//------------------------------//
// Turn 7: Hellfire Vengeance 
// Story: Yugioh EQG: Ω Zenith 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

On one of Canterlot's busiest highways, Cold's car was racing ten miles over the speed limit. 

Cold, Shining and Cadance were inside, all sporting a worried face as they flew down the road. 

"How much longer until we get to the stadium?" Cadance asked Cold, the man looking down at his sat-nav. 

"Not long." But as soon as he said that, they turned a corner and Cold slammed his foot onto the breaks. The car screeched to a halt, inches away from the bumper of a stationary car. Cold looked out the window a saw a massive traffic jam, moving around ten inches an hour. "Come on!" He started beeping, but it didn't do anything to help the cars move. 

"Gaaah!" Shining growled, "you've gotta be kidding me." 

Cadance placed a hand on his shoulder, "we'll get through this." 

"But by the time we do, Spike might already be taken." 

Cold pulled out his phone and tried to ring Thorax's number, but it kept going to answer machine. "Damn it. If he's not answering, something must be wrong." He hoped he was wrong and that Thorax had just forgotten to charge his phone, but his gut was telling him he wasn't. 



Thorax was currently sitting in a cage of fire, his phone having been damaged in the process. 

Infront of him was Spike and Heath, both beginning a Duel that would determine their fates. If Spike won, Heath might be freed from his puppeteer. But if he lost, he'd be taken. "Come on buddy. You can do this."

"I'll take the first move!" Heath drew his card and smiled, "and I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno!" The demon statue appeared in an explosion of flames, taking a defensive stance. (A1000/D1000/L4) "I place two cards face down and end my turn." 

"My turn!" Spike drew his card and nodded as a plan came to mind. "And from my hand, I play Cards of Consonance. So by ditching a Tuner monster from my hand with a thousand or less ATK points, I can draw two cards." He did so before taking a card he hadn't drawn, "now I summoned Dragonian Priestess!" A burst of fire revealed a woman wearing a blue dress under blue dragon-themed armour, carrying a staff made of purple crystal with three fingers holding a red gem at the top. (A1200/D900/L3)

"Seriously?" Heath asked, "you gave up a Tuner for that weakling?" 

"She's not as weak as you think," Spike told him, "First, when she's in the graveyard, she counts as a Dragon-type. Also, I didn't give up my Tuner. Because when my Priestess is summoned, I can revive a Level four or below dragon monster from my graveyard." Priestess held up her staff and unleashed a fireball that exploded to reveal Fireheart Dracokid. (A1000/D800/L2) "The downside is he can't attack this turn, but that doesn't matter." The tuner leapt into the air before morphing into two fireballs, which drew a pair of flaming rings that Priestess leapt into. "I now tune Fireheart Dracokid with Dragonian Priestess! Burning spirit, erupt into a wildfire of power!" The ring exploded and created a blazing sphere. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" 

The flames receded, revealing his monster "Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Then, I'll equip him with Dragon Lance!" Flame Hunter's tail glowed before a long metal cone appeared on the tip. "ATTACK!" The dragon flew forward before spinning around and slamming its lance into the Neo Barrier Statue, destroying it. "And when a monster equipped with Dragon Lance destroys a monster, you take two hundred points of damage for every Level yours monster hand." 

Flame Hunter raised the lance as it set on fire, thrusting it forward and sending the flames shooting at Heath. "Augh!" He cried as the flames struck him, all the while pressing something on his Duel Disk. 

Spike: 4000
Heath: 3200

"Well since you destroyed Neo Barrier Statue of the Inferno, I can summon a Fire monster with fifteen hundred or less ATK points." The flames from his monster's destruction collected before exploding to reveal Flame Ruler. (A1500/D1600/L4) "There's more," Heath pointed to one of his face downs and showed it was now face up revealing a Trap. "Damage Mirror. This Continuous Trap's effect activates whenever I take effect damage. Now you take half the damage I took." A mirror appeared infront of the Trap before unleashing a fireball that struck Spike. 

"Gyah!" He staggered backwards. 

