//------------------------------// // Turn 27: A Dazzling Duel // Story: Yugioh EQG: Ω Zenith // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Long ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit World. In a small city of humans and human-like monsters, a small crowd had gathered around a young girl. She was standing behind a barrel with three identical cups, which she started moving around. "Gather round, gather round. Test your luck with the girl of fortune." She lifted the center cup, revealing a black ball. "Just remember, keep your eye on the prize." She put the ball back and dropped the cup, which she started spinning around. "Find the ball to win it all." From out of the crowd, Marauding Captain stepped out and flicked a gold coin onto the barrel. "I'll give it a try." The girl smiled before upping the pace, the swordsmen following the cup he had seen her put the ball under. "Alright," she stopped, "which one?" He smiled before grabbing the middle cup. "Easy." He pulled the cup up, only to see there was nothing under it. "What?" The girl smirked as she took the coin, "too bad. Wanna try and earn this back?" Her smirk vanished when he kicked the barrel, causing the other cups to fall and reveal nothing under them. She smiled a nervous smile as he and his friends glared at her, all reaching for their weapons. "Time to go." She snapped her fingers and whispered something before a flash of light blinded them all. When the light faded, the girl was gone. Glorianna sighed in relief as she hid around a corner, believing she had gotten away with it. But when she came out of the alley, she found herself on the wrong side of several swords. "You made a big mistake trying to swindle me," Marauding Captain told her as she was backed up into the alley. "Let this be a lesson to you." But before he could do anything, he and his men suddenly froze before falling to the ground. "What the?" She looked them over and saw they were all sleeping, "how did-" "I did," she turned to see a man step into view. Her eyes went wide at the sight. "You...you're-" "I know who I am," he replied. "You're lucky I happened to be passing by." "I am," she fell to her knees. "Thank you. I owe you my life." "And what sort of life would that be?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "Have you ever asked yourself that?" She frowned. "Your ruse with the light spell was rather cleaver." Glorianna's eyes went wide, "really?" "No," she pouted, "but it was real magic." He turned to walk away, "why not come with me. I'm sure I could help you find better uses for your talents then being a common street swindler." Glorianna's eyes went wide as she picked herself up and followed him. "Who knows, you might turn out to be something rather special." Years later. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Glorianna screamed after seeing her master blasted down. She rushed forward, seeing the queen preparing to attack again. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She jumped between them and pointed her staff forward, putting everything she had into her next spell. With a mighty scream, a powerful beam of magic shoot out of the staff and struck the archfiend. A shining burst of light exploded, blinding everyone as the beast screamed in agony. When the light faded, a beast had a giant hole in its chest. It then slumped back and hit the ground before exploding, shocking everyone. The archfiend army gasped seeing its leader destroyed. Several began to retreat, followed by more and more. The battle was won, thanks to Glorianna. But she didn't care. "Master!" She rushed to his side and looked him over, "please be alright!" He coughed and looked up at her, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry. But it looks like this is the end." "No," tears escaped her eyes, "I'm so sorry." "No," he shook his head, "I did what any true teacher would do. But now, you must go on without me." It was then his body slowly began to turn to specks of light. "NO!" She cried, "please don't go." "I must. But do not fear. You will make a great spellcaster, I'm sure of it. Be strong, be brave and don't-" "But master-" "But master me." All but his head vanished, the smile on his face brighter then ever. "You will do great things, my Shining Magician." With that, he completely vanished and the lights flew up into the sky. The other magicians all felt saddened by the loss, but none more so then Glorianna. And young magician's cries were unstopping. "This is all my fault," she whispered so no one else would hear her. Present day. Trixie was pulled out of her memories as she opened her eyes and stared at Adagio, who was glaring up at the monster she had just summoned. Herself, Shining Magician Glorianna. "So this is the monster controlling her," the Dazzling realised. "And it's also the monster that'll destroy you," Trixie announced. "Glorianna's ability now activates!" She placed a card in her hand into her deck, which then shuffled before she drew a card and smiled at it. "Perfect. I play the Spell Card, Spell Memory. With this, I pay half my life points to activate a Spell card in my graveyard." Trixie: 150 Adagio: 3000 "I activate Stardust Reload, to banish Alina and draw four cards." She did so and smiled before playing one. "Next, it's I'll play Soul Thief. This card lets me gain life points equal to half my opponent's current life points." Adagio glowed before the light shot off her and flew into Trixie, making her sigh in relief. Trixie: 1650 Adagio: 3000 "Finally, I'll play Rising Light." Three pillars of light exploded infront of her. "This spell lets me summon any Level four or below Light Attributed monster from my graveyard in DEF mode, but they're destroyed at the end of my turn." The pillars vanished revealing Neo Barrier Statue, Generous Mystical Elf, and Saranay. "Not good," Adagio whispered as the four took a defensive stance on either side of Glorianna. "Now, Glorianna will attack your Vespers!" The magician raised her staff, ready to blast the mermaid with its light. However- "I activate my Trap!" Adagio cried as her face down flipped up, "Idol's Stage-Fright!" Vespers suddenly looked terrified and transformed into a light, which flew into Adagio's hand and returned to being a card. "I can return one Ocean's Idol to my hand. And that activates her ability." A ghostly formed of Vespers appeared before firing out a blast of sound that struck Trixie. Trixie: 1350 Adagio: 3000 Trixie winced but didn't let that stop her. "Well since Vespers is gone, Glorianna's attack can be directed straight at Operetta!" The magician turned to the mermaid, right as she and the rest of Trixie's monsters started glowing. "Glorianna's skill." The light flew off the monsters into Glorianna's staff, which then exploded with light. "Decrease the ATK of a monster Glorianna's attacking by one hundred, for every Light monster on my side of the field. The light struck Operetta's eyes and blinded her. (A2000/D2100/L7/P4) Glorianna then pointed her staff at Operetta, unleashing a beam of light that struck the mermaid and destroyed her. "AUGH!" Adagio cried as the light struck her, the intensity of it giving her a sunburn. Trixie: 1350 Adagio: 2000 Trixie smiled. "I place two cards face down end my turn." As she said that, the four defensive monsters exploded. "Now things are a little more even," she watched as Adagio stood wonky after getting hit with the intense light. "Let's see how well you do now?" "Don't worry," Adagio told her as she straightened herself out. "I'll be just fine." Outside the Omega Field, Adagio's sisters were staring at it as Tidal tried to hack into the bases's system. "You think she's alright?" Sonata asked Aria, who turned to give her an 'are you serious' look. "How the heck should I know. I don't have weird energy seeing through eyes." She turned back to the orb and crossed her arms. "Typical of Adagio to get the cool Duel while I'm stuck out here." "You should count yourself lucky," Tidal told her while continuing to try and hack into the system.. "You haven't seen what a Zenith Dragon can do senorita Blaze. I have and It's not something I wish on anyone." "Ha," Aria smirked, "I could take it. I bet I could beat having all six of those things attacking me at once." "But there's only five monster slots," Sonata pointed out. "Shut it," she turned back to Tidal. "You find anything yet. How long's it take to hack into a server?" "I'm not exactly a technical expert," Tidal reminded her. "I'm impressed I've been able to get this far. The Zealots security systems are very complex. I wouldn't be surprised if Midnight used Twilight's intelligence to up their computer's protections." Sonata then spoke up. "Have you at least figured out what that video we saw was about?" Tidal shook his head, the three still confused by the image they had seen before. Whatever these Zenith Generators were, they were clearly important to the Zealot's plans. It was then that a beeping could be heard From Tidal's Duel Disk, making him look back and see something new appear on the screen. A timer. "Que?" "What is it?" Aria asked while she and Sonata stared at the screen, both quickly getting a bad feeling about it. "I think... yes," Tidal nodded. "I think it's a count down." "Thank you captain obvious," Aria said. "What's it counting down too." "That's obvious silly," Sonata smiled. "Haven't you ever seen a movie. When it hits zero, this whole place will go kaboom." But after she said that, her smile slowly turned to a look of terror as her eyes went wide. "We've gotta get out of here!" Tidal nodded, "agreed." He went to unplug his Duel Disk, but Aria grabbed his wrist before he could grab the cable. "Hold it!" She told him. "We're not going anywhere without Adagio. If she's not with us, we're staying put." "But this place could go up any minute," Tidal told her. "We're not leaving!" Aria glared at him. "You wanna stop us going boom, get hacking." Tidal gulped before turning back to his Duel Disk and started doing as he had been told. As he did, Aria and Sonata looked back around the corner at the orb. "Come on Adagio, beat her already." Sonata looked just as worried. "If you don't, we'll all be going bye bye before our singing and Duelling career can get off the ground." She put her hands together and started praying. "You promised we wouldn't be kept apart again. So please stay safe." "It's my turn!" Adagio drew her card, frowning as saw it was the Trap card, not something she was hoping for. She turned to the other cards in her hand, two of which were her main focus. Sonatina and a Spell called Idol's Dazzling Harmonics. She could use this card now, but the nest effect required one more monster. "I'll just have to use what I've got for now," Adagio announced as the portal began to form above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before four lights shot out and struck the ground, exploding to reveal Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idol, Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) "Ocean's Idol, Sonatina!