Things have quickly turned dreadful for Yukina and her friends. Just when it seemed like things were going their way, two of their friends were defeated without mercy. Yukina, Cindy, Kent, Cray, and Felix all waited to hear the latest. That was right when Sylvia came walking in.
"Sylvia! How's Sabaro?!" Yukina said.
"The tournament has doctors looking over him, but they can't find anything wrong with him." Sylvia said. "All we can do is wait until he wakes up."
"Regular medicine isn't going to help." Felix said. "Raika said it himself. He's drained away all of Sabaro's powers."
"Darn it!" Yukina said as she pounded her fist into her hand. "The Black Ace is savage!"
"I can't believe this. First, Hana is assaulted, and now this happens to Sabaro." Cindy said.
"Raika seems even stronger and more dangerous than before! How are we going to beat someone like him?!" Kent questioned.
"It's not just Raika we have to worry about now. There's also that snake named Hebi." Felix said.
"That's right. He's somehow capable of dealing real damage." Yukina said. "I can't believe the Black Ace is has someone like that on their side."
"Defeating both of them won't be easy." Felix said as they were all really starting to feel it now.
"Come on. Don't go sounding like you're quitting before the battle even begins." Cray said. "We knew from the start this wasn't going to be easy, but that's why we took on advance challenges. After coming this far, we can't give up now just because of a few setbacks."
"Cray's right." Yukina said as their spirits started to lift again. "We knew we were going to face a real menace, but we came prepared for this. The best thing we can do for Sabaro and Hana now is to keep fighting with all we've got." All of them agreed with what Yukina was saying. They knew this would happen, so they've got to keep going no matter how bad things get.
...
Diego
Speaking of bad, Diego was up to no good himself. Since the first round was over, he looked over the stats of the duelists that fought for him and still ended up losing.
"How unimpressive and unsatisfying." Diego said. "I thought we scouted some talent, but it looks like I was wrong. Oh well... What matters is that Raika is still in and is winning. What's more is that we dealt with that retched spy." As far as Diego is concerned, everything is going according to his plan. That was when he heard the door to his office open up to see Henry coming in.
"No one is here either?" Henry said as he appeared to be looking for something.
"What do you want, Henry?" Diego questioned.
"After seeing all the excitement go on in the tournament, I'm itching for another duel." Henry said. "Problem is that I can't find anyone. What happened to the others?"
"I'm more curious to your attitude. You're surprisingly well for someone who actually was defeated." Diego said.
"Huh? It's not that big of a deal." Henry said. "That just happens every now and then. Besides, after my duel with Yukina, I realized that I still had some fun. I may have lost, but it was still a great duel. Nothing really to get upset about."
"I'm afraid don't understand. When you lose, you should be upset." Diego said. "Do you not understand that the tournament is over for you? Why would you be so eager to duel again after losing."
"Because it's fun." Henry said.
"Fun, you say?" Diego said as he didn't seem to like that answer. "I'm afraid I see things rather differently than you do. When you lose, you should be upset. Dueling has more power than you realize, and yet it's being wasted by being used as some sort of game."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Henry questioned. "Of course it's a game. You win some, you lose some."
"It would seem you need to be taught a lesson...the hard way." Diego said.
"A lesson? About what?" Henry questioned.
"About pain, misery, fear, and what the real power of dueling is like." Henry heard someone else's voice and he felt a cold shiver running down his spine from that voice. He turned around and was met with Hebi for the first time.
"Who are you?" Henry said as he was getting creeped out by him.
"Meet Hebi." Diego said. "It would seem you greatly misunderstood what was going on around here, Henry, but we'll show you the truth." Diego claimed, but Henry feels like he's in real trouble.
...
The Duel Field
Henry was brought to the Black Ace's own personal duel field, practically forced into it as he was thrown against the floor.
"Take it easy! What's going on here?" Henry questioned. Just then, he heard someone screaming. He took a look and saw why he couldn't find anyone before. He saw that Raika was unleashing Life Destroyer's wrath upon his associates.
"No! Please stop!" Butch pleaded.
