"HEY! Y'all can't start widout us!"
They all glanced up. Joey and Sirius, riding a Red-Eyes, flew in a few moments later.
"You're late, Wheeler." Seto growled.
"Well, s'cuse me." Joey snapped back, glaring at him. "Apparently our invitation got lost."
A blast of chaos shot towards them, and the Red-Eyes ducked around it.
"Think that's your invitation right there." Seto said dryly, turning back. "Now shut up and fight!"
"Heh. No need t' tell me twice." Joey smirked. "Sirius, hop off."
"What? Why?"
"You gotta summon somethin' of your own." Joey said, glancing back at him. "We could use all the help we can get."
Sirius blinked, then nodded back. "I won' let you down, Dad." He said, getting up.
Joey grinned. "Atta boy."
Sirius hopped off, and a moment later, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon appeared to carry him aloft.
"Niiice!" Joey cheered. "Now, let's go give 'im an invitation t' leave Wheeler-style!"
His Red-Eyes promptly got slapped out of the sky with Armityle's tail.
"Hey!" Sirius shouted angrily.
"It's never a good idea to turn your back on an ultimate dragon." Seto said at the same time as his Neo Ultimate Dragon pounced on Armityle, seizing the Phantom's wing and yanking it back.
Armityle slipped free, rounding on him, but Joey was up again, and the Red-Eyes fired a burst of red and black balls of flame. The Phantom dodged the attacks and snaked rapidly around the Neo Ultimate, seizing its necks in a long, mutant tail and squeezing.
Kyo bounded forward and powered up shield-first, slamming into Armityle's jaw, and Sirius appeared beside her to slap Armityle with Black Flare's tail. She jumped loose and grabbed on as he soared away.
Armityle's grip just tightened, though, and the Rainbow Dragon and Kisara flew in to take their turn. Jesse fired a quick multicolored bolt, and Kisara dug her claws into the Phantom's coils, dragging with all her might to loosen its grip. Neo Ultimate slipped free, and all three of them rounded on Armityle. The Phantom fired a burst, and Neo Ultimate countered; the impact forced everyone back.
"Damn. We're gonna have to–" Joey was saying, reaching for his deck.
Kyo, suddenly realizing what he was about to do, flew up and seized his wrist, startling him. "NO." She said in a deep boom. "THE CURSED RING WILL NOT BE USED HERE."
Joey looked rather alarmed, but he recovered quickly. "Look, kid. People didn' come back las' time dat should've, an' would've if we'd played it. Now dat your Spirit Seal's broken, dere's no way we can keep dis guy contained except with the Seal of Orichalcos. I don' wanna play it, but we gotta."
"We don't have to." Kyo said, shaking her head and pointing up. "Mahad's taking care of that."
Joey started and looked up at the dome of golden arcane symbols. "What…" His eyes widened, and he looked back. "For real? Can 'e hold de Phantom here?"
Kyo nodded.
Joey gave her a relieved look. "Dang. I sure hope so. I really don' wanna 'ave ta use dis."
"You won't have to." She smiled back, and they turned back to the field just in time to see Kisara firing a rapid burst from the ring on her back.
Armityle snarled and pounced, seizing the five-winged dragon and slamming her into the ground.
"Kisara!" Kyo called, flying down, but a gust of energy threw her off course as a second Phantom appeared behind the first.
What the hell– She thought, startled.
The first one disappeared, but as Kisara tried to rise, the second one launched a large ball of chaos energy on her, slamming her back down.
Seto, now riding on Neo Ultimate, plowed into Armityle with a shout of fatherly outrage, and the two went skidding across the ground. Joey joined the fray, but was hurled off to the side as the Phantom surged up out of the dust.
Kyo slashed her sword through the air, calling on the power of the sun, and a band of fire emitted, catching Armityle and leaving a big gash across his Uria-arm. Sirius's Black Flare fired a quick burst right after, but the Phantom ignored him as Uria's mouth fired an oscillating bolt of chaos energy at Kyo.
She dodged, powering away, but a giant fist appeared out of nowhere and slammed her down into the ground below. Ugh. She rolled onto her back to see Jesse flare his wings between her and the Phantom, distracting him. She missed what happened next, but suddenly Armityle was howling, and the Rainbow Dragon shot away, carrying her in its tail.
