"Go, Flame-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya exclaimed with a friendly wink. "Finish things up with Inferno Spiral Strike!"
Back at the Volcano Zone, one of the first Battle Royale duels was just about to end. Dennis had already defeated Nagi and it was Yuya's turn to help finish things off. Flame-Eyes' attack successfully took out the rest of Taka's Life Points to help declare victory for Yuya and Dennis.
"I must say, Yuya," Dennis said once the two got the anted Pendulum cards. "Your strategies are quite amazing. Where did you get a card like Queen Dragun Djinn?"
"Yuto got it for me," Yuya answered.
"Did he now?" Dennis asked, looking over at Yuto.
"Save it," Yuto said. "You have some explaining to do."
"Well, alright," Dennis said. "But we can't talk out in the open. Don't wanna get other people suspicious."
The trio walked away from where the duel took place in search for a remote location somewhere within the Action Field. The cameras were programmed to only tape the duels that were in progress, so that was one less issue to worry about; their main concern was the possibility of the other finalists accidentally overhearing Dennis' explanation. Wherever they were going to had to be out of plain sight and hidden enough to not be noticed by anyone, and eventually, they ventured into the Iceberg Zone and found an icy crevice large enough for them to fit in.
"Now talk," Yuto demanded.
"Very well," Dennis said. "I'm on a mission to protect Zuzu Boyle."
"Zuzu?" Yuya asked. "Why her?"
"Because of her," Dennis answered, showing an image on his Duel Disk. "Her name is Celina. She's the reason why Duel Academy was attacked. Yuri was initially suspicious because of how she was behaving during these past two years, but it seems his suspicions were correct. She really did team up with a demonic being to overthrow the school."
"Who's Yuri?" Yuto asked.
"Funny you should ask," Dennis replied. "He looks like you two but with a British accent and cleaner hair."
Naturally, that statement about Yuri having cleaner hair offended the Yu-duo. They both know their hairstyles are not messy; if anything, they were more perfectly coiffed than messy and have different daily hair care procedures. Yuya's fluffy tomato-esque hair gets combed at times so that he could untangle any snarls while Yuto brushes and blow dries his eggplant hair after bathing, but if there's one thing they can't stand it's scissors. They never enjoyed the weird tingling feeling of the blades so close to their skin in order for someone to cut their hair, so how on earth was this Yuri person able to maintain a 'clean' hairstyle?
Dennis noticed the duo's uncomfortable expressions. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked.
"I wash my hair every day," Yuto said. "It's a lot thicker than typical hair, so I have to properly maintain it on a constant basis."
"And my hair is naturally this fluffy," Yuya added.
"Okay then," Dennis said. "Now as I was saying, Yuri, Sora, and myself included are all that's left of the original Duel Academy-"
"Wait a minute!" Yuya interrupted. "Yuto, you finally got glasses!"
Yuto turned towards a surprised Yuya as the latter cut off Dennis's monolouge. He mentioned how he was astonished to see everything instead of having to squint all the time and how he couldn't believe he used to not be a big fan of them. Yuya replied that they make Yuto look sharp, which caused him to form a satisfied smirk on his face as he readjusted his glasses.
"You sure like having your ego fed," Yuya noted.
"I like it when people compliment my looks," Yuto said. "I know how handsome I look, especially-"
"Look at you! You look so grown up and handsome!"
Yuto suddenly stopped talking when he began remembering the night of the Heartland Duel School dance. He wore his old dark purple glasses and his old Resistance attire before it got tattered that same night and his mother couldn't help but feel proud of how much her son had grown.
"Mom! This suit is a rental!"
"Sorry. It feels like it was only yesterday you were a shy, nervous boy. Now look at you! Confident and about to attend your first school dance!"
"Thanks mom. The dance is over at 11. I'll be back home around that time."
"Don't worry about it, sweetie. Just remember to relax and have fun."
He never forgot those words from her and what would be the last time he would ever see her living in a world of colorful peace before her untimely death and motherly sacrifice.
Yuya noticed Yuto's expression. "Yuto?" he asked. "Is somethin' wrong?"
"I'm fine," Yuto lied, quickly wiping away any remaining tears. "I-"
"Yuya?"
