Kisara could see it coming. They wouldn't be fast enough. She could hear her parents beside them, also racing to try to catch her sister, but it would be too late; the ground was too close. The drop had been just far enough to be…

She howled as the body hit the ground, and the Divine Dragon's roar resounded in her ears and throughout the park. She could hear Mahad nearby, but there was a pounding in her head. Her vision was doubled, as if she was seeing through her dragon's eyes.

She pulled up, snarling in fury, and her vision as a human ceased. Her claws dug into the demon in her grip, and she roared. She'd had enough! Jesse she cared about, Seto she loved, but Kyo was her sister.

There was a pulse of white light, and she felt her body thinning; Her wings shifted higher up her shoulders and split into a set of five wings around a ring. Her cry echoed across the park, and she threw the demon at the ground in fury.

The impact left a crater, and she swept around, snarling as she landed, ready to tear it to shreds.

A gold-clad magician got in the way, and she barked her outrage; she would not give him a second chance if he wouldn't move. But he stayed where he was, and another dragon landed nearby, joining him.

She charged up a blast inside the ring, her eyes blazing with divine wrath.

"Kisara!" Seto snapped.

She stopped, but her lip curled to bare her fangs in displeasure.

The magician was holding something. She could sense magic, and as she started paying attention, she noticed a spirit floating beside him.

Her eyes widened. Kyo. She realized, and felt a surge of relief and sorrow.

The demon stirred, and she snarled, snaking around him fast as lightning. She seized the demon in a large claw, but didn't follow through on her desire to crush it. Jesse was still in there, somewhere, and they needed to get him out.

"Kisara, wait!" Seto called up, running over, but she wasn't going to hurt the demon. Not yet, anyway.

The Blue-Eyes nearby growled softly; she knew what was going on. But how could they get Jesse out?

The Rainbow Dragon. She thought. She'd grabbed the card after Jesse had thrown it away, but it was in her jacket, or had been, prior to her becoming… whatever she was now.

She tilted her head. Perhaps she could summon it.

She focused, but to her surprise, the beast she was calling was somewhere inside the demon, suppressed. She redoubled her efforts, the gems on her wings lighting up with power, and the demon snarled back in fury.

"What is she doing?" The magician called. "It's hurting Lady Kyo!"

Seto started and turned. "Kisara, hold on!" He called up. "We need to handle this properly!"

She sneered back, and a pulse of white energy emitted from her. They were bowled over, and she turned back to the demon.

Out. Now. She commanded, and the demon split down the middle. A winged serpent with iridescent scales surged up and out, taking to the air with a cry of relief.

The demon husk cracked into three portions, and the three pieces shot out of her grip. They took the form of the Phantom Gods, and a heady joy filled her as they rounded on her.

Her ring charged up, and she roared a challenge as they bore down on her. Hah! You'll have to be better than that!

She fired, and the shockwaves of the launch and the impact made the ground shake; chunks of earth were ripped from the ground and into the air before scattering again.

She roared with joy and triumph; she had never felt so powerful. It felt as if she could do anything, anything at all. She could rewrite reality if she wanted, and she was only scratching the surface.


Kyo hadn't felt the impact of her body hitting the ground, but she did see it; she saw it through Mahad's eyes as his hand grasped her scarab. He had called her spirit out as soon as they'd touched; and she'd manifested as an illusion beside him.

Kisara's transformation was breathtaking. The creature she had become was… wondrous and terrifying, and the immeasurable power she sensed as they stood in its presence was like nothing she had ever felt before. But then it had started to do something to the demon, and Kyo had felt as if her head was splitting open.

Mahad had tried to stop Kisara, but what mortal could dare stand up to the power of a god? It had felt like her soul was being shredded, and she'd been forced to release the seal completely. Her power rushed back into her, and all the power of the Phantom was released.

The three Phantom Gods reappeared, and the world started to warp. Luckily, with her power restored, she could feed it into Mahad, restoring him as well, at least partially. The Rainbow Dragon was back, pure and free to fight. And Kisara seemed to be in a league of her own. Kyo didn't have her body back –she doubted she ever would, given the impact– but at this point there were bigger things to worry about.

Dark Magician Girl! Magician's Valkyria! Kyo called, and Mahad took off, pulling away from the titans as they wrestled.

The two magicians appeared on either side of her and Mahad.

"You're late," Mahad directed at Dark Magician Girl, who gave him a frown.

"It's not my fault! The Phantom was blocking the way!" She pouted, turning to Kyo. "I'm sorry," She added remorsefully. "I would've come sooner if I could have."

"It's okay." Kyo replied. "Let's just deal with the Phantom. And hopefully we won't have to deal with Kisara."

