'It's my turn!' yelled Tetsuo. 'I draw!' He glanced at the card he drew, and grinned. 'First, during my Standby Phase, my Clockwork Catapult gains a Clockwork Counter! Then, I Summon Tinplate Goldfish, and activate its effect to Special Summon a second Tinplate Goldfish from my hand! Now, with my UFO Turtle and my two Goldfish, I can construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on up, Tinplate Archduke!'

Behind Tetsuo, a massive iron-plated warrior appeared, looming over his opponent's field.

ATK: 2200, RK: 4

'Arr, very impressive,' replied his opponent. 'But I'm afraid it still only has the same attack power as me Oyacorn.'

'Not for long!' said Tetsuo. 'I activate Clockwork Catapult's effect, removing its Clockwork Counter to increase Archduke's attack power by 500! Now go, Tinplate Archduke! Destroy his Oyacorn!'

ATK: 2200→2700

'Not so fast, boy!' interrupted his opponent, as Archduke's sword slashed towards Oyacorn. 'I activate me trap, Cornwall! This negates ye attack and ends ye Battle Phase!'

Around his Oyacorn appeared a wall of corn, that blocked Archduke sword and made it bounce off it harmlessly.

'In that case, I'll activate Archduke's effect,' continued Tetsuo, 'detaching an Overlay Unit from it to change your Oyacorn to Defence Position! It's up to you now, Class Rep! I end!'

DEF: 800

'To summarise, it's my turn!' said Takashi, drawing. 'I Summon Bugman X! Now, I activate Bug Road, allowing each of us to Special Summon a monster from our hand with the same Level as a monster we control!'

ATK: 0, LV: 3

'Hey, Class Rep!' interrupted Tetsuo, annoyed. 'My Archduke's an Xyz Monster! It hasn't got a Level! So he's getting the advantage, not me!'

'Arr, ye friend be right,' mocked their opponent. 'And I'll be takin' that boon! I Summon Necorn, in Defence Position!'

DEF: 500, LV: 4

'Well, I Summon Debugger Z!' continued Takashi.

ATK: 700, LV: 3

'Now, I Overlay my Level 3, Bugman X, Debugger Y, and Debugger Z! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Vaccingale!'

Beside Takashi appeared a pixelated girl, dressed in a nurse's outfit and wielding a massive needle.

ATK: 1800, RK: 3

'Now go, Vaccingale!' instructed Takashi. 'Destroy his Oyacorn! And to summarise, that leaves you with only one monster! I set a card and end.'

'Arr, I think ye be underestimating me,' replied their opponent. 'Ye not be dealing with a simple thug, here, I am Captain Corn, commander of the Black Corn! And now, ye'll be witnessin' that power for yeselves! I draw!' Corn laughed. 'Say ye prayers, boys! I activate Preparation of Corn, Special Summoning me Oyacorn back from me Graveyard in Defence Position! Now, I Overlay Oyacorn and Necorn! With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!'

DEF: 500, LV: 4

The two monsters descended into a galaxy-shaped portal in the ground, from which emerged a massive black cob of corn. Around it span two black objects, and the top of the corn unfolded, revealing the body of a ship, and a mast, from which unfolded a sail with the number 50 emblazoned upon it in red.

'Xyz Summon! Rise forth, Number 50!' intoned Corn, smirking. 'The accursed ship, Black Corn!'

ATK: 2100, RK: 4

Outside, in the massive empty spaces of Heartland's amusement park, two vehicles, one a deep red and the other a striking gold, sped alongside one another.

'Go, Jawsman!' yelled Ryoga. 'Attack his OKa-Thunder! Shark Stream!'

'Trap activate!' replied Thunder Spark. 'Thunder Ball! This negates your monster's attack!'

As his monster's assault was intercepted by a ball of light, Ryoga smiled. 'I expected nothing less,' he said. 'I'll set a card and end.'

My set card is Zeus' Breath, he mused. Between that and Jawsman, I should be safe for at least another turn.

'It's my turn, I draw!' stated Thunder Spark. 'According to the rules of the Speed Duel, whoever is ahead may Normal Summon twice during each turn! So, I can Summon twice, and I Summon ONi-Thunder and ONe-Thunder! And, because I control all four members of the "Thunder" family, I can Special Summon OToNaRi-Thunder from my Deck!'

ATK: 900, LV: 4; ATK: 900, LV: 4; ATK: 500, LV: 4

Five Level 4s?! thought Ryoga. What the hell is coming…?

'I Overlay my five Level 4 monsters!' declared Thunder Spark. 'And with them, I construct the Overlay Network!'

Beside him, the monsters descended into a galaxy-shaped portal, from which emerged a glittering white orb, across the surface of which sparked constant electricity.

'Xyz Summon, Number 91! The king of the storm, Thunder Spark Dragon!'

Beside Thunder Spark appeared a massive serpent, the body of which trailed past Ryoga's Jawsman.

ATK: 2400, RK: 4

'That's big,' conceded Ryoga, 'but what can you do with it?'

