This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
Song used in Intro and Outro (c) Unknown
WARNING: Again, the story is rated T (13-plus) for moments of violence, bloody moments, and some suggestive themes. Chapter also contains some minor gropping on a female character (by another female character). Viewer discretion may be advised.
Opening up in a hallway within The Sanctuary in the Sky, Emily was running down the hallway in a big hurry. What was the big rush? Oh, because the whole place was currently under attack by someone! ...likely a member of the Court of Darkness.
"Whoever's attacking-" she said to herself. "-we have to help stop it!"
Beside the dark green-haired girl was Kuribon, while behind her was both Wingweaver and Guardian Eatos. Soon, the boy Nathaniel joined up with them.
"Mother, mistress Wingweaver!" The black-haired young man exclaimed. "What's going on?"
"We are under attack." explained Wingweaver.
"We think the Court of Darkness is attack!" added Guardian Eatos.
"Then we have to stop them!" insisted Nathaniel. "We can't let them take our home!"
With that said, they all made their way out to the center of the sanctuary.
(elsewhere...)
Outside the grounds, various innocent Duel Monsters spirits were running away in terror at the destruction going on. Emily, Kuribon, Wingweaver, Guardian Eatos, and Nathaniel all arrived outside when Wingweaver and Guardian Eatos both froze at who they saw.
"It's him..." whispered Wingweaver.
"Who?" asked Emily. "Someone you both know?"
"Zerato..."
Nearby, a shadowed monster overheard his name being mentioned and gave a cruel chuckle.
"Did someone mention my name?" he questioned.
Guardian Eatos seethed. "You've returned after we banished you years ago... Why?"
"Can't a monster feel homesick every once in a while?" asked this Zerato, jokingly, walking out of the shadows. "Especially since you did banished me for no reason."
Zerato was shown to be a large demonic fairy-type monster with two large wings and a sword in his left hand. His real name was Darklord Zerato.
"That's not true!" objected Wingweaver. "You gave yourself into the darkness on your own free will and joined the enemy in attempting to conquer our world. That's why we banished you!"
Emily gazed at Darklord Zerato in shock. So there was actually a dark attribute fairy-type monster? She always thought that fairy-types were either of the light or wind attribute, and occasionally earth.
"Lord Diablon opened my eyes to the truth!" protested Darklord Zerato, raising both his arms up dramatically. "That good and evil don't need to exist!"
"When the 'Evil One' started his conquest-" Guardian Eatos explained to Emily. "-he promised a Golden Age of power and prosperity to this land to many creatures in this land. Unfortunately, many such monsters, such as Darklord Zerato, believed him and took his side."
"But how did-" Emily began, but got interrupted.
"I become this way?" Darklord Zerato cut in, noticing the dark green-haired girl. "If you must know I used to be a normal light attribute fairy by the plain old name of Zerato(!)! When I was sent to stop Lord Diablon and his Sacred Beasts, he opened my eyes to the truth!"
"He blinded you to reality!" argued Wingweaver.
"Lies! The truth is that good and evil doesn't truly exist. Only power and those that are too afraid to seek it. Once I agreed to join Lord Diablon's side, he granted me this mighty new form and all the power I could ever want!"
"What is it you want here?" Guardian Eatos demanded angrily.
"What I want-" said Darklord Zerato, pointing towards Emily. "-is the girl. The Court of Darkness has very important plans for her and will reward me handsomely for succeeding in the mission."
"And what make you think I'll willingly surrender myself to you?" Emily retorted hotly.
"If you refuse to come with me... I'll proceed to destroy this whole sanctuary!"
The dark green-haired girl became very angry. "Leave this sanctuary alone!" she demanded, standing defiantly. "No one here has done anything to deserve being attacked!"
Suddenly, Wingweaver took a step forth, making the dark green-haired girl look up in surprise.
"Wingweaver...?"
"You must leave here at once." The angelic-like monster interrupted. "We've done all we could to help you. Now, you need to continue with your journey."
"No, I can't!" Emily shook her head. "I won't abandon my friends here!"
Darklord Zerato was getting annoyed with the constant interruptions to his plans. He turned...and saw a baby Winged Kuriboh trying to get away from the chaos and destruction going on.
"What's a guy got to do to get something done right around here?" Darklord Zerato said to himself. The evil fairy then smirked. "Perhaps something like this!"
He raised his sword and prepared to throw it. Guardian Eatos was the first to notice this action.
