//------------------------------// // Turn 26. Total Annihilation // Story: Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Celestia: The second match of the Celestic Cup semifinals is about to begin. Luna: Two more Duellists will face off to claim the final spot in the final round. "I hope Twilight's up for this," Fluttershy said as the group continued to watch and wait for the match to begin. "My sister's got this," Spike said, "she took out Adagio after all." "But this is different," Rarity said, "it's one thing to take down a monster that's weak on its own, but Shadow's Shadow-Mechs are insanely powerful. If he Summons that Synchro Bot there'll be little her monsters can do." "We'll just have to hope she has a plan then." They all looked around and saw Applejack standing there. "Hey AJ," Applebloom said, "sorry about your match." "It's alright," Applejack replied, "the better Duellist won. A'm just happy A'h could help Flash out with his problem." "Hey," Scootaloo said, "where is Flash?" Twilight was walking towards her waiting area. She'd just stepped into the corridor when she saw someone leaning against the wall, making her smile when she saw who it was. "Hey," she said catching Flash's attention. He turned towards her and smiled. "Hey," he said as he stood up straight and walked over to her. "Great work back there. How did you manage to gain control of Chaos Command?" "I didn't," Flash replied scratching the back of his head, "turns out all I needed to do was apologise and he was happy to help me." "Wait," Twilight said with a raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms, "you never apologised to it until now?" "Yeah yeah," Flash said, "I blundered. It doesn't matter now, I fixed the connection so I shouldn't have any more problems with summoning it." "That's a relief," Twilight said, "I'm glad we don't have to worry about you losing control again." "Yeah," Flash said before he turned serious, "listen Twilight. Please be careful out there. We both know what Shadow can do and I don't want to see you get hurt, so just...watch yourself." Twilight smiled and nodded. "I will Flash, don't worry. I've been watching Shadow's Duels and I know what's coming, so there's nothing he can do that would surprise me." She placed her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. "I'll be fine. And when I beat him, I expect you to be at your best when we Duel in the finals." Flash smiled at this and nodded, before Twilight stepped away and began heading towards the stadium. Flash watched as she went and despite her assurance, he was still worried. "Good luck," he said. Up in the VIP box, Sunset and the rest of the group were waiting patiently. "How you doing?" Cadance asked her husband as he remained seated. "I'm fine," Shining said as he did, "I'm a little nervous, but not as nervous as I was before. I know Twilight can beat him. She's smart and is bound to have come up with a plan to stop Shadow's stratagy." "Yeah," Sunset said, "Twilight's one of the best Duellists I've ever met. She can win this no doubt." "I hope you're right," Thorax said. Meanwhile Cold was with his security team, going over the plan. "If Twilight Sparkle manages to defeat Shadow," he said, "I want no room for error. Grab him the second he enters the stadium again." "Yes sir!" The men all said as they turned to make their way towards their designated locations. "We missed out on the chance to get Adagio Dazzle," Cold said, "we can't afford to make anymore mistakes." He turned and headed back to the VIP box, and stern look on his face. "Twilight Sparkle, I've been watching you since the day you Duelled Flash. I knew you had what it took to help with my mission. That's why I had Sunset test you. You've already proven it was not a mistake to entrust this task to you, so now I need you to do the seemingly impossible again." With that he entered back into the box, ready to watch the Duel that was about to take place. Celestia: It's finally time to discover who our last finalist will be. Luna: Let's welcome our Duellists onto the stage. First up, the Spellcaster Master herself. Twilight Sparkle! Twilight stepped out onto the field, ready for whatever Shadow intended to throw at her. Celestia: And her opponent. The man of mystery. Shadow! Shadow stepped out as well, the look on his face one of laser focus. He obviously had no intention of losing to this girl. The two met in the centre, where the ref stood, and stared each other down. "Twilight Sparkle," Shadow said, "your defeat of Adagio was impressive. But you won't be so luck now." "I seem to remember a friend of yours saying the same thing not twenty four hours ago," Twilight said with a smirk, "we both remember how that turned out." "Indeed," Shadow said as he attached his Duel Disk, "but let's not go comparing me to her." "Why not?" Twilight asked as she attached her own, "you're both comparably evil." "The difference is she was just an ordinary human," Shadow said, "I'm so much more." "We'll see," Twilight said. The ref flipped the coin and it was decided that Shadow would take the first move, so the two stepped to a reasonable distance. Luna: It's time to see which Action Field our Duellists will be playing on today. She held up her remote and pressed the button, causing the floor beneath the two's feet to glow as it generated the Action Field. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye Twilight and Shadow found themselves inside a giant building filled with wooden shelves that held hundreds off books on each one. The two looked in every direction and saw the rows of shelves seemed to go on forever. Celestia: Endless Library "Whoa!" Twilight was almost drooling at the sight. "Can we get on with this," Shadow said, "I'm a busy man." Twilight shook her head and wiped her mouth, before turning back to the dark counterpart of her friend. "Let's do this!" Luna: Looks like our Duellists are ready to get started. Celestia: Then in three! Luna: TWO!" Both: ONE! "DUEL!" Twilight: 4000 Shadow: 4000 "ACTION CARDS DISPERSED!" "We begin," Shadow said as he reached for his deck, "I draw and set the Pendulum Scale with scale three Shadow-Mech Breaker and scale nine Shadow-Mech Scooter." He slapped the cards on the Duel Disk as it lit up. The columns of light appeared on either side of him, as the two monster flew up into them and forged the portal above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and two beams of light shot out, before striking the ground and taking shape. "Shadow-Mech Star Shuttle." (A3000/D3000/L8/P4) "Shadow-Mech Fortress!" (A3500/D2000/L8) Celestia: The first turn and Shadow has already summoned two high level monster to his field. What else does he have it store for Twilight. "And now I'll overlay my two Shadow-Mechs," Shadow said as his two monsters glowed and changed into lights, before shooting into the air, as a black hole appeared below him which the lights flew into. "With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network." The black hole exploded in a burst of light. "I XYZ SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing the black spaceship, transformed the robot form which now hovered above the shelves of the library. "Shadow-Mech Xyz Bot!" (A3000/D1500/R8) "What's he doing?" Spike asked. "Yeah," Rainbow said, "sure that monsters powerful, especially against Xyz monsters, but he knows Twilight doesn't have any Xyz monsters and he had to give up two super strong monsters for it." "He had to have had a reason." They all looked around and saw Flash sitting down next to them. "Where have you been?" Rarity asked, "Applejack's been here ages." "Wanted to wish Twilight some luck," Flash replied, "just making sure she was ready for this." "Okay," Scootaloo said, "but what did you mean have a reason for him to do that?" "I don't know," Flash said, "but I do know that he never does anything just for the sake of it. He wanted that monster out. I don't know why, but I know Twilight's gonna need to be careful. "I'll end my turn there," Shadow said as he waited for his opponent to begin her turn. "It's my turn," Twilight said as she reached for her deck, "I draw and I'll start by using scale two Magi-Beast Midnight Owl and scale six Magi-Beast Mystic Dracokid, to set the Pendulum Scale." She slapped the card down on the Duel Disk, as the columns of light appeared and the two monsters flew up into it. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," she said as the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a single beam of light shot out and struck the ground. "Terra Charmer!" (A1200/D1800/L4) "Next I'll summon Flame Burst Magician in ATK mode," Twilight said as the flame clothed wizard appeared. (A1300/D600/L3) "And when Flame Burst Magician is normal summoned, he inflicts eight hundred points of damage onto you." The magician spun his staff around as the head lit on fire, before it swung it at Shadow and shot the fireball which struck him in the chest. Twilight: 4000 Shadow: 3200 "And now," Twilight said, "I'll have Terra Charmer tune itself to Flame Burst Magician." Terra Charmer leapt into the air, before transforming into four balls of light. Those lights then carved the four circles, which Flame Burst Magician leapt into. "When two mighty magicians unite their magical power, an amazing event will occur." In that moment