Yay! I've been waiting to do this two-part episode for a long time! Finally, my moment to shine! And yeah, there's going to be a bit of a shocking plot twist during the duel that'll be a bit of a foreshadowing, so stay tune and pay attention!~

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own any Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!

"Sartorius!" cried out Sarina in a pleading cry; her image visible on the laptop screen that Sartorius was looking at that late night. "Your mind is being controlled! This isn't you! WAKE UP!"

Sartorius, who was fighting for control over his body with the other evil being known as the Light of Destruction, snapped his eyes opened. However, for now, it seems that the Light of Destruction side had taken over. "Sarina! Stay out of this! My mission is nearing its completion!"

Slamming his hands back on the table, Sartorius, the good side of him, struggled back for control. "Wait...! What my sister said is true! This has to stop!"

"You can't be serious," spoke the evil side of Sartorius, glancing back at himself using a full-body mirror. "We're about to expose mankind to the light!" Glancing back down, Sartorius noticed the image of Sarina, finding it amusing but more irritating than ever. "What's this? Someone doesn't know when to quit! And if you're not careful, you'll find yourself permanently deleted! Do I make myself clear?"

Upon hearing Sartorius' warning, the image of Sarina vanished, leaving behind a blank, black screen. Sartorius was then embedded with a glowing, silver-white aura that surrounded his entire body before a beacon of light shot upwards in the air, illuminating the entire island.

It was at that moment, that Elize sensed something amiss as well as something powerful that woke her up. Rubbing her eyes at the blinding light that flashed in her room, even with the curtains closed, Elize yawned and sat up. Something was wrong if outside was illuminating a bright, white light, and as she stood up and was about to walk outside to investigate.

Suddenly, another bright light shined before her, and standing right in front of her was Sartorius himself. Startled, Elize backed away quickly to create distance between her and Sartorius. She was about to reach for her whistle on her desk, ready to blow on it to signal that she was in danger, before Sartorius stopped her.

"Please, wait, Elize!" called out Sartorius, grabbing her arm. "I understand that you do not trust me right now, but right now, I am dire need of help." He took out a small black case from his pocket and placed it onto Elize's hand. "Inside is a key, a very special key. No matter what, you mustn't allow anyone, especially me, to get this key."

"A key...?" Suddenly, Elize had a pretty good idea as to what sort of key Sartorius was talking about. "Wait, is this key-?!"

Sartorius suddenly vanished after emitting an illuminating glow that forced Elize to turn away, shielding her eyes. When she saw that the light had died down, Sartorius was gone, and the only piece of evidence that was proof that he did visit was the small black case that he handed to her.

A black case containing a key that she had very high suspicions as to what it was for.

"I'm only going to ask this once...WHERE ARE THE KEYS?!"

Sartorius, the evil side of him, yelled angrily at his own reflection, but in reality, was conversing with the good part of Sartorius, who only looked back at him with a smug and confident expression on his face.

"I can assure you that they're in the right hands."

"They're what?! You fool! Do you have any clue as to what you've done?! We need them to unlock the satellite! Now, who has them?!"

"Why, the chosen duelists, of course. I knew I wasn't strong enough to fight you, so I simply gave the keys to someone who is."

CRACK! With his anger built up, Sartorius released it by punching the mirror, shattering it and deeply bruising his fist. "They can't stop me! Nobody can!" Holding his clenched fist tightly, Sartorius smirked maliciously as the Light of Destruction's aura filled him with more vigor and power. "Just wait...when I'm done with Jaden, Aster, and Elize, THEY SHALL SEE THE LIGHT! AHAHAHAHA!

Early, that morning...

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Alexis asked, stepping into Sartorius' private room, where the leader of the Society of Light himself was flipping through his Arcana cards and had just flipped over the Sun Arcana card. "What is it?"

"I need you to do something urgent. It's for the good of the Society, and the light!" said Sartorius; his eyes glowing purple as his powers activated, brainwashing Alexis.

Gasping, Alexis, who was already brainwashed, was even more demoted to nothing than a mindless puppet even more bent on following Sartorius' orders, as evident of her empty, emotionless eyes. Despite her empty eyes, her expression still held clear determination and resolve for the light.

"I'm at your command. Let's do this."

Sartorius smirked, knowing his brainwashing spell was a success. "I was hoping you'd say that. Your most important task right now is to defeat one of the chosen. I suggest dueling Elize." He handed her a deck and told her, "Now, here's something you might need. If you use this deck correctly, it'll defeat Elize for certain."

"I won't disappoint you, sir."

"I know. Also, Elize has something that belongs to me. A key of sorts. See to it that when you crush her, you also take that key back from her."

"Yes, Master."

Later, inside Chazz's large dorm...

"No way! Sartorius?! Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?!" exclaimed Syrus. Him, along with Hassleberry, Jaden, and Elize, were all sitting in the living room area of Chazz's dorm, engaged in an important meeting regarding of what Elize and Jaden saw earlier.

"I'm positive. Look, he gave me this key!" said Jaden.

"Me too," Elize said, holding onto her own key.

"Well, what's it open?" asked Hassleberry.

"No clue," said Jaden.

Elize opened her mouth to answer. "Actually-"

"You too, huh?" Aster said, entering the dorm and holding up his own key. "Sartorius gave me a key as well, and counting your own as well as Elize's, I'd say there are three keys in total."

"Three keys, huh? What does it all mean?" wondered Jaden.

"I have a major idea of what they're for," Aster said. "I've been looking for you guys to discuss the issue with the keys, after all. Anyways, do you know the SORA satellite? The one that Prince Ojin's royal family owns for their country, Misgarth?"

"Oh yeah, the satellite!" said Hassleberry.

"Yeah...I remember extremely well," said Syrus nervously, referring to the time where Aster and Elize had yelled at them for not telling them important information. It seems they were still mad, as evident of their angry glares towards them that the three boys tried to avoid.

"Yeah, well, these keys that we have could possibly be the keys to activating the SORA satellite system."

"WHAT?!" Jaden, Hassleberry, and Syrus exclaimed.

"I was thinking the same thing, too," said Elize. "Think about it, Miss Linda mentioned that Sartorius and Prince Ojin dueled for the keys, and that Sartorius won, so he obtained the three keys necessary to control SORA."

"Oh, yeah! I remember! They dueled on the first day of the tournament!" said Jaden.

"Yeah, and something you neglected to tell us," muttered Aster.

"Well, what should we do? I mean, I know we can't give them back to Sartorius but what now?"

"I think we should confirm whether or not these really are the satellite keys," Elize said.

Aster nodded. "Good call. I'll meet up with that secretary after making arrangements with Sheppard and ask her if it's the key. If it is, we need to be more extra cautious than ever. The fate of the entire world rests on these keys."

"Yeah..." said Jaden. "It's just like the time with Spirit Keys last year."

"Spirit Keys?"

"It was some sort of event involving a group called the Shadow Riders," said Elize. "And-"

"Stop. Are they related to the situation we're in?" asked Aster.

"N-No..."

"Then, I don't wanna hear it."

"You know, I have an idea," Elize said, holding up her satellite key. "Why don't we just destroy these? We have them, and if we destroy there, there's no chance of Sartorius ever gaining access to SORA. In fact, we probably should have thrown the Spirit Keys in the volcano last year...What? What are you all looking at me for?"

"Well...that sounds a little...negative of you, Elize," admitted Hassleberry.

"While that sounds like a good idea, I doubt it'll work," said Aster. "If anything, it'll only delay Sartorius even further."

"Why?"

Aster explained, "Because, if we destroy these keys right now, we'd only be causing political turmoil. Remember, the SORA satellite cannon is property of the country of Misgarth. Imagine what would happen if the Royal Family found out through Sartorius that not only did we have the keys, but we also destroyed them. And the keys are part of the SORA satellite, so we'd only be causing trouble ourselves. And nobody would believe us if we said we did it because of some crazy light cult."

"Yeah, pretty sure you guys would be arrested or something," said Hassleberry.

"Besides, Sartorius might venture out to Misgarth and brainwash others into forging new keys for him. Or better yet, he might brainwash the prince and request that he make new keys. The only reason he's not doing so right now is because he's confident enough that he'll take the keys back from us using any means necessary."

"And how do you know that?" asked Syrus.

Aster scoffed. "Please. I've known him for a long time. Even if I didn't know he was the leader of a cult, I'd know he would be confident enough for this."

"So, we can't destroy them, and we probably can't return them to Miss Linda, because then, she might have to tell the Prince, and he might give the keys back to Sartorius," said Elize.

"Yeah, it's probably best if we don't return them to the secretary. We need to keep them close, but we also should probably hide them somewhere safe."

"We tried that with the Spirit Keys last year, but one of the Shadow Riders got ahold of them," replied Jaden. "Luckily, the Spirit Keys don't work unless you win them through a duel, but yeah, it was a close call."

"Then, the best solution would be to keep them on our personal beings at all times," sighed Aster. "Well, I was planning to do that from the start, anyways. Stay on alert, everyone. We may have the advantage now that we have the keys, but Sartorius is going to use everything he has to take them back."

Everyone nodded, noting how serious the situation had become.

Later, inside the Duel Academy building...

"Let's go! I heard it's Build-Your-Own-Burger Day in the cafeteria!"

"Cool! I want a tofu burger with soy cheddar!"

"Whatever happened to real meat and good ol' fashioned American cheese?"

"I'm making mine a Bacon Double!"

Jaden, Hassleberry, and Syrus were walking down the hallways, heading for the cafeteria and discussing what to eat. What came next caught their attention and a short but high-pitched scream filled the air.

"Aaaaah!"

The boys looked ahead and saw Elize on the ground with an angry Atticus in front of her with his arms out, seemingly defending Elize from Alexis who had an annoyed expression on her face.