"What are you doing?!"
"Target practice!" cackled Darklord Zerato. And he threw the sword towards the baby Winged Kuriboh.
"Look out!" exclaimed Emily, running to the rescue.
Title: The Fallen Angel Descends
The sword soared through the air towards the baby Winged Kuriboh, who got incredibly frightened and froze in place. Emily ran as fast as she could to try and rescue the baby from being skewered in half, but it was clear she would never make it in time.
*SLASH*
Emily froze as a look of great shock slowly melted onto her face.
"No..."
The Winged Kuriboh had its eyes closed at first while bracing for the impact, but soon opened them and saw it was unhurt... but when it looked up ahead, it wished it hadn't opened its eyes... Wingweaver had managed to get in the path of the sword just in time... and was impaled in the lower back (with the sword tip slightly sticking out of her bloodied stomach).
"Wingweaver!" cried Emily.
Wingweaver was shivering, spluttering, and coughing in great pain before finally closing her eyes and collapsing onto the ground. Emily, Kuribon, Guardian Eatos, and Nathaniel all approached the critically wounded angelic monster.
"Mistress Wingweaver! Mistress Wingweaver!" pleaded Nathaniel, shaking Wingweaver gently.
Guardian Eatos carefully remove the blade out of Wingweaver's lower back and turned her body over. She was bleeding heavily from both the back and the stomach.
"She's still alive, but is gravely injured and losing blood really fast." said Guardian Eatos urgently. "We have to get her medical attention at once!"
Darklord Zerato gave a loud laugh as he stood in the Guardians' path.
"No one will be leaving this area until I claim my prize!"
Nathaniel stood up and gazed at the dark fairy angrily, but before he could even speak up...
"In that case, I challenge you!" shouted Emily, activating her Duel Disk. She was now REALLY angry. "I never forgive fiends like you for attempting to wound or kill my friends!"
"Your darkness..." Darklord Zerato remarked. "I can feel its growing power..."
"What are you talking about? I've conquered my darkness!"
Darklord Zerato started to snicker quietly before bursting into loud laughter at the human girl's naive state.
"So naive... did you really think it would be that easy to simply get rid of your inner darkness?" he asked snidely.
Emily was beginning to feel upset. Had her duel with Wingweaver been all for nothing? Was her inner darkness still lingering about?
"No... I just... don't..." The dark green-haired girl whispered.
"If you wish to prove that I'm wrong-" continued Darklord Zerato, making an already activated Duel Disk appear on his left arm. "-then go ahead and face me!"
With that said, both duelists drew their opening hands (LP: 4000) x2.
"Your darkness will be the Court's key to reviving the fallen 'Evil One'!" declared Darklord Zerato. "Now I will make you embrace it!"
"Just try it!" dared Emily.
Turn One: Darklord Zerato (LP: 4000)
Deck: 44
Current Hand (6): Dark Mirror Force, Tainted Wisdom, Ancient Brain, Polymerization, Black Pendant, and Soul of the Black Hearted(!)
Darklord Zerato's hand contained Dark Mirror Force, Tainted Wisdom, Ancient Brain, Polymerization, Black Pendant, and the just added Soul of the Black Hearted.
"I begin with the Spell card Polymerization!" he said. "And I'll use it to fuse both Tainted Wisdom with Ancient Brain together."
Two monsters materialized on the field before merging together.
"I fusion summon Skull Knight in attack mode!"
Appearing onto the field was a green-skinned knight with armor made to look like skulls (Level: 7/ATK: 2650/DEF: 2250).
"Quite the strong monster, wouldn't you say?" teased Darklord Zerato. "But he's about to get even stronger!"
On cue, a Spell card called Soul of the Black Hearted materialized face-up on the field.
"This is the fearsome Soul of the Black Hearted card. What it does is each turn, on all of my standby phases it allows me to throw one Spell or Trap card from my hand to the graveyard if I'm able to. When I do, I can special summon a copy of one dark attribute monster I control with completely identical stats!"
"Standby phases..." Emily thought to herself. "That means more strong monsters to deal with!"
"Fortunately for you, my turn is over now because I cannot do anything more." sighed Darklord Zerato. "Now let's see what your so-called 'light' can do for you!"
"Gladly!" said Emily, drawing a card. "Draw!"
