Angel: Oh crap, if I'm here, that means…

Lucy: Bingo. Crimson Fall!

Z.Z.: I still believe that Memories of Destruction should be worked upon.

Meri: Yeah, well, you're not a muse, so you have no say in things!

Z.Z.: *Slips away while smirking*

S-S: Well this is lovely. Are we done here? We're done. Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but I own my OCs.

Joseph: LOOK OUT FOR THE CHARACTER DEATHS!

Everyone: JOSEPH! SHUT UP!

***The first scene of this chapter is brought to you by Surprise Attack: Yveltal, from Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. The rest of this chapter is brought to you by It Can't Be… from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky***

Chapter 6

Sythini throws her arm out, pointing at Shoshan. "Your Field Spell. Does the effect apply for me as well?"

Shoshan grimaces. "Uh… yeah, it does. But, but you couldn't possibly benefit from so many cards in the Graveyard."

"Perhaps not, but it is a decent enough price to pay," she responds. "Then, because of your Field Spell, I can bypass requiring all of the Earthbound Immortals in my Graveyard and, instead, mill twelve cards in order to Special Summon my eldest child: Xolotl, First Prince of Nether!"

A dark aura surrounds the area behind Sythini, expanding outside of the tower. There's some sort of a pulse, but I can't see anything of the new monster except for its head, looming over the tower. It has two curved horns, one on either side of its head, and there are white lines trailing all around it.

Xolotl, First Prince of Nether ATK: 8000, DEF: 8000, Level -12

Shoshan peels his eyes off of the monster in order to look at his opponent. "Only 8000 ATK? You're 500 short of my Reshiram… unless its effect…!" He frowns slightly. "No, you couldn't use its effect, not with Reshiram out. And I forgot to mention this, but the turn you activate Dragonspiral Tower's effect, you can't Normal Summon or activate Spell or Trap Cards. So there's… no point…"

Sythini shakes her head, selecting one card in her hand and holding it high. "You're wrong, Shoshan. Your Field Spell does not seal off other Special Summons the turn its effect is used. And… by banishing one face-up Xolotl, First Prince of Nether, I can bring forth… my very essence!"

The ground quivers briefly before shaking violently, sending Shoshan scrambling across the rock. The tower is simply crumbling around the both of them, though Sythini is unaffected by the destruction. Her eyes glow a bright purple as a whirlwind kicks up behind her, sending more rock flying everywhere. Shoshan grits his teeth, grabbing a mostly-sturdy column for leverage. But… there's no denying the fact that he looks terrified out of his mind right now.

And I don't blame him.

"O mighty queen and vessel of my power, appear before us now, that I may strike down all those who would oppose the Netherworld!" Sythini shouts, tilting her head back. A dark aura envelops her, to the point where all I can see in her direction is darkness. But I still hear her voice… "Transcend the boundaries placed on us eons ago! Advent, Queen of the Netherworld!"

Everything goes dark, and it seems like the light has no inclination of returning. All I can see are two large, cold mismatched blue-and-gold eyes looming in the general area that Sythini was a moment ago. Then lightning flashes purple, illuminating the outline of a winged creature made out of… black goo? And Shoshan just stares at the creature, mouth agape and body frozen. It seems Sythini has vanished… and something that looks like it could be a Duel Disk juts out of one of the creature's appendages…

Queen of the Netherworld ATK/DEF/Level: ERROR. NON-EXISTENTyouCARDfailedDATA. CANNOTtoDISPLAYdefeatCARDmeEFFECTS.

"I TOLD YOU AT THE START THAT YOU WOULD LOSE, AND NOW YOU HAVE," Sythini's voice echoes from the shadows. "NOW THEN, RETURN TO MY SIDE, XITHYL!"

"No… No, I can't have lost, I still have Life… Points…" Shoshan stares incredulously at his Duel Disk.

Winner: Sythini

"But—But…!" He looks around frantically for something—anything—to help him, but this world of his own creation offers up no aid to its creator. A dark aura appears around him, and a single tear slides down his cheek as his shoulders sag. "I'm so sorry everyone… no, Sky. I'm sorry that I failed you…" He pauses for a moment before turning his attention to the cage holding Vincent, Bruno, and Athena. "The least I can do is…"

Both the cage and the children inside of it disappear in a burst of light.