"-is wrong with you?! How could you push down one of your besties like that?!"

"Besties? I'm not friends with weaklings like her! All I did was ask for the key, and when she refused, she tried to 'bring me back,' but she grew annoying. This is but a minor punishment for those who don't see the light!"

"All I did was try to talk to you!" Elize said. "I don't get what I said was annoying!"

Alexis glared coldly down at her. "If by talk, you mean trying to convince me that I'm your friend and that I should 'resist Sartorius' control,' then yes, I did find you annoying! How many times do I have to tell you people?! This is the true me! Nothing else!"

"What's going on?" asked Jaden as he and his friends helped Elize up.

Atticus answered, "I just arrived, and I saw Elize talked to Alexis, but then suddenly, she pushed her down, so I stepped in to intervene."

"What?!" Jaden looked up at Alexis, who didn't seem to have a single hint of remorse anywhere. "Why would she do that?!"

"Because that's not even Alexis! And least, not the one we know and love," Atticus explained, crossing his arms. "Look at her! You see her eyes? They're completely lifeless and empty! We're losing her, and if we don't do something soon, the Alexis we knew will be gone forever! There isn't much time, guys!"

Atticus' words held truth, as Alexis was staring off into the distance with an emotionless, blank gaze. She was acting like a puppet and a brainwashed person, switching her emotions from anger to an apathetic emotion. Emotion towards servitude for Sartorius, and yet an apathetic coldness towards others.

"What can we do?" asked Syrus. "Any ideas?"

"There's one hope," stated Atticus. "One of us will have to duel her. It's the only way to set her free!"

Jaden stepped up. "Then I'll-!"

"I'll duel her," said Elize quietly.

Everyone turned to her. "Elize? Are you sure?" asked Hassleberry.

Elize nodded. "Yeah. I...kinda figured that we were going to have to duel eventually. Plus, Alexis did request for me to either give her the key or duel her for it."

"Hmph. Smartest thing you've ever said, or maybe the stupidest," spat Alexis. "So, you really wanna duel me? Last chance before I utterly crush you."

"I'm positive. I'll duel you, Alexis."

"Fine. Remember, if I win, I get to take back that key that Master Sartorius wants. But if you win, I'll leave you alone."

"Okay, then." Elize reached her hand out, offering for Alexis to shake it, but all the Society of Light girl did was smack it away harshly, strong enough to leave a bit of a mark on it. "OW!"

"Hey! You didn't have to reject her like that!" shouted Atticus to Alexis.

"Whatever," scoffed Alexis, rolling her eyes. "Meet me in the Duel Arena tonight. I'll enjoy crushing you like the weakling you are!"

After Alexis left, the group decided to talk to each other in a more comfortable setting, which happened to be a set of staircases. As Elize was nursing her hand, Atticus turned to her. "Elize, I know you've gotten a lot stronger, but be careful. She's not gonna pull any punches, especially since she doesn't recognize you as her friend anymore."

Elize nodded, taking out her deck. "I know. I need to upgrade my deck, but I know this is an important duel I can't lose. Atticus, I'll do everything in my power to help turn Alexis back to normal!"

"Er...not to be a downer, but isn't there a chance that you'll be brainwashed if you lose, Elize?" asked Syrus. "I mean, it's possible that Sartorius may have given her new cards, just like he did with Chazz!"

"Truesdale! Where's that positive outlook?!" shouted Hassleberry. "Although, he does have a point..."

"I think there's a chance that I won't be brainwashed," said Elize. "Before, Sartorius dueled me long ago, and I lost, but I didn't get brainwashed. Sure, I got a major headache and I got really sick afterwards, but I think it's because of my Duel Spirit powers that protected me from the brainwashing. But, I don't want to risk that if I do lose. That, and Alexis really might not come back if I do lose."

"Yeah, that's probably not something you do want to risk," agreed Atticus. "You have to reach out to the real Alexis, and I know just the thing! I have a card for you. It might help you get through to her!" Atticus handed Elize his card and continued, "It's called 'Swing of Memories.' Sort of a family heirloom."

"And this'll help her return to normal?" asked Elize.

Atticus nodded. "Trust me, play that Swing of Memories card, and her memories will be swinging back!"

"Okay, I'll do it!"

"She doesn't need a card to wake her up, she needs me!" Chazz declared, stepping out from behind the pillars, having revealed to have been eavesdropping on their conversation. "Face it, dorks! Only my love will set her free!"

"You're kidding," deadpanned Jaden. "Get a grip."

Hassleberry indignantly stepped up. "This is all your fault, son!"

Syrus nodded. "If it weren't for you, she wouldn't be in the Society of Light! You've done enough!"

"Hey, back off!" yelled back Chazz, a little surprised by their sudden defiance. "Stop spreading lies! She's my soulmate, and I'd never do that to her!"

"Hold on," said Jaden, realizing something. "You don't remember, do you?"

"Uh...no?"

"The big duel? You won, she got brainwashed?"

Elize nodded. "Yeah, Chazz, I already explained this to you. You lost to Sartorius, then under his command, you dueled Alexis, and then she got brainwashed just like you. The only reason you returned back was because Jaden dueled you and brought you back to your senses."

Chazz's eyes widened from the truth. "So you mean...it's true? It is my fault?"

"And they called ya slow," scoffed Hassleberry.

"Newsflash! That's why we don't trust you!" shouted Syrus.

Still in denial, Chazz cried out, "No way! You're lying! I would never hurt Alexis!"

Elize nodded. "Right, you would never do that, but the brainwashed version of you did."

Chazz turned to Atticus, pleading, "Atticus, tell them! Tell them it's not true!"

"No one's falling for this amnesia act," Atticus said. "You did this to Alexis, and you know it!"

Elize threw her arms up in exasperation. "Chazz isn't lying-!"

"Why don't you just leave? You've already caused enough harm. If you really want to do something for my sister...go home."

"NO!" cried out Chazz, feeling the memories pouring back inside his head as he collapsed to his knees. "Let me make it up to her! I can help!"

"Awww, look! Chazz has feelings!" teased Jaden, chuckling a bit. His chuckles quickly died down when he was taken aback by the angry glare by Elize.

"I can't believe you guys!" she yelled, getting in front of Chazz, protecting him. "Especially you, Jaden! How could you say such an insensitive thing?!"

"Er...I was just...trying to lighten the mood?"

"Well, you didn't! You only made things much more worst and I can't believe you said such a horrible thing!" yelled Elize. "Guys, we already established that those in the Society of Light were already brainwashed, thus they have no control over their actions! Chazz isn't an exception! Why is this so hard to understand?"

"But...Chazz seemed to enjoy his actions while he was in the Society," pointed out Hassleberry.

"Only because he was brainwashed! He didn't know what was going on, and I'm certain he would never hurt Alexis like he said! But that's not even the worst part! Not only did you guys forget that the members are brainwashed, but you also said some really horrible, insensitive things to Chazz! He didn't know nor could he control his actions! If anything, you're the horrible ones!"

Atticus stepped up. "El, you don't really mea-"

"I DO mean it!" Elize said. "And if you keep stupid forgetting this important fact and blaming it on someone who isn't to blame, then you don't even deserve to call me by my nickname!"

"..." Atticus looked away, hurt, yet understanding and looking back and seeing that his actions really did hurt and planted Chazz as the bad guy wrongfully. "...I'm sorry, Chazz."

Chazz sighed and sat back up. "Whatever. The only girl I really love is Alexis! Here, take this!" He threw Elize a card that she barely managed to catch. "It's the key to her heart, one of my signature cards! One look at that, and she'll run right back! Don't worry, you can thank me later!"

"...Chazz, I don't see how Ojama Black is going to help me," said Elize, a little annoyed. "I mean, he's a nice guy, but if I put him in my deck, it'll kinda mess things up a little."

"Hey, you sound just like Bastion for a sec!" said Jaden.

"..."

"Yeah, maybe not mention the guy you guys screwed over while she's still mad?" suggested Atticus. "But, Elize is right, Chazz. What's she going to do with that card?"

"W-Why, summon him, of course!" said Chazz. "Just one look, and Alexis will be back before we know it!"

"Okay, Chazz, I have a few things I want to point out," Elize said. "First off, isn't your main signature card Ojama Yellow? Why give me his brother, Black?"

"Er…"

"And anyways, Alexis doesn't even hold feelings for you. I think we pretty much determined that last year with your love duel with her."

"No! That's a lie!" Chazz denied. "She's only acting this way because she's brainwashed."

Elize gave him a sympathetic look. "Chazz, even if she's brainwashed now, she still doesn't love you the way you do. It's really no different than the real Alexis and-"

"Lalalalalala! I can't hear you! LALALALALA!" Chazz shouted, covering his ears.

Elize sweatdropped before walking up and giving him the card. "Well, I'm sorry, but I just don't think Ojama Black is going to hold a good connection between you and Alexis."

Chazz dropped his hands and then snatched back Ojama Black. "Fine! I guess, like the others, you just don't appreciate the beauty of my love!"

'Your definition of beauty of love isn't really that impressive,' everyone else thought, sweatdropping.

"Fine! Then how about this?" Chazz fished out from his pocket a deck before handing it over to Elize.

Elize flipped through the cards and it didn't take her long to realize that it was Alexis' deck that she was holding. "Where did you-?!"

"I was just taking a walk down the beach when I saw Alexis throwing her card out to the wind. When she wasn't looking, I managed to grab each one and stacked them together. You're welcome, by the way."

"If you had Alexis' deck the entire time, why didn't you give her that instead of one of your lame cards?" questioned Hassleberry.

