Haou soon learned that the Light of Ruin had more than one terrible power.

Not only did it consume anyone who touched it, unless they were him.

They created monsters from the remains of destroyed Duel Monsters, bringing to life their own mutated creations that wouldn't heed his orders or understand his requests.

They used the powers of ordinary humans and Duel Monsters to their benefit, no matter how many people were hurt in the crossfire.

They took over anything with life, with sentience, with goodness and twisted it, taking it and bending it to work for them instead.

It made Haou sick to his stomach but the worst of it was…

He couldn't heal them.

Blair looks at her cards carefully, seeing her Deck in a whole new way. Now that she can actually see and talk to her Monsters, Duelling has been an interesting thing.

And it's shown her something else.

Blair pulls two cards from her pocket that she's been keeping safe for a while. The ones that say they want to go to Yuuna.

"Spitfire, hey!"

She turns around to see Yuuna racing towards her with Yubel floating behind her. She wonders how long Yubel has been around Yuuna and Blair just hasn't known about it.

"Good luck on your match against Alexis." Yuuna smiles at her.

Blair smiles and nods. "Thanks, Yuuna."

Yubel folds their arms. "Don't be reckless, Blair."

Blair nods, turning to them. "I'll do my best, Yubel. I won't let you down."

After everything Yuuna has done for her…

"Hi Blair! Do you want to sit with me and my friends?"

"I can carry you if you want, sleepyhead."

"If you're going in there to potentially get hurt, I'm going in there with you to keep you safe and be there for you. You're my friend Blair. I'm not going to let you get hurt."

"I won't go. I promise."

"I was the one who led Blair to the Abandoned Dorm, I bullied him into going. He is completely innocent."

"You made one mistake and that's okay. You totally would have won if I hadn't gotten lucky that you weren't paying attention. Don't beat yourself up over screwing up in practise, okay? I know a lot is riding on this, but if you panic and rush, then you might miss something important."

"There's no shame in taking a nap or a break before we go into this. It just means I'll be texting the girls to hang out with us later."

"Spitfire. You have time."

"I'm not letting Gate Guardian hurt my little sister!"

"You were amazing! An absolute hero, Blair you were amazing!"

"Okay, you can come, but you have to stay behind me. And if I tell you to run, you have to run away, okay?"

"Blair, don't backtalk him, I've got this! I need you to just stay back and let me handle him right now, okay?"

"Being a smarty pants, as always, spitfire."

"Blair, you're the best!"

"Hey. It'll be okay. I'll help you learn to control your abilities. So will Yubel and House Dragonmaid and everyone else in our Decks. I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. It's okay, Spitfire. It's okay."

"Alright then. Let's be a team then, spitfire."

…the least Blair can do is this.

"Here. I want you to have these." Blair offers the two cards up. "I saw them the other day and thought of you."

Yuuna blinks and accepts the cards. "Wow, for real?"

"Yeah. I think they can help you in the future." Blair says.

Yuuna smiles and holds the cards to her chest. "I love them. Thank you."

Blair nods.

She'll win this Duel.

In the Obelisk Arena, the Dueling begin anew.

"It's time, Duelists!" Crowler declares. "To find out!" He waves his arms like a showman. "Who will represent our most illustrious academy in the annual School Duel! This is the second match we'll be having today! Are you ready?!"

The crowd goes wild.

"Introducing first, from the Obelisk dorm!" Crowler proudly waves his hand towards. "Alexis Rhodes!"

The crowd goes wild yet again as she stands there, her arms crossed.

"And then, from Slifer…" Crowler weakly points towards Blair. "Some kid."

The crowd is quiet as she stands there, her arms loose at her side.

"THAT'S MY SISTER, BLAIR FLANNIGAN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Yuuna shouts from a megaphone. "THE KID WHO BEAT THE PARADOX BROTHERS WITH ME!"

The crowd goes wild as Crowler winces in pain.

Blair and Alexis stare each other down.

"I would suggest surrendering, Flannigan." Alexis calls out. "I won't go easy on you."

Blair grins. "Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing."

Alexis sighs and shakes her head. "Then I suppose there's no stopping you."