Turn Two: Emily Sterling (LP: 4000)
Deck: 44
Current Hand (6): Diffusion Wave-Motion, Wingweaver, Forbidden Dress, Mystical Elf, Seiyaryu, and Graceful Charity
The dark green-haired girl was sweating bullets, right now.
"Not many choices so far." she thought. "But I can't give up." Emily held out her newly drawn card. "I activate Graceful Charity!"
The mentioned Spell card materialized face-up on the field, before creating a fairy wearing a beautiful green dress.
"With its celestial rays of light-" explained Emily, as raindrops gently touched her deck. "-I can draw three extra cards from my deck and then discard two cards from my hand afterward."
Hoping for a miracle, Emily drew her three cards. Her prayers were answered...
"Yes! I've drawn it..."
Quickly, she discarded two cards from her hand to the graveyard (Diffusion Wave-Motion and Magic Formula). From there, the dark green-haired girl slotted another card into a Spell/Trap slot on her Duel Disk.
"Now it's time for you to meet your fate!" continued Emily. "Watch as I activate Cry of the Wingweaver!"
The mentioned Spell card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"By giving up 1000 life points-" Emily was explaining, taking a life point hit (LP: 3000) "-I can special summon, from my hand, Wingweaver!"
On cue, the Duel Monsters version of Wingweaver appeared from the face-up Cry of the Wingweaver Spell card (Level: 7/ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400).
"So, she thinks her Wingweaver can get her out of this mess?" thought Darklord Zerato only to himself. "I very much doubt it."
Emily then smirked. "My Spell card also doubles her attack points for the rest of this turn."
Wingweaver grew much stronger than ever before (ATK: 2750 - 5500).
"Your Skull Knight is doomed!"
"Oh, I highly doubt it." grinned Darklord Zerato. "But if you really think so... go right ahead and attack me."
"Don't mind if I do!" declared Emily, entering the battle phase. "Wingweaver, attack his Skull Knight!"
Wingweaver obeyed and charged an orb of light in her hands. Instantly, Darklord Zerato discarded a card from his hand to the graveyard.
"You've triggered the second effect of my Continuous Spell card! By sending a Trap card to the graveyard, I can protect my dark attribute monster from being destroyed while reducing all battle damage I would take to zero!"
The orb struck Skull Knight, but the evil monster sliced through the wave of light with his sword.
"Nice try." taunted Darklord Zerato (LP: 4000). "But your ace monster won't be doing squat against Skull Knight!"
Emily scowled unhappily before taking and slotting another card into her Duel Disk.
"I place this card facedown and end my turn!"
A facedown card materialized on the field.
"You're making this far too easy!" laughed Darklord Zerato. "Would it be too much trouble if you just gave yourself up willingly?"
"Forget it." Emily outright refused. "You want me? You'll have to destroy my body to do so!"
"Destroy you, eh? I believe that isn't the smartest of ideas."
Emily silently raised an eyebrow. What was he even talking about?
"I've heard rumors that the 'Great One' has returned... and he's searching for his lost light...you." continued Darklord Zerato.
"The 'Great One'... I'm his light?" Emily thought to herself, before speaking aloud. "What are you talking about?!"
"Many years ago-" explained Darklord Zerato. "-there was a young woman who looked just like you. She and the 'Evil One' were in love. She was considered the one thing that made him truly happy and at peace in his mind. But then one day... she deliberately took her own life. No one knows why she did it, but it shattered his heart to pieces."
Emily remained silent on the matter...before speaking up.
"About the 'Evil One'..." she said. "What... what did he look like?"
Darklord Zerator held out his empty hand and with some dark magic, created a small replica of the 'Evil One'. Emily gasped to herself at what she saw...
"Thomas?"
"Thomas? Was that the original name of the 'Evil One'?" joked Darklord Zerato. "I've always thought it was Diablon! Gee, how stupid of me to think of that..."
Guardian Eatos and Nathaniel were both tending to Wingweaver nearby, but they could also hear the conversation going on.
"But if the 'Evil One' was in love with this girl-" went on Emily. "-then what does Autraius have to do with it? This doesn't make any sense to me!"
"He was in-love with her as well."
"What?" Emily quizzed.
Darklord Zerato smirked to himself. What he had said was a black lie, but no one knew that. The evil fairy carried on with the lie to try and manipulate his opponent...
"Autraius wanted her all to himself." The dark fairy-type monster went on. "He didn't care what the 'Evil One' thought. He was truly selfish..."
That was enough to catch Guardian Eatos' attention. The very mention that Autraius was selfish made her very angry.