"Hey, my cards have more than enough of my love for Alexis, thank you!" shouted back Chazz. "And second, I didn't have the opportunity to show this, and now I do!"

"I don't get it, though," said Jaden, looking over Elize's head to look at Alexis' deck. "Why would she throw away her deck? Doesn't she need it for the duel?"

Atticus was quick to figure it out. "I think Sartorius gave her a much better deck, and, she must have assumed her deck was 'weak' and threw it away. Elize, I think you should use my little sis's deck."

"Me? But...isn't it kinda wrong to use someone else's deck without permission?"

"Technically, she did throw it away, so finders keepers!" pointed out Hassleberry.

"Besides, using her deck might be a bit of an advantage for you, Elize. She would never expect it!" said Atticus. "But...at the same time, it is her deck, so she might be familiar with it. Still, using her deck might help snap Alexis out of it!"

"But, you just said that she might easily win over Elize if she does decide to use her deck," reminded Syrus.

Atticus nodded and said, "I know. Originally, I wanted to give a new stack of cards to Alexis on her upcoming birthday, but because of the situation we're in, I figured that this is more important."

"A new stack of cards?" wondered Elize, blinking.

Later...

"YOU IDIOT!"

Elize flinched from Aster's harsh and loud tone, but had an inkling as to why he was so mad at her. "I-I know you said to keep the keys safe, but-"

"But nothing!" snapped Aster. "You just went ahead and accepted a duel from one of the strongest Society members! Do you have any idea what might happen if you lose?! You'd lose the key! Did I NOT just clarify that we should keep the keys safe?"

"Y-Yes, but-"

"Goddamnit…" Aster sighed and leaned back against the railing of his yacht. "Then again, this was inevitable anyways. Sartorius is smart, so he would have already figured out that you, me, and Jaden already has the keys."

"How do you figure?" asked Elize.

"Because Sartorius wouldn't have sent Alexis to take the key back from you if he hadn't figured it out. That means that now, he's going to send more people to try and get the satellite keys back, and our situation will be even more difficult than ever."

"Alexis said that she was ordered by Sartorius to get the key back from me," said Elize. "But she didn't mention either you or Jaden. Why is that?"

"There's no way that Sartorius doesn't know that we both have the keys as well," stated Aster. "And if I had to take a guess...I'd say he ordered that because out of the three of us, you are definitely the weakest link."

"I...Yeah, you're probably right. I can't argue with that," Elize admitted, sweatdropping. She may have gotten stronger, but she was certain that she was still weaker than Aster and Jaden. "So, I was wondering...my duel with Alexis starts tonight, and since I still have a couple of hours-"

"You want me to help train you again?"

"Yes."

"With a surprise attack deck that belonged to Alexis?"

"Yes."

"..."

"..."

"...No breaks. I'm not holding back. We don't have much time."

"That's pretty much the same thing in every training regime we have."

"Yeah, but this time, because you did something stupid, and because you need to get used to a new deck so quickly, the training's going to be 10 times harsher."

Later, that night...

"Do you have the key?" asked Alexis, having met with Elize at the designated area. On one side of the Duel Arena were a group of Society members that wished to accompany her and witness the duel. On the other side was Elize's friends, including Aster, who wished to see the fruits of Elize's training come into growth.

Elize, exhausted from all of the dueling training she received from Aster over the past couple of hours, nodded and held up her key. "Here it is..."

"You know, she really does look tired. What happened to her?" wondered Hassleberry.

"We trained, and I made sure not to hold back," informed Aster.

"Seriously? She looks exhausted!" pointed out Syrus.

"If she's exhausted, it goes to show that she still has a lot more training to do before she could ever be compared to the elites. For now, it'll do," said Aster.

"Now, let's get this over with so we can get on with our lives!" said Alexis, activating her duel disk.

"Okay, I'm ready when you are!" said Elize.

"DUEL!"

- DUEL -

Alexis - 4000 LP

VS

Elize - 4000 LP

"I'll go first!" said Alexis. "I summon Snow Fairy in Attack Mode!"

Snow Fairy - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV4 - (1100/700)

"And if you're going to try and Fusion Summon next turn, forget it!" Alexis said. "Snow Fairy's effect makes it so that you can't activate any Spell cards from your hand, and you can't activate Spells the turn they're Set!"

'Alexis only really has one Fusion Monster, so I'm okay with that, but her deck isn't mainly focused on Fusion, only Rituals,' thought Elize. 'Just like with my Charmer deck, it's more focused on Fusions, but less on Rituals. Still, if I take out Snow Fairy, I might stand a chance.'

"I set a card and end my turn!"

"Oh, man! She doesn't remember a thing!" said Atticus.

"Relax. The duel's just started!" reminded Chazz. "Now, if only she put my card in that deck, then Alexis would surely come back!"

Syrus looked at him. "Chazz, did you ever think that maybe it'll take more than just your card to bring her back? In fact, why don't you try something different, like read her a love poem?"

"Ugh, seriously? Those are outdated and cliché," pointed out Aster.

"My move, draw!" Elize said. "Alexis, it doesn't matter which one of us wins this duel!"

"It kinda actually does!" called out Aster, silently reminding her of the whole satellite key duel.

Elize continued, "What's more important is snapping you out of it! And if dueling you is the best way to do that, then I'll do it! I set a Monster in Defense Mode! I then set a card and end my turn!"

"Ha! Predictable as always!" taunted Alexis. "I heard that you managed to beat a lot of Society members, and I was convinced that you've gotten stronger. But now, you're still the pathetic, stupid weakling that hasn't changed at all!"

Elize winched, knowing that despite everything being said was just the fake Alexis, it still hurt. All this time, ever since Alexis has been forcibly brainwashed, she's been the exact opposite of herself. Cruel, rude, and horrible to not just her, but to others, but it seems that brainwashed version of Alexis seems to be really out for Elize.

"I...I've changed! Though, probably not too much," admitted Elize, her self-esteem having lowered a bit due to Alexis' taunts.

"Of course you haven't changed much! After all, you were dealing with weaklings, after all!" agreed Alexis. "A pathetic weakling like you dealing with the weaklings of the Society of Light...how fitting!"

"Hey! At least she's tried her best and gotten stronger than ever before!" called out Jaden, standing up to defend Elize.

Alexis wasn't impressed and simply retorted back, "If a worm only fights a worm instead of something bigger, like a tiger, than that worm's path will only stop there. In other words, that worm won't get anymore stronger! Elize, right now, you're nothing but a weakling who hasn't advanced to anything! You haven't contributed to anything! Not in dueling, and certainly not in your life! You're useless!"

"Oof...that was harsh," commented Chazz.

"Like you wouldn't say that to Jaden or anyone else you find annoying," pointed out Aster.

"Oh, shut up! Even I wouldn't go so far as to say those words to Elize!"

"...So, you've got a soft spot for her?"

"N-No! Shut up!"

Even though this was nothing more than the fake and brainwashed Alexis saying that, Elize still felt her heart breaking from those words being thrown to her. She tried to refocus on the duel by saying, "W-Why don't we continue? I already ended my turn, so-"

"Hmph! Trying to change the subject? Just goes to show how right I am! You really are a pathetic, useless, weakling!" said Alexis. "My move! Now, I activate the Spell, White Night Fort!"

In mere seconds, the entire dueling platform was completely frozen as pillars of ice emerged from beneath, surrounding Alexis. The icy floor spread out and froze a lot of the seats in the sidelines, including the ones where the Society of Light were sitting on. They started to stand up, astonished and shivering from the sudden decrease in temperature.

"Settle down, you fools! This is only the beginning! Because now, White Night Fort makes it so you can't activate Trap cards on your opponent's turn! Did you seriously think that you could hide anything from me? The light exposes everything!"

Elize felt the sudden, cold power of Alexis' deck as even she found herself shivering. She's been rubbing her hands and breathing hotly into them, trying to keep them warm. Despite the cold temperature, she knew that this was only the beginning of the duel and that she shouldn't give up, not when there's still a chance of her winning and bringing Alexis back to normal.

"Now, I summon Cold Enchanter in Attack Mode!"

Cold Enchanter - (WATER/Aqua) - LV4 - (1600/1200)

"Hmph, if I recall, your Charmers always has Defense Points around 1500, right? So, I don't even need to waste my Monster's ability to power up!" bragged Alexis. "Cold Enchanter, attack her Set Monster!

Cold Enchanter fired an icy beam from the tip of her wand at Elize's Set Monster, whom had flipped over and revealed to be Cyber Gymnast. Because Cyber Gymnast's Defense Points were much stronger, a barrier protected her, saving Elize and reducing some of Alexis' Life Points in the process.

Cyber Gymnast - (EARTH/Warrior) - LV4 - (800/1800)

Alexis - 3800 LP

Elize - 4000 LP

Alexis appeared shocked that Elize set a completely different Monster than one of her own Spellcaster-Type Monsters and even more shocked that the Monster she summoned happened to be one of her own. "How'd you get that card?! You have no right to use what was once mine!"

"Um...You threw away this deck, remember?" reminded Elize. "If that's the case, then this deck belongs to me...I mean, once I get you back, I'll happily return this to you, and-"

"That's pretty low of you, using my own deck against me!" interrupted Alexis before smirking. "But, if you're using my deck, then this'll just make things a lot easier. After all, even though I threw away that weak deck, I still know everything about it, including all its strengths and weaknesses. That just means you have less of a chance of beating me!"

'She's right, but she still doesn't know about the new cards Atticus meant to give to her,' thought Elize.

Aster scoffed. "Please? She's calling that deck weak? Elize has a less chance beating her? Alexis is such a dumb hypocrite."

Having heard what Aster said, Alexis angrily glared up at him. "What did you say?!"

