"Beezy?" Vega shouted out to the young Sword Hunter as he hung above the
ground, trapped by the vice-like grip of the Pumpking of Ghosts. He wasn't
moving at all and she feared the worst. "Beezy!"
"Vega, look out!" Dennis cried. He dove at her in his dragon body, knocking the two of them to the ground as two more of the twisted pumpkin's tendrils whipped over their heads. Getting up off the ground he spat out two fireballs at the giant monstrosity, halting its advance and throwing it off balance. Vega took the cue from Dennis and fired her own attack at the Pumpking.
Beezy coughed as the tendril around his virtual throat loosened slightly. "Dennis!" he sputtered out. "Aim...for...the tendrils..." Dennis nodded his acknowledgment and exhaled fiercely, blasting a steady stream of fire at the tendril that held Beezy fast. The tendril disintegrated under the intensity of the flames, releasing the Pumpking's prisoner, as Vega continued to dodge and blast her own attacks at the zombie.
As the tendril let him go, Beezy dropped to the ground, and rolled clear. Quickly jumping to his feet after his fall, he spun on the Pumpking with a hard gaze and shouted, "Bottomless Trap Hole!" The ground quaked and cracked open as a large hold spread forth from the ground. There was nothing the Pumpking of Ghosts could do as it fell down into the abyss of earth, its tendrils flailing futilely as it tried to secure a grip to crawl its way back out. Beezy stepped back from the hole and dropped to his knee, catching his breath.
Dennis and Vega came over to his side to check on their ally. "how long were you planning on holding on to that little trick." Vega asked him.
"Well you know," he replied with a forced grin. I always figured that we'd be able to handle anything. I mean there we five of us and--" he broke off abruptly. "Where's Fader?"
Realizing suddenly that they had forgotten about Fader in the confusion of the attack, Vega and Dennis both turned back to where the Hinotama fireballs had cascaded into the ground, right on top of Fader. The ground was still smoldering as smoke and a few stray flames had just begun to dissipate. The trio rushed over into the smoke to search for their friend. Dennis flapped his wings furiously as he tried to create a strong enough force of air to push the smoke away. As it cleared they were all shocked. In the middle of the fiery crater, stood four large, silk hats. Three of which were completely untouched and one that was burned to a crisp. In an instant the hats vanished and the Dark Magician stood up and walked over towards them.
"That was too close," he said.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one with one more trick up my sleeve," Beezy said. "I was wondering what your last support card was. I should have guessed."
"It wasn't my support card," Fader corrected. "It was the Dark Magician's natural ability."
"So are you going to tell us what your last card is?"
"A good magician doesn't reveal all his secrets," the smiling Fader said.
"The fog," Vega interrupted. "It's lifting." All around them the dark and eerie fog of the darkened graveyard was dissipating. The group could make out more and more of the headstones littering the ground everywhere.
"Makiu," explained Fader. "The magical mist. It has to be. The Pumpking must have been using it to hide it and its accomplices movements."
"Then we move on," Beezy said. "That should be one more of the locks right? We can head to the last open server."
"No," argued Dennis. "Vega was right. It has to be dragons. Neither the Reaper or the Pumpking were Dragons. So the next lock won't open."
"But how do we know that it has to be Dragons?" continued Beezy. "Maybe it's just infected monsters."
"If it was just infected monsters that door would be open by now," Vega explained. "Think about it. How many monsters have we destroyed. Dennis and I have been trapped in here for a while, and we've battled tons of monsters. You and Serena fought a few before joining up with us, way more than five. No it's dragons."
"I still say we check. We should try and head for the next server."
"Leaving already?" an eerily raspy voice called from the still lifting fog. The voice seems to come from all around them so they began to scan the surrounding expanse, trying to locate the source, but the fog hadn't dissipated enough yet for them to find the source.
"After all the trouble we had in coming here?" added another voice, ominously resonating all around them and yet at a different location then the first voice.
"No very considerate guests at all," the first voice added. There was a resounding crunching from behind them and the four jerked around in that direction and saw the massive, clawed foot lifting off the ground to take another step forward, leaving the destroyed tombstone in pieces where it had stepped. More crashing could be heard on the other side, and they could see another shadowy figure crashing its own way through more of the graves. The second beast roared, and they could make out the glow of its ferocious, red eyes. It stepped towards them again, out of the mist, a small amount of cascading light revealing its features as the Red Eyes Black Dragon. Fader and company watched as it moved closer and as it did the second monster too stepped out of the darkness; the Chaos Emperor Dragon. "No matter, you may not have respect for us, but you soon will," the Emperor Dragon finished.
In a flurry of motion the Emperor and Red Eyed dragons attacked with such a brutal swiftness that there was no warning. In a matter of seconds the Chaos Emperor Dragon had caught Vega with a sweep of its massive claws, tearing into her and sending her limp body flying and crashing into one of the still standing headstones. The Red Eyes moves with an equal unerring motion, caught Beezy in its claw and slammed him into the ground. Beezy too was out cold.
