Time to check in on Lightning's group of villains. In my previous crossover, I did a chapter that focused almost entirely on the bad guys. Now, I'm doing another right here! To be more precise, it is the gathering from the end of The Power of Four epilogue, but now with more to add. After this, I will be focusing on separate arcs, each with a different Yugioh cast. Also, I want to be clear that I have no plans to include characters from Yugioh Sevens in this story. Six different series is my limit.

Now without further ado, let us see the gathering of the Big Bads! Please enjoy! (P.S. Sorry if this was short. And sorry about the double update. I had to make a certain change at the last second and repost it. Now it should be fine.)

Yugioh: The Hope of Six

Chapter 10 – A Dark Council

Lightning floated through the hallway of his sanctuary, his mood very sour. It had been an hour since he learned the truth. He still could not believe how he easily fell for the humans' "fake deaths". He should have picked up on it straight away. He should have anticipated it. The fact that he hadn't left him more pissed than he would dare let on.

'I was careless and overconfident. I made a mistake. As an Ignis, I am supposed to be better than that. I will not repeat those errors.' He promised himself, fuming.

After retreating into his private chamber, Lightning wasted no time in using his newfound abilities to search his enemies' worlds for the perfect recruits to succeed where he, Zarc, and E'Rah had failed. He was still amazed by this power. He did not possess anything like this before. Even now he still did not know how he acquired it. He was positive it had something to do with the way he was forced out of Bohman. Perhaps when he had some free time on his hands, he would examine himself more closely. For now, he had work to do.

He started with the world, and time period, that Yugi Muto came from. His most dangerous enemy by far was the creator of the Shadow Realm itself, Zorc the Dark One. It took the teamwork of Yugi and his friends to uncover the Pharaoh's lost name to reawaken his real power and destroy the monster forever. Lightning believed he could revive the beast using his powers, but then decided against it. Zorc would be inadequate to recruit because he was simply too powerful to control and would most likely not take orders from a lesser being than itself.

As he combed through Yugi's history of adversaries, he saw a few possibilities. There was a young man named Marik Ishtar, who wanted the power of the Pharaoh for himself and had a strong darkness within him until his defeat. He also saw a powerful ancient king called Dartz who wanted the soul of the Pharaoh, as well as Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler, to awaken a beast called the Great Leviathan by means of the Orichalcos stone (which turned out to have possessed him as well until Yugi and the Pharaoh freed him). Lightning found the power of the Orichalcos very interesting, especially since the Pharaoh himself was once taken over by it's influence.

Through his viewing image, he reached into it, grabbed something, then pulled it back out. In his hand now held a glowing dark green stone. The power coming off of it was intoxicating. Lightning could tell that much. He put the stone in an energy sphere and set aside for now so that he would not become addicted to it like the humans have. With that done, he resumed his search.

After a minute, one person really caught the interest of the Light Ignis: Noah Kaiba. Lightning learned that Noah had his mind transferred into a super computer aboard a submarine after a car accident rendered his physical body badly damaged when he was twelve years old. His father, Gozaburo Kaiba, did this to save his life. Overtime, he was replaced by Gozaburo's adopted son, Seto. Sick of being stuck in cyber space, Noah tried to reclaim what he lost six years later, only to be stopped in his tracks by both Yugi and others Noah took prisoner. After a last minute change of heart, Noah let everyone else go before a missile fired from an orbiting satellite blew the place up.

All three seemed viable candidates. Thanks to his experience with the Gauntlet program, Lightning could now pull the deceased back to the living as he did with that fool Heartland. All he had to do was reach into the abyss of the afterlife and pull one of those evils back to do his bidding. However, in the end, Lightning chose Noah. He did so because he would be the easiest to manipulate, recalling how he corrupted Windy to serve him. Lightning chuckled to himself, amused that he would be reprogramming a digitized human to do the same. Before he looked for Noah's soul from among the dead, the Ignis first checked to see if he really did make a back-up copy of himself before the explosion like Yugi speculated.