"Stop? Not a chance!" Raika said as he had Life Destroyer attack. Life Destroyer destroyed Butch's only monster and stole all of Butch's power. Butch was sent flying and he ended up landing near his twin that appears to have suffered from Life Destroyer as well. "Who's next?" He looked towards Thomas and Tasu as both of them were scared for their lives.
"What is this? What's going on?" Henry questioned.
"This is the fate of those who were defeated." Diego claimed. It was looking bad for them. The only one who was spared was Takato since he did win his match, but this is unforgivable.
"Why?! I do not understand!" Takato called to Diego.
"What is it?" Diego asked.
"We pledge our allegiance to the Black Ace, so why do this to us?!" Takato asked.
"You didn't think you would sit around after losing. We need to make some use out of you now that you lost the tournament." Diego said.
"Those who lost their matches end up having their power stolen by Life Destroyer." Hebi claimed. Henry didn't like the sound of that, especially given he lost his duel as well.
"That's real nice. We come to work for you only to have you steal our power? I guess I should have known coming here was a mistake." Thomas said.
"Are you angry about it? Are you going to cry about it, you big baby, or are you going to fight?" Raika questioned with him trying to irritate Thomas into fighting.
"You asked for it!" Thomas said as he was ready for a fight.
"What?! Are you crazy?!" Tasu said. "They have every right to be upset with us. We did lose our matches, but what if we just agree to try harder next time. We won't fail our next assignments. So what do you say we just let us go?"
"You're not getting out of this that easily! If we don't fight, we might not get a second chance!" Thomas said. "Now draw your cards and get ready to fight!" The two of them were fighting for their very lives in this. "Cannon Captain!"
"Dark Scorpions, attack!" Tasu ordered. The two of them tried to fight back, but Raika made quick work of them. As Life Destroyer unleashes more of it's wrath, the two of them suffer greatly. Everything they had was destroyed and both of them were blown back. During the assault, Life Destroyer absorbed all of their power as well. Both of them were blown back and looked in bad shape.
"That was..." Henry was speechless at what he saw. All he knew was that he didn't like it.
"That was horrible." Takato said as he too was afraid. He was right to be afraid, but that fear is what brought Takato to the Black Ace in the first place. He thought with that power he faced that he just couldn't say no.
"Takato!" Diego called and got his attention. "The only reason this isn't happening to you is because you won your match in the first round. If you don't want this to happen to you, I suggest you keep winning."
"But unless Raika is defeated, I'll have to face him at some point. What then?" Takato questioned.
"What do you think?" Diego said with a grin. That grin revealed everything to Takato and saw what his own fate really was for him.
"You madman!" Takato called. "You were planning this from the very beginning! It doesn't matter if we win or lose! You were planning to to have our power drained away by Life Destroyer all along!" He declared with Henry shocked he would do that.
"Of course! Every bit of power makes Raika and Life Destroyer stronger!" Diego claimed. "Consider punishment for losing! If by some miracle someone does defeat Raika, I want that duelist working for me! That's why you better keep winning, Takato!" Takato now sees there was no way out for him. He has to keep winning or it will be his end.
"Hold on. You don't mean me too, do you?" Henry questioned.
"What do you mean? Why would you be an exception?" Diego said.
"Raika and I are friends! He wouldn't do something like that to me!" Henry claimed.
"Oh my... It seems you greatly misunderstood your position here." Diego claimed, but Henry didn't like the sound of that. "You were nothing more than a pawn this entire time! You are no different than the rest of them!" Henry couldn't believe Diego would say something like that. "You became of no use to me anymore the moment you lost to Yukina, but it seems you need a lesson about the consequences of defeat."
"But before we hand you over to Raika and Life Destroyer, you'll have to deal with me." Hebi claimed.
"You? What are you talking about?" Henry questioned.
"Even after you defeated, you still seem so cheery. That just doesn't sit right with us." Hebi claimed. "You think dueling is just something fun like a game, but it's much more than that. You need to be taught that the hard way and I will be your teacher."
