Welcome back everyone.

It has been a long seven month hiatus, but I am not dead and this series is not over. We return in our adventure to the Phoenix Guardsmen who left to gather their allies in Xyz. What will they find there, and what enemies await them? Thank you all for your patience as you awaited this next chapter. Without further ado, enjoy.

Part 1: Chapter 13 – Shadow of the Ravager (Part 2)

Xyz Dimension

"Did you hear something?"

Fang leaned back harder against the ruined wall of the stone building he was hiding behind when he heard the voice of the Academia patrol officer. The good news was that he would soon be leaving the accursed ghost-filled city with the valuable supplies he had gathered for both himself and a fellow Xyz survivor, Lee. The bad news was, that as he neared the city limits, the Academia quarantine patrols would grow thicker, with dozens upon dozens of soldiers looking for a chance to either collect on a bounty or receive a promotion.

Fang, however, had been fighting Academia for a long time now, both for his own survival and the survival of literally dozens of others who looked up to him as a leader. As a professional duelist, many had hoped his skills would protect them from the encroaching enemy who had so quickly overwhelmed the defenses of the entire world. He had organized his own branch of the resistance, and they had begun their own guerilla war against Academia in the hopes that the occupying forces would eventually give up after a consecutive stream of sabotage missions and ambushes.

They had failed.

After so many months of enduring loss after loss after loss, the war had taught Fang one lesson: Give up on beating them. It's impossible. The only victory you can win now is surviving.

And that was precisely what Fang was determined to do, at any cost.

Fang waited for what seemed like an eternity as the patrol swept through the nearby buildings with their powerful flashlights, necessary tools thanks to the thick layers of smog that had blocked out the sun over the ruined city since General Tarleton's genocidal campaign. After several heartbeats, one of the soldiers, a Slifer Red, turned to his Ra Yellow team leader.

"Do you think it was one of the ghosts?" the Slifer Red soldier trembled.

"Shut up!" the Ra leader hissed. "I already told you before. Those things don't exist. The only thing we have to worry about is Xyz scum scrambling out of the containment zone."

"But I saw one of them!" the Slifer soldier protested.

"What you saw was a holographic trick those Xyz scum have been trying to use to scare us. And unless you want to be court-marshalled, I suggest you never bring it up again!"

Fang felt the gashes that had torn open his left leg and hip. If only those ghosts really were fake.

After a few more heartbeats, the Ra leader finally motioned for the soldiers under his command to leave.

"We've been here all night. Let's head back to camp." He grumbled. "I hate this city more every day."

"Won't we be returning early?" one of the soldiers asked. "What if Commander Jorq finds out? He's bad enough to be around when he's in a good mood! My arms and legs can't handle any more forced drills!"

"I don't want to be on the receiving end of his temper." Another soldier agreed. "Did you hear he sent another squad on a forced retrieval mission against Kaito!? We could be next!"

The Ra leader seemed to consider this.

"We'll take the long way back." The Ra leader replied. "He'll never know."

"I don't know, Kurtis." One of the soldiers replied. "He's caught everything before. It's like you can't hide anything from him!"

"Jorq can get carded for all I care!" the Ra leader snarled before a knowing smile crept over his face, "And in just a little bit, he might someone might do us that favor."

"What do you mean?" one of the soldiers asked.

"I've been hearing some things from the Obelisk Force." The Ra leader explained. "Let's just say that we might soon be under someone else's command before too long."

"Are we getting transferred?"

"Only if we choose the right side." The Ra leader whispered before motioning for the others to follow him.

Fang listened to the conversation with little interest. Such cut-throat shifts in power were fairly commonplace and made little difference in the end. Even if dozens of cruel and ruthless Academia leaders were taken down, they would just be replaced the next day with even crueler and more ruthless leaders who would continue their genocidal war against Fang's world. Hoping for some kind of destabilization of Academia's chain-of-command was foolhardy. All that mattered to Fang now was waiting for the soldiers to get far enough away for him to exit the city limits with his supplies and live for another week.

When the coast was clear, Fang took the opportunity to lean forward and examine his leg and hip. As he had feared, he was bleeding copious amounts of blood from his wounds. He had had no time to tend to his gashes after being attacked by those…things, instead opting to put as much distance between himself and his attackers as possible. He had succeeded in escaping for now, but if he didn't want a blood trail guaranteeing further pursuit, he would have to stop the bleeding immediately. And to do that, he'd need some bandages.

Fang reached for the crimson resistance band he used to tie his long brown hair into a pony-tail before stopping himself.

"The resistance is dead." he thought to himself. "There's no point in keeping it."

So why couldn't he take it off?

For a moment, Fang saw the faces of all the people he had taken under his wing, every one of them wearing the crimson band of the resistance until the day they had been carded.

"You'll get yourself killed thinking like they did." He thought to himself.

Using a nearby dusty wooden stool, Fang elevated his wounded leg before extracting a hunting knife from his pocket and cutting fabric from the trouser of his left leg. Using the fabric, he did his best to clean the wounds before extracting the tip of a long black claw decorated with multi-colored patterns of lines and swirls from one of his gashes. The claw was unnaturally cold, as if it was sucking up all surrounding heat into a bottomless vacuum, but it didn't last for long. After removing it from his leg, Fang quickly cast the foreign object aside, watching as the claw dispersed into a cloud of black mist before disappearing completely.

Fang shoved a piece of fabric into his mouth before pulling out some medical supplies he had stolen from Academia soldiers. He had already used up almost everything else, but he still had a spool of thread and a needle.

A groan almost escaped Fang's lips when he had finished with his leg, but he managed to suppress it by biting down hard on the rag he kept between his teeth. Using the remaining pieces of fabric he had cut from his trousers, Fang finished bandaging up his wounded leg before carefully looking around the corners of the ruined wall and standing up once he had confirmed that the coast was clear.

Before rushing out, Fang cupped his hand to his ear. In the distance, he could hear the distinctive thumping of Antique Gear Golems, and the robotic howling of Antique Gear Hound Dogs. Several meters away in the other direction, Fang could make out the bright beams of light coming from another patrol of Academia solders and Antique Gear Search Hounds.

Taking advantage of the ruined state of the building, he used the crumbled wall as a stairway in order to boost himself onto a nearby low-hanging roof of another dilapidated building before ducking behind a charred chimney as a beam of light from a snarling robotic hound swept the area he had been hiding in. Forcing himself to count for ten seconds before moving, Fang quietly slid down the roof of the building before diving off the building and rolling onto the ground in order to reduce noise. Rather than get up immediately, Fang threw his long dull cloak over himself just as he heard the thumping of a massive Antique Gear Golem approach. The massive machine paused for just a moment to sweep the area with a beam of light from its robotic eye. Holding completely still, Fang briefly felt the heat of the light against his cloak as it swept across the ground before the light left him. There was a moment's pause, and then he heard the footsteps of the monster thundering off into the distance, with a squad of soldiers following close behind.

Fang waited until the sounds of the monster had completely faded into the distance before rising up from the ground and continuing his escape from the city, weaving over, under, and through various dilapidated buildings in complex, zig-zagging patterns as he did. After several blocks of ruined buildings, Fang finally made it to the empty sewage pipes he had used to enter the ruined city undetected in the first place.

Fang quickly ducked inside one of the pipes and began moving quietly and carefully through the cramped metal structure, cradling the valuable supplies in his arm as he did. For now, at least, he was safe. The pipes would take him on a long winding route far away from any Academia patrols, and once he exited, he would only need to travel just less than a kilometer more before he reached his hideout.

Coming to the pipe entrance, which lay just beneath a circular bowl-shaped hill, Fang took a quick glance around the area before emerging from the entrance.

The second his feet touched the ground, Fang immediately froze when he picked up the sound of heavy boots coming from the hill just to his left.

"I thought there were some rats skulking about in the sewers!" the voice of a Ra commander with spikey black hair and thick sideburns sneered.

Fang made a dash for some ruined buildings opposite the direction of his hideout, hoping to escape the commander, but his wounded leg hobbled his movements.

"I wouldn't try running." The Ra commander leered, making a small motion with his hand.

Growling in pain and frustration, Fang saw two Slifer Soldiers, one a short girl with brown hair and a headband in her hair, and the second an equally short boy with blonde hair, both of whom most likely under the Ra leader's command, surround him on the other side of the hill, Duel Disks out and ready to card him.

Fang caught a glimpse of one of the soldiers, the blonde-haired boy, pointing his disk at him and preparing to card him on the spot, but Fang was too quick, before the carding process could be initiated, Fang activated his own disk, forcing a duel to commence between the four players.

"So you're wanting to fight?" the Ra commander chuckled. "Well I suppose I can respect that. At the very least, it will be much more entertaining for us before we card you."

"DUEL!" Fang snarled, hoping to get things finished before things became even worse for him. Giving a quick look-through of the soldiers who had surrounded him, Fang could see that these were not any of Academia's professional operatives. More likely than not, these were simple bounty hunters, student soldiers fresh out of Academia who had gone off to the Xyz Dimension in order to make a quick buck and gain some recognition from their peers. His odds of beating all of them weren't too good, but Fang had sometimes managed to end duels quickly by scaring such undisciplined marauders away with his tactics.

"I'll start!" the Ra commander barked, drawing his opening hand first. "And just to make sure you don't try to run off again, I activate the Magic Card, Bounty Hunter Chains!"

"Yep, they're bounty hunters all right." Fang grimaced, remembering the effects of the horrible weapon the Ra leader had already activated. Instantly, from the central orb of the leader's duel disk, a webbing of chains crackling with electricity shot out before wrapping around Fang's own Duel Disk, hindering his movements. Next to the wrapping of chains around his arm, Fang noticed a holographic indicator show an ATK of 0.

Chain Token / EARTH / Level 4 / Machine / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Bounty Hunter Chains Special Summons one Chain Token to my opponent's field." The Ra leader explained with a bored expression on his face, as if he had already had to do this fifty times today, "In addition, while that token is on my opponent's field, my opponent cannot normal summon or set monsters. Furthermore, during each player's end phases, my magic card will inflict six-hundred damage to my opponent's Life Points."

"I know how it works!" Fang growled, pulling back against the chains.

"Do you now?" the Ra leader replied with a smirk. "Well then maybe we can expect some worthwhile sport from you, assuming you can survive past your first turn that is."

That earned some laughs from the two Slifer students who had gathered around to watch.

Fang stood his ground, making no response, he had to encourage the leader to hurry before anyone else came, and exchanging banter with him was exactly the way NOT to end the duel quickly.

It worked. Looking unsatisfied with the lack of reception from his victim, the Ra leader decided to let his cards do the talking.

"I Normal Summon the Level two monster, Antique Gear Search Hound!" The Ra leader continued, slamming down his monster card. Through a blue portal next to the leader, a small black robotic dog with a long black snout and a search light on its back hopped onto the field before letting out a series of high-pitched robotic barks as it growled at Fang.

Antique Gear Search Hound / EARTH / Level 2 / Machine / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 200

"Do you know how this monster works?" the Ra leader snickered, assuming the demeanor of a host on a quiz show.

"Yes." Fang blandly replied, knowing perfectly well how Academia's endless waves of mechanized monstrosities operated.

"You do!?" the Ra commander mocked, earning some more laughs from the Slifer Students. "Well then I guess I'll just activate its effect then!"

Antique Gear Search Hound let out a high pitched howl. Reaching into his deck, the Ra leader pulled out a copy of Antique Gear Hound Dog before slamming the monster onto his Duel Disk.

"Come forth!" he ordered, "Antique Gear Hound Dog!"

Through a second blue portal, a larger robotic hound with a broad tusked mouth leaped onto the field before roaring at Fang. Next to the monster, a holographic indicator displayed an ATK of 1000.

Antique Gear Hound Dog / EARTH / Level 3 / Machine / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 1000

"And since you are clearly an expert on how all our cards work…" the Ra leader continued, "then how about I just activate this card's effect? Since you control the Chain Token monster, I can inflict six-hundred damage to your Life Points! Hound Flame!"

The robotic hound opened its mouth and sprayed out a column of flame from its gullet. Yanking against the chain as the Ra leader and his subordinates laughed with glee, Fang managed to dodge out of the way of the main blast, but not without some of the flames singeing his right arm and sleeve, causing his Life Points to drop to 3400.

"I will next activate the effect of Antique Gear Hound Dog!" the Ra leader continued, "Since I control an Antique Gear monster other than itself, I can fuse the two Antique Gear Hound Dogs in my hand with the Antique Gear Hound Dog on my field in order to Fusion Summon Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog! Come forth now! Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

Rising into the air, three copies of the Ra leader's mechanized hound dogs changed colors before blending together in the fusion portal in a swirl of red, yellow, and blue light. When they had finished combining, a larger three-headed robotic dog emerged from the portal, three robotic heads roaring in unison as it glared down at Fang.

Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog / EARTH / Level 7 / Machine / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 1000

"But my monster won't be staying for long." The Ra Leader sneered. "I learned this trick back at the Academy! Watch this! I activate De-Fusion in order to shuffle my Triple Bite Hound Dog into the Extra Deck and Special Summon all three of my Antique Gear Hound Dogs in defense position! Return to me now!"

Letting out a small roar, the Ra leader's mechanized hound dog transformed into a blur of light before splitting into three segments, which reshaped themselves into his three copies of Antique Gear Hound Dog.

"Triple Hound Flame!" the Ra leader ordered, activating each of his monster's effects.

Fang instinctively fell to the ground, covering the top of his head with his unchained arm as all three of the Ra leaders monsters unleashed a blast of flame at Fang. Fang was thrown into the air by the blast, dragging the Ra leader a few meters forward with him, before the physically fit Ra leader yanked on his chain and slammed Fang into the ground, laughing as he did so.

Fang struggled to lift himself off the ground as his Life Points dropped to 1600. It was standard Academia procedure. Weaken and discourage the opponent on the very first turn. If Fang had to bet, the next step would be offering him a chance to surrender.

"You're outclassed." The Ra leader boasted. "Give up now and you won't have to suffer anymore."

Fang shook the dirt from himself before glaring at the Ra leader, assuming a solid battle stance as he did.

The Ra leader didn't look pleased.

"I gave you a chance." He grunted, before continuing with a grin. "But I guess you could still provide us with some entertainment. I end my turn and subsequently activate the effect of my Bounty Hunter Chain!"

Instantly, bolts of electricity shot down the line of the chain and into Fang's body, causing the Xyz survivor to scream out in pain is his Life Points were knocked down to 1000. The pain forced Fang down to his knees, but thankfully, he still managed to stand."

"When you're done writing on the ground," the Ra leader leered, "Why don't you impress me?"

"My turn!" Fang growled, yanking a card from the top of his deck.

Wasting no time, Fang began his turn.

"From my hand, I activate the Magic Card, Super Soldier Origin!" he began. "This card enables me to Ritual Summon 1 "Black Luster Soldier" monster from my hand by sending 1 LIGHT or DARK monster from my hand and 1 LIGHT or DARK monster from my deck whose total Levels exactly equal the Level of the monster being Ritual Summoned!"

"Ritual Summon!?" the Ra leader protested, "But I thought you Xyz Scum used Xyz summons!"

"Using this effect," Fang continued, ignoring his opponent's reaction, "I tribute Beginning Knight from my hand and Twilight Knight from my deck in order to Ritual Summon Black Luster Soldier!"

Above Fang's head the image of a large dark galaxy appeared, a massive singularity raging in the center of the galaxy. On either side of the galaxy, two knights, one garbed in glowing white armor and the other clad in shadowy black armor appeared above Fang's head before getting sucked into the center of the singularity.

"Envoys of light and dark, creation and destruction, the beginning and the end, distill your essence into the soul of the warrior who shines with a black luster and become an agent of chaos! GISHIKI SHOUKAN! Arawayo! Black Luster Soldier!"

From the center of the singularity, a tall and mighty warrior with golden-and-black armor, a brown ponytail similar to Fang's, and a massive sword and shield leaped onto the field, swinging its sword through the air is it surveyed its opponents. Next to the monster, an indicator showed its ATK at 3000.

Black Luster Soldier / EARTH / Level 8 / Warrior / Ritual / ATK 3000 / DEF 2500

"Three-thousand attack!?" the girl exclaimed, backing away in shock.

"Hold your ground!" the Ra leader angrily ordered. "He can only attack me since you two haven't gone yet, and almost all my hound dogs are in defense position. Even if he attacks my Search Hound, that's only twenty-four hundred damage!"

"And besides that," the boy sneered, "that monster doesn't even have an effect. We'll be able to get him with effect damage next turn."

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Chaos Current," Fang continued, causing a Spell Card depicting an image of a river of darkness and light flowing across the cosmos, "While this card is face-up on the field, any time a "Black Luster" monster I control banishes a monster with its effect, I gain Life Points equal to the attack of the monster it banished. Furthermore, any time a "Black Luster" monster I control would be destroyed, I can return one of my banished monsters to the graveyard instead. With that done, I activate the effect of Black Luster Soldier." Fang growled, glowering at the Ra leader with pure venom.

"What effect!?" the blonde-haired boy hissed. "That thing's just an overgrown non-effect Ritual Monster!"

"Since Twilight Knight was used in this card's Ritual Summon," Fang explained, not even bothering to look in the direction of the blonde-haired boy, "Black Luster Soldier can banish one random card from my opponent's hand until my opponent's next End-Phase! And since you won't shut up," he continued, pointing his finger at the blonde-haired boy without looking at him, "I choose to banish one card from your hand! Twilight Flash!"

Glowing with brilliant white light, Black Luster Soldier raised his sword above his head before slicing it through the air, opening up a dimensional hole that sucked a card from the blonde-haired boy's hand into its depths.

"Pfft. That's a useless trick." The Ra leader scoffed. "And besides, all you banished was a copy of Fusion, so you don't even gain Life Points with your card's effect."

"I will now activate the other effects of Black Luster Soldier!" Fang continued, pointing in the Ra Leader's direction, "Both Twilight Knight and Beginning Knight enable my monster to banish one monster you control! I banish two of your defense position Antique Gear Hound Dogs!"

"What!?" The Ra Leader exclaimed, genuinely shocked.

"BLACK CHAOS ERADICATION!" Fang ordered, watching as his Ritual Monster leaped forward to quickly cleave two of the mechanical hound dogs into pieces with its sword, before the pieces of the monsters slowly faded from existence. With both monsters banished, Fang's Spell Card began glowing with light before his Life Points rose to 3000.

The Ra leader was sweating now.

"It doesn't matter!" he spat, "I've still got a monster in defense!"

"Next, I banish my Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight from my graveyard in order to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the End!" Fang continued, completely ignoring the protests of his opponents.

"You can't do that!" the girl exclaimed, watching in disbelief as the spectral forms of Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight rose from the graveyard.

"Where did he get those cards!?" the boy sputtered, jaw hanging agape as the forms of Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight merged together in a vortex of light and darkness.

"W-what?" the Ra Leader gasped in disbelief.

"Envoy of creation's dawn, rise up from the primordial chaos of light and darkness and become a mighty warrior with the power to create and destroy! Come forth, Black Luster Solder – Envoy of the End!" Fang chanted, raising his hand to the air as a massive warrior in blue-and-gold armor emerged from a spherical portal made of light and darkness. Shining with a gentle morning light, the new monster took up position next to Black Luster Soldier, a holographic indicator showing an ATK of 3000.

Black Luster Solder – Envoy of the End / LIGHT / Level 8 / Warrior / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 2500

"Another monster with three-thousand attack?" the Ra commander breathed in disbelief before violently shaking his head. "It doesn't make a difference! You can still only inflict twenty-four hundred damage to my life points! I'll survive this turn!"

"Since Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight were each banished, I will activate their effects." Fang continued, seemingly taking no interest in his opponents. "I add the Ritual Spell Card "Super Soldier End" and the Ritual Monster, "Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier" from my deck to my hand."

"Do you think acting cool is going to save you?" The Ra leader growled. "You're strong, surprisingly strong, I'll give you that. But you're not stronger than me!"

"I will next use the effect of my Envoy of the Beginning to banish your last Antique Gear Hound Dog." Fang replied, once again ignoring the comments of the Academia soldiers. "BLACK CHAOS ERADICATION!"

This time, none of the soldiers had anything to say. Sweat beading on his forehead, the Ra Leader could only watch helplessly as Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning leaped forward before annihilating his last defense position Antique Gear Hound Dog. With yet another monster banished, Fang's Spell Card glowed with light once again before his Life Points rose to 4000.

"You monsters aren't even worthy to be addressed as human beings," Fang growled, a murderous look in his eyes, "not after how you killed my comrades! This is for them! Black Luster Soldier, attack and destroy Antique Gear Search Hound! Sword of Light and Darkness!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The Ra Leader ejaculated, trying to run away as Fang's Black Luster Soldier charged forward. The long-snouted mechanical dog leaped forward, fangs bared, but with a furious blow from Black Luster Soldier's shield, the snarling mechanical dog was sent flying through the air before the massive warrior cleaved it in two with one swipe of his blade, destroying the monster and blasting back the Ra leader before reducing his Life Points to 1600.

"My Black Luster Soldier can make a second attack during each battle phase after it destroys a monster." Fang growled, not an ounce of pity in his voice.

"Please! Stop!" the Ra Commander wailed, crawling backward, a look of pure horror on his face as Black Luster Soldier advanced on him. A sudden pull on his arm, prevented him from retreating further. Looking down towards Fang, he noticed the Xyz remnant using his own chain to keep the Ra Leader from escaping.

