After Yukina defeated Takato, she and her friends were surprised to see Henry. However, Henry looked hurt and was in need of help. When they found him like that, they took him to a room for him to rest. Once there, Henry told them what happened.
"I can't believe it." Yukina said. "They really did that to you?"
"Just what kind of people are they?!" Kent said as they all felt disgusted after hearing Henry was tortured for his failure.
"But why would they do something like this?" Felix questioned.
"The Black Ace will do anything to obtain their goal. It doesn't matter if you're an enemy or a friend." Henry claimed. "Those who lost their duels ended up having their power drained by Life Destroyer. I was the lucky one because I managed to escape."
"That happened because they lost...? Takato!" Yukina said as she remembered some of the things he said and finally understood only for it to be too late. "That's what he meant! He knew once he lost to me, he would end up the same as the others!"
"But wasn't Henry their second best duelist and made all this possible in the first place?" Sylvia questioned.
"It didn't matter. I was nothing more than a pawn to them." Henry said. "The only one that really matters anything is Raika. The rest of us were nothing more than pawns for Diego to use in his wicked game. I began to see the truth after what happened to me. I thought... I thought Raika and I were actually friends, but he told me himself that we never were."
"Henry, why would you join people like that in the first place?" Cindy questioned, asking the question she always wanted to know. Henry seems to be so ashamed with himself that he turned away from them.
"I... I didn't want any of this." Henry said as they could hear him cry. "I just thought it was a chance to find strong duelists to challenge. I didn't sign up for any of this. I'm... I'm sorry." He really felt horrible about what he did and shed real tears. They all couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"Henry, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for their lies." Yukina said as they were forgiving him. Cindy felt so bad for Henry. As she did, she walked over to his deck and pulled out Moltrock Excavator. After everything Henry did, this is how he is treated when he clearly regrets all of it. It didn't sit right with her.
"We better give Henry some time to rest." Felix said. "It's almost time for the next match. Cindy is going up against Hebi."
"That guy is freaky. He's somehow able to deal real damage. Just look what he did to Henry and Hana." Kent said.
"Yeah. It's not enough for him to win. He wants to completely crush his opponent and break them." Felix said.
"We've got to be careful with him. When he dueled Hana, he had complete control." Yukina said. "Cindy, you've got to be careful with him. He won't stop until you fall apart."
"I will." Cindy said. "Henry, you just get some rest. We'll take care of Hebi and Raika." Henry was amazed they would do that for him. He sees that he really was on the wrong side. Once that was made, they all left Henry alone to get some rest while they all went to see the next battle.
"I think Henry is starting to come around." Yukina said. "It just sounds like he didn't know any better. At least he knows now."
"Yeah. He isn't that different from the rest of us." Cindy said. "What they did to him was awful." She said as she felt this madness has to stop even if she has to be the one to stop it.
...
The Duel Field
"It's now time for the third match!" M.C. announced as it was about to begin. "We've got the ever seasonal Cindy!" He announced as she came out with her friends heading for the stands. "Her opponent is the the very venomous Hebi!" Hebi joined the field now. This was going to be Cindy's most dangerous duel, but she has to fight.
"Heads up, Hebi! I'm taking you down!" Cindy claimed.
"Tough talk, but everyone talks like that until they're faced with fear." Hebi claimed.
"Yes, Hebi." Diego said as he sat back and enjoy the show. "With your tenacity and Raika's power, the last of Yukina's friends will fall one after another. I can't wait to see Yukina's expression when she sees poor Cindy torn apart and can do nothing about it."
"Let's get this party started!" M.C. announced as the two of them put their duel disks together and were ready for a fight. Cindy has to beat him and show her feelings of the heart are stronger than Hebi's desire for pain and misery.
"Let's duel!" Both of them said as they were now starting and had 4000LP.