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) "Ocean's Idol, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8) "And Ocean's Idol, Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2) "Activate Trap!" Trixie's face down flipped up, "Warp Roll. Now, I pick six cards on your field and give them each a number." The monsters on Adagio's field got a number, Operetta getting a one, Sonatina getting a two, Nera getting a three and Vespers getting a four. Adagio's Pendulum Monsters also got a number, Medley getting a five and Crescendo getting a six. "What's the point of this?" Adagio asked as Trixie smirked, a die appearing in Trixie's hand. "The point is that now your fate is sealed. With a roll of the die, I can banish any card that has the same number as the one I roll." Adagio's eyes went wide as she realised what this would mean. If she landed on a one, two, or six, she could be in real trouble. "Let's go!" Trixie threw the die into the air and it spun around as it flew up before being pulled back down. When it hit the ground, it bounced around until it finally came to a stop with the number four pointing upwards. Adagio turned to Vespers and saw a portal open under her, the light shooting out and wrapping around the mermaid before she was pulled down into it. When the portal closed, Trixie sighed. "Oh well. Still got rid of a pretty annoying monster." Adagio growled. But she would have the last laugh. "I play Sonatina's ability!" She cried as Nera glowed and returned to her hand, causing the mermaid's skill to activate. "Now I can send a card on your side of the field back to your hand." Trixie frowned at this, but smiled as her face down activated. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card, Prism Shield!" A pyramid-shaped force field appeared around Glorianna. "Now, once per turn, I can select a monster on my field and make it immune to any monster effects." "Seriously?" Adagio asked as Sonatina unleashed her sound blast, but it simply bounced off the field. "Fine, but Nera's skills till activates." She drew her card. "What's more, Crescendo's Voice Counters have now reached their maximum." The number in the mermaid's crystal changed to five. "Then, I'll summon Nera back to the field." The mermaid appeared alongside the other two, all ready to do battle. "ATTACK!" Operetta prepared to attack, as Crescendo sang her song and powered them both up. (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) (A3900/D2100/L7/P4) (A2900/D1300/L4/P8) "Go," Trixie cried as her last face down flipped up, "Magical Hats!" In that instant, Glorianna got into Defence mode as a large hat with a question mark appeared above her. The hat dropped down on her before tripling in number. "Glorianna is under one of these hats, while the other two are empty. Now," she smiled, "test your luck with the girl of fortune!" "Seriously," Adagio asked before sighing. "Fine. The middle hat!" Operetta unleashed a sonic blast that struck said hat, causing it to explode. But when it exploded, it was revealed to be empty. "Dang it." "Oh," Trixie smiled, "too bad. Care to try again." "Gladly," Adagio yelled as Sonatina unleashed another sonic blast that hit the far left hat. And this time, when the hate exploded, Glorianna was revealed. She cried out as she was destroyed, though Trixie didn't look worried. "When Glorianna's destroyed, I can summon another Light monster in my grave to replace her." In a flash of light, Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens appeared in DEF position. "Fine," Adagio cried, "then Nera will take her out!" The mermaid sang, the blast hitting the statue and crumbling it. "You know what happens now," Trixie stated as a card slotted out of her deck. "I summon Witch of Heavenly Guidance!" In a flash of light, the aforementioned witch appeared. (A1000/D1000/L4) Adagio sighed, "I end my turn with a face down." "Then it's my turn," Trixie drew her card. When she saw what it was, a smile slowly appeared on her lips. "First, I have to pay three hundred life points in order to keep Prism Shield active." Trixie: 1050 Adagio: 2000 "And now, Heavenly Guidance's ability activates." The witch swung her staff around as she began to glow. "By ditching a Light monster in my hand while tributing her, I can revive a Light monster in my graveyard. So now, I discard Zenith Dragon of Glorious Shine in order to revive Glorianna." "What?" Adagio's eyes grew wide as the