"GO! The second attack!" Fang ordered, teeth bared, "CHAOS BLADE!"

"Commander!" the two Slifer Soldiers exclaimed in unison as Black Luster Soldier charged forward one more time, sending the pathetic Ra Leader flying through the air with one swipe of its blade, solid vision managing to open up an actual gash in the commander's shirt and skin. Life Points dropping to 0, the automatic return function warped the Ra Leader back to his home dimension before Fang could card him with his Duel Disk. With the leader gone, the chain around Fang's arm dissipated, leaving him free to move without restriction.

"Turn…end." Fang breathed, feeling a primal rage building up in his chest. He had been hoping to end the Duel quickly in the beginning, but now, after remembering how Academia had wiped out all of his friends and family in that battle, and not even having the satisfaction of avenging their deaths by carding the leader, Fang was almost hoping the other two soldiers would stay and fight so he could destroy them as mercilessly as he had their leader. Were it not for his competing desire to stay alive, he might have prevented the two Slifer Students from retreating.

"We have to go!" the girl exclaimed, grabbing the boy's hand.

"He defeated the commander!" the boy breathed, face pale with astonishment.

"We'll avenge him!" The girl promised. "Once we get some reinforcements well come back and finish this guy! Do you hear me!?" she screamed, "We'll never forgive you for this! We'll get some reinforcements and-…"

"Reinforcements?" a condescending feminine voice called out in reply, silencing the girl in her taunt.

Fang and both the Slifer soldiers turned their heads in the direction of the voice, the primal fury leaving Fang when he saw the speaker.

Another Ra Leader, this one a woman with short silver hair and blue eyes advanced on the group, Duel Disks drawn. Flanking the woman were two other Slifer Soldiers, one a girl with short spikey green hair, and another with half her head shaved and shoulder-length brown hair over the other half of her head. Their school uniforms were different from the standard jackets of Academia, spike accessories adorning thick shoulder pads and the knuckles of their gloves like they were part of a gang.

"You…" Fang hissed, eyes narrowing with fury.

"So this is what's left of the great leader of the diamond branch of the resistance." The girl with silver hair smirked. "I'm surprised you've managed to last this long. How's the rest of your team doing?"

Fang clenched his fists with fury, earning another smirk from the girl.

"This guy took out our leader!" the girl snarled, "He needs to be carded!"

"I can see that, you dolt." The silver-haired girl snapped, a look of annoyance spreading over her face. "I told Jethro that he wasn't ready for field work, but it looks like he chose not to listen to me. Too bad for him. It looks like it's going to be me advancing in the ranks after I collect the bounty on another resistance leader."

Both Fang and his two monsters assumed a battle stance, preparing themselves for the upcoming assault. Knowing that he would likely lose the battle anyway, Fang couldn't resist the urge to speak to one of the enemies directly responsible for the downfall of his team.

"You've been demoted since I last saw you, Felicity." Fang observed, earning him a glare from the silver-haired girl.

"I have you to thank for that." Felicity replied, eyes narrowed in an expression of pure hate. "I honestly thought that between the Tyler sisters and my own forces that we would have crushed your pathetic resistance without a single loss. But you proved more than capable enough of carding my teammates."

"It was a pleasure." Fang smiled, his resignation to his own inevitable defeat enabling him to enjoy every second of tormenting his enemy.

Felicity snorted, "I suppose I only have myself to blame for that. I indirectly taught you the pleasure of the hunting games with my own brutality, and then you turned our own tactics against us. I lost my team, my deck, my rank, and my standing with the professor. Seems only just that you lost everything in return."

"What goes around, comes around." Fang observed.

"Don't tell me you've embraced the idea of cosmic justice." Felicity smirked.

"I only hope the universe treats you with the same kindness you treated us with." Fang growled.

"It's about to be very kind to me." Felicity purred. "Once I card you, I will have not only redeemed myself, but I will have destroyed one of the last leaders of the resistance in the entire Xyz Dimension…or at least…former leader, all things considered."

"You're not claiming that bounty!" the blonde-haired boy protested, earning him a glare from Felicity.

"Go back to Academia, Slifer." She hissed, "You and your pathetic team leader have already botched this up enough."

"We're still standing!" the boy argued, "We'll finish the job!"

"That's right!" the girl agreed, "We can take him down!"

"You were getting ready to retreat just seconds ago." Felicity scoffed.

"We were regrouping for reinforcements!" the girl hastily replied, the tone of her voice making it sound like she was making up her story on the spot, "But now that you're here, there's no way we can lose."

"We'll get him!" the boy promised.

Felicity paused, seeming to consider the boy before nodding her head. "Fine then. We'll give you both a chance. Finish off Fang and the bounty is yours."

"It will be!" the boy snarled. "It's my turn, draw!"

Yanking a card from the top of his deck, he nodded to himself before continuing with his turn.

"I'll start by activating the Continuous Magic Card, Antique Gear Castle!" the boy began, activating a Spell Card which depicted a large clockwork castle. "As long as this card is on my field all Antique Gear monsters we control gain three-hundred attack, and it gains a counter every time a monster is Normal Summoned or Set. With that done, I will normal summon Antique Gear Hound Dog!"

Through a blue portal, the Slifer Soldier's mechanical hound dog leaped onto the field, roaring with a robotic voice as its ATK rose to 1300.

"Really?" Felicity frowned, clearly disappointed.

The boy clenched his teeth, but continued with his turn.

"Antique Gear Castle gains one counter, and because you control a monster, I can activate my Hound Dog's effect. Hound Flame! This is for Jethro!"

Shielding his eyes, Fang braced himself against the flames, gritting his teeth in pain as his Life Points dropped to 3400.

"I will now activate Mystical Space Typhoon in order to destroy your face-up magic card!" the boy declared, using his Spell Card to send a gust of wind into Fang's Chaos Current, shattering the Spell Card into pieces.

"With that done, I set one card face down and end my turn. And since it's the end of my turn, I get back the card you banished from my hand." The boy finished, eliciting a roar of laughter from Felicity and the two Slifer Soldiers accompanying her.

"No wonder you idiots lost!" Felicity gawked. "If that's your strategy, then it's going to take you seven turns before you beat this guy!"

"This is part of our teamwork!" the boy countered. "I've set us up so we can Fusion Summon now!"

"Hmm?" Felicity questioned, looking skeptical.

"He's right!" the girl with the headband agreed. "We developed this strategy together. Now watch this! I draw!"

Quickly adding a card from the top of her deck to her hand, the girl nodded her head before placing the card she just drew on her Duel Disk.

"I summon Antique Gear Soldier in attack position!" the girl began, summoning a clockwork robot with a skull-like face and mechanized rifle for its right arm.

"Bravo." Felicity sarcastically congratulated, "You've managed to Normal Summon, look at you!"

This earned a growl from the girl.

"Don't worry." The boy reassured her, "Our strategy is now set! I activate my face-down Antique Gear Armory!"

Upon activating the Trap Card, a large warehouse filled with clockwork explosives, rifles, flame-throwers, cannons, and other weapons of war appeared to the field. In the center of the warehouse on an assembly line, the empty shells of several Antique Gear androids, ranging from the humanoid to the draconic, formed an orderly line as if waiting to be completed.

"While Antique Gear Armory is on my field," the Slifer Soldier explained, "All players can fusion summon Antique Gear monsters using monsters on their side of the field or their hand as materials. Show this Xyz scum what we're made of!"

"On it!" the girl agreed. "Using my teammate's Antique Gear Armory, I fuse the Antique Gear in my hand with the Antique Gear Soldier on my field in order to Fusion Summon!"

"Ooh, are we actually going to see some competence now?" the girl with the shaved head asked Felicity, looking intrigued as the girl's Antique Gear Soldier, and a small clockwork robot consisting of several gears, two arms, and a wheel rose into the center of a Fusion Portal.

"We'll see, Sasha, we'll see." Felicity replied, looking uninterested.

"Mechanized soldiers containing the souls of the ancient," the girl chanted, "merge your bodies of steel together in the mystic whirlpool and ride forth into battle as a fearless raider! Yuugo Shoukan! Arawayo, level seven, Antique Gear Raider!"

From the center of the fusion portal, a clockwork humanoid robot riding on top of a large robotic beast with steel tusks and razor-sharp metal claws leaped onto the field. With its clawed left hand, the humanoid robot held onto its mount with a set of handholds welded into the beast's back, while its right hand was outfitted with a set of four mechanized harpoon launchers. In the center of its skull-like head, a single red robotic eye lit up while a holographic indicator displayed an ATK of 600.

Antique Gear Raider / EARTH / Level 7 / Machine / Fusion / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 2000

Fang's eyes narrowed, recognizing the monster that had devastated many defenders of his homeland.

"Antique Gear Raider gains attack equal to one of the level four or lower Antique Gear monsters used in its Fusion Summon." The girl explained, "With its effect, I'll increase its attack by the attack of my Antique Gear Soldier."

The mechanical mount of Antique Gear Raider let out a robotic roar as its ATK rose to 1900, before rising to 2200 with the added effect of Antique Gear Castle.

"Now for the fun part." The girl sneered, "I will activate the second effect of Antique Gear Raider. Once per turn, I can target one Antique Gear monster in my graveyard in order to inflict damage to your Life Points equal to the Level of that monster times two-hundred, and increase my own Life Points by the amount of damage you took! Go! Brutal Pillaging!"

Both of Fang's monsters raised their shields into the air while Fang flipped out of the way as the girl's monster shot all four of its harpoons in Fang's direction. Two of them glanced off the shields of his monster, while Fang successfully dodged another one. However, with a high-pitched buzzing sound, one of the sharp harpoons glanced off of Fang's right shoulder, tearing open his shirt and leaving a scratch as his Life Points dropped to 2600. Grinning with satisfaction, the girl watched Fang let out an agonized yelp before ordering her monster to retract its harpoons with a set of cables attached to the end of each projectile while her Life Points rose to 4800.

"But I'm just getting started!" the girl continued. "I will next equip my Antique Gear Raider with Antique Gear Tank!"

Upon activating her Spell Card, her Antique Gear Raider began transforming, a solid metallic shell encompassing the mount and rider before a set of treads affixed themselves to the mount's legs and a large cannon appeared in the front of the monster. With the transformation complete, the monster's ATK rose to 2800.

"Impressed?" the girl asked, sneering at Fang, who ignored her comment, instead ripping off a bit of cloth from his shirt before using it to bind up his gash.

"Well I'm not done yet!" the girl continued, as if Fang had, responded to her. "I will next activate the Continuous Magic Card, Antique Gear Charger!"

Upon playing her Spell Card, a set of four clockwork pylons rose into the air, lightning crackling between the pylons.

"Antique Gear Charger enables me to destroy one face-up card I control in order to increase the attack of one Antique Gear monster I control by twelve-hundred and make it so it cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of this turn. With this effect, I'll destroy my Antique Gear Tank and increase my monster's attack by twelve-hundred!"

"That's actually pretty good." The green-haired girl next to Felicity commented. "We may have just found another potential raider.

"That all depends on how well she does against Fang." Felicity mused, before casting a knowing look at Fang, who eyed her back with contempt, fully aware of real reason Felicity was letting these Slifer grunts take him on first.

Letting out a surge of electricity, the girl's Antique Gear Charger shot a bolt of lightning into Antique Gear Raider, destroying its tank accessories while causing the robotic raider to glow with intense electrical energy as its ATK rose to 3400.

"Since Antique Gear Tank was destroyed, you lose another six-hundred Life Points!" the girl mocked, as the effect of her spell card sent a bolt of flame into Fang's chest, knocking the Xyz remnant back and reducing his Life Points to 2000. "Not only that, but now my monster is stronger than yours! Go, Antique Gear Raider! Destroy his Black Luster Soldier!"

Fang got up from the ground just in time to see the girl's Antique Gear Raider charge forward, fangs and claws of its mouth stretched towards his Black Luster Soldier as it raised its shield in defense. Quickly tearing a card from his hand, Fang activated the final defense he had prepared for just such a moment.

"I activate the effect of Envoy of Chaos from my hand!" Fang countered, sending a monster card to his graveyard and causing his Black Luster Soldier to glow with white and black light just as Antique Gear Raider clashed against its shield. "By discarding this monster, I can increase the attack of my Black Luster Soldier by fifteen-hundred while changing the attack of your Antique Gear Raider to its original attack! Go my Black Luster Soldier! Counterattack with Chaos Blade!"

Roaring with renewed fury, Fang's monster, bashed against Antique Gear Raider with its shield, sending the mechanical monstrosity flying through the air before slicing at across the chest with its sword. Although Antique Gear Raider was not destroyed thanks to the effect of Antique Gear Charger, the effects of Black Luster Soldier's ATK rising to 4500 while Antique Gear Raider's ATK dropped to its original 600, caused a massive shockwave to blast into Fang's opponent, sending the girl flying through the air while her Life Points dropped to 900.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" the girl screamed, almost perfectly mimicking her leader as she soared through the air. Unlike her leader, however, instead of conveniently getting warped away, she ended up crashing into the ground in a heap, a loud crack of a snapping rib resounding through the air.

"Cami!" the blonde-haired boy shouted, running over to her side. Had the situation been a little different, Fang might have felt sorry for the poor girl. Glaring at Felicity with contempt, who smirked knowingly back at him, he braced himself for the onslaught from her team, which he would now, thanks to Felicity's strategic sacrifice of Cami, be unable to counter.

"Pathetic." Felicity drawled as she and her team advanced on Fang. "I gave you both a chance to take this fool down, and all you two have managed to do is show a level of incompetence even greater than Jethro's."

"She needs help!" the boy pleaded as the girl shakily tried to get up to her feet.

"Have her end her turn and we'll finish things quickly for you!" Felicity barked. "Or is that so-called soldier of Academia so weak that I'll have to card her for shaming our empire!?"

"I-I can still…fight." Cami gasped, barely managing to stagger back to her feet. .

"End your turn!" Felicity ordered. "You've already proven yourself a failure as a fighter. Don't make things worse for yourself!"

Cami paled before slowly nodding her head. "I set…one card…face down…turn end." She panted.

"That's better." Felicity smirked before turning her attention to Fang. "You've proven a worthy adversary to me in the past, Fang." Felicity acknowledged, "But you've clearly lost most of your skill now. I doubt you could even get past one of my soldiers now. So, Lexi," she ordered, indicating the green-haired girl, "if you would please."

"Surely." The green-haired girl grinned, drawing a card from her deck before she, Sasha, and Felicity each took the intrusion penalty.

"Goodbye, Fang." Felicity whispered.

"So this is how it ends." Fang thought to himself, fully aware that he had absolutely no way to counter any of their plays now. "I die out here alone, all my comrades and family gone, having made no difference whatsoever. If there is a god out there…I could sure use somebody saving me right about now."

"PHOENIX GUARD AWAY!" Natsumi shouted at the top of her lungs as she, Lizette, Lydia, and Joho emerged from a portal and entered the desolate landscape of the Xyz Dimension.

"Shut up!" Lydia hissed, tackling Natsumi to the ground before clamping her left arm over Natsumi's mouth. "The point of leaving behind the motorbikes was so we could SNEAK into the Xyz Dimension, not announce our presence to all of Academia! Unless of course you WANT us to get caught!"

"Plnx grdwy." Natsumi mumbled.

"What?" Lydia asked, removing her hand from Natsumi's mouth.

"Bleck! Metal!" Natsumi gagged, wiping off her tongue with her hands. "I said, 'phoenix guard away.'" She whispered much more quietly.

"Whatever." Lydia sighed, letting go of Natsumi.

"So this is what's left of Xyz." Lizette observed, shaking her head at the wreckage. "Looks like Academia's done a real number on this place."

Joho stared at the vast expanse of ruins with wide eyes, slowly walking in the direction of the ruined city of Heartland.

"My home." He whispered.

"Joho?" Lydia asked, turning her head in the direction of her friend.

Joho didn't seem to hear her, he was constantly turning his head to examine the desolation, absorbed in the scene of destruction, as if unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Over in that town is where my dad's lab was." He said, pointing towards a distant cluster of ruined buildings. "And over there…that's where my mom grew up. Professor Lee…his classroom was over there…and…and…this can't be right…h-how…h-how?"

"This is what Academia did when they invaded." Lizette coldly replied. "They came in, killed everyone, and left everything to rot."

Joho collapsed to his knees, closing his eyes and shaking his head in disbelief. Lydia, seeing his distress, began walking towards him, but stopped when Joho reflexively turned from her.

"Why couldn't the Phoenix Guard save them?" Joho whispered, keeping his head turned from the others.

"Are you…okay?" Natsumi began before rapidly shaking her head and following up with, "I mean…sorry…stupid question, it's just…I…"

"Lydia and I did what we could to fight Academia in Fusion." Joho continued, cutting Natsumi off. "Asuka and Seijun told us that you guys were fighting Academia here. Why…how…why wasn't any of this stopped or, or…" he began fumbling with his words, "How were we defeated?"

"We tried to help them." Lizette explained, "But the Phoenix Guard wasn't united. There were traitors in our ranks. Quite a few of the Phoenix Guard in Fusion chose to fight alongside Academia, claiming that a unified inter-dimensional empire under Academia's control would be the key to defeating the Earthbound once and for all. And with all the Earthbound activity from Yuu's end, we just didn't have enough to turn the tide of the invasion."

Joho turned his head away, tears trickling down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Lydia stared in Joho's direction, almost looking like she wanted to offer some comfort, before turning her head away and looking down at the ground, right hand nervously stroking her Academia Duel Disk as she did.

Looking back and forth between Joho and Lydia, Natsumi decided to act.

"Huh?" Joho exclaimed, almost jumping from the ground as Natsumi tackled him from behind, tightly wrapping her arms around him while a tear trickled down her own cheek.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"What?" Joho asked, looking confused.

"Natsumi?" Lydia asked, looking as if she was trying to decide between ripping Natsumi off of Joho or just leave them alone.

"It's not our fault." Lizette reprimanded. "Just give him some time."

"We're here if you need us." Natsumi whispered, still holding on to Joho.

Joho slowly nodded his head before giving Natsumi's hand a light squeeze and rising from the ground, Natsumi backing away before looking between Joho and Lydia.

"Where are the Academia Soldiers?" Joho whispered.

"What is it?" Lydia asked, stepping closer.

"Where are they now?" Joho repeated. "The Academia soldiers?"

"We're here to find allies so we can fight the Earthbound, not mount a full counter-assault against Academia." Said Lizette, looking sternly at Joho.

"I know that!" Joho snapped, "It's just…" he clenched his fist, body shuddering as he looked at the ground.

Lydia nodded her head as if understanding. Surveying the area, she touched the bandaged left side of her face with one of her fingers, left eye glowing a bright red underneath the bandages.

"We will need to know where Academia is stationed, at the very least, so we don't get captured." Said Lydia, looking at Lizette, who looked like she was about to object. "And besides, odds are, if any of the Phoenix Guard have survived here, we'll have to fight through some Academia soldiers at some point in order to rescue them."

"We will find survivors." Natsumi whispered as Lydia continued to sweep the area with her left eye. "We have to."

After a few moments, Lydia removed her finger from the side of her head before turning towards her companions.

"Academia has set up several patrols around the outskirts of that city over there." Lydia explained, pointing to a distant ruined city. "Strange." She added, peering closer towards the city.

"What is it?" Joho asked, attempting to wipe away any signs that he had been crying.

"All the soldiers are stationed around the city, but there is absolutely nobody inside the city. It's like they're trying to quarantine it."

"From what?" Joho asked, looking concerned. "Are there survivors there?"

"Dark Disciples." Lizette muttered. "I can sense them. They're all over the place, but especially in that city. Their mere presence is creating a lot of dark energy around here."

Lydia nodded her head while Joho looked down at the ground, looking even more depressed.

"Well…it's not…it's not…as bad…as I thought it might be." Natsumi murmured, not sounding sure if she believed her own words. "I mean…I'm sure we'll find the Phoenix Guard here. Maybe we could even help them exorcise some of the Earthbound Servants around here."

"I could try contacting them." Joho offered, holding up his mark.

"I don't know if we'll be able to reach anyone." Lizette replied, "There's just too much dark energy here. It would probably interfere with any attempt to contact them. But what do you think, Natsumi? You're good with this sort of thing. Think we could contact them?"

Natsumi screwed up her face in concentration while feeling the air with her hands, occasionally flicking her tongue in the air as if tasting it. After a few moments she opened her eyes before shrugging her shoulders.

"There's not just dark energy here." Natsumi reported. "I'm not saying that there isn't a lot of it, but there are other spirits, lots of them, and a lot of them are good. We might as well try to reach the others."

The other three nodded their heads before all four raised their marks to their faces and began speaking into them.

"Ryouga, Rio, Gauche, Droite? Anybody there? This is the Phoenix Guard!" Lizette called. "Please respond!"

"Kotori, Cathy, Tetsuo?" Joho called, "Anybody? Are you there?"

"Byron, Christopher, Thomas, Michael? Do you read? This is the Phoenix Guard!" Lydia called.

"Fuya, Anna?" Natsumi called, "Come on, I know you're there! You both still owe me for not telling me when Tobio and Umimi's wedding was!"

Each of them called out several more names, repeating the message several additional times, Natsumi going a step further by waving her mark around and wandering the area as if trying to get a better signal, but no response came.