"How dare you speak ill of the 'Great One' like that!" The female Guardian screamed out. "He was not selfish at all!"
"Was he?"
Guardian Eatos froze.
"Was Autraius a great hero?" continued Darklord Zerato curiously. "What he all that you've read about? ...or was Autraius actually a tyrant, and the so-called 'Evil One' was the true hero?"
Guardian Eatos growled with her fist clenched. Nathaniel watched his adopted Mother with concern.
"Mother..." he whispered.
Darklord Zerato then drew his card. "But maybe I've said too much already. Why don't we get on with our...friendly duel?"
Emily merely grunted a little bit.
Turn Three: Darklord Zerato (LP: 4000)
Deck: 43
Current Hand (2): Black Pendant and Pot of Greed
"Your Wingweaver's attack points have now returned to their normal value!"
Wingweaver's attack points dropped to their original value (ATK: 5500 - 2750).
"And-" continued Darklord Zerato. "-since it's still my standby phase, I use the effect of my Soul of the Black Hearted to throw one Spell or Trap card from my hand to the graveyard and special summon a Skull Knight token!"
He discarded his Black Pendant card and a second Skull Knight appeared (Level: 7/ATK: 2650/DEF: 2250).
"Unfortunately, my token cannot attack the turn it was summoned." Darklord Zerato grumbled, but then held his only card left. "But Pot of Greed here disagrees with me... It lets me draw two cards from my deck!"
He drew two more cards from his deck.
"And now, you will say goodbye to your Wingweaver!"
Emily watched on defiantly, but gasped as she saw a familiar card materialize face-up on the field.
"Raigeki?!" The dark green-haired girl exclaimed.
"That's right." confirmed Darklord Zerato. "This powerful Spell card destroys all monsters on your side of the field."
Bolts of lightning started to reach for Wingweaver, but Emily wasn't gonna lose her monster just like that.
"Set card, open!" The dark green-haired girl announced, as her facedown card flipped up and revealed itself. "Quick-Play Spell - Forbidden Dress!"
A white robe appeared on Wingweaver, protecting her from the lightning while also reducing her attack points (ATK: 2750 - 2150).
"Her attack power is reduced by 600 points, but it projects her from being destroyed by card effects for the remainder of the turn!"
"Very interesting..." commented Darklord Zerato. "But I hate to say this... but Raigeki was all a decoy!"
"What do you mean?" questioned Emily. "Skull Knight is stronger than Wingweaver now, so you can attack and destroy her!"
"I have something far better in mind!"
From there, Darklord Zerato took the last card in his hand and slotted it into his Duel Disk. A Spell card called Skull Knight's Decoy(!) materialized face-up on the field.
"Skull Knight's Decoy?" blinked Emily. "What does a card like that do?"
"If I fail to destroy your monster with a Spell or Trap card during the main phase one-" explained Darklord Zerato (LP: 3000). "-I can pay 1000 life points to allow my Skull Knight to... proceed to attack you directly!"
"Oh no..." winced Emily, takin a step back.
"Skull Knight, attack my opponent's life points directly!"
Skull Knight obeyed and charged seemingly at Wingweaver, who was ready to step in and defend her master/friend from harm.
"There's no point in resisting!" laughed Darklord Zerato. "It's useless!"
Skull Knight then split himself in two, leaving Wingweaver to deal with the copy as the real one attacked Emily with his sword.
"AAAAUUUUHHHHH!" she screamed, taking massive damage (LP: 350).
"Emily!" cried out both Guardian Eatos and Nathaniel.
Darklord Zerato continued to laugh. "Your darkness will soon be all mine!"
Emily stumbled back weakly. Her life points were dangerously low right now, and one mistake would cost her the whole duel.
"I will never lose to you!" Emily hissed in defiance.
"So you say..." Darklord Zerato sighed, sending his Spell card to the graveyard. "I now activate my Skull Knight Decoy's other effect; it allows me to draw one card from my deck when Skull Knight delivers a successful direct attack."
He drew his card.
"My turn is now over! If you were wise, you'd forfeit the match to me, right this second!"
"Never." refused Emily, motioning a clenched fist about. "I will never surrender. And I will never embrace the darkness!"
"Already you are giving into the darkness." retorted the dark fairy monster. "Anger... that is the first step towards giving into the dark..."
Emily didn't want to listen to him. "Just shut up about the darkness!" she exclaimed. "I'm an angel of light!"