Spike: 3600
Heath: 3200

Spike frowned while looking back at him, "I place one card face down and end my turn." 

"My turn!" Heath drew his card and smiled, "I play Hand Destruction! Now we have to discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards." Heath discarded three cards, including two monsters and a Trap, while Spike discarded the two monsters in his hand before they drew the same cards. "Plus, one of those cards was my Burning Trumpet." The ghostly image of a demon appeared infront of him, holding a large trumpet. "When it's sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can add a Pyro-type monster to my hand." His deck slotted out a card. 

"That's gotta be the monster Dominating him," Spike realised. 

Thorax was thinking the same thing. "And with Flame Ruler out, he can summon it with just one tribute."

Heath looked down at his hand, smiling at the sight of two copies of himself. The stage was almost set to stop his unstoppable monster. But first, he needed to do a little more prep work. 

"I activate my Trap," Heath's other face down flipped upwards, "Call of the Haunted! Now watch as I summoned my mighty, Armoured Inferno to my field." From out of the Trap flew the blazing suit of armour, ready to roast Spike's life points to ash. (A2300/D1600/L6) As this happened, Flame Ruler exploded into a pillar of flames. "I sacrifice Flame Ruler in order to summon myself, Blazing Emperor Hellfire!" The fire pillar extinguished, revealing the royal demon in all its glory. (A3000/D2500/L8)

"Not good," Spike gulped. 

"Hellfire gains two hundred ATK points for every Trap in my graveyard," Heath explained as his monster powered up. (A3200/D2500/L8) "Now!" Heath pointed at Spike's Synchro Monster, "destroy that overgrown salamander!" Hellfire formed a fireball, tossing it in Flame Hunter's direction. 

"I activate my Trap, Burning Barricade!" This card can only be activated whenever a Fire monster is about to be destroyed." The flames from his monsters mane shot upwards and formed a cage around it, Hellfire's attack slamming into it. "Now my monster's safe." The fireball bounced off the cage and into the air. 

"Maybe," Heath told him, "but you'll still take damage." The fireball exploded as Spike's feet, making him grunt as his life points were burnt away. 

Spike: 2700
Heath: 3200

Spike panted as the smoke came off his body. "Since Burning Barricade saved my monster, he now loses five hundred ATK points. (A1800/D1300/L5/P8)

"That means he's fair game for my Armored Inferno!" His monster leapt at Spike's Synchro Pendulum and slammed it with a burning first, destroying Flame Hunter.

Spike: 2200
Heath: 3200

Spike smiled as he reached for his deck. "Since you destroyed Flame Hunter, you also destroy Dragon Lance. And when its destroyed, I can draw the same number of cards you have in your hand." He drew three cards. 

"Sneaky," Heath placed one card face down, "I end my turn."

"My turn!" Spike drew his card and smiled before taking it and another card. "I set the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Flame Breaker Dragon and Scale ten Repulser Dracokid!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of him, the two monsters flying up into them. Besides Flame Breaker was a small red dragon carrying a futuristic-looking bazooka. The portal began to form above Spike's head, the teen smiling as held up the cards he was summoning. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out, exploding to reveal Spike's monsters. "Flame Tracker Dragon!" (A1300/D300/L3)

"And Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8)

"Yes!" Thorax smirked, knowing what was coming next. Heath also knew what was coming, but he didn't care. Not with the card he had face down. 

"Flame Hunter's skill!" The fire wyvern opened its mouth and unleashed a fireball that struck the cards in Heath's Spell/Trap zone, destroying them. "Your Traps are destroyed." 

"No," Heath growled, "my Mirror Force." 

"And don't forget, your Armored Inferno was summoned because of Call of the Haunted. And with it gone-" Heath's monster exploded, leaving only Hellfire on the field. 

"Don't think you're so smug. Don't forget, with another three Traps in my graveyard, Hellfire gains six hundred more ATK points." (A3800/D2500/L8) Heath didn't really care that Mirror Force was destroyed. Hellfire's ability meant it was still usable. And once it was activated, he'd be victorious.