Aster smirked, glad that he got her attention. "Yeah, that's right. You heard me. I called you a dumb hypocrite. Just now, you called your former deck 'weak' when Elize just used a Monster from your former deck to defend herself successfully. If it was weak, it shouldn't have done that. No, if anything, Elize might be a better master of your former deck than yourself, Alexis. That, in turn, makes Elize a better AND stronger duelist than you!"

Elize seemed to pick up on what Aster was trying to convey. He was trying to bait Alexis, to get her to lower her guard by making her angry while using Elize as the target. "Aster...what are you-?"

"So, go ahead. If you want to prove me wrong, beat her and show everyone what you can do, Ice Queen," taunted Aster one last time, satisfied by her angry expression.

Alexis swiftly glared at Elize as she yelped in response. Narrowing her eyes, Alexis decided to silently accept Aster's challenge. "...I'm going to enjoy crushing you under the heel of my shoe."

"Aster! Why would you provoke her like that?!" cringed Elize.

"Simple!" called out Aster. "This is your chance to prove her wrong! To prove your fruits of training! And, because just this once, I wanted to screw over a member for fun! Do you have any idea how stressful it is, being forced to duel a lot of members per day? It ruins my schedule!"

"Gah!"

"That's a bit harsh," commented Jaden.

"Whatever!" said Alexis. "I end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" said Elize. "Alexis, I know you're still in there-"

"Save it!" Alexis snapped. 'If you're trying to convince me to try and 'return to normal' just like in all of those cliché scenes where the character is brainwashed, you're wasting your time! Instead of wasting my time, hurry up and play your cards, you annoying bitch!"

"Alexis!" gasped Atticus, horrified at the foul language spouted from her mouth, especially towards one of her closest friends. "How could you say such a horrible thing?!"

"Yeah! That was uncalled for!" shouted Jaden, angry at Alexis.

Elize took a step back; her heart taking another crack. It was bad enough that Alexis insulted her again, but by referring to her as a bitch was a whole new level above. It was almost as if the Society of Light was bringing out all of the bad parts of Alexis and exposing them out for the world to see, especially for Elize.

"Elize!" called out Aster. "Are you an idiot or something?! I told you not to lose focus during a duel! Now hurry up and stand up for yourself!"

Hesitantly for a moment, Elize then nodded. "R-Right! I activate my facedown card, Machine Angel Ritual!"

"Kh-! It had to be that card, of all things!" scoffed Alexis.

"With Machine Angel Ritual, I get to Ritual Summon using Monsters from my hand or field whose Levels are equal to the Monster I'm Ritual Summoning! I send the Level 5 Cyber Tutubon to the Graveyard in order to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Natasha, in Defense Mode!"

Cyber Angel Natasha - (LIGHT/Fairy/Ritual) - LV5 - (1000/1000)

"What?! That's not one of my Cyber Angels! I never had her before!" shouted Alexis.

"Whoa, Atticus! You weren't kidding! You really did intend on giving Alexis new cards!" said Jaden.

Atticus nodded, crossing his arms. "To be more precise, I intended on giving them to the Alexis we know and love, not that imposter! I knew that Elize would be in a bit of a disadvantage if she dueled with a deck that Alexis knew both in and out, so why not offer her the new cards? This wasn't how I intended them to be revealed, but this is an emergency, so I'll make an exception!"

"Still, will Elize be okay?" wondered Hassleberry. "That Cyber Angel may be new and all, but she looks pretty weak to me."

"Not to worry! Just wait, because I'm sure that Elize will unleash one of her special abilities soon!"

"When Cyber Tutubon is used for a Ritual Summon, I can add a Ritual Spell back from my Graveyard and into my hand! I choose Machine Angel Ritual!" announced Elize. "Next, I activate Natasha's effect! Once per turn, I can target a Monster I control, and I gain Life Points equal to half its Attack Points! I choose Natasha, and I gain 500 Life Points!"

Alexis - 3800 LP

Elize - 4500 LP

"Not bad, but she's going to have to do more than just gain more Life Points," stated Chazz.

"Oh, don't worry, there's more," assured Atticus confidently.

"I activate Cyber Gymnast's effect next!" continued Elize. "Now, once per turn, by discarding a card from my hand, I get to destroy 1 Monster you control in Attack Mode! I choose Snow Fairy!"

Alexis grunted as she witnessed her Snow Fairy get destroyed before her very eyes. With her Snow Fairy gone, that meant that Elize was free to use all the Spell cards she wanted from her hand, especially that Machine Angel Ritual card she got back.

"I end my turn!"

"Right...Elize doesn't have any Monsters to attack," said Atticus. "Sure, she's good on defense for now, but she doesn't have any offensive Monsters at the moment."

"While Alexis does," spoke Hassleberry. "It's almost like they're at a stalemate with each other!"

"My turn, draw!" said Alexis. "I summon Cold Sleeper in Attack Mode!"

Cold Sleeper - (WATER/Machine) - LV4 - (1100/800)

"Next, I discard 1 card from my hand in order to activate Cold Enchanter's effect!" Alexis said. "I target place 1 Ice Counter onto her, and for every Ice Counter on the field, she gains 300 extra Attack Points!"

Cold Enchanter - (WATER/Aqua) - LV4 - (1900/1200) x 1 Ice Counter

"That Cold Enchanter's just got enough power to destroy Elize's strongest defense!" shouted Hassleberry.

"So, Cold Sleeper will target that new Ritual Monster, and then Cold Enchanter takes the other Cyber Monster," said Syrus. "That's going to be a disaster! That means Elize won't have anymore Monsters defending her, then!"

"Attack, now!" Alexis shouted. "Cold Sleeper, finish off that Cyber Angel Natasha, now! Get that sight out of my face!"

Just as Cold Sleeper opened its hatch doors and was releasing a large amount of icy wind, Elize shouted, "I activate Cyber Angel Natasha's effect! If she's being targeted for an attack while I control another Cyber Angel Monster, then I can negate the attack!"

Having watched Cold Sleeper's attack having no effect on Natasha, Jaden realized that this could be played to Elize's advantage. "Oh! That's a really cool effect! Now, as long as Elize has at least one Cyber Angel Monster on her field, her Ritual Monster will still stay on the defensive!"

"And when that happens, she can continue healing herself each turn! Awesome!" praised Syrus.

"Tch-! So annoying-!" grunted Alexis. "Fine! Then, I use Cold Enchanter to attack Cyber Angel Gymnast!"

Cold Enchanter casted a blizzard spell onto Cyber Angel Gymnast, freezing her literally in place before wrecking her into pieces with a swing of her wand.

"It's fine! It's fine!" said Syrus, nearly panicking. "At least Alexis has no more Monsters to attack and Elize still has at least one Monster on the field!"

Alexis smirked. "You would think so, but I have another trick up my sleeves! I activate the Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted, and Special Summon back Snow Fairy to the field!"

Snow Fairy - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV4 - (1100/700)

"And since you don't have anymore Cyber Angel Monsters, your Ritual Monster can't activate her special defensive ability! Now, Snow Fairy, destroy Cyber Angel Natasha!"

Snow Fairy pointed a finger at the Ritual Monster and blasted a beam of ice at her, freezing her before the ice crumbled into multiple pieces.

"I suppose now would be a good time to end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" said Elize. "I activate the third effect of Cyber Angel Natasha! If she's in the Graveyard, I can banish 1 other Cyber Angel in my Graveyard, then target 1 Monster you control, Special Summon back Natasha to the field, and then, take control of the Monster I just targeted! I banish Tutubon, choose Cold Enchanter before Special Summoning back Cyber Angel Natasha in Defense Mode!"

Cold Enchanter - (WATER/Aqua) - LV4 - (1900/1200) x 1 Ice Counter

Cyber Angel Natasha - (LIGHT/Fairy/Ritual) - LV5 - (1000/1000)

"Whoa! Elize just turned the tables in one quick move!" praised Syrus.

Aster nodded. "Of course. That's what all the hard training I pushed her through did as a result."

"Now, I activate Natasha's effect!" shouted Elize. "I now target Cold Enchanter and gain Life Points equal to half of her Attack Points!"

Alexis - 3800 LP

Elize - 5450 LP

"Impressive, and now, with the extra Attack Point boost that Alexis had given to Cold Enchanter earlier, instead of serving her, it's now serving Elize," stated Atticus.

"Cold Enchanter, attack Snow Fairy, now!"

In a clash between two ice users, Cold Enchanter became the victor as her strength was much greater than Snow Fairy. The results were Snow Fairy transforming into an ice sculpture until Cold Enchanter knocked her down, shattering her ice sculpture-like form into pieces.

Alexis - 3000 LP

Elize - 5450 LP

"Now that your Battle Phase is over, it's time to activate Cold Sleeper's effect!" shouted Alexis. "When a Monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon back that Monster, but in exchange, I have to give up one of my Monster Zones for the rest of this duel, and that Monster can't change their battle position! I Special Summon Snow Fairy in Attack Mode!"

Snow Fairy - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV4 - (1100/700)

"Not again!" complained Syrus.

Knowing that there was probably nothing more she could do, Elize said, "I set a card facedown and end my turn!"

'Heh, I already know that card's definitely Machine Angel Ritual! Elize can't activate Spells from her hand so long as I've got Snow Fairy, after all! Her Monsters were annoying, but now, I'll get the upper hand again!' thought Alexis, drawing her card. "My turn! I activate the Spell, Icicle Sacrifice! I give up one of my Monster Zones in order to Special Summon an Icicle Token!"

Icicle Token - (WATER/Aqua/Token) - LV1 - (0/0)

"And here's something interesting that you might want to know! Icicle Token counts as two sacrifices for a Tribute Summon! I now sacrifice Icicle Token to Tribute Summon White Night Dragon!"