"You're allowing yourself to accept it..." chuckled Darklord Zerato. "An angel of light would never allow that..."
"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Emily screamed angrily once more, while drawing her card.
Guardian Eatos and Nathaniel both watched how uncontrolled the dark green-haired girl was becoming.
"Her anger is getting to her." said Guardian Eatos, growing worried.
"And this is what Darklord Zerato is counting on." agreed Nathaniel. "And seeing Wingweaver getting badly hurt like this only made things worse."
"We have to help get her back under control before it is too late."
Unfortunately...
"You will do no such thing!" retorted Darklord Zerato, turning and thrusting his empty hand forth. "This girl is going to embrace her darkness whether she wants to or not!"
Suddenly, a powerful force of wind blew and threw Guardian Eatos and Nathaniel both a distance away.
"No!" cried Emily, who then gazed back at Darklord Zerato hatefully. "You rotten...!"
"Are you angry?" teased the dark fairy. "Do you hate me? If so, then strike me down with all your hate...if you're able to."
Emily tried to keep herself calm. She wanted Zerato to pay for his actions, but she didn't want to kill him or risk being engulfed by darkness.
(elsewhere...)
Inside an office within the American branch of Boxford Corp in Atlanta, Mr. and Mrs. Gresley (Boxford) both had called an important staff meeting to discuss a few things.
"As you may know-" said Mr. Gresley (Boxford). "-someone has been stealing our company's shares."
"But, to our surprise, the culprit is not President Douglas Crump." added Mrs. Gresley (Boxford). "He does have his sights on the company, but a whole new party is the one truly behind it."
"Does this mean we're all going to be fired?" asked a staff member (male).
"No, of course not."
Another staff member (male) grew worried. "But... what's gonna happen to us if we-?"
Just before the male staff member could continue to speak, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Come in." called Mr. Gresley (Boxford).
The door opened, and yet another member of the staff (male) ran inside frantically.
"Sir and Ma'am, there's... there's..."
"Easy, slow down." soothed Mrs. Gresley (Boxford). "Now, tell us what's wrong?"
"I have some terrible news!" panted the staff member, holding out a piece of paper in his right hand. "Read this, and you'll know what I mean."
The two vice-Presidents of Boxford Corp took hold of the paper and looked at it, reading whatever was on it for a full minute before reeling back in horror.
"Goodness gracious!" gasped Mr. Gresley (Boxford).
"Are you sure?" questioned Mrs. Gresley (Boxford).
"100%." answered the staff member. "I raced over here as soon as I found out."
"What? What is it?" asked Skiff, not liking where this was going. "Is President Crump going around and spreading more lies about us?"
"No, Skiff..." Mrs. Gresley (Boxford). "We've been..."
"Boxford Corp has been completely bought out by that unknown party." finished Mr. Gresley (Boxford) in a very upset tone.
"What?!" gasped Skiff. "T-That can't be!"
The silent, grim, and devastated looked on the two adults' faces confirmed it was all true.
(elsewhere...)
Outside Atlanta, somewhere along the coastline of Atlantic City in New Jersey, Douglas Crump had made a weekend retreat to one of his grand mansions for some much needed rest. After all... running all of America while trying to defame and sink Boxford Corp into the ground did take a lot out of you.
(elsewhere...)
In the backyard of his mansion, Douglas Crump, out of his suit and in something far more casual, was currently on the deck resting on a hammock under the warm, summer sun. Despite not being able to buy out Boxford Corp, he was...rather glad to be away from all the madness of those monster attacks, and, as he would call it, Fake News from the media, for at least a while.
"This is what a man like me deserves." The pompous man said to himself, enjoying the rays from the lovely sun. "Some time away from all of this chaos."
"Some lemonade, sir?" asked the voice of the butler.
"Yes, please."
Douglas Crump took the glass of lemonade off the tray and took a sip of it. All in all, he was in a very, VERY good mood.
"Oh, that tastes so good..." The pompous man sighed like he was in heaven. "Beautiful summer weather, resting in my hammock, and no trouble around America... I can get so used to this."
"Does this mean you'll give me a raise?" asked the butler hopefully.
"I'll think about it... Okay, I've thought about it; no!"
Douglas Crump immediately burst out laughing over his little joke, while the butler merely walked sulkingly away with the empty tray.
"Last time I work for politics." The butler muttered to only himself.
