Zarc smiled widely with his fanged mouth.
«At the end, I will nail your coffin with my own hand.»
His eyes widened as he thrust his human form's right hand forward.
«I attack "DD Magical Savant Schrodinger"!» he yelled as his dragon form's left fist lunged forward, inbound for a powerful landing on the devastated balcony where Reiji was laying on the ground, still not recovered from the beatdown his "High King Executives" took from the "Supreme King Servant Dragons".
Then a twister full of leaves covered him and a high-pitched voice screamed.
«BROTHER!»
A monotone "Intrusion Penality: 2000 points" echoed as Reira's Duel Disk flared up.
And a loud crash signed the impact of the fist of "Supreme King Dragon Zarc".
Everyone gasped as a Reiji's scarf disintegrated among the debris... along with the log it was tied to.
From the leafy winds, the blue ninja emerged holding Reiji and Leo.
REIJI
LP 200 → 0
[0] × 0
«Tsukikage!» said Shingo happily. «He came back!» added Crow.
«That's...!» gasped Tatsuya.
Everyone looked at the weird portal screen thing. Reira was standing before Zarc, Duel Disk active and hand drawn. «Reira!»
«Reira! What are you doing?» yelled Reiji concerned.
From the Leo Corporation's HQ, Himika also said the kid's name.
Reira hid the eyes under his cap. «I... I'm not Reira.»
The kid then threw away the cap and the jacket, and long lavender hair fell down.
«I'm Ray!» the kid declared as an image of the older woman flickered next to them.
«Ray?» asked Reiji confused.
«What?!» cried Leo.
«Ray?» parroted Zarc, his eyes twitching.
«If you come back, I will come back.» affirmed Reira. «If you try to destroy the world, I will protect it!» Ray voice gradually overlapped, until she flickered next to the child again at the last words.
The glowing golden spirit form of Ray then appeared over Reira, before her Original Dimension's Duel Disk materializing on her left arm, and her head gained its true colors.
«My turn!» yelled both as Ray drew a card from her Deck.
The two Akaba siblings held up their right arms, Ray having two yellow-colored cards between her fingers, Normal Monsters. Zarc had an heart attack when he squinted and noticed... the lower half was Magic-colored!
«With the Scale 0, "Nature Queen Hikari", and the Scale 13, "Nature Queen Yami", we set the Pendulum Scale!» Ray slapped the cards over her Duel Disk, but the iridescent word "PENDULUM" appered over Reira's as well.
Two young girls ascended to the sky inside blue columns of light. The Scale 0 wore a pretty white dress and had long brown and red hair, looking like Ray, while the Scale 13 resembled a female Zarc with short, upward-spiked white hair, and wore a tattered black dress.
«W-what? How!?» stuttered the demonic man.
«With this, we can Summon any monsters with Levels between 1 and 12!» explained the siblings. «Swing, Pendulum of cosmos! Bring eternal peace to the unnatural world!» chanted both. «Pendulum Summon! Appear, our harbinger of salvation!» A portal opened between the two Scales, and a single pink stream came out.
The light split into four, of which three changed color: green, indigo, and yellow. A pillar of light shoot up to the sky, piercing the clouds.
«Envoy of Mother Earth, the all-knowing disciple with the mission to protect the universe with the powers of nature!»
The pillar died down, and a figure appeared between the four colored light: a heavenly being wearing a rainbow vest, with long flowing hair colored white, and feathery wings folded behind the back. «"Biograph Angel"!»
Biograph Angel
ATK 2400
LV 7
«Bio... graph... angel...?» growled Zarc. «No... no! You can't!»
Ray and Reira just glared back at him. «The effect of "Biograph Angel". We can Release this card, and banish the Four Envoys of Nature from our Deck and Extra Deck!»
«NO!» screamed the demon, slamming his hands down. Meanwhile, the angelic monster clasped her hands and appeared to start praying.
The siblings threw their right arms up. «"Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale"! "Wind Witch - Winter Bell"! "Moonlight Cat Dancer"! "Melodious Maestra - Prodigy Mozart"!»
