "any idea what the next new style will be? The world of Duelling must evolve, or be left in the dust."

"I have no idea," Misty explained. "Even with my abilities, I can't see how this game will change next. If the Duel Monster Spirit World is in a time of peace, there may not be any new types of monsters appearing. Without an enemy to fight, they have no reason to push themselves into the unknown."

"I guess that is a good thing," Cold told her. "But we cannot forget what we were told on that day. A new evil will one day rise. And though we shouldn't let that fact make us paranoid, we must be prepared for when that day comes. Even if it isn't in our life time, we must be ready. That's why we must constantly be evolving, to have something that that evil will not see coming."

"You're right," Misty nodded. "But it may take years for that new power to arise. We can't just sit around waiting for that to happen. We have to find a way to evolve the world of Duelling ourselves."

Cold nodded before heading towards the door, "my thoughts exactly. And until we find that way, we have to make do with what we have at our disposal." Misty nodded as Cold left the room. Once he was gone, she let out a sigh before reaching for her phone and calling someone.

In a museum across town, a man was in an office with his head hidden behind a mountain of papers.

He then heard a loud ringing noise and looked over the piles of paperwork to reveal the man known as Relic Fragment. He stared over at another desk where the ringing was coming from, the source being a phone that wasn't his. He quickly got up and grabbed the phone, answering it. "Hello?"

"Relic?" He heard Misty replied, "why do you have Trail's phone."

"He left it in the office," he stated before the door opened and the phone's owner stepped inside. "Here he is." He threw the phone and Trail caught it with barely a glance and a single hand.

"Hey honey," Trail sat down. "You ready for the Duel later."

"Of course. Just making sure you'll be there."

"I'll be there," he assured her. "Wouldn't miss it for the world. He's been so busy lately, I haven't had any time to even talk to him other then quick phone calls."

"Same. Let's hope he has some time to stick around after the Duel."

"Is your dad going to be there as well."

"Of course. This'll be the most exciting thing he's gotten to do since retiring."

In another part of the city, on a golf course, we find Grand carrying a bag of golf clubs.

He then put a T down along with a ball before pulling out a club, which he used to hit the ball and send it flying through the air. It then landed a few hundred yards from where he was now. Grand then put his golf club back in the bag and picked it up to head towards the ball. As he did, he let out a sigh.

"My god this is boring. How do old men not die of boredom?" He sighed again, glad he at least had the Duel later to look forward too.

In another area of Canterlot, a truck rolled down the street before coming to a stop outside the back of a building.

The door of the building opened to show a twenty year old Pinkie Pie, skipping out of her bakery and clapping when she saw the arrival of her fruit delivery. "Applejack!" She screamed as the older farm-girl stepped out of her truck with Big Mac,

"Howdy Pinkie," she smiled as she headed to the back of her truck. "How's business."

"Great!" Pinkie smiled back as Applejack lifted a large crate of apples off the back of her truck and headed towards her, Pinkie keeping the door open so she could walk inside without issue. "I only opened a year ago, but I'm already being called the best bakery in the city."

"That's great," Applejack smiled as she dropped the crate down and wiped her brow. "Ya'h deserve it."

"Thanks," Pinkie smiled before looking over at a nearby picture on the wall. Said picture was of her, Marble and Maud. "I can't wait to show those two how popular this place as become since they last saw it."

"Are they gonna be at the Duel later?" Applejack asked, Pinkie shaking her head.

"No. Maud's still overseas and Marble's still in school. But I'm sure they're gonna watch. And since you guys are early, I should have time to make some new batches of pies before I have to head off to the stadium."

"Want some help?" Applejack asked, "Mac an a'h don't have anything else we need doing. We shut the store early today so we're as free as a bird. Right Mac?"

"Eyup," he nodded while Pinkie smiled and clapped her hands.

In another part of the city, the twenty year old Rarity had just entered the Canterlot vets center with a carry case.

There, the receptionist looked up and smiled at her. "Ah, Miss Rarity. You're right on time. Please go through." Rarity nodded and headed into the next room, where she found her friend Fluttershy wearing scrubs.

"Oh," she turned to smile at her, "hello Rarity."

"Hello Darling," she placed the carry case onto the table. "Thanks for squeezing us in. I have a big project starting in a few days and I'll probably not have any free time afterwards. Big order for Trixie."

Fluttershy laughed as the vet named Dr Fauna stepped into the room. "Ahh, Rarity. Come for Opalescence's boosters are we?" Rarity nodded. "Well Fluttershy, why don't you do that. You're the only one who can actually get near her with a needle without getting a million scratches."

The vet assistant nodded before opening the cage and reaching inside. "Come on Opal. No need to be afraid." She took out the cat and held her, the feline not looking at all worried as Fauna prepared the injection. As she did, Fluttershy turned to Rarity. "So what kind of order is Trixie asking for?"