As it turned out, he did. Lightning was pleased by this. He learned exactly where Noah's back-up file was stored in Yugi's world. He would gain access to it later, for he still had others to search for. However, he paused a moment. It occurred to him that Noah may not be only one he could manipulate…

He made a quick detour with his searching and found who he was looking for. Lightning chuckled again. He was more than capable of bringing "him" in as an unknowing puppet on a string. However, he did not yet know who should pull that string. He'll come back to that later.

Lightning then moved forward to the next time period of that world… the one where Judai Yuki resided. He saw that the former Duel Academy student had his own share of enemies. Most prominently was a powerful entity called the Light of Destruction. It was the enemy of Judai's other self, the Supreme King, and it was his duty to oppose the malevolent Light. It seemed to have a habit of possessing humans to do it's bidding to destroy the world. After fusing his soul with a Monster named Yubel, Judai went off to confront the Light of Destruction before returning to Duel Academy to complete his third and final year.

The Light of Destruction caused quite a bit of trouble for Judai, more so than his other adversaries. There was Darkness, another vicious and evil being Judai vanquished not long before his graduation. However, it wasn't quite in the same league as the "Dark Light" that Judai fought. Lightning learned that the white hole where the Light of Destruction came from was sealed away with the Supreme King's power. It seemed that Judai knew what he was doing, making sure the Dark Light wouldn't emerge again. Like with the Orichalcos, Lightning saw great potential with the power the Dark Light held. Like Zorc, the Light of Destruction was also too much for him to handle. At least, for the whole. Lightning came up with an alternative way to get the Light's power without actually confronting it.

He focused his will on a Duel in which Judai defeated Takuma Saio, a host of the evil entity. As Judai destroyed the Light controlling Takuma, Lightning gathered a small handful of the malevolent energy before it was completely erased. The Ignis had to be careful not to disrupt the past or it would cause unforeseen complications. He then felt the potency of the energy he now held. It would certainly come in handy. He then put it next to the Orichalcos stone. Lightning still needed to find someone that could eliminate Judai Yuki, so he went back to his work.

He searched until he came across one of the few people to ever defeat the young Duelist, Ryo Marufuji. He appeared to be a very strong opponent. Judai dueled him three times, and he never managed to achieve an outright victory in any of those matches. The first Duel resulted in Judai's first loss in Duel Academy. His second ended in a draw, while the third Duel had no result at all due to it being cancelled. In short, Judai was simply no match for the Kaiser.

However, despite his time as "Hell Kaiser", Ryo truly wasn't evil. Lightning figured he could possess him like he did to those humans through the Gauntlet. To his surprise, he detected an anomaly regarding Ryo. Lightning discovered that the human was currently dying from a bad heart and would be dead within the month. Upon further research, the true cause was revealed. It was a darkness within the Cyberdark cards that Ryo's younger brother, Sho, had burned recently. Sho did this in the hope that his older brother would be free of the Cyberdark's curse, only to be proven how wrong he was.

Lightning used his power to actually look into Ryo's soul, and what he found intrigued him. The darkness from the destroyed cards somehow attached itself onto it's former master and began to slowly weaken him. Eventually it would take full control of Ryo's body, while trapping his soul so he would never find peace. At that moment, Lightning decided who to add to his team and give his new weapon to. He would soon make contact with the darkness leeching away Ryo's life and convince it to join his cause.

After accomplishing that, Lightning moved on to his last recruit… someone he already planned to bring into the fold from the start. Moving even farther into that world's future, he spotted one of those he chose for his Gauntlet experiment: The Psychic Duelist and former leader of the Arcadia Movement, Divine.