Fader and Dennis having had no time to react to their attacks split off and attacked the twin dragons, Fader firing his Dark Magic Attack at the core of the Emperor Dragon and Dennis blasting the Red Eyes. Their actions surprised the two large dragons, who were not expecting it, but the dragons were only stunned briefly and they counter-attacked with indomitable attacks that Dennis and Fader barely managed to avoid.
"You must have more than that!" the Emperor roared at them. "My compatriot and I were expecting more of a fight out of the two of you. You who bested three of our own. Is this the fight you gave the Serpent Night Dragon, Berserker Dragon and Toon Blue Eyes? Is this all. For if it is I am ashamed of my brethren. I came expecting a fight. But I will settle for a slaughter!"
The Red Eyes looked down at Beezy's form and twisted its claw around, pressing him further and further into the dark earth. "Now this is interesting," it said. "They may not be a total waste after all."
"Oh?" its partner asked, pausing as Fader and Dennis tensed themselves preparing for the inevitable attack.
"Skill Drain!" the Red Eyes roared and it and Beezy soon both began to glow. As the glow faded Beezy was left unchanged but the Red Eyes has been transformed. Its entire body glinted with the luster of metal. It had become the Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon. "Not totally useless after all."
"How did you..?" Dennis asked.
"You should know that you do not hold the monopoly on special abilities," the Emperor answered. In the center of the each dragon's head a glowing purple Eye of Anubis appeared. "We each have the Eye of Truth which allows us to see the special support abilities of each of our opponents, as well as seeing how many charges their abilities have left. Just as my ally saw your friend's Metalmorph skill and stole it, I see that you have the power of Mirror Force, Burning Land, Double Magic and Quick Attack. I also see though that you have exhausted all your ability to use those powers. You really aren't a match for us." With another roar the two dragons dove forward to strike Fader and Dennis.
"Graceful Dice!" Dennis shouted almost in tandem with the dragons attack, followed quickly by, "Skull Dice!" As the dragons lurched forward two green die came to a rest in front of both Fader and Dennis, a small number three showing on top of the die before it glowed brightly with the Dark Magician and Baby Dragon, increasing their power threefold. At the same time two purple die struck each of the attacking dragons in the heads, halting their attack. Each dragon looked down to see a number two on the die before they too began to glow and vanish, taking half of the dragons power with them.
"What?" the dragons hissed out in unison.
"Looks, like you're the ones who aren't a match for us," Fader said. "Not anymore." simultaneously he and Dennis each attacked the two dragons again, but this time the dragons were sent reeling backwards, no longer strong enough to shake off the power of their two opponents.
"So there is spirit in your hearts after all," the Emperor said as it rose back to its feet.
"It makes killing you, so much more enjoyable," finished the Red Eyes.
"Your ploy was good, but its effects only temporary. I can already feel my strength returning to me, as you must feel your new strength waning from you."
Fader and Dennis didn't react to the Emperor's comment, but knew that is was true. the power boost they had received from the Graceful Dice was fading fast. Without looking away from the two dragons in front of them, Fader said to Dennis, "You know that plan I had? Now would probably be the best time."
"I hope it works out like you want it to," Dennis offered.
"So do I."
Dennis flapped his wings and took off into the air, hovering above Fader. Both faced the two dragons with stern expressions on their digital faces. "What now?" shouted the Red Eyes. "Are you gong to run away little whelp? Leave your friend behind?" "No. I just needed to give him a little space," answered Dennis. "For this. Time Wizard!" As he called out the small familiar wizard appeared once again, but this time, not near Dennis, but instead by Fader. As the small wizard danced around in front of the stoic Dark Magician its wand began to glow and spin as its time magic took place. A swirling display of color and light followed, blinding the two dragons momentarily. and in a final flash the Time Wizard was gone, and the Dark Magician with it.
"Still feeling powerful?" Fader asked, as his new form as the Dark Sage rose up off the ground and was floating in the air a few feet of the ground.
"Your trick is nothing," the Emperor roared. "Our power is endless! Messenger of Creation attack!" The Chaos Emperor Dragon began to glow and collect energy for its ultimate attack, even as its partner charged for its own Inferno Fire Blast. The two dragons attacked with everything they had, all the power that they could muster punched into their attack. all of it aimed straight at Fader.
"All power has its end. And yours end now!" Fader called out as the combined might of the Emperor and Metal Dragons' attacks approached him. "You should have used your Eye of Truth one last time, you would have seen that when I became the Dark Sage its inherent ability restored one point to each charge of my support abilities. Including this one, Mirror Force!" The attack slammed into the invisible barrier erected around Fader and Dennis. The energy swirled in midair for a spilt second before it fired back on itself, destroying the twin dragons instantly.
