Zak felt Angel's ever so slight breath upon him as he held her close; she was alive, but weak. What had Number Zero done to her? Zak couldn't bear to see Angel in such a state. He'd pushed her away and this is what had happened; this was his fault. For the sake of his vengeance, his own best friend had come to harm. Zak couldn't help it and a few tears began to form in his usually dry eyes. He closed his eyes and punched the ground.

'Zak…' Came a breath of a voice.

Zak didn't move: he hadn't heard anything. Too wrapped up in his own thoughts and regrets left Zak shut off from the world. But a soft hand touching his arm was enough to return him to reality, as harsh as that reality may be. Zak slowly looked up to the face of his nearly unconscious friend.

'Zak…' Angel spoke again, ever so softly. She was not in pain, from what Zak could see, but she wasn't in a good state at all. Angel was barely holding onto consciousness and could barely speak or move. Zak moved to grasp her hand tightly in his own.

'I'm so sorry,' Zak could barely manage to speak between his choked up tears.

'My deck… Numbers… Win…' Angel managed to whisper with the slightest hint of a smile toward her friend.

It took a moment for Zak to realise what she had meant by that, but he realised that she was talking about her Extra Deck. Slowly, Zak moved to open it and the retrieve cards from within. Zak blinked away the tears in order to make out the Number 88: Goddess of Light and Chaos Number 88: Goddess of Light Shine cards he held in his trembling hand. Despite pushing her away, despite being bent on revenge; despite everything Zak had done to Angel: she was still willing to trust him with her two ace cards. Zak moved once again to look upon her face, only to see she had finally lost her grip on the waking world.

Zak nodded his head slightly and knew now what he had to do. He removed his jacket and folded it up before placing it gently under Angel's head. She had given him her two Numbers in her last effort to save this world; trusting them with him despite his mistakes. And now he'd prove to her, and himself, that he wasn't gone. He'd prove that her trust was safe with him. He'd prove that he could use Numbers for good and not let them fall to the darkness of Number Zero.

'Hunter,' Zero's ever smooth voice boomed from across the roof of the Hospital.

Zak slowly rose to his feet, wiping away the tears as he did.

'It is time,' Zero spoke once again.

Zak silently added both Number 88 and its Chaos Evolution to his Extra Deck.

'Time for your final Game Over,' Zero finished in an adamant tone.

Zak raised his duel disk and glared directly into KiteZERO's eyes. KiteZERO stared back with equal seriousness.

'Not yet Zero, not yet,' Zak spoke, trying to find his own calm.

'You would challenge me to a duel, Hunter?' Zero asked with a hint of interest.

'No! I'm going to beat you in one!' Zak shouted.

'The truth, Hunter, is that you will end with one,' Zero replied without even so much as a nod, 'This will be your final battle. Your final step will now be taken. I am simply the cliff you walk off into oblivion. Welcome to darkness, Hunter.'

KiteZERO's duel disk materialized instantly around his arm as a huge cold wind whipped around the area. Number Zero was demonstrating its raw power as it sought to defeat Zak in this fated duel. Zak braced himself as he was almost swept off his feet. Suddenly the whole surrounding area was plunged into darkness except for the hospital roof itself, which stayed mildly illuminated.

'Our showdown shall take place in the shadows. Whoever loses shall be drawn into them and will never return,' Zero stated.

[KiteZERO: 4000] [Zak: 4000]

'My first turn shall decide your end, Hunter,' Zero spoke as its puppet drew its card, 'Photon Thrasher shall be Special Summoned from my hand, followed by the Normal Summon of Photon Satellite. Then, by using the effect of Photon Satellite, I change the Levels of both monsters to 5.'

Zak expected an Xyz Summon straight away, but not a Rank 5. If anything, Zak would have expected a summoning of Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon or even Number Zero: Multiverse. Zak didn't even know Kite to use Rank 5s, unless KiteZERO was going for any one of the Numbers it may possess?

'After the setting of this card, my turn has ended,' Zero finished without emotion.

Zak was rather shocked: not only did Zero not Xyz Summon, but it had done next to nothing and even had just left a monster with 0 Attack Points on the field in attack mode. Zak knew that whatever Zero had placed facedown was clearly a powerful trap, so he had to play it safe. Zak drew his card all while trying to both keep KiteZERO's gaze and control his own racing heart; Zak was afraid and he couldn't stop it.

