Would you look at that, I was able to post it on time this time!

I have two things to say before going any further. First, in case it wasn't obvious enough in the third chapter: Yes, the "Reggie Abbott" in question is the same Reggie Abbott from Twelve Forever, and her deck that she'll be using in this chapter will further support this. Second, after this chapter, I'm going to put this story on hold for some time. I was originally going to do so after the next chapter, but I'm choosing to do it now because chapter six will introduce another AU version of a character from a different Yu-Gi-Oh! series (who I'm not going to reveal right now). Even though my beta and I came to an agreement of using this character to begin with, and with what kind of deck they'll be using, I want to try and complete the seventh chapter that will focus on said character and their deck, to see if my beta is still on board with it. Please keep in mind that this will be the first of possibly several hiatuses, solely for "artistic" purposes. For anyone who gets easily irritated by these announcements, my sincerest apologies.

Enjoy chapter five, everyone!

Earlier that night, around the time Mira was transported to Orbis Magna, Reggie was working rather feverishly on her computer. More specifically, she was working on her deck, making sure it was perfect. Because it was night, she was already in her sleepwear, which consisted of a pink short-sleeved sleep shirt, and lavender pajama pants decorated with purple stars on the legs. She was also barefoot.

"And…done!" she said after a few more taps on her keyboard and clicks of her mouse. "My deck's all set! I may have been lucky enough to beat Homanu with it, but I still wanna see how good it is against Mira. Okay, time to upload it into my Disk!" Her Disk was already connected to her computer by a USB cable. Once she moved her mouse and clicked on an icon of the program that would transfer the data from the computer to her Disk, the following screen popped up:

Now transferring deck data…
Estimated time remaining: 30 minutes

"Thirty minutes?! Aww, that's way too long!" Reggie whined, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. In reality, however, thirty minutes wouldn't be that long for a lot of people, but it sure felt that way to Reggie. "What time is it, anyway?" She moved her eyes to the monitor's clock: a quarter past ten in the evening.

"Whoa! I was up later than I thought!" she cried. Now she was in a predicament. "Should I stay up and wait until the transfer's complete? …No, no, I should probably go to bed. Sister Golas says I shouldn't be staying up too late. Stupid grownups, always telling us kids when to go to bed!" Despite her disdain for adult authority, she stretched as she got up from her computer chair. She immediately headed to her bed, got herself under the covers, and went right to sleep.

But as soon as she was sound asleep, a group of sickly yellow pixels formed outside her balcony's door. In their place was a tall, slim android designed similarly to the ones on Orbis Magna. Its body armor was silvery white mixed with a few shades of yellow. In the center of its chest armor was a glowing yellow orb. As for its mask, it was a silvery white Kanohi Hau with a gold symbol on the forehead. The symbol closely resembled the number four, its front edge significantly curved. Its eyes were also a sickly yellow. On its left wrist was a topaz crystal, which presumably doubled as a Duel Disk.

The android carefully picked the lock on the door, opened it, and stepped inside, all without making a single noise loud enough to disturb Reggie. The android carefully looked around and noticed the monitor that was still on. It didn't take long for the android to realize what was going on. Without wasting a second, he stretched out his left arm, which generated a soundproof force field all around Reggie and her bed. Afterwards, the android went to Reggie's computer, aborted the deck transfer entirely, and then proceeded to connect a wire, comprised of sickly yellow energy from the crystal on its wrist, similar to that of a USB cord, into her computer. A light surge shot from the crystal to the computer, and a new card appeared on the monitor.

"Excellent," the android spoke in a male voice. "With this card, we should be able to flush out any potential Wielders for us to annihilate. Our plan must not fail!" The 'cable' he used retracted from the computer back to his crystal. Afterwards, he clicked on the same icon to transfer the data from the computer to the Disk, and the transferring process immediately restarted. The android dissolved the force field around Reggie, and then snuck out of the room and locked the door, still quiet as before. Afterwards, he was engulfed in the sickly yellow pixels as he disappeared from sight.

YU-GI-OH! CHRONIXII

RECORD 005
THE THREAT OF ITZAMNA! ITZAMNA'S SPIRIT MAGIC

It was breakfast time at the orphanage the following morning. Mira sat at her usual table with Homanu and Kero, helping herself to her usual breakfast of tamagoyaki. But as she ate, she was deep in thought about what she witnessed last night, just as she was the day before. Several questions were on her mind: What exactly was a 'Wielder,' and why did Isis expect her, of all people, to have the potential of being one? What was this 'Iroa of Darkness' Isis spoke of? And most importantly…was any of what Mira witnessed even real?

"Onee-chan, are you okay?" Kero asked, breaking Mira's concentration.

"Oh! Um, yeah, I'm fine," was the startled Mira's reply.

"You're not letting that dream you've had the night before get to you again, are you?" the concerned Homanu asked.

"No, I'm not," Mira replied. Actually, she wasn't letting that dream bother her; the dream that was bothering her, however, was the one she had just last night. Or rather, she hoped it was just a dream.

"Hey, that reminds me!" Kero beamed. "Yusaku gave you back your Duel Disk, right? So, did he get rid of the virus you said was in it?"

"He did give me back my Disk," said Mira, "but he said he couldn't find any viruses on it, no matter how hard he tried."

"So, if there weren't any viruses in your Disk," said Homanu, staring to get concerned for his friend, "then why were you still talking to it yesterday? …Come to think of it, what was this 'pink thing' you were talking about earlier?"

"I'd rather not talk about it…" Mira murmured.

"Mira…" Homanu said sternly.

"Hey, as long as Mira's Disk doesn't have any viruses in it, she should be fine!" Kero interrupted reassuringly. "That's what matters, right?"

"I dunno…" Homanu began.

"Hey, Mira!" Reggie interrupted as she headed to their table. "After breakfast, y'wanna have a Game Duel with me?"

"Another one?!" Mira groaned. "You mean the one you've had with Homanu wasn't enough?"

"Oh, yeah, how did that go?" asked Kero.

"She won," Homanu replied with a sigh. "I swear, I didn't stand a chance against her!"

"So, if you were able to beat Homanu," Mira said, "how come you wanna duel me?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Reggie cried, rolling her eyes. "I gotta make sure I'm ready to duel Arthur if he chooses me to be his opponent! And I've heard rumors that you actually beat Hawk yesterday, so you gotta duel me now!"

Mira didn't know she heard about those 'rumors,' but Reggie did have a point. Mira did defeat Hawk yesterday, and Hawk was Arthur's final opponent, so it would make sense as to why Reggie would want to duel Mira. After thinking about it, Mira said, "Okay, Reggie, looks like you've got yourself a Game Duel. Just lemme finish breakfast, okay?"

"Yes!" Reggie squealed in excitement. "Mira, you have no idea how happy I am right now! See you in Game World!" She ran to get her breakfast still squealing with excitement.

"Wow, you sure made her day!" the chuckling Homanu remarked.

"Guess I did," agreed Mira. "But if she beat you like you said she did, I should probably-"

But before she could say or do anything else, the necklace she kept hidden under her pajama top began to shine faintly underneath. Unexplainably, her eyes widened as a vision went through her head. What she saw was Reggie in her 'Game World' avatar, piloting her vehicle reserved for Accel Game Duels. However, she was not her usual cheerful self. Her entire face was malicious, as if she were possessed. To further support this, her eyes were glowing a sickly yellow. "IN THE NAME OF ITZAMNA, I WILL DESTROY YOU!" she screamed. From there, the vision ended, and Mira immediately snapped back to reality, but trying to make sense out of what just happened was beyond her.

"Whoa, what was that all about?!" the stunned Kero asked.

"I…I don't know…" the bewildered Mira said, placing her fingertips upon her forehead.

"Mira, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Homanu asked, almost severely. "First, you claim you're seeing a 'pink thing' yesterday, and now this? Something's definitely going on with you!"

"Homanu, I'm fine," Mira said defensively. "Now, let's just finish our breakfast so that we can meet Reggie in Game World."

"Okay, if you say so…" the uneasy Homanu said as the three friends went back to their breakfast.

But as Mira ate, she was troubled about the vision she just had, even if she tried to hardest to now show that she was. 'What was that vision I just had?' she wondered. 'And how did I have that vision? …Dammit, Mira, you can't let it get to you! Right now, you gotta finish your breakfast, and then meet up with Reggie – don't wanna keep her waiting!'