"Hebi will be an excellent teacher. Raika's the only one that's important around here, but I would have to say that Hebi here is our real second strongest duelist. Yukina and her friends thought that was you. Understandably, but that was because we kept Hebi a secret until now." Henry didn't like any of this at all. He stared back at Hebi with fear as Hebi stared at him with excitement on what he's going to do. "You see, Hebi has the ability to make all damage in a duel real."
"Real damage? You mean people actually get hurt when they duel him?" Henry said as that sounded terrifying to him.
"And not just when I duel. It's almost like I can make my cards come alive." Hebi said. "No worries because you're going to get a full demonstration of what I'm talking about." Henry didn't like how this was looking for him at all. All he knew was that he needed to get out of there.
"Forget it! I'm out of here!" Henry said as he ran straight for an exit, but Diego and Hebi weren't going to let him leave so easily.
"You go nowhere! I activate Snake Rain!" Hebi said as he played a card. Just when Henry was about to make it to a door, the room had snakes raining down on him. They even felt real. Henry freaked as he tried to shake them away. Henry looked down and saw he was surrounded by snakes and tried not to move. "Don't worry. They won't bite unless I command them to."
"This is insane!" Henry claimed as he was already getting scared.
"I'm afraid you can't leave." Diego said.
"I don't remember needing your permission!" Henry claimed.
"It seems that you gravely misunderstood the situation and the circumstances once you joined us." Diego said. "Hebi, show him what I mean."
"With pleasure." Hebi said. "Let me introduce you to Venomous Deity Akurra!" Hebi summoned out his most terrifying monster as the snakes from his spell gathered together and formed the monster itself.
"Aw! What is that thing?!" Henry said. He had to do something to defend himself as he reached for his duel disk and tried putting it together.
"No you don't!" Hebi called. Akurra stretched out some snakes at Henry and coiled around his arms, trying to restrain him and prevent him from fighting back.
"Hey! What are you doing?! I can't duel if I'm like this!" Henry said.
"This isn't a duel! You are being punished for losing, and being taught the true pain and sorrow of that." Hebi said as Henry was being pulled closer to the monster. They won't even allow Henry to fight back. What happened instead was that more snakes came at him and whipped against Henry. Henry felt actual pain from it as he screamed in pain. "That's it! Scream for me! Scream all that pain and agony!" Hebi kept having the attacks come at Henry and kept assaulting him with him unable to fight back. Henry never experienced pain like this before with Hebi actually enjoying it.
"What's wrong with this guy?!" Henry said as he didn't like this at all. "What is all of this? This isn't dueling. It's sick!"
"That's the point!" Hebi claimed with him and Diego laughing at Henry's misery. Hebi kept it up as Henry was lifted off the floor and thrown back down. As he laid against the ground, the attacks just kept going and there was nothing Henry could do about it. All he felt was pain and misery. This isn't how dueling should be.
"This is wrong... This is wrong... This isn't dueling at all." Henry said. 'Someone help me.' He prayed. Just then, he looked to the side and spotted Raika standing there and watched this unfold. "Raika... Help me..."
"Why would I?" Raika questioned.
"We're friends, aren't we?" Henry said.
"Friends? If you wanted friends, you joined the wrong place." Raika said with Henry shocked he said that. Henry thought they were, and admired Raika, but Raika never considered him as anything. "That sounds like a dumb thing Yukina would say."
"No..." Henry said as he was finally beginning to understand. "What have I gotten myself into? This isn't what Yukina was talking about." Just as he was giving into the misery, he thought about Yukina and her friends. They understood what dueling was about. "Yukina! That's it!"
"What are you talking about?" Hebi said.
"Yukina wouldn't stand for this! She and her friends understand what dueling is really like! They wouldn't stand for this, so I won't either!" Henry said as he was finding the strength to fight. He tried to fight against the pain and the snakes as he reached for a card and was able to play it. When that a sudden explosion went on.
"What's this?!" Diego said as he and others were blinded by the light. When the light was able to clear away and they could see, they saw that Henry was gone and he managed to escape.
"Where'd he go?!" Hebi said.
"It seems like he was gone. He had some fight in him after all." Diego said. "No matter. He can't hide." He said as he began to chuckle and it turned into a sinister laugh. This is the true terror of the Black Ace organization. This is all the more reason that someone has to stop them.