"That's right." Blair nods. "You're not getting past me, no matter what I have to do."

She won't let Alexis hurt her sister.

She refuses.

"DUEL!"

In the stands, Yuuna, Syrus and Chumley are sitting together, wide smiles on their faces.

"You got this, Blair, show her your best!" Yuuna shouts.

Syrus raises his fist. "You're gonna rock this!"

"And even if you don't-" Chumley adds. "We'll always have your back!"

Yubel floats above them and narrows their eyes. They would love to support Blair as well, but Alexis is strong…

On another side of the arena, Bastion joins Mindy and Jasmine, taking a seat on Jasmine's side.

"Well, ladies, who do you think will win this?" Bastion asks as he sits down.

Mindy hums. "Well, we both bet on you last round. It's a little harder to make one definite bet though in this round."

"We've both Duelled Blair before and she did beat us with Yuuna." Jasmine hums. "But neither of us have Duelled Alexis before, especially not that White Night Deck."

Bastion nods. "Well, I hate to bet against a friend, so I hope that Blair wins."

His chance to Duel Alexis in the tournament is gone after all. Perhaps he'll get to challenge her another day. For now, he'll support his friend.

Above the stands, Zane simply observes, his arms folded.

Come on, Alexis. Prove to me you're worthy of holding the title Princess of Light.

Finally, with the teachers and cat, Crowler is on the ground.

"Come on, Alexis, make me proud." Crowler demands, grinning excitedly. "Show that Slifer Slime why you belong in the School Duel instead of her and her pathetic friend!"

In the stands, Shepard turns to Banner. "Having seen young Blair's performances in the past, I'm sure she'll put on a bold show."

"Yes, I know she will." Banner nods. "I wonder what Alexis will do though."

Pharaoh meows.

ALEXIS RHODES: 4000

BLAIR FLANNIGAN: 4000

"Draw." Alexis calls out.

Blair grits her teeth. She's only seen this Deck in action once and it was a First Turn Kill. She has no idea what Alexis will pull out, but one thing's for sure. It won't be pretty.

"I summon Cold Enchanter in ATK mode." Alexis declares, placing the card on her Duel Disk.

A monster appears on the field, a young woman dressed in light blue and white. She holds a staff with a snowflake on the end and stands tall at 1600 ATK points.

"I activate the Field Spell-" Alexis grabs another spell in her hand. "Absolute Zero Barrier."

A ring of icicles sprout up around Alexis and Blair, the Arena floor being covered in frost.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Alexis declares.

The facedown appears.

Blair nods. "My turn then! Draw!"

She does so and looks carefully at her hand. Only one Monster she can summon.

"Blair!"

Blair blinks, eyes wide.

"Use me, please!" Kitchen Dragonmaid's card wiggles in her hand.

Blair blinks and nods. "Well, okay then, Kitchen?"

She'll have to get used to this. She wonders if Yuuna's monsters are this bossy.

"I summon Kitchen Dragonmaid in ATK mode!" Blair shouts, playing her card.

Kitchen arrives on the field with 500 ATK points and a smile on her face. "Welcome to our services, everyone! I hope you'll be entertained well."

Has she always done that? Nevermind, focus!

"Whenever Kitchen is summoned, I can grab one Dragonmaid from my Deck to add to my Hand-" Blair pulls out her Deck and grabs Dragonmaid Tinkhec. "And send one Dragonmaid from my Hand to the Graveyard."

She discards Laundry Dragonmaid.

"And now I play the spell card, Dragonmaid Welcome!" Blair calls out.

The card appears on the field and Kitchen begins to glow, her points rising to 600 ATK.

"Every monster on my side of the field now gains 100 ATK points for every Dragonmaid out!" Blair smiles.

Kitchen giggles and winks at Blair. "Thank you, Blair."

Blair blinks and smiles. "My pleasure, Kitchen." She looks at her cards and her smile widens. "And now I'll give you even more reason to be grateful! By discarding the Tinkhec Dragonmaid in my hand, Kitchen gains 2000 ATK points!"

Alexis narrows her eyes.

Kitchen's points rise even higher as she glows red, all the way to 2600 ATK.