About ten minutes later, breakfast was finished, and Mira was now in her everyday clothing. She picked up the Disk that was lying on her desk, and stared at it. "I still don't know what that vision was," she said to herself, "but there's no way I'm gonna let it stop me from dueling Reggie!"

Without hesitation, she fastened the Disk onto her arm, and held it up to her face. "Link to Game World!" she announced, swiping across the touchscreen.

"Now transporting to Game World," the female computerized voice spoke as her touchscreen lit up. She was immediately enshrouded in the blue digital sphere as she underwent the transformation into her Game World avatar. Once her transformation sequence was complete, the bolt of light blue thunder struck her, making her disappear.

In Game World, a magenta digital portal formed above, and Mira dropped down from it, landing on her feet. Not long after she arrived, two more digital portals – one red-orange and the other lime green – formed above as well. Homanu and Kero both dropped down from their respective portals.

"We're here, onee-chan!" Kero chimed.

"Thank you for that announcement, Kero," the sarcastic Homanu spoke, much to Kero's annoyance. To Mira, he said, "So, where's Reggie?"

"I dunno," Mira replied. "She didn't exactly say where she wanted us to meet her-"

Suddenly, her Disk's touchscreen began flashing repeatedly. Mira quickly pressed her finger on the touchscreen, and a holographic projection of Reggie's head appeared just above it. It was clad in a white rounded triangular biking helmet, decorated with a neon green stripe and a light pink Reuleaux triangle. A bright yellow oval overlapping a blue one was on each side of the head to resemble multicolored headphones. An antenna resembling a palm tree protruded from the ovals on the right side of the helmet. Her hair was fashioned into a ponytail from the back of the helmet. "Mira, where are you?!" Reggie whined. "I'm right here in Game World, waiting for you!"

"Well, we're in Game World, too," said Mira, "but you could at least tell us where you are!"

"…Dangit, I forgot!" Reggie groaned, slapping her forehead. "Okay, um…I'm already at one of the checkpoint gates for the Accel Game Duel lanes…and I think it's the one closest to where you can see the clock tower!"

"Okay, I think I know where it is," said Mira. "We'll see you in a few minutes." With those words said, Reggie nodded as her hologram disappeared in an instant. "Well, let's get going," Mira told her friends not long after. She turned and headed to the rendezvous with Reggie, Homanu and Kero following behind.

Fifteen minutes later, the gang met up with Reggie at the checkpoint gate closest to the clock tower, just as Reggie described. And waiting for them was Reggie in her unique Game World avatar. The rest of her avatar's attire consisted of a slim black jumpsuit that ended at the knees, and had long sleeves that formed fingerless gloves. Over the jumpsuit was a chest plate, bracelets, and knee-length boots, all of which were white. The chest plate was decorated with a blue collar, and yellow feathered shoulder pads linked by two blue-yellow buttons. Her boots were decorated with puffy pink buckles, as well as pins that matched her shoulder pads. She also wore a slim-fit, neon green skirt. As for her Duel Disk, it had a pink body, a blue dial and accents, and a yellow touchscreen.

"It's about time you guys showed up!" Reggie said.

"Well, someone wasn't good at giving us directions," Homanu sternly pointed.

"But I… Aw, forget it!" Reggie laughed, playfully rolling her eyes. "But now that Mira's here, we can finally have our Accel Game Duel! Ready to go, Mira?"

"I am," Mira said with a confident nod.

"Let's go, then!" Reggie beamed, pounding her chest.

Both she and Mira made their way to the virtual iron gate of red light before them. They detached the dials attached to their Disks, and held them right in front of them. In an instant, two different motorcycle-like objects constructed by grid wires of different colors began to form – Reggie's grid wires were yellow, while Mira's was magenta. Once the motorcycles' grid patterns were fully constructed, they transformed into fully-made forms after a quick flash of light. Reggie's model was a regular streamlined model that was primarily white with some pink, blue, and yellow trim. As for Mira's, it was more futuristic; it resembled an actual motorcycle, complete with two short, slim exhaust pipes out of the back. But what truly made it futuristic was that there was only one wheel on the front fender. The main body was black with a magenta trim.

As soon as the duel vehicles were fully constructed, Reggie and Mira climbed onto their respective ones. As soon as Mira got on her motorcycle, a helmet constructed by magenta wires formed around her face. After a quick flash of light, the fully constructed helmet was black mixed with some white, and had a magenta-tinted visor. Similarly, a pink-tinted, full-length visor formed from yellow grid wires on Reggie's helmet.

"Game World Accel, set on!" Reggie shouted.

The dashboards on both duelists' vehicles lit up as 'Game World Accel' moved up from the bottom to the center. "Accel Game Duel engaged," the computerized female voice spoke during this sequence. "Now activating Field Card, Game World Accel. Autopilot standing by." After the dashboards displayed the respective opponents' duel fields and projected the Disks' blades – Reggie's being yellow – the entire dueling area was enshrouded in the dark blue dome.

"Lane selection… Searching for optimal lane…" a computerized male voice spoke as a screen displaying a blue background and a yellow line forming an appropriate route for the declared Accel Game Duel was shown. "Sending duel lane request to Central." Eventually, a yellow rectangular caution sign with 'AUTHORIZATION' written in black on the bottom popped up in the center. "Authorization granted!"

With the selection and approval of the route for the declared Accel Game Duel, the giant blue sphere containing the Power-Up Cards was projected above a section of the route, and a way's away from Mira and Reggie. The virtual gate before the two duelists turned green before it pixilated. Afterwards, guardrails of yellow light with yellow hexagons, each one with 'DUEL' written in the same color, formed above the edges of the designated route. With the gate open and the guardrails in place, Reggie and Mira shifted gears on their vehicles as they tore across the racetrack, ready to begin the duel.

"Good luck, onee-chan!" Kero cheered.

"Save the cheering for later!" the equally eager Homanu directed. "Let's get everything set up so we can keep track of how the duel goes!" He began to hastily press on his Disk's touchscreen.

"Oh, right!" Kero agreed as he proceeded to do the same.

Reggie and Mira were pretty much neck-and-neck as they raced across the lane. The sight of the lane connecting to a main highway that had the same guardrails as the one they were on caught Reggie's attention. "Hey, Mira!" she cried. "First one to make it to the main road gets the first move!"

"You're on!" Mira shouted back, shifting gears on her motorcycle. 'This'll be a piece of cake!' she thought.

But without warning, the familiar streak of pink and violet pixels shot out of her Disk, which transformed into Pinkie, who yawned while stretching. "Sorry I'm late, Mira! I must've overslept!"

Once again infuriated by her unwanted presence, Mira shouted, "Do you seriously have to show up now?!"

"Oops!" Pinkie gulped, blushing as she realized her mistake. "I didn't know you were in a Game Duel!" It wasn't long before she noticed the motorcycle Mira was riding. "But…what kind of Game Duel is done on a motorcycle?"

"If you must know," Mira rudely explained, "it's an 'Accel Game Duel'. But I can't explain it now – I have to get to the intersection first so that-"

"MIRA, WATCH OUT!" Pinkie screamed, pointing to a guardrail that Mira was about to crash into! Right in the nick of time, Mira shifted her weight to avoid colliding with the wall, even if just barely. But as she quickly straightened out her motorcycle, she saw that Reggie was already ahead of her.

"Okay, I don't know what that was about," the chuckling Reggie said, "but the first move's mine! Hope you're not too upset!"

Mira actually was upset, but not with Reggie. "You see what you do?!" she snarled at Pinkie. Pinkie just cowered a bit, realizing the mistakes she just made.

"There she goes again!" Homanu cried, seeing what just happened on his Disk's touchscreen. "She acts weird in her duel against Hawk, she claims there's a 'pink thing' talking to her, and now she just gives Reggie the first move while nearly getting herself killed?! Something's definitely wrong with her, and I'm gonna find out what it is!"

"Okay, but let's do it after the duel!" Kero said cheerfully. "I wanna see if Mira's gonna kick Reggie's butt!"

