The final duel of the Dueling City Tournament is about to begin. Meldrick and Senshi are about to face each other. Meldrick already called upon his powers as he had the entire field enveloped in shadows. That means only one, the winner, will be able to walk out of this.
"There's no turning back, Great Hero." Meldrick said.
"I wasn't intending on running. So, what games are you playing with this time?" Senshi said. Meldrick had something sinister and sneaky plan.
"You might want to take a look next to you." Meldrick claimed.
"What's going on?" Senshi was surprised to hear that voice. He looked up and saw Ichika was right next to him, but his arms and legs were restrained with it looking like he was cuffed to the wall. "What's going on? What the heck am I doing here?"
"Ichika! What's the meaning of this?!" Senshi said as he didn't like the looks of this at all. None of the girls did.
"Am I seeing double?" Rin questioned.
"I'm not sure. Those two Ichikas look very from each other." Cecilia said.
"That's because the one dueling is the Great Hero himself, and the one that's suspended in the air is the Ichika you all know." Tatenashi explained. "If both of them are separated like this, it isn't going to be good at all."
"What have you done now, Meldrick?!" Senshi questioned.
"You share a body with the young boy, and you certainly hold some form of kinship." Meldrick said. "However, if the boy disappears, you won't have a vessel anymore. You're not just dueling for your own survival, Great Hero, but the survival of your friend as well. Plus, the lives that are already one the line. Take your friend, Hector, for example."
"Hector?!" Senshi questioned as he didn't like where this was going.
"Hey! Look up there! Something's coming out of the shadows!" Ichika called. They all looked up and saw Hector up in his prison. "Hector!" He called with Hector noticing them.
"Guys?! Is that you?! Get me out of here!" Hector called, but Meldrick already sent him away and he disappeared.
"Your friend is trapped, isolated in the shadows. He'll remain trapped unless you do something." Meldrick taunted.
"This madness has gone on long enough!" Senshi called.
"It's more than that." Meldrick said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out the Mystic Pendent. "There's also your friend, Ryu. When I defeated that evil spirit, your friend vanished with him. Not to mention Houki Shinonono. Unless you can defeat me, all three of them will be lost to the shadows forever." The stakes were already high, but Meldrick just raised them even more.
'If I lose this duel, four souls will be lost to the shadows forever. Not to mention so many other souls could be lost forever. I can't allow such things to happen.' Senshi thought. "Meldrick, your evil will be brought an end today!"
"You claim it's evil, but you know very little." Meldrick said.
"Enough of all this talking!" Conner called. "Just get to dueling already!" Everyone wanted this duel to get started. Not disappointing everyone, the two of them were set to go.
"Time to duel!" They both said as they were getting their duel started. Meldrick looked down at his hand and saw he already had Izanami in his hands. Now, he just needs to get it on the field so that he can destroy Senshi and Ichika with it.
"I will make the first move!" Senshi said as he was getting this started. "I'll begin my turn by playing Infinity Stratos Ritual! By offering monsters whose levels equal eight, I can summon a ritual monster!" He said as a stone podium and two jugs appeared. "I'm offering my Rocket Flyer and Firewall Blockade!" He offered both of his monsters as they were placed inside the jugs. When that happened, a magic circle appeared on the podium and power shot into the sky. "I ritual summon Infinite Spatial Swordsman!" He summoned out his powerful swordsman with it having a total of 3000atk points.
"Amazing! He summoned out one of his most powerful monsters on his very first turn!" Charlotte said as they were all impressed on what he did.
"Incredible! You summoned out that monster on your first turn!" Ichika said.
"Summoning a monster like that is impressive, but it also tells me that you wish to get this over with fast." Meldrick taunted. "Do you fear what I can do that much?" He didn't respond to what he said. He just kept going with his turn.
"I place one card facedown and that ends my turn!" Senshi said. "Ichika, just try to hang in there. I'll figure out someway to get you out of there."
"Don't worry about me. Just try and stay focus on the duel." Ichika said.
"No, you should worry. It's my turn!" Meldrick said as he drew his card. "I'll begin my turn by summoning Dark Valkyria to the field!" His monster came out as she rose with 1800atk points. "Next, I'm activating Double Summon! This allows me to summon twice this turn! This time, I'm summoning Crusader of Endymion to the field!" He summoned out a new monster to the field as it rose with 1900atk points.
"Neither of those monsters can take on that Swordsman." Rin said as she thought that was a lousy move.
"You really need to stop making bad judgements." Charlotte said. "Meldrick clearly has something planned." All of them knew that and were worried on what he was going to do.
"Next, I activate Unleash Your Power!" Meldrick said. "This spell card allows all my Gemini monsters currently on the field to utilize their special abilities! That means that I can activate Dark Valkyria's special ability! She gains a counter and gains 300atk points!" She was given a counter and her attack points rose to 2100. "However, there's more. That's where my Crusader of Endymion comes in. He can place one counter on another card on the field, and that he gains 600atk points until the end of this turn! It also means that she grows stronger!" His crusader placed another card upon Dark Valkyria and both of their powers changed. She now had 2400atk points while the crusader had 2500.