"Let's not waste our energy." Lydia sighed, lowering her arm. "If we're going to find anyone, we'll have to investigate the old fashioned way."

"I have to agree with you." Lizette nodded, lowering her own arm. "Do you remember where Anna used to live, Natsumi?"

"Anna! Anna! Anna!" Natsumi called again and again to her mark, getting the same silent response as before.

"Natsumi!" Lizette snapped, grabbing the attention of her fellow guardsman.

"I'm sorry." Natsumi replied, slowly lowering her arm. "It's just…I…I want them to be okay."

Joho looked around the desolate landscape.

"Academia really has destroyed my home." He whispered, shoulders sinking. "I knew they were planning to invade after they captured me but…I never imagined…"

Lydia put her hand on Joho's shoulder, a sorrowful expression coming over her face.

"Did we do the right thing?" Joho whispered, "Fighting Academia in Fusion when the invasion was taking place here?"

"We all tried to help your home dimension." Lizette sighed. "But even if you had left Fusion to fight here, in all likelihood, this place still would have been destroyed. Between all the activity on Yuu's end and Academia's invasions, it was hard enough for the Phoenix Guard to fight their battles in their own dimensions, let alone assist the others."

"But we did help." Natsumi whispered. "Lizette, myself, and other members. When we could, we sent supplies, helped people evacuate, and fought Earthbound of course, it's just…" she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Natsumi?" Joho asked, looking concerned. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

"We'll make a difference here!" Natsumi replied, balling her fingers into fists, "I'm sure of it! We just can't give up! Not when we have each other!"

"Natsumi's right." Lizette agreed, giving her friend a reassuring hug before pulling away. "Even if we're receiving some interference from the Earthbound presence here, we still have a job to do. Even if there is just one guardsmen out there, we'll find them! We need as many guardsmen as we can if the Dark Signers are returning."

"Is it right for us to ask for their help when they've been going through all this?" Joho asked.

Lizette paused.

"They have gone through a lot." Lizette replied, choosing her words carefully, "But if we let the Dark Signers take control of the Synchro Dimension, then all of this…" she indicated the ruined landscape, "will be nothing compared to the apocalypse all dimensions will face from an Earthbound invasion."

"Let's go." Lydia whispered, leading the group as they marched towards the city.

Making their way through the wreckage, the four guardsmen slowly approached the distant city, keeping their eyes out for Academia patrols as they marched through the foggy landscape. Fortunately, thanks to the guidance of Lydia, the guardsmen were able to follow a path that steered them clear of the patrols. With no incursions from either the Earthbound or Academia, an oppressive silence hung over the group as they walked through the desolate landscape, a silence which Natsumi decided to break.

"So…" Natsumi began, trying to sound casual while keeping her voice silent. "Joho, what was your favorite thing to do in Heartland growing up before…uhm…well…what was your favorite thing to do here?"

Joho kept silent, hanging his head down while keeping his hands in his pockets as he hobbled across the landscape, one leg clearly injured. With a grunt of pain, he paused against the wall of a derelict barbershop to catch his breath.

"Uhm…right." Natsumi muttered, rubbing the back of her head and blushing. "Well, I never got to visit Heartland as much as I wanted to, but I remember you guys had some really cool skate parks and other places to drive those one-wheeled motorcycles you made. You guys really do have a lot of amazing technology. A lot of it was even better than the stuff we had in Synchro…well depending on whether you're comparing it to Tops or Common technology that is. I used to love to tinker with your technology, with the exception of that one pair of roller-blades that blew up in my face after I accidentally stabbed the quantum regulator with my screwdriver. Talk about a big mistake."

Joho's head drooped, averting his eyes from Natsumi. Natsumi, however, did not seem to notice this time.

"Oh, but the BEST thing I ever got to mess with was Anna's hovercraft. That thing was SO COOL! I don't know HOW she did it, well, I mean, I kind of have an idea, but, OH MY GOSH! She made a combination hovercraft, Duel Disk, and freaking cannon that was light enough to carry on your back, but at the same time, was able to morph into a larger vehicle that you could FLY in!? I've never really had much of a Christmas that I can remember, but OH MY GOSH! When I got to work on the stuff the Xyz Dimension made, it was like-…"

Lydia suddenly clamped her hand over Natsumi's mouth, causing Natsumi's face to screw up with a mixture of disgust and annoyance again over having to taste Lydia's hand.

After a few moments, Lydia removed her hand from Natsumi's mouth.

"Academia patrol." She whispered. "It's gone now, so we should be okay."

"Must you always muzzle my mouth?" Natsumi grumbled.

"Yes." Lizette replied matter-of-factly. "Because you're the only one who seems to have forgotten we're in enemy territory."

"What makes you say that?" Natsumi whined.

"Most people do NOT talk like you do when there are both Academia soldiers AND Earthbound servants in the same place!" Lydia hissed. "Would it kill you to focus on the mission?"

"Oh come on, Lydia!" Natsumi protested, "I am like…SUPER focused right now! Like, I'm like a laser…no I mean…I'm laser focused right now! There is no way I could get distracted by any, OH MY GOSH A KITTEN!" Natsumi suddenly screamed, causing all three of her companions to jump with shock and surprise before looking the direction Natsumi was pointing.

Sure enough, in the direction Natsumi was pointing at, while hyperventilating like she was about to explode, a tiny yellow kitten, half of its face and large patches of its fur completely covered in black soot, one yellow eye and one blue eye peeking out of its scraggly face, and a stump of a tail that looked like the end had been bitten off, crawled out from underneath a pile of rubble before approaching the group, a small bell jingling against a collar on its neck while the tiny wretch let out a series of obnoxious "MAW! MAW! MAW! MAW!" kitten calls like an alarm bell waiting to be fed. Judging by its scraggly fur and rather emaciated body, it looked like it hadn't eaten in a while.

"Great, just what we needed." Lydia grumbled.

"I could put it out of its misery." Lizette suggested.

"We could just leave it alone." Joho suggested, "It'll go away."

"It might follow us." Lizette sighed, placing a card on her duel disk and summoning a golden bow and arrow, which she leveled at the cat, "And it's not gonna last for very-…"

Before she could complete the statement, Natsumi shoved Lizette and Lydia away with a massive "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" before throwing herself onto the kitten, before either her companions or the starving beast could react. Scooping up the kitten in her arms, Natsumi cradled the stray like it was her own baby, shielding it from Lizette's aim.

"What are you doing?" Lizette groaned as Natsumi began stroking the whining kitten's fur while fishing through her coat pockets for scraps of meat to feed to the animal.

"Sky is one of us now which means she is part of the family!" Natsumi insisted, shoving a bit of meat into the kitten's mouth, which it greedily swallowed down. "And family members care for each other, so we will be caring for Sky!"

"Sky?" Lizette asked, looking perplexed.

"She named it." Lydia grumbled. "Already."

"Of course she did." Lizette sighed. "Natsumi, we don't know where that thing-…"

"Where Sky!" Natsumi angrily corrected.

"We don't know where the kitten has been." Lizette repeated. "It's sick, dying, heck, for all we know, it could have rabies!"

"Plus we aren't here to rescue stray cats anyway." Lydia added. "Especially not when it could give us away with its screaming."

"I'm not leaving Sky!" Natsumi insisted, hugging the kitten even closer to her chest.

Joho stepped between Lydia and Lizette, kneeling down to look closer at the cat.

"Please?" Natsumi begged, as Joho began examining the cat. After looking over the kitten, he got back on to his feet, albeit a little shakily, before shaking his head.

"Sky doesn't seem to have any disease." Joho sighed.

"You're naming it now?" Lydia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Joho shrugged his shoulders. "I've learned it's pointless to argue with Natsumi."

"It's also pointless to argue with me." Lydia growled. "Or did you forget that?"

Joho paled.

"I…uh…well…" he sputtered.

"Don't answer that." Lydia sighed, "It was a rhetorical question."

"Were you making a joke?" Joho asked.

Lydia turned away, face reddening a little.

"You said Sky was okay though, right?" Natsumi asked.

"Uhm…yes." Joho quickly replied, sounding relieved. "She looks like she was a domesticated cat. She's been de-clawed and everything. Most likely her family was…well…it looks like she lost her family, and without her claws, she just couldn't fend for herself. As far as diseases go, I don't think she's got anything. She's just starving to death. I honestly don't know if we'll be able to save her at this point but…" he looked down at the ground, "It's better to try and save something than give up on it."

Lydia and Lizette fell silent.

"Thanks, Joho." Said Natsumi, getting a little teary-eyed.

"Well, okay then." Lizette sighed. "We'll keep it. But if it gets in the way, it has to go. Agreed?"

"You'll call her Sky, right?" Natsumi pressed.

"Don't push it." Lizette growled. "Just…put that thing in your backpack or something."

"Sounds good." Natsumi agreed, taking her pack off while holding on to the diminutive kitten with one hand. "I could give her some stuff to eat, crumple up some paper so she's warm…"

"STOP!" Lydia suddenly commanded, holding out her hand, while looking forward with a worried expression on her face, left eye glowing red underneath her bandages.

"Wha-?" Natsumi began, mid-way through putting Sky into her backpack.

"What is it?" Joho asked, limping towards her.

"A duel." Lydia whispered. "There's a duel going on not far from here. Three against one."

"A survivor!" Lizette gasped, "Academia's cornered a-…"

Before she could continue, Joho plowed through the group, limping in the direction Lydia had indicated as fast as he could go.

"Oh no you don't!" Lydia growled, crouching down like a runner, a strange whirring noise resounding within her chest, before she launched herself forward, sprinting with superhuman speed and rocketing past Joho.

"Cover us!" Lizette ordered, readying her Duel Disk before sprinting behind Lydia as fast as she could go.

Joho limped forward behind the two girls as fast as he could go, sweat beading on his forehead as he went, but as he stumbled along, it was pretty clear that he was not going to make it any time soon.

"Please…why…ERG!" Joho grimaced in pain, attempting to lurch forward.

Suddenly, from behind, Natsumi picked up Joho and slung the stunned duelist over her back next to the pack that contained the kitten she had found, a fierce expression in her eyes and a bright red aura glowing against her body.

"What the heck are you-…?" Joho sputtered, eyes as big as dinner plates.

"Just hold on tight." Natsumi instructed, "I haven't used my psychic powers to give me super-speed in a while."

"Psychic…super!?" Joho gasped, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"SUPER MEGA ULTRA TURBO HYPER PSYCHIC PHOENIX GUARD POWERS GO!" Natsumi thundered, suddenly exploding forward in a blast of red energy, causing Joho to scream with panic with the sudden surge in momentum.

"THIS…IS…REALLY…AWKWARD!" Joho yelped, as he clung to Natsumi's jacket.

"It doesn't have to be weird." Natsumi reassured Joho as she dodged past a piece of rubble and blew past Lizette and Lydia as she rocketed forward.

"Whoa!" Lizette exclaimed.

"What the!?" Lydia sputtered, catching sight of Joho riding on Natsumi's shoulder.

"Just think of this as a mommy kitten carrying her newborn baby kitten." Natsumi continued, eyes darting around as she tried to find the duel.

"This is nothing like that!" Joho yelped.

"Hold on, where was the duel?" Natsumi asked, zipping back and forth at superhuman speed, unsure of where to go.

"You mean we're lost!?" Joho shouted. "Where's Lydia and Lizette?"

"Not sure." Natsumi shrugged, leaving behind streaks of red light as she zoomed underneath a ruined building while trying to get her bearings. "But I'm sure we'll find them in time."

"We need to hurry." Joho pleaded. "We don't know how long the survivor will last!"

"Well make it!" Natsumi promised. "We'll be just like heroes rescuing someone just when all hope is lost!"

All hope was lost. Despite his best efforts, Fang knew that he was dead. Should he try to run, or face his death like a dignified duelist? Then again, did the question even matter?

The green-haired girl, Lexi, seemed to be enjoying his discomfort.

"How would you like your resistance leader boyfriend served, Felicity?" Lexi teased, "Skewered or fried?"

"It makes no difference to me." Felicity snapped, looking annoyed, "Just so long as you never refer to him as my boyfriend again."

"A little of both then." Lexi sighed, tossing back a lock of her green hair. "I'll start slow, Fang. That way, you'll have some time to prepare your obituary."

"Do your worst!" Fang growled, clenching his teeth and fists with hatred and resignation.

"With pleasure!" Lexi giggled. "How about I start with this. I summon Antique Gear Wyvern to my field!"

With a robotic dragon shriek, a green robotic dragon appeared to the field, angrily flapping its wings before landing on its clockwork dragon feet. Next to the monster, an indicator showed an ATK of 1700.

Antique Gear Wyvern / EARTH / Level 4 / Machine / Effect / ATK 1700 / DEF 500

"When Antique Gear Wyvern is summoned," Lexi explained, "I can add 1 Antique Gear monster from my deck to my hand. Using this effect, I'll add Antique Gear Box to my hand, before using Antique Gear Box's own effect to add Antique Gear Knight to my hand."

"Where did you get that card?" the blonde-haired boy asked, looking incredulous.

"Well, it's pretty simple…if you're an actual Academia soldier that is." Lexi smirked.

"I AM an actual Academia soldier!" the blonde-haired boy protested.

"Right." Felicity sniffed, looking bored. "If you could please get on with it, Lexi."

Lexi nodded her head. "I will next use the effect of our Antique Gear Armory. Using its effect, I will fuse the Antique Gear Wyvern on my field with the Antique Gear Knight in my hand in order to Fusion Summon Antique Gear Raider!"

Clamping her hands together, Lexi bowed her head in respect as her own fusion monster leaped onto the field, mechanical mount roaring with fury while the robotic rider pointed his harpoons in Fang's direction.

Antique Gear Raider / EARTH / Level 7 / Machine / Fusion / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 2000

"Since it was fusion summoned, I will increase its attack by the attack of one of the Level four or lower Antique Gear monsters used in its Fusion Summon, in this case, Antique Gear Knight. So between its own effect and the effect of castle, that means my monster's attack is now twenty-seven hundred."

"And now you will use its effect." Fang mumbled.

"In time." Lexi smirked, "But first I'm going to teach these fresh recruits a little something about the power of card combos! So watch this! I activate two Antique Gear Chargers and the Field Spell Card, Geartown!"

All around the duel field, clockwork buildings and skyscrapers rose into the sky, hundreds of gears twisting and turning as the mechanized city came to life in the midst of the ruined city of the Xyz Dimension. In the center of Geartown, two more Antique Gear Chargers appeared, crackling with electricity.

"Geartown allows me to normal summon Antique Gear monsters for one less tribute than required." Lexi explained. "Using its effect, I'll normal summon my Antique Gear Beast for no tributes!"

With a mighty mechanized roar, a massive mechanical beast, the same as the mount for Antique Gear Raider, leaped in front of Lexi, a holographic indicator displaying an ATK of 2000, which rose to 2300 due to the effect of Antique Gear Castle.

Antique Gear Beast / EARTH / Level 6 / Machine / Effect / ATK 2000 / DEF 2000

"Whoa!" the Cami exclaimed. "I didn't know you could do that! I need a Geartown in my deck."

"That's not the only thing Geartown can do." Said Lexi, stretching her hand towards one of her Antique Gear Chargers, "I will next use my Antique Gear Charger in order to destroy my Geartown and boost my Antique Gear Raider's attack by twelve-hundred!"

"Why would you do that?" the brown-haired boy asked as Antique Gear Raider's ATK rose to 3900, "Geartown was so good!"

"It's so I can do this!" Lexi declared, raising her hand into the air as the mechanized city began bursting into flames and collapsing all around her, a massive singularity opening up in the center of the city. "Since Geartown was destroyed, I can Special Summon 1 "Antique Gear" monster from my deck! So using this effect, I choose to Special Summon Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon! Come forth, my ace monster!"

In the sky above Lexi, a massive mechanical dragon materialized, rusted wings creaking as it flapped them through the air before landing in front of the duelist. Letting out a massive roar, the mechanized dragon leered down at Fang and his monsters before a holographic indicator appeared and displayed an ATK of 3000, which rose to 3300.

Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon / EARTH / Level 8 / Machine / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 2000

"And now for the fun part." Lexi leered, face twisting into a crazier and crazier expression by the second. "Since my Gadjitron Dragon is only slightly stronger than your monsters in terms of attack power, I will next equip Antique Gear Fist to my Antique Gear Beast before destroying it with Antique Gear Charger, in order to boost my dragon's attack to forty-five hundred!"

Crackling with electricity, the giant robotic dragon roared even louder, clockwork gears of its body screaming as its power rose to immense levels.

"Watch this, Felicity!" Lexi roared, "I'm about to do what you and the Tyler Sisters could never do! I'm ending Fang with my own two hands on my first turn!"

"Are you trying to surpass me?" Felicity growled.

"I already have!" Lexi cackled, green hair beginning to stand on end from the bursts of electricity coming from her boosted Antique Gear Raider and Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon. "We'll see who gets the promotion from Edo when I bring in the bounty!"

Despite knowing that he was about to die, Fang couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction over seeing Felicity get put off-balance by one of her underlings. Granted, he knew full-well that Felicity was a far superior duelist than this Lexi, when allowed to use her own deck, but the thought of more in-fighting amongst the Academia ranks filled him with a kind of feral pleasure. Enough feral pleasure to do one last act of mischief.

"Careful, Felicity." Fang snickered. "She's right you know. All she has to do is single-handedly bring me in and how will that make you look by comparison? The failed Obelisk commander who couldn't do what a mere Slifer grunt did?"

"I will reclaim my honor." Felicity coldly replied, "No matter how many more of your Xyz comrades' bodies I have to trample under my feet. Watching you die here will be reward enough."

"Oh, Felicity." Fang sneered, "Once I'm gone, you'll have nobody else to talk to, seeing as your underlings are getting ready to abandon you that is."

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Lexi screamed, managing to catch the attention of Fang, who looked back at her with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Just kill me already." He growled. "You have the attack power and I have no cards to defend myself with. I'm all yours."

"And here I thought Fang was Felicity's boyfriend. Now he's pledging himself to Lexi?" Sasha snickered, causing Lexi to glare at her before turning her attention back to Fang.

"If you think I'm going to kill you quickly just because I want the bounty, then you've got another thing coming." She whispered in an all-too-soft voice, like a cat purring while playing with its prey. "You are in my power, and so I'm going to enjoy killing you, nice and slowly."

Fang felt sweat beading on his forehead as his heart hammered in his chest. Clenching his fists together, he braced himself, wating for Lexi to continue her turn.

"Antique Gear Raider." Lexi purred, "Activate your ability. Brutal Pillaging."

"He's over there! Lydia's almost gotten to him!" Joho shouted as Natsumi rapidly made a corner, nearly careening into a building as she tried to maintain control over her powers.

"How much further!?" Natsumi shouted back, trying to pump her legs as fast as she could while her powers carried her forward at a supernatural pace.

"Lydia and Lizette will get there first at the rate we're going." Joho replied. "They might even end up dueling without us."

"NOT AN OPTION!" Natsumi roared. "YOU ARE GOING TO BE THERE TO PROTECT LYDIA AND THAT IS FINAL!"

"What the?" Joho sputtered. "What do you mean by that? How are you gonna-?"

The rest of Joho's sentence was cut off as Natsumi, glowing red with intense energy as her mark lit up like a lamp, threw Joho screaming through the air towards the distant duel with her combined Psychic and Phoenix Guard powers.

Fang desperately tried to dodge the harpoons flying towards him. Thanks to the quick blocks of his loyal Black Luster Soldier monsters, he managed to evade most of the deadly harpoons, before a single stray harpoon stuck him in the foot, causing Fang to scream in agony from more than just his Life Points dropping to 1200.

"Like at you!" Lexi cackled as her own Life Points rose to 2800. "You sound just like a stuck pig! Oh I am so glad the Professor did not ban the Real Solid Vision for this monster!"

"The Professor did ban this kind of Solid Vision." Felicity drawled. "Personally I find it a bit boring to use the real damage it can inflict as a crutch when one's dueling."

"I'll show you." Lexi hissed as her monster retracted its harpoon, dragging Fang across the ditch before the point of the harpoon dislodged itself from his bleeding shoe. "When I'm commander, I'll have every one of my enemies bleeding out their lives from puncture wounds!"

"Please." Fang groaned, clutching at his foot in an effort to stop the bleeding. "Just kill me."

"Oh, but I'm not done yet!" Lexi protested. "After all, I did promise to serve you up skewered and roasted, and I've only done half of those things! So how about I even you out and skewer your other foot before having my Gadjitron Dragon fry you up!?"

Above Lexi's head, Gadjitron Dragon's mouth opened, revealing a furnace of fire blazing within its gullet. Groaning with pain, Fang tried desperately to stand up, but the pain in his punctured foot and slashed leg caused him to stagger back to the ground, nearly falling flat on his face before he was caught by his Black Luster Soldier.

"Your monsters are pretty loyal to you." Lexi observed with a maniacal sneer. "How about I take them away from you? Antique Gear Raider, shish-kebab his Black Luster Soldier! Mechanized Javelin!"

Mechanical mount roaring with fury, the rider of Antique Gear Raider let out a robotic laugh before launching all four of its cruel harpoon weapons towards Fang and Black Luster Soldier. Charging forward with a determined battle-cry, Black Luster Soldier swiped away two harpoons with a bash of his shield, and the other two with a swipe of his sword. But just as he attempted to reform his stance, the massive metal beast of Antique Gear Raider pounced against Black Luster Soldier, pinning him to the ground before the robotic beast clamped its jaws over his throat. Screaming out a "No!" in protest as Black Luster Soldier dissolved into dust, Fang vainly limped forward in an effort to save his monster before getting himself knocked into the air with a furious backhand from Antique Gear Raider.

