Duel Battlers was designed to look like any other grand tournament, but it was all a façade. Things are going just as Diego had wanted. Despite how his stadium was nearly torn apart in the last duel, he loved how everything went.

"Excellent. Everything has unfolded rather nicely." Diego said. "Yukina and her friends have fought well, but it just wasn't enough. Soon, they will have all their power drained by Raika, and then the world will be ours for the taking. With only two matches left before the finals, it won't be long until our ultimate goal is in our reach." Diego believes that as long as he has Raika, everything shall fall into place. He's certainly proven to be a madman who will do anything to get his way. "First, there's still one minor task I must take care of. We all must do our part to make Raika the strongest."

...

Hana

"Here we go! While we are getting the stadium prepared, the upcoming battles are still on and it's sure to be a good one." M.C. announced. "The first match is set to be between Hebi and Yukina." After her defeat at the hands of Hebi, Hana needed some time to rest, but it looks like she's back to her normal self. Seeing her friend against such a sinister man, she can only hope that Yukina can find the will and strength to win. "Let's not forget that after that, we will have Raika vs. Cray!"

...

Yukina

Yukina and Cray were getting themselves ready for their upcoming duels. They're both going against dangerous duelists and can't allow themselves to be defeated by either of them. While Cray and Kent were away, Yukina was preparing herself for her duel against Hebi.

"It's almost time." Sylvia said.

"Your duel against Hebi is going to be a dangerous one." Cindy said. "Just look at what he did to me and Hana."

"I know. He's strong and he's capable of dealing real damage." Yukina said. "Even so, I'm not going to back down. There's just no way that I can afford to lose to someone like him."

"But do you have a plan? As soon he plays Akurra, it could be game over for you." Henry said.

"His Akurra is dangerous, but it's not without weaknesses either, and I think I know what they are." Yukina said. "Besides, somebody has teach Hebi his way of dueling is wrong. Plus, winning means I will face a powerful opponent in the finals. Raika has to be stopped, and you know how Cray would feel if I lose before he can duel me. There's no two-way about it, especially after what happened to Felix and Sabaro. We've got to fight for them." They all could see that Yukina is right. They came to far to call it quits. They'll just have to believe in Yukina.

...

Henry

"Oh man..." Henry groaned as he sat on a bench. "I can't believe this is all really happening. Not what I had in mind, but Yukina really is amazing. Maybe she really can defeat Hebi and Raika." Henry has had a lot of time to think about what he's done and now he's hoping to Yukina can win. "I'm sure she can."

"I hate to tell you, but that will never happen." Henry was surprised as he looked up and spotted Diego and some of his security. "What do you want?!"

"I've come to get you." Diego said. "Did you really think you could just walk away from us? It's time you owed your power to Raika."

"Forget it! I'm not going anywhere with you, you creep!" Henry said.

"I don't remember giving you a choice." Diego claimed as he wasn't going to take no for an answer and there was no escape for Henry.

...

Cindy

"Cindy!" As Cindy roamed through the halls for the upcoming battle, she was surprised to see Hana on her feet.

"Hana! You're better?!" Cindy asked.

"Mostly. I know that Yukina is going up against Hebi, but I felt like I had to get up and see this. I'm sure she's also going to like seeing me on my feet again." Hana said. Cindy was glad to see this herself, but that was when they heard screaming going on.

"That sounded like Henry!" Cindy said.

"Let's check it out!" Hana said as the two of them hurried to that scream. Henry was in real trouble as Diego and his men were taking him away by force. When Cindy and Hana rounded the corner, they saw him being taken away. "Stop!"

"Henry!" Cindy called as they raced to stop Diego.

"Sorry, but he always belonged to us." Diego said as he activated a hidden switch and caused the area to be blocked off.

"Henry!" Cindy called as she banged against the metal wall. "Open up! Get back here! Henry! Henry!"

...

Sylvia

"What?! Henry was taken by Diego?!" Sylvia said. Cindy and Hana met up with Sylvia and told her what just happened.

"Diego must be planning to finish what he started and have all of Henry's energy drained by Raika and Life Destroyer." Cindy said.

"That creep. We've got to tell Yukina." Sylvia said as she hurried out to do just that.

