Canterlot.
Cold and Shining were working on trying to find some clue that might help them rescue those that had been taken. Misty had flown out to meet up with Tempest and join Grand Hoof's team, investigating suspected areas of Omega Zealot activity.
"I see, thank you." Cold hung up the phone before typing away at his laptop.
"Anything?" Shining asked.
"Another possible location to look into. This one's in Hong Kong."
Shining sighed, "all these rumours. The Dominators have us going on wild goose chases."
"Maybe, but we can't risk missing out a single location. Even the most vague rumour could lead to a well-hidden base or lab." He sighed and sat back, "we just need one lead." It was then that his phone began to ring, the man quickly answering. "Cold Steel." His eyes quickly went wide as he stood up, "wow. Tidal, relax." Shining looked at him worriedly, knowing if Tidal was calling something bad might be happening to his sister. "Now calmly tell me what's going one."
"Twilight's Duelling one of the Omega Zealots," he explained while watching the Duel take place. "It's the Dominator who was controlling Starlight. She's back in a new body. She managed to force Twilight into a Duel and she just summoned her true form."
Tidal looked up at the monster Trixie had just summoned, Shining Magician Glorianna.
"I see. How's Starlight doing?" Tidal looked to the side and became worried the moment his vision landed on Starlight.
The pink-skinned girl's entire body was shaking at the sight of the monster, who seemed to look over at her and smile a sinister smile. "No," she staggered back only to trip over her own feet and fall on her behind.
"Starlight?" Tidal knelt down beside her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You're safe."
"Don't worry Starlight," she turned to Twilight and saw her shining a reassuring smile. "I won't let her get anywhere near you." She would have said more, but Trixie then broke out into a high-pitched laugh that made Twilight turn to glare at her.
"You think you can protect her. Please, don't make me laugh. Against the power I now wield, you don't stand any chance." She turned to Starlight, "I told you you'd regret not using my power. We would have been undefeated during the Double X, if you'd only thrown away those silly Celestial Spirits and used my deck instead."
"Shut up!" Trixie slowly turned towards Twilight, a pouting look on her face. "Don't you dare call her deck silly. Those cards represent the bond she has with Sunburst. Their friendship was reinforced every time she used them. But then you stole her body and broke that bond, which only still exists because Sunburst worked so hard to save her." She pointed at her, "you stole a year of Starlight's life. And now you've stolen another body, just so you can destroy this world. I won't let you get away with any of it."
Starlight smiled hearing this, glad she had such great friends looking out for her now. Unlike the time between Sunburst's departure to Duel Academy and her Domination, she wasn't alone. "Thanks, Twilight."
Trixie's pout turned into a full-on pout. "Just try it. I'll be looking forward to sending you to Void. Now if you excuse me, it's still my turn."
"Then go."
"Oh, I will. I activate my Trap, Cleansing Light of the Heavens. This card grants me four hundred life points for every Light monster in my Graveyard." A bunch of shining clouds appeared above her before opening up, the glowing spectral images of her fallen monsters flying down towards her before exploding into light that flew into her Duel Disk.
Trixie: 3700
Twilight: 3400
"That's not good," Tidal realised. He'd set his phone to video mode, Cold transferring the call to his computer so he and Shining could watch the whole thing.
"Then I'll use Glorianna's skill." She placed a card from her hand into her deck, the deck shuffling before Trixie drew a new one. Looking at the card, she smiled. "I play the Continuous Spell Card, Light of Redemption! With this, I can pay three hundred life points to revive a Level Four or lower monster in my graveyard until the End Phase.
Trixie: 3400
Twilight: 3400
"Revive, Herald of Creation!" A burst of light signalled the priestesses return to the field. (A1800/D600/L4) "Next, I'll use the Spell Draining Light!" Herald held up her staff as Twilight Unicorn began to glow, that light flying off her and into the staff. "This card steals away five hundred of your monsters ATK points and adds them to my monster for the turn. (A2300/D600/L4) (A1500/D1300/L4/P7) "Now," Trixie pointed at Twilight's ace, "I attack with Glorianna!" The Shining Magician leapt into the air and raised her staff before pointing it at Warlock, unleashing a bright beam of light that blinded Warlock. "And when she attacks a monster, that monster loses one hundred ATK points for every Light monster on my field." (A2700/D2100/L7/P4)
"Not good," Tidal panicked.
"Twilight!" Starlight almost screamed, only to see Twilight smiling.