Yup, this average day could never go wrong, right? Wrong. It was about to go horribly wrong. How so? Well... Douglas Crump was enjoying himself that he didn't see a large monster fly right above him...nor did he hear the sudden cry of panic from the butler right away... Well, at least until...
"DRAGON!"
This caused the US President to spin on the hammock until he fell onto the floor of the deck.
"Oh, not again..." he groaned, but a great look of shock came when Douglas Crump got to his feet and saw one little thing... "MY MANSION!"
The whole building was on fire all over. The flames that the dragon monster had breathed had set the expensive mansion ablaze, and it was very clear that it could not be saved in time! Once his shock over the fire had worn off, Douglas Crump once again became outraged at one certain company...
"CURSE YOU, BOXFORD CORP!"
Wow... a skyward scream. Could this event be the first sign of the end of his tyranny? Who knows... let's move on now, shall we?
(elsewhere...)
Back at The Santuary in the Sky, Emily had drawn her card... but was becoming more and more uncontrolled.
"That monster..." she thought to herself. "How dare he attack innocent monsters like this."
Turn Four: Emily Sterling (LP: 350)
Deck: 40
Current Hand (4): Heavenly Light - Type B, Seiyaryu, Tears of Serapheem(!), and Dimensionhole
The dark green-haired girl saw that her drawn card was the Dimensionhole Spell card.
"No idea what good this card could do for me." she thought to herself, but then saw a card in her hand. "Wait... maybe it could work for me."
Immediately, Emily slotted the card into a Spell/Trap slot on her Duel Disk.
"I activate Dimensionhole!"
The mentioned Spell card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"This Spell card lets me banished one monster on my field until my next standby phase." explained Emily. "And the only one I have is my Wingweaver!"
A vortex appeared in the sky, and Wingweaver was absorbed into it.
"But why?" demanded Darklord Zerato. "You'd be wide open for a direct attack!"
"My turn is not over yet!" insisted Emily, holding out a new card. "Now, I'll activate Heavenly Light - Type B!"
"That just might help her!" exclaimed Guardian Eatos.
The mentioned Spell card materialized face-up on the field.
"This Spell will help me in summoning my Serapheem." explained Emily, drawing and discarding five cards. "My sending five light attribute monsters from my deck to the graveyard, I can special summon Serapheem from my hand, deck, or graveyard while ignoring its summoning conditions!"
"Ignoring summoning conditions?!" grimaced Darklord Zerato.
"That's right." confirmed the dark green-haired girl. "Serapheem, let your light of truth pierce the darkness of deceit!"
Lowering from the cloudy, and sunny, sky was Emily's ultimate version of Wingweaver (Level: 12/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2500).
"Serapheem..." whispered Darklord Zerato in bewilderment. He recovered and smirked. "Nice try, but even she won't be enough to stop me! Remember my little Spell card? You attack, and I'll just-"
"Whoever said I was done?" asked Emily. "Next, comes Tears of Serapheem!"
The mentioned Spell card materialized face-up on the field.
"If Wingweaver is either in my graveyard or removed from the game, I can return her to my deck!"
An orb of light entered the dark green-haired girl's deck.
"Now, take a look at Serapheem!" insisted Emily.
"What about her?" asked Darklord Zerato.
He could see Serapheem was crying, making the dark fairy curious.
"Your monster is crying?"
"Yes, and now your monsters...are becoming something you were once a part of!" Emily pointed out.
"What are you talking about?"
"Light!" called out Guardian Eatos. "They've become creatures of light! Which is what YOU initially were before betraying us!"
Darklord Zerato looked to his two monsters and gasped due to Eatos being right. On cue, the two Skull Knights began to glow with bright, golden light.
"This can't be!" The dark fairy protested.
"It is!" corrected Emily. "Thanks to my Spell card, all your monsters are treated as light attribute monsters for the rest of the turn! However... Serapheem does not get a power boost from any of the light attribute monsters in my graveyard... BUT her effect of being able to attack more than once when defeating a light attribute monster my opponent controls still lingers about!"
"No!" cried Darklord Zerato.
The dark green-haired girl narrowed her eyes. "Consider this your punishment for not only for betraying your own kind, but for attempting to kill ANY friend of mine!"
Serapheem began to attack... but then Darklord Zerato held up a Spell card and prepared to discard it.
"You've forgotten all about my Soul of the Black Hearted's second effect! I can send this-"
"It won't work this time!" interrupted Emily.