Yuya, Yuto, and Dennis looked out of the entrance to the crevice and saw a familiar pink-haired girl in pigtails standing there. They all recognized her as Zuzu and the Performage user knew his mission to protect her was going to be a bit easier now that she ran across to them.
A huge smile appeared on Zuzu's face. "Yuya!" she exclaimed as she ran. "You're alright!"
She barely leapt off the ground as she ran towards Yuya—who was also happy to see her—and the two embraced each other in a warm hug. Coincidentally, their faces were in close proximity of each other as seen by their lips nearly connecting each other for a kiss. The two saw what they were about to do and started blushing heavily, especially Yuya, who felt a sudden increase in his heartbeat. He wasn't sure if his heart rate was returning to normal or not, but he could tell some slight problems were developing. He carefully placed his hand on his heart, tensing up a bit.
"Yuya?" Zuzu softly asked.
"It's fine," Yuya said. "Just a weird feeling in my heart."
Right as he said that, Zuzu swore she was experiencing some kind of déjà vu and assumed this could be linked to what this weird feeling in Yuya's heart was. It was a recent event too because she was recalling snippets of that memory; right after he won in his duel against Aura, they were sharing a loving moment with each other before the Ritual Duelist glomped him. She was hoping nothing would happen that may end up ruining this moment yet something did occur. Instead of it getting interrupted, it was extended with a little help from Yuto. He was getting fed up with who was going to make the first move, so he lightly shoved Yuya to move things along, catching him off guard as he inadvertantly locked lips with Zuzu.
The two Duelists' eyes grew wide and the blushing became more apparent as a result of this sudden and unexpected move. They eventually got accustomed to the sensation of their first kiss together and their arms firmly locked each other's bodies in a passionate hug. One of Zuzu's hands was placed on the back of Yuya's head with her fingers intertwining through the dual-colored strands; her closed eyes slightly opened to process the touch of his hair and slowly concluded how its softness gave her a budding interest in it. On the other hand, Yuya had one of his hands grasping Zuzu's back and the other resting on her right shoulder, which was a perfect opportunity for "it" to further spread its influence; of course, he had no idea what it was going to do, especially since he was more focused on her as a proudly satisfied Yuto and a speechless Dennis watched on.
"What was that for?" Dennis asked Yuto.
"Someone had to give those two a push," Yuto explained.
After a while, Yuya and Zuzu broke apart for air. "Wow," Zuzu said. "That was…"
"Amazing?" Yuya asked.
"Yeah," Zuzu answered.
Wanting to continue his mission, Dennis cleared his throat, prompting the two to realize they weren't alone. "Uh… Who are you?" Zuzu asked Dennis.
"I'm Dennis McField," the Performage user answered. "I'm a friend of Sora's and I came here to protect you."
A friend of Sora's? Protect her from what? Zuzu wasn't sure what was going on, but did it have something to do with these four dimensions she heard about earlier?
"Thanks, but I'm good," Zuzu said. "I can take care of myself."
"You don't understand," Dennis said, showing Zuzu the image of Celina on his Duel Disk. "This is Celina. She's responsible for the collapse of my home in Duel Academy. She has already captured two other girls that look like you, so I suspect she's after you as well."
"But why?" Zuzu asked.
"I'm not really sure," Dennis admitted. "But you can trust me, Sora, and our friend Yuri. We're the only ones left who represent the original Duel Academy."
"You said someone from Duel Academy was murdered," Yuto recalled. "Who was it?"
"Our head and founder, Professor Leo Akaba," Dennis answered. "Celina murdering him was the spark that lead to the school getting overthrown."
Dumbfoundedness flooded Yuya, Yuto, and Zuzu's faces when Dennis spilt the information. This Celina girl was responsible for overthrowing an entire school?! How was she even able to perform a violent downfall? She is only a student and at a much lower position than Leo based on what was told and shown yet she was capable of pulling off such a rebellion, let alone killing the leader of Duel Academy…who also might be a member of the Akaba family? Yuya and Zuzu weren't sure if Declan was aware of this because they have the strangest instinct that they may be related.
"How did that happen?" Yuya asked.
"Yuri found the Professor's corpse covered in countless slash marks," Dennis clarified. "No doubt she used her own Duel Monster for the assault."
"How is that possible?" Yuto asked. "Even my Duel Disk's holograms aren't capable of delivering fatal harm towards other people."