He looked to his hand for support, hoping that it would reveal a way to survive, or even win. With luck, he saw Unknown Synchron – a card that would allow him to access Crimson Blader: Zak's Synchro ace. And, if he used Crimson Blader to destroy either of KiteZERO's two monsters, then Zero wouldn't be able to summon any Level 5 or higher monsters. Zak knew that both Kite's ace and Zero's ace both required Level 13 monsters or Level 8 monsters respectively. Crimson Blader would certainly put a huge dent in Zero's plans if it wanted to go for either ace. In addition to the Tuner monster, Zak had in his hand a Malefic Cyber End Dragon, Machina Gearframe and Fortress, Xyz Reborn and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. This was enough to keep him going for a few turns at least.

'I call out Unknown Synchron in defence mode,' Zak began, trying to control the trembling, 'I can Special Summon it if you're the only one with monsters. Next up I summon Machina Gearframe and use its effect to add Machina Fortress to my hand. And now, by discarding two Machina Fortresses from my hand: I can Special Summon one of them!'

I've successfully brought out three monsters on my first turn, Zak thought. If he kept this up, surely he could win.

'Alright, okay,' Zak continued, with his breathing returning to normal, 'I tune Level 7 Machina Fortress with Level 1 Unknown Synchron! Here we go, the blazing red king: Crimson Blader!'

[Crimson Blader – 2800 ATK – 2600 DEF – FIRE Attribute – Warrior-Type – Level 8]

Zak felt a little better with his Synchro monster back by his side again; it had been so long since he laid eyes on it. He felt a small sigh of relief release itself from within himself. With two large swords and royal red armour; the huge robotic warrior was a powerhouse with an equally powerful effect. The flames that surrounded it served to lighten up, and almost warm up, the area around Zak.

'If my Crimson Blader destroys a monster you control by battle; then you can't summon any Level 5 or higher monsters next turn,' Zak explained confidently, 'So Crimson Blader! Attack Photon Satellite! Burning Blade!'

'Pathetic, Hunter,' Zero sounded without skipping a beat, 'The trap card: Battle Simulation is now activated. Both of our monsters have their attack halved during this Battle Phase. In addition, neither can be destroyed by battle. Since Crimson Blader will not destroy Photon Satellite: I will be able to freely summon whatever I please next turn. You plan has failed and you shall fall shortly after.'

'It hasn't failed entirely!' Zak called back, 'You still take 1400 points of damage!'

[KiteZERO: 2600]

'Is that all, Hunter?' Zero asked.

'I set two cards,' Zak replied, annoyed that Zero hadn't seemed to care for the damage he'd taken, 'It's your move.'

KiteZERO drew without faltering his direct gaze into Zak's eyes.

'The Spell card: Galaxy Expedition is now activated. Since I control a Level 5 or higher Photon monster, I can Special Summon another straight from my deck. I choose to bring forth Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!' Zero explained smoothly, yet no less darkly. It was as if even explaining how his cards worked made him even more dangerous and powerful.

[Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon – 3000 ATK – 2500 DEF – LIGHT Attribute – Dragon-Type – Level 8]

'No…' Zak trailed off, looking into the glowing eyes of the shining dragon.

'Do not be afraid of the Dragon, Hunter,' Zero stated darkly, 'The real fear is about to come. I now activate Photon Satellite's effect one more time. This time I target the newly summoned dragon for its effect. This causes the Level 5 Photon Satellite and Level 8 Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to both become Level 13.'

Zak was silent; he knew exactly where his dark opponent was heading with this. And he had no idea how he was going to deal with it when it came.

'The Spell card: Shift Up is now activated. Now Photon Thrasher is raised to Level 13 such as its two brethren are. Finally, the Spell Card: Triangle Evolve is activated. Upon targeting Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon; it can now be used as three Overlay Units if I use it to Xyz Summon this turn. However, the monster Xyz Summoned will lose 1000 Attack Points. This does not bother me at all, Hunter, as I now Overlay all five of my Level 13 monsters, Photon Thrasher, Photon Satellite and three Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons, and I build the darkest Overlay Network!'

Suddenly all warmth was drawn out of the area and the flames surrounding Crimson Blader subsided. Zak knew that what Number Zero was about to summon was the very epitome of darkness.

'Find yourself lost within the never-ending void, Hunter! Descend before us Number Zero, the very end of all things: Multiverse!' Zero called out with the first sign of passion Zak had heard it display.

[Number Zero: Multiverse – 0 ATK – 0 DEF – DARK Attribute – Divine-Beast-Type – Rank 13]