"I am gonna do it after the duel, but fine," Homanu said with a sigh. 'I just wanna be sure Mira's alright…'

"Time to see if I'm truly strong enough to face Arthur!" Reggie beamed. "But before I do, I'll go ahead and use my Skill! Forthcoming of Endless' Hero!" In an instant, a yellow hexagonal portal materialized beside her. "Thanks to my Skill, I can bring out my deck's top star: Endless' Hero, Guardian Twelve!" Flying out of the portal was a young girl that looked exactly like Reggie in her avatar form, in every single detail. [ATK: 1200; LV: 4]

"When I use this Skill, I can immediately activate her effect at the start of my first turn, as if she were summoned to the field regularly! The only downside is that I start with one less card in my hand, and that I can't summon normally during my first turn! Oh, well!" In spite of her Skill's drawbacks, she waved her arm as four yellow digital cards materialized before her.

Mira couldn't help but carefully observe her opponent's behavior. 'She seems like her usual self,' she thought. 'So why did I see that vision of her? And why did she look…possessed?' Realizing what she was thinking, she shook her head. 'No, Mira, no! You can't worry about that right now! You have a duel to get through! You gotta focus!' She waved her arm, and five magenta cards materialized before her.

"Accel Game Duel…" they both started chanting. The digital sphere exploded, scattering the Power-Up Cards in various locations of the racetrack. "Game start!"

REGGIE: 4000 LP / MIRA: 4000 LP
REGGIE: 0 SPC / MIRA: 0 SPC

"Okay then!" Reggie beamed. "I'll start by activating Guardian Twelve's 'Searcher' Ability! Since my Skill treats it as if she were summoned, I get to take any card that lists her name in its text, and add it to my hand!" All the possible cards she could choose from materialized before her. She pressed her finger on the desired card, and it pixilated while the other cards simply vanished.

No sooner did the cards vanish when Reggie's eye caught a row of four transparent digital cards, each one encased in a transparent digital orb. Reggie leaned to her left to grab hold of one of the cards. Mira, who wasn't too far behind from Reggie, did the same by leaning to her right. "Ohohoho, yeah!" Reggie snickered, looking at the card with a grin stretching across her face. Mira ignored Reggie's enthusiasm as she looked at her own newly acquired card.

"Upgrade Card: ready!" Reggie resumed as she moved the card she just picked up across her Disk's touchscreen. When she did, the card transformed into red pixels that were transferred into the touchscreen. "Vaccine Base Upgrade Card, Infernal Blazer, uploaded," the female computerized voice spoke as the miniaturized version of Infernal Blazer appeared at the bottom of the touchscreen.

"Insertion: Endless' Hero, Guardian Twelve!" Her monster counterpart transformed into red pixels that also shot into the touchscreen. Once there, the pixels transformed into her avatar's card form, located just above Infernal Blazer.

"Now upgrading Endless' Hero, Guardian Twelve," the computerized voice announced. Inside her Duel Disk system was the black background, with Guardian Twelve's non-card form materializing from the red pixels. A red digital card formed high above her, lying flat, as a beam of fiery red digital energy shot down onto Guardian Twelve, turning her entire body black with red wires. More red wires materialized on her back, forming a pair of wings.

"Super Upgrade! Fight, Endless' Hero, Guardian Twelve S-V-A!"

A burst of bright red light shot out of her Disk's touchscreen. Emerging out of the light was her avatar, except now the pink and green parts of her avatar were respectively replaced red and red-orange. She also donned a pair of crystallized angel's wings, which where shrouded by fire, thanks to Infernal Blazer. [ATK: 1200; GRADE: SUP]

"Oh, no!" Pinkie wailed. "Reggie just Upgrade Summoned using Infernal Blazer – the same card you've used to defeat Hawk! Please be careful, Mira!"

"Like I didn't know that, genius…" Mira muttered under her breath.

"I now equip Guardian Twelve's new form with Endless' Weapon Bison Battle Axe!" Reggie resumed. Another card materialized in her hand, which she swiped through her Disk's horizontal slot. Another yellow hexagonal portal appeared, and a black mechanical bison with gold horns galloped out of it. [ATK: 1000; LV: 3] It wasn't long before the bison transformed into a double-sided battle axe, which the fiery Guardian Twelve grabbed hold of.

"This card gives Guardian Twelve one thousand Attack Points, and the ability to inflict piercing damage! Plus, thanks to Guardian Twelve's 'Boost' Ability, she gains a hundred more Attack Points for every other card on my field that includes her name in its text! In other words, she'll be gaining eleven hundred Attack Points!" Guardian Twelve raised her battle axe high. [ATK: 1200 – 2300]

"I'll place this card face-down, and end my turn!" Another card materialized in her hand, which she also slid into her Disk's horizontal slot. A yellow card materialized before disappearing from sight. "Okay, Mira, let's see what you're made of!"

"It's my turn!" Mira shouted. With those words spoken, both duelists' vehicles slightly increased in speed.

REGGIE: 1 SPC / MIRA: 1 SPC

Her Disk's ring materialized around her left wrist. But for Accel Game Duels, the trapezoid-shaped ridges were horizontal, as opposed to vertical. Nevertheless, the magenta card still materialized halfway through the topmost ridge. But even before Mira drew her card, Pinkie couldn't help but notice a peculiar graphic on Mira's dashboard. The graphic was the bottom half of a black gear with twelve teeth, and on the inside of the far-right tooth was a triangle glowing magenta. "Mira? What's that?" Pinkie asked, pointing to the triangle.

"It's a Speed Counter," Mira replied, almost uncaringly. "All duelists in Accel Game Duels get one during each Standby Phase, starting with the second turn, though we can only have a maximum of twelve apiece. And we'll need them for when we activate 'Speed Spell' cards."

"'Speed Spell'…cards?"

"I don't have enough to show you right now, so you'll have to wait," Mira reasoned as a magenta card materialized in her hand. "I summon Destiny Hero Dunk Guy in Defense Mode!" After slapping the card onto one of her blade's floating card zones, a magenta hexagonal portal appeared, and a dark-skinned warrior with dark blue dreadlocks and dark green body armor emerged out of it. His overall appearance resembled that of a stereotypical African-American basketball player. [DEF: 1700; LV: 4]

"Wait, Mira, you can't do that!" Pinkie protested. "You can't Normal Summon a monster in Defense Mode!"

"That would be the case," Mira corrected her, "but we're in the 'Accel' Terrain, and what we really can't do is Normal Summon monsters in face-down Defense Mode. And we can't flip any monsters face-down, either."

"Oh…that makes sense!" Pinkie chirped, much to Mira's annoyance.

"I activate Dunk Guy's 'Damage' Ability!" Mira resumed as she brought her attention back to the duel. "I can discard a Destiny Hero from my hand to inflict you with five hundred points of damage! I use this ability twice!" Two magenta cards materialized in her hand, each one transforming into pixels of the same color. However, the pixels were transferred to the basketball hero's palms, and the pixels merged into an orb that the hero flung at Reggie. Upon impact, Reggie slightly winced at the pain, but managed to maintain her balance. [LP: 4000 – 3000]

"I'll place three cards face-down, and end my turn!" Three more magenta cards materialized in her hand. Within a single move, she swiped all three cards into her Disk's horizontal slot. Three magenta cards materialized – one on each side of her vehicle and the third on the front – before each card disappeared from sight.

"Three face-down cards?" the grinning Reggie commented, observing Mira's current field on her dashboard. "Now you're really talking my language!"

"…I am?" the perplexed Mira wondered.

"Well, obviously! The fact that you have three face-down cards means that you've obviously got something big set up, just like Arthur would! That means when I beat you, I'll know for sure that I'll be ready to face him!"

"Boy," Pinkie remarked as she crossed her arms, "can you imagine people getting so optimistic to the point where they become annoying?"

"Oh, no…" Mira replied with heavy sarcasm.

"It's my turn!" Reggie resumed. On her dashboard, there was a graphic above Mira's current duel field, which was a daisy with twelve petals and a yellow center. The upmost right petal had a glowing pink circle in the center. It wasn't long before another pink circle started glowing on the next petal, going clockwise.

REGGIE: 2 SPC / MIRA: 2 SPC

Reggie's Disk's yellow ring appeared around her wrist, the yellow card halfway through the topmost ridge. "I draw!" she shouted as she drew the card, the trail of yellow pixels flowing.