"TRAP SUMMON!" Her face down flipped up before a burst of light shot out and took shape, then faded to reveal her Trap Monster. "Moondancing Guardian Scholar, Saltalunam!" (A1000/D2500/L7) Saltalunam leapt infront of Warlock, blocking the attack. "Saltalunam's skill. Tribute Twilight Unicorn and return one Spellbook from my grave to my hand." The horned horse vanished as Twilight retrieved the card, Warlock's ATK lowering by a hundred, right before her monster exploded. "Thanks Moondancer."
"Woo!" Starlight clapped.
"Bien hecho!"
Trixie smirked, "I place two card face down and end my turn." Warlock's ATK returned to their normal value. (A2800/D2100/L7/P4)
"Then it's my turn!" Twilight drew her card and smiled, "And I play Magical Mallet!" With this, I can return any card in my hand to my deck before it shuffles and I redraw the same number of cards." She did so, replacing two cards and drawing as the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before two lights shot out and hit the ground, revealing her monsters that were powered up by her Star Hall. "Twilight Unicorn!" (A2000/D1300/L4/P7) "And Pyro Charmer!" (A1500/D1200/L2)
"With those cards," Trixie watched Twilight's two new monster flew up into the air.
"Now watch, as I tune Level Three Pyro Charmer with Level Four Twilight Unicorn!" The wizard transformed into a trio of lights, which carved three circles that Twilight Unicorn leapt into. "It's time to embrace the power given by those we call friends and ascend to a higher plain of life." Instead of disappearing in a flash, the light was infused into Twilight Unicorn as two new appendages appeared on its back. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
The light faded from the monster's body, revealing Twilight's other ace monster as it fluttered down towards the ground. "Twilight Alicorn!" (A2800/D1900/L7) "Then I activate the Spellbook of Power, to increase Warlock's ATK power by one thousand." (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) "And since I used another Spellbook, my Star Hall gains another counter." (A4000/D2100/L7/P4) (A2900/D1900/L7) "Then I'll use Alicorn's ability, to banish a Spellbook from my grave to increase her ATK power." Her winged unicorn neighed as her horn began to glow with purple light. (A3900/D1900/L7) But with one less Spellbook in her graveyard, her Warlock's ATK power reduced to equal Alicorn's. (A3900/D2100/L7/P4)
Starlight and Tidal both smiled as they looked over at Trixie, seeing her looking nervous. "Alright," Starlight smiled, "you got her scared. Finish this!"
"Gladly. Warlock, ATTACK!" The wizard held out his book before unleashing a burst of energy that flew at Glorianna and destroyed her, leading to Trixie crying out in pain.
Trixie: 2500
Twilight: 3400
Trixie then smirked. "You activated my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Damage Mirror. This Trap can only activate whenever I take damage. Now it'll reflect the damage I just received onto you." The card unleashed a beam of light, which struck Twilight and made her cry out as she staggered back.
Trixie: 2500
Twilight: 2500
"That's not all. You also activated Glorianna's other ability. When she's destroyed, I can summon a Level Four or below Light monster from my graveyard right to the field." A pillar of light appeared infront of her before Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens appeared. It was in DEF mode, meaning Twilight couldn't cause Trixie any damage.
Twilight frowned as she added a Spellbook from her Deck to her hand due to Spellbook of Power's effect. "Fine, but I can still destroy it!" Twilight Alicorn's horn glowed before it unleashed its attack, Trixie smirking as she did.
Starlight saw this and her eyes grew wide, the girl turning to her friend. "Twilight, no. It's a trap!" But it was too late. Alicorn's attack struck the Barrier Statue and destroyed it.
"That activates my other Trap," her face down flipped up. "Starburst Draw!" She drew four cards as her monsters ability activated. "Now, I can summon a Light Monster with Fifteen hundred or less ATK. So now I summon Witch of Heavenly Guidance!" The pillar of light appeared before an angel wearing golden wizard robes appeared, carrying a staff with a harp on the top of it. (A1000/D1000/L4)
"I place one card face down and end my turn." Warlock and Alicorn's ATK points returned to normal, though still powered up. (A2900/D2100/L7/P4) (A2900/D1900/L7)
"It's my turn," Trixie drew her card as Witch of Heavenly Guidance began to glow. "During my Standby Phase, I can discard a Light monster from my hand and tribute her in order to activate her ability. An ability that allows me to revive another Light monster back to my field." The witch strung a tune on her harp, which caused a portal to open infront of her.