XXX

The scene twists back to the Reactor, where the last remaining Signers—and uncorrupted Dark Signers—are holding on to the ground for dear life as the entire building shakes. None of them have any idea what's happening, and frankly neither do I.

And then, just like that, the shaking stops, and the three children whose lives had been threatened by the Queen of Nether are suddenly there, unconscious still. Naturally Akiza immediately rushes to Bruno's side, frantically looking for any injuries. Angel just picks up her unconscious daughter and slowly rocks back and forth—silent tears fall down her face again. And Vincent, with neither of his parents here, is picked up by my mother.

"Guys," Shoshan's voice suddenly echoes through the expansive room, "you have to stay here from now on. There's no way to fight the Queen, she's too strong. …Anyways, I put a barrier around this place—now nothing else from the Netherworld can get in. Not even… Not even me. I'm sorry…"

"Not even yourself? What do you mean, Shoshan?" Akiza asks even though she can't see him.

There's no response.

Then…

"I see, so that's why…" Angel mutters. "They couldn't fight fate after all."

"What's that mean?"

"You guys remember when Wiraqocha Rasca showed us the truth about the war between the Signers and Dark Signers, right?" Angel pauses, shaking her head. "Of course you remember, how could anyone forget something like that. …It's just, the Queen and King of Nether that were in that vision of the past, they looked just like Sky and Shoshan. And with Sky already accepting her role, it was only natural that Shoshan would, too…"

They're all silent as they grudgingly accept the truth. That Shoshan is another of their friends to fall to Sythini's will. At least he was able to provide some sort of safe haven for them, but how long would that last? And how exactly were they supposed to live in a half-destroyed building that held the Original Reactor, not things they would need like clean water and food?

XXX

"Well, it's not the most ideal place to live, but that building was the only place you guys could stay without getting caught and killed," Lucciano says as the scene fades. "There was actually a store of nonperishable food and water in one of the storage rooms, and you lived off of that for over two years, trying to figure out where to go from there." He looks to Placido, as if it's his turn to speak instead. But the red-eyed man simply edges farther away from everyone and sulks.

"…Okay, guess it's up to me to explain everything," Lucciano eventually decides on. "Well, as I was saying, two years. In that time, little Bruno got himself a little sister, and Luna had a son of her own. Meanwhile, Sythini was strengthening her forces, intending an attack on those allied with the Crimson Dragon: the residents of the Spirit World."

Uh-oh, that can't be good…

"Naturally, Leo and Luna weren't just going to sit idly by and let their Duel Spirit friends get slaughtered—even if they were the only remaining Signers that could travel to the Spirit World." He tenses his hands slightly, and looking closely, I can see that the boy's shoulders are starting to tremble. "This… is the result."

XXX

The forest is burning, and so is the small town. The castle on the hill has already fallen, smoke clogging the air. Black creatures fly through the smoke, picking off any Duel Spirit lucky enough to escape the wrath of the Netherworld. It's in the center of the burning village where most of the black creatures are concentrated, because Leo and Luna are there, putting up some sort of barrier that's shielding a few small Spirits, while Ancient Fairy Dragon and Life Stream Dragon launch attacks through the barrier. It's a valiant effort, and they seem to be killing a lot of the creatures, but Leo and Luna are both on the verge of collapsing.

Luna's trembling badly while she says, "L-Leo… I can't… keep this up…"

"I-I know… but we have to…" her brother replies. "If we don't, then—gh!"

The barrier shatters, sending a force strong enough to knock both Signers and their Dragons down. They're too weak to get back up.

"Hold," a voice booms over the chaos, and the black creatures immediately stop attacking. The voice belongs to a tall, dragon-like figure. His wings look almost exactly like those that the Queen has, and upon thinking about it, I actually recognize this creature. I just can't think of his name. Didn't Choco Airutan show me him in a flashback…? "Ancient Fairy. Life Stream. I am Milon, the Second Prince of Nether. I will give you one choice: surrender yourselves and your allies, and you will die swift—"

Leo pushes himself off the ground just enough to be able to spit on the ground in front of Milon. "No way… we'd never… surrender…!"

There's a pause, and then a spear appears in Milon's hand. The tip is entirely black, and the shaft is traced by silver. He flips it over, tip pointed at Leo now, and thrusts down. Luna scrambles up and ducks over her brother, screaming his name. There's a flash, and blood splatters the ground.