"Now attack!" Blair punches the air in front of her. "Kitchen, destroy that Cold Enchanter!"

"I'll do my best, Blair!" Kitchen calls.

She rushes across the field, wielding her whisk like a mighty weapon. Cold Enchanter rushes to meet her in the middle and her staff clashes with Kitchen's whisk. Sparks and shards of ice fly from the meeting, Cold Enchanter straining while Kitchen smiles happily.

Then the staff breaks and Kitchen does a spin, knocking Cold Enchanter off her feet with her tail, making the Aqua monster burst into pixels.

ALEXIS RHODES: 3000

BLAIR FLANNIGAN: 4000

Alexis' eyes narrow further, the wind from the attack brushing her hair off her shoulders.

"And I'm not done yet!" Blair shouts, brandishing a new card. "Because now I'm activating Dragon's Gunfire to inflict 800 points of damage!"

Kitchen takes in a deep breath and blows out a ball of fire, which strikes Alexis directly.

ALEXIS RHODES: 2200

BLAIR FLANNIGAN: 4000

Yet she still doesn't flinch.

"That's all for now." Blair declares.

Kitchen bows as her points return to 600. "I hope your Cold Enchanter appreciated our services."

She just hopes that it's enough to take Alexis out for good. Blair really doesn't like how emotionless Alexis is. It's making her nervous.

"Draw." Alexis does that. "I summon Snow Dragon."

A tiny fat white dragon appears on the field with a mean look in it's eyes and 900 ATK points.

"I play the spell card, Monster Reborn to bring back my Cold Enchanter." Alexis calls out.

The Cold Enchanter returns to the field with her 1600 ATK points.

"I activate Cold Enchanter's effect." Alexis throws her hand out. "By discarding a card in my hand, I can place an Ice Counter on Kitchen Dragonmaid!"

Cold Enchanter chants then blasts a snowflake from her staff, branding it on Kitchen's apron.

"Well that's rather rude, ruining my uniform like that." Kitchen pouts. "After I was so kind to you earlier, too."

"And the effect of my Absolute Zero Barrier kicks in." Alexis declares. "Any monster with an Ice Counter loses 500 ATK points and can not change their battle position!"

Ice forms over Kitchen's feet, making her wince and struggle as her ATK points drop to 100.

"Finally, I activate Return of the Dragon Lords." Alexis holds the spell up high. "I can Special Summon 1 Level 7 or 8 Dragon Monster in my Graveyard-"

"But you don't have a Dragon Monster in your Graveyard!" Blair gasps, interrupting.

Alexis narrows her eyes. "What do you think I discarded earlier to use Cold Enchanter's effect, little girl?"

Blair's eyes widen.

Kitchen sneezes. "Oh goodness, this won't be charming."

Behind Alexis rises a dragon that looks like it was carved by the ice, though not as much as the White Night Dragon. It's much more fluid and in it's body, though it's got hard scales and chunks of armour like ice. It has blazing red eyes and 2800 ATK points to spare.

"This is my Snowdust Dragon." Alexis states.

Snowdust Dragon roars.

"Snowdust Dragon, attack Kitchen Dragonmaid!" Alexis orders.

Snowdust Dragon rises high into the air, hissing and snarling.

"Whenever the Battle Phase enteres, I can return my Kitchen Dragonmaid to my hand-" Blair shouts.

Kitchen glows red and grows.

"To summon Dragonmaid Tinkhec!" Blair calls.

Tinkhec takes her place, with 2700 ATK points rising to 2800 thanks to Dragonmaid Welcome, snarling. "You're not going to touch Blair, you beast!"

The two dragons meet in a vicious clash and there's a mighty explosion, destroying Tinkhec and-

"I activate the second effect of Return of the Dragon Lords." Alexis calls. "By banishing this card from my Graveyard, Snowdust Dragon isn't destroyed by this battle."

Snowdust Dragon roars as it flies out of the smoke and returns to Alexis's side of the field.

Blair's eyes widen in horror. "No way."

"Snow Dragon, Cold Enchanter, direct attack!" Alexis orders.