"Now," Spike announced a Flame Tracker leapt into the air, "watch as I tune my two monsters together to form an even mightier beast!" The Tuner burst into a trio of fireballs, that carved the fire rings around his Synchro Pendulum. "Cast your flames across this battlefield, and burn everything that is weak to ashes!" Spike chanted as his monsters were consumed by an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames extinguished, revealing a monster that looked different from the last time Heath and Thorax saw it. Dragonic Blazemaster stood behind Spike, but it had several differences from the one he'd used before. The blue line running down its neck, stomach, waist and tail now had yellow stripes on it. The formerly white spots on its body were now light blue. The horns on its head were longer and its now had purple padding on its shoulders, outer thigh and outer legs. Finally, its sword was longer with a straighter blade that only curved at the tip. "DRAGONIC BLAZELORD!" (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

Thorax stared up at the beast in amazement, while Heath just looked at it in intrigue. "So, you got your own Pendulum ace?"  

"That's right. And this Pendulum's gonna wipe yours to kingdom come." 

"Hardly. Your overgrown tree frog's eight hundred points weaker than mine." 

Spike smirked, "look again." Heath raised an eyebrow before looking up and seeing something appear around Blazelord. It was the ghostly images of Spike's monsters. Fireheart Dracokid, Dragonian Priestess, Assault Wyvern, Twin-Headed Dragonia and Flame Tracker Dragon. The five of them exploded into flames, which flew into the dragon as it roared a mighty roar. (A4000/D2000/L8/P4)

"What?" 

"Whenever Blazelord's Special Summoned, he gains two hundred ATK points for every Dragon monster in my graveyard." Spike's deck then slotted out a card. "And since Flame Tracker was used to Synchro Summon, I can add a Fire monster from my deck to my hand." 

Heath frowned, but he still wasn't scared. 'Go on, attack me. Do that and this Duel is over.'

"Now it's time to take that Blazing Emperor down!" Spike announced while Blazelord raised its sword as the blade began to ignite. 

"That's it!" Heath laughed, "now I activate Hellfire's special ability!" But as he said this, a large red X appeared on his Duel Disk. "What?"

Spike smirked as Blazelord swung its sword around, unleashing a wave of fire that flew across the field and struck Hellfire. The Blazing Emperor exploded, Heath crying out as the flames struck his body. 

Spike: 2200
Heath: 2800

"Grahhh!" He moaned while standing shakily where he stood, "how?"

"How?" Spike asked with a smile, "it's thanks to my Blazelord's special ability. By skipping my battle phase, I can destroy every monster on your field with less ATK then him and deal you four hundred points of damage for each one." 

"But...I...you..."

"Oh please, I knew what you were planning. Cold recorded his whole Duel with you from yesterday. I watched it last night, so I know your Blazing Emperor can use Traps while they're in the graveyard. But that won't matter if I don't attack it." 

Heath growled, "you think you're so smart." 

"Just smarter than you." Spike placed three cards face down, "I end my turn." Blazelord's ATK power returned to normal. (A3000/D2000/L8/P4)

From within his cage, Thorax couldn't help but smile as his friend. "Nice work Spike. Keep this up and the Duel's yours." He looked around the blazing cage he was within, hoping Spike would pick up the pace and win faster. The heat was seriously starting to make him sweat, not to mention how much effort it was to move around in the overly small space without setting himself alight. 

"It's my turn!" Heath drew, "and since it's my standby phase, Blazing Emperor's grave ability activates." He reached for his deck. "I look at the top five cards of my deck and send any Trap cards to the graveyard." He drew his five cards and smiled before discarding three of them, right as a large pillar of fire erupted infront of him.

Spike moaned as he shielded his eyes, "don't tell me-"

"Since three Traps were sent to the graveyard, Blazing Emperor Hellfire now revives!" The flames extinguished, revealing the fire demon. And with seven Traps in the grave, it's ATK points had gone right up by an extra fourteen hundred, (A4400/D2500/L8)

"I told you not to tell me," Spike grumbled. 