White Night Dragon - (WATER/Dragon) - LV8 - (3000/2500)

"Is that...her ace Monster?!" questioned Chazz. "That's a pretty powerful Monster!"

"Yup, and it looks like the tides are turning for Elize now!" said Hassleberry.

"Let me give you a full demonstration of White Night Dragon's power! I attack Cold Enchanter with him!"

Roaring while flapping his crystalized ice-like wings White Night Dragon released a beam of cold ice onto Cold Enchanter, who tried to counter with her own ice beam, only to be quickly overwhelmed and destroyed.

Alexis - 3000 LP

Elize - 4350 LP

"Cold Sleeper, wipe out that annoying Ritual Monster of hers!"

Not even Natasha's defense could save her from the icy attacks coming from Cold Sleeper.

"And now, Snow Fairy! Attack her directly!"

Snow Fairy used her ice powers to create a ball of ice before throwing it at Elize, hitting her on the head and knocking her on her back in pain. It was bad enough that the power of ice unleashed towards her Monsters sent a very cold atmosphere on Elize's side of the field, but now, Elize had taken direct damage as well, so she was both injured and shivering out of the coldness.

Alexis - 3000 LP

Elize - 3250 LP

"Now I set a card and end my turn! No Monsters, no Spells, no nothing! Tough break!" mocked Alexis.

"I draw!" said Elize. "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in Defense Mode!"

Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV4 - (1400/1000)

"And when he's summoned to the field, I can select 1 Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell card from my deck and add it to my hand! I choose Cyber Angel Izana! And then, I activate the Ritual Spell, Machine Angel Ritual! Now, I sacrifice from my hand Blade Skater, and on the field, Manju, in order to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Izana!"

Cyber Angel Izana - (LIGHT/Fairy/Ritual) - LV8 - (2500/2600)

"Another new Ritual Monster?!" exclaimed Alexis. "But, she still isn't enough to destroy my White Night Dragon!"

"Even so, she still has a special ability!" said Elize. "When she's Ritual Summoned, you have to send 1 Spell/Trap card you control to the Graveyard!"

"Damn you...Fine, I destroy my facedown card!" shouted Alexis, watching as her Set card was destroyed. "Are you happy now?!"

"Er...Yeah, I guess," Elize said. "Now, I attack Snow Fairy!"

Alexis smirked and shouted, "Be careful what you wish for! Now, I activate White Night Dragon's effect! When a Monster I control is targeted for an attack, I can send 1 Spell or Trap I control to the Graveyard, and change that target to White Night Dragon instead!"

"What?! Now, Elize can't stop her attack, and her most strongest Monster will be destroyed!" exclaimed Syrus.

Aster nodded. "Yeah, that's a pretty quick and cunning move of Alexis to pull off."

The Spell that Alexis chose to destroy was White Night Fort. As the pillars of ice forged from the spell crumbled into pieces and tremors shook the entire Duel Arena, the temperature in the air returned to normal, though still mildly cold due to some after-effects from White Night Fort freezing the entire Duel Arena. During that time, Izana re-directed her attack from Snow Fairy and aimed for a suicidal approach towards White Night Dragon, who took little effort to destroy the weaker Ritual Monster.

Alexis - 3000 LP

Elize - 2750 LP

"Crap! This means that Elize is completely defenseless, and if she doesn't pull some sort of miracle, I bet that Alexis is going to use her new ace Monster to wipe her out!" said Jaden, panicking.

"...I set a card and end my turn."

"My turn!" said Alexis, drawing her card. 'Things were unexpected as first, but I've managed to get back in the game! But, knowing Elize, she probably placed a very high-defensive Monster underneath. And I don't know what her facedown card is, but I suspect it may be a Trap. I've got a solution for both my problems, though. It'll cost me Snow Fairy, but that's a small price to pay!'

"I sacrifice both Snow Fairy and Cold Sleeper in order to Tribute Summon White Night Queen!"

White Night Queen - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV7 - (2100/800)

"And now, let me tell you White Night Queen's effect! Once per turn, she can destroy a Set card on the field!"

Realizing the implication, Elize acted quickly. "I activate Gift of The Mystical Elf! For every Monster on the field, I gain 300 extra Life Points! There's 3 in total, so I gain 900 extra Life Points!"

Alexis - 3000 LP

Elize - 3650 LP

"Tch! So you reacted quickly the second you heard White Night Queen's effect," tsked Alexis.

"I don't think I've seen Alexis ever put that card in her deck," commented Syrus. "Er...I do mean, her old, original deck, I mean."

Aster nodded. "Of course. You didn't seriously think that Elize used all of Alexis' original cards in that deck she has? No, she worked some cards out from her own deck and replaced some of Alexis' cards with her own, to make it a bit of an improvement and to throw Alexis off her game."

"That's good! That way, Alexis will have a little more less of a chance defeating El!" praised Atticus.

"It doesn't matter!" shouted Alexis. "Now I activate the Spell, Card of Sanctity, so both of us draw until we have six cards in our hands!" Once both players did so, Alexis' smirk grew when she noticed the one card she desired amongst the cards she drew. "Excellent! I now equip White Night Dragon with the Equip Spell card, White Veil!"

"Oh, no! Not that card!" cried out Syrus.

"That card's just plain nasty evil!" said Hassleberry. "It caused so much trouble, after all! And it even came from Sartorius, of all people!"

"Not only that, but White Veil makes it so that whenever a Monster equipped with it attacks, White Veil destroys and negates any and all of the opponents' Spells/Traps," reminded Aster. "Things just got a whole lot tougher for Elize."

"White Night Queen, take out her remaining Monster!"

Casting her cape out of the way, White Night Queen summoned forth a gust of icy hail that froze Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, literally shattering through the last of Elize's defenses.

"Now, White Night Dragon! Unleash your full power onto that bitch!" yelled Alexis, wearing a sadistic grin on her face.

White Night Dragon soared high in the air, took a few seconds to charge up his full power, and then blasted Elize with a dragon's breath consisting of a tornado-like blizzard. When everything cleared, Elize was down on her knees, shivering with some ice and mostly snow on her frail, small body.

Alexis - 3000 LP

Elize - 650 LP

"I end my turn!"

"M-My turn...draw!" Elize drew her card and knew she had a chance to turn things around. "I activate the Spell, Giant Trunade! That means that all Spells and Traps on the field have to return to the hand! That includes your White Veil!"

"Grrr…! You bitch!" growled Alexis, forced to return her sacred card after disrobing her White Night Dragon of such a prestigious card.

"I now activate Exchange!" said Elize. "Alexis, let's exchange hands! I mean, we have to show our hands and we both select 1 card from the other's hand and add them to our own!"

"Oh! I get why she did that!" said Syrus, watching the two girls walk towards each other to exchange their cards. "Since Elize just forced Alexis to return White Veil to her hand, maybe she'll take it from her!"

Aster nodded. "Right on. I discussed this with Elize beforehand and we concluded that one of the ways to take away White Veil would be a combo of both Giant Trunade and White Veil. Glad to see she's taking advantage of this strategy."

Elize revealed her hand first to Alexis, who peered at the choice of cards. 'I don't even recognize some of these cards anyways, but I should take one random card anyways, since it doesn't matter. Hmm...I suppose I'll take this one!'

After Alexis took her card, she reluctantly revealed her hand to Elize, giving her a good look at what cards she had. Right as Elize was about to select one and stretched her arm out, Alexis suddenly grabbed her wrist and squeezed tightly, causing Elize to cry out in pain.

"A-Alexis-! You're hurting m-Ack!" squeaked Elize, trying to pry her wrist away from Alexis' tight grip.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Jaden, standing up.

"Crap! Is she allowed to do that?!" wondered Hassleberry.

"The rules never said that the opponent can never physically assault the other opponent, but it's an unspoken rule that nobody should!" said Aster.

"Listen to me, you little bitch," scowled Alexis, bringing Elize closer to her. "If you even DARE choose what I think you're about to choose, you won't just suffer from a humiliating defeat...I'll make sure it hurts far worst than any other pain you've experience...Got it?"

"I...I...I'm sorry, Atticus!"

Atticus's concern for Elize and anger towards Alexis quickly changed into confusion. "Huh? What are you sorry fo-?"

As hard as she could, although she tried as gently as well to avoid anymore physical damage, Elize kicked at Alexis' shin. This surprise attack stunned Alexis and caused her to hiss in pain, loosening her grip on Elize and allowing the red hat girl to swipe the White Veil card away. Realizing what she had done, just as Elize was turning around and trying to run back to her side of the side as quickly as possible, Alexis grabbed a handful of Elize's long hair, yanking her back harshly before twisting her wrist behind her back and-

CRACK.

The sound of Elize's wrist snapped in half brought silence to the entire Duel Arena. The next sound that came afterwards was the sound of Elize screaming at the top of her lungs from the pain of her broken wrist after being bended and twisted by Alexis.

Jaden was the first to spring to action and hurry down to try and stop Alexis, with the others snapping out of their shock and horror to help Jaden out. Unfortunately, their way was blocked by several Society of Light members who may have predicted that Elize's friends would try and stop their lieutenant from "showing the light" to a non-believer.

"Move! Get out of our way!" yelled Hassleberry; his eyes changing to dinosaur slits as he tried shoving several members away, only to be pinned down by some more.

"Forget it, these guys aren't going to move no matter what and we're completely outnumbered, anyways," said Aster. "But...I do have to admit, the current situation is messed up..."