her monsters disappeared in an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON." The light faded revealing one of Twilight's aces. "Twilight Sorcerer!" (A2100/D2800/L7) Luna: Once again Twilight calls upon her ace monster to get the job done. "Like I didn't see that coming," Shadow said. "Well did you see this coming?" Twilight asked as her deck began to shuffle. "I'm using Twilight Sorcerer's ability to add a random Spellbook to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card, which she then took and glanced at. She saw it was Spellbook of Eternity, which was useless to her right now...except. "I'll now activate the Pendulum Ability of my Midnight Owl," she said, "which lets me discard a card to add another Spell card to my hand." She discard Spellbook of Eternity as her deck slotted out another card, which she took and then activated it. "Now I'll use Spellbook of Power, which will increase Twilight Sorcerer's ATK strength by one thousand. Plus with two Spellbooks in my grave, he gets another two hundred points. (A3300/D2800/L7) Shadow began running, dashing through the rows of bookcases in search of an Action Card. He then saw one not to far off, sticking out from between two books, which he pulled out of and stared at it "ATTACK!" Twilight ordered as her magician raised his staff and unleashed a powerful burst of magical energy, which flew at Xyz Bot and struck it, causing an explosion. "I activate the Action Spell Shush," Shadow said, "this card causes my life points to increase instead of decrease, while dealing you the same amount as damage. Twilight: 3700 Shadow: 3500 "Since he destroyed a monster," Twilight explained, "Spellbook of Power's second effect allows me to add another Spellbook to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card, which she took and placed in her hand. "I end my turn." Her Spellbook of Power faded off. (A2300/D2800/L7) "Then it's my turn," Shadow said as he reached for his deck, "I draw!" He looked around and saw another Action Card on a higher shelve, which he leapt up and barely managed to grab, before checking it out. Seeing what it was he smiled, before placing it inside his Duel Disk. "I play Blind Check Out," he said, "which lets me look at the top five cards of my deck and then deals me three hundred points of damage for each monster I reveal." He did so and saw two monsters. Twilight: 3700 Shadow: 2900 "Now for the good part," Shadow said, "I can summon any Level four or bellow monster." In a flash of light, Shadow-Mech Racer and Medibot appeared on the field. (A1500/D1200/L4), (A1600/D1400/L4) "Since Medibot was special summoned," Shadow continued, "I regain a thousand life points." Twilight: 3700 Shadow: 3900 "Now I'll once again carve the arc of victory," Shadow said as the portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a single light shot out, before striking the ground and taking shape. "Shadow-Mech Star Shuttle." (A3000/D3000/L8/P4) Twilight was nervous, but knew she needed to remain calm. Her face down was Spellbinding Circle, so even if he attacked with Star Shuttle she would be safe. "And now," " Shadow said, "with Shadow-Mech Breaker's Pendulum Ability I will fuse Shadow-Mech Racer and And Medibot!" The robot pointed its drill at the spot above the two monsters, before it spun and unleashed a beam of light which created a vortex that the two were sucked into. "I FUSION SUMMON!" The vortex exploded and from it came the purple space ship, which transformed into its robot form that towered above them. "Shadow-Mech Fusion Bot!" (A3200/D1300/L8) "Oh," Twilight said seeing it above her. "Now I'll equip him with Cyber Sabre," Shadow said as the robotic sword appeared in the Fusion Monster's hand. "This card grants my Fusion Bot a thousand extra ATK points." (A4200/D1300/L8) Celestia: Shadow's monster has shown itself to be incredibly powerful. "How will Twilight respond? "I activate my face down," Twilight called out as her Trap flipped up, "Spellbinding Circle! With this card I can freeze your Fusion Bot in place and prevent it from attacking." A magic circle appeared around the robot, causing it to stop dead centre. Luna: Twilight Sparkle, stopping Shadow's best monster with a single card. "Your sister may regret that," Chrysalis said. "How'd you figure?" Shining asked. "That card would have help when Shadow summons his Synchro Bot," Chrysalis replied, "but now she can't." "Twilight wouldn't have done it without a reason," Sunset said. "That's right," Cadance said, "she must have some other plan to use against it. "Well I can't wait to see what it is." Shadow growled, seeing one of his best cards stuck like that. "Fine," he