information sank in, "why would you get rid of your absolute best card?" "After what happened to the others, I'm not about to risk you possibly defeating it." She discarded the card as her witch's began to play the harp on the end of her staff, causing a portal to open up above her before the shrunken down ghostly form of Mesmeridiem appeared besides her. The two then flew up into the portal when they entered it, it unleashed a blast of light blinded Adagio. And when the light began to fade, Adagio looked up to see the Dominator floating down and landing infront of Trixie. (A3000/D2500/L8) "She's scared of the power?" Adagio wondered as Trixie activated another card. "Next, I equip Glorianna with the Crystal Spear!" In a flash of light, Glorianna's staff morphed into a coned lance made entirely out of yellow crystal. "Thanks to this card, I can give a Light attributed monster a serious power boost." She reached for her graveyard, as a card slotted out of it. "By banishing another Light monster from my graveyard, I card increase her ATK points by that monster's Level times two hundred until my next standby phase." She placed the card into her pocket as said monster appeared. The beast in question was Mesmeridiem, the massive dragon quickly morphing into a stream of light that flew into the spear and made it glow. That light spread to the rest of Glorianna, the magician basking in the energy that now flowed through her body. (A5400/D2500/L8) "Now you've banished it?" Adagio asked. "Yeah, so what?" Adagio frowned. "You Zealots go on and one about the power of Zeronull and his Zenith Dragons. You normally can't wait to bust them out and cause some serious damage. So what's different now. Am I not worthy of your all mighty beast?" "Yes," Trixie replied, "but that's besides the point. Why should I risk the possibility of losing and being sent back home, when this way of using them gives me just as much power as the normal way." Adagio smirked, "so that's it. You're scared." This made Trixie frown. "I am not scared. I'm simply being smart. Losing to you means nothing, so I have no reason to risk using the power of the Zenith Dragon." "Sure, keep telling yourself that." Trixie growled. "You think you know me. You know nothing. Unlike you, I know what can happen when you blindly seek power. You end up giving up everything you care about and even then, the world still makes you pay." Years ago. A week had passed since the battle and the master's death. They had held a memorial for him and hundreds of Duel Monsters had shown up to give their respects. Twilight Sorcerer had been selected to step into the master's shoes, being re-titled Twilight Warlock to commemorate his new position. The first thing he'd ordered upon his placement had been to rebuild the castle just how it'd been previously. The work was slow, even with magic, but It was slowly coming together. Glorianna frowned as she walked through the repaired courtyard, seeing many magicians working on it. As she passed, they smiled at her. "Hey Shining Magician." Glorianna smiled back, the name her master had given her sticking. She had to admit, she liked the name but couldn't enjoy it right now. Some part of that was the guilt she had for what happened, while another part was fear that her crime would be discovered. She had hoped to find a way to sneak the book back into her master's room, but Twilight Warlock seemed to want to spend all his time there when in the castle. "Gotta find someplace else to put it," she whispered as she entered the castle and went up to her room. But when she arrived, she found the door open. She hadn't left it like that. She grabbed her staff and rushed inside, the fight vanishing when she saw who it was. Twilight Warlock was standing next to her bed, a look of anger and disappointment adorning his face as he turned to her. When he did, Glorianna saw he was holding something and the sight made her heart stop. Her master's book was in his hand, having been discovered and made visible. She had been caught. Trixie stood there as the memory washed over her, Adagio watching and wondering what she was thinking about. "Having power isn't a problem. It's what you do with that power that makes it good and bad. That's a lesson I learned a long time ago. One I wish I'd learnt a lot sooner." She shot Adagio a glare. "So don't you say I'm scared of power. I just know not to be reliant on it." She pointed at her opponent's weakest monster. "Shining Magician Glorianna, attack Nera and end this Duel!" Adagio turned to Trixie's monster and watched her jump into the air before shooting down towards her weakest monster. The former villain saw no other choice. "I activate my Trap!" Adagio's face down flipped up, "Idol's Lip-Syncing! This Trap returns an Ocean's Idol on my field to my hand but their abilities are negated. And in exchange, I can activate a Trap in my graveyard." Sonatina glowed before turning to Adagio's hand, the girl smiling as she selected the Trap in her graveyard. "I select Idol's Stage-Fright, to return Nera to my hand." The other mermaid morphed into a light that shot into Adagio's hand, leaving Operetta alone on the field against Glorianna. "Nice try," Trixie smiled. "But you're forgetting I can just switch my attack to your last monster. And even though it's stronger, my monster has more then enough power to wipe out your life points." Glorianna turned to Operetta and repeated the process. "Well your forgetting Nera's ability," Adagio reached for her deck. 