Although there were other villains like Rex Godwin and his brother Rudger as Dark Signers, and the cyborg Duelists Aporia, Paradox, and Z-One from an alternate apocalyptic future, Lightning chose none of them. The Dark Signers were too volatile and the cyborgs ultimately wanted to change the future for the better. This made them insufficient for his plan. He could reprogram one of them like with Noah Kaiba, but he figured there was a chance they would resist. He didn't worry about Noah because he was just a computer copy without a trace of the actual human within.

Even though Divine was a human, Lightning was fascinated with his abilities to make Monsters and card effects real. He was further interested when he first learned Divine hated humanity for shunning others like himself. That was when he created the Arcadia Movement and recruited other Psychic Duelists, including the one he valued more than all others, Aki Izayoi. He hoped to have her fight alongside him to conquer the world and wipe out the humans that discriminated so harshly against them.

Of course, his plans fell apart thanks to the Dark Signers and ultimately, Yusei Fudo himself. When Lightning watched the Duel against Aki and the twins, Divine was outraged that his precious Black Rose Witch had become infatuated with Yusei, who he blamed for losing her and Divine himself getting swallowed up by an Earthbound God. He ultimately snapped and swore revenge on the man that took Aki from him. Lightning had let him know that he was fully accepting of him when he "helped" Divine escape his prison. He would also make contact with him shortly.

And that's when it hit him. He knew precisely whom to send "him" to fulfill his duties. He was sure Divine wouldn't mind this little arrangement. After making certain tweaks here and there, Lightning's "chosen one" was now in the process of being a great asset to Divine.

After a brief search into the world of Yuma Tsukumo, he concluded that it wasn't really necessary. There was no need to recruit anyone from there (Don Thousand least of all for obvious reasons). He already had the ideal individual set in place. "She" will eliminate him… after she completes her assigned tasks, of course. As for Playmaker in this world, he had something very special in mind for him… especially after the interference he and his friends had caused.

After feeling satisfied with his choices, Lightning began making preparations for the upcoming gathering... one that would surely alter the balance of power to his favor.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

A short time later, Zarc and E'Rah were contacted by Lightning. The dark couple were finished with their "celebrating" and were resting when the Ignis made the call. He told them to come to what he called a "conference room", for a grand meeting was to take place shortly and they were to be a part of it. They were also told several others would appear with them. They were to discuss their recently discussed plan with them. Reluctantly, Zarc and E'Rah stepped out of their private chamber and made their way to the room in question.

"What kind of meeting do you suppose Lightning has in mind?" Zarc asked.

"Knowing him, something grandiose and maybe a bit over the top." E'Rah guessed. Her mate shrugged.

He didn't really care about this gathering. He didn't even know why Lightning wanted to include others in this. He saw no use for whoever that Ignis was bringing into the fold. All Zarc himself wanted was to be able to leave this digital realm in a new physical body with his dark goddess by his side. And it would help if he had his four dragons back. He still couldn't believe Odd-Eyes and Starve Venom were gone, thanks to the final attack on the Airship. While he could still reclaim Clear Wing and Dark Rebellion from his two remaining former fragments, he still wouldn't feel whole without all four.

'Lightning said he would come up with something to replace my dragons. He better keep his word.' He thought with a hint of impatience. As he lamented over his loss, he recalled the instant he tried to take back those dragons from Yuya and Yuri… only to fail in the end. 'What was the cause of that strange energy that blocked my dragons from my grasp? How did it repel me? I am the true master of the Four Dragons! They would never turn against me! Never!' Zarc felt certain that Yuya had something to do with that occurrence. Too bad the boy was dead now. He would love to have tortured him excruciatingly until he got his answer.

"What is troubling you, my love?" E'Rah asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, snapping the Demon Duelist out of his thoughts. Zarc gave a low growl.

"Just pissed that I will never have all of my dragons again." He said angrily. E'Rah made Zarc turn to her.

"You will get through it." She said while caressing his check. "Besides, thanks to Lightning, we now have something far more important than any dragon." Zarc returned the smile she gave him.