Before the Dragons had even been destroyed both Dennis and Fader made a dash for Vega and Beezy to help their friends. Fader helped Beezy to his feet and Beezy managed to stumble along at a few paces before regaining his composure, but Vega was a different situation entirely. she was unconscious and in bad shape, showing no signs of life, save for a wispy breath that escaped her character's lips.
"She's dying," Dennis said gravely. "Her virtual body is already broken beyond repair. It won't be long now before her real world body shuts down for the stress of damage."
"Is there anything we can do?" Beezy asked.
"She has to get logged out of the game. That's the only way I can think of. As long as her brain thinks that her body is broken reduces her chances of living."
"Then we get her logged out," Fader replied. "Those were the last two dragons. We go to this phantom sixth server and eliminate this virus and go home." He paused and looked at Dennis. "All of us." Dennis nodded.
"Then let's go," Beezy agreed. He began to walk away with Fader, after going about a hundred meters stopped when he realized Dennis wasn't following. He started to head back and say something when Fader stopped him.
"Dennis isn't coming."
"Why not?"
Fader looked at Dennis who sat right beside Vega's still form, watching her. Waiting with her. "Because he loves her. And he's not going to leave her or let her down. " Fader turned back. "Let's go. He's got someone he's not going to let down. And I've got someone I'm not going to." Fader and Beezy eventually found the Server Hub, buried inside a crypt on the edge of the graveyard. As Fader had anticipated the last two sequences on the sixth server's lock. They opened up the gate, and together the two of them stepped forward into...
* * *
...Nothing.
They appeared in a void of black. The sky and the horizon were empty and dark. Only the ground beneath their feet was glowing with a dull green as lines of flashing green nodes blinked and hummed. Other than that. There was nothing.
"Well," Beezy said. "Kind of anti-climactic, don't you think?"
"Stay sharp," cautioned Fader. "There's a reason this place was seal. There's something that the program was protecting."
"Nothing we were protecting," Came a chorus of voices, from behind them. Fader and Beezy spun around to see something they never wanted to see. Something that filled them with a strong sense of anxiousness so severe it made the hair of their real world bodies stand on end. Looming over them were the Serpent Night Dragon, Berserker Dragon, Blue Eyes Toon Dragon, Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon and Chaos Emperor Dragon. "But something that you were being protected from."
"Then what's that?" Fader said, pointing his staff at the Dragon Capture Jar resting on the ground between the five dragons.
"Well there are maybe a few things that we too are protecting. Nothing you're going to concern yourself with though."
"I think that's the same Capture Jar that you used to capture the girl I love. That's more than enough to make me concerned."
"Oh we didn't say that you have no reason to be concerned," the emperor Dragon said, speaking up for the group. "Just that, you have many more things to worry about. Namely us."
"You are sure this was the right idea, right?" Beezy asked Fader as he drew his swords.
"I don't actually think I ever said that," Fader replied.
"But you have a plan right?"
"I don't think I said that either. But I think I have one now though. It's going to count on us being able to get Serena out of that Jar though."
"Shouldn't be too hard. We just have to fight past five dragons that all nearly defeated us before when they were alone. And there were five of us. No prob."
"You headed into a situation you know nothing about, and it will cost you dearly, Yugi Moto.
"Yugi Moto?" Fader asked.
"Yes," they replied. "You cannot hide the truth, we recognize part of your brain scan and your signature card, the Dark Magician. You may have escaped with Kaiba before, but not this time. when we defeat you, we will take over all of your bodies and exit back into the real world, assuming control of Kaiba Corp."
"We're going to stop you," Fader said sternly.
"We already beat you before!" added Beezy.
"You may have beaten us as individuals," the dragons said together. "But you have yet to face us in our true form! Polymerization!" The five dragons twisted and pulled in to each other, when the process was finished, the individual five dragons were gone and in their place stood the ominous Five God Dragon.
"Oh...kay....," Beezy said. "Now I think we have a problem."
"I think my plan will still work. But I need a distraction to make it work."
"That means I have to distract the giant five headed dragon doesn't it?" Beezy didn't even wait for Fader to give him an answer. he drew his twin swords and raced forwards, shouting to draw the Five God Dragon's attention.
"The bravest are the first to die," the dragon roared. It's five heads all attacked at once, launching five separate bursts of energy all aimed at the Sword Hunter.
"Negate Attack!" Beezy shouted, standing his ground against the furious onslaught. The swirling vortex appeared in front of Beezy to absorb the impact of the Five God's attacks, but the force of their attack was too much for the Negate Attack Barrier to holdup against and it shattered, the blast sending Beezy careening backwards crashing into the ground.