"I'm not sure myself," Dennis admitted. "But it looks like whoever shares that same power can materialize Duel Monsters into the real world. In other words, this isn't a normal threat. We're dealing with what could be an actual demonic entity, one that clearly isn't from Earth."
An alien demon that can make Duel Monsters real? Did Celina ally herself with it as a way to overthrow Duel Academy? But why? Why would she do such a thing by killing Leo and leading to a horrific domino effect? Whatever the reasons are, Yuya, Zuzu, and Yuto agreed with Dennis about how this is no ordinary threat they were dealing with. They are not sure if everyone else in Paradise City is aware of what is going on, but they do recall Aura mentioning some kind of viral outbreak taking place, so there was no way this was a coincidence.
"Aura!" Zuzu suddenly remembered. She quickly checked her Duel Disk. "I haven't heard from her since she lost her duel!"
"Are you checking if she's alright?" Yuto asked.
Zuzu nodded in response. "I think I'm getting a signal-"
Right as her Duel Disk got a strong enough signal, a live broadcast displayed what appeared to be a battle arena and someone in it; sure enough, that someone happened to be Aura, but what was she doing? Wasn't she eliminated from the Arc League Championship?
"Aura?!" Zuzu asked. "What are you doing?!"
"Not now, Zuzu!" Aura exclaimed, looking panicked. "I'm in the middle of important training!"
"Training?" Zuzu repeated.
"It's kind of hard to explain," Aura said. "I met this ghostly spirit, then I met a green-haired boy and some shirtless warrior guy…"
"Huh?" Zuzu asked.
"Look, I don't have time to go into detail!" Aura exclaimed. "I'm with the Liberators, who agreed to help me deal with-"
"Come on, Aura! It's your turn!"
"Sorry Wingal!" Aura called out, looking up at someone. She looked back at Zuzu. "Gotta go."
Aura deactivated her webcam chat with Zuzu to continue on with her training, leaving her, Yuto, Yuya, and Dennis with more questions than answers. Who on earth did she meet throughout the day? Who or what are the Liberators? They figured they must be related to this new threat in which they're resisting and training to go up against it; although they now know what she was up to, they still needed to find a way to tackle it as much as they can while making sure no one else in the Standard Dimension falls victim. Yuto came up with an idea on how that will be possible: spliting up into pairs to cover up more ground. He knew it was a rather ballsy move because that meant their chances of safety were reduced, but it would definitely speed up the search to find and take down any of the demons as much as they can before reconvening.
"No way!" Yuya protested as he grabbed onto Zuzu's hand. "That's too risky!"
"Yuya, I'll be alright," Zuzu calmly reassured.
"Precisely," Dennis agreed. "Especially since it's my mission to protect her."
"But what if that demonic being gets to you?" Yuya asked, sounding concerned as he gently caressed Zuzu's face. "I can't let anything happen to my girlf-" He blushed. "My… Uh… Are you my girlfriend now?"
Zuzu never thought their relationship with each other would escalate this far. They've been friends with each other since they were young, so their accidental first kiss made her second guess their friendship and wondered if they were bonding into something more.
"I'm not really sure," Zuzu admitted, blushing as well. "You tend to act a bit childish, but you look really pretty…"
"Pretty?" Yuya repeated. "Don't you mean handsome?"
"No, I actually mean pretty," Zuzu insisted. "You do kinda look like a girl."
Yuya hasn't heard that comment in quite some time due to coping with his father's disappearance, but it was true about how his hair, clothes, and face do make him look like a girl. In fact, those were the initial reactions from some people when they first met him; of course, he doesn't mind the remarks and he actually likes his feminine appearance, especially the "what if" thought of him having longer hair.
"You can discuss your relationship later," Yuto said. "We still have to warn other people."
"Right," Yuya said. He cleared his throat. "I'll check Ancient Zone with Yuto."
Dennis checked his Duel Disk. "Sora just sent me a text," he said. "He thought he saw Celina at Jungle Zone."
"Then I guess we'll go there first," Zuzu said. She looked back at Yuya. "Be careful."
Yuya smiled softly and gave Zuzu a small kiss on her lips. "You too," he replied.
The group exited the crevice and split up into two pairs: Dennis and Zuzu heading off to Jungle Zone and Yuya and Yuto departing for Ancient Zone. With the projected screens scattered all over the Action Field, the broadcast airing on all duels, and their webcam communication, they will come in handy for the Duelists to see how they're fairing against this demon.