"Next, I play the Eruption Reload Spell card. Now by banishing a Fire monster from my graveyard, I can draw cards equal to its Level." He drew four cards as his Neo Barrier Statue appeared before exploding. "I summon Solar Flare Dragon!" The fire snake appeared before him. (A1500/D1000/L4) "And since I have two Fire monsters on my field, I can summon Wildfire Wyvern!" Flames shot off his other two monsters, colliding together to create a bat-winged lizard made entirely out of the fire. (A2000/D0/L4) "Lucky you, this card can't attack the turn it's summoned. But it can be used for this!" Flames engulfed Hellfire's chest and wings, eventually disappearing to reveal a red metal chest armouring with robotic wings. 

"An Equip Spell?"

"One that's gonna blow you away," Heath smiled. "Right after Hellfire destroys your Blazelord!" The demon's robotic wings fired, sending it forward to punch Blazelord. 

"I activate my Trap!" Spike's face down flipped up, "Roar of the Mighty Dragon! And I'll follow that up with the Dragon Scale Armour Trap! This Trap will protect my monster from being destroyed this turn and cut any battle damage I take in half. But hopefully, that won't matter, because my Roar of the Might Dragon Trap can let me cancel out your attack. Now we draw until we get a Monster and if my monsters Level is higher then yours, your attack is stopped." 

Heath let out a chuckle, "leaving this all to chance." He and Spike drew their cards, both getting a monster on the first turn. "I got another Solar Flare Dragon." 

"Well, mine's Iron Tail Dragon!" Spike smirked, "meaning your attack is nullified!" Blazelord let out a powerful roar, the force of which pushed Hellfire back to his side of the field. "Oh yeah." 

"Don't get cocky," Heath told him. "Because my Equip Spell, Infernal Booster, lets me sacrifice a Fire monster on my field that hasn't attacked yet." Wildfire Wyvern exploded and flew into the opening on the front of the armour. "This allows Hellfire to attack again." Heath pointed at Spike, "GO!" The demon shot forward again. 

"My Trap's effect activates again." Spike and Heath drew, Spike getting one first time while Heath got a Spell then a monster. "I got Lava Fang Dragon, Level four." 

Heath looked annoyed, "my Level three Pyro Caller." Blazelord roared once again, pushing Hellfire back. "Don't think you've won." Solar Flare Dragon exploded and flew into the armour, Hellfire shooting forward one last time. 

"Roar of the Mighty Dragon activates again!" Heath and Spike drew, both needing to draw again since Spike got a Spell and Heath got a Trap. (A4600/D2500/L8) The second time, Spike got Heat Wing Dragon. He had a feeling this wouldn't cut it. 

And he was right. "HA!" Heath showed him his card, which was Searing Flame Dragon Afterburner. "No stopping me this time." Blazelord roared, but Hellfire broke through the attack and slammed the Synchro Pendulum. 

It wasn't destroyed, but Spike ended up taking heavy damage. "Gyah!"  

Spike: 1400
Heath: 2800

"I activate...my Trap," his face down flipped up. "Dragon Soul's Gift. When I take Battle Damage, this card gives me an extra two hundred Life Points for every Dragon in my graveyard." The ghostly images of his dragons appeared around him before flying into his body, a warm glow appearing around him as his Life Points went up. 

Spike: 3000
Heath: 2800

Heath frowned. "You might have saved yourself a bit of damage, but it won't save you." He placed a card face down. "Next turn, you're dust." 

"He's right," Thorax realised. "Blazelord wasn't destroyed, so he can't summon it again and use its ability. Hellfire's too strong." He looked over at his friend, "Spike." 

Spike just stood there, completely silent. Heath smiled at this, "you know you're beat." He laughed, "just accept it." 

"No way," Spike told him before he drew his card. He saw it was Ember Dragon, which he added to his Armoured Wyvern. "Alright," he came up with a plan and smiled. 

Heath glared at him, "you are an ant that thinks itself a giant. Well, guess what. I STEP ON ANTS!" 