"Ten different outfits she can wear for ten different shows around the country. I never would have thought she'd become such a popular magician."

Fluttershy nodded as she took the needle. "Doesn't she just need one outfit. If she's going to be in a different city for each show-"

"Heavens no. How can she be expected to keep the audience entertained if she's wearing the same thing again and again. It's all in the appeal darling." Fluttershy laughed at this while injecting Opel, who didn't even flinch.

"Whose my brave girl?" She asked before putting her on the table, "will Trixie be at the Duel later?"

"I'm not sure," Rarity replied. "I am interested in seeing who's going to be there." Fluttershy nodded, being just as interested. They continued making small talk as Fluttershy did a general check up of Opal, finding nothing else wrong with her. "It will be nice to see everyone again. And after the Duel, there's going to be a big party so we can properly catch up."

"I can't wait," Fluttershy smiled as she stroked Opal. "I want to hear all about what everyone's been doing recently."

"Same," Rarity nodded, "I'm sure whatever it is will be spectacular.

In another city entirely, Cloudsdale, a limo was being driven down the street.

Inside said limo, the former members of Team Wonderbolt were sitting there after being picked up at their differing airports. "How much longer," Gilda moaned. "I'm itching to get Duelling."

"We can tell," Soarin laughed. "But you'll just have to relax and be patient. The Duel's not for another couple of hours yet."

"Ahh!" Gilda cried, "this bites. What's a girl gotta do to get some action around here?"

"Well we've got some time," Rainbow smiled. "How about seeing how the old stomping ground's doing?" She moved forward and opened the limo's hatch to talk to the driver. "Hey, man. You know how to get to the Wonderbolt's Academy?"

"Of course," he nodded. "You wanna head there?" Rainbow nodded and he indicated to change into a different lane, Rainbow smiling as she sat back. The three continued to talk amongst themselves, discussing what strategies they should use in the Duel later until they finally arrived at their destination.

The limo came to a stop and the three stepped out and smiled at the sight of the newly constructed Wonderbolts Academy. Built two years ago, the place looked exactly like the original one had looked. Though the materials were newer and the dorms were more up to date, it looked exactly the same as the one that had originally be obliterated by the Zenith Dragon of Limitless Skies.

"Awesome," Rainbow smiled as they stepped into the schoolyard. As they did, the doors of the place opened up and several students on break stepped out. And upon seeing the three, they went wild and rushed forward. For the students of Wonderbolts Academy, meeting the three most famous alumni was a dream come true. The three were quickly surrounded, getting asked questions and requests for autographs.

"Alright, that's enough!" Another voice cried out, making the students quickly disperse and the reveal the school's principal. Spitfire stared at the three of them as she walked forward, rising an eyebrow at their suddenly appearance. "Well this is a surprise." The three quickly stood to attention, while Spitfire stepped up in front of them. "Would it have killed you to call first."

"Sorry ma'am," Rainbow told her. "This was a spur of the moment idea. We had a little free time before we had to be somewhere, so we thought we'd come and see how things were going here." She turned to Spitfire, "how are things here?"

"Good," Spitfire smiled back before stepping back, "thing are good here. You can relax now." The three sighed as they let their bodies un-tense. "I was actually hoping you three would show up when I learned you were coming for the Duel."

"Glad we didn't disappoint," Soarin told him. They then noticed the many students still staring at them with stars in their eyes. "I think they might be close to exploding from excitement." Spitfire laughed.

"It's not everyday the school's biggest heroes just show up on your doorstep."

"Well I think I might know a way to entertain them," Rainbow smiled before turning to Gilda. "Still itching for a Duel?" Gilda smiled while the rest of the kids gasped, then cheered as the two took out their Duel Disks.

Back in Canterlot, another limo was making its way through the town.

This one had also been to two different airports. The first one had been where it had picked up its first passenger, while the second one had been where it had picked up two of them. "Ahh," Starlight sighed as she watched the cityscape fly by. "It's good to be home."

"Indeed," Sunburst nodded as he pushed his glasses up. "Even if we have to leave again tomorrow."

"Talk about timing," the last member of their trio announced. Sunset Shimmer smiled at them as she too stared out into the city. "You have just enough time between rounds to fly here, compete in this Duel, then fly back with more then enough time before your next tag-Duel."

"Just fate I suppose," Starlight smiled. "Though even if we didn't have the time, we would have found a way. I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Sunburst nodded. "It's the first time we've all been together again in so long."

"Are you sure everyone will be there?" Starlight asked. "With how busy all our lives are, it seems hard to believe that they'd all be able to make it to this one Duel."

"They'll be there," Sunset assured her. "Cold's been working on this for months, trying to work around everyone's schedules. I was even impressed he managed to get the Dazzlings here."