As Beezy launched his attack, Fader took a step backwards to set his plan into motion. "Mystic Box!" he called out, encasing himself in the telltale box to have it get skewered. His target was revealed as the box opened again and the Dragon Capture Jar shattered, freeing Serena from her prison. "Serena!" Fader shouted joining her, and finding her having reverted to her White Dragon Paladin form. He lifted her to her feet.
She clutched her head and looked at him. "Fader...I...what's happening?"
"No time to explain. Can you fight?" She nodded as she steadied herself. "Good. I've got an idea." Just then they heard the sounds of the Five God Dragon's attack overwhelming Beezy. "And we just ran out of time." He looked up as the Five God Dragon turned on them readying another attack. "Quick you have to transform into the Blue Eyes White Dragon," he told her.
"But I'm still not going to be a match for that thing," protested Serena.
"You trust me right?" She nodded once more. "Then transform." She stepped back and transformed into the Blue Eyes White Dragon as she had before, roaring into the dark abyss of nothing.
"The power of the Blue Eyes is nothing compared to what we now yield. You cannot beat us this time."
"History is going to repeat itself!" Fader shouted. "We will beat you the same way that you were defeated before."
"Impossible. You cannot summon the power of the Dragon Master Knight!"
"Are you sure? I activate my final ability, Black Luster Ritual!" Two burning cauldrons appeared on either side of Fader, and the Black Luster Seal, a shield with two swords laying across it rose behind him. In a flash of radiant light, the robes and staff of the Dark Magician were replaced by the armor, sword and shield of the Black Luster Soldier. "Now Serena!" Fader continued. "Use the support card you got in Tropius!"
Serena understood Fader's plan and activated the card that she had been holding since just after she and Beezy had arrived in the virtual world, the seemingly worthless Multiply. In the form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon she split into three, each one a terrifying powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon. All three of them roared triumphantly.
"Still think that it's impossible?" Fader asked.
"We don't see a Dragon Master Knight boy, we see four monsters ready to be destroyed!" The five heads of the dragon roared in defiance of their Blue Eyed counterparts and attacked.
"Double Magic!" Fader called out over the sounds of the roaring dragons. "Polymerization!" Time slowed down. The events of the next few seconds seemed to last forever. As the Five God Dragon attacked Fader and the three Serenas began to merge together combining power and energy to create one of the most dominating forces in all of Duel Monsters; a monster that had been summoned long ago by Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto, who put aside their rivalry to work together in a time of adversity.
The Dragon Master Knight was born once more unto the virtual world. As it had happened a hundred years ago the attack of the Five God Dragon hit the Master of Dragon Knight as it formed and did nothing. And once more the Dragon Master Knight let loose with it's powerful counter attack, the Dragon Sabre Slash.
But history didn't repeat itself.
The Five God Dragon remained in front of them. Standing affront to the power of Fader and Serena's ultimate display of unity and power. "What?" they declared together. "How?"
"We learn from our mistakes, Moto. We will not be caught off guard by your monsters power once again. We had one final play to make in this game. We activated our monsters inherent ability, Dragon Heart, which allowed us to gather the strength of all our separate forms and channel them through this perfect vessel, raising our power to enormous levels. Far beyond the reach of your supreme knight. You will not win this day! Mythic Attack!"
As the dragon reared to launch its attack once more, an attack powered by the separate strength of the Five God Dragon's composite monsters, a single sword came flying through the air and hit the dragon in the chest. All five of it's heads looked down to see the battered form of Beezy, struggling to hold himself upright, smiling at them.
"Forget about me?"
"You should have stayed down, you would have spared yourself a fate worse than death."
"But if I had, I would get to see the Dragon Master Knight wipe you and your minds out of existence," Beezy said, mustering a grin.
"Didn't you hear. We have more power than the Knight could muster, more strength than any monster could ever imagine. nothing can stop us."
Beezy was silent for a moment and then looked at the Five God Dragon, and managed to get out one more word before collapsing, "Riryoku." Waves of energy began to drain out of the Five God Dragon and were absorbed by the Dragon Master Knight.
"You're finished!" Fader and Serena shouted once more. "We too have an ability to draw on. We can channel not only the power of the fallen dragons, but we can draw upon the power of all the monsters that have fallen in your wake; Creation's Finale attack!" The attack power was enormous. Drawing on the power of every fallen ally, every vanquished warrior. All of their souls, gathering like clouds of a swirling tornado into the sword that Fader held in his hand. For a split second the darkness of the Sixth Server's void was replaced by a pure, white light. and then it was gone.
Everything was gone. Save for a collection of heroes.
Fader and Serena found themselves not in the bodies of their virtual familiars but in their own bodies. With Beezy lying as they knew him, unconscious and not far away. They were in a small room of pure white, a harsh contrast to the gaping expanse of black they had been in only seconds before. In the center of the room was a small table with two chairs. One of the chairs were empty. In the other sat a small boy with teal tinted hair.