Flying through the air as his Life Points dropped to 300, Fang felt his consciousness slipping from him. Sure enough, as he looked off into the distance, he could swear he saw shapes like his resistance members running towards him. Two girls running towards the duel at breakneck speed, a very distant girl running at super-speed, and a boy…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Joho screamed as he slammed into Fang mid-flight. Fortunately, despite the collision, Joho managed to recover just in time to throw out his palm, letting out a burst of crimson energy that slowed their descent to the ground, managing to just collapse on top of Fang without either of them slamming into the ground at a deadly velocity.

Fang was confused, to say the least.

"What…" he groaned.

"…the…" Felicity exclaimed.

"F%^&!" Lexi bellowed, eyes bulging as wide as dinner plates at the unexpected intrusion.

"That's the last time I ride Natsumi." Joho groaned, getting up from the ground before facing the Academia soldiers as the intrusion penalty caused his Life Points to drop to 2000.

"What!?" Fang groaned, still completely dazed.

"Gross!" Cami gagged, looking like she would throw up while Felicity and Sasha both narrowed their eyes at Joho with disgust.

"Okay…th-th-that c-c-came out wrong." Joho stammered, throwing up his hands and backing away. "W-w-what I m-m-meant to say was-…"

"SHUT UP!" Lexi roared, "Just, SHUT UP! I don't care who the flip you are or what you are doing here, but after I card Fang I'm carding you too! Battle! Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon, attack his Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and finish this duel!"

"Get out of here, idiot, before you get killed!" Fang roared, struggling to stand on his wounded feet.

"We're not going anywhere and neither are you!" the voice of Lydia called from above as she leaped over the pit and landed in front of Fang and Joho, Life Points dropping to 2000 as she drew her opening hand and took the penalty.

"From my hand, I activate the effect of Golden Mist Luminous Sylph!" Lydia declared, revealing a glowing card in her hand. "By Discarding Golden Mist Glowing Eagle from my hand, I can Special Summon this card from my hand in order to negate your attack and end the Battle-Phase!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Lexi screamed as she got blinded by an intense flash of light. In front of Lydia, a shining phantasmal bird with wings made of gilded mist materialized in front of Lydia, a holographic indicator displaying a DEF of 1500. Spreading out its wings, Lyida's monster generated an explosion of golden mist, bathing the field in light and driving back Lexi's Antique Gear Gadjitron dragon.

Golden Mist Luminous Sylph / LIGHT / Level 3 / Winged Beast / Effect / ATK 300 / DEF 1500

"Thanks for the save, Lydia." Joho groaned, steading himself before offering his hand to a stunned Fang, who refused to take it.

"We're not done yet." Lydia warned. "I next activate the second effect of Golden Mist Luminous Sylph! If my monster is Special Summoned this way, I can Special Summon one Golden Mist monster from my graveyard in order to have all players gain Life Points equal to the ATK or DEF of the monster, whichever is higher. So come forth in defense position! Golden Mist Glowing Eagle!"

"Letting out a high-preached shriek, Lydia's second monster, a massive golden eagle with transparent feathers that looked like they were made of golden smoke, rose into the air, scattering golden dust over the players as their Life Points rose by 1800.

Golden Mist - Glowing Eagle / LIGHT / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1800

Joho 2000 + 1800 = 3800

Lydia 2000 + 1800 = 3800

Fang 300 + 1800 = 2100

Slifer 1 4000 + 1800 = 5800

Cami 700 + 1800 = 2500

Lexi 2800 + 1800 = 4600

Sasha 2000 + 1800 = 3800

Felicity 2000 + 1800 = 3800

"No!" Lexi screamed, as if she ahd just been mortally wounded. "What the actual F*** is going on!?"

"It seems you've been holding out on me, Fang." Felicity growled. "How many more of your resistance friends are you hiding?"

"Th-there not resistance." Sasha quivered, finger pointed at Lydia as her eyes widened as she backed away.

"What?" Felicity snapped, "What do you mean they're not resistance?"

Sasha was shaking her head in disbelief, a look of naked horror on her face. "I-it can't be! I can't believe it!"

"What can't you believe!?" Felicity hissed, quickly losing her patience.

"Don't you recognize her!?" Sasha gaped, "It's her! That…that…machine! The one that would attack any village that resisted the professor's orders! She carded my family in front of me when they refused to send me to Academia! The conscriptor!"

"What!?" Felicity sputtered before taking a closer look at Lydia.

"I remember you." Felicity murmured, narrowing her eyes at Lydia. "You were one of the Professor's top agents."

"More like a mindless monster!" Sasha spat.

"I'm not the professor's anymore." Lydia spat back, left eye glowing a bright red underneath her bandages. "He can rot in hell for what he did to me!"

"Oh yeah, that's right." Felicity mused. "I read a file on you. You fell for some Xyz prisoner and ran off to start some kind of pathetic rebellion, if I'm remembering correctly. In fact…" she continued, eyes trailing towards Joho.

Lexi suddenly smiled.

"That's right!" she squealed. "I remember now! I can't believe I didn't recognize that idiot when I saw him! He's the idiot whose dad wandered into our dimension and helped us to discover the Xyz Dimension in the first place. I used to practice dueling this little punk just to learn how to take down Xyz monsters. How's my little Joho doing?"

"Very unhappy to meet you again." Joho grimaced, looking up at Lexi like he was getting reacquainted with an old bully.

"Well I'm happy to see you both." Lexi sneered. "This bounty just keeps getting better and better! Once we take all three of you down, we'll be accepted into Obelisk Force for sure!"

"Just shut up and end your turn!" Sasha bellowed, shoving her face into Lexi's.

"Hey!" Lexi protested, "Why are you looking at me like that!? I was only having fun!"

"I've been aching for this moment for years!" Sasha missed, a mixture of grief and fury in her face. "Nobody gets to take down the conscriptor but me!"

"But…" Lexi protested.

"Fine." Felicity replied, interrupting Lexi. "This duel has gone on long enough. End your turn, Lexi, and let Sasha finish them off."

For a moment, Lexi looked like she would continue protesting, but a look from Sasha caused her to back down.

"Turn end." Lexi muttered, hanging her head down.

"Atashi no turn!" Sasha growled, ripping a card from the top of her deck before adding it to her hand.

"She looks…pretty mad." Joho observed, nervously backing away. "Why can't you have made more friends at Academia?"

"There weren't many people worth being friends with." Lydia muttered. "And besides, The Professor didn't exactly care about perfecting my people skills."

"Do you care about any of the people you destroyed." Sasha hissed, glowering at Lydia. "Did you even feel any conflict whatsoever when you did it!?"

"I had no choice." Lydia murmured, "Even less than most people The Professor conscripted."

"Liar!" Sasha bellowed. "I saw you when you carded them! Cold! Unfeeling! You were just a killing machine that didn't care! Well now I'm gonna kill you! I activate the effect of Antique Gear Armory! I fuse my Antique Gear Soldier with my Antique Gear Gadjitron Chimera in order to Fusion Summon! Come forth! Antique Gear Raider!"

Mirroring Sasha's fury as it exited the Fusion Portal, the mount of Antique Gear Raider reared up on its hind legs before bellowing at Lydia, Joho, and Fang.

Antique Gear Raider / EARTH / Level 7 / Machine / Fusion / Effect / ATK 600 (+ 1300 + 300) = 2200 / DEF 2000

"Go…away…idiots." Fang growled. "You can't win! Save yourself!"

"We're not leaving." Lydia replied.

"Good!" Sasha growled. "Because I won't let you leave anyway! I equip my Antique Gear Raider with Antique Gear Tank!"

Antique Gear Raider ATK 600 + 1300 + 600 + 300 = 2800 ATK

"And next," Sasha continued, "I'll tribute our Antique Gear Castle in order to summon Antique Gear Golem without the need to sacrifice other monsters! Come forth, vanguard of the mechanized ancients!"

As the castle dissolved away into golden dust, a massive portal opened up above Lexi's head. From the portal, a massive mechanical giant, wearing armor like an ancient Greek soldier, descended to the field, a glowing red eye surveying the other duelists.

Antique Gear Golem / EARTH / Level 8 / Machine / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

Joho began visibly sweating at the sight of the creature while Lydia began bracing herself for the inevitable attack.

"RUN!" Fang ordered, getting up on his injured feet before attempting to shove Lydia and Joho away.

"NOBODY'S LEAVING!" Sasha bellowed, "NOT BEFORE I AVANGE MY FAMILY! I activate Antique Gear Charger! I destroy my Antique Gear Tank in order to increase Antique Gear Raider's ATK by 1200! And since Antique Gear Tank was destroyed, you will all lose six-hundred Life Points! Go! Gear overcharge!"

In an explosion of sparks, Antique Gear Charger destroyed the tank equipped to Antique Gear Raider, causing the raider to surge with energy before the effect of Antique Gear Tank blasted Lydia, Joho, and Fang back.

Antique Gear Raider ATK 600 + 1300 + 1200 = 3100

Joho 3800 – 600 = 3200 LP

Lydia 3800 – 600 = 3200 LP

Fang 2100 – 600 = 1500 LP

"I'll next activate the effect of Antique Gear Raider! I target the Antique Gear Gadjitron Chimera in our graveyard to inflict 1200 damage to your Life Points while increasing my own Life Points by 1200. Take this, Conscriptor! Brutal Pillaging!"

"This isn't good!" Joho exclaimed as Antique Gear Raider raised its weapon towards them.

"Get down!" Lydia bellowed, tackling Joho and Fang to the ground as the harpoons whizzed above them.

Joho 3200 – 1200 = 2000 LP

Lydia 3200 – 1200 = 2000 LP

Fang 1500 – 1200 = 300 LP

Sasha 3800 + 1200 = 5000 LP

"Now to finish you off, Conscriptor!" Sasha continued, "Even if you're hiding behind those defense position monsters, I can still easily finish you off!"

"No you can't." Felicity flatly replied.

"What!?" Sasha snapped, turning to Felicity, who remained unflinching.

"Even with Golem's piercing ability, you won't be able to finish Lydia off yet." Felicity calmly explained. "So please put away your romantic notions of avenging your family and think for a moment. Joho is open for a direct attack, and Fang's monster still poses the greatest threat to us."

"So?" Sasha snapped.

"So you will follow these orders to the letter." Felicity growled, causing Sasha to back down. "Destroy Fang's Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning with Antique Gear Raider and attack Joho directly with Antique Gear Golem. We'll be able to do a lot more damage that way than if you focus on that pathetic rebel. Understood?"

"But…" Sasha protested.

"Understood!?" Felicity repeated more forcefully.

"Yes." Sasha acquiesced, turning back towards her opponents.

"You will lose." Sasha promised, glaring vehemently at Lydia, who returned her gaze with an unwavering expression on her face.

"Battle!" Sasha declared. "Antique Gear Raider, Destroy Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!"

"Where are the others!?" Joho exclaimed as Antique Gear Raider fired its weapons into Black Luster Soldier's chest, causing the tall warrior to cry out in agony before exploding in a shower of sparks.

Fang 300 – 100 = 200 LP

"Now to finish you off, Joho!" Sasha continued.

"You stay away from him, or you'll see exactly what a real monster is!" Lydia threatened.

"So you care about him, then?" Sasha grinned. "Then this might be better revenge then what I was planning in the first place. Antique Gear Golem! Squash Joho like the bug he is! Mechanized melee!"

Pulling back its massive arm, Antique Gear Golem prepared to slam its mechanical fist into Joho when:

"INTRUSION PENALTY, 2000 LIFE POINTS!"

"Oh come on! What now!?" Felicity bellowed, head whipping in the direction of the newcomer, who leaped over the heads of the other duelists before drawing her opening hand and revealing a single card.

Lizette Leblanc 4000 – 2000 = 2000 LP

"I activate the effect of Angelic Trumpet from my hand!" Lizette declared. "During the Battle-Phase, I can reveal this card from my hand in order to Special Summon up to 3 "Angelic Armor" monsters form my hand and set this card from my hand after summoning those monsters! Come forth! Angelic Armor Breastplate, Angelic Armor Cloak, and Angelic Armor Shield!"

Antique Gear Golem launched its fist towards the players. But just as it did, a golden horn materialized in Lizettes hand, which she blew through, summoning three portals above her head before a golden breastplate with wing patterns over the chest, a golden cape, and a large golden shield with wings on the ends descended through the portals and affixed themselves to Lizette. Once equipped, Lizette leaped forward, and slammed her shield against, Antique Gear Golem's fist, knocking the massive robot back as if completely disregarding the law of physics.

Angelic Armor Breastplate/ EARTH/ Level 1/ Rock/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 1500

Angelic Armor Cloak/ FIRE/ Level 1/ Spellcaster/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0

Angelic Armor Shield/ EARTH/ Level 1/ Rock/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 2000

"Why is everyone getting in my way!?" Sasha bellowed. "Since there was a replay just now, I'll have my Antique Gear Golem resume its attack on Joho! Mechanized Melee!"

"Impossible!" Lizette shot back, "While Angelic Armor Shield is in play, you cannot attack any monsters other than itself!"

"Thanks for the save." Joho sighed with relief.

"Shut up!" Lizette snapped. "If you were all better duelists I wouldn't have to save you!"

"Argh!" Sasha screamed. "Then if that's the case, I'll just destroy that stupid shield! And thanks to Antique Gear Golem's effect, you'll take Piercing battle damage! Mechanized Melee!"

Letting out a roar, Antique Gear Golem launched its massive fist down against Lizette, who managed to raise her shield, and block the blow from the monster's massive fist just in time. Like a hammer bouncing off a metal plate after hitting it, Antique Gear Golem's fist bounced off the golden shield with a high-pithed "ping" knocking the monster back again. Lizette, meanwhile, remained standing, life points dropping to 1000, but shield remaining completely undamaged.

Lizette 2000 – 1000 = 1000 LP

"What!?" Sasha hissed, "Why didn't that shield get destroyed!?"

"While Angelic Armor Breastplate is on my field," Lizette explained, breastplate glowing with white light, "Angelic Armor Monsters I control cannot be destroyed by battle! You will not be getting past me!"

"No!" Sasha screamed, growing hysterical. "This wasn't supposed to happen! This was my chance!"

"Shut up and end your turn!" Felicity ordered. "I'm finishing the job!"

"Turn end." Sasha groaned, clutching her head while tears welled up in her eyes.

"Atashi no turn, DRAW!" Felicity began, ripping a card from the top of her deck before beginning her turn.

"I may have been demoted since we last met, Fang." Felicity growled. "But before me, all of you pathetic interlopers and traitors are nothing but garbage for me to clear out! I activate the effect of Antique Gear Armory! By Fusing Antique Gear Golem and Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon in my hand Dragon together, I Fusion Summon Antique Gear Devil! Mechanical soldiers inheriting ancient souls, now form an allegiance and join! Be reborn together as a new force! Yuugo Shoukan! Come forth in defense position! Antique Gear Devil!"

Emerging from the Fusion Portal above Felicity's head, a massive demonic-looking machine with mechanical wings and claws descended to the field, wires and machinery within its metal frame humming with life as it surveyed the field.

Antique Gear Devil/ EARTH/ Level 8/ Machine/ Fusion/ Effect/ ATK 1000/ DEF 1800

"That monster doesn't suit you, Felicity." Fang involuntarily chuckled. "It's a little too…generic, don't you think?"

"I should have expected you to make one final quip before dying." Felicity sighed. "Believe me, I would have much rather defeated you differently, the blades of our monsters crossing against each other like they did before. But sometimes you have to embrace boring tactics to achieve victory. And I will not be defeated again, Fang."

"Do your worst!" Fang growled.

"Some kind of bad history between you two?" Joho asked.

"Shut up!" Fang snarled.

"Plenty of history between us." Felicity replied. "None of which is going to bode well for the rest of you. I next equip Antique Gear Devil with Antique Gear Magic Shield and Antique Gear Ultimate Cannon!"

On top of the machine's back, between its two wings, a massive clockwork cannon mounted itself onto its metallic frame. In front of the monster, a large red shield shaped like a gear, materialized, before projecting a violet energy shield.

"Both of these cards make it so that my equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle." Felicity explained. "Furthermore, Antique Gear Cannon makes it so I take no damage from battles involving my monster while increasing its ATK by its own Level X 200, and Antique Gear Magic Shield increases my monster's DEF by 1200. Finally, as if that's not enough, while my Devil is equipped with a card, it is unaffected by my opponent's card effects.

Antique Gear Devil ATK 1000 + 1600 = 2600 ATK / DEF 1800 + 1200 = 3000 DEF

"But that's the boring part." Felicity sighed. "What's important is Antique Gear Devil's second effect. Once per turn, it can inflict 1000 Damage to my opponents' LP for each face-up Magic Card we control. With Antique Gear Magic Shiled, Antique Gear Ultimate Cannon, Antique Gear Armory, and 3 Antique Gear Chargers, that's a total of 6000 damage. You lose."

Spreading out its mechanical claws, Antique Gear Devil, shot out beams of intense heat from the tips of each claw, Fang, Joho, Lydia, and Lizette between two walls of laser beams as it slowly brought its claws together.

"Do you have anything for this?" Lizette asked, Lydia.

"You're the one with the armor." Lydia replied. "I've got nothing.

"I have something." Joho replied, stepping forward, before pulling a card from his hand. "Even if your monster is unaffected by our card effects, we can still protect ourselves! I summon Tech-Beast – Fireflywall!"

Just as the beams of heat were about to touch the other duelists, a giant firefly, with a transparent exoskeleton filled with wires, two pairs of translucent wings filled with circuitry, and a pair of compound eyes with pixelated pupils in the center, appeared in front of Joho, before suddenly multiplying into three other Fireflies, which surrounded the players before projecting four energy shields, which blocked the beams as they enclosed the players in a protective box.

"If an opponent's monster, activates its effect, I can Equip Tech Beast Fireflywall from my hand to that monster." Joho explained. "And during the turn I use this effect, any effect damage we take is changed to zero, and any battle damage we take is halved!"

Tech-Beast – Fireflywall / FIRE / Level 4 / Insect / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

On either side Fang, Joho, Lydia, and Lizette, the lasers of Antique Gear Devil's claws scorched the surrounding area with intense heat, but thanks to the shields of Joho's monster, none of them were harmed.

To Joho's right, Fang began laughing with uproarious laughter.

"This…isn't…over!" Felicity, growled, clenching her fists. "You fools have to run out of hand traps eventually! And besides…" she continued, examining a card in her hand. "I'm still not done with my turn."

"You can't break through out defense!" Lizette replied. "We've withstood all your Antique Gear monsters up till now, and we'll withstand the rest!"

"Then perhaps it's time I use my true cards." Felicity replied, pulling out a card from her hand.

"So you did keep some of your cards." Fang observed.

"Just for you, Fang." Felicity breathed. "I may have lost my rank, but I refused to completely lose my dignity!"

"What a great thing for you to prioritize." Fang spat. "To think that you're dignity will last after all the people you've destroyed, when all we wanted to do was survive against you!"

"Not that you're going to survive for much longer." Felicity vowed. "Since I haven't yet Normal Summoned this turn, I next summon Armageddon Knight to my field!"

"Armageddon Knight!?" Joho exclaimed, as Felicity's monster, a knight in ragged black armor, appeared to the field, "Why would they play that? How is that supposed to help them?"

"It'll help her kill us all." Fang morosely muttered.

"Using Armageddon Knight's effect, I will send Nightblade Oracle from my deck to the graveyard!" Felicity continued, snagging a card from her deck and sending it to her graveyard. In front of her, a cloaked woman with a single black blade in her hand and a ring of moonstones around her hooded head appeared to the field before descending into a black portal.

"When Nightblade Oracle is sent to the graveyard by an effect, then I can add one Fusion or Nightblade Spell Card from my deck to my hand, and if I do, I can send one DARK Warrior-Type monster from my deck to the graveyard, other than Nightblade Oracle. Using this effect, I will add Nightblade Fusion from my deck to my hand and send Nightblade Swordsman from my deck to the graveyard" Felicity explained as an assassin wearing a cloak and black armor and wielding a short curved sword with a moonstone on the hilt, descended into the graveyard through a black portal.

"Here it comes." Fang growled. "I'm pretty much dead, but you fools can still try to run."

"We will never run!" Lizette vowed. "I'd rather die!"

"Then I will grant you your wish." Felicity replied. "Using the Nightblade Fusion I added to my hand, I fuse my Armageddon Knight with the Dark Crusader in my hand in order to Fusion Summon!"

Above Felicity's head, a black fusion portal with a shining moonstone in the center, appeared above her head before her two monsters appeared at the edges of the portal and began spiraling into the center as Felicity began her Fusion Chant.

"Silent warriors of the shadows! Cross your blades together and stand as one in the dark of the night! Yuugo Shoukan! Come forth to slay my enemies! Level 4! Nightblade Paladin!"

In a whirlwind of black smoke, Felicity's Fusion monster suddenly appeared to the field, a pale-skinned, silver-haired woman with a moonstone embedded in her forehead, a black hood over her head, shiny black armor, and a massive claymore in her hands. Slowly opening her eyelids to reveal blood-red eyes beneath, the warrior slowly grinned before assuming a battle stance.