"Well, you're about to see what happens when an ant fights back!" Spike's Pendulum Monsters prepared their weapons First, I'll use the Pendulum Ability of Repulser Dracokid." He showed him Ember Dragon before discarding it. "By tributing a Dragon monster with fifteen hundred or less ATK, I can draw cards equal to its Level." He drew three cards as the portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"   

The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out to reveal his two Pendulum monsters. "Flame Sabre Dragon!" (A1500/D1200/L4/P5) 

"And Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Flame Hunter's skill!" The dragon spat out a fireball that struck Heath's face down and destroyed it. "Whatever it is you're planning, it won't succeed!" He pointed at his opponent, "no! Because I'm gonna beat you and save my friends!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

I activate Flame Breaker's Pendulum Ability!" 

Spike: 2600
Heath: 2800

Armoured Wyvern appeared infront of the Pendulum Monster before it threw the hammer into its back, causing it to explode into four fireballs. "By banishing a Dragon, I can summon two more Dragons with Levels that equal his." The fireballs paired off before exploding to reveal his monsters. "So now I summon Magna Drago and Underling Dragon!" (A1400/D600/L2) (A500/D500/L2) 

Heath growled, "trying to pull the same trick on me that you used last time." 

"Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Now," the two dragons leapt into the air, "I tune Level two Magna Drago with Level two Underling Dragon!" Magna Drago burst into a pair of rings that Underling flew into. "Ignite the flame of potential and shower the world in the fire of hope!" His two monsters were consumed in an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames receded and showed Spike's Synchro Tuner. "Mystic Flame Dracokid!" (A1500/D1300/L4) "And since he was Synchro Summoned, his skill lets me add a Level four or below Dragon monster from my deck to my hand." 

Thorax knew what was coming next and did the math. "Flame Hunter and Flame Sabre. Together, that's a Level count of nine." He smiled, "go for it SPIKE!"

Spike smiled back at him before turning to glare at Heath. "Now watch!" Mystic Flame shot into the air before bursting into a quartet of fireballs, which carved four fire rings. "As I Synchro Tune Dragonic Blazelord and Mystic Flame Dracokid together!" The Synchro Pendulum flew up into the rings, Spike beginning to chant as the flames expanded. "Blaze the path to victory and burn away all who stand before you." The flaming rings exploded, wrapping Blazelord into a ball of fire. "GO ACCEL SYNCHRO!"

The flaming sun began to extinguish, revealing Spike's Accel Synchro monster in all its blazing glory. "Dragonic Blazemaster...VICTORY ACE!" (A3300/D3200/L12)

Heath glared up at the image of the monster that beat him last time. "Don't think that monster will win you this match. I'm not the same person you beat in the Double X."

"Oh yeah!" The giant dragon held up its sword, "Victory Ace's skill!" It slamming the blade into the ground, causing a pair of blue flame trails to shoot out along the ground before hitting both Flame Hunter and Flame Sabre. "By tributing every other Dragon Monster on my field, I can destroy every monster on your field whose Level is less than their combined Level."

Everyone watched the two dragons explode into blue flames, which were sucked into Victory Ace's blade and caused it to ignite. The giant dragon then swung the blade around, unleashing a wave of fire which struck Hellfire and destroyed it.

"Finally," Spike went on as his monster glowed red, "Victory Ace gains five hundred ATK points for every monster destroyed by this effect. (A3800/D3200/L12) Spike pointed at Heath. "If you're better then the last time we played, then I'll up my game too. Anything to get my friends out of trouble." Heath smiled while Spike continued to glare, "I'll push my deck to its limit. And I'll blow you apart." 

"Is that so?" 

The giant dragon took to the skies before flying down, flaming sword primed. "ATTACK!" The two of them watched as the dragon prepared to slice Heath in half. But the Dominator seemed completely calm as the fire shot off the sword. 

"So weak," he whispered before the flames struck him. 

KABOOM!

The whole stadium was filled with smoke from the explosion, Spike and Thorax needing to stand their ground against it. "Was that it?" Thorax asked from within his cage, "is the Duel over?" His answer came when laughter filled the air, the smoke fading to reveal a cackling Heath.  