The four monsters appeared over them as thet were named, all glaring with intense hate at the dark lord of dragons. The angry faces of the bracelet girls briefly fickered over their respective ace.
«Become the force that purifies the evil out of hearts!»
Pillars of colored light enveloped the four monsters, before they moved towards each other and merged. Then, Ray spread her arms and detached from Reira, who fell on their knees. As she floated towards the pillar, she closed her eyes and kept chanting.
«The sovereign of the natural world, the fighter for the freedom from jet-black darkness' clutches for all dimensions! Please take my form, and save us all from sin!»
Ray's body touched the light, before being abrutly swallowed. Immediately the pillar expanded with a deep rumble, and a second, horizontal pillar burst out the sides of the other, making it look like a cross.
Two words echoed in the astonished silence: «INTEGRATION SUMMON!»
Slowly, the horizontal light widened, taking shape of wings. Enormous, yellow, feathery wings. A pink circle formed around the main pillar, and the light finally died down.
A enormous woman was towering before Zarc. Besides the yellow wings and the pink halo, the monster wore a long green dress with indigo fur. Ray's glowing body merged with the monster's at the neck crook of the latter, just like with Zarc.
«Zarc!» a voice called out. «Here I am! Your ultimate opponent: an equivalent!»
Queen of All Nature - Ray
ATK 3900
LV 12
Zarc was trembling in fury. «YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU USE THE SAME WEAPON I MADE TO FIGHT YOU?! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY OWN EXCLUSIVE, INTEGRATION SUMMON?!»
Ray didn't bat an eye from her place. «I will stop you, no what what I have to do.»
Zarc pointed a claw to her. «Stop me? In your worthless dreams! You even have less ATK than myself, proof that no one can surpass me!»
Ray's expression softened for some reason. «ATK isn't everything. Don't worry, your pain is finally coming to an end.»
Zarc scowled in confusion. «What are you saying?»
Ray held up her hand towards the dragon as a window popped up in front of her, showing four Magic Cards in the Graveyard. «The Natural Energy Cards... they did stop you... but the price was too high. They shattered the entire world like this, and they caused immense pain and suffering... so I will undo their damage. I'll sacrifice them to find another way!»
«Sacrifice them?!» cried Leo shocked.
Her held hand closed in a fist. «That's right. This new form of mine isn't just the embodiment of my desire to stop you. It is also the combination of my fragments' will to save your fragments!»
«Our fragments?» murmured Zarc.
«My effect activates! By banishing a nature card from the Graveyard, I can apply its effect!» «WHAT?!»
«Go, Ruri!» yelled Ray as the Xyz fragment flickered next to her. «We banish "En Birds"!» the two girls said, «By its effect, all Xyz Monsters on the field, in the Graveyard, and that are banished are treated as Normal Monsters, and their effects are negated!»
"En Birds", floating in the purple void, exploded into yellow particles, which erupted out from a portal that opened before Ray, quickly turning into bird shapes and enveloping "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" and "Supreme King Servant Dragon Dark Rebellion". At the same time, the same two cards flashed on Zarc's Duel Disk; as the former turned into a yellow card and lost its effect and the "Xyz / Effect" part of the type line, and the latter was stripped of the black fraction of the background and the "Xyz" subtype.
«Xyz Monsters are...» whispered Kaito. «...turned into Normal Monster?» finished Shun.
«Yuto!» cried Ruri's spirit clasping her hand. «I'm begging you, awake yourself! Just like you fought Academia, you can fight Zarc! I know you can, because you are a valiant dark knight just like the "Phantom Knights"! Please! Do it for our home, for my brother!» A tear fell from her eye. «Do it for me...»
Suddenly Zarc clutched his head and screamed as Yuto's spirit struggled to reach out. «NO! You stay doooooowwwwn!» slurred the demon as Yuto emerged. «Ruri...!» he sobbed as he was immediately pulled back.
Ray tched as Ruri vanished. «This is only the beginning. Rin!» The Synchro fragment appeared next to Ray and both raised their arms. «We banish "En Winds"!» The card exploded into green particle that erupted out the portal as a tornado, which went to ravage "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" and "Supreme King Servant Dragon Clear Wing". «All Synchro Monsters become Normal Monster, and their effects are negated!» Inside the winds, "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" roared as its card's white background and "Synchro" subtype vanished, along with the one of "Clear Wing" becoming yellow and losing its effects and "Synchro / Effect".