said, "I've still got Star Shuttle." His robot transformed into its vehicle form and flew up, before dive bombing towards Twilight Sorcerer." Twilight started running through the rows of bookcases, but before she could find an Action Card, Star Shuttle struck and destroyed her monster. The explosion caused Twilight to be thrown backwards. Twilight: 3000 Shadow: 3500 "I end my turn," Shadow said. As Twilight laid on the ground, she looked up and saw an Action Card up on a higher shelf. Getting up she began climbing up the shelf and pulled the card free, before jumping down and placing her hand on her deck. "It's my turn," she said, "I draw and then activate Blind Check Out." She took the top five cards off her deck and saw only two monsters. Twilight: 2400 Shadow: 3500 "I summon Star Charmer and Spirit Chanter," Twilight said as her two monsters appeared on her side of the field. (A300/D300/L1), (A500/D300/L2) "Now I'll use Midnight Owl's Pendulum Ability once again," Twilight said as she discarded the card she'd just drawn before her deck slotted out a card. She took it and smiled. "I activate Spellbook of Rebirth, which lets me revive Twilight Sorcerer back to my field." In a flash of brilliant light, Twilight's Synchro Monster reappeared next to her. Celestia: With Twilight Sorcerer back on the field, while Twilight be able to stop Shadow's two mighty monsters. Shadow meanwhile, was looking over the other cards Twilight had. "With those two on the field." "I now tune Level one Star Charmer with Level two Spirit Chanter," Twilight called out as the star themed wizard waved his wand and transformed into a ball of light. It then carved a ring that Spirit Chanter leapt into. "Now watch," Twilight said, "as both power and magic surge towards each other and collide to create pure might." The two disappeared in a burst of radiant light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing the Synchro Tuner that had helped Twilight defeat Adagio. "Celestial Charmer!" (A1200/D600/L3) Everyone smiled seeing that card, knowing what would be following. "Since Celestial Charmer was Synchro Summoned," Twilight explained, "I can draw a card and if its a Spell card then one of your monsters will lose five hundred ATK points." Twilight drew a card and smiled seeing Spellbook of Master, which she showed to Shadow. The dark Duellist frowned before looking up at Fusion Bot, who started glowing. (A3700/D1300/L8) "And now," Twilight said, "Level three Synchro Tuner Celestial Charmer tunes with Level seven Twilight Sorcerer!" Celestia Charmer waved its staff before transforming into three rings of light, which flew up into towards the unseen roof. Once there, Twilight Sorcerer flew up towards them. "Ancient power of the heavens, let your might flow through me, so I may carry out your work." As Twilight Sorcerer flew through the rings, they exploded into light which covered the Spellcaster before the light formed a cocoon around him. "GO ACCEL SYNCHRO!" The light cocoon disappeared from around Twilight's monster, revealing her most powerful monster. "Celestial Body Magician!" (A3500/D3000/L10) "Nice trick," Shadow said, "but even with the decrease, my monster is still stronger." "Not for long," Twilight said, "because I'm using Spellbook of Masters." She revealed Spellbook Restock. "I select the effect of Spellbook of Power, to increase my magician's ATK power. (A4500/D3000/L10) "Now I'll activate my magician's ability," Twilight said as she looked at the top five cards. "With two Spellbooks, my magician can attack twice." Celestial Body Magician waved his staff, creating a pair of ethereal books which spun around his body. He then pointed his staff down towards Star Shuttle and Fusion Bot, causing the books to go flying towards them as they transformed into meteor like projectiles. The first one struck Star Shuttle, destroying it. Twilight: 2400 Shadow: 2000 The second book then struck Fusion Bot, also destroying it. Twilight: 2400 Shadow: 1200 "Since you destroyed Fusion Bot while it was equipped with Cyber Sabre," Shadow said, "I can add a Level four or below Shadow-Mech to my hand from the deck." A card slotted out from his deck, which he took and added to his hand. "Well Spellbook of Power now lets me add another Spellbook to my hand," Twilight said as he deck slotted out a card, "I place one card face down and end my turn." (A4500/D3000/L10) Luna: Twilight's ultimate monster has proven itself once again, leaving Shadow's field empty. Celestia: How will he deal with this? "It's my turn," Shadow said, "I draw and Pendulum Summon!" The portal formed, before opening and shooting out two lights that struck the ground. "Shadow-Mech Star