"I activate the Speed Spell, Angel Baton!" Reggie continued as she swiped the card she just drew through her Disk's horizontal slot. Another yellow card materialized before transforming into a Spell Card picturing a blonde female angel in white silk robes, carrying a floating green orb within the palms of her hands. "Because I have at least two Speed Counters, I get to draw two cards, but then I have to send one card from my hand to the Graveyard!" Her Disk's ring appeared around her wrist once again, this time having two cards stacked on top of each other, halfway through the topmost ridge. After drawing both cards, five cards materialized in front of her. She pressed her finger on the desired card, and it pixilated while the other cards vanished.

"Oh, is that what a 'Speed Spell' card is?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah," Mira replied. "'Speed Spell' cards are Spell Cards that can be used only in Accel Game Duels. Speed Spells that have more powerful effects require us to have more Speed Counters on any 'Game World Accel' card. Like I said, we all gain one Speed Counter apiece during each Standby Phase, starting on the second turn. But if we take at least one thousand points of damage, we lose one Speed Counter for each multiple of one thousand points of damage we took."

"Lose a Speed Counter for every…" Pinkie pondered, suddenly remembering that the damage Mira previously inflicted to Reggie was exactly one thousand. "Wait! You inflicted Reggie with exactly a thousand points of damage on your previous turn, so how come she didn't lose a Speed Counter?!"

"I've used Dunk Guy's ability twice, so she technically took five hundred points of damage in separate intervals," Mira impatiently explained. "Not only do you need to shut up, but you also need to pay attention to these things!" The embarrassed Pinkie said nothing to that comment.

"Okay, Mira," Reggie interrupted as, from her own perspective, she saw Mira talking to nothing but thin air, "I don't know who you're talking to, but it's still my turn! And I'm gonna have Guardian Twelve S-V-A attack your Dunk Guy!" She pointed at Mira's basketball hero as she said this. Afterwards, the fiery monster form of Reggie's avatar flew directly towards the basketball hero and swung her battle axe across him, shattering him into pixels. [LP: 4000 – 3400]

"Now you take damage equal to Dunk Guy's Attack Points, thanks to Infernal Blazer's 'Upgrade' Ability!" Sure enough, the fiery monster form of Reggie unleashed a burst of fire from her axe that struck at Mira, causing her to wince in pain and briefly lose her balance on her vehicle. [LP: 3400 – 2200] As she struggled to regain her balance, one of the two magenta triangles on her dashboard's gear graphic turned off. [SPC: 2 – 1]

But it didn't take long for Mira to completely regain her balance. As soon as she did, she said, "I activate the Trap Card, Destiny Signal!" A magenta card materialized before transforming into a Trap Card picturing a spotlight shining over the silhouettes of a few buildings. The spotlight had a stylized 'D' in the center. In an instant, that very same spotlight shot out of the card and shone in the sky above the city. "When a monster on my field is destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Level Four or lower Destiny Hero from my hand or deck! From my deck, I Special Summon Destiny Heroine Dark Girl!" Another magenta hexagonal portal appeared, and the monster version of Mira's own avatar flew out of it. [ATK: 0000; LV: 3]

"A monster with zero Attack Points in Attack Mode?!" Pinkie cried. "Mira, I hope you know what you're doing!" Mira just ignored that comment.

"I end my turn!" Reggie finished.

"It's my turn!" Mira shouted. On her dashboard, the magenta triangle that previously turned off was relit.

REGGIE: 3 SPC / MIRA: 2 SPC

Her Disk's ring appeared around her wrist with the card materializing halfway through the topmost ridge. "I draw!" she shouted, drawing the card. "And at this moment, I activate the 'Reincarnate' Ability of the Destiny Hero Disk Guy I sent to my Graveyard last turn!" The faded image of a grey-suited hero with light blue circuit patterns appeared beside Mira. True to his name, a pair of computer disks were attached to cards on his back, and another pair were attached to his wrists. "Since he's in my Graveyard, I get to shuffle him back into my deck!" The disk-equipped hero turned into magenta light, which shot right back into Mira's Disk.

"Now his 'Draw' Ability activates, meaning I get to draw cards from my deck! Normally, that'd be two, but since Disk Guy was previously discarded by the effect of a 'Destiny' card other than himself, I draw three cards, instead!" The ring reappeared around her wrist once again, this time having three cards stacked on top of each other. She drew the cards with all her might.

It wasn't long before another transparent card encased inside another transparent digital orb caught her attention. It wasn't too far from where she was on the racetrack, and it was easy to grab. However, Reggie was slightly more ahead than Mira was, so Mira naturally shifted gears on her vehicle and accelerated so that she would be able to get the card before Reggie would. And luckily for her, Mira did.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Reggie whined.

"What's 'not fair?' That I got a Power-Up Card before you did?" Mira remarked.

"No, it's not fair that you have two Power-Up Cards in your hand, when you're only supposed to have one! It's against the rules!"

"I know that it'd be stupid of a duelist to do this, but I'm gonna assure you that I only have one Power-Up Card in my hand. If I didn't, the Giichi Corporation would force this duel to become null and void!"

'Dangit, she's got a point…' Reggie muttered in her mind. 'But how was she still able to get another Power-Up Card like that?' The answer suddenly flashed through her brain as she took a close look at Mira's Spell/Trap Zones on her dashboard. 'One of those face-down cards must be a Power-Up Card! Of course, I don't know what that Power-Up Card might actually be. But whatever that card is, it must be that important if she played it face-down like that!' Ironically, this realization only increased Reggie's admiration for Mira's dueling. 'That's just the kind of duelist I wanna fight, if I wanna be ready to take on Arthur!'

"Upgrade Card: ready!" Mira resumed as she moved the card she just acquired over her Disk's touchscreen. When she did, the card transformed into red pixels that were then transferred into the touchscreen. "Vaccine Base Upgrade Card, Brave Soul, uploaded," the female computerized voice spoke. The miniature version of Brave Soul appeared at the bottom of the touchscreen.

"Insertion: Destiny Heroine Dark Girl!" Mira declared. Afterwards, Dark Girl transformed into purple pixels, which shot into the touchscreen. Once there, the purple lights transformed into the miniature version of Dark Girl, appearing just above Brave Soul.

"Now upgrading Destiny Heroine Dark Girl," the computerized voice announced. Inside her Duel Disk system was the black background. Dark Girl's non-card form materialized from the purple pixels, and a red digital card materialized high in the sky, lying flat. A beam of orange light shot down from the card, striking just behind Dark Girl. The beam created a quake underneath Dark Girl, unleashing a burst of a more lustrous orange light. Her entire body turned black with red wires, with more forming around her arms, legs, chest and hips.

"Super Upgrade! Come forth, Destiny Heroine Dusk Girl!"

A burst of bright red light shot out of Mira's Disk's touchscreen. Emerging out of the light was the upgraded, armored form of Dark Girl. [ATK: 2100; GRADE: SUP]

"Mira just summoned her ace!" Homanu cheered, observing the progress of the duel on his Disk's touchscreen. "Let's just hope she has what it takes to beat Reggie!"

"Go get her, onee-chan!" Kero cheered.

"I activate the Upgrade Ability Dusk Girl inherited from Brave Soul!" Mira resumed. "Since she's the only monster on my field, she gains one thousand extra Attack Points! And, when she attacks, she'll be unaffected by other cards and effects!" [ATK: 2100 – 3100]

"Yes, a card that was used by Arthur, now being used against me!" Reggie squealed with excitement. "Keep 'em coming, Mira!"

"Okay, if that's what you want…!" the almost uneasy Mira said. "Destiny Heroine Dusk Girl, attack Guardian Twelve S-V-A!"

Dusk Girl flew up into the air, and began skyrocketing down towards Guardian Twelve S-VA, all which stretching out her left claw. Suddenly, Guardian Twelve S-VA flung her battle axe into the sky, which intercepted Dusk Girl's attack. As soon as Dusk Girl's claw struck the battle axe, it immediately pixilated. [LP: 3000 – 2200]

"You're not the only one with surprises!" Reggie laughed. "My axe had the 'Union' Ability, meaning that if Guardian Twelve S-V-A would be destroyed, I can destroy the axe instead!"

"But without your axe, your monster is really gonna get weaker!" Mira reminded her. Indeed, that's what happened to Guardian Twelve S-VA. [ATK: 2300 – 1200] "My turn's done."

"And before I begin mine," said Reggie, "I'll activate my face-down card, Endless' Guardian Magic, Reconstruction!" A yellow card materialized before transforming into a Trap Card. Its artwork pictured Reggie's avatar grinning widely and raising her arms towards a heavenly yellow sky, two weapons floating down from above. The first was the same battle axe she used earlier in the duel, while the other was a spiked flail.