Nightblade Paladin/ DARK/ Level 4/ Warrior/ Fusion/ Effect/ ATK 2000/ DEF 1000

"When Nightblade Paladin is Fusion Summoned successfully, I can target 1 Level 4 Dark Warrior-Type monster in my graveyard to give it that monster's effects. Using this effect, I will target Nightblade Swordsman, to give Nightblade Paladin its effect! During the turn it was summoned, I can send one Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster from my deck to the graveyard. Using this new effect, I'll send Nightblade Spearman from my deck to the graveyard!"

In front of Felicity, a spearman in a black robe, with a Moonstone brooch holding the robe together, silently descended into Felicity's graveyard.

"The other effect of Nightblade Swordsman, which my Nightblade Paladin inherited, now comes into effect!" Felicity continued. "Once per turn, I can increase the ATK of my monster by four-hundred for each Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster in my graveyard, while making it so my monster cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects. Since I have five Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monsters in my graveyard, my monster gains two-thousand ATK! Go! Assassin Soul Absorption!"

Holding her blade aloft, Nightblade Paladin stretched her other hand towards the ground, summoning five blood-red portals, through which the phantasmal forms of Felicity's other DARK Warrior-Type monsters rose before merging with Nightblade Paladin's blade.

Nightblade Paladin 2000 + 2000 = 4000 ATK

"It doesn't matter how strong your monsters become!" Lizette countered, "You will never get past me!"

"I will next use Nightblade Paladin's second effect!" Felicity shot back, glaring at Lizette. "Your shield may be indestructible, but as we've seen before, you're still vulnerable to Piercing Damage! Once per turn, during either player's turn, my Nightblade Paladin can copy the effect of one Level four DARK Warrior-Type monster in my graveyard. This time, I will copy the effect of my Nightblade Spearman so that my Nightblade Paladin has Piercing Damage!"

"This isn't good!" Joho groaned.

"It'll get worse." Fang pessimistically predicted.

"Could you be any more cheerful?" Joho grunted, glaring at Fang.

"If I decided to ignore the truth, then yes." Fang shot back.

"I will next banish my Nightblade Fusion from my graveyard to activate its second effect!" Felicity continued. "This turn, my Nightblade monster with the highest attack can attack once for each DARK Level 4 Warrior-Type monster in my graveyard, that was sent their by a card effect, but other monsters I control cannot attack. Since all five of my Dark Warrior-Type monsters in my graveyard were sent to the graveyard by a card effect, my Nightblade Paladin gets five attacks this turn! Go! Start by attacking Angelic Armor Shield! Deadly Shadow Blade!"

Leaping into the air with super-human strength, Nightblade Paladin raised her sword above her head preparing to bring it down on Lizette's upraised shield when:

"Oh, there you guys are!" Natsumi panted, zipping up to the others before stopping just outside the pit to wave at her friends while she took the intrusion penalty. "Sorry, I got lost, I'll help you guys out, let me just draw my opening hand and I'll…"

"Just stop that attack already!" Lizette roared.

"NO YOU FREAKING DON'T!" Felicity roared, face going red with rage. "NOT AGAIN!"

"Since an attack has been declared, I discard Celestial Comet from my hand in order to Special Summon one Celestial monster from my deck, come forth, Celestial Defender!"

From up above Natsumi, a large white comet fell from the sky, descending straight towards Nightblade Paladin. Using her sword, Felicity's monster managed to bat away the massive rock, sending it falling into the center of the pit. Once the large stone had landed, the rock cracked open like an egg, revealing a colossal knight in bulky silver armor with a large shield, twice his size and engraved with multiple star patterns.

Celestial Defender / LIGHT / Level 2 / Warrior/Effect / 500 ATK / 2000 DEF
"Is there ANYONE else I should be aware of that feels the need to interrupt this duel!?" Felicity bellowed as Nightblade Paladin returned to her field due to the replay.

"Well I don't think so." Natsumi replied, looking genuinely thoughtful. "Of course I guess a whole lot of people could end up-…"

"Shut up!" Felicity growled. "I didn't need you to answer that! Since you're so eager to die, I'll oblige you once I take out that stupid shield! Nightblade Paladin! Continue your attack!"

"Actually, you can't." Lizette replied.

"What!?" Felicity snapped.

"She's right." Natsumi explained, matter-of-factly. "So long as Celestial Defender is on my side of the field, our opponent cannot attack any monster other than Celestial Defender."

"And the same effect goes for my shield." Lizette continued.

"Which means a total attack lock-down for you." Joho finished.

Felicity darted back and forth as she looked at the various opponents, which had gathered against her force.

"You won't last much longer." She breathed. "Mark my words, I will destroy you, all of you! I will not rest until every one of you stinkin Xyz scum are dead! Turn end!"

"Why are you guys invading this place anyway?" Natsumi asked, looking up at the Academia soldiers.

"What!?" Felicity growled.

"I just don't get it." Natsumi continued, taking a step forward. "I mean, I know you guys probably think your accomplishing something noble here, but I just don't get how you can justify destroying an entire dimension like this!" She paused to indicate the field of ruins around them. "The Xyz Dimension never did anything to you, so why are you destroying them like this? Couldn't you just work with them to accomplish your goals?"

"Natsumi, there's no point in reasoning with them." Lizette warned.

"She's right." Lydia agreed. "I know these people."

"Just please." Natsumi insisted, "I know there has to be a better way than for us to fight like this. We can resolve this peacefully."

Fang began laughing.

"Just tell me why you're attacking." Natsumi pressed, ignoring Fang.

Felicity opened her mouth to respond, but Lexi jumped in faster.

"You think we need a reason to destroy you, Xyz scum?" Lexi laughed. "You pieces of trash are nothing but our play things! We hunt you for the heck of it and you try to run away! We've got no reason to work with you! We just need you dead! So we might as well make it fun before we kill you all. That's why I'm here, after all. To hunt you guys down because it's fun!"

'Y-you mean-…" Natsumi gawked, staring at Lexi in disbelief.

"That's right, little girl." Lexi sneered. "I've got no empathy whatsoever. I'm going to crush your head under my boot and watch you writhe before I squash you into the slime you are!"

Natsumi stared at Lexi, a dumbfounded expression on her face before looking back and forth at the other Academia soldiers, but none of them said a word to refute what Lexi had just claimed.

"Lizette…" Natsumi breathed, clenching her fist, "let me stop them…now!"

"Technically, I intruded first, so it's my turn now." Joho replied.

"Then just leave that girl for me." Natsumi responded, hair covering her eyes while she pointed at Lexi.

"We should focus on winning." Lydia replied, "Not about who gets to fight who."

"But if she's still around after we've taken our turns," Lizette continued, "then she's all yours."

"Thank you." Natsumi replied, nodding her head.

"Boku no turn, draw!" Joho began, drawing his first card.

"I'll start by summoning Tech-Beast - Virus Worm!" Joho began, placing his first monster on the Duel Disk. Above him, a long six foot translucent worm with circuitry and electricity pulsing through its slithering body, wriggled out of a blue portal before settling on the duel field, mouth opening to reveal multiple tongues with cables and plugs at the end.

Tech-Beast – Virus Worm / DARK / Level 4 / Machine / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1500

"Next, since I now control a Tech-Beast monster, I Special Summon my Tech-Beast Fireflywall from my Spell and Trap Card Zone with its own effect! Come forth!" Joho continued, causing Fireflywall to fly over to his field.

Tech-Beast – Fireflywall / FIRE / Level 4 / Insect / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Finally, by returning one Spell or Trap Card on the field to the hand, I can Special Summon Tech-Beast - Crash Cricket from my hand. I choose to return Lizette's face-down card and Special Summon Crash Cricket."

Tech-Beast – Crash Cricket / WIND / Level 4 / Insect / Effect / ATK 1500 / DEF 1000

"Why my card?" Lizette snapped, snagging her face-down Angelic Trumpet from her Duel Disk before adding it to her hand as Joho's next monster, a black cricket with large metallic antennae and circuitry under its shiny black carapace, appeared hopped onto the field.

"You…don't want to have that out for the next part." Joho nervously replied.

"What exactly do you plan to do with those weak little monsters?" the boy asked.

"He's going to Xyz Summon, Bradley!" Cami replied, "Brace yourself."

"You idiots are scared of a wimpy little Xyz Monster?" Lexi laughed. "Boy you're pathetic."

"It actually might not be a bad idea to worry right about now." Joho grinned. "Especially when my monster has enough power to defeat half of you."

"What?" Lexi growled. "You're bluffing!"

"I now overlay my Tech-Beast – Fireflywall, Tech-Beast - Virus Worm, and Tech-Beast – Crash Cricket in order to Xyz Summon!" Joho declared, raising his hands into the air as his two monsters drained into the galaxy-shaped Xyz portal. "Marvelous living creatures of the virtual biome, adapt and update into a new organism that surges with unlimited power! Xyz Shoukan! Come forth with the power to overload the network! Tech-Beast – Power Serpent!"

In an explosion of multi-colored light, Joho's Xyz monster rose into the air, a massive snake-like creature with a body made of numerous coiled black power chords and a huge plug for a tail. Multiple chords writhed around the creature like tentacles and huge bolts of electricity crackled around the monster.

Tech-Beast – Power Serpent / WIND / Rank 4 / Reptile / Xyz / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 2800

"I activate the effect of my Power Serpent!" Joho continued, "By detaching 1 Overlay Unit, I destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field in order to inflict 800 damage to the controller's LP for each of their cards destroyed!"

"What!?" Lexi exclaimed in disbelief.

"All Spell and Trap Cards!?" Bradly cried.

"And since none of us control any Spell or Trap cards, we won't be taking any damage. Go! Power Overload!"

Letting out a massive hiss, Joho's monster unleashed a swarm of electrical cables from its body, which hooked up to the Spell and Trap Cards of each Academia Soldier before surging with intense electrical energy and obliterating each card in a shower of sparks.

"I activate the effect of Antique Gear Bunker in my hand!" the Academia Soldier named Bradley declared. "If an effect activates that would inflict effect damage, I can Special Summon this card from my hand in order to make all of that effect damage zero!"

Forming around the gathered Academia Soldiers, a large clockwork bunker materialized into existence before absorbing the electrical shocks emitted by Tech-Beast – Power Serpent.

Antique Gear Bunker / EARTH / Level 4 / Machine / Effect / ATK 500 / DEF 2000

"Nice save." Cami complimented.

"Thanks." Bradley replied. "And since Antique Gear Armory was destroyed, I can draw 3 cards from my deck, so long as I discard all non-Antique Gear cards afterwards." He continued, drawing three cards before discarding a copy of Fusion and Fusion Trench so that he had 4 cards in his hand.

"I guess I should have expected it wouldn't be that easy." Joho sighed. "If I use the effect of Power Serpent, I can't conduct my battle Phase, so I'll set one card face-down and end my turn. You're turn, Lydia. I've cleared out their Trap Cards just for you."

"Thanks, Joho." Lydia replied. "My turn, draw!"

"I've studied your old tactics, conscriptor!" Sasha growled. "I won't let you defeat us now!"

"Then it's a good thing I've adopted new tactics since I left Academia." Lydia replied. "I tribute my Golden Mist – Luminous Sylph to summon a second Golden Mist Glowing Eagle!"

Golden Mist - Glowing Eagle / LIGHT / Level 5 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1800

"I now overlay my two Level five monsters in order to Xyz Summon!" Lydia declared, raising her hands into the air.

"Xyz Summon!?" Sasha sputtered, eyes bugging out of her head. "Since when did you learn to do that!?"

"She's more of a traitor than I thought." Felicity mused. "Then again, she'll be much easier to defeat if she's using weak Xyz Monsters."

"You've obviously never seen this monster." Joho smirked as Lydia began her summoning chant.

"Creatures of the morning, distill your radiance upon my soul and rise as a glorious creature with the power of the sun itself! Xyz Shoukan! Come Forth! Rank 5! Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon!"

Transforming into streams of golden light, Lydia's two monsters drained into the Xyz Portal, which exploded in a blast of multi-colored light before Lydia's new monster ascended to the sky. Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon was a massive dragon with gold-and-black scales, wings with membranes that looked like they were made of pure light, humanoid arms and claws, a muscular chest with golden armor, and a long thin black-and-gold tail with a tip that looked like an elegant golden sun. Multiple orbs along its wings and shoulders crackled with electricity, while the entire monster's body glowed with intense light as it soared above the other duelists.

Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon / LIGHT / Rank 5 / Dragon / Xyz / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 2000

"Three-thousand attack points!?" Sasha exclaimed.

"It's nothing compared to my monster!" Felicity spat. "I activate the effect of my Nightblade Paladin! I'll increase its ATK by two-thousand while making it so it cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects! Go! Assassin Soul Absorption!"

Nightblade Paladin 2000 + 2000 = 4000 ATK

Lydia, however, looked completely unconcerned.

"I activate the effect of Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon!" Lydia declared. "Since I know you can just destroy your bunker to negate the destruction of one of your Antique Gear monsters, I'll detaching 1 Overlay Unit from this card, in order to destroy your Ancient Gear Bunker and inflict damage to your Life Points equal to its original ATK! Go! Sunstream Surge!"

Letting out a mighty roar, Lydia's monster absorbed an overlay unit into its chest before its wings, scales, and sun-ornamented tail began glowing with light. Letting out a burst of light from its mouth, Lydia's dragon vaporized the bunker, evaporating it as if it were made of nothing but thin frost before blasting back the Academia Soldiers.

Bradley 5800 – 500 = 5300 LP

Cami 2500 – 500 = 2000 LP

Lexi 4600 – 500 = 4100 LP

Sasha 5000 – 500 = 4500 LP

Felicity 3800 – 500 = 3300 LP

"I next detach the last Overlay Unit from my monster in order to destroy Antique Gear Golem and inflict 3000 damage to all your Life Points!" Lydia continued. "Sunstream Surge!"

Letting out another mighty roar, Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon dive-bombed Sasha's Antique Gear Golem, letting out a burst of light from the sun-shaped ornament on its tail before blasting a hole in the giant's chest.

"No!" Sasha screamed, as her monster exploded.

"I summon another copy of Antique Gear Bunker in order to change that damage to zero!" Bradley countered, throwing up another defensive shelter to shield the Academia soldiers from the blast.

"Battle!" Lydia continued, "I'll attack Antique Gear Hound Dog!"

Responding to her orders, Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon landed in front of Antique Gear Hound Dog, which let out a robotic yelp before running away as fast as it could go. Regarding the mechanized dog like a cat watching a mouse, Lydia's monster let the hound dog run a few paces away before opening its mouth and sniping the machine with a single golden blast of energy.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Bradley screamed as the force of the blast knocked him against the wall of the bunker.

Bradley 5300 – 2000 = 3300 LP

"I will next activate Gilded Supernova!" Lydia continued, throwing down a Quick-Play Spell Card. This card enables me to destroy one of my Golden Mist or Golden-Eyes monsters in order to inflict damage to your Life Points equal to the attack of my monster! Go, Golden-Eyes, unleash your full power! Gilded Supernova!"

Crackling with light and electricity, Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon surged with power until it exploded in a massive blast of heat, fire, and light.

"Don't get cocky!" Sasha countered, "I have my own Antique Gear Bunker I can summon! I will use its effect to negate your damage again! You won't be defeating us, conscriptor!"

Bradley 3300 LP

Cami 2000 LP

Lexi 4100 LP

Sasha 4500 LP

Felicity 3300 LP

"And now you've just thrown away your best monster." Felicity laughed. "Nice suicide bomb attempt, idiot."

"I'd never just throw away my monster like that." Lydia countered. "Since a "Golden-Eyes Xyz Monster left the field, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Rank-Up-Magic: Solar Force!"

Above Lydia's head, an image of a massive golden sun, identical to the ornament on Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon's tail appeared, before Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon reappeared to her field.

"If a Golden-Eyes monster leaves my field, I can use the monster that just left the field and Solar Force as Xyz Materials in order to Xyz Summon a Golden-Eyes monster from my Extra Deck whose Rank is one Rank higher than the Rank of the Xyz Monster that left the field! Rank Up Xyz Change!" Lydia declared, raising her fist into the air as the sun icon above her head exploded in a blast of light as she began her summoning chant.

"Lord of the luminous cosmos, bathe my soul in the light of your golden eyes and grant me the strength to burn my enemies with the heat of a thousand stars! Unleash your vengeance! Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon!"

Shaking the earth with a mighty roar, Lydia's new Xyz Monster slowly took form, coalescing from the golden dust of the exploded sun icon until a mighty dragon similar in form to Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon, but with three tails decorated with the sun icon, a larger and more muscular body, thicker armor, six golden eyes, and a pair of antlers on top of its head with a sun icon floating in between them.

Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon / LIGHT / Rank 6 / Dragon / Xyz / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 0

"Why bother summoning that piece of trash?" Sasha gawked. "its attack isn't enough to defeat anything! Are you mocking us!?"

"Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon, attack Antique Gear Raider!" Lydia ordered, causing the dragon to fire a series of three beams of light from the tips of its tails into the sun icon on its head before firing the beam into Sasha's Antique Gear Raider.

"Antique Gear Raider, counterattack! Destroy the conscriptor's monster!" Sasha ordered as her Antique Gear Raider fired its harpoons at Lydia's monster.

"I discard Golden Mist – Mirage Wisp!" Lydia countered, discarding a card from her hand before causing a feminine ghost made of golden light to appear to the field in front of Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon before phasing into its chest. "If a Golden Mist or Golden-Eyes monster I control battles an opponent's monster, then I can discard this card from my hand in order to make my monster gain attack equal to the attack of your monster in exchange for not being able to destroy your monster. Continue the attack! Trinity Sunstream!"

Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon 1000 + 1900 = 2900 ATK

Intensifying the energy of the beams, Lydia's monster let out a roar before firing an intense burst of light into Sasha's monster, knocking the monster and Sasha back as her Life Points dropped.

Sasha 4500 – 1000 = 3500 LP

"And now that it's my Main Phase 2," Lydia will continue, "I will detach 1 Overlay Unit from Galaxy Star Dragon in order to negate the effects of your Antique Gear Bunker and destroy it while inflict 500 damage to all your LP and increasing Galaxy Star Dragon's ATK by the ATK of the monster it destroyed! Trinity Sunstream!"

Complying with her orders, Galaxy Star Dragon let loose another blast of light from the icon above its head with a mighty roar, annihilating their first bunker.

Bradley 3300 – 500 = 2800 LP

Cami 2000 – 500 = 1500 LP

Lexi 4100 – 500 = 3600 LP

Sasha 3500 – 500 = 3000 LP

Felicity 3300 – 500 = 2800 LP

Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon 1000 + 500 = 1500 ATK

"I will next activate the final effect of Solar Force!" Lydia continued, "By detaching it from my Galaxy Star Dragon, I can Special Summon Golden Eyes Sunstream Dragon from the graveyard and attach my Solar Force to it as an Xyz Material!"

"Impossible!" Sasha screamed as Lydia's Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon rose to the field from a black portal before the Overlay Unit orbiting Galaxy Star Dragon detached itself from the dragon to orbit Sunstream Dragon.

"With that done, I will activate the effect of my Sunstream Dragon once more!" Lydia declared, Destroy the last Antique Gear Bunker!"

Bradley 2800 – 500 = 2300 LP

Cami 1500 – 500 = 1000 LP

Lexi 3600 – 500 = 3100 LP

Sasha 3000 – 500 = 2500 LP

Felicity 2800 – 500 = 2300 LP

"Turn end!" Lydia finished, once the Academia soldiers managed to get back on their feet.

"I'm going to rip you apart for this!" Sasha vowed, "Just you wait! When my next turn comes, you're finished!"

"We're not letting you get another turn." Lizette countered, drawing a card from the top of her deck as she began her turn. "Especially once we defeat your leader."

Felicity narrowed her eyes at Lizette. "And how exactly do you plan to defeat me? All you've got is a bunch of sissy armor to hide behind, and my monster has this effect in case you forgot. Go! Assassin Soul Absorption!"

Nightblade Paladin 2000 + 2000 = 4000 ATK

"This armor is not for hiding." Lizette retorted, un-phased by the sudden attack increase of Felicity's monster. "After I lost my sister, I vowed to never hide again! So long as there are evil people like you, I'll face you head-on!"

"With those weak monsters?" Felicity replied. "At least Lydia had some force behind her taunts."

"With my own two hands." Lizette countered. "I'll start by placing my Angelic Armor Helmet in my Spell and Trap Card Zone as a continuous Spell Card with its own effect!"

Materializing over Lizette's head, a golden helmet with white wings on the sides and a white horse-hair ponytail formed around her head, covering up her forehead and the sides of her cheeks with metal armor while her hair spilled out the back of the helmet.

"Next, I will activate the Angelic Trumpet Joho returned to my hand." Lizette continued, as a golden horn materialized in her hands. "When this card is activated while I have fewer than two cards in my hand, I can add three Angelic Armor cards from my deck to my hand. With this effect, I add Angelic Armor Left Gauntlet, Angelic Armor Boots, and Angelic Armor Girdle to my hand."

Blowing on the horn, Lizette caused three cards to materialize into the air in front of her before she snagged those cards from the air and added them to her hand.

"Angelic Armor Left Gauntlet can be Special Summoned from my hand if I control an Angelic Armor Card." Lizette continued, slamming down her Angelic Armor Left Guantlet before a golden gauntlet materialized over her left hand. "Furthermore, Angelic Armor Boots and Girdle can both be placed in my Spell and Trap Card Zones as Continuous Spell Cards."