"What?!" exclaimed the dark fairy-type monster. "Why not?"
"Because your Spell card only protects Dark monsters." explained Emily. "And thanks to my own Spell card, your monsters are Light monsters, now!"
"This... this can't be possible!" Darklord Zerato reeled back.
"The first to fall will be your Skull Knight token!"
Serapheem fired a shower of rain that destroyed the Skull Knight token. Darklord Zerato took some slight damage (LP: 2750), but it wasn't over yet.
"Since I've destroyed a light attribute monster with Serapheem, she can attack again!" declared Emily. "This time your REAL Skull Knight!"
Serapheem showered another rain of light and destroyed the real Skull Knight (LP: 2500).
"And now for the final attack!" concluded Emily, motioning a finger forth. "Serapheem, atta-" Suddenly, she stopped before declaring an attack. "Wha-?"
The dark green-haired girl fell to her knees and grasped her chest like it was in pain or something.
"What's... happening?" she asked weakly.
Kuribon, Guardian Eatos, and Nathaniel were each shocked to see something like this happen to Emily as well.
"What is happening to her?" asked Nathaniel.
Guardian Eatos closed her eyes and stood motion like she was thinking or something. After a few moments, the female guardian opened her eyes and got a serious look on her face.
"The darkness in her heart." she finally said. "It's growing... becoming stronger..."
"Growing? But how?"
"I don't know..." replied Guardian Eatos. "It might have something to do with her anger, but I...can't be sure on it."
Back with Emily, she was still clutching her chest while trying to fight whatever was going on in her heart.
"Stop..." she told herself. "Stop the pain!"
Darklord Zerato noticed what was happened... and started to chuckle quietly to himself.
"In her earlier moment of rage against me, her darkness is now beginning to unlock..."
All he had to do now was wait until the darkness had taken full control over Emily before he could cancel the duel and capture her... Alas, it was not meant to be.
"I... I refuse...to...submit!" declared Emily, standing back up with a pained, angry look on her face. "DIRECT ATTACK!"
Serapheem obeyed, firing a rain of light at Darklord Zerato. The rays of light struck the dark fairy head on.
"L-LORD DIABLON!" he screamed out (LP: 0).
DUEL RESULTS: Emily Sterling wins!
The holograms fade away and Darklord Zerato collapsed onto his front. Emily, meanwhile, managed to recover from her 'heart attack'... but her anger with the dark fairy monster wasn't satisfied just yet.
"You..." she growled, walking over.
The dark green-haired girl picked up Darklord Zerato by his neck with surprising strength, and started to use her other hand to go and slap the dark fairy-type monster across the face, hard and repeatedly.
"This is for hurting Wingweaver!"
Before Emily could continue with her vengeful rant, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder...by Guardian Eatos.
"That is enough." The female Guardian said sternly. "You mustn't let your anger take control of you. You've won, and that's all that matters."
"But what will be done with him?" asked Emily. "You can't banish him again without risking him retreating to the Court of Darkness."
Nathaniel then approached. "We have a special prison we rarely ever use. We'll keep him in it."
With that said, Emily glared at Darklord Zerato before dropping him onto the ground as several Blade Knights finally arrived and surrounded the dark fairy-type monster.
"Darklord Zerato, you are under arrest!" declared one Blade Knight. "You have the right to remain silent."
From there, Darklord Zerato was taken away. Emily could on watch on bitterly, thinking about some of his words.
(elsewhere...)
Inside Wingweaver's bed chambers, a bunch of Mystical Elves were busy tending to the badly hurt angelic monster. Outside the chambers, Emily, Kuribon, Guardian Eatos, and Nathaniel were all waiting to see if Wingweaver would make it.
"I hope she'll be okay." said Emily quietly.
Kuribon floated over and gently nuzzled into the left side of the dark green-haired girl's face to comfort her.
"As do all of us." agreed Guardian Eatos.
Finally, the door opened and the Mystical Elves exited.
"Well?" Emily questioned immediately. "Will Wingweaver live?"
"She'll be just fine." said one of the Mystical Elves. "Right now, she needs some rest."
"I must speak to her." insisted the dark green-haired girl. "This is very important to me."
And thus, the Mystical Elves allowed Emily, Guardian Eatos, and Kuribon inside. Nathaniel had to leave to attend some personal duties of his own. Inside the room, Wingweaver was now lying in bed (under the covers) while wearing nothing but a bra and panties...with her lower torso wrapped in bandages. Kuribon was so happy to see that Wingweaver would be okay that she floated over and started hustling her head into the angelic monster's chest in relief.