The Phantom was clutching his face; someone must've hit his eye. Kisara sneered triumphantly nearby, and Seto, capitalizing on Armityle's momentary incapacity, fired three bursts – one from each head. Joey followed it up with an Inferno Fire Blast, and they cheered as the Phantom fell back.
That's way too easy. Kyo thought, bracing herself.
Out of the dust, a claw emerged, ripping through the air. She was momentarily puzzled, but then Seto shouted in alarm. They whirled to see a rift opening beside him and Neo Ultimate, who tried to flee, but the rift's pull was powerful, and a blast from Armityle threw them off balance.
They were sucked in, and the rift snapped shut.
Mr. Kaiba! Kyo gasped, startled by the suddenness of the attack.
"FATHER!" Kisara bellowed, rounding on Armityle with titanic wrath.
Damn– Kyo bounded down, Jesse on her tail, and Sirius across the way. Kisara powered up, and Kyo spun, calling on Ra's fire. Jesse charged an attack, and Sirius fired – a split second before they all did, their attacks drawn to each other and flying at Armityle, throwing it backwards.
The Phantom emerged from the dust practically before it had even risen and powered forward, sending a burst of chaos at Kisara, who froze in panic. Jesse shot down, swirling and spreading his wings in a flare, and the attack was deflected skyward to dissipate harmlessly against the golden dome.
Kisara stared at him, and he looked back at her as the others moved to engage the Phantom. "Hey, sorry 'bout all th' trouble. Didn' mean t' do any of it."
She smiled. "I'm just glad you're back, Jesse." She said honestly.
He relaxed, relieved. "Crazy, huh? Us bein' dragons?"
She chuckled. "Yeah. But boy am I glad we are right now."
He nodded. "No kiddin'." He turned. "That thing's crazy strong. But Rainbow Dragon… uh, I c'n get stronger with th' Crystal Beasts. Think it's worth a shot?"
She stepped up beside him. "Better do it quick while he's distracted." She said.
He dipped his head, and a moment later, the arena was flooded with Crystal Beasts, their gems reflecting and refracting the light of the sun.
Kisara bounded forward, charging up a blast, and fired into the midst of the fighting. The others scattered, and Armityle was left wide open. She jumped up, powering into the air, and he followed her, but several beams of light distracted him and he looked down again.
The Crystal Beasts' light reflected onto Jesse, and he roared as their power charged up his attack. He fired an enormous burst of iridescent energy, which struck Armityle right in the chest.
He was thrown back into the dirt, and Kisara pounced, slamming down on him with a draconic shriek.
"Kisara!" Jesse shouted in alarm, and a moment later, the Phantom flung her across the arena. Joey darted in, tackling him, but when Armityle tried to do the same to him, Red-Eyes dodged around the attack.
The Phantom spun, snarling, but was struck from below by a speeding, fiery comet square in the jaw. He fell back, and Kyo twirled in midair, bringing down her sword with another arc of flames. Her attack was punctuated with a blast from Sirius's Black Flare Dragon, and the Phantom grunted.
There was a brief lull, but then a wave of chaos crossed the field, and they all scrambled to get out of the way. The Crystal Beasts cried out as they were shattered by the blast, and the Rainbow Dragon hissed in sympathetic pain.
Sirius yelped, and they looked up to see Armityle seizing the Black Flare Dragon with Uria's double jaw. The Phantom spun, and the dragon was thrown across the arena.
"Sirius!" Joey shouted in alarm.
The dragon skidded to a halt, then vanished. Sirius could be seen, looking battered but alive. Armityle rounded on him, but Jesse fired off another powered-up shot – the last of the Crystal Beasts' energy that they'd managed to give him before their destruction.
Armityle narrowly avoided a direct hit, but the burn was enough to distract him from the now-helpless Sirius. Kyo glanced over again and saw a Flame Swordsman appear beside him, scooping him up to carry him out of harm's way.
She looked back to see Kisara worry the Phantom like a bone, her fangs buried in Armityle's shoulder. Before it could retaliate, though, she jumped away, letting her claws slash its flesh as she did.
Armityle rounded on her, bristling and reaching out, but she was too far away.
Then his arms vanished. And a moment later, his entire body went with it.