Spike: 2600
Heath: 600

"How?" Spike asked, only to look up and see a monster he recognised, "Meteor Humanoid?" He checked his Duel Disk and saw it was actually a new version of it, called Neo Meteor Humanoid. It could be summoned at any point in the Duel by banishing a Trap in your graveyard. "No way."   

Heath finally finished laughing, "Is that all you've got?" His joyful face change to one of anger, "then I guess it's time for me to finish you off." 

"What's that?" Spike asked. He looked down at his hand and saw his last two cards were non-Quick-Play Spells. There was nothing else he could do. "I end my turn." (A3300/D3200/L12)

"Of course you do." He reached for his deck, "I draw." When he did, his eyes went wide before a smile crept onto his face. "Hellfire's ability!" He drew his five cards and smiled again, discarding four of them before a pillar of light exploded infront of him. Hellfire appeared out of it, powered by Heath having eleven Traps in his graveyard. (A5200/D2500/L8) 

Spike grew nervous but knew there was still a chance. As long as Heath didn't power his monster up, he'd survive an attack. And maybe he'd get lucky with his Mighty Roar Trap still in effect. "I can survive this." 

"How cute," he looked back at Heath. "You actually think that. Ignorance is bliss." He then smiled down at the card he was holding. "You must be tired of waiting. It's time to unleash your power."

"What?" Spike asked, only to realise he was talking to the card. 

Heath turned to him. "I'm about to risk everything here. If I lose, my entire deck will be destroyed. Buuuuut, I said if. And it just ain't gonna happen!" 

"What do you mean by that?" Spike asked though he was afraid he already knew. He watched as Heath showed him another copy of Hellfire. 

"To summon this card, I must sacrifice a Fire Attributed monster while discarding a card in my hand with the same name." As he did this, Hellfire leapt into the air and exploded into a giant ball of fire. 

Spike watched as the fireball flew high above the stadium, growing in size as it got higher. "Not good."



Cold, Shining and Cadance were close getting to the stadium when they saw the micro-sun appear above it. "Oh no," Cold realised what this meant a stepped on it. He just hoped they'd get there before it was too late. "Hold on Spike." 

Shining and Cadance were hoping the same thing, not wanting to lose both siblings on the same day. "Spike," Cadance prayed. 

"Stay strong." 



The heat coming off the sun was so intense, Spike and Thorax felt their skin being roasted. 

Patches of grass were beginning to catch fire and the plastic seats were beginning to melt. "Watch as the ultimate fire monster manifests!" Heath cried as he held his card high. "Awaken, beast of flame!" He slapped her card down on the Duel Disk, the sun exploding as the monster inside was revealed. "Zenith Dragon of Endless Inferno, PERFIGNIS!"

The giant dragon was humanoid in appearance, being both a combo of red, white and yellow. Its head was red with yellow spikes coming off the sides and back. The back of its neck, shoulders, waist, hips, back outer thigh, knees and the remainder of the leg was also red. While the front of its neck, chest, stomach and inner thigh was white with a line of red spikes running from its chest down to its tail. Each arm had black diadhank shaped blades, while its shoulders had long black spikes on them. Instead of its back, this dragon's wings came out of its hips and curved around until their tips almost met above its head. And on its head was a round red crystal with the fire kanji within it.

"Wow," Spike had seen a Zenith Dragon before, sure, but not this close. The terror he felt as it stared down at him was almost overwhelming 

"A Zenith Dragon can only remain on the field for one turn, but that's all I need. Especially since his ATK and DEF points become the total of the monsters used to summon him to the field. (A6000/D5000/L12) "Perfignis's skill!" He pulled three cards out of his Graveyard. "By banishing Traps from my graveyard, I can destroy the same number of Spell or Traps on your field." The crystal on its head glowed before firing off a trio of fireballs, which struck Spike's Trap and both Pendulum Monsters. 

"What!?" Spike watched as the three went up in flames, which then shot over to him and spiralled into a tornado. "What's happening?" 

"Since three cards were destroyed, you have to now ditch the same number of cards from your hand. If you can't, you'll take five hundred points of damage for each card not discarded.  Spike growled and discarded the remaining two cards in his hand, the flames weakening but still doing damage. 