Another copy of Generous Mystical Elf appeared beside her before they both floated up into it, the portal unleashing a mighty light before another monster flew out of it. Nobody was surprised to see Glorianna return to the field, the mage ready to do battle once again. (A3000/D2500/L8)
"And with her on my field, I can shuffle one card from my hand back into my deck and draw a new one." When she drew the card, a massive smile appeared on her face. One that filled everyone with utter dread and fear. "It's time." She raised the card high. "With this card, I place my entire future on the line." Twilight stared at her in confusion, Trixie continuing to explain. "Should I happen to lose this Duel, then every single card in my deck will be destroyed."
"She'd really risk something like that?" Tidal asked.
"Trust me," Starlight nodded. "The card she's about to summon is worth that risk." She looked over at Twilight, hoping she has some way of protecting herself. "Be careful."
Twilight continued to watch Trixie as she took a card from her hand and showed it to her, revealing another copy of her ace. "To summon this card, I must sacrifice a Light Attributed monster while discarding a card in my hand with the same name." As she did this, Glorianna leapt into the air as light exploded off of her and formed a sphere.
The light was so bright, that no one was able to look at it. They were all forced to shield their eyes as the orb flew higher and grew larger, eventually becoming so big and bright it blinded all of Paris.
Twilight tried to force her eyes open, looking up and seeing something begin to pull itself free of the orb. That something was actually a giant feathered wing, so large it blotted out the light from the real sun. It was soon joined by a second wing, just as big as the first.
"Awaken," Trixie chanted, "beast of light!" She slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the orb exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Glorious Shine, MESMERIDIEM!"
This dragon had four legs and was a combo of white and gold. Its main body was covered in gold fur with a white nonmetallic armour covering its legs, back, tail and down the front of its long neck. Silver hair ran from the back of its head, down its neck until it reached its shoulder, where it bundled together to make shoulder-pad like covering. The tip of its tail also had silver hair coming out of it, giving it a lion tail like look. On its head, it had a single horn with three points. The first point came out of its snout and was in the shape of a cutlass blade, while the other points came out its bottom and ran along the top of its head and above its eyes until they reached the back of its head and went off the end. On its forehead was a round yellow gem, with the kanji for light inside it.
The dragon stared down at its prey before unleashing a mighty roar, which was so powerful it almost knocked Twilight and her friends off their feet. "Impressive," they heard Trixie ask, "isn't it? But don't worry, it won't be around for long. At the end of this turn, Mesmeridiem will be banished and replaced by one of the monsters used to summon it. But in the meantime, I have all this power to play with." She smirked over at Starlight, "the power you could have had as an Omega Zealot."
"It doesn't matter how powerful that monster is," Starlight told her. "I would never work with you."
"Fine, not that I'd want to use your silly body again anyway. I have a much better host. One that is far more great and powerful."
"There's the Trixie I know," Twilight huffed before looking back up at her dragon.
"Behold the power of a Zenith Dragon. Its ATK and DEF points become the sum total of the monsters used in its summoning. (A6000/D5000/L12)
"Dulce madre de dios," Tidal whispered. Cold and Shining were just as shocked, the camera not able to capture the full image of the dragon.
"Next, I'll pay three hundred life points to revive Herald of Creation back to the field."
Trixie: 2200
Twilight: 2500
The priestess appeared before her, vastly overshadowed by the presence of Trixie's Zenith Dragon. "But don't think she'll stick around long, cause now I'll tribute her to use Mesmeridiem's ability!" The priestess exploded into light, which flew up into the dragon's forehead crystal. "Now I can subtract half my monsters ATK points from your monster's ATK points." A blinding light exploded from out of the crystal, about to blind Twilight's Warlock.
"I activate the Pendulum Ability of my White Wing Magician!" Twilight announced as her Pendulum Monster waved her wand, creating a wall of dark light that blocked the Zenith Dragon's light. "It lets me negate the effect of a card that's targeting a Dark Spellcaster on my field." The light eventually faded, leaving Warlock unharmed. "It has a price though." White Wing Magician exploded, breaking Twilight's Pendulum Scale.
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Twilight must have a reason for keeping her monster's ATK that high. Having an extra nine hundred points won't make much of a difference."