Seto had taken to the skies again himself; he was riding Different Dimension Dragon as two more Blue-Eyes appeared and merged with the first.

"How does that even work? Are there three Blue-Eyes White Dragons?"

"They are part of her soul." Mahad said. "It's… complicated, and it's not like myself and the other Dark Magician cards."

A Blue-Eyes Neo Ultimate Dragon took to the air, roaring a challenge as it flew up beside Kisara. Along with it came the Rainbow Dragon, a little more hesitantly, but she seemed content with them joining the fight, at least.

"I hate to say it," Kyo said, "But we might be better off staying out of this. We can't exactly go toe-to-toe with these titans."

Mahad let out a soft breath, and she sensed his reluctant agreement. The four of them pulled further out of the way as Kisara buried her fangs in Uria's throat and the two went rolling across the ground.

"Here's what we'll do." Kyo decided. "Get down there and try to keep people out of the way. Transport them out of the park if you have to. But let's keep the area clear and try to keep casualties to a minimum." She spread her hand. "Apprentice Magicians! Alchemist of Black Spells! Valkyria! Dark Magician of Chaos! Black Luster Soldier–"

"Wait, Lady Kyo–" Mahad started, but she'd already summoned the soldier.

There was a ripple of chaos, and suddenly she was seeing double. Or rather, from two different places.

What the–

She felt her soul sucked towards the soldier, and a moment later, she was dressed in blue armor and holding a wicked-looking scimitar and shield.

"What the–" She started, but then she started falling, and yelped.

Mahad caught her. "Send it back!" He said as he carried her aloft. "It is your ka; without a body, your soul is drawn into it when you summon it, and if it is destroyed, so are you."

Kyo blinked. "Oh. Guess I should've listened first." She tried to dismiss it, but for some reason…

"I… uh… can't." She said slowly.

Mahad uttered a soft curse and flew further away from the fight as her other magicians headed down to clear the area of potential casualties. "It must be the Phantom." He said quietly. "It is warping the way our magic works. And now that it is fully free, it can wield that power at will."

"Wait, but can they handle that?" Kyo asked nervously as she looked down at the three white dragons tangling with the three Phantom Gods. "Why hasn't it… rejoined?" She added, though she didn't exactly want to see it in its true form.

"We'll see." Mahad said tensely. He lifted his staff, and golden sigils started appearing.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Casting a backup spell." He said. "I may be able to transport them to a distant corner of the universe, as long as I'm not interrupted."

"What about the Egyptian Gods?" Kyo queried.

His expression was grim. "If we cannot free them, they will be lost with the Phantom."

Kyo frowned. "There has to be another way."

He shrugged. "If the White Dragons are able to defeat the Phantom, there is. But if they cannot, this is the only way I can protect you."

Kyo looked down at the armor she was clad in. "Can I help?"

He hesitated.

"I'm the Envoy of the Beginning, apparently. And I have the power to banish monsters. Right? So, is there something I can do?" She asked.

"I don't know." He admitted. "This is already far beyond anything I could have imagined."

She looked back down at the battlefield. Her magicians were darting around like little fireflies, dodging the massive limbs of the titans as their battle raged overhead. She could see people watching in awestruck wonder below; still under the belief that it was all a hologram, despite the rampant destruction.

She looked back at the Phantom Gods and felt a wrench of grief; this wasn't what they had wanted, either. They had been locked away for years, then placed into her care by her father. Ra had allowed her to carry him in an effort to keep him away from the Phantom… and she'd failed.

She felt a wrench like a sudden pull, and saw the world being sucked inward towards the three Phantom Gods. Kisara, the Rainbow Dragon, and the Neo Ultimate Dragon drew back. Seto's Different Dimension Dragon vanished briefly before reappearing a short distance away a couple seconds later.

The three Phantom Gods turned on each other, and for a brief moment Kyo thought they were fighting, but then something worse happened.

They merged.

She felt sick. The sight of the mutated form was nauseating, and the warping of the world around them kicked up to a new level of wrongness. The ground cracked, and large chunks of earth dissolved, making the ground look like the site of a meteoric impact. The sun turned black, and the sky became filled with prismatic hues.

"I AM ARMITYLE, MASTER OF CHAOS!" The Phantom roared in triumph.

Kyo retched, nearly losing her grip on her sword and shield. She felt terrible; was the chaos affecting the Black Luster Soldier… a soldier of chaos?

Mahad flew further back, putting his spell on pause. "Lady Kyo, are you all right?" He queried, concerned.

She was about to nod, but another bout of nausea hit, and she doubled over.

PHARAOH!