"I can't wait," Sunburst smiled. "Hopefully, we'll have enough time to properly talk before the game starts. I wanna hear how everyone's doing."

On the streets of Canterlot, Tempest Shadow was making her way through the town.

She hadn't really change much in the last three years, the girl walking with a large duffel-bag slung over her shoulder. She came to a stop outside a music store and spotted a CD with the image of someone she recognised as Heath Burns on the front, stating that it was the best tracks from the famous DJ and even had a DVD part that showed off some awesome skateboarding tricks set to his tons.

Tempest smiled and put the CD back before continuing to head down the street. Unlike the rest of her friends from back in the day, she hadn't really done anything extraordinary with her life yet. She had spent the last two and a half years travelling the world, both learning new Duelling techniques and teaching techniques to those that didn't have anyone to teach them.

She stepped out of the market place onto the main street, only to find a limo suddenly come to a stop besides her. That limo opened up and a well dressed Adagio Dazzle stepped out of the car, smiling when she saw her. "Hey. Need a ride. I'm guessing we're going to the same place."

Tempest smiled back and nodded before the two women climbed back into the limo. There, a smiling and waving Sonata did just that at Tempest while Aria just crossed her arms and looked away. Once they were buckled in and the car door closed, the limo pulled away and continued its journey to its intended destination.

Eventually, everyone began their own journey to the Freeze Stadium.

Cold, Twilight, Spike and Misty were in a car heading there, Misty turning to Twilight. "So how's your little experiment going? I can't wait to see what the fruits of your labour finally reveal."

"Well it won't be for a while yet. There's still a lot that I need to figure out before I we can make my virtual world public. Maybe another ten years or so. But it'll be worth the wait."

"I'm sure it will be," Cold nodded. "The World of Duel Monsters is always in a state of evolution. From the ancient Egyptians, to Maxamillion Pegasus's recreation of the game and the invention of the solid vision systems. To the standard summoning mechanics to the addition of Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and others. This may be as far as the game can go in the physical world. But your virtual world may grant it an all new future to carve."

Twilight smiled before looking out the car window and staring into the sky. "I wonder what Harmonica and the others are doing right now. I hope their world is still as peaceful as ours is."

"I can assure you that it is," Misty smiled. "It's rare now that I'm able to see Duel Spirits, but when I do I can sense that they're happy and don't have a care in the world." This made the others smiled. "The worlds aren't perfect and at least one person on both of them are having a hard time, but that's life."

Cold nodded. "As long as they know that and have someone around to help them, they can work through those hardships."

The others smiled as the limo finally arrived at their destination, turning into the well packed parking lot of the stadium. There, multiple people were waiting to enter the stadium and watch the Duel. At the same time, several other cars arrived and was directed to the private section of the lot.

This included the Wonderbolt's car, along with the Dazzlings and Tempest, Sunburst, Sunset and Starlight, Big Mac with Pinkie and Applejack in the back and Fluttershy with Rarity sitting in the passenger seat.

These cars parked up and they all got out, smiling at one another before being ushered into the stadium while the crowd were kept back by security. Once inside, they began splitting off and happily embracing one another. "It's so good to see you!" Fluttershy smiled as she and Rainbow hugged.

"Same," Rainbow smiled back before pulling away and turning to the others. "Man I missed you guys."

"And we missed you," Twilight laughed before hearing the door open. Tidal Wave stepped inside, with Team Crusaders there with him.

"Hola!" He cried with joy as Scootaloo moved over to her mother, "I'm so very happy we could all be here for this momentous occasion."

"And we're happy to have you," Cold told him as the door opened again before Trail, Grand, Shining, Cadance and Flurry stepped inside.

"Hey," Shining waved to them all as they moved towards them. "Looks like we made it just in time." Twilight moved over to grab her niece and start lifting her up and down, the toddler letting out cries of enjoyment while clapping her hands.

Cold let out a chuckle before looking around. "It seems the only one we're missing is the man of the hour."

"Where is he anyway?" Spike asked. "He can't be late for this. There's no event without him."

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Twilight assured them. "He's not gonna miss such a big event, especially if it gives him a chance to see all of us."

Back outside the stadium, the near silence of the town was broken by the sound of a supercharged engine.

That engine was powering a blue Duel Runner with orange trim, which raced down the street and zipped between the other vehicles and around the bends of the town until it finally came out on the street leading to the Freeze Stadium. Tires screeched as the bike spun on its back wheel so it was pointed into the parking lot and then revved before shooting forwards. And finally, it came to a stop in one of the empty parking spaces.

The driver then got off the bike and took several steps forward, looking up at the stadium before reaching for something on his wrist. In a flash of light, the figure's clothing changed so that they were wearing a black jacket and blue pants. "Alright," the figure began to walk forward, "time to get down to business." With that, he walked towards the stadium while pulling out a Duel Disk and a deck of cards.