Atticus continued persisting, trying to bypass the Society members who continuously pushed and pulled him away from the dueling platform. "ALEXIS! How could you?! How could you do such a horrible thing! Remember! Elize is your friend! She-"

"She is an annoying little bitch who's constantly getting on my nerves!" yelled Alexis, throwing Elize aside, causing her to fall facedown roughly with a shaky arm that had a broken wrist. "Always whining! Always telling me off! Always trying to tell me that I'm 'friends' with her and that I should return to normal! Hmph! As if I could be friends with a brat like her!" To add more fuel to the fire, or in this case, increase more pain for Elize, Alexis stomped hard on Elize's now-swelling and bruised wrist, making her cry in pain.

"Stop it!" yelled Jaden.

"Alexis! Snap out of it! This isn't you!" called out Chazz. "Listen to the sound of my voice! I know that if you hear me, and believe hard enough, then our love-"

"For Pete's sake, would you knock it off with the whole love ordeal thing?! Alexis doesn't even like you that way!" hollered Syrus. "And besides, now's isn't the time to discuss about your love fantasies when there's something else more important going on!"

Trying to get back up and enduring the pain, Elize turned her head to face Alexis with a hurt expression. "A-Alexis, this isn't y-AAAH!"

This time, Alexis delivered a swift and sharp kick to her abdomen, making her cough. A twisted, disgusted and angered expression didn't suit the true Alexis, but then again, this wasn't the real Alexis taking control. She continued cruelly kicking and stomping on Elize's already fallen, defenseless, and petite body while angrily spouting out her frustration towards Elize.

"You're useless!" KICK! "Pathetic!" KICK! "WEAK!" STOMP! "You're nothing but a constant nuisance to everyone around you! A burden who's just a waste in air!" STOMP! Alexis then reached out and pulled Elize up by her hair, gripping it harshly as her hat floated to the ground. Both girls were face-to-face with each other and Alexis enjoyed the pained and hurt look on Elize's face as tears streamed from her eyes; tears coming from Alexis' harsh words and the pain of her broken wrist.

Meanwhile, with the Society of Light members constantly blocking every single pathway, the boys were forced to sit back down on their seats. It goes without saying that it was quite painful for them to witness such a heartbreaking scene before them as they felt sympathy towards Elize and anger towards Alexis for making her suffer.

"El...I wonder if she's going to be alright..." muttered Atticus.

"She just got her wrist broken and she's being insulted by one of her closest friends. Does that sound like she's going to be alright?" questioned Aster.

Syrus said, "When you put it like that, not really, but..."

Alexis's face bore a sadistic smirk as she leaned in and loudly announced, "And do you want to know a rather interesting thing? I heard that you had fallen ill after being defeated by Master Sartorius. Of course, nobody could beat him, especially a pathetic weakling like yourself. But, while you were bedridden, your friends came over and practically begged me to visit you."

Realizing what Alexis intended to do, Jaden shouted, "Wait, Alexis! Stop!"

Hassleberry and Syrus caught on what Alexis was going to say next. "She doesn't need to hear that! Quit it!"

Ignoring them, Alexis continued with her next set of sickly-honeysweet words. "But do you know what I said to their response? I said that maybe your sickness would be a huge favor to all of us and do you in."

At that moment, it was as though the last bit of willpower was snuffed out from within Elize as her head and shoulders drooped. The only signs of her body being active were tears still dripping down to the floor beneath, her quivering body, and the small whimpers escaping her lips, though small sounds indicate her trying to hold them back.

"Elly..." spoke Jaden softly before glaring at Alexis. "Damnit, Alexis...!"

"She really did say that?!" exclaimed Atticus, horrified.

"Yeah...unfortunately," admitted Hassleberry.

Elize tried. She really did. All this time, while Alexis was forcibly selected to be a part of the Society of Light and brainwashed, she did try everything she could to convince her to come back. Talking to her, though, always led to backlashes. Really hurtful and painful backlashes, but nothing this extreme. Nothing this...violent. And worse, hearing Alexis claiming that she wished her dead...was the final catalyst that utterly shattered her heart from all the cracks created from the hurt and suffering Elize faced while dealing with the whole Society of Light business. The cracks created from the conflict between her and her "former friends," the Bastion business, and so much more that shattered her heartbroken heart.

Something snapped inside Elize: an unknown force.

Alexis continued ranting on, "Awwww, you're crying? Guess we should list 'crybaby' to the number of failures you've beco-"

Suddenly, Elize swiftly smashed her free fist against Alexis' throat. It may not have held the same amount of force that Alexis enforced when she twisted and broke her wrist, but it was enough to force Alexis to release her and fall on her bottom, coughing for air from the sudden assault. Elize silently stood up straight, not bothering to pick up her hat from the ground.

"You-!" coughed Alexis, rubbing her throat. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for a surprise assault from this pathetic weakling-TWICE! "How dare-?!"

"Shut up, scum."

A harsh and sharp retort from Elize shocked everyone. Never have they heard her utter such words. Well, it can certainly be argued that she could have spoken harshly and with reason at Jaden and his friends whenever they misbehaved and did something foolish, such as with the Bastion incident and keeping the satellite cannon information for themselves, but this was something entirely new.

Because kind, sweet, and shy little Elize would never behave this way.

Alexis looked up and was about to yell at Elize only to froze completely. All Elize had to do was lift her head, and her red eyes would come into contact with Alexis' blank ones. Only, Alexis' blank and cold eyes were now filled with dreadful fear, as though the Society of Light lieutenant's instincts were screaming at her that right now, the most fearful thing she was facing was Elize herself.

And perhaps those instincts rang true.

'W-What is this...?' thought Alexis. 'A-Am I afraid...? Me?! Master Sartorius' right-hand woman?! No, I can't be afraid! Not to this disgusting weakling! But...her eyes feel like they're piercing my soul, and I feel something incredibly strange and dark about her...Wait...weren't her eyes green? Were they normally...red?'

"If you're done being an annoying chatterbox, then hurry up and get on your feet so that we can continue this duel," spoke Elize; her words still as harsh as her first set. "Otherwise, you'll be seen as nothing but a pathetically loyal dog that's all bark but no bite."

Recovering her voice, Alexis glared at her. "I'm no bark and-Are you walking away while I'm talking to you?!"

"Wow, way to state the obvious. You must be really slow to pick up on that," Elize commented insultingly, returning to her side of the field. She hissed in pain from her still-broken wrist swelling and bruising. "You better hurry up and return to your field! I want to make you pay for damaging this body of mine!"

"W-What's going on...?" wondered Syrus, watching Alexis head back to her side of the field.

"I'm...I'm just as confused as you are, Sy," admitted Hassleberry. "First, Alexis assaulted Elize, then suddenly, she's...assaulting her? What's going on?"

Aster narrowed his eyes, deciding to examine the situation for now even though he's wondering why the sudden change in Elize's attitude. He felt something off with her just now, and that off feeling was still continuing. Jaden and Chazz both felt the same way but chose not to comment on it for the time being.

"Now then, I believe it's still my turn. And, I still haven't attacked, which is good for me," said Elize, now bearing a sadistic expression on her face.

"Attack? Hmph, you have no Monsters on the field, if I recall!" pointed out Alexis.

"True...for now," promised Elize before looking over her cards. "I activate the Spell, Merciful Machine Angel! By Tributing a Cyber Angel Monster from my field or hand, I get to draw 2 cards! I'll happily get rid of Cyber Angel Benten from my hand and draw 2 cards! Now, I have to place 1 card from my deck to the bottom of this deck, a small price to pay! Plus, for the rest of this turn, I can't Special Summon anymore Monsters except for Ritual Monsters, which isn't so much as a problem for me at all!"

Alexis gritted her teeth. 'Just how many new Cyber Angel cards did she acquire? And just what kind of new Ritual Monsters will she pull off this time?!'

"How interesting!" said Elize. "I'm not a huge fan of LIGHT Attribute decks, but I'm willing to make an exception just this once! I activate the Ritual Spell, Machine Angel Absolute Ritual! I can Tribute Monsters from my hand or field, or shuffle Cyber Monsters from my Graveyard back to the deck whose total Levels equal the level of the Ritual Monster I choose to summon!"

"Oh! So, that's the difference between this card and that other Machine Angel Ritual Spell Elize had!" said Syrus.

"Yeah, only it seems that this Spell that Elize just played was much better," commented Aster, still suspicious of Elize, especially with the unusual sadistic smirk on her face.

"I'll toss out the useless Level 6 Benten and Level 4 Gymnast in order to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Vrash!" announced Elize proudly, throwing her arms up in the air.

Cyber Angel Vrash - (LIGHT/Fairy/Ritual) - LV10 - (3000/2000)

"Another new Cyber Angel?! And so powerful, too!" said Hassleberry.

"Yup! That's actually supposed to be Alexis' most powerful Ritual Monster, and possibly her newest ace Monster," said Atticus, nodding.

Alexis wasn't worried, though she did still consider Vrash as a primary threat. "So what? You might be able to defeat my White Night Queen with your newest Monster, but you still have my White Night Dragon to deal with afterwards!"

"Oh, don't you forget your cunty little head about that," assured Elize.

Shocked at the insult thrown at her, Alexis shouted, "Excuse me?!"

"You're excused," scoffed Elize. "Now, shut your mouth and let me continue. I activate the Spell, Pre-Preparation of Rites! I now add a new Ritual Spell along with a Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand! I select another Machine Angel Absolute Ritual along with Cyber Angel Dakini! I'll shuffle Cyber Angel Izana back from my Graveyard to my deck in order to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Dakini!"

Cyber Angel Dakini- (LIGHT/Fairy/Ritual) - LV8 - (2700/2400)

Alexis' eyes popped open. "Oh, no! Not her!"