'If the cards I draw aren't the right ones, I'm in serious trouble.' She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, time appearing to slow down. 'Aria. Sonata. I can't do this alone.' "Huh?" Aria looked up, having just felt something. She turned to Sonata and noticed the same expression on her face. "You feel that?" "Hmm, hm," Sonata nodded. "It has to be. Adagio." They looked back at the field, "she needs help." Aria nodded and moved forward, Sonata right behind her. "Hey," Tidal called out, "what are you doing?" "Our sister needs us," Sonata told him. "So pipe down." The two were right next to the orb now and both reached out, their other hand grasping each other's, and touched the orb. Both flinched at the pain but didn't let that stop them, the two closing their eyes and thinking the same thing. "Adagio." Adagio gasped while opening her eyes, feeling a pair of hands on her shoulders as she heard her sister's voice. She smiled and drew her cards, right as Glorianna shot forward to impale Operetta. As she did, Glorianna's skill activated and unleashed a blinding light that hit Operetta's face and made her flinch. (A2300/D2100/L7/P4) Adagio looked down at the cards she had drawn before her eyes went wide. "With these." She looked down at her face down and nodded. "Go, Idol's Echo Shield! By discarding Sonatina from my hand, I can add her ATK points to Operetta's." The ghostly form of Sonatina appeared besides Operetta before the two unleashed a sonic wave that formed a shield, blocking Glorianna's attack. (A4700/D2100/L7/P4) "Nice try," Trixie smirked. "but that still isn't enough to stop Glorianna." The spear pierced the shield and stabbed Operetta, making her cry out as she exploded and Adagio clutched her chest. Trixie: 1050 Adagio: 1300 "The spear also has another effect," Trixie explained. "When the equipped monster destroys another one, you take damage equal to its Level times one hundred." Glorianna flew infront of Adagio as the spear unleashed a light that burnt the girl, making her cry out. "AUGH!" Trixie: 1050 Adagio: 600 "AUGH!" Aria and Sonata cried as they finally had to pull back, both clutching their hands and feeling them slightly burnt. "You okay?" Tidal asked them, the two focusing on the orb. "Adagio," Aria whispered. "Stay strong," Sonata finished. Trixie smiled as she placed two cards face down. "I activate the effect of Prism Shield and use its power to make Glorianna immune to monster effects." The pyramid of light appeared around Glorianna once again. "I end my turn." Adagio, who was still reeling from the last attack, felt her legs growing weaker and weaker. "One more hit and I'm done for." "I know," Trixie smiled. "Why not save yourself some pain and give up." Secretly, she didn't want Adagio to give up. She still had a few minutes left to buy, but she couldn't let her know that. "No way," Adagio shook her head. "That ain't...happening." "Oh really?" Adagio finally took a deep breath as her legs finally stopped shaking, letting her stand tall while focusing on Trixie. "I get the feeling that you an I aren't so different?" Trixie raised an eyebrow at this. "We both wanted something and at the time, we didn't care what it cost us. But then the choices we made caught up to us, making us both regret it. Not just because it hurt us, but because it hurt someone we care about." The image of her sisters under Sombra's mind control flashed infront of her, the pain in her chest horrible. Trixie frowned, "how do you know that?" Adagio's mind focused on her opponent. "I can see it in your eyes. Your eyes are the same ones I once had. The eyes of something who caused great suffering for someone important in their life." She pointed at Trixie, "but that's where the similarities end!" "What?" "We may have both caused pain for those we care about, but I chose to do something about it. Unlike you, I learnt from my mistakes. And when the opportunity to make up for what I did came along, I took it!" "You dare-" "Oh I dare," Adagio interrupted. "I dare a lot. Because unlike you, I still have someone to watch out for. Someone I need to protect from monsters like you." The mental images of her sisters flew into the forefront of her mind. No matter what, she would protect them. "It's my turn," she reached for her deck. "I DRAW!" She did so, not even looking at her card as the portal formed above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before four lights shot out and struck the ground, revealing Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idols, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)X2 "Ocean's Idol, Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) "And Ocean's Idol, Arietta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) Her and Aria's ace monsters swam around one another, Trixie not at all looking worried. "Oh please," Trixie smiled. "What do you intend to do. Prism Shield protects my monster from you's effects." 