Luna… Luna's taken the spear right through the chest, the blade mere inches from Leo's heart. Her blood drips down the metal onto her brother's clothing, and her arms tremble with the little energy she has holding herself up. "Le…o… y… h've… t'… go ba-ack… Li-Live… and… keep… L…s'r… safe… I love you…"

And then she shatters into pieces alongside Ancient Fairy Dragon and Leo screams as he's forced to run back to the Original Reactor because there's nothing left for him in the Spirit World even though he wants to kill that bastard prince for what he did—

He gets back to Earth and all he can do is cry. Angel looks at him pitifully as she holds her daughter close. Akiza offers him a shoulder to cry on, even though the blood on his clothes is still fresh. Miyuki looks at the almost-two-year-old she's bouncing gently in her arms—a boy with maroonish-brown hair—and cries. Roman isn't there, and neither are the other children.

XXX

Akiza, Angel, and all of the children are in a small room that looks like it's been converted into a child's room. There are two beds and a crib, along with a bunch of worn-down toys. They're all sitting in a circle, with the exception of whatever Akiza's daughter's name is sitting on her lap. …Actually, I don't know her name or the name of Luna's son. Lucciano didn't mention it and they haven't been referred to yet by name. But just looking at the boy almost hurts because now all I can think about is Luna dying in the Spirit World. Apparently I'm not the only one hung up on that. It's muffled, but as Akiza stops in the middle of a sentence in the tattered book she was reading, there's still a noise filling the room: someone crying and screaming and moaning loudly.

Luna's son tenses but doesn't say a word.

Instead, it's Athena that pipes up, tugging on her mother's sleeve saying, "Mommy… I don't like that noise. It's really scary and I can't sleep…"

"Uncle Leo jus' misses his sister," Bruno says quietly, "but I don't like him being so loud either."

"Scaredy-cats!" Vincent says. Then he stops and looks away, twiddling with his thumbs. "O-Okay… maybe I couldn't sleep 'cause he was loud last night…"

Akiza sighs; it's been two months and Leo hasn't fully stopped. There's times when he functions normally, and then immediately holes himself up in his makeshift room and cries until he can't anymore. Then he just screams until he can't even do that. While she misses her parents and Yusei more than anything… she just wishes Leo would stop sometimes.

Angel stands up. "I'll go take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Akiza asks. The last time they'd tried stopping Leo, he nearly broke Angel's nose.

"Yes, I'm sure. He shouldn't keep screaming like that…" She turns and leaves the room.

Akiza makes nothing of it and continues reading the story.

She's on the last page when her Mark flashes red and she screams, grabbing at it with her left hand. The red turns darker, darker, almost black—and then cuts off and Akiza is on her back trying to catch her breath. Her daughter is crying and her son's eyes are wide as he covers his mouth. The magenta-haired Signer tries saying something but can't voice it, and then she manages to choke out, "Leo…!"

The door swings open and Angel comes back. I stare at my future self in absolute horror—blood is splattered across her face and clothes, and she still has her Spirit Weapon out, the blade dripping with blood as well. "I took care of it…" she mutters, letting go of the katana. It clatters on the floor before disappearing. "There's no more screaming, Thena…"

"Mo-Mommy?! Wh-What did you do?!"

Akiza sits up, still holding her arm even though it doesn't hurt anymore. "Angel. Angel, why did you kill Leo?!"

"Wha—?" Angel takes a step back, raising a hand to her face. There's blood on it, though, so she doesn't actually touch her eyes. "What… where… this blood… I…"

"Do you even know what you did?"

Angel pales, stumbling into the door. She chokes out an apology before bolting out of the room.

"Angel… how didn't I notice your instability before…" Akiza looks at her Mark, the lines faded with only one other Signer still alive. "Leo…"

To be continued…

Angel: …

Lucy: *Waves hand in front of Angel's face* Huh. I think we broke Angel finally.

Angel: …

Shade: That seems to be the case. How curious.

S-S: You guys just had her snap and kill Leo! How could that not break her?

Meri: Weak!

S-S: I really hate you all.

Joseph: Aw, we love you too!

S-S: *Rolls eyes* Alright, well, I need to go to sleep because I think the nerves from my audition today are finally gone and I woke up like three different times last night and—zzzzz… review… zzzz…