Placing the other two cards in her Duel Disk, Lizette stood tall as a pair of golden boots and a golden battle-skirt, similar to those worn by Greek Soldiers, materialized over her body.

"I will next activate the effect of my Helmet." Lizette continued, "Once per turn, if I have less than two cards in my hand, I can add two Angelic Armor cards from my deck to my hand. With this effect, I will add Angelic Armor Archblade and Angelic Armor Right Gauntlet to my hand."

"Hide behind as much armor as you want." Felicity snarled. "It won't do you much good. I'll blow through all your defenses next time we battle!"

"I told you, I wasn't using this armor to hide." Lizette replied. "I banish my Angelic Armor Shield and the Angelic Armor Crest and Angelic Armor Right Gauntlet in my hand in order to Special Summon Angelic Armor Archblade! Come forth! The sword of angels!"

Materializing in her hands, a massive golden two-handed sword with golden angel-wings for the cross-guard, twelve white gems arranged in two rows of 6 on the golden blade, and a white gem embedded in the pommel, appeared in Lizette's hands before Lizette began brandishing the sword with the skill of an expert swordfighter.

Angelic Armor Archblade / Level 12 / LIGHT / Fairy / Effect / ATK 0 / DEF 0

"Angelic Armor Archblade gains 1000 ATK and DEF for each Angelic Armor Card I control!" Lizette declared as seven gems on the sword's blade lit up with light. Raising her sword into the air, the top half of the blade opened up before a beam of white light shot out from the end, double the length of the blade.

Angelic Armor Archblade 0 + 7000 = 7000 ATK

"Seven-thousand attack points?" Felicity exclaimed in astonishment, slowly backing away. "But…how?"

"Battle!" Lizette declared charging forward in full armor, "I attack your Nightblade Paladin!"

"No…not again! I vowed I'd never lose again!" Felicity roared.

"Never make an oath you can't keep!" Lizette roared, plunging her massive sword into Nightblade Paladin's chest with an angry roar.

Felicity narrowed her eyes at her. "You may defeat me, but I'll still make sure my team wins! I activate the effect of Nightblade Paladin in order to give it the effect of the Nightblade Spearman in my graveyard! With this effect, when it goes to the graveyard, any damage my opponent inflicts for the rest of this turn is halved! Hold off the rest of their attacks everyone!" Felicity ordered. "If you don't win this, then you'll be sorry!"

"We'll be sorry?" Lexi sneered. "You're the idiot who's lost! Once you're gone, I'll be in command!"

"Traitor!" Felicity managed to roar before her Nightblade Paladin exploded, sending her flying into the air before the emergency teleportation on her Duel Disk whisked her back to Academia.

Felicity 2300 – 3000 = 0 (LOSE)

"Thanks for getting rid of that idiot." Lexi laughed, giving a mock bow to Lizette. "Now, thanks to you, I'll be the one getting promoted once I finish the rest of you off!"

"You aren't worthy to even be a duelist, much less receive any kind of promotion." Lizette growled before raising her gauntleted left hand towards the remaining soldiers. "I activate the effect of my Angelic Armor Left Gauntlet. If I destroy exactly one monster by battle or a card effect, then I can inflict damage to my opponent's Life Points equal to the original ATK of the monster I destroyed! Take this as your promotion!" She shouted, blasting a beam of light into the ranks of the other soldiers, causing them to fly backwards as the ground in front of the exploded.

Bradley 2300 – (2000 / 2) = 1300 LP

Cami 1000- (2000 / 2) = 0 LP (LOSE)

Lexi 3100 – (2000 / 2) = 2100 LP

Sasha 2500 – (2000 / 2) = 1500 LP

"Cami!" Bradley called as his friend's emergency teleport function warped her away.

"I've saved her for you, Natsumi. Finish her off." Lizette breathed, glaring at Lexi, who got up from the ground before glaring at Lizette with a look of pure hatred. "Turn end."

"Saved me for her!?" Lexi snarled. "Are you kidding me!? I still have Antique Gear Beast, Antique Gear Raider, and Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon, I have the strongest field out of any of these other losers! You can't beat me!"

"Atashi no turn…" Natsumi breathed, body glowing with energy as she locked her eyes with Lexi, "DRAW!"

"What's with that glow?" Sasha asked, backing away in fear.

"Stand your ground!" Lexi ordered. "I'm in command here and you idiots will stay put!"

"I normal Summon Celestial Knight – Venus!" Natsumi began, raising her voice above Lexi's as a blonde female knight in orange armor appeared to her field.

Celestial Knight - Venus / LIGHT / Level 4 / Warrior / Effect / 1700 ATK / 1000 DEF

"Next, since I control a Celestial monster, I can Special Summon Celestial Wizard from my hand with its own effect!" Natsumi continued, summoning a young wizard in a silver robe to the field. In the wizard's hand was a long wooden staff with a star-shaped top, which caused a white force field to emanate from the tip.

Celestial Wizard / LIGHT / Level 4 / Spellcaster / Effect / 1800 ATK / 1000 DEF

"So what is this?" Lexi sneered. "Another pathetic Xyz play? You can't summon anything nearly strong enough to get past my monsters! So why don't you just pick off the others instead? They're nice and open for attacks, you know."

"I will next activate the effect of Celestial Knight – Venus!" Natsumi continued, ignoring Lexi. "If I control another "Celestial" Monster, I can target one monster my opponent controls and take control of it until the end of this turn! With this effect, I will take control of your Antique Gear Raider!"

"What!?" Lexi exclaimed as Natsumi's Celestial Knight – Venus pulled out a pair of daggers with hearts on the hilts before throwing them into Antique Gear Raider's chest, causing the machine's eyes to suddenly glow with pink light before it ambled over to Natsumi's field.

Lexi stared at Natsumi's field of monsters before laughing.

"Ok, I admit, I wasn't expecting that. But you sure are an idiot! You could have taken control of my Gadjitron Dragon and done some real damage! Oops. I guess it's too late to correct your mistake now!"

"I don't need your dragon, not when I'm about to call forth my dragon!" Natsumi countered.

"You're dragon?" Lexi asked, looking confused.

"Since I control a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck," Natsumi explained, "I can reduce its Level by one and Special Summon Celestial Solor-Burst from my hand! Come forth, Celestial Solar Burst!"

Antique Gear Raider Level 7 – 1 = Level 6

Erupting from Natsumi's hand in a ball of fire, a strange cat-shaped monster made entirely of sun-fire descended to Natsumi's field, before curling up against Antique Gear Raider while purring softly. Hearing the purring, Sky suddenly poked its head out of Natsumi's backpack before hissing at the strange flame cat.

Celestial Solor-Burst/ LIGHT/ Level 1/ Pyro/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0

"It's okay, Sky." Natsumi reassured the kitten, softly patting its head. "She's not here to replace you.

"And what's that cat supposed to do?" Lexi sneered. "Look adorable?"

"I'm glad you think she's adorable." Natsumi replied with a gentle smile. "But no, that's not why Solor-Burst is here. Haven't you ever heard of a tuner?"

Lexi stared at Natsumi with confusion as Natsumi raised her hands into the air, mark on her arm glowing with red light.

"I will now tune my Level one Celestial Solor-Bust with my Level 6 Antique Gear Raider in order to Synchro Summon!" Natsumi declared as Celestial Solor-Burst morphed into a ring of green light before surrounding Antique Gear Raider and causing the robot to transform into six spheres of light. "When night comes to a close, a lone light rises to expel the darkness! Synchro shoukan! Arise! Level seven! Celestial Dragon – Sol!"

In an explosion of sunlight, Natsumi's Synchro monster, a massive masculine golden dragon with glowing wings, muscular arms and hands with opposable thumbs, and lines of golden light burning against its body, descended to Miku's field, light from its body expelling the shadows of the dismal city as it solemnly regarded the remaining Academia soldiers.

Celestial Dragon – Sol / LIGHT / Level 7 / Dragon / Synchro / Effect / ATK 2700 / DEF 1500

Lexi reflexively began backing away before noticing the holographic indicator showing the monsters stats and proceeding to laugh her head off.

"Th-that's it then? That stupid dragon still isn't strong enough to defeat my Gadjitron Dragon! First thing I'm gonna do when I start my turn is have my Gadjitron Dragon tear that pathetic monster of yours to shreds!"

"Attack isn't everything." Natsumi replied. "In dueling and in real life. Sometimes, people you think are weak are hiding a special ability."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lexi scoffed.

"I banish Celestial Comet from my graveyard in order to activate the effect of my Celestial Dragon – Sol!" Natsumi declared. "Once per turn, I by banishing one Celestial card from my graveyard, I can target one monster you control to destroy it."

"What!?" Lexi cried as the phantasmal form of Natsumi's Celestial Comet rose into the air before getting devoured by Celestial Dragon – Sol. After consuming the monster, Celestial Dragon – Sol opened its mouth before launching a blast of red energy into Lexi's Antique Gear Gadjitron Dragon, obliterating the monster.

"Battle!" Natsumi declared, "Celestial Dragon – Sol, destroy Lexi's Antique Gear Beast!"

Nodding its head, Celestial Dragon Sol rose into the air, ascending at a rapid pace before seemingly igniting its body on fire and dive-bombing Antique Gear Beast, blowing the mechanical monster into scrap metal.

Lexi 2100 – 700 = 1400 LP

"No! Impossible!" Lexi screamed, eyes darting back and forth with complete shock and disbelief.

"Celestial Knight Venus, direct attack!" Natsumi ordered next.

"You'll pay for this!" Lexi vowed, as Celestial Knight – Venus charged forward. "I will-…"

The rest of Lexi's sentence was cut off as Natsumi's monster rammed into her, knocking Lexi away before her Duel Disk caused her to vanish as she warped back to Academia.

Lexi 1400 – 1700 = 0 LP (LOSE)

"And I'm not done yet." Natsumi continued, pointing to Bradley. "Celestial Wizard, attack that other guy, sorry I forgot your name, what was it?"

"Bradley?" Bradley replied, staring at Natsumi in stunned disbelief.

"Oh that's right." Natsumi nodded, "Celestial Wizard, attack Bradley directly!"

Bradley 1300 – 1800 = 0 LP (LOSE)

"I next activate Burial from a Different Dimension in order to return Fang's Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight to his graveyard!" Natsumi continued, causing Fang to regard her with an expression that just managed to conceal any surprise.

"I set one card face down and end my turn!" Natsumi finished, setting a card face-down. "It's all up to you now." She added, looking at Fang. "We're counting on you."

Fang snorted. "A nice sentiment. But you won't really need me to defeat that scum over there."

Fang seemed to be right. Sasha was looking on either side of herself, as if she was contemplating whether or not to run away.

"Just surrender." Joho advised. "We have overwhelming advantage now and it's not even your turn. You can't win."

Sasha regarded Joho for a moment, as if considering his words, before her gaze fell back on Lydia.

"I will never…surrender." Sasha breathed, body quivering with a mixture of rage and fear. "Never to that monster! I will never forgive you for what you did, conscriptor! I would rather die here than surrender to you!"

"How about I help you with that then" Fang growled, slowly limping towards Sasha before drawing a card from his Duel Disk. "I activate Super Soldier End!" he declared, causing a swirling sphere of light and darkness to appear in the center of the field. "This Ritual Spell Card allows me to Ritual Summmon any "Black Luster Soldier" monster from my hand so long as I banish LIGHT or DARK monsters from my side of the field, hand, or graveyard whose total Levels exactly equal the Level of the monster being Ritual Summoned. With this card, I banish Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight from my graveyard in order to Ritual Summon Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier from my hand!"

Appearing on either side of the sphere of light, the phantasmal forms of Beginning Knight and Twilight Knight appeared before getting sucked into the center of the sphere before the sphere exploded, expanding into a never-ending void as Fang's new monster descended to the field.

"Vengeful knight wielding the powers of light and darkness, absorb the chaos of the cosmos now and become the perfect soldier! Gishiki Shoukan! Come forth! Level Eight! Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier!"

Landing on the duel field, a tall knight in blue-and-crimson armor appeared, unsheathing an elegant sword before pointing it in the direction of Sasha, who quivered with fear.

Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier/ EARTH/ Level 8/ Warrior/ Ritual/ Effect/ ATK 3000/ DEF 2500

"Next," Fang continued, not an ounce of pity in his voice, "I banish Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning from my graveyard in order to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight from my hand! Come forth now!" Fang ordered as a knight in elegant armor, half of it white as the surface of sunlit snow, and half black as the deepest void, appeared to his field.

Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight/ DARK and LIGHT/ Level 8/ Warrior/ Effect/ ATK 3000/ DEF 2500

"Effect activate." Fang ordered, "Since Envoy of the Evening Twilight was Special Summoned by banishing a LIGHT monster, I banish your last line of defense, Antique Gear Raider."

"No!" Sasha screamed, turning around and running away as fast as she could as her monster vanished.

"Battle." Fang growled "Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier, Destroy her!"

Nodding its head, Super Soldier charged forward, easily catching up to Sasha before knocking her to the ground with a single swipe of his sword, causing her to vanish as she got warped away.

Sasha 1500 – 3000 = 0 (LOSE)

"We did it!" Natsumi cheered, pumping her fist into the air. "Phoenix Guard forever! Now Academia will think twice before messing with-…"

"Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight! Destroy Celestial Knight Venus!" Fang suddenly ordered, causing his monster to charge forward with its blade stretched towards Natsumi's monster.

Natsumi reacted instinctively, eyes opening wide with shock and surprise.

"I activate Celestial Reflector to negate your attack!" Natsumi hastily countered, causing Envoy of the Evening Twilight's sword to bounce off of a translucent force field before its blade could connect with her monster.

"What are you doing!?" Joho exclaimed, shocked by Fang's sudden betrayal.

Fang, however, didn't seem to hear or care.

"During the Battle-Phase, I can use my monsters effect from the Extra Deck to Xyz Summon itself if I control two Black Luster Soldier monsters! I now Overlay my two monsters to Summon White Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Equinox!" Fang roared, causing his monsters to drain into an Xyz Portal, which suddenly materialized on the ground in front of Fang as he began his summoning chant:

"Agents of light and darkness, straddle the chaotic boundary between the two opposing forces and strike down my enemies with the light of a new era! Xyz Shoukan! Prepare for battle! White Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Equinox!"

In an explosion of White-and-Black light, Fang's new monster, an gigantic soldier in pale white armor with black gemstones, two swords, one made of light and one made of shadow, and an elegant white-and-black helmet with three ponytails sticking out of the back, ascended to the field before unsheathing its swords.

White Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Equinox/ LIGHT/ Rank 8/ Warrior/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 3500/ DEF 3000

"We just saved your life!" Lydia roared. "Is this how you're going to thank us!?"

"Envoy of the Equinox can make an additional attack for each of its overlay units!" Fang growled, "So unless you want me to card all of you on the spot, you will back away now!"

"Back away?" Joho asked, "From what?"

Fang pointed at a pile of supplies he had gathered previously, which had spilled out from him when he was attacked.

"It doesn't have to be like this!" Joho pleaded, slowly backing away, "We're not your enemies! We can negotiate-…"

"This is Heartland!" Fang growled, "This is how we negotiate! You will back away, or I WILL fight."

Lydia stepped forward, looking like she was going to assault him, when she was stopped by Lizette.

"Do as he says." Lizette instructed. "We're not here for him anyway."

Lydia hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to argue, before she acquiesced and all four Phoenix Guardsmen began backing away.

Fang slowly stepped forward, eyes never leaving them as he gathered his supplies.

"We're really not here to hurt you." Said Natsumi, holding her hands above her head to show she really meant no harm.

"I don't care what you're here for." Fang growled, picking up his last package. "But I can tell none of you are from here, so that means that you're from somewhere else, and as far as I'm concerned, that is reason enough for me not to trust you, even if you supposedly 'helped' me like a Good Samaritan."

"We have no interest in you." Lizette calmly replied. "We're looking for some of our comrades in that city." She explained, pointing towards the ruined city Fang had recently exited.

"Then you people are just plain insane." Fang huffed. "That city is nothing but a death trap. A den of ghouls and ghosts. You wouldn't last five seconds in there. I know I barely did." Fang added, pointing at his mangled leg.

"Ghosts?" Joho asked.

"Go in there and you'll find out." Fang replied, backing away from them. "I would have never believed it myself, but that's what I saw."

"It might surprise you to know we have experience dealing with ghosts." Lizette replied, deactivating her Duel Disk.

"At this point, nothing can surprise me." Fang spat. "Either way, I'll be much obliged if I never see the lot of you again."

"Please," Joho begged, taking a step forward, "you need help. You're obviously injured and starving. Please just let us heal you. You won't last much longer in your current state."

"I've lasted for months already, and I'm not determined to quit." Fang retorted. "And the one lesson I've learned from my time surviving is to never trust anyone you haven't already met, and be wary of even those people. But if you lot want a thank-you from me, then how about this? You'd better all get moving. Academia patrols no doubt heard our little scuffle and will be heading here any minute now. Get the hint?"

"We should go." Lizette sighed, turning away from Fang to head towards the city before getting joined by the others.

After thoroughly bandaging his feet to make sure they didn't leave a blood trail, Fang limped as fast as he could until he reached a ruined house. Descending a flight of stairs down into a basement, Fang moved aside several large cupboards until he uncovered a small trapdoor, large enough for a single person to fit through. Opening the hatch, Fang descended down a ladder into a dark and dusty cellar filled with dust and empty jars, illuminated by the dim light of a computer terminal on the other side of the room, before closing the hatch and turning on a flashlight.

"What took you so long?" A hoarse, wheezy voice coughed from the other side of the cellar where the computer terminal was.

Raising his flashlight, Fang revealed the face of an older man with messy teal hair, light green eyes, and ragged clothing. The man was seated in a dusty wheelchair, and was covered in so many blankets, that it looked like he had woven a cocoon for himself.

"Takashi-Sensei." Fang replied, bowing towards his old teacher before tossing a package of old crackers towards the man, who caught them in his hands before examining them.

"Lee will do fine." The man corrected, ripping open the package before crunching on a few crackers. "I'm not exactly a teacher anymore. Got any water?" he rasped, managing to swallow the crackers with a pained expression on his face.

"I have coffee." Fang grunted, collapsing on a dilapidated beach chair before tossing a can of ground coffee beans towards Lee.

"Hmmmm…I can't help but feel we're still missing something vital." Lee coughed, examining the useless can of powder with a morose expression on his face before turning his attention back to Fang, who was taking down a pair of dusty bandages from a shelf above his head, while his bloody leg was left exposed. "What the heck happened to you!?" Fang exclaimed, accidentally gagging on a bit of dry cracker that was still in his mouth.

"Does it matter?" Fang growled. "I was just doing the usual scavenging work. I risk running into complications every day. I'm alive, aren't I?"

"What happened to your feet!?" Lee continued, wheeling up to examine Fang's injured and bloody feet with a horrified expression on his face.

"Look," Fang grunted, "it's not-…"

"Did you go to the city!?" Lee questioned. "I told you not to go there! You weren't trying to find your old resistance friends, were you!?"

"I know they're dead!" Fang spat, "You don't have to remind me! Look," Fang continued, taking a deep breath, "I've already cleared out this town of anything useful. I didn't have any other choice, short of raiding one of the Academia encampments, and even I'm not that stupid."

"I should hope not." Lee sighed before examining Fang's feet. "I'm not exactly a doctor, but I definitely think you shouldn't be going back out there and walking on your feet before they've healed."

"But you've said it yourself, we need water." Fang breathed, suppressing a pained yelp as Lee began applying a few drips of rubbing alcohol to his feet before cleaning the wounds and wrapping them in bandages.

"I'll distill some from the anti-freeze we have left." Lee replied.

"That'll be less than half a liter. We need more." Fang argued.

"What I need is for you to not get yourself killed, running into all your old enemies, who, need I remind you, have congregated around that city." Lee snapped. "I can't go out there with you, Fang, not with my legs. If you get cornered, there will be nobody to help you."

Involuntarily, Fang began laughing.

"This isn't a joke." Lee coughed. "And it would be a pretty lame one if it were."

"I met her today." Fang chuckled, coughing as he inhaled a plume of dust.

"Who?" Lee asked.

"One of my old friends." Fang reminisced, "The one who vowed she would not rest until my card was laying in her binder.

Lee paled. "Felicity?" he gasped.

Fang nodded his head.

"How in the ever living hell did you survive?" Lee sputtered.

Fang shrugged. "Nevermind. I shouldn't have told you. I escaped and I made sure I wasn't followed."

"Fang, I'm a scientist. Telling me to nevermind something gives me all the more reason to look into it. What happened?"

Fang assumed a brooding expression. "There were some…interlopers, who drove off Felicity and her soldiers."

"Resistance members?" Lee asked, looking hopeful.

"No." Fang replied, shaking his head. "I don't know what they were. They weren't Academia soldiers, but they were foreigners. Probably from a different dimension entirely. One of them even used a summoning technique I'd never seen before."

"But they were friendly?" Lee asked, looking curious.

"I don't know what they were." Fang growled. "They seemed opposed to Academia, but all I got from them was that their agenda was to look for some of their friends in Heartland City. A death wish if I ever heard of one. I told them to leave and I never looked back."