Twilight smiled, looking down at her face down. It was a Spell Card called Spellbook of Unified Magic, which would allow her to transfer the ATK of a Spellcaster to another one. Together, her monster's ATK points almost equalled the Zenith Dragon. Trixie would destroy it, but Twilight's life points would remain. Trixie would have no choice but to end her turn and her monster would be gone.
"Next, I activate Mesmeridiem's other ability."
"Another one?" Twilight watched as Herald of Creation appeared infront of the Zenith Dragon. "What's going on."
"What's going on is I'm banishing Herald of Creation from my graveyard." Her priestess exploded into a burst of light, which Mesmeridiem sucked into its mouth. "By doing this, I can destroy a card in your Spell, Trap or Pendulum Zone." Twilight's eyes went wide hearing this. "But you can stop it. All you have to do is discard a card from your hand. So," she smirked, "what are you gonna do?"
Twilight frowned, "no choice." She discarded a card, "I negate your monster's effect." Mesmeridiem launched a laser from its mouth, but it was blocked by a dome-like force-field. This made Twilight sigh, until-
"I now banish Generous Mystical Elf, to activate her ability once more!" Twilight's eyes went wide as she saw the monster appear before getting sucked into the beast's mouth, the Zenith Dragon roaring once again.
"I discard a card and negate your monsters ability again!" Another force-field blocked the laser again, but Trixie wasn't done.
"I banish Lustre Mage Alina!" The pre-fusion witch was absorbed by the dragon before it fired the laser again.
Twilight would have discarded a card, but her hand was empty. "No." All she could do was watch as her face down was destroyed, Trixie smiling at the sight.
"It's over," she pointed at Twilight. "End this!" The dragon's entire body began to glow before the light flew off into its mouth, "BLINDING BLAZER!" The dragon roared, unleashing the light into one giant laser that flew down towards Twilight.
The girl gasped, feeling the power coming from it and turning to run, Tidal and Starlight doing the same. They all ran towards the door, hoping to find safety in the cover of the airport. But just as Tidal and Starlight jumped through the door, the attack struck.
KABOOM!
The laser vaporised Twilight's monster while burning a hole through the roof into the airport. Luckily, the previous explosion had caused a mass evacuation so nobody was in that section of the building. However, Twilight and her friends weren't so lucky.
Twilight was blasted by the force of the laser and sent flying while Tidal and Starlight found the stairs beneath them begin to collapse due to the damage done to that section of the building. "GYAH!" They cried as they fell, landing on a large pile of rubble enough force to cause immense pain.
Back on the roof, Twilight was moaning in pain as she lay near the edge of the giant hole
Trixie: 2200 (Winner)
Twilight: 0
She let out a groan as she picked herself up, realising her glasses had been blown off from the explosion. It took a few seconds of patting the ground before she found them and put them on, gasping as she saw the destruction caused by the Zenith Dragon.
She looked up at the beast as it glared down at her, then vanished into nothingness as Trixie began to make her way around the hole to her side.
Twilight shuffled closer to the edge and looked down into the debris, spotting Starlight laying on a pile of rubble while Tidal had been half-buried. "Guys!" Both looked up at her, groans escaping them as they did. "Are you okay."
Starlight began to move, her body bruised but nothing was broken. "I'm fine...more or less." She turned to Tidal, "you okay?"
Tidal tried to move, but his legs were trapped. He didn't know if they'd been broken or if it was just the debris pressing down on them, but they hurt. "I'm not sure." He looked over and saw his phone laying on the ground, completely shattered with the call being cut. No doubt Cold and Shining were having a fit, wondering what had happened to them.
Twilight was about to say she'd come down and help, but then she heard Trixie begin to laugh. "Such frail creatures you are." Twilight spun around and saw she was now stood directly behind her. "So easily damaged by the simplest of things." Twilight stood up as Trixie held up her gloved hand. "You, who have lost to an Omega Zealot, now proceed to Void, dimensional prison of souls." The mark on her hand glowed bright enough to be seen through the glove, right before Trixie pushed Twilight over the edge of the hole.
"TWILIGHT!" Starlight and Tidal screamed as they saw her begin to fall backwards, the girl automatically reaching out as if to try and grab the air as she let out a silent scream. But before she could hit the ground, a portal opened up right below her. And all her friends could do was watch as she fell through the hole and completely vanished.
"No," Starlight whispered as the hole shrank down into nothingness. Once it was completely gone, she turned to Trixie. "Bring her back!"