"That we do." He replied, sounding a bit better. Several minutes later the couple arrived in the huge room Lightning had set up. In the center of the very extravagant place was a big white circular table with several seats placed around it. Lightning had not appeared yet. The two decided to take their seats and wait. They were told the meeting would take place any minute now.

"How many are we expecting?" Zarc asked, sounding almost bored. He sat in one of five seats surrounding a round table within Lightning's new "council" room as he came to call it.

"According to Lightning, one for each seat." E'Rah said. Her dark mate sighed.

"In other words, three more… not counting Lightning himself." Just as he said this, the Ignis they were referring to materialized above the center of the table. "Are they coming?" Lightning chuckled.

"Momentarily." This seemed to please them. While they waited, Zarc turned to his goddess.

"So, about those two females you've recently employed…" He began. E'Rah seemed to know what he was thinking as she smiled.

"Oh, they are loyal to me. Echo would die for our cause if it meant her "precious King" got what he wanted. As for Vivian, she's quite childish and undisciplined. Still, she has done what I have asked of her so far. My new acolytes will definitely serve their ultimate purpose when the time comes, along with Queen…" She said with a wicked grin. Zarc smirked with her. He had no doubt they would.

"I hate to interrupt your private plotting, but our first guest has shown up." Lightning announced. Once Noah Kaiba, Devil Kaiser, and Divine had all arrived and took their seats, the Light Ignis got the meeting started.

"Welcome everyone. Thank you all for attending this meeting. We have much to discuss, and much to do in the near future. Without any delay, let us discuss our first topic…" With a snap of his fingers, Lightning conjured up five holographic images before the gathered villains. Each image showed a young child; four young boys and one young girl.

"Who are those brats?" Zarc asked. Lightning made a grand gesture with his arms.

"The key to our evolution… as gods!" The other members of the group looked at one another, surprised by this proclamation.

"Evolution... as gods?" Divine asked, sounding curious. Lightning nodded.

"Yes. Using my new abilities, I have searched the means for us to become more than what we are. Or rather, most of us... seeing as we already have a goddess among our alliance." He said, glancing at a smirking E'Rah.

"What exactly is this plan, and how does it involve those children?" Devil Kaiser questioned. Lightning seemed delighted to explain.

"We are all powerful individuals that are already superior to humans. But we have not reached the level known as "godhood". Now, I have come up with a way to ascend to that level." He then turned to the five children holograms. "Leon von Schroeder, Shido Garam, Tobi Lola, Haruto Tenjo, and Reira Akaba all have something in common." Zarc snarled when he heard the girl's surname and interrupted before Lightning could continue.

"Akaba? She's related to her?" He hissed. Lightning shook his head.

"Not by blood. She was adopted by her step family." He clarified. Zarc snorted.

"Blood related or not, anyone with the name "Akaba" is an enemy to me." He firmly stated. Lightning went on.

"As I was saying, these children were chosen because they all share a commonality."

"Which is what?" E'Rah asked.

"They each have a pure soul and an older sibling that cares about them. I have observed how the siblings looked after each other. Through research, I learned that with the right motivation, those two factors can be used to achieve our ultimate goal."

"How?" Noah questioned. Lightning paused before went on.

"Ten years ago, an event known as the "Lost Incident" took place in this world. It was spearheaded by a man named Kiyoshi Kogami, who worked at a company called SOL Technologies. He and a team of scientists secretly kidnapped six children and experimented on them. During their six months in captivity, they were forced to duel day after day for food to survive. Whenever they lost a Duel, they would get electrocuted and starve. By collecting the data from the children, they made their ultimate creation: The Ignis."

"Like yourself." Devil Kaiser said. Lightning nodded.

"Why did this experiment end after only six months?" Divine asked curiously.

"Because it was just after that the children were rescued and the project was shut down. Dr. Kogami, however, was still able to finish his objective. Unfortunately, he has passed on sometime ago and will be of no use to us. Fortunately, I have full knowledge of how the Ignis creation process was done." Noah then figured it out.