Meanwhile, at Ancient Zone, a duel was just about to wrap up. A tall, light-skinned teen with dark blue and teal hair, yellow-green eyes, and donning a tattered, belted trenchcoat, gray pants, and brown shoes was facing off against three Duelists in knight armor—one with dark green hair, dark eyes, and a green cape, another with braided, light blue hair with gold caps, brown eyes, and an orange scarf, and a third one with purple hair swept to the left, grayish-purple eyes, a blue cape, and a light blue ruffle around the neck area. He declared his attack against the three knights by using his Raidraptor - Rise Falcon to deplete their Life Points to 0, securing a victory for himself. Not long after that, he saw Yuya and Yuto, who spotted him from within the distance, coming in his direction.
"Shay!" Yuto called out. "There you are! We need your help!"
Shay hasn't heard that voice in a little while, not since he saw Yuto filling in for Yuya during the past two days, and turned around to find the Yu-duo running towards him. Almost as quick as he turned, his eyes widened at the sight of his friend looking so much cleaner; his hair was shaped in a spikier, healthier shape, he had on newer clothes instead of his shredded rental suit, and there was a brand new pair of glasses on his face.
"What happened to you?" Shay asked Yuto once the Yu-duo was next to him.
"Sorry I haven't been able to communicate with you," Yuto said. "I was staying over at Yuya's place for a while."
"Which would explain why you were pretending to be him for the tournament," Shay pointed out. "And yes, I knew that was you on the field. You didn't do a good job concealing your hair."
Yuto had a feeling someone would see through his disguise, specifically Shay. Because Yuya losing consciousness happened so fast, there was no time for a similar tomato-looking wig to be made. Everyone thought Yuya put on a different wig and applied gray colored contact lenses, but Shay knew the difference between the Yu-boys and saw that Yuto simply swapped outfits with his Standard counterpart…even though the colors clashed with his usual dark-colored style.
"I didn't want Yuya to get disqualified," Yuto explained. "If I didn't disguise myself as him and used his deck, someone was bound to get suspicious."
"Suspicious?" Shay repeated. "Suspicious of what?"
"That there's something wrong with me," Yuya explained. "You see-"
"Save it," Shay interrupted. "I saw what happened when you dueled Iggy. That wasn't a typical Duel Monster you used."
"I get that," Yuya said. "But that Joker dragon isn't in my deck. It's almost like it…vanished."
He does have a point. When he snapped back to normal due to the microphone feedback, this Odd-Eyes Joker Dragon wasn't included in his deck despite him using it to OTK Iggy. Does that mean these Joker monsters only appear when he becomes…demonic?
"Then you better lay low," Shay advised. "If that card appears at random moments, who knows if-"
"Slash the Assault Knight, make ready to strike down and immense your assault!"
Yuya, Yuto, and Shay turned their heads to see one of the Knights of the Duel Disks named Carl with Slash on the field, who was preparing for a direct attack. He raised his sword up and slashed it down to the ground, unleashing a luminescent purple blade that was heading in the trio's direction. They all ducked for cover as the attack shot past them and heading towards Carl's opponent and another Knight, Ashley.
"Your knight has showed perfect form, but my knight can carry the blow easily," Ashley said.
A light blue force field faded in as Carl's Slash's attack was negated by Ashley's Slash's effect. The trio got up to see the three Knights that Shay defeated engaging in a Battle Royale against each other and they were all caught in the crossfire. Based on what had occurred, it was now Ashley's turn and he was going to attack the third Duelist, Bram, who will negate it with his Slash and use it to attack Carl, and so on. It was going to be a never-ending chain of direct attacks and negation. That single event alone was enough to convince Yuto that these Knights were not noble at all, making him furious.
"Stop this!" Shay exclaimed, trying to calm his friend down. "I know you're doing this to take us out!"
"You accusation is absurd," Ashley said. "We were engaged in a three-way combat when you three intruded."
"If it is your desire to stop us, then duel us again," Bram said. "But unlike last time, your ending will be a tragic one. Slash, strike with furious fury and show no mercy!"