"You've beaten them once again, you've impressed me beyond all expectations. But now it's time that you and I got to play. It's time to duel," said Noa Kaiba.
"Vega, look out!" Dennis cried. He dove at her in his dragon body, knocking the two of them to the ground as two more of the twisted pumpkin's tendrils whipped over their heads. Getting up off the ground he spat out two fireballs at the giant monstrosity, halting its advance and throwing it off balance. Vega took the cue from Dennis and fired her own attack at the Pumpking.
Beezy coughed as the tendril around his virtual throat loosened slightly. "Dennis!" he sputtered out. "Aim...for...the tendrils..." Dennis nodded his acknowledgment and exhaled fiercely, blasting a steady stream of fire at the tendril that held Beezy fast. The tendril disintegrated under the intensity of the flames, releasing the Pumpking's prisoner, as Vega continued to dodge and blast her own attacks at the zombie.
As the tendril let him go, Beezy dropped to the ground, and rolled clear. Quickly jumping to his feet after his fall, he spun on the Pumpking with a hard gaze and shouted, "Bottomless Trap Hole!" The ground quaked and cracked open as a large hold spread forth from the ground. There was nothing the Pumpking of Ghosts could do as it fell down into the abyss of earth, its tendrils flailing futilely as it tried to secure a grip to crawl its way back out. Beezy stepped back from the hole and dropped to his knee, catching his breath.
Dennis and Vega came over to his side to check on their ally. "how long were you planning on holding on to that little trick." Vega asked him.
"Well you know," he replied with a forced grin. I always figured that we'd be able to handle anything. I mean there we five of us and--" he broke off abruptly. "Where's Fader?"
Realizing suddenly that they had forgotten about Fader in the confusion of the attack, Vega and Dennis both turned back to where the Hinotama fireballs had cascaded into the ground, right on top of Fader. The ground was still smoldering as smoke and a few stray flames had just begun to dissipate. The trio rushed over into the smoke to search for their friend. Dennis flapped his wings furiously as he tried to create a strong enough force of air to push the smoke away. As it cleared they were all shocked. In the middle of the fiery crater, stood four large, silk hats. Three of which were completely untouched and one that was burned to a crisp. In an instant the hats vanished and the Dark Magician stood up and walked over towards them.
"That was too close," he said.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one with one more trick up my sleeve," Beezy said. "I was wondering what your last support card was. I should have guessed."
"It wasn't my support card," Fader corrected. "It was the Dark Magician's natural ability."
"So are you going to tell us what your last card is?"
"A good magician doesn't reveal all his secrets," the smiling Fader said.
"The fog," Vega interrupted. "It's lifting." All around them the dark and eerie fog of the darkened graveyard was dissipating. The group could make out more and more of the headstones littering the ground everywhere.
"Makiu," explained Fader. "The magical mist. It has to be. The Pumpking must have been using it to hide it and its accomplices movements."
"Then we move on," Beezy said. "That should be one more of the locks right? We can head to the last open server."
"No," argued Dennis. "Vega was right. It has to be dragons. Neither the Reaper or the Pumpking were Dragons. So the next lock won't open."
"But how do we know that it has to be Dragons?" continued Beezy. "Maybe it's just infected monsters."
"If it was just infected monsters that door would be open by now," Vega explained. "Think about it. How many monsters have we destroyed. Dennis and I have been trapped in here for a while, and we've battled tons of monsters. You and Serena fought a few before joining up with us, way more than five. No it's dragons."
"I still say we check. We should try and head for the next server."
"Leaving already?" an eerily raspy voice called from the still lifting fog. The voice seems to come from all around them so they began to scan the surrounding expanse, trying to locate the source, but the fog hadn't dissipated enough yet for them to find the source.
"After all the trouble we had in coming here?" added another voice, ominously resonating all around them and yet at a different location then the first voice.
"No very considerate guests at all," the first voice added. There was a resounding crunching from behind them and the four jerked around in that direction and saw the massive, clawed foot lifting off the ground to take another step forward, leaving the destroyed tombstone in pieces where it had stepped. More crashing could be heard on the other side, and they could see another shadowy figure crashing its own way through more of the graves. The second beast roared, and they could make out the glow of its ferocious, red eyes. It stepped towards them again, out of the mist, a small amount of cascading light revealing its features as the Red Eyes Black Dragon. Fader and company watched as it moved closer and as it did the second monster too stepped out of the darkness; the Chaos Emperor Dragon. "No matter, you may not have respect for us, but you soon will," the Emperor Dragon finished.
In a flurry of motion the Emperor and Red Eyed dragons attacked with such a brutal swiftness that there was no warning. In a matter of seconds the Chaos Emperor Dragon had caught Vega with a sweep of its massive claws, tearing into her and sending her limp body flying and crashing into one of the still standing headstones. The Red Eyes moves with an equal unerring motion, caught Beezy in its claw and slammed him into the ground. Beezy too was out cold.