"I can see what you're planning with Dark Valkyria and it's not happening!" Senshi claimed. "I activate my trap! I play Stratospheric Barrier! This prevents my level seven or higher monsters from being destroyed by your card effects until the end of this turn!"
"Awesome! That means Dark Valkyria can't destroy his monster!" Rin said.
"And his monster is stronger! That means Meldrick can't do much this turn!" Charlotte said as they all loved seeing some good in this for Senshi and Ichika.
"You think you're safe just because your monster is stronger? Think again!" Meldrick said as he reached for a different card. "I play Counter Explosive! For every counter I have on the field, no matter where it is or what kind of counter it is, you lose 200LP for each one! Since I currently have two counters on the field, you lose 400LP!" A blast came from his spell and blasted Senshi with his life points dropping to 3600. "Now, the real fun begins!"
"AAAAAWWWWWW!" Ichika screamed in pain. They all looked towards him and saw part of his leg was disappearing.
"Ichika! What's happening?!" Senshi said.
"It's the power of the shadows." Meldrick said. "Each time you lose life points, your friend there will lose some of himself." If Senshi loses, Ichika will disappear. If Ichika disappears, Senshi will no longer have a body. That means they'll both be gone forever if they lose this duel. "Next, I play Card of Sanctity! With this spell card, he both get to draw until we're holding six cards." Both of them kept drawing until they had those cards. "I place one face-down and end my turn. Since it's the end of my turn, my Unleash Your Power spell causes all monsters affected by it to switched face-down." Both of his monsters were flipped facedown and his turn came to an end.
"Ichika, are you okay?!" Senshi asked.
"I'm fine. Just focus on winning this duel." Ichika said. Senshi had to do something fast before Meldrick can do anymore harm.
"Here goes. My turn!" Senshi said as he drew his next card and it ended up being Izanagi. He's going to need that against Meldrick. "I summon Stratos Warrior to the field!" He summoned out his warrior with it having 1400atk points. "Next, I'll have my swordsman attack your facedown monster! Strike now with Blade Barrage!" His swordsman leaped right into Meldrick's field and unleashed a series of thrusts with his blade and ended up destroying Dark Valkyria. "Next, my swordsman's special ability activates! Every time he destroys a monster, you lose 500LP." His swordsman attacked Meldrick this time with his life points dropping to 3500. When that happened, part of Meldrick's arm was disintegrating like Ichika's leg did.
"Look at that! He's disappearing too!" Ichika said.
"Of course I would. The shadows wish to claim a victim, no matter who it might be." Meldrick said. "If that means sacrificing my own life for this, so be it." They all couldn't believe he would actually do that considering he had others do his dirty work.
"Well, I'm afraid it's only going to get worse for you! My Infinity Spatial Swordsman is able to attack all your monsters on the field!" Senshi said as he was getting ready to attack again, but something was happening. That something was nothing. His swordsman wouldn't attack. "What's going on? Why won't he attack?"
"That could be because I activate my trap after the first attack." Meldrick said as he showed he did. "Side Destruction. When a Gemini monster is destroyed, this trap card instantly ends the battle. No more attacks for you, I'm afraid."
"He can't attack anymore?" Cecilia said.
"Meldrick isn't leaving anything to chance with this duel." Laura said.
"You might be safe for now, but I'll get you yet." Senshi said as he was getting more and more irritated with him.
"Hold on a minute." Ichika said. "I think we should try to find a way to end this duel where all of us can get out of here. That means Meldrick escapes as well."
"What? Ichika, what are you talking about?" Senshi questioned.
"The only reason Meldrick is doing this is because of what his father did to him, how he treated him." Ichika said. "If we let the shadows take him like this, how are we any better than him? All Meldrick wants is to feel free, but him losing this duel could take away the freedom that he wanted."
"Are you saying you want to help Meldrick?" Senshi questioned as he couldn't believe Ichika would actually want to do that after everything.
"I know what Meldrick did, and I can't forgive him for it." Ichika said. "Still, defeating him like this just doesn't feel right." Ichika's got a good heart for wanting to help the likes of Meldrick, but they have to win this duel at the same time. There's too much on the line.
"You would attempt to try and help me?" Meldrick questioned. "Don't make me laugh." He claimed as he didn't seem interested. "I've waited a long time for this moment and I'm not giving it up for anything. If I don't beat you here, all my strife would have been for nothing."
"That might be, but I can't allow you to win." Senshi said.
"And I won't let you stand in my way. I'm willing to sacrifice everything for this." Meldrick claimed. "Besides, we can't stop when the real fun is about to begin. I can just feel it. Izanagi and Izanami are drawing closer. Don't you want to see what would come if those two clash against each other? Well, we're going to find out soon enough." The duel has just started and it had a strong start. The real show will be when the two deities of destruction and creation face against each other. Meldrick is willing to sacrifice everything if it means he can be rid of the Great Hero once and for all. Senshi has to do what he can to save those who were lost in the shadows. Who will win? The one who holds the stronger resolve.