Trixie stared down at her in silence for several seconds, until she finally replied. "No." She pulled a card out of her pocket and tossed it into the air, another portal appearing infront of her that she stepped through and disappeared before it too vanished.
Both Twilight and Trixie gone, all the energy drained from Starlight as she could no longer sit up. "I'm sorry Twilight," was all she could say before unconsciousness took her.
Twilight let out a moan as she started to come around, opening her eyes as she realised she was sitting against something hard.
And as her vision finally focused, she realised she was in a dark corridor made of metal. "Wh...where am I?" She then noticed something on the back of her hand and looked down to see the same empty omega symbol Flash had. "What's this?"
"Don't worry," Twilight gasped as she leapt up and looked around as the sound of footsteps caught her ears. "It comes and goes." Twilight quickly realised it was actually Gilda, who stood a few feet away with her arms crossed.
"Gilda. You're here too?" She nodded and held up her hand, showing the same symbol on it but her's had the first section filled up. Both symbols then vanished as Twilight began to pick herself up. "So, you must have lost to an Omega Zealot as well." This caused Gilda to frown and glare at her, Twilight slightly intimidated by her reaction.
Gilda then sighed, "yeah. I got totally trounced by this old hag. She was tough though. Didn't even look like she was breaking a sweat against me."
Twilight frowned, "did she use her Zenith Dragon against you too?"
"Zenith Dragon?"
"I take it that's a no then." Twilight looked around the place, not seeing anything that might help her find out where she was of how they could escape. "Any idea where we are?"
"No. I just know the place sucks." Gilda then look up into the darkness of an unlit shadow, "and I think they're watching us."
In what can only be described as the prison's control room, Skystar sat in a comfy chair drinking from a cup of coco with her legs up on the table. A pair of screen shows the two groups wandering through the halls.
"Three down and three to go," she smiled into her cups.
"And those three should be arriving shortly," she looked around and saw Discord step into the room. "Hellfire has already located another vessel and is about to move in." He turned to her, "and I want you to head to the place humans call Hong Kong."
Skystar's eyes went wide as she stood up. "Does that mean you've started construction."
Discord nodded. "The data you gathered was very useful. With it, we'll be able to build all six of them in no time. Once that's done, all that'll be left is to have master Zeronull Dominate a host and awaken the three remaining Zenith Dragons. Nothing can stop us after that."
Skystar nodded, "I'll head down there right away. You can count on me." She rushed out of the room, as Discord stepped up to the screens and watched the four hostages aimlessly wander through the halls.
"Might as well help them keep each other company." He sat down and began typing at the computer, chuckling at his own amusement.
Twilight and Gilda continued to walk through the hallways, but so far they saw nothing that stuck out to them.
But then, the whole world starting moving passed them at high speed. "WOW!" They both cried as they fell back due to the ground suddenly shifting forward. They quickly realised the floor was acting like a travelator, carrying them through the prison at high speed and even somehow turning corners incredibly fast.
After a few minutes of this, they found themselves moving towards a doorway that seemed to have no floor. "Nope!" Gilda picked herself up and tried to run in the opposite direction, the moving floor causing her to stay in exactly the same spot as Twilight moved towards the doorway.
When she got there, she found it was actually a slide-like structure that she was forced onto. She cried out while sliding down it, the shoot appearing to go for what felt like miles until she finally found herself reaching the bottom. "Wow!" She hit the end of the slide and continued to slide along the ground for several seconds until the finally stopped, the girl huffing as she laid on the back.
After a few seconds, she finally sat up and found she was in a round room with mirrors making up the walls and ceiling.
"YAAAAAH!" She heard Gilda scream, quickly stepping to the side before the girl slid into the room and stopped in the same spot she had. "That...sucked."
"Agreed," Twilight nodded before seeing the opening they'd fallen through suddenly shut as a mirror wall blocked it off. "And now we're trapped." The world decided to contradict her in that moment, for a mirror on the opposite side suddenly moved upwards to reveal the bottom of another slide.
And from that tunnel came the echoed voices of two familiar-sounding teens. "Gyah!" Flash cried as he and Scootaloo hit the ground, landing in a pile together.
"Ow," Scootaloo frowned.
"Worst...fun house...ever," Flash announced as he pushed Scootaloo off of him.
"Tell me about it," his eyes shot open hearing this. He spun around and saw the speaker really was who he thought it was.