"I'm going first, and I'll start by summoning Seasonal Spring Flower to the field!" Cindy said as her flower bloomed on the field with 800atk points. "Next, it's special ability allows me to summon another Seasonal monster as long as it's level three or lower! That's why I'm summoning Seasonal Summer Butterfly!" She said as her butterfly flew out on the field with 1300atk points. "Next, I'm activating Season Fury! This spell card will deal 200 points of damage each turn for each seasonal monster on the field!" That spell took in affect as she blasted Hebi with his life points dropping to 3600.
"Is that all you've got?" Hebi taunted.
"No! I'm now overlaying both my flower and my butterfly!" Cindy said as the overlay network was built and both of her monsters dived inside. "I xyz summon Seasonal Spring Enchantress!" Her enchantress emerged on the field with it having 2000atk points. "I'm also going to use one of her overlay units to give her 500atk points!" She said as her monster used one and grew stronger to 2500atk points. "I place one face-down and end my turn!"
"Cindy's not playing around. She managed to deal damage and summon a powerful monster on her first turn." Felix said.
"Seeing what happened to Henry has got her real fired up." Yukina said.
"My turn!" Hebi said as he drew his card. "I summon Venom Serpent!" He started out by summoning a twin-headed snake with it having 1000atk points. "I bet you think you're safe because of a powerful monster, but you would be wrong. I activate my Snake Intimidation! This spell card takes half of your monster's attack points and add it to my serpent!" Power was beginning transferred over to his snake with it growing in size and now had 2250atk points.
"But it's still not stronger than my enchantress!" Cindy said.
"That's why I'm playing the Black Pendent! This spell card will give my serpent another 500atk points!" Hebi claimed with his snake growing stronger with 2750atk points. "I have you now! Attack!" His snake stretched out both of its heads and bit down on Cindy's monster with her life points dropping to 3750. "The pain is just getting started!"
"I don't think so! Since you destroyed my monster, I can now activate my trap!" Cindy said as it activated. "I play Slipstream Summon! Since you just destroyed a monster of mine, this trap allows me to summon a monster that has the same attack points straight from my deck!"
"Does Cindy even have something that powerful?" Kent questioned.
"Not even her xyz monsters are that strong, so what could she be thinking?" Yukina questioned.
"This is for Henry. I summon Moltrock Excavator!" Cindy said as she pulled out a surprise. Moltrock Excavator appeared on the field with 2500atk points.
"What?!" Hebi said as he and everyone couldn't believe what they just witnessed.
"Moltrock Excavator?!" Kent said.
"When did Cindy get that?!" Sylvia said.
"She must have taken it from Henry's deck and added it to her own!" Yukina said. "She's fighting for Henry and took a piece of Henry's heart so it feels like he's fighting with her!"
"Well, you certainly surprised me, but that monster can't help you no matter powerful it is." Hebi said. "You can't make full use of Moltrock Excavator because you don't have any Moltrocks in your graveyard!"
"That doesn't matter! This is for what you did to Henry!" Cindy said. "I know all about it, so I'm going to put a stop to you with his help!"
"How desperate." Hebi said as he wasn't scared. "I place two cards facedown and that ends my turn." Since his turn ended, his serpent's power dropped to 1500.
"I don't know what's going on here, but I have a feeling we're in for a real showdown."
"My turn!" Cindy said as she was fighting hard now. "I'm gonna start by summoning Seasonal Spring Swallow to the field!" She summoned out her bird as it emerged with 900atk points. "With my little birdy flying out, I can now activate it's special ability to special summon another seasonal monster from my deck just as long as it has less than 1000atk points. I'm bringing out Seasonal Summer Lobelia!" Cindy summoned out a new monster with it being a lobelia flower with eyes with it holding 800atk points. "That means I can use my spell to deal more damage to you!" She said as she blasted Hebi again with his life points dropping to 3200. "I now overlay by bird and my flower!" She said as she was building her overlay network once again with both monsters diving inside. "I xyz summon Seasonal Fall Wiccan!" She brought out her wiccan with it emerging with 2000atk points. "It's over now!"
"She's right! Do the math!" Felix said. "Thanks to her Wiccan's ability, Hebi's serpent will lose 1000atk points. Once that happens and her two monsters attack, Hebi will lose 3500LP!"