Fader and Dennis having had no time to react to their attacks split off and attacked the twin dragons, Fader firing his Dark Magic Attack at the core of the Emperor Dragon and Dennis blasting the Red Eyes. Their actions surprised the two large dragons, who were not expecting it, but the dragons were only stunned briefly and they counter-attacked with indomitable attacks that Dennis and Fader barely managed to avoid.
"You must have more than that!" the Emperor roared at them. "My compatriot and I were expecting more of a fight out of the two of you. You who bested three of our own. Is this the fight you gave the Serpent Night Dragon, Berserker Dragon and Toon Blue Eyes? Is this all. For if it is I am ashamed of my brethren. I came expecting a fight. But I will settle for a slaughter!"
The Red Eyes looked down at Beezy's form and twisted its claw around, pressing him further and further into the dark earth. "Now this is interesting," it said. "They may not be a total waste after all."
"Oh?" its partner asked, pausing as Fader and Dennis tensed themselves preparing for the inevitable attack.
"Skill Drain!" the Red Eyes roared and it and Beezy soon both began to glow. As the glow faded Beezy was left unchanged but the Red Eyes has been transformed. Its entire body glinted with the luster of metal. It had become the Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon. "Not totally useless after all."
"How did you..?" Dennis asked.
"You should know that you do not hold the monopoly on special abilities," the Emperor answered. In the center of the each dragon's head a glowing purple Eye of Anubis appeared. "We each have the Eye of Truth which allows us to see the special support abilities of each of our opponents, as well as seeing how many charges their abilities have left. Just as my ally saw your friend's Metalmorph skill and stole it, I see that you have the power of Mirror Force, Burning Land, Double Magic and Quick Attack. I also see though that you have exhausted all your ability to use those powers. You really aren't a match for us." With another roar the two dragons dove forward to strike Fader and Dennis.
"Graceful Dice!" Dennis shouted almost in tandem with the dragons attack, followed quickly by, "Skull Dice!" As the dragons lurched forward two green die came to a rest in front of both Fader and Dennis, a small number three showing on top of the die before it glowed brightly with the Dark Magician and Baby Dragon, increasing their power threefold. At the same time two purple die struck each of the attacking dragons in the heads, halting their attack. Each dragon looked down to see a number two on the die before they too began to glow and vanish, taking half of the dragons power with them.
"What?" the dragons hissed out in unison.
"Looks, like you're the ones who aren't a match for us," Fader said. "Not anymore." simultaneously he and Dennis each attacked the two dragons again, but this time the dragons were sent reeling backwards, no longer strong enough to shake off the power of their two opponents.
"So there is spirit in your hearts after all," the Emperor said as it rose back to its feet.
"It makes killing you, so much more enjoyable," finished the Red Eyes.
"Your ploy was good, but its effects only temporary. I can already feel my strength returning to me, as you must feel your new strength waning from you."
Fader and Dennis didn't react to the Emperor's comment, but knew that is was true. the power boost they had received from the Graceful Dice was fading fast. Without looking away from the two dragons in front of them, Fader said to Dennis, "You know that plan I had? Now would probably be the best time."
"I hope it works out like you want it to," Dennis offered.
"So do I."
Dennis flapped his wings and took off into the air, hovering above Fader. Both faced the two dragons with stern expressions on their digital faces. "What now?" shouted the Red Eyes. "Are you gong to run away little whelp? Leave your friend behind?" "No. I just needed to give him a little space," answered Dennis. "For this. Time Wizard!" As he called out the small familiar wizard appeared once again, but this time, not near Dennis, but instead by Fader. As the small wizard danced around in front of the stoic Dark Magician its wand began to glow and spin as its time magic took place. A swirling display of color and light followed, blinding the two dragons momentarily. and in a final flash the Time Wizard was gone, and the Dark Magician with it.
"Still feeling powerful?" Fader asked, as his new form as the Dark Sage rose up off the ground and was floating in the air a few feet of the ground.
"Your trick is nothing," the Emperor roared. "Our power is endless! Messenger of Creation attack!" The Chaos Emperor Dragon began to glow and collect energy for its ultimate attack, even as its partner charged for its own Inferno Fire Blast. The two dragons attacked with everything they had, all the power that they could muster punched into their attack. all of it aimed straight at Fader.
"All power has its end. And yours end now!" Fader called out as the combined might of the Emperor and Metal Dragons' attacks approached him. "You should have used your Eye of Truth one last time, you would have seen that when I became the Dark Sage its inherent ability restored one point to each charge of my support abilities. Including this one, Mirror Force!" The attack slammed into the invisible barrier erected around Fader and Dennis. The energy swirled in midair for a spilt second before it fired back on itself, destroying the twin dragons instantly.