"Twilight?" Was all he could say before his girlfriend rushed over and threw her arms around him, Flash hugging her back. "If you're here..."
"Yeah." She pulled away and looked him in the eye, "I've got some bad news."
Spike sighed as he half-listened to the teacher as they babbled on about the effects of ground erosion.
All his brain would allow him to focus on was the Omega Zealot situation, the teen beginning to imagine what might be happening to Flash and the others captured by them. He couldn't stop thinking about it, everything else simply being blocked out.
That was until he felt something whack him on the head, "ow!" He was pulled out of his thoughts and looked up to see his teacher staring down at him while holding a wooden ruler.
"I apologise if my lesson isn't holding your attention young man."
"No!" Spike blushed, "it's not that I think your lesson is boring or anything. It's just...family issues."
"Right," the sarcasm in the teacher's voice showed she wasn't buying it. "Well, I'm sure those issues can wait an extra hour, which you'll spend coping all three chapters on today's subject three times." Spike moaned as he hid his face in his arms, right as a knock appeared on the door.
It opened up to reveal the vice-principal, who moved over to the teacher and whispered something in her. The teacher suddenly looked very sheepish as she turned to her previous victim. "Spike," the teen looked up, "you're being excused for the rest of the day. Family issues."
Spike's heart stopped hearing this, knowing there could only be one issue that would warrant this.
He got up and rushed towards the door, moving so fast the teacher didn't even have time to apologise for earlier. He ran as fast as he could down the hallway until he reached the front door, bursting out and spotting Thorax standing beside his limo.
"Get in," he told him.
Spike didn't waste a moment and did as instructed, the limo driving off as soon as he was buckled up. "What happened?" He turned to the king, "it's Twilight, isn't it?" Thorax sighed, simply nodding. Spike could only close his eyes and sit back in despair. "How?"
"You'll have to wait until you see Cold to know. He didn't give me many details. But one thing's for sure, simply making sure you're not alone isn't enough. From now on, you'll be in protective custody."
Spike nodded, understanding wholeheartedly. As much as he wanted to help save his sister and everyone else, he wouldn't be much use if he was captured. He'd play it safe and let the others handle the big stuff and offer any support wherever he could.
Up on the roof of a nearby street, a flash of light appeared before morphing into a card-shaped portal.
Heath stepped out of that portal before it closed, the Dominator looking down at the street and smiling when the limo turned the corner into it. "Too easy." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Duel Disk, which he strapped onto his wrist as it activated.
"If they think a bunch of puny humans can defeat me, they're sorely mistaken." He took a card out of his deck, a sinister chuckle escaping his lips. "I'll kill them all!"
Spike was about to ask more questions about where he was gonna stay, but they completely vanished the moment a loud banging could be heard and the limo swerved for several seconds.
"What's happening?" Thorax clutched his seat as Pharynx managed to pull the vehicle to a stop.
"I don't know," Pharynx got out of the limo. "Don't move." He went around and checked the limo, eventually discovering the issue. "What?" He reached down and pulled a card out of the tyre, which had been stabbed deep enough to cause the air inside to escape.
Before he could start to even get suspicious, an intense wave of heat caused him to spin around in time to see a fireball shoot down towards him. It slammed into his chest and exploded, sending him flying back with a loud outcry of pain.
"Pharynx!" Thorax got out of his car and was about to run to his cousin, only for something else to fly down and land on the roof of the limo. He quickly saw it was a card with an image of dynamite on it, the teenage king's eyes going wide as he realised what it was. "Spike, get out of the car!"
Spike didn't ask why and just did it, jumping out of the limo seconds before the card exploded and destroyed it.
The other cars in the convoy swerved to a stop as the rest of the bodyguards got out, only for a barrage of fireballs to begin to rain down upon them. "Your majesty!" One yelled out as the guy next to him was struck, "you and the young man must run-AHHH!"
Thorax knew he had to listen to the now unconscious bodyguard. He rushed over to Spike and grabbed him by his hood, pulling him up and dragging him down into an alleyway. No sooner had they done that, the fireballs stopped.
But they didn't, continuing the run as fast as they could while Thorax pulled out his phone. They jumped out the other side of the alley as the king hit the call button, putting it to his ear.
"Cold Steel."
"We're under attack!"
"Wait, what?"
"It's gotta be a Dominator. They managed to take out all of my men and now they're chasing after us." He would have said more but a fireball flew down and destroyed a window they had just passed, the explosion almost knocking the two off their feet. "We're sitting ducks down here."