"You think it's over?! It's not over! I haven't inflicted enough pain!" Hebi said. "I activate my Serpent Wall trap! Thanks to this trap, my reptiles can avoid being destroyed once during this turn, and all damage I take is cut in half!"
"That still won't save you!" Cindy said. "I activate my wiccan's ability to drain 1000atk points out of your monsters!" She said as her wiccan used her power and drained away the serpent's power with it's power dropping to 500. "Seasonal Fall Wiccan, attack!" Her wiccan unleashed its power and tried blasting his snake. It survived the attack because of Hebi's trap, but Hebi's life points dropped to 2450. "Moltrock Excavator, your turn! Attack with Blazing Reaction!" She attacked again with it being destroyed this time, but Hebi's life points only dropped to 1450.
"Ha! You really are a fool!" Hebi claimed. "Feel the wrath of the King Cobra Coil!" He said as he activated a trap. "Since you just destroyed a reptile, you take all the damage I took now!"
"What?!" Cindy said. She screamed in terror as a giant snake shot out of his card and coiled around her. She felt like a real snake was squeezing her with her life points dropping down to just 2000.
"And since you destroyed the Black Pendent, you lose another 500LP!" Hebi claimed. Cindy screamed in pain as her life points dropped to 1500 and everyone getting worried about her.
"Oh boy! Hebi has nearly even the score!"
"And I'm not done just yet! It's my turn now!" Hebi said as he drew his next card. "By sending two reptiles in my deck to my graveyard, I can bring out King Ophutrix!" He said as he discarded two snakes and brought out a much larger one. One as black as midnight and stood about 50ft tall. It also had 2800atk points. "I activate Ophutrix ability! I destroy the monster with the lowest attack points! By doing so, I gain all that monster's life points!" Ophutrix set its eyes on Cindy's wiccan. Once it did, it did something that was hard for many to see. All you need to know was that a gulping sound was haunting. When that happened, Hebi's power increased to 3450. "I can't destroy your monsters this turn after that ability, but I can still deal damage! Ophutrix, attack with Sinister Coil!" His monster coiled around Moltrock Excavator and squeezed it like Cindy was being squeezed with Cindy's life points dropping to 1200. Both Cindy and her monster were coiled by snakes and couldn't get free. "It hurts, don't it? You're having the life squeezed out of you and you can't do anything. You played that card for the sake of your friend, but you are failing him."
"Not listening!" Cindy called as she tried to block him out.
"You don't have to! Fear is a part of you! It's inside you!" Hebi said. "Right now, you're surrounded by it. It's waiting to devour you. Once you submit, you will have lost! This is fear and pain that you just simply can't escape from! In the end, you let everyone down!" Cindy didn't want to listen to him, but Hebi knew how to slither his way into their heads.
'I'm sorry, everyone... I'm sorry, Henry...' Cindy said as she feels like she failed.
"Don't listen to him, Cindy!" Cindy heard a voice and saw Henry entering the field. "Don't listen to him, Cindy! You can still fight! I know you have what it takes! You've got my monster to help out!"
'That's right!' Cindy thought. 'I'm not fighting alone, so I don't need to be afraid!' Cindy fought back and was able to break herself free from Hebi's snake with greater strength. Not what Hebi wanted.
"It's my turn now!" Cindy said as she drew her next card. "I'll start by summoning Seasonal Spring Cherry Blossom!" She said as she summoned out a pink flower with a cherry for a face with 500atk points. "Next, I activate her special ability! I get to draw two cards and summon a level four or lower Seasonal monster!" She drew two more cards and there was one that could help her. "Perfect! I'm summoning Seasonal Winter Snowman!" She said as she summoned out a snowman with it having 1200atk points. "When my snowman is summoned, you lose 400LP! Added to Seasonal Fury dealing another 400!" Cindy was fighting hard as both attacks hit with Hebi's life points dropping to 2650.
"What's going on? How can she keep fighting?!" Hebi said.