Spike: 2100
Heath: 600

The tornado vanished and Spike stood there limply, all the while Heath and his monster smirked. "Now you see the power I wield as an Omega Zealot and how insignificant and puny you humans really are." He pointed at Victory Ace. "End this, Perfignis!" The dragon flew up higher into the air before breathing fire into its hand, the flames forming a fireball growing large and larger with each second. "PYRUS PURGATORY!" The fireball was so large, the dragon was hoisting it above its head before it tossed it down towards the stadium. 

Spike could only watch as the flames came crashing down towards him, the force shaking the ground. Victory Ace then jumped infront of him, covering him with its own body to form a protective shell around him. 

"SPIKE!" Thorax screamed as the fireball struck the dragon. 



KABOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground shook, causing the car to lose control and almost crash until Cold pulled it to a stop outside the stadium. The three jumped out and looked up at the giant mushroom cloud that was flying up from the stadium. 

"Spike!" Shining yelled as he rushed inside, the others following after him as they raced through the entrance. But when they reached the corridor leading out to the stands, they were suddenly stopped by an intense amount of heat. 

Looking down, they saw the floor around the exit had been turned to molten stone and plastic, making it impossible to get outside. All they were able to do was look out onto the field, gasping at what they saw. 

The entire field had been incinerated, the grass nothing but ash. They spotted Spike's monsters huddled on the floor as the flames receded, Victory Ace finally exploding to reveal a single path of remaining grass. That was where Spike stood, smoke coming off him.  

Spike: 0
Heath: 600 (Winner)

Laughter made them look around to see Heath, standing on another small patch of grass. "How'd you like that?" He asked while stepping over to him, "payback for the Double X." Spike slowly looked up at him, "you've just witnessed my true strength. And compared to me, you're useless, you're nothing, YOU'RE SUCH A SMALL FRY!" He laughed again, Spike growling as he did. "You just lost to an Omega Zealot," Heath raised his gloved hand as the symbol appeared through it. "So now you must go to the Void, Dimensional Prison of Souls." 

Before Spike or anyone else could do anything, a portal opened up beneath Spike's feet. The teen gasped as he began to fall, "AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" 

"SPIKE!" They screamed seeing him disappear, to portal vanishing as soon as he was through. Thorax's cage vanished, the king standing up as he heard Heath let out another deranged laugh. 

"You got what you dissevered!" He suddenly jumped back to avoid a punch from Thorax. 

"Bring him back!" Thorax tried to throw another punch, but Heath threw a card at him. And as soon as it was infront of him, the card exploded. "Gyah!" He fell back, giving Heath the time he needed to escape.  

"Later losers," Heath jumped through a portal before it disappeared. 

Thorax moaned as he laid in the ash, unable to believe he'd failed in protecting his friend. "Spike. I'm sorry." One could only wonder what the teen was doing right now. 



Spike opened his eyes and moaned as he sat up, looking around and seeing he was in a round metal chamber. "What is this place?" He then noticed a doorway, but then saw it wasn't attached to anything and just stood in the middle of the room. 

Something told him to open it and when he did, he was suddenly greeted with a sight he hadn't been expecting. "I summon Rush Raptor in ATK mode," Scootaloo said as she placed her card on the floor. 

She was Duelling against Gilda on the floor, Flash and Twilight sitting together to the side. 

"Guys?" They all looked around and saw Spike standing there, Spike only now seeing the other side of the door had a mirror on it.

"Spike!" Twilight and Flash got up, "don't close that door!" But before Spike could even understand what she meant, the ground beneath him lurched forward and he was knocked into the room before the door shut behind him. "No!" He heard Twilight cry as she tried to push the door open. 

Flash knelt down beside Spike, helping him up. "You're here too?" 

"Yeah," Spike nodded. But as Flash pulled him up, Spike noticed the symbol on the back of his hand. "What?" 

"We all have it," Flash showed his half-full omega symbol while Twilight and Gilda showed theirs. 

Twilight moved over to them. "All of us have gotten the same marking." 