"With Guardian Twelve on my field, I can take two cards in my Graveyard that list her name in each of their texts, and return them to my hand!" Her Disk's ring appeared around her arm once again, and two cards stacked on top of each other were halfway through the bottom-right ridge. She pulled the two cards from the ridge. "And just in case you were wondering, I sent one of the cards I just brought back with Angel Baton's effect!"

"It figures…" Mira muttered.

"Then it's my turn!" Reggie beamed. On her dashboard, a pink circle lit up on the daisy graphic's fourth petal.

REGGIE: 4 SPC / MIRA: 3 SPC

"I draw!" Her Disk's ring appeared around her wrist again, the card halfway through the topmost ridge. But as she drew the card, she felt a pulse surge through her body, suddenly wincing in pain.

"Whoa, Reggie's not looking too good!" Homanu gasped as he observed Reggie's sudden unusual behavior. "What's wrong with her?"

"I dunno…!" was Kero's reply. "Wait…do you think she snuck in taco rice last night, and it's just starting to kick in?!"

"You seriously have to bring up taco rice at a time like this?!" Homanu scolded harshly.

"It could've happened!" Kero whined. "I'm just saying, is all!"

"Honestly, Kero!" Homanu groaned, slapping his forehead.

"Reggie?!" the concerned Mira asked. "A-are you okay?"

"I…I'm fine," Reggie groaned, her eyes still closed tight as she sweated a bit. "I'm… WHAAAAAAAAAUGH!" As she screamed, she opened her eyes, which were now shining a sickly yellow. Seeing this horrified Homanu and Kero, but Mira was even more horrified. Reggie's yellow eyes were the same as she saw in her vision! But to make matters worse, Reggie screamed the following:

"IN THE NAME OF ITZAMNA, I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

'This…this is just like what I saw in that vision!' the aghast Mira thought, her mouth completely agape. 'But…but how is that even possible?!'

"M-M-Mira?!" Pinkie whimpered, cowering in fear. "Wh-what's going on w-w-with R-Reggie?! I…I'm scared!" Mira, of course, had no answer to that. She had no idea what was going on, herself.

"Prepare yourself, foolish wench," the possessed Reggie announced solemnly, "for I have a sample of the power that shall determine whether you live or die!" She took the yellow card she still had in her hand, and viciously raised it high in the sky.

On her dashboard, Mira saw that the revealed card was a VIRUS Upgrade Spell Card, a card that was half dark yellow on the top and green on the bottom. Its artwork depicted a circle containing seven planetary symbols inside the ridge, all of which were outlined in platinum. In the center was a larger symbol resembling a cross with a squiggle on the bottom right side. But the card's most unusual feature was that, instead of the traditional Japanese kanji, the entire card was written in a series of circles with lines and smaller circles inside them, all in an almost sinister magenta. Mira recognized this as the same otherworldly language she saw in her visit to Orbis Magna. But even so, she wasn't able to understand any of it.

'Where the hell did Reggie get that card?!' the shocked Mira thought. 'Come to think of it…what does that card even do?!'

"Upgrade Card: ready!" Reggie shouted as she moved the card above her Disk's touchscreen. When she did, the card transformed into sickly yellow pixels that were transferred into the touchscreen. "Unknown Upgrade Card detected," the female computerized voice spoke. There was a sudden glitch on the system as the voice then said, "Virus Upgrade Card, Itzamna's Spirit Magic, uploaded." The miniaturized version of the corrupted VIRUS Upgrade Spell Card appeared at the bottom of the touchscreen.

"'Itzamna's Spirit Magic?!'" Mira gasped.

"Insertion: Endless' Hero, Guardian Twelve S-V-A!" Reggie resumed. Guardian Twelve S-VA, worried about her controller's sudden change in personality, suddenly found herself transforming into red pixels and being sucked into the touchscreen, almost unwillingly. Once there, the pixels transformed into Guardian Twelve S-VA's card form, located just above Itzamna's Spirit Magic.

"Now upgrading Endless' Hero, Guardian Twelve S-V-A," the computerized voice announced. Inside her Duel Disk system was the black background, with Guardian Twelve S-VA's non-card form materializing from the pixels. But instead of a digital card, the same circle and symbols pictured on the Upgrade Card formed high above her, with Guardian Twelve S-VA just underneath the center symbol. In an instant, a beam of sickly yellow light shot from beneath the center symbol and struck at Guardian Twelve S-VA, who screamed in pain as her whole body turned black with yellow wires. Her entire body transformed to become more demonic. During this sequence, Reggie chanted:

"Almighty Itzamna, hear my cry! With this sample of your power, let me evolve my monster into one far superior, so that I may assist you in cleansing all these worlds of impurity and sin!

"Itzam Ultra Upgrade! Descend forth…ENDLESS' DEVIL, DESTROYER TWELVE U-V-I ITZAM!"

A burst of sickly yellow light shot out of Reggie's Disk's touchscreen. Emerging out of the light was Guardian Twelve S-VA, except now her costume was tattered and dark gray with some gold accents. Her hair was longer and more unruly. In place of crystallized angel's wings were demonic wings coated with pitch-black steel with platinum circuit board patterns. Located on her upper right breastplate was a platinum symbol resembling a cross with a squiggle on the bottom right side – the same symbol featured in the center of 'Itzamna's Spirit Magic'. [ATK: 1200; GRADE: ULT] Mira, Pinkie, and Mira's friends were astonished at what they were seeing.

"I activate the 'Upgrade' Ability of Itzamna's Spirit Magic!" Reggie shouted. "Since I've Upgrade Summoned Destroyer Twelve by using a monster that was previously Upgrade Summoned, I get to take the 'Upgrade' Ability of the Upgrade Card I've used for the previous Upgrade Summon, and apply it to Destroyer Twelve! In other words, Destroyer Twelve acquires Infernal Blazer's 'Upgrade' Ability!" Destroyer Twelve's wings were shrouded in red-orange flames, which only increased the horror of both Reggie's opponent and her spectators.

"So that Itzam…whatever it is," the horrified Mira babbled, "can transfer an Upgrade Monster's 'Upgrade' Ability into a higher Grade of itself?!"

"And that's just the beginning!" Reggie cackled as two more yellow cards materialized in her hand. "From my hand, I equip Destroyer Twelve with Endless Weapons Bison Battle Axe and Dragon Blaster!"

She slid the two cards vigorously through her Disk's horizontal slot. A yellow hexagonal portal appeared on each side of her vehicle, and two robotic animals emerged out of them. The first was the black bison previously used in the duel. [ATK: 1000; LV: 3] The second was a small bulky dragon that was gold mixed with some black, and had a giant cannon sticking out of its mouth. [ATK: 1000; LV: 3] Upon the dragon's emergence, it transformed itself into a bazooka. The bison, meanwhile, split apart so that the blades of its battle axe attached itself to the bazooka.

"Like Bison Battle Axe," Reggie explained, "Dragon Blaster gives Destroyer Twelve an extra thousand Attack Points. But since she'll also be equipped with Bison Battle Axe, she'll gain an additional thousand Attack Points! That means she gains two thousand extra Attack Points, total!" Destroyer Twelve cackled as she grabbed hold of her weapon. [ATK: 1200 – 3200]

"But thanks to Destroyer Twelve's 'Boost' Ability, she'll gain even more Attack Points – two hundred for every card that includes Guardian Twelve's name in her text! And Devil Twelve's new weapon counts as two cards!" [ATK: 3200 – 3600]

"But it doesn't end there! Thanks to Destroyer Twelve's 'Weaken' Ability, each and every one of your monsters lose Attack and Defense Points equal to the total Attack Points Devil Twelve gained by her 'Boost' Ability!"

"That's insane!" Mira shouted as she watched Dusk Girl groan in agony, clutching her heart. [ATK: 3100 – 2700]

"And it only gets worse…for you!" Reggie cackled. Two more yellow cards materialized in her hand before transforming into Pendulum Monsters. "I set the Pendulum Scale with Scale Two Endless Soul Strike Mage, and Scale Five Endless Soul Destroy Mage!" Within a single swipe, she slapped the cards onto her blade's leftmost and rightmost zones. 'PENDULUM' was displayed above the blade in yellow text, and the red and blue orbs materialized beside her vehicle.