Before the Dragons had even been destroyed both Dennis and Fader made a dash for Vega and Beezy to help their friends. Fader helped Beezy to his feet and Beezy managed to stumble along at a few paces before regaining his composure, but Vega was a different situation entirely. she was unconscious and in bad shape, showing no signs of life, save for a wispy breath that escaped her character's lips.
"She's dying," Dennis said gravely. "Her virtual body is already broken beyond repair. It won't be long now before her real world body shuts down for the stress of damage."
"Is there anything we can do?" Beezy asked.
"She has to get logged out of the game. That's the only way I can think of. As long as her brain thinks that her body is broken reduces her chances of living."
"Then we get her logged out," Fader replied. "Those were the last two dragons. We go to this phantom sixth server and eliminate this virus and go home." He paused and looked at Dennis. "All of us." Dennis nodded.
"Then let's go," Beezy agreed. He began to walk away with Fader, after going about a hundred meters stopped when he realized Dennis wasn't following. He started to head back and say something when Fader stopped him.
"Dennis isn't coming."
"Why not?"
Fader looked at Dennis who sat right beside Vega's still form, watching her. Waiting with her. "Because he loves her. And he's not going to leave her or let her down. " Fader turned back. "Let's go. He's got someone he's not going to let down. And I've got someone I'm not going to." Fader and Beezy eventually found the Server Hub, buried inside a crypt on the edge of the graveyard. As Fader had anticipated the last two sequences on the sixth server's lock. They opened up the gate, and together the two of them stepped forward into...
* * *
...Nothing.
They appeared in a void of black. The sky and the horizon were empty and dark. Only the ground beneath their feet was glowing with a dull green as lines of flashing green nodes blinked and hummed. Other than that. There was nothing.
"Well," Beezy said. "Kind of anti-climactic, don't you think?"
"Stay sharp," cautioned Fader. "There's a reason this place was seal. There's something that the program was protecting."
"Nothing we were protecting," Came a chorus of voices, from behind them. Fader and Beezy spun around to see something they never wanted to see. Something that filled them with a strong sense of anxiousness so severe it made the hair of their real world bodies stand on end. Looming over them were the Serpent Night Dragon, Berserker Dragon, Blue Eyes Toon Dragon, Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon and Chaos Emperor Dragon. "But something that you were being protected from."
"Then what's that?" Fader said, pointing his staff at the Dragon Capture Jar resting on the ground between the five dragons.
"Well there are maybe a few things that we too are protecting. Nothing you're going to concern yourself with though."
"I think that's the same Capture Jar that you used to capture the girl I love. That's more than enough to make me concerned."
"Oh we didn't say that you have no reason to be concerned," the emperor Dragon said, speaking up for the group. "Just that, you have many more things to worry about. Namely us."
"You are sure this was the right idea, right?" Beezy asked Fader as he drew his swords.
"I don't actually think I ever said that," Fader replied.
"But you have a plan right?"
"I don't think I said that either. But I think I have one now though. It's going to count on us being able to get Serena out of that Jar though."
"Shouldn't be too hard. We just have to fight past five dragons that all nearly defeated us before when they were alone. And there were five of us. No prob."
"You headed into a situation you know nothing about, and it will cost you dearly, Yugi Moto.
"Yugi Moto?" Fader asked.
"Yes," they replied. "You cannot hide the truth, we recognize part of your brain scan and your signature card, the Dark Magician. You may have escaped with Kaiba before, but not this time. when we defeat you, we will take over all of your bodies and exit back into the real world, assuming control of Kaiba Corp."
"We're going to stop you," Fader said sternly.
"We already beat you before!" added Beezy.
"You may have beaten us as individuals," the dragons said together. "But you have yet to face us in our true form! Polymerization!" The five dragons twisted and pulled in to each other, when the process was finished, the individual five dragons were gone and in their place stood the ominous Five God Dragon.
"Oh...kay....," Beezy said. "Now I think we have a problem."
"I think my plan will still work. But I need a distraction to make it work."
"That means I have to distract the giant five headed dragon doesn't it?" Beezy didn't even wait for Fader to give him an answer. he drew his twin swords and raced forwards, shouting to draw the Five God Dragon's attention.
"The bravest are the first to die," the dragon roared. It's five heads all attacked at once, launching five separate bursts of energy all aimed at the Sword Hunter.
"Negate Attack!" Beezy shouted, standing his ground against the furious onslaught. The swirling vortex appeared in front of Beezy to absorb the impact of the Five God's attacks, but the force of their attack was too much for the Negate Attack Barrier to holdup against and it shattered, the blast sending Beezy careening backwards crashing into the ground.
As Beezy launched his attack, Fader took a step backwards to set his plan into motion. "Mystic Box!" he called out, encasing himself in the telltale box to have it get skewered. His target was revealed as the box opened again and the Dragon Capture Jar shattered, freeing Serena from her prison. "Serena!" Fader shouted joining her, and finding her having reverted to her White Dragon Paladin form. He lifted her to her feet.