"Wait, we can't!" Cindy said and got her to stop. "Yukina will surely want to help us and save Henry, even if it means forfeiting her duel against Hebi. She needs to keep her focus on the duel and take that jerk down."

"Cindy's right. Yukina would do something like that, but this could also be what Diego wants us to do." Hana said. "Diego is well aware that Yukina might have what it takes to defeat Raika and he wants to keep her out of the way. We have to handle this without her, at least until she beats Hebi. Sylvia, go keep an eye on Yukina's duel. Cindy and I will go help Henry." Sylvia didn't like this, but there are two things that needed to be done. They have to save Henry and Hebi has to be stopped from hurting anyone.

...

The Duel Field

"It's now time to start the semi-finals of Duel Battlers!" M.C. announced as it was now beginning. "It's time to see if Yukina's power of the animals can stop Hebi's painful ways or if she will become his next victim." The two went out on the field and got ready for the showdown they've been waiting for. As you can imagine, the crowd was cheering for Yukina. Sylvia was alone in the stands, but she's hoping for the best.

"Sylvia! Hey!" Kent said as he and Cray came over. "Where are the others?"

"Uh... They're running late." Sylvia said to keep what's really going on a secret.

"How could they miss an important duel like this? Get that creep, Yukina!" Kent cheered.

"Heads up, Hebi! I'm gonna get payback for what you did to my friends!" Yukina called out.

"Hahahah! I've been looking forward to this, Yukina!" Hebi said. "I've had my eyes on you for such a long time! Your spirit burns brightly! I wonder how that face of yours will look when I crush it just like I did to your friends!"

"Get real! Babble like that all you want, but it's going to take more than the likes of you to stop me!" Yukina said as she was ready for this showdown. Everyone watched this duel carefully, especially Raika since it means he can take on Yukina if she wins. Hebi got himself ready as well.

"Let's duel!" They both said as they were now starting and had 4000LP.

...

The Black Ace Building

Meanwhile, Cindy and Hana went on ahead to try and rescue Henry before it was too late to save him. They both stood outside the building and had to ready themselves for they were about to enter enemy territory.

"Hana, are you sure you're up for a fight?" Cindy questioned.

"We both faced Hebi and took real damage. I'm not sure if we're at full strength, so let's try to avoid conflict if we can. Although, I doubt it will be that easy." Hana said as they knew what they were getting into.

"We'll just have to try." Cindy said as they both bravely went inside the building. "Henry! Henry, where are you?! Diego, give Henry back!"

"I doubt he would so willingly. We'll just have to search every inch of the building until we find him." Hana said. Knowing that now, they both hurried off to try and find Henry, but they didn't know that Diego was already aware of their presence. Annoyed as he is, he knew he had to deal with them.

...

The Duel

"I'll make the first move!" Yukina said as she was going first. "I'll start by summoning Wild Ally Crocodile to the field!" She summoned out her crocodile with it having 1600atk points. "When my crocodile is summoned, I can summon out Wild Ally Alligator!" She brought out her alligator with it having 1700atk points. "When I also have a Wild Ally on the field, I can bring out Wild Ally Bison!" She said as she summoned out her third monster with it having 1200atk points. "I place one face-down to end my turn!"

"Yukina is not holding anything back as she was able to bring out three monsters in one turn!"

"Ha! You think that will save you?! Think again!" Hebi said as he drew his card. "You've lost and you don't even know it! I activate my Snake Rain spell! By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard, I can send four reptiles to the grave!"

"Four reptiles?!" Yukina said as he discarded a total of five cards. "With just three reptiles in his graveyard, he can already bring that out!"

"That's right! With three reptiles in my graveyard, I can now summon Venomous Deity Akurra!" Hebi said as he summoned out Akurra to the field with it having 2800atk points. Seeing that monster out had people already afraid of waht was going to happen to Yukina.

"I can't believe how easy he summoned that thing!" Kent said.

"He's a real snake, and snakes are slippery." Cray said.

"Scared yet, Yukina?" Hebi taunted.

"Not a chance! I already know how to deal with that monster!" Yukina said.

"Don't make me laugh! Let's see if you're saying that once you lose life points." Hebi said. "All I have to do is send one card to the graveyard and you lose 400LP!" He discarded the top card of his deck to the graveyard and shot a snake right at Yukina. Hebi was expecting pain, but the snake just bounced off from a barrier. "What?!"