Inside the stadium, cheers and cries of enjoyment filled the air as many fans sat waiting for the Duel to begin.

Misty, Cadance and Flurry were making their way down the stairs until they reached their section and politely passed those sitting. They finally took their seats and sat down, while up in a box Cold was watching the whole event from on high. He looked around and saw all the Duel fans sitting in their seats, looking forward to seeing what would happen.

But then, their attention was drawn to an explosion on the made stage. The burst of smoke signalled the arrival of two women who still looked amazing given they were well passed the point in their lives of being idols.

The Celestic Sisters waved at the crowd as they stepped out onto the stadium, holding microphones and preparing to announce the start of the Duel.

Celestia: Duel fans, young and old. Professional and armature alike.

Luna: Welcome, to the Freeze Stadium. Today's match will be an exhibition match featuring some of the greatest Duellists from around the world, who will all be competing in the Duelling Battle Royale.

Celestia: Fifty Duellists will attempt to defeat a single opponent. Many would think this would be a simple task, but that one opponent is someone who's done the impossible before.

Luna: And now, let's introduce our competitors into the stadium.

With that, the doors of the stadium opened before the fifty Duellists stepped out onto the field. Those included the likes of Twilight, Spike, Shining, Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Sunburst, Grand, Starlight, Tempest, Mac, Gilda, Tidal, Trail, Team Crusaders, the Dazzlings and so much many more.

The stadium exploded with applause as the Duellists reached the center of the stadium, waiting for their one opponent. Each of them took out their Duel Disks and placed them on their arms, then took out a deck and shuffled before slotting them into place.

Meanwhile, in a corridor leading out to the field, the figure from before was leaning up against the wall shuffling his deck.

He then turned to his Duel Disk and saw it showing the broadcast of the upcoming Duel, a smile appearing on his lips before he looked back at his cards. "Alright guys. Let's show them how it's done." He gave the deck one last shuffle before slotting it into his Duel Disk.

Celestia: And now, let's all please welcome their opponent.

He pushed away from the wall and headed towards the exit.

Luna: The number one Duellist in all the world.

Celestia: Champion of the Celestic Cup, Double X, Euro and Asian circuit.

Luna: And not to mention hero of two worlds.

Both: FLASH SENTRY!

With that, the crowd exploded into applause once again. As they did, the twenty year old stepped out onto the battlefield. Barely looking any different from when he had saved the world three years ago, though with a slight air of maturity in his expression. Flash Sentry found himself staring down the army of opponents he had to defeat.

But despite the large number of Duellists looking to take him down, he wasn't scared. He was excited.

He looked up at the crowd and saw them all cheering and chanting, spotting Cadance, Misty, Flurry and Grand in the stands. He also spotted Cold, up in the box smiling down at him. He then turned back towards his opponents and smiled. "I want you all to come at me with everything you've got. Show me the very best each of you has to offer and I'll respond with my very best." He raised his Duel Disk and pressed a button, causing holographic images of all his monsters to appear around him.

Flash Heart Dragon Alpha and Vail Pixie Alpha stood behind and in front of him, while the rest of his monsters got into a battle ready pose with smiles on their faces. "No matter what you throw at us, me and my friends will endure it and push back just as hard."

The rest of the Duellists smiled at all the monsters before those holograms transformed into lights that flew into his Deck. "SO BRING IT ON!" He cried before the floor beneath their feet began to shine as it projected the Duel Field, as a robotic female voice spoke out.

"AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED."

As the Duel Field began to form around them, everyone activated their Duel Disks and drew their cards before calling out. "DUEL!"

On a random street of Canterlot, one of the megascreen was showing the Duel. Currently, it was focused on Flash as he stood in the standard Duellist pose.

Many people in the street were watching him, but none more closely then a young girl of around eight years old. She smiled at the megascreen before holding up a deck of cards and looking down at them. "One day...that'll be us." As she said that, the card let off a faint glow that only she could see. This glow made her smile as she looked back up at the megascreen.

Duel Monsters. This amazing game connects those who play it to one another, even if they have never met before. The bonds forged by this game are stronger then any other, creating friendship not just between those in different countries, but those from different worlds.

And though evil will inevitably rise to break those bonds, they will fail. Because while they may use the power of this game to try and destroy the world, they will never truly understand that power. The power the unite two worlds. The power to overcome the odds. The power...of Duelling.

Author's Note

And thus this series has finally come to a close. This was the second one to be created and is almost as old as my Chronicles stories. And it along with Chronicles really helped me develop my style of writing and storytelling. I hope you've had as much fun reading it as I've had writing it.

Thank you all for reading it and a special thank you to those who commented on it and helped me know my story was appreciated. For now I think I'll be taking a little break from the three chapters a week, but I'll probably come back to them eventually. Until then, I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this series.

Thank you and goodbye.