She clutched her head and looked at him. "Fader...I...what's happening?"
"No time to explain. Can you fight?" She nodded as she steadied herself. "Good. I've got an idea." Just then they heard the sounds of the Five God Dragon's attack overwhelming Beezy. "And we just ran out of time." He looked up as the Five God Dragon turned on them readying another attack. "Quick you have to transform into the Blue Eyes White Dragon," he told her.
"But I'm still not going to be a match for that thing," protested Serena.
"You trust me right?" She nodded once more. "Then transform." She stepped back and transformed into the Blue Eyes White Dragon as she had before, roaring into the dark abyss of nothing.
"The power of the Blue Eyes is nothing compared to what we now yield. You cannot beat us this time."
"History is going to repeat itself!" Fader shouted. "We will beat you the same way that you were defeated before."
"Impossible. You cannot summon the power of the Dragon Master Knight!"
"Are you sure? I activate my final ability, Black Luster Ritual!" Two burning cauldrons appeared on either side of Fader, and the Black Luster Seal, a shield with two swords laying across it rose behind him. In a flash of radiant light, the robes and staff of the Dark Magician were replaced by the armor, sword and shield of the Black Luster Soldier. "Now Serena!" Fader continued. "Use the support card you got in Tropius!"
Serena understood Fader's plan and activated the card that she had been holding since just after she and Beezy had arrived in the virtual world, the seemingly worthless Multiply. In the form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon she split into three, each one a terrifying powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon. All three of them roared triumphantly.
"Still think that it's impossible?" Fader asked.
"We don't see a Dragon Master Knight boy, we see four monsters ready to be destroyed!" The five heads of the dragon roared in defiance of their Blue Eyed counterparts and attacked.
"Double Magic!" Fader called out over the sounds of the roaring dragons. "Polymerization!" Time slowed down. The events of the next few seconds seemed to last forever. As the Five God Dragon attacked Fader and the three Serenas began to merge together combining power and energy to create one of the most dominating forces in all of Duel Monsters; a monster that had been summoned long ago by Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto, who put aside their rivalry to work together in a time of adversity.
The Dragon Master Knight was born once more unto the virtual world. As it had happened a hundred years ago the attack of the Five God Dragon hit the Master of Dragon Knight as it formed and did nothing. And once more the Dragon Master Knight let loose with it's powerful counter attack, the Dragon Sabre Slash.
But history didn't repeat itself.
The Five God Dragon remained in front of them. Standing affront to the power of Fader and Serena's ultimate display of unity and power. "What?" they declared together. "How?"
"We learn from our mistakes, Moto. We will not be caught off guard by your monsters power once again. We had one final play to make in this game. We activated our monsters inherent ability, Dragon Heart, which allowed us to gather the strength of all our separate forms and channel them through this perfect vessel, raising our power to enormous levels. Far beyond the reach of your supreme knight. You will not win this day! Mythic Attack!"
As the dragon reared to launch its attack once more, an attack powered by the separate strength of the Five God Dragon's composite monsters, a single sword came flying through the air and hit the dragon in the chest. All five of it's heads looked down to see the battered form of Beezy, struggling to hold himself upright, smiling at them.
"Forget about me?"
"You should have stayed down, you would have spared yourself a fate worse than death."
"But if I had, I would get to see the Dragon Master Knight wipe you and your minds out of existence," Beezy said, mustering a grin.
"Didn't you hear. We have more power than the Knight could muster, more strength than any monster could ever imagine. nothing can stop us."
Beezy was silent for a moment and then looked at the Five God Dragon, and managed to get out one more word before collapsing, "Riryoku." Waves of energy began to drain out of the Five God Dragon and were absorbed by the Dragon Master Knight.
"You're finished!" Fader and Serena shouted once more. "We too have an ability to draw on. We can channel not only the power of the fallen dragons, but we can draw upon the power of all the monsters that have fallen in your wake; Creation's Finale attack!" The attack power was enormous. Drawing on the power of every fallen ally, every vanquished warrior. All of their souls, gathering like clouds of a swirling tornado into the sword that Fader held in his hand. For a split second the darkness of the Sixth Server's void was replaced by a pure, white light. and then it was gone.
Everything was gone. Save for a collection of heroes.
Fader and Serena found themselves not in the bodies of their virtual familiars but in their own bodies. With Beezy lying as they knew him, unconscious and not far away. They were in a small room of pure white, a harsh contrast to the gaping expanse of black they had been in only seconds before. In the center of the room was a small table with two chairs. One of the chairs were empty. In the other sat a small boy with teal tinted hair.
"You've beaten them once again, you've impressed me beyond all expectations. But now it's time that you and I got to play. It's time to duel," said Noa Kaiba.