«The "Supreme King Dragon" that made us suffer...» said Crow. «...is becoming powerless!» murmured Jack, still down.
Zarc screamed in pain again as Rin started speaking. «Yugo, you gigantic goof! How could you let youself be taken over like that! Open your eyes and fight Zarc! We two still... have a... dream, right? We still have to win the Friendship Cup... I won't ever let you use... your possession as an excuse... got it?!» yelled the girl, her voice gradually breaking down.
Yugo tried desperately to reach out as well. «Riiin! Riiiiiiin! I'm here, I'm he...» he barely managed to get ot before he was absorbed again. «Stop it!» growled Zarc.
«Never!» growled back Ray. «Get on it, Selena!» The ponytailed Fusionist took Rin's place. «We banish "En Moon"!» The Magic in question burst into violet particles, which formed a beam that went to pierce the last clouds and reveal the full moon hanging over the teared remains of Earth. «All Fusion Monsters become Normal Monsters, and their effects are negated!» The girls added as "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" and "Supreme King Servant Dragon Starve Venom" howled in the blueish-gray lighting. The card of "Starve Venom" became yellow and lost "Fusion / Effect", and the one of "Zarc" finally was taken away the violet background and the "Fusion" subtype, making it looking like a common Effect Pendulum Monster for a second before the monster effect also vanished and the upper part of the background faded from orange to yellow too.
«With this, the Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz aspects of the "Supreme King Dragon" are removed!» exclaimed Edo, smiling along with Sora.
Selena's spirit cupped her hands around her mouth. «Hey Yuri, you little shit! I know you're in there! Just because we never became friend don't you think I'm not gonna come and kick your ass out of that thing! What the hell do you think you gain not fighting Zarc?! You just insult your own honor! A true elite Academia student would never allow themselves to be used as a pet like that!»
Zarc screamed even louder as Yuri's spirit came out, his face shadowed. «Selena, eh?» he smiled creepily. «Fine then. You asked for it, now I'll gonna make you eat those words!» he looked up at her, tears in his eyes. «You'll better make up for your missed responsibilities, my friend...» he whispered before being dragged back inside Zarc's body. «You bastard!» he ranted as he clutched his body, feeling it burn due to the souls raging inside.
«This is the end for you!» As she said that, Ray's voice overlapped with Yuzu's, who appeared next to her too. «We banish "En Flowers"!» The last Magic Card exploded into a pink wave that washed over the entire zone, making flowers blossom on every patch of green.
«I'm getting shivers!» sang Futoshi as he, Ayu, Tatsuya, and Shuzo looked on awed.
«"En Flowers" negates again the effects of all monsters on the field, and destroys them!» explained Ray and Yuzu as Zarc's monsters were enveloped by iridescent lights, «Then, for each of those cards sent to the GY, you take 600 points of damage!»
«With this...!» murmured Reiji with a smile. «Beautiful.» simply said Gongenzaka, at loss of other words.
Ray held up her right arm, and the four bracelets appeared on her forearm. The four girls then flickered arond her, also wearing their own bracelets. After a few seconds however, the bracelets shattered into faint whisps of light. The "Supreme King Servant Dragons" roared as they quickly suffered the same fate.
«DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUU!»
Everyone shielded their faces of "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" melted into a whirlwind of darkness. Quickly, the vortex died down, deposing Zarc on the ground.
ZARC
LP 2800 → 1000
[0] × 1
«Yuya!» cried Reira, getting up under the feet of "Queen of All Nature - Ray". «I... AM NOT... YUYA!» he snarled, still holding onto his own body in pain.
«No, you are Yuya!» said Reiji, and Zarc turned to glare at him. «And you are Zarc, but also Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri. Your heart was constantly swinging. Yes, just like a pendulum!» he added, holding up Yuya's pendant for emphasis.
«Pendulum...» wheezed Zarc, scowling.