Snow Dragon snarls as snow fills his mouth and Cold Enchanter spins her staff overhead, then the two launch their attacks, snowflakes and snow being blasted at Blair. She screams as the blasts slam into her, forcing her to her knees.

ALEXIS RHODES: 2200

BLAIR FLANNIGAN: 1000

"Turn End." Alexis calls out.

Yuuna, Chumley and Syrus gasp in the stands.

"Blair!" Yuuna shouts, standing up. "Blair, are you okay?!"

"Yuuna, you gotta cool it!" Chumley shouts, standing up and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You can't interrupt their Duel, this is an official match!"

"She just took 3000 points of damage in one turn!" Yuuna growls.

"And there's nothing you can do about it right now, Yuuna." Yubel calls out, placing their hand on Yuuna's head. "You need to sit down and calm down."

"Please Yuuna, don't give up on her so easily!" Syrus shouts.

Yuuna's eyes widen and she turns to him. "What?!"

"Blair wasn't this horrified in your Duel and it's only the second turn!" Syrus narrows his eyes. "So calm down and have some faith in Blair, like you've always had in me."

Yuuna pouts and looks out at the field, sitting back in her seat. "Blair…"

On the Obelisk's side of the arena, Bastion, Mindy and Jasmine watch the events with baited breath.

"I fear I may be a bad better after all, ladies." Bastion folds his arms. "Blair took quite the beating just then."

"And Alexis still has over half her life points left." Jasmine holds up her fists. "Hate to say it, but looks like Blair's gonna be biting the dirt in this round."

Mindy holds her hands together. "Hang in there, Blair! I know you can do this!"

Above the three of them, Zane watches the Duel, his arms crossed.

Only 3000 points of damage in the second turn? Alexis must've had a particularly pathetic hand or she's losing her edge.

"Come on, Alexis." Zane says. "You have to win."

It's her duty as the Princess of Light to defeat the Supreme King and his allies.

On the floor of the arena Crowler is cackling in glee.

"Yes, yes, yes, destroy that Slifer Slime, Alexis, do me proud!" Crowler shouts, waving his fists in the air. "You can do even better than that, now finish her!"

Pharaoh meows loudly, staring at them.

Banner hums as he pets his back, frowning. "You're right Pharaoh, that was a strong attack. I do wonder how Blair will get out of this one."

Shepard watches the match with a content smile.

Blair grits her teeth as she gets to her feet, standing tall again. That hurt like Hell. But…

"Draw!" Blair shouts.

She's not giving up!

"Don't surrender dear, we believe in you." Nurse says in her hand.

"Show her the true meaning of the Dragonmaid's hospitality!" Kitchen calls in her hand.

Blair nods and looks at her hand carefully. Kitchen Dragonmaid, Nurse Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Hospitality and Burst Breath. A strategy starts to form in her mind and she smiles.

"I'm gonna start off by summoning Nurse Dragonmaid in DEF mode!" Blair shouts.

Nurse appears on the field, kneeling with her arms folded and her 1600 DEF points. "Hi everyone, I hope you're all being well behaved guests."

"I activate Nurse's special ability!" Blair throws her arm out. "Whenever I summon her to the field, I can bring back a Level 4 or below Dragonmaid in my Graveyard! Welcome to the stage, Laundry Dragonmaid in DEF mode!"

Laundry appears on the field too with her 1600 DEF points, her basket held over her head like a helmet. "Nurse, I'm freezing, I don't like this."

"Shh, Laundry dear, I promise we'll make it warm soon. We are dragons after all." Nurse smiles. "We have fire in our hearts and the good hospitality to share it with these frozen creatures."

"Right!" Laundry nods, smiling.

"I also activate Laundry's ability!" Blair declares. "When she's summoned, I can send the top 3 cards on my Deck to the Graveyard!"

Blair watches them go, holding her breath.

Dragonmaid Nudyarl, Dragonmaid Ernus and Parlor Dragonmaid.

Awesome! With Nudyarl and Ernus in the graveyard with Tinkhec, I can summon them later!