"I'm happy to see you, too." chuckled Wingweaver, petting Kuribon.
Emily and Guardian Eatos both walked over.
"We're so relieved that you'll be okay." said Guardian Eatos. "We thought that you died protecting that Winged Kuriboh."
"It'll take much more than a wound like that to kill an angel like me." Wingweaver remarked, laughing a little bit.
Guardian Eatos couldn't help but laugh, as well... Only Emily wasn't shown to be smiling or laughing at all.
"Emily? My child, are you alright."
"Is it true?" The dark green-haired girl spoke up. "Is the darkness still lingering around within my heart?"
Wingweaver stopped smiling and had a look of sadness on her face. The look seemed to confirm everything.
"Did you know all this time?" Emily asked hurtfully. "If so, why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to break your spirit." explained Wingweaver. "If I had told you, then you would have given up without finishing your journey."
"But I thought our duel was to destroy my darkness."
"It partly was... but it wasn't enough." The angelic monster pointed out with big regret. "It would have been a miracle if it did, but it just wasn't enough to succeed. I wanted to at least try."
"Now, I'll never be free of it." sighed Emily unhappily. "I'm going to be hunted by the Court of Darkness for the rest of my life."
Guardian Eatos spoke up. "You mustn't think like that, Emily. I KNOW there must be a way to wipe out the growing darkness in your heart."
"Agreed." added Wingweaver. She then blushed a little bit and gave a slight 'ahem'. "If you would come here for a moment..."
Curiously, Emily leaned closer.
"If... if you will let me."
Emily, who began blushing as well from what Wingweaver needed to do, nodded shyly and the angelic monster, like what Guardian Eatos did earlier, brought up and laid her hand directly onto Emily's breast, holding it there for a while.
"The darkness is continuing to grow at a serious pace." said Wingweaver, feeling the dark green-haired girl's heart beat strongly. "You're not in any immediate danger, but you mustn't allow your anger to take over you anymore times. If you do, it will accelerate the darkness even more so, and it could result in some rather...fatal consequences."
"I'll try not to." said Emily bravely, despite still blushing over her chest being gropped...again...even if it was for a good cause.
"You must take care and find Thomas." continued Wingweaver. "Only together can you two conquer your trials and defeat the darkness."
"It won't be easy. But I can't give up."
Finally, Wingweaver released her hand. "My spirit shall always watch you over, my child."
From there, she managed to get up and gently kissed Emily on the forehead.
"I won't let you down, Wingweaver." promised Emily, tearing up a bit.
Kuribon then floated over to Emily, before looking back at Wingweaver.
"Do you want to stay here to look after her, little one?" asked Emily, while wiping her tears away.
Kuribon looked ashamed, but did nod in confirmation.
"Do you want Nathaniel to accompany you to find Thomas?" asked Guardian Eatos. "If my son is with you, then the Court of-"
"No!" exclaimed Emily hastily, before blushing over her outburst. "Um... sorry, but no thanks. I don't trust him very much right now... no offense or anything."
"None taken." chuckled Nathaniel.
Wingweaver smiled proudly. "You really want to do this all on your own, don't you?"
"It's the only true way I can become strong." Emily said seriously.
Yes, this was to be a very big journey for the dark green-haired girl. Will she be able to finally find Thomas and conquer her darkness? What about the Evil One and the power of the Sacred Beasts, will we find out more about them? That is a lesson for another day, I'm afraid.
(elsewhere...)
Somewhere in a jungle of some sort, the two Amazoness Scouts were leading Rosie, Molly, and Mavis somewhere.
"Wouldn't it be easier just to gather wood from the woods?" asked Mavis. "Why come here?"
"Because the wood we gather here is much more durable for building huts." explained the blue-haired Sky Scout.
Mavis merely shrugged and continued to follow her friends and the two Amazoness Scouts. Very soon, however...
"OUCH!"
Something had bitten her on the neck.
"You okay, Mavis?" asked the red-haired Sky Scout.
The blonde-haired girl sighed wearily while rubbing the side of her neck. "I think a bug might have bitten me... but I should be fine regardless."
"Did you see what kind of bug it was?" asked Molly.
Mavis wasn't sure what the bug was. Surely it won't lead to something bad happening, right? Right...?