She blinked and looked up, her eyes widening as she recognized the presence. Was that…

Ra?

Kisara bounded forward, but Armityle threw her back with impunity. Its left arm, which was comprised of the neck and head of Uria, threw a careless ball of chaos in her direction, and she snarled in pain as it hit.

Neo Ultimate roared and darted between them, surging up with a triple attack of its own, and the Rainbow Dragon added a prismatic charge. Armityle resisted both attacks with ease.

Damn! Kyo looked around to see Seto using his crystaldisk; it looked like he was trying to combine cards to help his dragon. But the Phantom was just too strong.

She looked back. Is it because of the Egyptian Gods? She wondered. Kisara was able to pull the Rainbow Dragon out of the demon. Can I… can we pull at least one of them out?

She thought about trying to get Seto's attention, but he was really busy. And there wasn't much chance she could get to Kisara, either.

Well, let me try on my own, first. She thought, and moved her sword over to her shield hand. She held out her free hand.

"Lady Kyo?" Mahad queried, startled.

She closed her eyes. Almighty one, I failed you. I could not keep you safe, and I allowed you to be sealed, leading to your capture and mutation into this twisted, disgraceful form. But please, if it is within your power, lend me your strength, that we may banish this beast.

She felt a shimmering response, but it was cut off, and Armityle rounded on her.

"Damn!" Mahad's arm tightened, and he shot across the sky, dragging her with him. "What are you trying to do?" He demanded, then softened his address. "Lady Kyo?"

"They're calling out to me." Kyo said. "The Egyptian Gods. I thought if I could reach back… maybe…"

"Milady!" Mahad's voice was filled with exasperation. "The Phantom is hardly going to let you just take them!"

Armityle surged up towards them, and Mahad turned, fleeing. Kisara shot upward, catching the Phantom from below, and whipping around to get on top as the Neo Ultimate charged up a blast to follow.

Kyo grimaced. "Sorry." She said as Mahad finally slowed.

But as he settled down and got back to his spellwork, she closed her eyes again. Almighty one, please… we can't do this without you!

She felt fire on the edges of her consciousness and recoiled instinctively. She sensed Ra's displeasure at her reaction and realized what would have to happen for this to work.

…Damn. She thought. She hesitated, then braced herself. "Mahad,"

He looked down at her.

"I have to."

He started. "Milady–" He stopped.

Then his arms wrapped around her, supporting her. "Do what you must, and I will do what I can."

She nodded. "Thank you." She reached out. Almighty one… I am ready. Please, grant your servant the strength to fight… and the stamina to endure your heavenly fire.

The flames licked at the fringes of her mind, but though she trembled, she did not pull away. Then the fire poured into her soul, and she felt the power of the Egyptian God of the Sun suffuse her spirit.

Her armor changed, becoming white-gold and draconic. She felt Mahad's magic protecting her soul as best he could, and through the pain, she could feel the power… and the mind of a deity.

Armityle snarled in fury as a third of its body dissolved. The two remaining pieces became bloated, as if to compensate, and it flew up towards her, but the three dragons dragged it back; and without Ra, it had more trouble fighting them off.

Ra's light shone from her, and his mind merged with hers. The connection was oddly intimate; she could see memories in his mind's eye stretching all the way back to Egypt.

He was not Ra, not directly. He was an avatar of the deity the Egyptians worshipped, created to fight beside the Pharaoh in defense of that land against the Dark One. And as such, at times, his mind was barely more than that of a beast, the incarnate wrath of a deity working in mortal chains.

At times, a powerful ally, and at times, a deadly foe. He had worked both for and against her as the Pharaoh; but such was his destiny on Earth.

It's time for you to move on. She thought, though the thoughts were born of another soul buried deep inside her. Just as it is time for me.

She turned to the battle, spreading her wings, and lifted her sword. Time to end this.

"MAGICIAN," She said, her voice echoing like distant thunder.

He came around, sensing she could hover on her own, and gave her a cautious look.

"THE VESSEL IS STRONG, BUT PERHAPS NOT STRONG ENOUGH. ARE YOU PREPARED TO SACRIFICE YOUR SPIRIT IF NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN IT?" The words spoke themselves; it was Ra speaking, not her.

She felt sorrow at what she was asking, and a tear slid down her cheek.

"Always." Mahad murmured, bowing his head.

No! Please… She wept. Her fingers tightened on the blade. "I hope it won't come to that." She said, bracing herself.

He glanced up, and his lavender eyes met her gold ones. His gaze softened. "I have faith in you, Milady." He said quietly.

She nodded back. Then I won't let you down. She thought, turning back to the Phantom. Let's go.

She powered forward, raising her sword and shouting a battlecry.