Scootaloo showed him her blank hand. "All of us except me for some reason." Spike then looked down and noticed the half-completed Duel. 

"Wait, you're Duelling? You got kidnapped and instead of trying to escape, you decide to play?" 

"We have been trying to escape," Twilight assured him. "But as far as we know, there's no way out."  

"You can't have been looking very long," Spike pointed at her. "You've only been gone for maybe an hour." 

"An hour?" Twilight looked perplexed by this. "Has it really only been that long." 

"Yeah," Flash nodded, "it's hard to tell." He showed Spike his phone, revealing it wouldn't switch on. "There's no way to know what time it is. This place doesn't have any clocks." 

"But it sure feels like more then an hour's passed." Twilight looked down at the Duel the girls were playing, "it was either play or sit around and go mad with boredom." 

"I get it," Spike sighed. He then looked down at his hand, the omega symbol giving him and uncomfortable vibe. 

Twilight adjusted her glasses. "As far as I can tell. When this symbol turns fully red, then that's when a human will be Dominated by Zeronull." 

"Seriously?" Spike suddenly felt the uncontrollable urge to panic. All they could do was sit, wait and pray that their friends would find a way to save them.



Back in the human world, everyone was back at the Freeze Stadium with security triple tight. 

Cold, Shining, Cadance, Sunset, Adagio, Soarin, Sunburst and Thorax were in a meeting room, a screen on the wall showing Grand, Misty, Tempest, Starlight and Tidal. "So Twilight and Spike were taken as well?" Misty sighed hearing this. 

Starlight looked down in shame, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop Twilight from being taken." 

"And I'm the only reason Spike Duelled," Thorax frowned. 

"Feeling guilty isn't gonna help us," Cold told them. "All that matters right now is finding a way to save them." He turned to Grand, "you have the coordinates I sent you?" 

"Yes," Grand nodded, "I've looked over the locations and cross-referenced them with what my contacts told me. The Hong Kong area might be our best bet. The girls and I will be heading over there as soon as possible." 

"Starlight and I will be heading home as soon as we're discharged," Tidal spoke up. 

"You sure?" Cadance asked. "From what you told us, that was quite a fall you both took." 

"Nothing we can't walk off," Starlight confirmed. "We'll be back soon." Cold nodded and turned back to the others. 

"Let's get ready to mobilise as soon as we have the info." They all nodded and headed off, the screens switching off while the others stepped out of the room. Cold turned to look out the window, "no more getting surprised. This time, we take the fight to them." 



Grand switched off his Duel Disk and turned towards his companions. 

The three of them were in an airport, waiting for their flight to China. As they waited, Pinkie and Maud were shuffling through their decks and making any changes that might benefit it. They'd have more time to properly test the changes once they were in Hong Kong. 

The looks on the girl's faces showed how serious they were being. Clearly, the continued thought of their sister's take over had them working like crazy to save her. "Stay strong girls. We'll get through this." 



Rainbow sat in her hospital, still getting check out after what had happened. 

Luckily, nothing was broken. She'd be free to leave sometime tomorrow, which couldn't come soon enough in her opinion. "Don't scratch that!" She pulled her hand away from her bandaged up scratches, looking up and seeing Fluttershy step into the room with the rest of her friends. 

"Sorry. It's itchy." 

"Don't worry darling," Rarity put a bowl of fruit on her bedside table. "You'll be out of here soon." 

Applejack nodded, "and then ya'h can get payback for what happened." 

"Thanks, guys." Rainbow then looked over at where her deck sat. She tried to get it but it was out of reach, Fluttershy quickly getting and handing it to her. "Thanks." Rainbow began to spread the cards out onto the bed, the others looking confused. "My deck can't stop that Ouravas guy. If he uses that Zenith Dragon again, I'm screwed." 

"So you're gonna change your deck?" Rarity asked. 

"I'm gonna tweak it so that the next time I meet that guy, he's going down." The others nodded and sat around her, each one suggesting which cards to remove or replace. The Zealots might have had them on the defensive until now, but that wouldn't last long. They'd make sure they understood why you don't mess with their friends and their world.