"I now activate my spell, Dragonmaid Hospitality!" Blair holds her card up. "This allows me to special summon from my Hand or Graveyard a Dragonmaid monster, so long as I send one with the same Attribute from my Deck to my Graveyard! And I choose to summon my Parlor Dragonmaid in DEF mode!"

Parlor appears on the field with 1700 DEF points and holding her tray in front of her like a shield. "I-it is cold and these are such ugly guests!"

"Parlor…" Nurse calls.

Parlor squeaks, turning to her. "Y-yes Nurse?"

"What have I said about insulting our guests?" Nurse narrows her eyes.

"N-not to do it because it's r-rude and unkind." Parlor whimpers. "S-sorry for making you mad, Nurse."

"Parlor, I'm not mad." Nurse blinks. "I'm disappointed."

Parlor squeals in pain. Laundry laughs at her expense.

Blair giggles watching their antics as she discards Dragonmaid Lorpar from her Deck.

She takes a deep breath in and focuses on strategy though. Nurse and Laundry can't transform right now because Blair already used both of their effects this turn, the only one who can fight is Parlor. With 3 Dragonmaids on the field with her Dragonmaid Welcome, each of her monsters gain 300 ATK points.

Parlor's DEF points rise to 2000.

Nurse's DEF points rise to 1900.

Laundry's DEF points rise to 1900.

Lorpar has 2700 ATK points normally, but they would rise to 3000 ATK points and Snowdust Dragon has 2800 ATK points. If Blair attacks with Lorpar, she can destroy Snowdust Dragon and then during her next turn, take out Cold Enchanter and Snow Dragon with Nudyarl and Ernus. But that gives Alexis a whole turn to figure out a way to stop her from doing that.

On the other hand, she could end her turn and set Burst Breath. By tributing a Dragon on her side of the field, Blair can destroy all the monsters on Alexis' side of the field that have less DEF points than her monster's ATK points and all the evolved forms of her Dragonmaids have stronger ATK than them. That guarantees all of Alexis' monsters, plus any new monsters she brings out to deal with her Dragonmaids, get reduced to Magma.

However, there's one other problem…

Alexis' facedown.

She put it on the field on her first turn and hasn't done anything with it since then. It probably doesn't stop attacks, or she would've stopped Blair from destroying her Cold Enchanter.

Blair does have her Dragonmaid Downtime card somewhere in her Deck. If she can just get her hands on that, then she can stop Alexis from using her Facedown. She's not sure if she wants to risk waiting for it though.

"Are you done?" Alexis snaps.

"I'm working on a little thing called strategy here." Blair snaps, rolling her eyes. "I need to, in order to protect Yuuna from you!"

Alexis' narrow. "Excuse me?"

Blair raises her voice. "You heard me! I'm protecting Yuuna from you!"

Blair doesn't really understand the fight between the Gentle Darkness or the Light of Destruction.

She doesn't really understand what happened between Alexis and Yuuna in their Duel.

She doesn't really understand why they have to fight one another.

But there's one thing that Blair does understand.

"Blair, I promise that your stepmother won't find you on Duel Academy Island. I'll do whatever it takes to help you, okay?"

"Ever since I got on this island, Yuuna's protected me!" Blair speaks up.

"Yeah, but I think these cards wanna go to you, Blair."

"She's been kind to me!" Blair makes a fist.

"I'm going to save you. If I don't make it out of this Blair, please know this… I love you and I don't regret a single moment we shared that led up to this. Use that bandana to hide your hair from the boys, okay? Be brave."

"Even when it got her into trouble, she never gave up on me!" Blair's fists shake.

"Nope, we're sisters now, you're free to beat me up if I do stupid stuff again, but we're sisters forever, Blair."

"She treated me like family, made me feel like-" Blair's eyes fill with tears. "Like someone loved me for the first time in forever!"

"Blair… Thank you, for everything. For holding on long enough to get us this far. You're amazing and a great Tag Partner."

"Even when I wasn't a good Duelist, she still made me feel like the King of Games!" Blair's tears spill over her cheeks.

"Okay. I don't know a lot about the Light of Destruction, but I'll tell you what I do know and we can practice our Duelling."