Bram's Slash unleashed a razing sharp blade of purple light that was aimed at one of his opponents while heading towards Yuya, Yuto, and Shay. As the attack approached them, Yuto activated his Duel Disk and played the Trap card Phantom Knights of Dark Gauntlets. Its effect allows itself to be special summoned as a Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster with 300 ATK and 600 DEF in defense position whenever a direct attack is declared. It also gains 300 DEF for every Phantom Knights Spell and Trap card sent to the Graveyard.
Yuto sent his Wrong Magnetring to the Graveyard in order to activate Dark Gauntlets' effects. Thanks to it being in defense position, it was able to shield the three Duelists from Slash's attack and preventing them from getting harmed.
"You dare interfere with us, peasant?!" Carl asked.
"You call me a peasant?" Yuto asked in response, standing tall and showing no fear. "You're greatly misinformed. I am a true knight unlike you imposters!"
"How amusing," Bram said. "You say you're a knight, yet you lack the appearance of one."
"You're wrong," Yuto said. "Just because I don't look like one, it doesn't mean I can't be a knight. Now do you accept my challenge, or are you going to back down?"
"Very well," Ashley said. "We shall take you on all at once!"
Because Yuto intruded into a duel without facing off against his own opponent, his Life Points were cut in half according to the Battle Royale rules. He didn't care if he had 4000, 2000, or 50 Life Points; someone needs to show these Knights of the Duel Disk what it means to be noble, even if that someone is himself. The thought of these imposters neglecting the true meaning of being a knight makes his blood boil and Shay knew exactly why. Yuya, on the other hand, was a bit lost in Yuto's sudden personality change.
"What's up with Yuto?" Yuya asked. "It's almost like he became a completely different person."
"That's Yuto Osaku for you," Shay said. "He's so noble that he developed a bit of a knight complex."
"Knight complex?" Yuya repeated. "Where did he get that from?"
"From me," Shay answered. "When I first met Yuto years ago, he was quiet and shy. Then one day, when he wanted to learn how to duel, he discovered the Phantom Knights. I told him the best way to duel with those cards is to imagine himself being as brave as them and to channel that behavior into his dueling. Unfortunately he ended up taking that advice a little too far and now he thinks he's a real knight."
Yuya shifted his eyes towards his XYZ counterpart, who was in the middle of his duel. Him? A real knight? Why would he think that? He obviously doesn't harbor any armor, but he does pack an impressive amount of bravery and determination, he thought to himself before pondering deeper.
"I guess that would explain a lot," Yuya realized, thinking about how Yuto behaved when he confronted Sora. "He-" But then he cut himself off.
"Yuya?" Shay asked. "Are you alright?"
"Of course," Yuya answered. "I feel…amazing."
Meanwhile, at the Center Duel Field, the citizens and the eliminated Duelists have been watching the monitor screen to get a glimpse of all the duels taking place throughout the Battle Royale. Allie, Frederick, and Tate were glad that Yuya felt better after he and Dennis defeated Taka and Nagi, Skip was hoping Zuzu was doing well with her duels, and Yoko somehow can't stop thinking about Reed and his culinary skills with his duels; she was also worried if he was okay because he hasn't seen a single match with him on-screen. Suddenly, all the cameras broadcasting the event were cut off and the only things that were displayed on the monitor were four blue screens saying "NO SIGNAL", one for each camera in each Zone.
"Oh dear," Nico said. "It seems we lost connection on all four Zones. Hopefully the people at Leo Corporation will fix these technical difficulties."
"What do you mean we can't regain the signals?" Declan asked.
"My apologies, sir," a woman said. "But it seems all cameras shut down at once."
"But how?" Declan asked. "What could have caused such a thing to occur?"
"I'm not sure," another employee replied. "But one camera caught a glimpse of dark red smoke before it lost the signal."
With the cameras down, Declan needed to have them reactivated in order to take a look at the footage of this dark red smoke. He ordered every employee to find any way to get the cameras up and running again. Whatever the smoke is, he needed to determine if it poses a threat or is connected to this Reverse incident Celina explained; if it's both, then the remaining Duelists at the end of the Battle Royale were going to be facing a foe far greater than Duel Academy.