"Oh, that's right...this was your deck, so naturally, you're best at knowing everything about it. Well, almost everything," taunted Elize. "So, I'm sure you can guess what happens next, right? When Dakini is Special Summoned, you have no choice but to select and destroy one of your Monsters. So, which is it? Your Queen or Dragon?"

Scowling, Alexis spoke up. "I'll get rid of my White Night Queen!"

With White Night Queen's destruction, Elize continued her turn, starting by holding up and revealing White Veil right between her fingers. "You know, I could just equip this onto one of my Monsters. You know, just to make your life miserable and piss you off."

"Grrr…!"

"But, no. I'm not going to. And do you want to know why?"

"Enlighten me," growled Alexis.

"Simple. Besides the fact that the situation doesn't call for it, I find it pretty pathetic of you relying on another deck given to you instead of you overcoming your obstacles with your own deck. I mean, can you imagine all this power that you missed simply because you thought this deck was weak?" stated Elize. "You show off this entire Ice Queen persona, but now, in mere seconds, I've got you all fired up and mad all because I said a few, simple, harmless insults."

"You called me a cunt earlier, you bitch!"

"Ah, ah, ah! There, you see? Way to lose your cool. I mean, I can lose my cool too, but not that quickly. But I think I've said enough to prove my point," Elize said. "I attack White Night Dragon with Vrash!"

"What?! But that'll mean that both Monsters will be taken out, since they share the same Attack Points!" cried out Syrus.

"I think that's what Elize is aiming for, Sy," said Atticus, frowning. "That way, once White Night Dragon is gone, all that'll remain is Dakini, and Alexis' field will be wide open."

"But not enough to take down the rest of Alexis' Life Points," stated Aster.

Vrash's four arms were brought together to concentrate on a single, powerful beam of light powered up by the giant gear attached to her back. Once the giant gear was alit with luminous light, Vrash unleashed her beam of light that bypassed White Night Dragon's own concentrated beam of ice. Both Monsters were struck at the same time; Vrash frozen in place from the beam of ice, while White Night Dragon was pierced by the beam of light.

"All alone with no Monsters or any facedowns left. How unfortunate for you!" taunted Elize. "Cyber Angel Dakini! Take off her head with a direct attack!"

Like the rest of Alexis' original Monsters, Dakini was amongst the ones who immediately noticed that Elize wasn't acting like herself. So, to hear such a cruel command from her was shocking, but Dakini was forced to comply by her temporary master's commands. Dakini charged towards Alexis, and using every ounce of willpower she had, slashed at her arm, only giving her true, brainwashed owner a cut on her arm before returning back to Elize's side of the field.

Alexis - 300 LP

Elize - 650 LP

"Gah!" screamed Alexis, falling on one knee and clutching her arm, which was dripping blood from the cut she received. "W-What?! That attack...was real?"

Dakini was relieved that she mustered up enough willpower to not harm her true master too much, but felt an incredible amount of pain as a dark aura filled her body. She let out a voiceless cry of pain, falling to her knees and only standing back up thanks to the aid of her weapons.

Elize, being the culprit behind Alexis' sudden injury and harming her Monster through some form of darkness, sternly told Dakini, "I thought I told you to take off her head, not cut her arm! If anything, you should have sliced her arm off to compensate for the hellish pain my broken wrist is going through!" Releasing her magical grasp on Dakini, Elize sighed and frowned. "Well, I guess it wouldn't matter." A sadistic grin formed on her face suddenly. "After all, I'm not quite finished with her anyways, as long as her Life Points are still there."

"W-What?! Alexis is bleeding, pretty badly!" pointed out Syrus.

"Where did that come from?" questioned Aster, startled. "At best, she should have been thrown back, not actually get an actual slash on the arm!"

"It's almost like...a Shadow Game!" muttered Chazz.

"Oh, yeah! Shadow Games always has the damage being real, but why now? The other attacks from the earlier turns didn't do much!" said Aster.

"Uh, did you forget about Elize nearly freezing to death from that one blast?" reminded Hassleberry.

"Oh, right." 'But still, what is happening?' Atticus thought. 'I thought something was off with Elize, and now, she's acting really strange! It's like her entire personality has changed from earlier! What is going on?'

"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn!" said Elize. "Now, show me what you've got!"

"My turn, draw!" Alexis now wanted to make Elize pay more than ever, which was why she was fully prepared for the next assault. "I activate the Spell, Monster Reborn, to revive my White Night Dragon back on the field!"

White Night Dragon - (WATER/Dragon) - LV8 - (3000/2500)

"Not again!" complained Syrus.

"Now it's time for some payback! Attack Dakini, White Night Dragon!"

White Night Dragon unleashed another beam of ice from within his icy jaws, taking out Dakini despite her best efforts to put up a defensive barrier from twirling her weapons in front of herself.

Alexis - 300 LP

Elize - 350 LP

"Nice breeze," commented Elize, having compared to White Night Dragon's icy breath as nothing more than a fluttering breeze to her. "You done?"

Alexis looked down at her hand and decided to use the card she took from Elize's hand during the Exchange event. "Not quite! I activate the Spell, Silent Doom! I now Special Summon Snow Fairy in Defense Mode!"

Snow Fairy - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV4 - (1100/700)

"Now, I end my turn! Now, with Snow Fairy, you can't use any Spells from your hand, so that means you can't Ritual Summon anymore this turn!"

Elize smirked darkly as she drew her card. "Please, did you seriously think I wouldn't come up with a counter plan? I knew you would try and revive Snow Fairy the second you took my Silent Doom card. It was inevitable, after all, which is why I activate this Trap, Divine Wrath! By discarding a card, I can negate the activation of an Effect Monster and then destroy it! I'll give you three guesses as to which card I just discarded!~"

Alexis' eyes widened before narrowing as she gritted her teeth. "You...I didn't think you'd be cruel enough to discard that sacred card belonging to the Society of Light!"

Feigning astonishment, Elize gasped. "I'm cruel? You broke my wrist, which still hurts like hell, by the way, you kick and stomp on my poor body, and you insulted me more times than I can count, and I'm the cruel one?" Her astonished face faded away with an irritated look. "What a disgusting hypocrite you are. Now bare witness to your annoying Snow Fairy's destruction!"

A jolt of thunder crashed down from above and struck Snow Fairy, destroying her as a result.

"Damnit, my Snow Fairy!" cursed Alexis.

"We really are both cursing up a storm this duel, aren't we?" acknowledged Elize, grinning. "But enough talk! I activate Pot of Greed, which'll allow me to draw two new cards!" Placing two fingers to the top of her deck, Elize watched as darkness filled the deck, waiting for her power to overtake the deck. "And I'm going to guess that one of the new cards will get me one of my best Monsters, Paras-!"

Suddenly, a new force overwhelmed Elize and she gripped both sides of her head, grunting in pain. Falling to her knees and trembling, Elize panted and hissed before she planted her head against the floor. The aura of darkness filling her deck suddenly vanished in an instant, and the force overwhelming Elize vanished. Her red eyes then changed back to their normal, forest-green colored eyes that held the kindness and innocence behind them.

"W-What...? Ugh...my head hurts so much..." groaned Elize, standing back up and clutching her forehead. "What happened...?"

A little taken aback by Elize's strange behavior, Alexis decided not to show anymore weakness by shouting, "What are you doing?! Hurry up and draw your two cards! Quit acting like a fool!"

"Alexis...?" Elize gasped when she saw blood dripping down her arm. "Alexis! Oh no, are you alright?! You're hurt! Bleeding! What happened?!"

"Are you serious?! Quit acting like you didn't do this! I swear to the light, I will make you suffer for this!" cursed Alexis. "You don't deserve to bask in the light that Master Sartorius will provide us!"

"What are you talking about?! No, that's not important! You're bleeding! How?!"

Elize's sudden attitude change brought much confusion to the boys. Like, just earlier, she was acting so rude, so full of negativity, but now? It was like nothing had happened and that she had forgotten her previous attitude and insulting personality. Just what was going on?

"Elly!" called out Atticus. "We can talk more later! But right now, focus on the duel! You just activate Pot of Greed, so go ahead and draw your two cards!"

"H-Huh? Oh, okay..." Elize drew her two new cards and was surprised to find Swing of Memories amongst them. "I activate the Spell, Swing of Memories! With this, I can Special Summon a Normal Monster to the field from my Graveyard, but at the end of this turn, I have to destroy it! I Special Summon Blade Skater!"

Blade Skater - (EARTH/Warrior) - LV4 - (1400/1500)

"Next, I activate the Spell, Polymerization from my hand! I fuse together Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber in order to Fusion Summon Cyber Blader!"

Cyber Blader - (EARTH/Warrior/Fusion) - LV7 - (2100/800)

Alexis merely smirked. "Ha! Is that it? You and I both know that that lousy Monster is nowhere near as powerful as my White Night Dragon!"

"Alexis, please remember! This was your ace Monster! And the card I used earlier, Swing of Memories, is a card you and your brother shared from your childhood memories! Don't you have at least any little bit of feeling towards them?" called out Elize.

"Yes. Irritation. Irritation that you keep trying to convince me of someone I'm not!" yelled Alexis. "I am me! No one else! This me is the true Alexis! The one who has become one with the light! To serve the light under Master Sartorius! So stop wasting your time convincing me otherwise!"

Elize knew that there was only one option left; to see this duel through. "Alright, fine! I activate the Spell, The Shallow Grave! This allows both of us to Special Summon a Monster from our Graveyards and set it in facedown Defense Mode!"

"What's she planning?" wondered Syrus.

Aster quickly figured it out and smirked. "Nice move, Elize. Now, finish off Alexis!"

"Wait, but how?! Cyber Blader is still weaker!"

"For now, that is."

"Why go through all that trouble? You just gave me another advantage I could use in my next turn!" said Alexis.