'And even if she finds a way to get rid of them, my other two face down will take care of her no issue. "Let's test that," Adagio told her as the two Nera glowed and returned to her hand. "Arietta's skill!" Arietta unleashed a sonic wave that struck Trixie's face downs and caused them to go flying, the two cards shooting to the bottom of her deck. Trixie smirked, "is that all?" "No," Adagio drew four cards thanks to Nera. "Now," she activated the one she had gotten last turn, "I play Monster Reborn!" in a flash of light, a portal appeared and Sonatina swam out. The three Dazzling aces swam around one another, ready to put on a real show. (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) "Now I have everything I need." "For what?" Trixie asked. "For this," Adagio played her card. "Idol's Dazzling Harmonics!" The three mermaids began to glow as they lined up and started singing in vocal harmony. "This card requires me to have at least two of these monsters on my field, but what's the fun of no going all out." The glow spread out from them and connected to the other, creating a single light surrounding the three as they swam out. "What are you doing?" Trixie asked as they swam higher and higher. "Uniting their power," Adagio told her. "This spell lets these Ocean's Idols share their power and attack together, granting one of them an additional two thousand ATK points for each of her sisters on the field. And with two, that's an additional four thousand power." Arietta and Sonatina swam behind Operetta, acting as her backing singers as her power increased. (A6400/D2100/L7/P4) "Now do you see, the power that comes from those that care about one another sharing their strength?" Trixie could only stare at her in shock, then blinked when she seemed to see something behind Adagio. It was Adagio's sisters, Aria smirking with crossed arms while Sonata smiled a goofy smile and waved. The three stood united, ready to take the Zealot on. "It's okay," she whispered while doing the math. "I have just enough life points to survive this. Come next round, the game is mine." "By the way," she heard Adagio tell her. "You haven't forgotten about my Pendulum Monster, have you?" Trixie's eyes went wide as she looked up at Crescendo, seeing her begin to sing and cause Operetta to glow even brighter then before. (A7900/D2100/L7/P4) "No," Trixie whispered. "Let's do it girls!" Adagio pointed at Glorianna, "ATTACK!" With that, the three unleashed a powerful scream that sent a triple strength sonic blast in Trixie's direction. "No," Trixie shook her head as the blast shattered the Prism Shield and struck the monster that was dominating her. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as her monster was destroyed and she was sent flying backwards. Trixie: 0 Adagio: 600 (Winner) Tidal, Aria and Sonata all began to panic when they saw the timer get close to two minutes. "We're running out of time," Tidal told the girls. "If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get out in time." "You can go if you want," Aria told him. "I'm not leaving Adagio behind." "Neither am I," Sonata nodded. "I don't care if it kills me, I'm not letting Adagio stay here alone." Tidal groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Girls, think about this. If Adagio was here right now, what would she tell you to do right now." The girls didn't say anything, simply staring down at the ground. "She'd tell you to leave, wouldn't she. She'd tell you to run and survive." Still, the girls didn't reply. "I don't want to leave her either. But we need to get what we've learnt here to Cold. They need to know about that video we saw. It could help discern what the Zealots are planning." "But Adagio-" That was as far as Sonata got before they suddenly heard a cracking sound and turned to the dome as a crack appeared on the surface, followed by another and another. Eventually, the dome completely shattered and the pieces flew everywhere before fading into smoke. Doing so revealed Adagio and Trixie, the Zealot staggering back and falling to her knees while Adagio stood shakily. "Adagio!" Sonata and Aria rushed to her side and helped her stay balanced, "are you okay?" "I'm fine," Adagio smirked as they focused on Trixie. In that second, she clutched her hand and cried out in pain as her mark burnt away. "You beat her?" Aria asked in amazement. "Was there any doubt?" "No," Sonata shook her head. "Well, maybe just a little. Like...a teeny tiny hair of doubt." Tidal stepped over to Trixie, "it's over." "Hardly," Trixie smirked, "I might have lost but I'm far from done." She showed her hand and her mark was still visible, though slightly dimmer. "How?" Sonata asked, "she lost-" "But she didn't use her Zenith Dragon," Adagio explained. "Her deck won't be destroyed, so she's still got a connection to her host." "That's right," Trixie stood up. "Nice try, but I'm not that dumb." "You're still coming with us," Tidal explained. "We'll be confiscating your deck, including the Zenith Dragon." But as he said this, a beeping caught their attention