'Just watch!' replied Thunder Spark. 'By detaching five Overlay Units from Thunder Spark Dragon, I can destroy all cards on your field!'

'What?!' cried Ryoga.

'Go, Thunder Spark Dragon!' ordered Thunder Spark, as beside him the serpent swallowed each of the five golden orbs that were orbiting it, before it twisted around and fired a stream of electricity from its tail into the sky above Ryoga.

OU: 5→0

There was a slight pause, then the sky tore apart and lightning blasted from it into both Ryoga's Jawsman and his set Trap, shattering both into golden shards. Ryoga flinched.

'Now, Thunder Spark Dragon! Attack Ryoga directly! Storm Blast!'

Ryoga pulled his vehicle to an angle, attempting to prevent the blast from doing too much damage, but it was ineffective as the serpent's electric breath collided with the vehicle, knocking it backwards and shocking him.

'To end,' stated Thunder Spark, 'I set a card, and activate the Continuous Spell, Spirit Converter.'

This could be a lot harder than I was anticipating, mused Ryoga, scowling. I've seen that Converter spell before, and if he survives three turns and I don't have a way of countering, then I'm finished. His face twisted into a smirk. But if I can beat him before then… that Number of his would make an excellent aid in my work.

'It's my turn, I draw!' declared Ryoga, glancing at the card he drew. 'I Summon Killer Rabca! Then, because I Summoned a Fish-Type monster, I can Special Summon Shark Sucker! And with my two Level 3 monsters, I can construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Rise up, the terror of the air and sea, the Underwater Mothership, Aero Shark!' Ryoga paused. 'In Defence Position.'

DEF: 1000, RK: 3

Thunder Spark nodded as the two conjoined sharks appeared beside Ryoga, and Ryoga frowned at him. This guy… what the hell is he?

'Well,' said Ryoga, 'now I'm activating Aero Shark's effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit from it, I can inflict 400 damage to you for each card I have in my hand! And because I have two, you take 800 damage! Go, Air Torpedo!'

OU: 2→1; THUNDER SPARK: 4000→3200

From either side of Aero Shark, the creature fired a pair of missiles, which flew into Thunder Spark's vehicle, slowing it slightly, and causing one of its engines to begin softly whirring.

'Now,' finished Ryoga, 'I'll set two cards and end!'

Yuma looked, startled, at the empty space where III had been. There was a slight pause, and around him the hospital began to slowly reappear, the missing chunks reforming out of thin air and the people within it materialising randomly.

'III…' whispered Yuma. 'Where did you go…'

'Presumably back to his brother,' replied Kaito. 'Hopefully, III's going to have the sense to not do what that psychopath tells him to, this time.'

'I wouldn't be so sure that IV's still alive,' interrupted Homura, and the two of them turned to her, startled. 'I mean, if III did go back to IV, then IV is almost certainly dead.'

'What do you mean?' asked Yuma.

'The soul of a Puella Magi,' stated Homura, 'such as myself or – more importantly in this circumstance, III – is held within their Soul Gem. Over time, this gem becomes tainted by darkness, especially if its owner is suffering from darker emotions such as the despair that III had felt. Ryoga said that these emotions were enhanced by the Numbers; combined with his own inner turmoil, it was amazing that he managed to hold out as long as he did.'

'What?' repeated Yuma.

'When a Soul Gem becomes totally black,' continued Homura, 'the soul is separated from its human body, and it transforms into a Grief Seed,' Homura paused, 'the heart of a witch. III is likely already beyond salvation, if he hasn't already transformed.'

'But… can't we reverse it…?' protested Yuma.

'I am unable to perform any process that could reverse the transformation of a Soul Gem into a Grief Seed. Madoka would likely be able to, but…' Homura glanced back at her friend, who was sitting a corner, holding her head and looking like she was slightly in pain.

'But what?' asked Kaito.

'Madoka has told me that some power has increasingly prevented her from being able to activate her powers, a product no doubt of her time with IV. It is always possible that IV's still intact seal could be causing her powers to be contained. Especially with the power boost that we saw it having, that he used to possess III.'

'Except… you said IV's dead,' stated Kaito, and Homura nodded.

'That's correct,' she answered. 'His seal should die along with him, and at that point we'll be able to reverse the process and both Kyubey's and our actions here, and leave.'

'So now all we have to do is wait,' replied Kaito. Homura nodded.

'That's all we can do, if you want to save your friend,' answered Homura.

'Is there another alternative?' asked Kaito. 'I mean, if IV is still alive, it's going to be difficult to get past him.'

'I'm a Puella Magi,' replied Homura. 'I kill witches. III should require little to no effort at all.'

'We're not killing Michael!' interrupted Yuma. 'He's our friend! He might have made some mistakes, and he might have thought what he was doing was right, but he's still our friend and I'm not going to let you kill him if there's a way to heal him!'

Homura watched on, feeling a mixture of joy and pain. This is just like when me and Kyoko fought Oktavia that last time. She glanced back at Madoka, who was lying on the ground, eyes closed tightly. And if we're not careful, and if IV isn't dead, then it might still have the same ending.