"You didn't try to negotiate with them, or find out more?" Lee asked, "Fang! We are losing this war! Do you know how many hours I have spent on this ramshackle tech, trying to scan this entire planet for anyone who could help us turn the tide of this battle? And now you're telling me you have your life saved by a whole group of people clearly opposed to Academia, and you just drive them off!?"

"We've lost the war." Fang growled. "You're just deluding yourself if you think we've still got a chance at fighting. Our only option now is to lay low and survive. It's what we've been doing for months now."

"That might not be an option pretty soon." Lee replied, looking off into the distance with a dark expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" Fang asked.

Lee wheeled up to his computer terminal, dusting off the screen before clicking on a file.

"I've been hacking into the few remaining security cameras in the surrounding region to see what I could find." Lee explained. "One of them recorded this."

Pressing a button, Lee caused a brief video of three large transport helicopters, flying towards Heartland City, to appear on the screen. Painted on the sides of each helicopter was a large logo depicting three tridents arranged in a "T" shape, three-pronged edges sticking outwards while a large circle with a woman's face, half black and half white, formed the center of the T.

"The Tarleton crest." Fang breathed, sweat beading on his forehead. "What the hell is the High General of Academia's Special Forces doing here!?"

"For all I know, old Daniel wants to avenge his good old younger brother, The Butcher." Lee spat. "May Hell exist as an actual place so that monster can suffer there for eternity."

"This is bad." Fang moaned.

"I agree." Lee replied. "Last time Daniel visited here, his armies exterminated three-quarters of Eastern Europe's population before he burnt the rest to the ground just to be thorough."

"But there's nothing left for Academia here!" Fang protested. "The only person left giving them any trouble is Kaito, and he's just a lone wolf!"

"There's also you." Lee added.

Fang stood silent.

"All I know is that there is no way we are going to make it for much longer just hiding in this rat hole." Lee mused. "Daniel has a way of sniffing out people in hiding, if not outright nuking a place into oblivion until it's a steaming pool of radiation. Unless we can find some way to fight back-…"

"There is no way to fight back, d*** it!" Fang roared, punching his fist against the side of the wall. "Our only hope now is to run and find a new place to hide."

Lee began laughing.

"Oh I'm sure we'll make it far." Lee huffed. "Me with my wheelchair and you with your injured feet, we're just a couple of speed demons out there."

"How is fighting them any less foolhardy?" Fang growled.

"It's not." Lee admitted. "But it's the only real option we have. Just sitting around will give Academia all the time it needs to exterminate what's left of us. If I could only find those people you met."

"They won't last much longer." Fang sighed.

"Why not?" Lee asked.

"They're headed to Heartland." Fang replied, hanging his head down in defeat. "If Academia doesn't kill them first, then those…things…will definitely get them."

"What things?" Lee asked.

Current Duel State

Elbert Niemeyer:

4000 LP

0 cards in his hand

Field:

Nightmare Puppet Stage / Spell / Field

Nightmare Puppet Alsel / DARK / Rank 8 / Machine / Xyz / Effect / ATK 2300 / DEF 3200

Nightmare Puppet King / DARK / Rank 8 / Machine / Xyz / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 2000

4 face down cards

Camira:

2000 LP

1 card in her hand

Field:

Harpies' Hunting Ground / Spell / Field

1 face-down card

"I don't understand! I don't understand!" A pale woman in torn dark black robes, her eyes a pitch black, and a demonic-looking duel disk on her arm wailed, backing away from her opponent, a tall boy wearing similar dark robes, eyes glowing with a wooden-brown light against his own pitch-black sclera. The woman looked like she wanted to run, but surrounding her on all sides, standing silently as ghosts, several creatures that looked like nothing more than humanoid black shadows, multi-colored spiral patterns glowing with light against their pitch-black bodies and razor sharp claws, stood ready to intercept her should she make the attempt. "I served Dark Signer Pachakutiq faithfully in the first war! See!?" she begged, turning around to show her opponent a glowing red serpent mark on her back, "This is the mark of the Crimson Devil Himself! I've never renounced my loyalty to the Earthbound! Ad when Pachakutiq fell, I swore my loyalty to Yuu! You can't do this to me!"

"Yuu-sama said you would say those things, Camira." The boy replied with a slight German accent, taking a step forward. "He then proceeded to enlighten me on the many sins you have committed."

"S-sins!?" Camira protested.

"You were given the gift of life." Elbert replied. "And you chose to use your gifts to feed on the life of others, including children. Yuu-sama has no interest in keeping disciples such as yourself in his ranks."

"He never had a problem with it before!" Camira sputtered, "I was only doing what any disciple would do! You obviously haven't been around for very long! You haven't experienced it yet! The hunger! The need to feed! You'll end up doing exactly what I did in not too long! You'll kill other people to survive just like I did!"

"You're wrong." Elbert calmly replied. "I have no interest in my own survival."

"What?" Camira breathed, a look of astonishment coming over her face. "Then why accept the deal?"

"My purpose is to protect someone precious to me. Someone I value far above my own life." Elbert sighed. "Not that you would understand, Camira."

"You're making a mistake!" Camira snarled, "I don't know what lies Yuu has told you, but I'll tell you this! I will not be defeated by you!"

"That's the spirit, Camira." Elbert replied with a mock bow. "After all, the audience is waiting for this moment." Elbert pointed up above their heads to where his Field Spell Card had materialized a gallery full of twisted and shadowy puppets, who clapped their wooden hands together like eager audience members. "They want to see the villain of our little play put up a final fight before the hero vanquishes her. You have one turn left. Use it well and I shall give you a proper send-off."

"O-ore no turn! DRAW" Camira roared, exposing a set of unnaturally pointed teeth as she ripped a card from the top of her deck and began her turn.

"You may have destroyed my monsters, but I still have this!" Camira growled. "I activate Hysteric Party! By discarding 1 card from my hand, this trap enables me to Special Summon as many Harpie Lady monsters from my graveyard as possible! So come forth! Harpie Lady 1, Harpie Lady 2, and Harpie Lady 3!"

From Camira's graveyard, a trio of busty bird-women appeared to her field, one with long pink hair, another with shorter red hair, and a third with spikey black hair.

Harpie Lady 1 / WIND / Level 4 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1300 / DEF 1400

Harpie Lady 2 / WIND / Level 4 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1300 / DEF 1400

Harpie Lady 3 / WIND / Level 4 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1300 / DEF 1400

"And now the effect of my Field Spell Card activates!" Camira shrieked, fangs bared, "I'll destroy that pathetic Nightmare Puppet Stage Field Spell Card you have and your audience! Tear them to shreds, my servants!"

Shrieking like birds of prey, Camira's harpy monsters rose into the air, tearing apart Elbert's stage before the entire thing exploded in a shower of sparks.

"But I'm not done yet!" Camira continued, "I will next Dark Summon my Level -4 Fallen Harpie Lady to my field!"

Through a black portal in the sky, a new monster suddenly appeared to Camira's field, a pale harpy with pitch-black feathers, black war paint over her face and almost completely bare chest, and upper body. Letting out a high-pitched shriek, the monster exposed the pitch-black fangs in its mouth.

Fallen Harpie Lady / WIND / Level -4 / Winged Beast / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1500

"If Fallen Harpie Lady is Normal or Special Summoned, I can activate its effect!" Camira exclaimed with glee, "I can change the Levels of all my WIND monsters to her own Level! Furthermore, Fallen Harpie Lady's name is treated as "Harpie Lady" while it is on the field or in the graveyard, so since I summoned another Harpie Lady, I'll destroy one of your set cards with my Field Spell Card!"

Elbert shielded his face with the sleeve of his robe as Camira's harpies tore one of his set cards to shreds, but remained un-phased.

Harpie Lady 1 / WIND / Level -4 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1300 / DEF 1400

Harpie Lady 2 / WIND / Level -4 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1300 / DEF 1400

Harpie Lady 3 / WIND / Level -4 / Winged-Beast / Effect / ATK 1300 / DEF 1400

"The time is now here!" Camira exclaimed. "I can now call forth my strongest servant! Using all for of my winged beauties as Dark Overlay Units, I Dark Xyz Summon!"

Shrieking in agony, all four of Camira's monsters began to slowly fade into transparent ghosts before collapsing in on themselves and forming a small singularity in the air in front of Camira as she began her summoning chant:

"Winged tormentors of the evil gods! Flock together now to fulfill your perverted desires in a new form! Dark Xyz! Torment my enemy! Earthbound Disciple Geo Harpie Queen!"

Unfolding from the center of the singularity, Camira's new monster, a tall woman with pale skin, long green hair, black sclera eyes, massive wings with pitch-black and blood-red feathers, deadly claws and feet, and bright green lines of energy snaking around her nearly completely naked body ascended to the sky, shrieking with maniacal laughter as she looked down on Elbert from where she flew.

Earthbound Disciple Geo Harpie Queen / WIND / Rank -4 / Winged Beast / Dark Xyz / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 2000

"My Earthbound Disciple cannot be targeted for attacks or by my opponent's card effects while she has Dark Xyz Material." Camira exclaimed, long talon-like nails cutting into her pale deathly skin as she rubbed her hands together with glee. "And because Geo Harpie Queen is treated as 'Harpie Lady' while on the field or in the graveyard, I will destroy one more of your face-down cards! Furthermore, all 'Harpie' monsters I control can attack my opponent's Life Points directly! And that's just the beginning of my monster's many effects!"

"You are playing your part quite well." Elbert smirked. "It would not be much of a show if you didn't drive me into a corner now."

"This is not a stupid show!" Camira snapped. "I am taking you down for real!"

"Oh but we are all actors on a stage." Elbert replied. "All of us are here to act out our role, and right now your role is to drive me into a corner before I miraculously save myself and vanquish you next turn."

"We'll see about that!" Camira hissed. "I'll activate the effect of my Geo Harpie Queen! I'll detach one Dark Overlay Unit from herself in order to inflict eight-hundred damage to your Life Points and Special Summon one "Harpie" monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard! Go! Blood-soaked feather storm!"

Cackling, Camira's monster rose into the air before letting loose a massive volley of her feathers into Elbert, who deflected most of them with his cloak.

Elbert 4000 – 800 = 3200 LP

"Whenever my opponent takes damage, my Earthbound Disciple can destroy one card on the field, and I think I'm going to destroy your Nightmare Puppet King!" Camira proclaimed, pointing at Elbert's monster, a tall shadowy puppet shaped like a king, with a massive golden crown and wooden scepter. Shrieking with malice, Camira's Earthbound Disciple sliced off the monster's strings, causing the puppet to fall to the ground and explode in a cloud of dust.

"I'll next Special Summon Harpie Queen with my monster's second effect," Camira continued, Special Summoning a green-haired harpy that looked like a younger and purer version of her Earthbound Disciple. "And because Harpie Queen is also treated as 'Harpie Lady' while on the field, my Field Spell card will destroy your second-to-last face-down card! Feel my fury!" Camira screamed as her Harpie Queen flew forward and cleaved Elbert's second-to-last card in two.

"Battle!" Camira shouted, "Harpie Queen, attack his Life Points directly!"

Shooting out a set of puppet strings from the folds of his robes, Elbert suddenly ascended into the sky, managing to dodge the attack of Camira's monster before the beast could hit him, but still taking the damage.

Elbert 3200 – 1900 = 1300 LP

"I activate the effect of my face-down card!" Elbert declared, "Nightmare Puppet Damage Doll! When I take damage, I can Special Summon this card as a Level eight Machine-Type monster with an ATK and DEF each equal to the damage I took before recovering all the Life Points I lost."

Damage Doll / DARK / Level 8 / Machine / ATK 1900 / DEF 1900

Elbert 1300 + 1900 = 3200 LP

"No!" Camira shrieked, "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

"You nearly had me." Elbert complimented, bowing graciously to Camira as he descended to the ground on his puppet strings. "Had you managed to summon just one more Harpie, the victory may have been yours. But then again, that would not have been fitting for this play."

"I will not play the role you want!" Camira protested. "Since you still took damage, my Geo Harpy Queen's effect still goes through, and I think I'll destroy your Nightmare Puppet Alsel!" she declared, pointing at a lion-like puppet, with green vine-like strings before watching her Earthbound Disciple tear it to pieces with its wicked claws. "Go, Earthbound Disciple Geo Harpie Queen! Attack his Life Points Directly!"

Shrieking madly, Camira's Earthbound Disciple sliced at Elbert with her wings and talons, tearing holes into his robe and scratching his skin before flying away.

Elbert 3200 – 2400 = 800 LP

"Since I've inflicted more damage to your Life Points, I'll destroy your Nightmare Puppet Damage Doll in order to leave your field completely empty! With that I end my turn!" Camira spat. "I told you I would destroy you! Didn't I? You've got nothing left! Next turn you're finished! Unless of course…" she continued, voice changing into a softer one, "…you appeal to my mercy. Grovel before me on your hands and feet and I will let you exist to lick the dust from my boots."

Elbert began laughing.

"You dare mock me!" Camira roared. "I gave you a chance to live, but now I will make you suffer to the utmost before I destroy you!"

"Ah but you are mistaken, Fraulein." Elbert laughed. "It was I who was giving you one last chance in that last turn. I let you fly upon me with your full strength, assaulting me as only a wicked villainess like yourself could. But I have let you're evil stand for too long. Now we reach the climax of our little play, Fraulein. For my final act, I shall make you disappear."

"Disappear!? With what!?" Camira hissed, looking over at Elbert's empty field.

"Mine turn," Elbert began, graciously bowing to Camira before pulling out the top card of his deck with immense flourish, "Draw!"

Without even looking at the card he had drawn, Elbert continued his turn.

"Behold my conjuring act! I activate the graveyard effect of my Nightmare Puppet Stage!" Elbert declared, "By banishing a total of five Spell and/or Trap Cards from my hand or graveyard, including my Nightmare Puppet Stage, I can treat all 'Nightmare Puppet' monsters on my side of the field and in my graveyard as Level Negative Ten monsters for a Dark Xyz Summon."

"But you have no monsters on the field!" Camira protested, "You can't Dark Xyz Summon anything!"

"When Nightmare Puppet Stage's effect is activated, I can use monsters in my graveyard as Dark Xyz Materials." Elbert replied, before extending his hands towards his graveyard and raising them into the air. "Witness my marvelous conjuring act as I overlay my Level negative ten Nightmare Puppet Alsel and Nightmare Puppet King in order to Dark Xyz Summon!"

"Impossible!" Camira cried as the ghostly forms of Elbert's destroyed Xyz Monsters rose from his graveyard before collapsing into the Dark Xyz Singularity as Elbert Began his summoning chant:

"Shadowy puppets who masquerade and perform in the darkest corners of my mind! Raise the dark curtains to reveal your dark puppet master and creator whose works have given you life! Dark Xyz Summon! To the center of the stage! Rank negative ten! Earthbound Construct Drossimulacrum!"

Unfolding from the center of the singularity, Elbert's Dark Xyz Monster, a gigantic male puppet with orange hair, a tall black top hat, purple eyes, a blue-and-red overcoat with orange lines of energy, gloved hands, and multiple stringed puppets hidden within its overcoat, rose to the field, before locking its eyes on Camira, removing its Top Hat, and bowing to her.

Earthbound Construct Drossimulacrum / DARK / Rank -10 / Machine / Dark Xyz / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000

"Drossimulacrum's effect activates when it is Dark Xyz Summoned." Elbert explained. "For each Dark Overlay Unit used in its Dark Xyz Summon, it can attach one random monster in your Extra Deck to itself as either Overlay or Dark Overlay Units. Go! Puppet-Maker Embrace!"

Extending its arms, Elbert's Xyz Monster shot out multiple threads of dark strings into Camira's Extra Deck, removing two copies of Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon before the two cards transformed into a pair of Xyz Materials, which orbited around the monster.

"And now," Elbert continued, "For the next part of my conjuring act! I detach the Dark Xyz Material of Nightmare Puppet King from my monster in order to Special Summon one of the Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragons attached to my monster, while negating its effects, halving its attack and defense, and treating it as a 'Nightmare Puppet' monster."

Grinning, Elbert's Dark Xyz Monster, reached into its coat with its gloved hands, before pulling out a massive puppet, shaped like Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon, and lowering it to the field with strings extending from his gloved hands like the strings of a crossbar.

Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon (Treated as a "Nightmare Puppet" monster) / WIND / Rank 4 / Dragon / Xyz / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 1250

"My Earthbound Disciple Geo Harpie Queen still has Dark Xyz Materials so it can't be targeted for attacks!" Camira countered. "Even if you destroyed my Harpie Queen with your Xyz Monster, I'd only take 1100 damage. Not enough to destroy me!"

"Drossimulacrum gains the original effects of each 'Nightmare Puppet' monster I control." Elbert replied. "And since your Phantasmal Dragon originally had the ability to attack directly so long as it had Xyz Material, I will now use that effect to enact my disappearing act! So hang on to the edge of your seats everyone!" Elbert proclaimed, addressing the shadowy monsters silently observing the duel. "For when I count to three, Fraulein Camira here shall disappear! One!"

"No! It's not possible!" Camira protested.

"Two!"

"I'll give you anything!" Camira begged. "Just please don't-…"

"Three!" Elbert finished, snapping his fingers before watching as his Dark Xyz Monster removed its large top hat and covered Camira with it, before making the puppet Phantasmal Dragon breathe fire on his hat, causing it and Camira to vanish in a whirl of flame and smoke.

Camira 2000 – 3000 = 0 (LOSE)

"And now for the prestige." Elbert added, winking at his Dark Xyz Monster as it grinned before causing its original top hat to seemingly appear from out of nowhere in its hands before it placed its hat on its own head and vanished into the air.

"Auf Wiedersehen, Fraulein Camira." Elbert sighed as he deactivated his Duel Disk. "Now who shall I entertain?"

"Someone specific comes to mind." The voice of Elbert's master, Yuu Hashimoto called.

Turning his head around, Elbert noticed one of the shadowy monsters that had been accompanying him in his mission suddenly writhe in agony before the swirling multi-colored spiral marks over its body lit up with even more intense light, like the creature was about to explode, and the creature turned to Elbert before speaking with Yuu Hashimoto's voice.

"Something troubling you, Master?" Elbert asked, bowing to the Dark Signer that had raised him from the dead.

"You have done well dealing with these disciples." Yuu complimented as the creature strode forward. "I've counted ninety-nine Disciples disposed of by your hand, and you haven't even lost any of the Earthbound Familiars I gave for you to command."

"I never felt it necessary to work with these creatures." Elbert sighed. "I am perfectly willing to perform the task you gave me by myself."

"Admirable, but regrettably I will have to deny your request both for the sake of efficiency and because you failed to maintain your secrecy from the outside world." Yuu's voice thundered.

"He was just a lowly survivor." Elbert replied. "He can't do much. And besides, I knew him from the resistance. I couldn't kill Fang."

"Indeed, you let him go." Yuu replied. "And while I find your compassion admirable, I'm afraid it has greatly inconvenienced us now. Fang has recently spoken to our enemies, the Phoenix Guard. They are heading here as we speak in order to undermine my plans."

"The Phoenix Guard are here?" Elbert asked. "But I thought you said they had nearly been wiped out."

"Here in the Xyz Dimension, yes." Yuu replied. "But they have members in other dimensions, and those members have come here to find their friends. I do not want them to."

"I shall find them and end them." Elbert vowed. "I won't let them threaten the salvation you have planned for this world."

"There is no need for that." Yuu replied. "You will continue your hunt of the other disciples in this region. I have sent another one of the disciples who is still receptive to my voice to hunt down the rest of the Phoenix Guard. Stay out of Nozomi Aikawa's way and let her deal with them. Should she fail, you will take up her mission, but you will make sure no harm comes to Miku's sister, Natsumi."

"Forgive me master, but why do you need her to survive? She is our enemy, after all."

"She has potential I may be able to exploit." Yuu replied. "And I have made a promise long ago. While I did not guarantee to protect her from her own foolishness, I promised to not send my forces against her unless she chose to directly engage either me or my associates."

Elbert bowed to the familiar speaking with Yuu's voice. "It shall be as you requested, Master. I will continue my hunt and let Nozomi do the same, and should she fail, I shall take up her duty as my own."

"See that it is done." Yuu replied. "And I shall reunite you with the one you love. Releasing control."

Groaning in pain, the large humanoid familiar began writhing again, colors fading to their original less luminescent luster before it resumed its normal passive and silent pose.

"This is all for you, my love." Elbert whispered. "I promise, I will save Heartland for you!"

Thank you all once again for your patience as you waded through the hiatus. More "Signs of Renewal" is coming, and the next chapter will be a game changer for this entire story. Thank you everyone who made this next chapter possible, and thank you, my beloved readers, for sticking with me despite the delay.

FEATURED ORIGINAL CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

Name: Fang / Original concept by: KuroganeFang / Deck: Black Luster Soldier / Allegiance: The Resistance / Status: Active

Name: Jethro / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Antique Gear / Allegiance: Academia / Status: Defeated

Name: Bradley / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Antique Gear / Allegiance: Academia / Status: Defeated

Name: Cami / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Antique Gear / Allegiance: Academia / Status: Defeated

Name: Lexi / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Antique Gear / Allegiance: Academia / Status: Defeated

Name: Sasha / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Antique Gear / Allegiance: Academia / Status: Defeated

Name: Felicity / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Antique Gear / Allegiance: Academia / Status: Defeated…for now.