Kyo started and flew forward, searching the field. "Where is he?" She called, turning.
The others were casting around as well.
"Kisara!" Jesse called in horror.
The Phantom melted out of nowhere, wrapping tightly around the Divine Dragon. Its claws and fangs buried themselves in her scales, and they could all feel the chaos that was rending at her soul.
"KISARA!" Kyo bellowed, and she and Jesse shot upward.
Joey shot a burst of energy blasts past them, and Armityle snarled, releasing his victim. Kisara dropped, her eyes closed; she must have passed out. Jesse swooped under her, swirling around to catch her in his coils.
"Get her out of here!" Kyo shouted as she leapt between them and the Phantom, and he darted away.
Armityle fired a stream of chaos orbs at Joey and his Red-Eyes, and they dodged among them, narrowly avoiding quite a few. The Phantom snarled again and made another ripping motion, and another rift appeared right in front of them.
They couldn't brake in time; they shot right through, and it closed right after them, preventing them from returning.
"No!" Kyo gasped.
Another rift appeared, though, right in front of the Phantom, and a confused Joey and Red-Eyes burst out, startled by their sudden transitions.
"Look out!" She shouted, but Armityle's fists were already slamming down on the two, dropping them straight into the ground. The Red-Eyes vanished.
Kyo darted forward, slashing with her sword, and a row of fireballs shot out at Armityle. She dived down, bringing her shield to bear, and spun around to face the Phantom – and to stand between him and Joey.
Armityle hurled a large orb of chaos down on her, but she braced herself behind her shield to block the attack. It felt like the Magic Cylinders; the effort of blocking was almost too much for her. But she was merged with an Egyptian God.
She threw off the blast with a shout and tightened her grip on her sword.
The attack had not been completely ineffective, however. She could feel her spirit weakening. She and Ra were fine, but the mortal spirit powering them had been wounded by the assault. They'd have to call on Mahad soon if things didn't change.
No. I won't call on him unless there's no other choice.
THERE WILL BE NO OTHER CHOICE. WE CANNOT ALLOW ARMITYLE TO SUCCEED; WE WILL NOT GET ANOTHER CHANCE.
She braced herself, then took a step, but at that moment, another rift opened, taking even Armityle by surprise.
The first thing through was a four-winged dragon, which Kyo quickly recognized as Seto's monster. Which meant–
There he was, riding the Blue-Eyes Neo Ultimate Dragon in all his (absurdly impressive) glory. Seto shouted, and Neo Ultimate roared, pouncing on a very surprised Phantom. Three sets of fangs tore at the Phantom, and wings beat against it before taking to the sky with a mighty kick that made the earth tremble.
There was silence.
Kyo stared. Did he just…?
Seto swept around, taking in the scene with a quick glance. His eyes paused on Jesse and Kisara, and his expression became thunderous as he turned back to face Armityle's limp form.
"For that, you will pay dearly." Seto swore, his eyes flashing. "Take it away, Blue-Eyes!"
The Neo Ultimate roared and powered up, adding three blasts to one all-powerful beam. It fired, the impact made the ground quake. Rifts appeared, racing across the surface, and Kyo hastily grabbed Joey, leaping into the air to avoid getting swallowed.
"Milady,"
She curled her lip, annoyed at the interruption, but Mahad had his head bowed and his hand on his heart in deep respect. "Let me take him, Milady."
She blinked, then nodded. "HERE." She tossed the limp form over, and he caught it. "REMOVE HIM FROM DANGER."
He nodded and retreated swiftly.
She watched him go, feeling a strange disconnect in how she'd acted. But she couldn't worry about that now; the attack was ending. She turned back.
A massive crater dominated the arena, and several rifts had opened to shadows below. A mangled mass of charred flesh was left in the center, unmoving.
Her eyes narrowed. So why do I still sense its presence?
There was a faint ripple. Then the ground gave an almighty heave, and columns of dirt and stone shot up like vines towards the Blue-Eyes.
The three heads fired rapidly, blasting the columns to dust to keep them at bay. Kyo sent down a flick of her sword, and fire consumed several other columns that tried to sneak up from behind.
A lance, faster than thought, shot up after them. Neo Ultimate bellowed in pain and outrage, flailing briefly as one of its heads was impaled by the bolt of chaos.