Back at the Quartet of Quandry Action Field, Dennis and Zuzu had returned to the Volcano Zone and finished their Tag Team Duel together. In all honesty, even though he was from Duel Academy, Zuzu was amazed to have another Fusion user working alongside her in duels. His skills were marvelous and their combined efforts made them a spectacular Fusion duo. Correction, due to the LID-produced Pendulum cards scattered everywhere, they became a Pendulum-Fusion duo. Of course, they knew not to get too caught up in the tournament because they do need to focus on their mission.
"I'm impressed," Dennis remarked. "You appear to be a Dueltainer much like myself. Are you sure you don't want other Pendulum cards?"
"Of course I'm sure," Zuzu answered, looking at Pendulumstatues White Butterfly and White Flower before putting them back in her deck. "I'm not sure why, but these two Pendulum cards feel natural to me."
"Well White Butterfly and White Flower do match your Melodious monsters," Dennis pointed out. "Especially with why Declan issued these Pendulum cards."
"Really?" Zuzu asked.
"He discovered the invading threat's weakness includes Pendulum cards," Dennis explained. "So he changed this year's Battle Royale to help defend the residence of this dimension from the alien virus. All the participants will get to keep any Pendulum cards they receive after the finals."
"That's a smart move," Zuzu remarked. "Then we better tell other Duelists-"
"Tell them what?"
The duo turned to face the other side of the bridge and saw a young female teen standing there. She had the same height, weight, body figure, and facial structure as Zuzu. The markings on her face contained what looked like a sigma symbol with the standard Reversed marks going through it. Judging from those features and the indigo-haired ponytail, there was no doubt this girl was Celina.
Panicked, Dennis got in front of Zuzu. "I know what you did to Lulu and Rin!" he told Celina. "If you want Zuzu, you're going to have to go through me!"
"That's exactly what I'm planning on doing," Celina said. Then she extended out a hand near the two, a dark red aura appearing around her.
Dennis' face showed signs of scorn as if he was going to tell Celina to not lay a finger on Zuzu, regardless of what she may be doing. As for Zuzu, she tried to stay as close to him while attempting to contact Yuya and Yuto. Right as she moved her hand to click the webcam app to alert them, a blast of dark red aura shot out from Celina and curved forward across the other side of the bridge to where the Pendulum-Fusion Duelists were, barely missing Dennis but completely engulfing Zuzu. The powerful force of the blast ended up pushing him back towards the middle of the bridge and landing face first.
Dennis looked at Zuzu with a horrified expression on his face. "Stay calm!" he instructed. "You have Pendulum cards! You should be safe!"
Zuzu looked at her deck. "I know," she said, horrified as she felt the aura cloud her mind. "But- AAAAHHHHH!"
The surrounding aura overwhelmed Zuzu with its sharply raised strength and proceeded to take hold of her, petrifying Dennis and pleasing Celina as shown by her wicked grin. She knew from the get-go about the true intentions of seeking those with Pendulum cards; Declan had practically made them walking, vulnerable targets ripe for them to be preyed on. They watched on as the thickening aura made a screaming Zuzu's vision go blurry and the highlights and pupils vanished from her periwinkle eyes, leaving behind a soulless aspect. She then fell onto her knees with her head hung downwards as the aura slowly decipated from her body. Fearing the worst, Dennis got up and ran to Zuzu to see if she was okay.
"Zuzu!" Dennis exclaimed, helping her get back on her feet. "Are you alright?"
However, Zuzu simply took a card from her deck and held it up. "I summon Bloom Diva - Reverse," she said, her voice drained of all emotion.
Dennis was left breathless at the sentence he just heard. The card she mentioned. The emotionless tone in her voice. Was it already too late? It didn't made sense to him; how was it possible for Celina to infect someone without initiating a duel? Before he could have time to process what happened, the card that was held in her hand glowed white before unleashing a black energy beam to the Action Field and exploded right as it landed on the ground. He managed to take some steps back just in time to see the energy beam crash on the bridge and send out strong gusts of wind that blew Zuzu's light blue hairclips right off her head, undoing her pigtails and letting her midback-length hair loose.
The energy then reshaped itself to form the silhouette of a rose, and when it revealed itself, the black petals bloomed open to reveal a fair-skinned woman with the sclera colored a piercing magenta-red. Her hair was divided into three, long, luscious curls that went downward instead of upward. She adorned a black and red, sleeveless, collared dress with a red string tie and a purple music note clipped on it, black arm sleeves, and several purple flowers scattered all over the dress. Instead of the two, long, flowing, pink stamen, a red-glowing black halo was floating behind her.