"Understood. Try and get somewhere safe to hide out and text us your position, then we'll come pick you up."
"We'll try, but it might be difficult." Another fireball forced him to hang up and focus on running, him and Spike zipping through several streets while being followed by the explosions.
Spike glanced back at one point and saw a fireball fly down and destroy a nearby car. There'd been several people on the street at this point, so the explosion had knocked several of them back and into things. Luckily, nobody had been seriously hurt but it would only be a matter of time.
"That's it!" He came to a stop and attached his Duel Disk, activating it.
"Spike," Thorax looked back at him, "what are you doing."
"I summon Flame Hunter Dragon!" In a burst of fire, the flaming wyvern appeared above him. "GOOOOO!" The beast breathed a cloud of flame, the holographic fire and smoke filling the street and making it impossible for anyone to see what was happening or where someone was going.
Flame Hunter vanished along with the smoke, revealing that Spike and Thorax had disappeared.
The two had taken the chance to get away and hand run in the first direction they could find a safe passage too. They had no idea if they'd managed to escape their pursuer, but the lack of fireballs and explosions seemed to say yes. "Nice thinking," Thorax told Spike as he spotted someplace they might be able to hide.
"I couldn't just let all those people get hurt because of me," Spike still felt bad that people had been potentially injured the he'd just left them to save his own skin. But if he'd stayed behind, the fireballs would have kept coming. He had to keep running and hide to keep everyone safe. Speaking of which.
It was now that Spike realised where Thorax was leading them. A football stadium. "Come on!" He lead him inside, "we'll hide in here." The stadium appeared completely empty, with not a single worker there despite the place not being locked. "Okay," he took out his phone and sent the text, "we should be safe here."
"Hopefully," Spike nodded. They headed further into the stadium and eventually arrived at the field, which had also been deserted. "So what do we do now?"
"Now you die!" It wasn't Thorax that said that.
In that moment, a fireball flew down and exploded between the two of them. They were both knocked backwards and slammed into the ground a distance away from each other, both groaning as they picked themselves up. "Spike!" Thorax tried to run towards him, but a wall of fire suddenly exploded infront of him. "Gyah!" He had to step away from the heat, but he couldn't escape it.
Soon the flames completely encircled him, forming a cage. "Thorax!" Spike could only watch as the flames formed a cocoon-like wrapping that extinguished within a millisecond, Thorax nowhere to be seen. "THORAX!" His panic broke at the sound of laughter, the teen turning towards its source and spotting Heath standing in the centre of the field.
Spike growled and rushed down the stairs, jumping over the barrier and landing on the field before sprinting full force. "Hello again," the Dominator smiled. "Long time no see."
"What did you do to Thorax!?" Spike's question went unanswered, Heath instead holding up his Duel Disk.
"You beat me in the Double X," he took out his deck and placed it inside. "And now I'm ready to get my own back."
Spike frowned, "forget it. I'm not Duelling you. I know that if I lose, you'll send me to wherever you sent Flash and my sister. Well it's not happening."
Heath frowned, not liking being denied. "Oh, you'll do it alright." He snapped his fingers and before the burst of fire exploded behind him, forming the same fire cage from before. And inside the cage was Spike's friend.
"THORAX!" Spike tried to run to him, but Heath blocked his path, "let him go!"
"Oh, I will." He held up his Duel Disk again, "when our Duel is over."
The teen realised what he was getting at. If Spike didn't agree to Duel, Thorax would remain trapped in the cage or maybe worse. Already, Thorax appeared to be suffering from being trapped inside the flames. If he wasn't freed soon, who knows what might happen to him.
"Spike," the king moaned as he looked up and him, "don't. Just...run."
Spike couldn't. He couldn't leave his friend to suffer like that. He had to help him. "Alright," he took his Duel Disk out and strapped it to his wrist. "You win. Let's do this."
"No!" Thorax yelled while Heath smiled.
"I knew you'd see it my way. Even humans are smart enough to understand something as simple as this."
'Okay, relax. This isn't the best situation, but maybe I can pull it to our advantage. If I can beat this guy, I might be able to finally free him from the Dominator's control. I've done it before and I'm way stronger now. I can win.'
"You ready?" Heath drew his cards.
"Oh, I'm ready!" Spike drew his own before the two yelled together.
"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"
Spike: 4000
Heath: 4000