"Nice try, but I told you that I already know how to deal with that monster." Yukina said as she showed she had her trap activated. "It's all thanks to my Wild Self-Defense continuous trap. As long as I have one Wild Ally on the field, I can't take any effect damage! Not even from your Akurra!"

"Boom, baby! Yukina managed to stop Akurra from dealing her damage!"

"Try all you like, Hebi, but this trap will prevent you from dealing some of the damage you love!" Yukina said. "I'm well aware you can make my monsters weaker, but I have three monsters! You'll have to discard a total of twelve cards for them to lose all their power! Can you really afford something like that?!"

"That's right. He has to constantly discard cards to use Akurra's ability. If he discards too many, he'll run out of cards to draw and he'll lose." Cray said as that sounded great to them. It sounds like she's got him.

"You know what, it's fine." Hebi said. Not the reaction they were expecting. "I don't want this to be over too quickly! The other duels up until now were just the warm-up for my real mission!"

"Your real mission?" Yukina questioned.

"That's right, Yukina. My mission is to take that optimistic spirit of yours and completely crush and destroy it!" Hebi claimed. "What I did to your friends was suppose to upset you!"

"That means..." Sylvia said as they all saw the truth now.

"That means...I was your target from the very beginning!" Yukina said.

"Yes, and now that I have you, I'm going to break you worse than I did to your friends!" Hebi claimed. "Akurra, destroy her bison!" Akurra stretched out his snakes and coiled them around her bison until it was destroyed and Yukina's life points dropped to 2400. "You think you can beat my Akurra? I don't think so, especially after I equip my monster with Molting Escape! A reptile equipped with this card can survive being destroyed once per turn. After that happens, it gains 300atk points. You might think you have the advantage, but you are so wrong!" He claimed as Hebi is pulling out all the stops to capture the prey he's been after from the very beginning.

...

The Black Ace

"Henry! Henry, where are you?!" Cindy called as she and Hana continued searching for where Henry might be. They kept searching until they entered another large room, but there was still no sign of him. "Where could he be?"

"He has to be here somewhere." Hana said.

"What is this noise all about?" Both of them looked ahead and were now faced with Diego himself.

"Diego!" Hana said.

"Give us back, Henry!" Cindy demanded.

"Give him back? What a strange choice of words." Diego said. "Henry is a duelist that worked for the Black Ace, so it's his responsibility to give all of his power over to Raika."

"Give me a break." Cindy said. "That's not his responsibility, just twisted nonsense. You think after everything, Henry is still your friend and wants to help?"

"Our friend? Oh dear... It seems just like him, you misunderstood our relationship." Diego said. "He, just like all the others, were nothing more than a tool. He was nothing more than a pawn to used until all his power was given to Raika so that Raika can have all the power. Just like all the others who were defeated in the tournament. Whether he wants to or not means nothing." The mere image of Henry and all the other Black Ace duelists having their power drained away by Life Destroyer and Raika gave the girls a good scare.

"You are a vile man." Hana said. "First, you steal the forbidden card by trespassing into my village. Then, Yukina loses her father because of you. Now, you do something like this. All for what? Why are you doing all of this? Why does it matter to you that Raika becomes so powerful?"

"I don't see why I should answer to little girls." Diego said. "Since you both are here, I might as well have Raika steal every bit of power you two have." Diego really is the lowest of the low. It's like he's a figure in a pit of darkness, always trying to stay out of reach while attacking people when they don't suspect it. Once he has you in his grip, he'll never let you go.

"Forget it! You're not taking us without a fight!" Hana said as she and Cindy got ready to defend themselves.

"I rather not dirty my own hands, and you won't be able to fight once my guards get through with you." Diego said as he took a menacing step towards them and he gave off this dark aura to show them he meant business. "Now either come with me and accept your inevitable fate or suffer more!"

"If you're waiting for your guards to show up, you're out of luck."

"What?!" Diego said. Out of nowhere, someone dived down and got between him and the girls. When he stood up, the girls saw that it was Taiyo. "You again?!"

"Taiyo!" Hana said as she and Cindy were glad to see him again. A mighty flame has arrived to light the darkness. As two different conflicts are going on, which side will be the one that will prevail in the end?