Encased inside the blue orb was a top-shaped robot in emerald armor with six silver swords sticking out of its back. A blue number '2' was underneath its orb. Encased inside the red orb was another top-shaped robot, this one in black steel armor with a laser rifle attached to its bottom. A red number '5' was underneath its orb.

"And with two more cards that list Guardian Twelve's name in their texts, Destroyer Twelve gets stronger, and all of your monsters get weaker!" Indeed, Destroyer Twelve smiled an even more malicious sneer, while Dusk Girl clutched her heart in even further agony. [ATK: 3600 – 4000] [ATK: 2700 – 2300]

"I could attack you directly through the ability of the Dragon Blaster Destroyer Twelve's equipped with," Reggie said rather thoughtfully. "But her Attack Points would be halved when she does. So, the only logical thing to do would be to finish you off by destroying your Dusk Girl! And when I do, you'll take damage equal to the Attack Points she had on the field!"

"That means…that means you'll lose!" Pinkie wailed. "Mira, do something!"

"I know…but what can I do?" she asked, some sweat trickling down her left cheek. Suddenly, she saw another transparent digital card encased inside a transparent digital orb. It was a way's away from where the two competitors were and was on the side of one of the guardrails, but either one of them could get it if they were fast enough. Mira knew one thing, though: this was her last chance.

Desperately, Mira shifted gears on her vehicle and accelerated as fast as she could. Seeing this, the possessed Reggie also shifted gears on her vehicle and accelerated as well, and was practically tailgating Mira. "Try all you want, wench!" Reggie laughed. "That Power-Up Card is mine!"

"No…it's…not!" Mira groaned, struggling to get to the Power-Up Card first. It wasn't long before they were a few feet away from the card. In a last desperate attempt, she shifted the weight of her vehicle to the side of the guardrail where the card lay, and grabbed it. As she hastily looked at the card she acquired, her eyes widened. 'Yes!' she thought.

'Whatever card that wench acquired, it's possible that it'll help her survive this turn,' Reggie growled in her mind as she proceeded to look at the remaining cards in her hand. She noticed that one of them was a Trap Card picturing Guardian Twelve unleashing some kind of rainbow-colored hurricane while raising a weapon resembling a hockey stick up high. After carefully examining the card, she grinned wickedly, and another yellow card materialized in her hand.

"I'll place this card face-down!" Reggie said aloud as she slid the card through her Disk's horizontal slot. Another yellow card materialized beside her vehicle before disappearing from sight.

"Battle! Destroyer Twelve, annihilate Destiny Heroine Dusk Girl and end this duel!" Destroyer Twelve fired a shot from her bazooka. The shot that was fired was a blood red sphere with blade-shaped edges on the sides, and was heading directly toward Dusk Girl.

"If this attack hits, onee-chan's done for!" Kero panicked, pulling at his own hair.

"Kero, calm down!" Homanu shouted at his friend. "Seriously, weren't you paying attention?! Mira was able to pick up that Power-Up Card not too long ago! All we can hope for now is that it'll help her!"

"Say your prayers, wench!" Reggie cackled as the shot continued to make its course.

"I'm not gonna say 'em just yet!" Mira corrected her. "I activate the 'Reborn' Ability of Destiny Hero Dream Guy in my Graveyard! When a Destiny Hero on my field battles, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard!" A magenta hexagonal portal appeared, and a small green and black pixie-like warrior emerged out of it. It had a violet 'D' on its face, and a yellow crescent moon on its chest. [DEF: 0600 – 0000; LV: 1]

"When I Special Summon Dream Guy through its 'Reborn' Ability, I can use its first 'Protection' Ability to both prevent my Destiny Hero from being destroyed by that battle, and prevent me from taking any battle damage!" An invisible barrier formed around Dusk Girl, resulting in the shot bouncing off of it.

"You may have found a way to save yourself there," Reggie fumed, "but don't think this is over yet! Destroyer Twelve, attack Dusk Girl again, and destroy her this time!" Some blood red light began charging in Devil Twelve's bazooka.

"But Destroyer Twelve already attacked!" Mira argued.

"You're right, it did," Reggie said uncaringly. "But that's where the 'Attack' Ability of Strike Mage comes in! It gives Destroyer Twelve the power to attack twice in one battle phase, just as long as my opponent controls a monster after her first attack! Thanks to your own monster's ability, you have one! And once I destroy Dusk Girl, this duel is over!"

"Too bad you won't destroy Dusk Girl! With Dream Guy's second 'Protection' Ability, it's the only Destiny Hero you're allowed to attack!"

"It matters not – in case you've forgotten, as long as Devil Twelve's equipped with Bison Battle Axe, you'll take damage even if your monster's in Defense Mode!"

"Hey, that's right!" Pinkie cried. "This duel really is over!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Mira corrected her as another magenta card materialized in her hand. She quickly swiped it through her Disk's horizontal slot. Another magenta card materialized beside her vehicle before transforming into the Vaccine Spell Card depicting the invisible barrier being generated by the woman in black cybernetic armor with yellow circuits. "I activate the Power-Up Card, Luster Guard! It halves all the damage I take this turn!"

Reggie seethed, but she immediately regained her composure. "As long as I can inflict pain on you somehow, I guess I should swallow my pride! Destroyer Twelve, destroy that wench's Dream Guy!" Once the bazooka was fully charged, Devil Twelve fired another shot, this one striking at the pixie-like hero. The explosion that followed was so powerful, Mira violently skidded across the racetrack before regaining her balance. [LP: 2200 – 0200; SPC: 3 – 1]

"Something's not right…" she groaned as she winced in pain. "I…I actually felt that!"

"Of course you felt that!" Reggie laughed. "My Destroyer Twelve was upgraded with a sample of Itzamna's power! When I said that it was the kind of power that would determine whether you live or die, I spoke the truth!"

"Okay, this is so not like Reggie at all!" Homanu shouted. "She totally didn't act like this, even when she beat me!"

"Stay strong, onee-chan!" Kero shouted.

"It's now the end of my Battle Phase," Reggie announced. "And that means the 'Destroy' Ability of Destroy Mage activates! Since Destroyer Twelve attacked this turn, I can destroy one card on your field! This time, you really will say goodbye to your Dusk Girl!" The robot encased in the red orb fired a laser from its sniper, striking at Dusk Girl, creating an explosion that vaporized Dusk Girl.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Mira shouted, "I activate the Trap Card, Dark Girl's Return!" Another magenta card materialized before transforming into a Trap Card picturing the arm of Dark Girl weakly rising up from a pile of rubble in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. "When a monster on my field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can return Dark Girl from my Graveyard to my hand!" Her ring appeared around her wrist once again, and another magenta card was through the bottom-right ridge. She immediately pulled the card through the ridge.

"It won't do you any good!" Reggie taunted. "My Destroyer Twelve has four thousand Attack Points, and has the ability to weaken each and every one of your monsters! And even if you do find a way to bring out a powerful monster, I'll still destroy you!"

'And I will!' she conceitedly thought. 'My face-down card is Endless Magic, Reckless Retribution! Just in case she brings out a stronger monster, I'll use this card to sacrifice Destroyer Twelve, and then destroy all cards on the field! Then, we'll take a certain amount of damage for each of our cards that were destroyed, and it'll be based on the sacrificed monster's Grade! With Destroyer Twelve being of the 'Ultra' Grade, that'll be five hundred points per card! Of course, I'll be taking damage, myself; but what truly matters is that the damage that wench will take will finish her off, once and for all!'

Mira, meanwhile, couldn't help but think about what Reggie just said. 'What makes Reggie so sure she's still gonna win when I do bring out a strong monster?' she thought. Her eyes widened as she remembered the card Reggie placed face-down earlier. 'That face-down card! I don't know what it is, but I'll bet she's counting on me to fall for it!' Her expression suddenly shifted from fear to determination. 'But I have a way to get around that!'

"It's my turn!" she said aloud. The magenta triangle that previously turned off on the gear graphic's second tooth was once again relit.

REGGIE: 5 SPC / MIRA: 2 SPC

The ring appeared around her wrist, the digital card materializing halfway through the topmost ridge. This card was glowing faintly, but Mira didn't notice that. "I draw!"