"And I refuse to let something a stupid as you-" Blair points at Alexis hard. "Ever hurt her, Princess!"

To the rest of the arena, this'll hopefully come off as emotional smack talk. But Yubel told her that the title the enemy of the Supreme King had was 'Princess of Light'...

Alexis's eyes widen.

She got the message.

As of this moment, Blair is declaring war on Alexis and her precious Light of Destruction.

She can't wait around to see if Downtime will show up and she doesn't want to leave her monsters vulnerable to that Snowdust Dragon. Alexis would be stupid to try attacking her Dragonmaids, especially since she's seen their Dragon forms in action before.

"I enter my battle phase, allowing Parlor Dragonmaid to transform into-" Blair holds her hands up high.

Parlor starts to glow green and grows in size, until-

"Dragonmaid Lorpar!" Blair shouts.

Lorpar appears on the field in her 2700 ATK point glory, her points rising up to 3000. "Shall we escort you out, Snowdust Dragon?"

Snowdust Dragon roars.

"Lorpar!" Blair throws her fist forward. "Destroy that Snowdust Dragon!"

"Anything for you, Blair!" Lorpar giggles.

She flies high into the air and Snowdust Dragon follows her, rising high into the sky. The two dragons meet at the top of the arena, creating an explosion!

ALEXIS RHODES: 2000

BLAIR FLANNIGAN: 1000

Alexis's head drops as her points lower, the first bit of emotion she's shown all Duel.

"I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn." Blair places Burst Breath facedown.

Lorpar turns back into Parlor, who kneels in DEF position with her boosted 2000.

If nothing else, hopefully it'll intimidate Alexis.

"You're really that blind, huh?"

Blair blinks.

Alexis slowly lifts her head, staring at her and making shivers run down her spine.

"Yuki. You'll really blindly follow her?" Alexis demands. "Even if it leads you into unimaginable darkness? Even if it leads you to pain and suffering? Even if it changes you forever?"

Blair smirks right back, hiding her fear behind a smile.

"I'd walk into Hell backwards with Yuuna." Blair says. "Because I know she'd hold my hand and guide me through it the entire time."

That's how Yuuna has always been with Blair.

So that's how Blair will be with Yuuna.

Alexis lowers her head and murmurs only for them to hear. "Then there's no saving you or your tainted soul, little girl."

Blair narrows her eyes.

"I draw." Alexis declares.

Suddenly, the temperature drops even more.

Shivers race up and down Blair's spine, like, like in a horror movie or something.

Yuuna's eyes widen and she turns to Chumley and Syrus. "Do you guys feel that?"

Chumley and Syrus turn to her, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"That chill!" Yuuna looks at the arena, eyes narrowed.

Shivers raced up and down her spine as soon as Alexis drew.

Chumley and Syrus look at each other nervously, not sure what to make of it either.

Yubel grits their teeth.

Something's wrong.

On the Obelisk's side of the arena Bastion smiles and nods in approval. "Blair just destroyed one of Alexis' most powerful monsters. I think she may win this yet."

"I wouldn't get ahead of myself, Bastion." Jasmine turns to him. "Alexis still has twice as many life points as Blair."

"I think it could be either of them." Mindy speaks up. "I'm just enjoying the show."

Above the three of them, Zane's eyes widen.

He felt that chill in the air. The chill he only feels when Alexis is about to play her.

Zane folds his arms more.

So she's finally getting serious.

On the Arena floor, Crowler whimpers and whines. "Come on, Alexis, you're one of my Blue Obelisks, don't let me down, destroy that Slifer Slacking Wormy Slime Bucket!"

Shepard chuckles watching Crowler. "He's quite invested in this Duel, isn't he?"

"Of course he is, one of his pupils is in this match." Banner hums, stroking Pharaoh's back. "I'm practically on the edge of my seat too."

Pharaoh hisses at the arena.

"I end my turn." Alexis declares.

Blair's eyes widen.

That's it? She's not even going to put her monsters in DEF mode? That's not like her at all, just what is she planning?

"Okay then, my draw!" Blair declares and does just that.

She can't afford to screw around. She looks at what she drew.