"Now, I overlay both my level three Cherry Blossom and Snowman!" Cindy said as she was xyz summoning once again with both monsters diving in and the pillar of light shooting up. "Time to step into the light and let nature come alive! I xyz summon Seasonal Summer Sorceress!" Cindy summoned out a new sorceress with it having golden wavy hair, a scepter with a sun, and 2000atk points. "I now activate her special ability! The difference in our life points are added to a monster's attack points!" Her monster took an overlay unit and shined a light like a golden sun with Moltrock Excavator's power increasing to 3950. "I can only attack with one monster after this ability, but it's still enough!"
"I don't get it! What's driving you like this?!" Hebi said.
"A duel isn't an excuse for you to hurt people! Don't you get that yet?!" Cindy said. "It's about two people facing each other with all their heart and might! That's why I won't lose to someone like you! Moltrock Excavator, burn that snake down!" Moltrock unleashed all the power it had and blasted Ophutrix with some serious might. That snake was completely burned and Hebi's life points dropped to 1500. "Take that, you rotten snake!"
"Oh! Cindy is really letting Hebi have it down there!" All of Yukina's friends and Henry loved this. She might actually beat it Hebi.
"You're lucky that's all I'm doing this turn! So just make your next move and let's end this!" Cindy said as Moltrock Excavator's power returned to normal.
"Now you've done it..." Hebi said with a creepy tone. "Now you've gone and driven me far!" He shouted as he seemed even scarier than before. "I'll show you true pain and misery for this!" He said as he drew his next card. "I now have three reptiles in my graveyard, so I can summon this! Rise, Venomous Deity Akurra!" He summoned out his terrifying and most powerful snake as it formed on the field with 2800atk points. Cindy was starting to get scared herself now knowing what that monster is like. "I now send twelve cards to the graveyard! With that, your monsters lose 400atk points for each card!" When that happened, a series of snakes came out of his monster and lashed against both of Cindy's monsters with all of their powers gone. "It's time! Show her true terror! Attack with Savage Snake Strike!" Akurra unleashed itself as every snake it was made of attacked like a wave of snakes. Cindy couldn't stop herself from screaming as the snakes came down on both monsters with Cindy getting caught in it.
"Cindy!" Henry called as this looked terrifying. The snakes cleared away from Cindy with on the ground and her life points dropped all the way to zero.
"The... The winner is Hebi..." M.C. announced, but everyone wanted a different outcome.
"Not yet! It's not over yet!" Hebi claimed. "I want more pain!" Hebi wasn't stopping. He had Akurra keep attacking as he had his snakes whiplash against Cindy. He just kept attacking her without mercy and it was horrible to watch as Cindy screamed from all the pain.
"Someone make him stop!" Felix called.
"The duel is already over!" Kent called. Everyone was demanding that Hebi stopped, but he just kept going.
"Cindy!" Henry called as he wanted to run to her, but he ended up tripping.
"More! More!" Hebi called as he kept the attacks going on a defenseless Cindy, but someone did come to the rescue. Wild Ally Phoenix flew in and pushed Akurra away.
"Stop it!" Yukina called with Hebi getting annoyed.
"Yukina!" Henry said. It seems that Diego was wrong on what Yukina would do.
"That's enough! I will not allow something like this to continue!" Yukina said. "What are you expecting to gain from doing something like this?!"
"How dare you interfere!" Hebi said. "What I want is to spread pain and misery to others, completely break their spirits, and it just so happens that you're next on my list, Yukina!"
"Bring it! I've had it with people like you who duel just to hurt people!" Yukina said as she wasn't going to back down from him. Both of them faced each other with an intense desire to take the other down while Henry hurries over to Cindy and help her stand.
"I've decided that the first duel of the semi-finals will be between Yukina and Hebi." Diego announced as everyone liked that and cheered for Yukina to take Hebi down. "Of course, there's one last duel to get through first. It's time we get ready for the next match: Felix vs. Raika!" Just as one dangerous duel ended, another begins. As Felix stands from the stands, he readies himself for his duel with Raika with the intention to finish what Cindy started.