She drew the card with all her might. But as she looked at it, her eyes widened in shock. Its frame was pitch-black, similar to that of an Xyz Monster. The golden text it was written in was the same language comprised of the series of circles with lines and circles inside them, just like the language of 'Itzamna's Spirit Magic'. As a result, Mira was unable to fully understand a single line of it. As for the artwork, it simply depicted a woman of purple ectoplasm, and nearly looked exactly like her, complete with the hairstyle. Her eyes were shining green.

It took a few moments, but Mira recognized the woman as the same one she briefly confronted when she was on Orbis Magna. Nevertheless, the fact she had a card like this to begin with left her dumbfounded. 'What kind of card is this?!' she wondered. 'I do remember seeing this person back on Orbis Magna, but…how did this get into my deck?!'

'Mira?' the calm, deep voice of a woman spoke, much to Mira's surprise.

"Wha? Who said that?!" Mira cried, rapidly moving her eyes back and forth.

'I did,' the voice said once again.

"I know that, but where are you coming from?!" the frightened Mira demanded.

'I come from the sacred card you hold in your hand,' the voice spoke once again. Mira was glad that she was told where the voice was coming from, but she was still bewildered at the card she just drew. 'I understand your predicament, Mira Yukiko. But now is the time to use my power, and vanquish the evil possessing your companion!'

"But…but I don't even know what you're supposed to do!" Mira argued. It didn't take long to feel rather foolish for talking to a card of all things.

'Activate me, if you want to rescue your friend!' the voice commanded.

"No…there's another way!" Mira shouted, tightly closing her eyes.

"Uh…Mira? What's going on?" the uncomfortable Pinkie asked.

"This voice…it's coming from the card I drew, and keeps telling me to activate it!" Mira explained.

"I heard you say there's 'another way,' but what if there isn't?"

"Actually…there is!" Mira shouted, quickly regaining her confidence. "And I'll start by activating my Skill! Go, Chronomancy!" She stretched out her left arm, and a dark purple gear-shaped portal formed above both duelists, quickly rotating clockwise and slowly decreasing in speed by the second. "Since my Life Points are two thousand or below, I can prevent us from activating any Spell or Trap Cards that are either in our hands or face-down on our fields this turn!" Reggie tightly clenched her teeth, angry that her plan to defeat Mira quickly had failed.

"Next, I re-summon Destiny Heroine Dark Girl!" A magenta card materialized in her hand, which she slapped onto one of her blade's floating card zones. Another magenta hexagonal portal appeared, and the monster counterpart of Mira's avatar flew out of it. [ATK: 0000; LV: 3]

"Normally, I would use her ability to take a Spell or Trap Card that was sent to my Graveyard during either one of our previous turns, and add it to my hand. But I have other plans!"

"'Other plans?!'" the cackling Reggie taunted. "Are you too foolish to realize that I'm the one with the strongest monster in play that has the power to weaken every one of your monsters? And do you also realize that you've brought out a monster with zero Attack Points? And in Attack Mode, even? You cannot possibly defeat me with whatever 'plans' you have!"

"Don't be so sure!" Mira corrected her. "I don't know if you recall, but earlier in this duel, I was able to acquire a Power-Up Card after activating Disk Guy's ability, and how you thought I was breaking the rules that I was able to have two Power-Up Cards in my hand! I'm gonna say right now that I didn't break any rules, and that I don't have two Power-Up Cards in my hand!"

'What is this wench trying to get at with all this…?' Reggie wondered, narrowing her eyes. Her eyes suddenly widened, and she quickly glanced at the sole face-down card in Mira's Spell/Trap Zones. 'Is that face-down card of hers a Power-Up Card?! This…this cannot be!'

"Upgrade Card: ready!" Mira said aloud. A magenta card quickly ejected out of her Disk's horizontal slot. She grabbed the card and moved it over her Disk's touchscreen. When she did, the card transformed into green pixels that were then transferred into the touchscreen. "Data Base Upgrade Card, Kaze Gale, uploaded," the computerized voice spoke. The miniature version of a Data Upgrade Card appeared at the bottom of the touchscreen. Its artwork depicted a woman in the same style of black cybernetic armor, this one having spring green circuits. She unleashed a spiral of wind from her right palm.

"Insertion: Destiny Heroine Dark Girl!" Mira declared. Afterwards, Dark Girl transformed into purple pixels, which shot into the touchscreen. Once there, the purple pixels transformed into the miniature card version of Dark Girl, appearing just above Kaze Gale.

"Now upgrading Destiny Heroine Dark Girl," the computerized voice announced. Inside her Duel Disk system was the black background, with Dark Girl materializing from the purple pixels. A green digital card materialized high above her, lying flat. A lime green electrical cyclone spiraled down from the card and engulfed Dark Girl as her entire body turned black with green wires. More green wires formed around her entire upper body.

"Super Upgrade! Come forth…DESTINY HEROINE DREAD GIRL!"

A burst of bright green light shot out of her Disk's touchscreen. Emerging out of the light was Dark Girl, except now she was wearing a tattered black hooded cloak that reached slightly above her waist. Underneath her sleeves, one could see that the arms were now bandaged and had black steel chains wrapped around them, with a sickle at the end of each chain. The eyes on her mask were now green. As for her footwear, she wore a black boot reaching just above the ankle on her left foot, and a white thigh-high boot on her right. [ATK: 2000; GRADE: SUP]

"Impressive, but not impressive enough!" Reggie shouted. "In case you forgot, Destroyer Twelve weakens each and every one of your monsters by two hundred points for every one of my cards that lists Guardian Twelve's name in their text! And with four still on my field, your monster loses eight hundred Attack Points!" The chain-equipped girl groaned in pain. [ATK: 2000 – 1200]

"I didn't forget! And to prove it, I'll activate the 'Upgrade' Ability Dread Girl inherited from Kaze Gale! Go!" Dread Girl began to twirl her chains, creating a strong wind that was blowing at Reggie.

"What…what trickery is this?!" Reggie demanded.

"With the 'Upgrade' Ability Dread Girl inherited from Kaze Gale, I can return all face-up Spell and Trap Cards on your field back to your hand!"

"This can't be!" Reggie wailed. The wind kept blowing, causing the robots in the blue and red orbs, as well as the combined weapon Destroyer Twelve was carrying, to disappear into yellow pixels.

"And with all of those cards gone," said Mira, "my Dread Girl's Attack Points go back to where they were, while your Destroyer Twelve loses its power boost!" [ATK: 4000 – 1200] [ATK: 1200 – 2000]

"Onee-chan did it!" Kero squealed with a jump of excitement. "I just knew she'd find a way to turn the tables!"

"I'm glad she did," Homanu said with worry. "Question is, will that be enough to beat Reggie this turn?"

"If she was able to find a way to stop Destroyer Twelve from weakening her monsters, I'm sure she'll find a way to beat Reggie!"

"With all of your face-up cards gone," Mira resumed, "Dread Girl can attack and destroy your Destroyer Twelve with ease!" Dread Girl flung her right chain at Destroyer Twelve. The sickle of the chain pierced through Destroyer Twelve's chest, shattering her into pixels. The force of the explosion caused Reggie to swerve a bit before she regained control. [LP: 2200 – 1400]

"Dread Girl's 'Reborn' Ability activates! When she destroys one of your monsters in battle, I can Special Summon any monster from your Graveyard in Attack Mode! But when I do, your monster loses four hundred Attack Points! Be reborn, Guardian Twelve!" A purple gear-shaped portal suddenly formed on Reggie's side of her vehicle. Dread Girl flung her right chain, which went through the portal. Afterwards, she pulled back on the chain, pulling out the monster counterpart of Reggie's avatar. As the monster reemerged, her eyes were glowing yellow, just like Reggie's. [ATK: 1200 – 0800; LV: 4]

"And why would you want to go and resurrect my monster?" Reggie demanded.

"So that I can activate the 'Trickery' Ability of the Destiny Hero Deception Guy in my hand!" Mira vigorously replied. Another magenta card materialized in her hand, which transformed into a Monster Card depicting a warrior closely resembling the infamous Makyura the Destructor, except the axe blades on his head's top and sideburns were replaced with stylized 'Ds', and the Eye of Wdjat was replaced with a golden 'D'.