«The four cards my dad made were cards that naturally returned all power into a pure existence.» talked the five girls in unison. «That's how Pendulum was born! Pendulum cannot be swung in the presence of only malice. It should be inside of you, the existence of Sakaki Yuya, who purely pursued smiles!»
«Wrong! This is my will...» growled Zarc.
Suddenly, Yuzu floated down in front of him. «I believe in Yuya!» The words made Zarc recoil.
Yuya was holding his head in pain, surrouded by his counterparts in a dark void. «Yuzu!»
«You're not a demon!» urged the Standard girl. «You're a person who gives happinessand smiles to people around the world!»
«Shut up! What I give is fear!» «Stop it! What am I saying?»
«My wish is, for the people who forced me to fight and pretended to be a spectator to taste real fear!» yelled Zarc. «Wrong! That's not true!» murmured Yuya inside.
«Screw smiles! I...» «You came to save me!» began again Yuzu. «No matter how many times we were separated, you chased me!» Zarc gasped. «Because you were there, I got stronger!» Shu hung her head down. «I could never forget to smile.»
«Yuya, respond! To everyone's thoughts!» she cried, and then her expression softened. «And then let's go home together. Tou our homedown.»
Suddenly Zarc's yellow eyes stopped glowing and faded into red.
«Yes, last turn, Yuya!» yelled Reiji, chucking the pendant. Time seemed to slow down for Yuya as he stared at the tricket flying towards him.
He saw the Pendulum swinging. He was his dad. «I can't do anything if I'm scared and frustared.» chanted Yusho as he held two halves of a torn card. «If you want to win do it with courage.» he added as he pulled together the pieces of "Smile World".
«I'm back!» said Yuya, grabbing the pendulum. However, his face started warping, and the eyes went back to yellow. «Pendulum Monsters are immortal! Even if destroyed, they will revive again and again! Just like me!» slurred Zarc with a distorted voice, trying to reach for his Deck. «We won't let it! We will put an end to what we've done!» cried together Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri; their spirits materializing around Zarc and holding him in place with all their forces. «You bastards, you're just myselves!» snarled Zarc, trying in vain to push them away. His eyes started to roll widly. «W-what are you doing? Stop it!»
«We've decided. We will not become a demon anymore!» chanted the four boys as one. «Now! Do it, Yuzu/Ruri/Rin/Selena!» the all cried, each boy finishing with the name of their corresponding girl. Ray nodded. «I attack Zarc directly!»
The goddess spread her arms and started chanting, and the four energies gathered again to envelop Zarc and his fragments, who all started screaming.
«Damn you!» wheezed Zarc, soffucated by the four grips. «I will... absolutely...»
ZARC
LP 1000 → 0
[0] × 1
The shape of "Supreme King Dragon Zarc" appeared over him, eternally frozen in a silent roar as the shapes of the four "Supreme King Servant Dragons" were pulled out, and gradually lost their green bands as everything started shaking.
«Without the natural cards, the world is about to be reset to its former state!» murmured Leo. «Then Zarc will reincarnate in the united dimension!» whispered Reiji.
«I won't let it happen!» cried suddenly Reira getting up. «I will seal Zarc!»
As the kid clasped his hands, Zarc screamed and a black spirit flew out his mouth and rammed Reira, who also started screaming.
Meanwhile, the four boys were sucked inside the empty body, and Ray's Integration monster disintegrated as her fragments were also forced back into her.
Then...
white
also Yuya's voice, screaming.
«REIRAAAAAAA!»
. . .
Yuzu smiled as Yuya went off to answer his father's challenge. However, feeling something in her pocket where she put her Deck, she went to check her cands, and was surprised to see on the top a monster she had never seen before.
Melodious Maestra - Talented Beethoven
[ Fairy / Pendulum / Effect ]
Yuzu smiled even wider as she shifted through and saw a lot of other Pendulum Monsters in there. «I guess now I'm officialy the Pendulum counterpart as well.» she whispered, the three girls appearing around her and pulling a group hug.
Meanwhile, in Yuzu's mind, Ray also gave off a slight smile and closed her eyes as she drifted down, deciding to give her fragments some time alone.