and made them look to the screen. Doing so allowed them to see it read, 'self destruct, phase two.' "Ow," Trixie turned to them, "too bad." With that, the room around them exploded. "You didn't beat me in time." "What have you done?" Adagio asked, the room shaking again. "She set the place to self destruct," Aria told her. "That's why she was Duelling you." "I had to buy time so the generators could be transported," Trixie pulled out a card. "And with that done," she tossed it towards the wall and opened a portal. "See you." She rushed through the portal before anyone could react, said portal closing seconds later. "NO!" Adagio cried, pulling herself out from her sister's grip. "We can't let her get away!" "There's no time," Tidal told her. "We have to get out of here before this place goes auge." The Dazzlings nodded and turned to rush out the room, heading back up until they reached the hatch leading back into the warehouse. Once through it, they ran out the building and managed to get out seconds before it exploded. The shockwave knocked them forward, but a few bruises were better then getting fried. Half an hour later, the police and fire crew arrived, though by then the building was nothing but ashes and the tunnel down into the base had been completely collapsed. There was no evidence a base ever existed there. Up on a nearby rooftop, Tidal and the Dazzlings watched while Tidal spoke to Cold. "I'm sorry amigo. The Zealot got away." "Don't worry," Cold told him. "You all did good work. The Zealots have one less place to hide. And every base destroyed will leave them more and more vulnerable, making them more and more desperate. They'll slip up eventually." "You're right," Tidal nodded. "There's something else you need to know about Cold. Something we discovered while hacking into the lab's systems." "Save it for now," Cold told him. "I want the four of you back in Canterlot. You can tell me what you found when you're here. Grand and Tempest will be there too. They're close to discovering the location of yet another base. Hopefully, this time the raid will let us capture some of the Zealots." They nodded and cut the call before heading off to their hotel, wanting a good nights sleep before tackling another base. In a desert in the middle of the night, Trixie slogged her way through the sand. She groaned as she pushed herself forward, annoyed that her haste had caused her to miss-fire her exit. Now she had to walk the rest of the way to her destination. "Well," she whispered, "this is familiar." Years ago. Glorianna was trogging through the desert, with everything she owned shrank down and placed in a small bag. After she had been outed as the one who took the master's book, along with the reason for his and many other's untimely deaths, she had been cast out of the only home she knew. She counted herself lucky they hadn't decided to take her staff from her, knowing it was the only thing she had that she could use to survive until she found another way to live. She had been walking for a week now, having eaten all her food and had no other way of procuring anymore. Eventually, her body gave out and see fell to her knees. This seemed to shatter the last of her resolve, the tears flowing as she let everything she had done wash over her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She started crying into the sand, "I wish I could go back and fix everything." "There may be a way." Glorianna gasped before she looked up and saw a creature floating above her, said beast being a mixture of different creature parts. "You might not be able to fix it in this world, but what about another world?" "Another world?" "A world that is exactly how you want it to be. Where your master is alive and everyone loves and respects you." "How could such a world be created?" "With the help of a powerful being known as Zeronull." Present. Trixie finally reached the location she was aiming for. A simple wooden hut in the middle of the desert. She rushed up to it and opened the door, stepping inside and finding both Skystar and Marble sitting around a table. Both got up, looking ready to strike until they saw who it was. "What are you doing here?" Skystar asked. Trixie staggered over to the table and sat down. "They found the base. I was able to transport the generators, but we're in serious trouble." "Glorianna?" She turned to see Midnight at the back of the room, not sure if she had been there the whole time. "My lady," she fell to her knees. "The base-" "I know. Excellent work protecting the generators." "But we've lost another base," Skystar commented. "The generators might have been transported, but if they find this base we'll have nowhere else to keep them safe. And considering the location of the last base, it won't take long for them to find it." "That's why we need to act quickly," Midnight smiled. Marble was the first to catch on, "does that mean-" "Yes," Midnight nodded, "I've located the cards. It's time to mount our final assault on our enemies." The Zealots all smiled, happy they could finally get the cards back and be one step closer to their goal. No matter what, they would create their perfect world.