"I see where this is going. You're going to make your own "Lost Incident"." Noah guessed.

"Something like that. Once all five children are in her possession, an associate of mine named Queen will use the equipment at SOL Technologies on them to create this." Lightning then made a new hologram. It appeared to be an outline for another Ignis like himself. "This is just a rough draft. Once the operation is done, the "God Ignis" will have a more definitive appearance.

"God Ignis?" Divine asked in wonder. Lightning nodded as he continued.

"The collected dueling data and pure essence from the children will be collected and harnessed into making this new Ignis. My own power will be added to the mix. The final ingredient to finish it will be a card from another world called the Numeron Code. It has the power to reshape reality into any way one desires. Of course, there is a key that is needed to activate it, but the God Ignis' design will be able to bypass that. Once this creation is complete, we will have it change the rest of us into beings of unimaginable power! No one will be able to stop us!" Lightning exclaimed. A long silence followed. "So, any questions?" Lightning asked of those present.

"I have a question regarding one of the children." Noah chimed in.

"Yes?" Lightning asked.

"Why did you choose Leon von Schroeder over Mokuba? He meets the same qualifications, does he not? Also, he is the only other person to have the name "Kaiba" besides me." He said, remembering not to give any hint that Seto, who was among those on the Airship, was still alive. "I am Gozaburo's biological son and rightful heir to his company. Mokuba only got the name through adoption, just like Seto did. He is the last remaining stain to my family's legacy. I want him gone." Noah complained with obvious contempt.

"I know your feelings on this matter, Noah." Lightning told him. "And yes, Mokuba would fit the role just as well as Leon. The reason I didn't choose him was because I simply believed you wished to eliminate him yourself." The now young man smiled after a moment.

"Yes, you're right Lightning. It would give me enormous pleasure to destroy that brat personally." He replied with an evil grin.

"I hoped you would agree." Said the Light Ignis.

"I too have something to ask, Lightning. This "God Ignis" you hope to create. Will it have it's own mind and personality? If so, how can you be sure it will cooperate with us?" Devil Kaiser asked.

The Ignis had expected this question and had an answer ready. "An excellent inquiry, Devil Kaiser. Each Ignis created from the Lost Incident, including myself, did emerge with distinct personalities and wills of our own. The God Ignis would be no exception. But, as I stated, I will be adding a little of myself to it's birth. My codes will influence it to be compliant and willing to serve us for our cause. Rest assured, once the God Ignis is complete, there is zero chance it will rebel."

Lightning had not been entirely honest. He had lied about one thing. He wasn't planning to donate some of his codes to the God Ignis: He planned to become the God Ignis itself. To do this, he would upload himself into the new Ignis' body and take full control of it once it was whole. He would keep all the power to himself. After that, he would conquer all worlds in existence and remade them as he saw fit, starting with the complete eradication of humanity. Zarc, E'Rah, and the rest would then serve him as his enforcers, bent to his whim. He had to keep this to himself because he needed their cooperation to destroy all his enemies beforehand.

Noah and Devil Kaiser seemed to be fully onboard now with Lightning's grand scheme. Zarc and E'Rah also approved. Divine, on the other hand, had his doubts. "Your plan is very intriguing Lightning... except for one small flaw."

"What flaw would that be, Divine?" Asked the Light Ignis.

"I don't know anything about those other children, but I know for a fact that Tobi Lola is dead. I should know; I watched the boy die with my own eyes." The Psychic Duelist said, remembering how his "testing" of the brat went down. Lightning chuckled.

"Ah, but... what if I told you he wasn't?" Divine straightened himself more, looking shocked.

"What?" He asked.