"With his Ability, I can banish him and a Normal Trap Card from my hand, so that I can activate that Trap Card's own Abilities! And the Trap Card I choose is my D-Devil Dance!" Another magenta card materialized in her hand, which pixilated along with Deception Guy. Afterwards, a magenta card materialized beside her vehicle before transforming into Deception Guy, which in turn transformed into a Trap Card picturing Devil Guy standing on an icy floor with the explosive hero trapped underneath.

"When a monster's Special Summoned to your side of the field during the Battle Phase, I can use this card's 'Weaken' Ability to banish a Destiny Hero from my Graveyard, and then that monster loses Attack Points equal to those of the monster I just banished! I banish Destiny Hero Dunk Guy to have your Guardian Twelve lose all twelve hundred of its Attack Points!" A violet ghostly image of the basketball hero suddenly formed, and was absorbed into the Trap Card. Afterwards, a laser of the same color shot out of the Trap Card, striking at Guardian Twelve on her left shoulder. [ATK: 0800 – 0000]

"Useless!" Reggie screamed. "All of your monsters already attacked, so there's no way you can defeat me!"

"Don't be so sure!" Mira corrected her. "Since I've activated Devil Dance during a turn my Destiny Hero attacked, it can make another attack on the monster that was just Special Summoned! And with the difference between our monsters' Attack Points being two thousand, and you only having fourteen hundred Life Points left…"

"I lose?!" Reggie shrieked. "That's impossible!"

"Time to end this, Reggie!" Mira declared.

"Mira, wait!" Pinkie pleaded. "If Reggie said we take actual damage, then that means Reggie herself could get hurt! Or worse!"

"It's not like we have much of a choice!" Mira said. To her Dread Girl, she commanded, "Destiny Heroine Dread Girl, attack Guardian Twelve and end this duel!" Dread Girl twirled and flung her right chain at Guardian Twelve, which pierced right through her chest, shattering her into pixels. The force of the explosion was so great, Reggie completely lost control of her vehicle and crashed into one of the guardrails. [LP: 1400 – 0000]

The virtual screen displaying Mira's avatar and the golden 'WIN' popped open. The blue meter filled all the way before being slightly filled once more. The number next to her 'Lv.' jumped up from '8' to '9'. But Mira had no time to pay attention to her progress in Game World. She immediately halted her vehicle and leapt off it to rush to Reggie's aid. Reggie just lay there, unconscious and with dirt on some parts of her face and clothes.

"Oh no…she's dead!" Pinkie wailed. "Mira, I was afraid something like this would happen, and I'm so sorry! I told you something like this would happen, but you just wouldn't listen!"

Mira ignored her wails as she placed a hand on Reggie's neck. "She's not dead, you dolt!" she scolded. "I can still feel a pulse in her."

"Well…that's good and all, but when will she wake up?" asked Pinkie.

"Soon…I hope…" Mira replied, gently shaking Reggie's body. After about five seconds, Reggie finally came to. As she slowly opened her eyes, Mira was relieved to see that they were back to their original state.

"Ugh…what happened?" Reggie groaned, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Reggie! I'm so glad you're alright!" Mira cried.

"'Alright?'" the confused Reggie said. Her eyes suddenly widened as she saw her bike by the guardrail. It pixilated, but she noticed that it was heavily damaged beforehand. "Oh my gosh, what happened to my bike?!"

"It's trashed," said Mira. "C'mon, let's get outta here!"

"But what happened?!"

"It's a long story," said Mira, heading back to her vehicle. "Now c'mon!" Reggie still had no idea what was going on; but nevertheless, she followed Mira, climbed on the back of Mira's motorcycle, and the two rode off.

After about fifteen minutes, Mira and Reggie returned at the checkpoint gate where they started. Mira and Reggie both climbed off the vehicle.

"Onee-chan, you're back!" Kero cheered, rushing over to tightly hug Mira's legs.

"Mira, I'm so glad you're alright!" Homanu added.

"So am I," Mira said, breathing a sigh. "I don't know about Reggie, though."

"Okay, okay, enough with the reunion!" the impatient Reggie whined. "Now tell me, what happened?! I remember protecting my Guardian Twelve S-V-A with Bison Battle Axe, and then when I drew my card, I just…blacked out, somehow!"

"Well, you're not gonna believe this," Mira explained, almost feeling uneasy, "but when you drew that card…I think you were possessed…"

Reggie was shocked. "I was what?!" she cried in disbelief.

"I'd rather not talk about it, 'cause I don't know what happened, either," Mira said. "Let's just lot out of here – I've had enough excitement for one day…"

"Mira, wait!" said Reggie. "Before we do…did I win the duel?"

The silent Mira was in deep thought for a few seconds, but decided to tell Reggie the truth. "Reggie…you lost."

"I…I lost?" the heartbroken Reggie said. "That…that can't be! I lost, and I didn't even know about it?!" Mira still remained silent. Reggie then screamed, "Dangit, now I'll never beat Arthur if I'm chosen!"

But Mira comforted Reggie by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you didn't beat me," she said, "but think about it. With the way you beat Homanu, I'm sure you have a good chance against Arthur, if you're chosen."

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right!" Reggie said, brightening instantly. "Maybe I wasn't able to beat you, Mira, but I was able to beat someone just as strong, like Homanu!"

"Or me…" Kero muttered, crossing his arms.

"And if I was still able to beat Homanu, then there really is a good chance I'd be good against Arthur!" Reggie beamed. But as she raised her right arm into the air, she quickly pulled it down and clutched it, wincing in pain.

"Whoa, whatever happened back there must've really left Reggie sore," Homanu said. "Reggie, I think you're gonna have to take it easy for a bit before this evening, when Arthur arrives!"

"Are you sure you'll be fine before then?" Mira asked.

"Yeah…I'll be fine," Reggie replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Log out of Game World!" the four duelists shouted, swiping across their Disks' touchscreens. Each of them was struck by the same blue thunderbolt, and they disappeared after several flashes.

A figure was on top of a skyscraper that was not too far from the racetrack the fateful Game Duel took place on. It was the same android that hacked into Reggie's deck, and was observing the duel between her and Mira from afar. The android raised the topaz crystal up to his face. "Mistress Jupiter," he spoke into the crystal that began to shine. "Come in, Mistress Jupiter!"

"This is Jupiter," a female voice spoke through the crystal. "Report!"

"I infected the girl's deck with the 'Itzamna's Spirit Magic' card, and she just used it in a duel against another girl. The duel is over, but I think we may have found another one of our targets."

"You 'think' we have? What makes you so sure?"

"I thought I noticed a faint trace of one of the six Iroa Spirits coming from the girl our little pawn dueled against, but it's hard to tell if she really is one of the targets we're supposed to go after! …Shall I dispose of her myself, just in case?"

"No, Ganymede! You shall do so only when we know for sure she's one of our targets! Until then, don't do anything reckless!"

"As you wish, Mistress Jupiter…" the android, Ganymede, obeyed, albeit bitterly. The crystal he was speaking into stopped glowing as he looked down at the virtual city below. "I just know you're a Wielder, little girl," he muttered. "And I will be coming for you. And when I do…do not expect any mercy from me!" He was engulfed in sickly yellow pixels as he disappeared from sight.

FEATURED CARD – RECORD 005

Endless' Devil – Destroyer 12 U-VI Itzam
VIRUS/FIRE/Human – Demon – Warrior – Upgrade/1200/ULT/DC ?
UPGRADE: 1 SUP or lower "Endless' Hero – Guardian 12" + "Itzamna's Spirit Magic"
(While this card is on the field, its name is treated as "Endless' Hero – Guardian 12" in addition to its original name, but it is not treated as a "Hero" card.)
There can only be 1 "Itzam" monster on the field.
BOOST This card gains 200 ATK for each card you control that specifically lists the card "Endless' Hero – Guardian 12" in its text, except cards named "Endless' Hero – Guardian 12".
WEAKEN Face-up monsters your opponent controls lose 200 ATK/DEF for each card you control that specifically lists the card "Endless' Hero – Guardian 12" in its text, except cards named "Endless' Hero – Guardian 12".

KERO: Arthur has finally arrived at our orphanage for the charity duel! Which one of us will he choose?

ARTHUR: My opponent shall be none other than…Mira Yukiko!

MIRA: Me?!

HOMANU: Man, talk about lucky!

ARTHUR: Let's see if you're a worthy enough opponent! …And to see if you're one of the duelists I'm searching for!

MIRA: Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! CHRONIXII: "Lionhearted Idol, Arthur"! Game Duel, game start!