The Dragon's Bead. Damnit, it costs a discard from her hand, so she can't use it right now. She'll just have to go all in!

"I summon my Kitchen Dragonmaid in ATK Mode!" Blair declares.

Kitchen joins her coworkers on the field in ATK mode, smiling as her 500 ATK points rise to 900 since there's 4 Dragonmaids on the field.

"And I'm going all in!" Blair shouts. "Dragonmaid!"

"Make up!" The 4 Dragonmaids call.

They're surrounded by their elemental lights and transform into their Dragon counterparts.

The red light bursts to reveal "Tinkhec!"

The green light bursts to reveal "Lorpar!"

The blue light bursts to reveal "Nudyarl!"

The pink light bursts to reveal "Ernus!"

"We are the Dragonmaids!" The 4 of them shout.

"Attack!" Blair orders.

The 4 monsters charge right for Cold Enchanter and Snow Dragon-

"Trap Activate!"

No!

"Mirror Force." Alexis calls.

"NO!" Blair screams.

The trap flips open and instantly a bright white light blasts from it, filling the Arena. Her 4 Dragonmaids scream in pain as they're destroyed.

Leaving Blair's field open and empty.

She can't do anything.

"My turn." Alexis draws.

Blair feels cold. She feels so, so cold.

"I sacrifice my Snow Dragon and Cold Enchanter…" Alexis declares.

The two monsters are covered in ice.

Blair holds herself tightly, chills racing up and down her spine.

"To summon my White Night Queen!"

The two ice sculptures burst into pieces and reform into a new shape.

Blair's fingers and toes are numb from the cold.

A woman made entirely of ice appears, half her body frozen to the ground, little bits of blue skin peeking out from her stomach upwards. A white cloak drapes her figure, held in place by a blue broach. Dark blue hair rests on her head along with a dark blue gem between her forehead. Her eyes are orange-yellow and her whole body sparkles.

White Night Queen glares at Blair with her 2600 ATK points.

Blair's whole body goes cold and frozen.

"Once per turn, White Night Queen can destroy a set card." Alexis declares.

White Night Queen turns her frozen gaze to Blair's facedown Burst Breath.

It bursts into pixels.

Dragonmaid Welcome can't help her.

She's utterly and completely defenseless.

"Finish it." Alexis orders.

White Night Queen draws back her cloak and swings it, sending icy wind right for Blair.

Blair only has the time to close her eyes before the icy winds strike her, forcing her to her knees.

ALEXIS RHODES: 2000

BLAIR FLANNIGAN: 0

WINNER: ALEXIS RHODES

Blair takes some deep breaths, trying to dislodge the ice in her lungs. But she-

She can't breath-

She can't-

"This is the fate…"

Blair shakily lifts her head to stare at Alexis, who seems to double, surrounded by light.

"Of those who ally themselves with Darkness…"

Blair shudders and shakes and tires to stand…

But there's no strength left in her.

She tips forward to the floor-

"BLAIR!"

-and feels nothing.

"BLAIR!" Yuuna screams, jumping through the seats, trying to get to her sister, no, no, no-

Blair lays there on the floor and Alexis is getting closer-

"NO!" Yuuna screams.

She forces herself past the last few seats and rushes to Blair's side, looking her over.

"Blair!" Yuuna shouts, shaking Blair's shoulders. "Blair, wake up!"

Blair doesn't so much as stir.

Yubel floats down to Blair's side, putting their hand over Blair's hand, only to hiss. "She's freezing and covered in the Light of Destruction."

"What?!" Yuuna shouts.

"She pledged her loyalty to your side."

Yuuna and Yubel snap their eyes ahead to where Alexis stands above them, her arms folded.

"And she paid the price." Alexis declares.

"You…" Yuuna snarls, covering Blair's body with her own.

"Our Duel is tomorrow." Alexis says.

Then she turns around.

"You better be prepared to be next, Yuki." Alexis says.

Yuuna glares at her until she leaves the Arena.

Then she picks up Blair and runs.

Runs as fast as she can to Miss Fontaine's office, ignoring the confused spectators in the Arena.

She has to make sure Blair is gonna be okay!