"I did more than just observe worlds. I had given Queen specific instructions and the capability to travel to other worlds and time periods using my own altered dimensional codes. She was to travel to each of your worlds at certain times and make arrangements to collect each of the specified children. In their places, she would replace them with identical SOLtiS androids made by SOL Technologies and provided by me. She had to be discrete of course, so that no one realizes a switch has been made. Her plans altered for each world. In Tobi's case, she traveled inside his room at your Arcadia Movement the day before his life would expire. She just had to make sure the diamonds on the back and neck would not be seen, thanks to some fake skin placed over them."

The only human at the table couldn't hide his surprise. "Wait. You're saying it wasn't Tobi I killed that day?! Just some tin can designed to look like him?!" Divine said, astounded by this revelation. Lightning nodded.

"That is correct. He left with Queen under the impression he would be rescued from your cruel treatment... only he ended up being someone else's prisoner." Divine seemed speechless that this had happened right under his nose.

"So we got this Tobi. Have the other children been taken yet?" Noah asked.

"Thanks to the assistance of Vivian Wong and Echo, we have both Leon and Shido. Most recently, Queen completed a deal to procure Reira. She is in her custody now. The only one left... is Haruto." E'Rah couldn't help but laugh. This wasn't revealed to the newcomers present, but the three human females working for them had another role to play in the completion of the God Ignis...

"I remember him. He was so tiny, so delicate... so easy to manipulate. What fun that was." Said the Goddess of Despair, remembering how she had Kyoji use him to torment Kaito in her reality.

"How is Queen getting him?" Devil Kaiser questioned. Lightning turned to the Demon Duelist and his mate.

"Their daughter, Hiretsuna, will deliver him to her when the time is right." Lightning answered. Zarc and E'Rah smiled at each other and nodded in agreement. Their offspring would also have the honor of contributing to the God Ignis's creation. "She will also procure the Numeron Code for Queen. With the power of that card, the God Ignis will create a new body for Zarc to inhabit, allowing him to finally leave this digital environment." Lightning said.

"I definitely like the sound of that." Zarc added, sounding pleased.

"Yes. The birth of the God Ignis will be a rebirth for all of us. And the best part... is that all our potential enemies have already been eradicated!" Lightning exclaimed.

Noah, Dark Kaiser, and Divine all kept quiet but shared glances at one another. Prior to the meeting, Lightning informed them of the failed strike on the Different Dimension Airship and that he kept Zarc and E'Rah in the dark about the Duelists' survival. They were not to say a word to the contrary during this time. When Noah earlier asked why he simply didn't tell the monstrous pair, the Ignis' response was: "They would not be as trusting of me as I need them to be." He left it at that.

Lightning needed the full trust of Zarc and E'Rah if his plan was to succeed. To make sure the Duelists would not get in the way, he gathered these past villains to destroy them. They would not see it coming.

"When do you expect to hear news from Hiretsuna?" Noah questioned.

"We heard the Numeron Code was well hidden, so it might take some time for her to find it." Lightning answered.

"She will contact us the moment she has procured it for us. We have no doubt of that." E'Rah said.

"Yes, we can be sure of her success. In the meantime, I have a question of my own for you Lightning. Something you have yet to explain." Zarc said as he turned to the Ignis.

"Explain what?" Lightning inquired.

"What exactly is your reason for including our new friends here in your big plan for ultimate power?" Noah, Devil Kaiser, and Divine remained silent and looked impassive. E'Rah was also curious about their inclusion. Lightning took a moment before giving what he hoped was a satisfactory answer.

"They all have plans for their respective worlds. I simply wished to provide them the power necessary to accomplish their individual goals, much like how I volunteered my services to help you." Zarc seemed convinced by this. With that, Lightning turned his attention to his newest recruits.

"Gentlemen, there is one last thing before I conclude our gathering." He then held up his hands. "I have a gift to bestow to each of you." In each hand formed a glowing ball of energy. The one on his right was dark green, while the other was a darkened white. Lightning then molded those energies into the shape of cards before having them float to two of the new trio. Noah took the green card while Devil Kaiser took the white one. As soon as they grabbed their respective cards, they materialized into their true forms.

"What is this?" Noah asked.