Dennis was alarmed upon seeing the Reversed fairy. "My god…" he said. "Zuzu, what have you become?"
However, Zuzu did not respond. "Bloom Diva - Reverse's effect activates," she droned. "Take me back to Reverse Academy with Thorny Blizzard."
Just when Bloom Diva was preparing to bring out her signature attack, two people ran onto the bridge, zipping past Celina and stopping next to Dennis. Zuzu shifted her eyes towards the arrived duo, who were recognized as Sylvio and Julia; sure enough, they were left frightened by what Zuzu had become, especially Julia. The two girls made direct eye contact with each other and it gave the latter a chance to see Zuzu's newly obtained features. The top half of her head was shadowed, her lively, periwinkle eyes were drained into nothing but soulless, emotionless irises, and her red markings included the pi symbol on each side and the standard Reverse mark penetrating them.
As quick as the duo made it onto the scene, Bloom Diva - Reverse's blizzard of rose thorns enveloped Zuzu before disappearing out of the Standard Dimension, leaving behind the undone hair clips on the ground. A mortified Sylvio, Julia, and Dennis could do nothing but walk towards the hair clips and pick them up, realizing their companion was no longer with them. Celina's growing evil laugh didn't help either because her part of the mission was a success; she and all her counterparts are now gifted with the power of the Reverse.
Julia held onto the hair clips. "You manic!" she yelled at Celina as tears fell from her eyes. "What did you do to Zuzu?!"
"I liberated her," Celina answered as she took out Lunar Eclipse. "Now my mission is finally complete."
Thick, black fog spewed out of the Spell card and covered a portion of the bridge, including Celina. Julia angrily charged towards the fog, but her feet abruptly stopped when she realized that she was now on the other side. She turned around to see the fog fading away and left behind no traces of Celina. The trio weren't certain on how to comprehend all of this; Dennis wasn't able to save Zuzu in time, Julia clenched onto the hair clips as tears continued streaming down her face and dripped onto them, and Sylvio honestly felt like he could have done something to help them besides bodyguarding Julia. How were Yuya, Yuri, and Sora going to react to the completion of Celina's apparent liberation plan?
Meanwhile, back in Ancient Zone, Yuto just finished defeating the Knights of the Duel Disk. "Maybe now you'll learn to be more noble during duels," the Phantom Knight user said.
At that moment, Yuya sluggishly approached Yuto, his head hung low to conceal his eyes. "Thank you, Yuto," he said. "I'll take it from here." He proceeded to raise his hand out at the three imposter knights.
Ashley, Bram, and Carl tried to get up from the ground to shake off their defeat at the hands of Yuto, but they remained on the ground to stare at the sight of Yuya resonating a dark red aura around his body. Before they had time to react, a blast of the same aura was fired directly at the trio, quickly succumbing to the brute strength as their irises lost their highlights and pupils, their faces covered in a shadowy gradient, and their lower eyelids bore red markings. With his eyes covered by his hair, the only trait that appeared on Yuya's face was his mouth forming a wicked smile. Yuto, on the other hand, became scared stiff at what his counterpart just did; this was not only his second time seeing Yuya enter this demonic, but this was also his first time seeing it in person…and actually witnessing it was much more horrific.
"Yuya, you have to snap out of it!" Shay exclaimed. "This isn't like you! You can't let this power control you!"
"Who said I was Yuya Sakaki?"
The XYZ duo took a slight step back at the sudden change in Yuya's voice. Yuto recalled hearing the corrupt, fiendish tone when he was at the waiting room; Shay wasn't a stranger to it either because he was at LID's monitoring room throughout the rest of the second round, including Yuya's duel against Iggy, so he never would have thought he would witness this demon first hand.
"Then who are you?" Yuto demanded.
"Yuya" rotated his body around so that he was facing Yuto and Shay before lifting his head up in a menacing manner. The green and red bangs swiftly uncovered the right eye to unveil some kind of eerie eyeball replacing Yuya's right eye. It glowed yellowish-orange all around the eyeball and was mainly blood red with a smaller, darker red circle in it, which contained a yellow oval with a narrower oval of the same dark red color. The revelation of this barbarous entity left Yuto and Shay at a loss for words.
"I AM THE VOID!"