Shuttle!" (A3000/D3000/L8/P4) "Shadow-Mech Rover!" (A1500/D2000/L5) "And of course," Shadow said as he slapped down another card, "the monster that Cyber Sabre got me. Doom Cycle!" The motorbike appeared, before transforming into its robot form. (A1200/D700/L3) Twilight grew nervous at the sight of that card. "And now," Shadow said, "I'm tuning my Level three Doom Cycle with my Level five Rover!" Doom Cycle leapt into the air, before transforming into three spheres of light which carved a trio of light circles that Rover leapt into as he transformed into his vehicle mode. The two monsters suddenly disappeared in a powerful burst of light "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing the last of Shadow's spaceship like monsters. It transformed and looked down at Twilight, whose spine shivered. "Shadow-Mech Synchro Bot." (A3100/D1400/L8) Luna: There it is. The one monster that can stop Twilight's. "This is bad," Spike said. "Twilight needs to do something now," Rainbow said. "She needs an Action Card," Rarity said. "If there is one," Applejack said. "This ends now," Shadow said as he looked up at his monster. "Synchro Bot, attack!" The monsters chest opened up and out folded the lance like weapon, which it aimed up at Twilight's monster. "And don't forget about my monsters special ability" A beam of light flew out and struck Celestial Body Magician, causing him to flinch in pain as his power was depleted. (A0/D0/L10) "FIRE!" The lance fired its silver beam of energy, which flew towards the the Synchro monster. "TWILIGHT!" Her friends screamed. Twilight remained calm, as a smile appeared on her lips. "I activate Celestial Body Magician's ability," she called out, "which lets me banish him until my next turn. In exchange I can negate your Synchro Bot's attack." Celestial Body Magician disappeared, causing the silver beam to miss it completely and strike a nearby book shelf. Celestia: So close, but it seems Twilight was prepared. Luna: But don't forget, Shadow has one more monster on the field. "She's right," Shadow said, "Star Shuttle, attack her directly!" The robot transformed into its vehicle form and then flew up, before dive bombing Twilight. "I activate my face down," Twilight said as her card flipped up, "Spellbook of Illusions! Now I can summon four Spellbook Tokens to my field in DEF mode." The four books appeared around her, before one flew up and intercepted Star Shuttle's attack. (A0/D0/L1)X3 Shadow was literally growling at this. Celestia: She did it! Twilight Sparkle managed to protect herself from Shadow's assault. Luna: Shadow only has one thing left to do now. "I end my turn." "Then I'll go," Twilight said as she drew her card. In a flash of light, Celestial Body Magician appeared above her. Twilight then activated her monsters ability, which revealed three Spellbooks. "You know what that means," she said, "three attacks. GO!" Her monster created three magic books, which it fired at Shadow's monsters. Shadow meanwhile began running through the library in search of an Action Card but as he looked, the first book struck Star Shuttle. Twilight: 2400 Shadow: 700 As he finally located an Action Card, the second book then struck Synchro Bot. Twilight: 2400 Shadow: 300 Shadow leapt up, as the third and final book flew at him. He grabbed the Action Card and landed on top of the case, as the book struck him and caused an explosion. Everyone watched in anticipation. Had Twilight done it? Had she beaten Shadow? Finally the smoke cleared and everyone saw Shadow, still standing. Twilight: 2400 Shadow: 150 "How?" Twilight asked in horror. Shadow just smiled. "Seconds before your attack hit, I activated the Action Spell Trigger Trap. By paying half my life points, I could activate any Trap in my deck. I chose Shadow-Mech Guard, which cancelled out the damage I would have taken by banishing up to three Shadow-Mechs from my graveyard." He help out Racer, Medibot and Rover. "Plus it lets me add two cards from my deck to my hand." His deck slotted out two cards, which he took. Celestia: Twilight was seconds away from victory, but a miracle card came in and saved Shadow. Luna: What will Shadow do now though? "I'll assume you're done?" Shadow asked. Twilight didn't reply, and simply nodded in agreement. "Then I'll draw," Shadow said. He looked at the card he'd drawn and smiled, before looking at the two cards his Trap had given him. "Thank you father," he said, "with these my victory is assured." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. What else did he have that could save him? "It's time," Shadow said as he raised the card, "behold. Shadow-Mech Total Annihilation Ritual!" The ground beneath them began to shake, before the floor of the library cracked open and from out of them came the broken and scrap like remains of Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Bot. "I should thank you for destroying these three," Shadow said, "because now I can summon something better then all of them." The pieces of the three monsters glowed as they flew up into the sky, before colliding into radiant burst of light. "By banishing these three monsters from my graveyard," Shadow explained, "I can now ritual summon my ultimate monster." The light shot out of the Action Field and into the sky, as dark clouds began to form and hid the light. "What's going on?" Spike asked. "I have no idea," Flash said. Twilight watched as a brilliant flash illuminated the clouds, before quickly dying out. She then looked over at Shadow. "Well?" She asked, "where is this ultimate monster?" Shadow just smiled, before pointing up at the clouds. Twilight looked back up and stared at the dark clouds. Suddenly she saw the clouds begin to fade, revealing...something. Her eyes grew wide in horror at the sight. Everyone else saw it to and were just as afraid. "What...is that?" Scootaloo asked, not looking away from what she saw. "The biggest Duel Monster I've ever seen," Rainbow replied. She was right about that. This monster was larger then the whole stadium. It was a humongous metal sphere with mostly grey metal, but it also had orange areas and two orange horn like appendages. Suddenly the entire bulk began to shift and change, seeming to almost turn inside out. Finally its new form appeared. A sixty meter high orange and grey robot, which looked down at the stadium and caused everyone inside it to tremble. "Behold, my most powerful monster. Shadow-Mech ANNIHILATER!" (A5000/D5000/L12/P0) Twilight had gone catatonic at the sight of the monster. "Now I'll be using the Spell card, Limiter Removal. With this my Annihilater's ATK points double. (A10000/D5000/L12/P0) "No way," Spike said. "It's over nine thousand!" Flash yelled. Shadow smiled at everyone's horror. "Annihilater," he said, "attack!" The giant robot began to move, reaching out and pointing one of its giant fingers at Celestial Body Magician. Seeing this quickly snapped Twilight out of her shock. "I activate my magician's ability, to banish itself and negate your attack!" "Not this time," Shadow said, "because I activate my Annihilater's ability." His Extra Deck opened and from it he took out a Synchro card. "By discarding a monster of the same type, he can then negate your monsters effect." Twilight's froze hearing this, before looking back up at the monster as its huge finger struck. The mere force of it sending shock waves through the air. Celestial Body Magician screamed in horror as it felt this and was quickly destroyed, which Twilight was blown off her feet. "TWILIGHT!" Her friends screamed, but the shock waves stopped them from even moving. "TWILIGHT!" Shining screamed as he, Cadance and Sunset got up and ran out the box. BOOM! The force of the attack sent a smoke cloud which filled the whole arena. For several horrible seconds no one could see what was happening, until finally the smoke faded and they could look down. "No," Flash whispered at what he saw. Twilight was laying on the ground, completely still. Twilight: 0 Shadow: 150 (Winner) "TWILIGHT!" Flash screamed as he ran down the seats, followed by his friends. Without a seconds hesitation, he leaped over the barrier and landed on the ground. He then ran over to Twilight and slide to his knees as he picked her up. "Twilight," he whispered. Twilight was weak, but breathing. The rest of his friends surrounded them, making sure she was alright. "Twilight," Fluttershy said in horror as she began crying. "You monster!" Rainbow screamed as she turned to Shadow "How could you?" Shadow just smiled as he turned to Flash. "You felt it didn't you? The unequalled power that I posses. Tell me, are you afraid? you are aren't you? You're afraid." Flash was shaking in anger as he looked down at Twilight, before he turned to his doppelganger. "Yeah I'm afraid," he said as he placed Twilight down and then stood up to look Shadow dead in the eye, "afraid of what I'm gonna do to you Shadow." Shadow just smiled before turning to leave. "We'll settle this in the finals." With that he left, leaving the rest of the group to fawn over Twilight. Celestia: There you have it folks. Flash Sentry will face off against Shadow for the chance to claim the title of Celestic Cup Champion. Luna: We're giving our two Duellists a day to recuperate and prepare, before returning for what's sure to be the ultimate show down. You don't want to miss it.