"Something I think you will enjoy immensely." Lightning said. Noah smiled and thanked him as he studied the card he now held.

Devil Kaiser had similar thoughts with his gift. "Same here. I will definitely make great use of this." He knew precisely who would have the honor, and misfortune, to witness the card's power first hand. The villain gave a twisted smile as he looked forward to that day.

"And for me?" Divine asked, eager for what he would receive.

"You already have "that" card you received upon returning to your world. However, I have a resource that is just as valuable." Lightning said as he snapped his fingers. A holo image instantly appeared before Divine. It appeared to be a large liquid filled tube, and someone was floating around inside wearing a breathing apparatus. In that tube was a control panel and a small screen studying the occupant's vitals. It stood in an unoccupied room that seemed abandoned for some time.

"Who is that? And where is he?" Divine asked, clearly confused by what he was seeing. Lightning then passed him a small disk.

"That is a computer file with information regarding the individual you see before you and his location. To access it, just place it on your forehead and you will know everything about him. I suggest you do so now." Lightning told him. Divine raised an eyebrow.

"Why not just tell me about this person?" He questioned.

"Because this information is very sensitive and I do not wish to compromise it in any way." Said the Ignis firmly. He would not say anymore than that. Feeling he would understand once he uploaded the data, Divine placed the disk on his head as he was told. The disk melded seamlessly with him and the man gasped, eyes wide. Within seconds, it all made sense. He then looked back at Lightning and nodded.

"I get it now, Lightning. You were right not to say anything in the open." Divine said. This pleased the evil Ignis.

"Good. Just look after him, and when the time is right… unleash him." Lightning instructed. Divine nodded, confirming to do just that. The others were curious about this whole thing, but chose not to ask. They figured Lightning had his reasons for not discussing it. "Now, I believe this covers everything I wished to discuss with everyone here. Once again, thank you all for attending this council." Lightning then turned to the three newcomers. "You three will return to your worlds and begin making preparations for your own agendas. Do not act until I contact you myself. I will alert you when the time comes. I promise that soon, all that each of you want… will become reality. Until then, this meeting… is now adjourned.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

1 month later…

Lightning stood atop a huge gold and white castle floating in the air. His view consisted of nothing but empty space that spanned the whole horizon. He took great pride in creating his sanctuary. He felt confident no one would would find him, not even Ray Akaba. Unlike the Mirror LINK VRAINS he created before hide beneath the true version of the network, this place was covered by an energy this world simply did not possess. The Light Ignis took extra precautions to insure that his hideout would not be found like his previous one was by the old Hanoi Tower.

He basked in the quiet of his solitude, and reveled in the knowledge that his success would be assured. He felt sure that by now, the ones he recruited will have eliminated all the enemy Duelists that escaped him.

'Yes. At this point, I do not believe anything could go wrong…' However, just as he thought that, a deafening roar could be heard from within his sanctuary. The noise actually made the place shake and made the Ignis decide to float in order to avoid the unexpected vibrations. "What?!" He looked around, frantically searching for the source of the noise.

Just as the rumbling started, it stopped. Lightning started to feel concerned. As he recollected himself, something massive had burst forth from the spot in which he stood just seconds before. Debris flew everywhere, but the Ignis dodged it all effortlessly. Lightning looked at the source and saw a big and very familiar shape in the dust cloud. As it cleared, the Light Ignis lost his concern… and was replaced by undisguised fear.

Standing before him now… was Zarc, and he looked absolutely furious. His teeth bared, his eyes filled with unmistakable anger, and his claws itching to grab hold of something to crush into nothing. E'Rah joined him a second later, and she looked just as pissed.

"Zarc! E'Rah! What is the meaning of this?!" Lightning demanded. The Demon Duelist eyed the Ignis and snarled. His next words told the Ignis he was in big trouble.

"Bastard! You lied! They are alive! All of them! They live… and you kept it from us!"

To be continued.