Name: Joho / Original concept by: CorinnetheAnime / Deck: Tech-Beast / Allegiance: Phoenix Guard and the Freedom Fighters / Status: Active

Name: Lydia / Original concept by: CorinnetheAnime / Deck: Golden Mist and Golden-Eyes / Allegiance: Phoenix Guard and the Freedom Fighters / Status: Active

Name: Lizette LeBlanc / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Angelic Armor / Allegiance: Phoenix Guard / Status: Active

Name: Natsumi / Original concept by: Shimmering-Sky / Deck: Celestial / Allegiance: Phoenix Guard / Status: Active

Name: Lee / Original concept by: Epsilon Tarantula / Deck: Unrevealed / Allegiance: The Resistance / Status: Active

Name: Camira / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Harpie / Allegiance: Dark Signers / Status: Destroyed

Name: Elbert Niemeyer / Original concept by: ghost83 / Deck: Nightmare Puppet / Allegiance: Dark Signers / Status: Active

Name: Yuu Hashimoto / Original concept by: Donjusticia / Deck: Unrevealed / Allegiance: Dark Signers / Status: Active

FEATURED FANFIC CARDS

Academia's Monsters

Antique Gear Search Hound / EARTH / Level 2 / Machine / Effect / ATK 600 / DEF 200 / If this card is summoned, you can activate this effect: Special Summon 1 "Antique Gear Hound Dog" from your deck. If this card is used as a Fusion Material for the Fusion Summon of an "Antique Gear" monster, you can treat this card as "Antique Gear Hound Dog."

Antique Gear Bunker/ EARTH/ Level 4/ Machine/ Effect/ ATK 500/ DEF 2000/ If an effect activates that would inflict effect damage, you can Special Summon this card from your hand: Change any effect damage inflicted by that effect to 0. If an Antique Gear monster you control would be destroyed (by battle or card effect) you can destroy this card instead. If you would Tribute Summon an "Antique Gear" monster, you can banish this card from your graveyard as up to 2 of the tributes required for the Tribute Summon.

Academia's Extra Deck

Antique Gear Raider/ EARTH/ Level 7/ Machine/ Fusion/ Effect/ ATK 600/ DEF 2000/ 2 "Antique Gear" monsters

If 1 or more Level 4 or Lower monster(s) was used in this card's Fusion Summon, this card gains ATK equal to the ATK of 1 of those monsters of the controller's choice. Once per turn, you can target 1 "Antique Gear" monster in your graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to the Level of that target X 200, and if you do, gain LP equal to the damage inflicted. If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate the effect of Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step.

Academia's Spells

Bounty Hunter Chains/ Spell/ Continuous/ Special Summon 1 "Chain" token (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 0/) to your opponent's side of the field. Your opponent cannot Normal Summon/Set monsters while that Token is face-up on the field. During each player's end phase, inflict 600 damage to your opponent's LPs. (If this card leaves the field, destroy all "Chain" tokens summoned by this card's effect).

Antique Gear Charger/ Spell/ Continuous/ Once per turn, you can destroy 1 face-up card you control to target 1 "Antique Gear" monster you control: Until the end of this turn, that target cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, also, increase the ATK of that card by 1200. You can banish this card from your graveyard to activate 1 of the following effects:

Fusion Summon 1 "Antique Gear" monster from your Extra Deck using monsters from your side of the field or your hand as material.

Special Summon 1 "Antique Gear" monster from your hand. (Ignoring the Summoning conditions).

Antique Gear Ultimate Cannon / Spell / Equip / Equip only to an "Antique Gear" monster you control. While equipped, the equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle and you take no battle damage from battles involving the equipped monster. Increase the ATK of the equipped monster by the Level of the equipped monster X 200.

Academia's Traps

Antique Gear Bunker/ EARTH/ Level 4/ Machine/ Effect/ ATK 500/ DEF 2000/ If an effect activates that would inflict effect damage, you can Special Summon this card from your hand: Change any effect damage inflicted by that effect to 0. If an Antique Gear monster you control would be destroyed (by battle or card effect) you can destroy this card instead. If you would Tribute Summon an "Antique Gear" monster, you can banish this card from your graveyard as up to 2 of the tributes required for the Tribute Summon.

Felicity's Monsters

Nightblade Oracle/ DARK/ Level 4/ Warrior/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 2400/ Destroy this card at the end of the Damage Step if it is attacked. If this card is sent to the graveyard by a card effect, you can add 1 "Polymerization" or "Nightblade" Spell Card from your deck or graveyard to your hand, and if you do, send 1 DARK Warrior-Type monster from your deck to the graveyard.

Nightblade Swordsman/ DARK/ Level 4/ Warrior/ Effect/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1400/ During the turn this card is Special Summoned, you can activate this effect: Send 1 Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster from your deck to the graveyard Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can activate this effect: Increase the ATK of this card by 400 for each Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster in your graveyard. Also, this card cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects. (These changes last until the End-Phase of this turn. You cannot attack with other monsters the turn you activate this effect).

Nightblade Spearman/ DARK/ Level 4/ Warrior/ Effect/ ATK 1800/ DEF 800/ If this card attacks a monster, negate the effects of the monster this card is battling, also, this monster can inflict piercing battle damage if that monster is in defense position. If this card or another "Nightblade" monster you control is sent to the graveyard (by battle or a card effect) you can activate this effect: Any damage inflicted by your opponent for the rest of this turn is halved.

Felicity's Extra Deck

Nightblade Paladin/ DARK/ Level 4/ Warrior/ Fusion/ Effect/ ATK 2000/ DEF 1000/ 2 or more DARK monsters

If this card is Fusion Summoned successfully, you can target 1 Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster in your graveyard: Replace this effect with the effects of that monster. Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can target 1 Level 4 DARK Warrior-Type monster in your graveyard: Until the end of this turn, replace this effect with the effect of that monster.

Felicity's Spells

Nightblade Fusion/ Spell/ Quick-Play/ Fusion Summon 1 "Nightblade" monster from your Extra Deck using monsters from your side of the field or your hand as Materials. (If this card is activated during your opponent's turn, you can also banish monsters from either player's graveyard as Materials). You can banish this card from your graveyard: This turn, the "Nightblade" monster you control with the highest attack can make a number of attacks this turn, up to the number of DARK Level 4 Warrior-Type monsters in your graveyard, but other monsters you control cannot attack.

Fang's Extra Deck

White Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Equinox/ LIGHT/ Rank 8/ Warrior/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 3500/ DEF 3000/ 2 Level 8 LIGHT and/or DARK monsters
You can also Xyz Summon this card during the Battle-Phase using 2 "Black Luster" monsters you control as Xyz Materials. This card can make 1 additional attack for each Xyz Material attached to itself. You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card: Banish up to 2 cards on the field or in either player's graveyard, and if you do, you can return up to 2 of your banished cards to the graveyard.

Fang's Spells

Chaos Current

Super Soldier End

Joho's Monsters

Tech-Beast – Fireflywall/ FIRE/ Level 4/ Insect/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0 If your opponent activates a monster effect, you can Special Summon this card from your hand: Equip this card from your side of the field to that monster, and if you do, you can negate the activation of that effect. As long as this card is equipped to that monster, it cannot attack and its effects are negated. Also, this turn, any effect damage you take is changed to 0, and any battle damage you take is halved. If you control a face-up "Tech-Beast" monster, you can Special Summon this card from your Spell/Trap Card Zone.

Tech-Beast - Virus Worm/ DARK/ Level 4/ Machine/ Effect/ ATK 1400/ DEF 1500/ "Tech-Beast" monsters you control cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. A "Tech-Beast" monster special Summoned using this card as an Xyz Material gains this effect:

Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card: Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Tech-Beast" monster from your deck.

Tech-Beast – Crash Cricket / WIND / Level 4 / Insect / Effect / ATK 1500 / DEF 1000/ You can return 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field to the hand: Special Summon this card from your hand. During either player's turn, if your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card, you can negate the activation of that card, and if you do, return this card to your hand.

Joho's Extra Deck

Tech-Beast - Power Serpent/ WIND/ Rank 4/ Reptile/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 2400/ DEF 2800/ 2 or more Level 4 "Tech Beast" monsters
Must be Xyz Summoned and cannot be summoned other ways. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to activate 1 of the following effects. (You cannot conduct your Battle-Phase the turn you activate any of the following effects):
•Destroy all Spells and Trap Cards on the field, and if you do, the controllers of those cards take 800 damage for each of their Spell/Trap Cards destroyed, also they take no further damage this turn.
•Destroy 1 monster on the field, and if you do, gain LP equal to its ATK.

If this card is sent to the graveyard, you can Special Summon the Materials used to Xyz Summon it in defense position.

Lydia's Monsters

Golden Mist - Luminous Sylph/ LIGHT/ Level 3/ Winged Beast/ Effect/ ATK 300/ DEF 1500/ During either player's Battle-Phase, when an attack is declared, you 1 "Golden Mist" card from your hand and Special Summon this card from your hand: Negate the attack and end the Battle-Phase, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 "Golden Mist" or "Golden-Eyes" monster from your graveyard: Increase the LP of all player's by the ATK or DEF of the monster Special Summoned by this effect, (whichever is higher).
Golden Mist - Glowing Eagle/ LIGHT/ Level 5/ Winged-Beast/ Effect/ ATK 1400/ DEF 1800/ Once per turn, you can target one Level four or lower monster your opponent controls: Until the End Phase of this turn, negate that monster's effects and take control of it, treating it as a "Golden Mist" monster. If this card is destroyed as a result of battle, you can activate this effect: Draw 2 cards.

Golden Mist – Mirage Wisp

Lydia's Extra Deck

Golden-Eyes Sunstream Dragon/ LIGHT/ Rank 5/ Dragon/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 3000/ DEF 2000/ 2 Level 5 LIGHT Monsters
When this card is Xyz summoned to the field, this card cannot be targeted or destroyed by monster effects (except its own). You can detach 1 Xyz Material, then target and destroy one monster on the field, your opponent takes damage equal to the original ATK of that monster. After the Battle Phase, if this card has no XYZ materials, you can add 1 "Rank-Up-Magic" Spell Card from your Deck to your Hand.

Golden-Eyes Galaxy Star Dragon/ LIGHT/ Rank 6/ Dragon/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 1000/ DEF 0/ 3 Level 6 LIGHT monsters
When this card is XYZ Summoned to the field, it cannot be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. Detach an XYZ Material and target one monster your opponent controls; negate its effects and destroy that monster, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to that monster's ATK. Each time this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle or with its own effect, increase the ATK and DEF of this card by the respective ATK and DEF of that monster.

Lydia's Spells

Gilded Supernova/ Spell/ Quick-Play/ Destroy 1 "Golden Mist" monster on your side of the field, and if you do, you can activate 1 of the following effects:

1. Special Summon 2 "Golden Mist" monsters from your hand or graveyard.

2. Inflict damage to your opponent's LPs equal to the ATK of that monster on the field.

Rank-Up-Magic: Solar Force/ Spell/ Quick-Play/ If a "Golden-Eyes" Xyz monster has left your field, you can Special Summon a LIGHT-Attribute Xyz monster 1 Rank higher from the Extra Deck (ignoring its summoning conditions), treating the "Golden-Eyes" Xyz monster that left the field and this card as Xyz Materials (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon). You can detach this card from a LIGHT-Attribute Xyz monster; Special Summon one Xyz monster from your Graveyard, and if you do, attach this card to that monster, treating it as an Xyz Material. You can only use this effect once per duel.

Lizette LeBlanc's Monsters

Angelic Armor Helmet/ Light/ Level 1/ Rock/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ You can place this card (from your hand) in your spell/trap card zone as a continuous spell card. You can only control 1 "Angelic Armor Helmet". This card cannot attack. During your Main-Phase if you control this face-up card in either your monster zone or spell/trap card zone, you can add 2 "Angelic Armor" cards from your deck to your hand. (You can only use this effect of "Angelic Armor Helmet" once per turn. You Must have fewer than 2 cards in your hand to activate and resolve this effect.)

Angelic Armor Breastplate/ Earth/ level 1/ Rock/ ATK 0/ DEF 1500/ You can place this card (from your hand) in your spell/trap card zone as a continuous spell card. While this card is face-up in either your monster card zone or spell/trap card zone, "Angelic Armor" monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle. This card cannot attack. During your Main-Phase you can tribute this face-up card from your spell/trap card zone: add 1"Angelic Armor" monster from your deck to your hand. Then it becomes the End-Phase of your turn.

Angelic Armor Cloak/ Fire/ level 1/ spellcaster/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ You can place this card (from your hand) in your spell/trap card zone as a continuous spell card. While this card is face-up in your spell/trap card zone "Angelic Armor" monsters you control are unaffected by your opponent's monster effects. This card cannot attack. During your Main-Phase you can tribute this face-up card from your spell/trap card zone: add 1"Angelic Armor" monster from your deck to your hand. Then it becomes the End-Phase of your turn.

Angelic Armor Left Gauntlet/ Fire/ level 1/ Rock/ ATK 500/ DEF 0/ You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) if you control an "Angelic Armor" card. Once per turn when exactly 1 monster is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can activate this effect: Inflict damage to the controller's LP equal to the original ATK of the destroyed monster. You can tribute this card: add 1 "Angelic Armor" monster from your deck or graveyard to your hand. (You can only use each effect of "Angelic Armor Left Gauntlet" once per turn).

Angelic Armor Right Gauntlet/ Fire/ level 1/ Rock/ ATK 500/ DEF 0/ You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) if you control an "Angelic Armor" card. You can target 1 card on the field: destroy that target. You can tribute this card: add 1 "Angelic Armor" monster from your deck or graveyard to your hand. (You can only use each effect of "Angelic Armor Right Gauntlet" once per turn).

Angelic Armor Crest/ Light/ Level 1/ spellcaster/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ You can place this card (from your hand) in your spell/trap card zone as a continuous spell card. Once per turn, while this card is face-up in your spell/trap card zone, you can add 1 "Angelic Armor" monster from your graveyard to your hand. This card cannot attack. During your Main-Phase you can tribute this face-up card from your spell/trap card zone: add 1"Angelic Armor" monster from your deck to your hand. Then it becomes the End-Phase of your turn.

Angelic Armor Girdle/ Wind/ level 1/ Spellcaster/ ATK 0/ DEF 1000/ You can place this card (from your hand) in your spell/trap card zone as a continuous spell card. While this card is face-up in your spell/trap card zone, face-up "Angelic Armor" monsters you control are unaffected by your opponent's spell cards. This card cannot attack. During your Main-Phase, you can tribute this face-up card from your spell/trap card zone: add 1 "Angelic Armor" monster from your deck to your hand. Then it becomes the End-Phase of your turn.

Angelic Armor Boots/ Earth/ level 1/ Rock/ ATK 0/ DEF 500/ You can place this card (from your hand) in your spell/trap card zone as a continuous spell card. While this card is face-up in either your monster card zone or spell/trap card zone, face-up "Angelic Armor" monsters you control are unaffected by your opponent's Trap cards. During your Main-Phase you can tribute this face-up card from your spell/trap card zone: add 1"Angelic Armor" monster from your deck to your hand. Then it becomes the End-Phase of your turn.

Angelic Armor ArchBlade/ Level 12/ LIGHT/ Fairy/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ You can Special Summon this card by banishing 3 "Angelic Armor" monsters (1 face-up from your side of the field and 2 from your hand). Increase the ATK and DEF of this card by 1000 for each "Angelic Armor" card you control. Other monsters you control cannot attack. During the Damage Step of either player's turn, you can discard this card from your hand: Double the ATK and DEF of 1 "Angelic Armor" monster you control until the End-Phase of this turn.

Lizette LeBlanc's Spells

Angelic Trumpet/ Spell/ Quick-Play/ During your opponent's Battle-Phase, you can reveal this card in your hand: Special Summon up to 3 "Angelic Armor" monsters from your hand, and if you do, set this card. If this card is activated when you have less than 2 cards in your hand, you can add 3 "Angelic Armor" monsters from your deck to your hand. During either player's turn, you can banish this card from your graveyard: Ritual Summon, Fusion Summon, Synchro Summon, or Xyz Summon 1 "Angelic Armor" monster from your Extra Deck by following the procedure written on the card.

Natsumi's Monsters

Celestial Comet/ LIGHT/ Level 1/ Rock/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 2000/ During the Battle-Phase of either player's turn, you can discard this card from your hand: Special Summon 1 "Celestial" monster from your deck. You can banish this card from your graveyard: Return 1 "Celestial" monster from your graveyard to your hand.

Celestial Defender / LIGHT / Level 2 / Warrior / Effect / 500 ATK / 2000 DEF/ While this card is face-up on the field: Your opponent cannot target other monsters for attacks, except "Celestial Defender".
Celestial Solor-burst/ LIGHT/ Level 1/ Pyro/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ If you control a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, you can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, reduce the Level of 1 monster you control by 1.

Celestial Knight - Venus / LIGHT / Level 4 / Warrior/Effect / ATK 1700 / DEF 1000/ If there is another face-up "Celestial" monster on the field: Once per turn, you can target 1 monster your opponent controls; take control of it until the End Phase.
Celestial Wizard / LIGHT / Level 4 / Spellcaster / Effect / ATK 1800 / DEF 1000/ If you control a face-up "Celestial" monster: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). "Celestial" monsters you control, except "Celestial Wizard", cannot be destroyed by battle.
Natsumi's Extra Deck

Celestial Dragon - Sol / LIGHT / Level 7 / Dragon / Synchro/Effect / 2700 ATK / 1500 DEF/ 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuners
Once per turn: You can banish one "Celestial" card from your Graveyard, then target 1 card on the field; Destroy it.
Natsumi's Spells

Celestial Reflector / Spell/ Quick-Play/ Activate only if you control a face-up "Celestial" monster when your opponent declares an attack: Negate the attack.
Camira's Monsters

Fallen Harpie Lady/ WIND/ Level -4/ Winged Beast/ Effect/ ATK 1400/ DEF 1500/ You can discard this card from your hand: Add 1 "Harpie Lady" from your deck or graveyard to your hand. If this card is summoned, you can activate this effect: Change the Levels of all WIND monsters you control to the Level of this card. This card's name is treated as "Harpie Lady" while it is on the field or in the graveyard.

Camira's Extra Deck

Earthbound Disciple Geo Harpie Queen/ WIND/ Rank -4/ Winged Beast/ Effect/ ATK 2400/ DEF 2000/ 3 or more Level -4 WIND monsters

Cannot be targeted for attacks or by your opponent's card effects while this card has Dark Xyz Material. "Harpie" monsters you control can attack your opponent's LP directly. Each time your opponent takes damage, you can target 1 card on the field: Destroy it. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Dark Xyz Material from this card: Inflict 800 damage to your opponent's LP, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 "Harpie" monster from your hand, deck, or GY. This card is also treated as "Harpie Lady" while on the field or in the GY.

Elbert's Extra Deck

Nightmare Puppet Alsel/ DARK/ Rank 8/ Machine/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 2300/ DEF 3200/ 2 Level 8 "Nightmare Puppet" monsters
Up to twice per turn, you can Special Summon 1 "Nightmare Puppet" Xyz Monster from your graveyard, and if you do, attach one of this card's Xyz Materials to the summoned monster. "Nightmare Puppet Alsel" cannot attack the turn you use this effect.

Nightmare Puppet King/ DARK/ Rank 8/ Machine/ Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 3000/ DEF 2000/ 2 Level 8 "Nightmare Puppet" monsters
Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz material from this card: Destroy all cards your opponent controls, and if you do, inflict 200 damage to your opponent's LP for each card destroyed this way. This card can't attack the turn you use this effect.

Earthbound Construct Drossimulacrum/ DARK/ Rank -10/ Machine/ Dark Xyz/ Effect/ ATK 3000/ DEF 3000/ 2 or more Level -10 "Nightmare Puppet" monsters
When this card is Xyz Summoned, you can attach a number of random cards from any player's Extra Deck to this card as Xyz Material or Dark Xyz Material, up to the number of Dark Xyz Materials attached to this card. Once per turn, you can detach any number of Dark Xyz Materials from this card: Special Summon an equal number of monsters attached to this card as Xyz or Dark Xyz Material, ignoring the summoning conditions. (Monsters summoned with this effect are treated as "Nightmare Puppet" monsters, have their effects negated, and their ATK and DEF halved). This card gains the original effects of each "Nightmare Puppet" monster on the field. If this card is removed from the field, Banish all "Nightmare Puppet" monsters on the field.

Elbert's Spells

Nightmare Puppet Stage/ Spell/ Field/ Once per turn, during your Standby phase, you can target 1 Machine-type Xyz monster you control and 1 "Nightmare Puppet" monster in your graveyard: Attach that monster from the graveyard to the Targeted Xyz monster as Xyz Material. Once per duel, you can banish a total of five Spell/Trap Cards from your hand or graveyard, including this card, and declare a number between -10 and -4: all "Nightmare Puppet" monsters on the field and in your graveyard are treated as having the declared Level. Also, during the turn this effect is activated, if you would Dark Xyz Summon a monster, you can use monsters in your graveyard as Dark Xyz Materials.

Elbert's Traps

Nightmare Puppet Damage Doll/ Trap/ Continuous/ Activate only when you take battle damage. Special summon this card as an effect monster. (Machine-Type / DARK / Level 8/) If summoned this way, this card's ATK and DEF are each equal to the amount of battle damage you took, also, immediately after this card is summoned, gain LP equal to the damage you took.