"Alexis...for you to forget even your own ace Monster's effects...That just goes to show how much more desperately I need to bring you back!" said Elize. "I activate Cyber Blader's effect! When you control only 2 Monsters, her Attack Points double!"

Cyber Blader - (EARTH/Warrior/Fusion) - LV7 - (4200/800)

"Cyber Blader, it's time to end this and return your true master back to her original self! Attack White Night Dragon!"

Shimmering with an aura of light with a protective coating of the earth element, Cyber Blader skated forth, dodging icy blasts from White Night Dragon before leaping and somersaulting high in the air. Raising her razor sharp foot, Cyber Blade slashed in a wheel-like formation, slashing at White Night Dragon before landing gracefully with the fallen Dragon-Type's body collapsing.

Alexis - 0 LP

Elize - 350 LP

Winner: Elize

Alexis screamed in agonizing pain, gripping the sides of her head as the brainwashing effect placed on her by the Society of Light faded away. The pain of banishment of the brainwashing caused Alexis to go unconscious and fall on her side, almost in a sleeping position.

"Ale-" Elize was about to reach out and go after Alexis only for the pain of her broke wrist to worsen, causing her to winch and instinctively grip her wrist. A sharp pain entered her mind and body, making her fall down and curl up, panting in pain. Somehow, the pain in her mind was much worse than the pain coursing around her wrist.

'I can't breath! I can't breath! I can't breath! What's happening with me?! I-I didn't realize a broken wrist would involve problems with breathing!' thought Elize, gripping her chest and laying on her side, trying to stay focused. She could barely hear the background noises before she felt sleepiness invade her mind and darkness entering her eyesight.

Skit: Aftermath Part 1

"...And that's about it."

Aster had finished explaining the events that occurred during Elize's duel with Alexis while Elize was sitting in the infirmary bed with a cast around her arm and bandages around her broken wrist. Apparently, she had fallen asleep for about a day, having fallen unconscious during that time. When the duel ended, she and Alexis were carried to the infirmary where Miss Fontaine treated them. Alexis was in the other side of the room, asleep with a bandage on her arm, but more likely to recover faster than Elize, as Elize not only had a broken wrist, but a high fever as well.

Elize stared at her friends in disbelief. Sure, she may have not remembered everything that happened during her duel with Alexis, but to think she acted so...horrible and violent was unthinkable, even for her! But then again, none of her friends would lie about something this serious, especially Aster, as she knew him to be someone who wouldn't lie without good reason.

"I...did those things?"

Atticus nodded. "Yeah. I guess that after you defeated Alexis, the brainwashing left Alexis' mind but she fell unconscious like you did. I don't know why you fell unconscious, too, though."

"I heard from Miss Fontaine that sometimes, a broken wrist can create a fever," stated Jaden. "Maybe that's why?"

"Yeah, it would make sense, since you were burning up a lot," agreed Syrus.

Elize glanced over to the still-sleeping Alexis. "Is...Alexis going to be alright?"

"She should. At worst, all she got was that bloody cut on her arm," said Hassleberry.

"Elly, what happened?" asked Atticus. "What was with the sudden attitude change? And how did you managed to hurt Alexis? That duel wasn't a Shadow Game, so you shouldn't have dealt any damage to her at all!"

"I have a theory," stated Aster. "From what you've told me about these Shadow Games, I think that duels involving brainwashed Society members, especially really powerful duelists, take some form of a Shadow Game. Maybe, in this case, a Light Game?"

"Well, sometimes, when I dueled some Society members, especially Chazz, I got hit with some damage too, so that could be it," said Jaden.

"But, I didn't mean to hurt Alexis! At least, I didn't want to hurt her either!" said Elize.

"I know," agreed Atticus. "But something was wrong with you during that duel, Elize. I can't explain it, but it was like...something took over you, kinda like with Nightshroud, but...at the same time, not like him. I dunno, but I can tell that that wasn't you, Elize. You would never want to harm Alexis like that."

"How can you be sure?" asked Aster. "Hey, I don't know too much about her relationship with Alexis, but I've seen a lot of petty duels where two people are supposedly friends but they actually hate or are jealous at each other, enough to want to harm the other."

"I'm positive. I've seen Elly's relationship with my sister, and they're as close as sisters. She would never harm Alexis."

"But what about all those threats and insults she told Alexis?" asked Syrus. "Even if Alexis was brainwashed, to say those things..."

"I don't really remember, but if I was out of it and said those things, I have to apologize to Alexis as soon as she wakes up," admitted Elize, looking over to Alexis. "But I swear, I would never say those awful things to her."

"Yeah," said Chazz. "You did call her a lot of awful things that I never imagined you would have said."

"Excuse me?" Miss Fontaine entered the room, announcing, "Visiting hours are over, so I'm going to kindly ask you all to leave for now."

As everyone scrambled to leave, Atticus glanced over to Elize one more time and told her, "Elly...I don't know exactly what happened during that duel, but regardless, thank you so much for returning Alexis back to normal. Oh, and those mean things she said? Just remember that it really wasn't her who said those things. She would never say those kinds of things to you, so in turn, I don't believe those horrible things you said to Alexis were genuine, either."

With that, Atticus left Elize alone to ponder in her own thoughts. She was happy that she wont he duel and returned Alexis back to normal, but now...a new discovery just led her to more and more questions.

Skit: Aftermath Part 2

"What. Happened?"

Cyber Blader, along with the rest of Alexis' Monsters minus the new Monsters recently placed in Alexis' deck, were glaring at Elize's other Monsters. They were still stunned and trying to get over what had happened halfway throughout the duel between their owners, but they knew that the best source of knowing more about Elize's powers was through her teachers, Elize's own Monsters.

Doriado spoke up. "It wasn't supposed to happen that way-"

"Then, pray, tell me. What happened? Spill," demanded Cyber Blader. "You cannot tell us that what happened was something out of your knowledge! We have every right to know because we're Alexis' Duel Monsters! That was our owner, our brainwashed owner, that we just went up against, and then suddenly, something unexpected happened that shouldn't have happened!"

"If I hadn't held back, I would have been forced to lop off Alexis' head for certain!" added Dakini. "And then the price to pay for disobedience...I never felt such pain from such a dark force before! That kind of thing is abnormal, and I've never seen Elize display that sort of power before!"

Hiita spoke up harshly. "Did you ever think that maybe, it was Elize's own doing that made her hurt your owner? Instead of shifting the blame to us? That maybe she's to blame instead of us?"

"Hiita! What are you saying?" asked Wynn, shocked.

"We already know Elize would never harm anyone like that!" agreed Lyna.

"Hiita, just stay quiet for the rest of this talk," told Aussa sternly, causing Hiita to scowl at her.

"First off," started Cyber Blader. "When Elize had...'changed,' I never felt a much strong dark force taking over both her and the deck, as though we were forced to submit. Something happened to Elize during the duel that you're all trying to avoid telling us! And if you don't tell us right now, we'll go straight to Elize and tell her about this sort of experience!"

"There's no need for that," assured Doriado. "What I can tell you, we haven't told Elize yet, but we will eventually. This dark force you all experienced, it was never supposed to come out from within Elize's heart, within her soul, in fact. You could said it's a negative...side-effect to all of the powers Elize currently has. We have sealed it away for now, but its power grows everyday as Elize grows older, and we cannot keep it sealed forever."

"But today, that dark force did come out! Why?" questioned Cyber Gymnast.

"Another thing that'll increase the dark force's power is through...negative emotions. We have tried to keep Elize happy and less lonely not just for her own happiness, but also to suppress this dark force. If she experiences sorrow, anger, and much worst, then the seal will be weakened. Today, that happened when your owner broke our master's wrist and said the most foul, vilest things ever said to her. That broke Elize enough for the seal to be weakened so that that dark force could take over. It did take some time, but we managed to patch up the seal and put the dark force back before anything worse happened. Today, you only bore witness to a small taste of that dark force's power, but that force was far from done."

"I didn't realize that Elize held a very dark power within!" said Cyber Tutu.

"Why don't you just tell Elize about this power? You could help her contain it!" replied Blade Skater.

Doriado shook her head. "Telling her would only risk the dark force from breaking free and permanently taking control of Elize in desperation. We know of a very...secret method to erase this dark force but it takes an absurd amount of time and magic to gather over the years. We thought that once we did this, she would never have to know. But rest assured that the seal right now is even more powerful than ever, but unfortunately, it'll take even more time to collect the amount of magic to execute our plan."

"...Fine," sighed Blade Skater. "But you know, the reason why we entrusted the deck into Elize's hands was because she's a very kind individual who would never abuse our powers and because she was very close to Alexis. We've witnessed how close they've become and have grown to trust her as well. But, I can sense that your trust in Elize is dwindling, while hers only grows stronger as time passes. Whatever this plan of yours is...I hope it's worth it."

Once the Cyber Girls and Cyber Angels left, Wynn asked Doriado, "Is she right? I mean, we'll finally get rid of this evil force once the time comes, but-"

"Everything will be fine, Wynn. We just...need time."

"What about when Elize starts asking questions? Because I'm pretty sure that she's going to start asking questions especially after what happened recently," informed Dharc.

"We cannot risk that dark force from taking over, so it's best to keep her in the dark and hopefully, everything will be made clear."

"But...we are going to tell her the truth, right?" asked Lyna, worried.

"The truth...you could say that."

Finished! Wow, I didn't expect this long of a chapter, but that just goes to show how much I enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the abnormal parts during the duel!

Yes, more information about the mysterious thing within Elize has been confirmed! Unfortunately, it'll be the only appearance during this season, but I can't say the same for the next season, where more information will be revealed, so you could say that this is building up for something!

Read and review!