A,N: Hello my dear readers. I am so sorry for the wait. I finally managed to pull this chapter and duel together. Talk about difficult since I made the duel myself and had to change it in the middle of it. But at least I succeed. Hope effort makes it up for the wait. Have fun with the chapter you guys. Oh and the picture up there, Is the monster Zaira is gonna summon later in the duel. Hope you like it.

Yuma's p.o.v.

Yuma looked rather shocked around as both Zaira and Nistro got hit by Lion hart effect and now they only had 1600 life points remaining. It also didn't help that Alito was off the hook, by letting someone else battle instead of himself. That was not the Alito he knew and it frustrated Yuma to no end. If he was dueling right now, he would show him a thing or two about how to duel properly, and not this messed of way Alito was doing. What had happened to him after his duel with Yuma? Why had Alito changed so much. Yuma just couldn't comprehend it.

"Alito" Yuma mused and then looked over at Zaira and yelled "Zaira you just gotta kick Alito's butt. He deserves it for what he did to Nistro!".

"Will you shut it Yuma. I am trying to concentrate here!" Was all Zaira replied with.

"But I..." Yuma began but noticed how Astral had floated in front of him, to stop him from shouting further. Then the Astral prince shook his head.

"Yuma, I know how frustrated you are, that you can't battle, but you got to have faith in Zaira and Dextra" he then stated and sighed "Then again, it will not be easy. With Lion hart on the field, even though it is weak in att mode, its special effect makes it a serious threat to both Zaira, Nistro and Dextra. She need to...".

"That is true, but by forcing Nistro to do all the dirty work, Alito is off the hook" Yuma interrupted rather annoyed and clenched his fists.

He had just said that, when suddenly something weird happened. Blue lights appeared all around on the empty seats of the colosseum. It creeped Yuma out a lot.

"Hu? Astral what is happening?" Yuma then uttered rather scared.

"They are all spirits" Rio claimed in a worried tone "Each blue light is the spirit of a brave warrior who once fought in this colosseum and lost in battle".

"Eh? But I really don't like this guys" Yuma uttered rather scared and took cover behind Astral in some way. That made the others sigh annoyed.

"Calm down moron. They don't seem to be interested in us at the moment" Shark then sneered "Those spirits seems to be interested in the battle. So just sit back and watch Zaira duel. It is her turn now".

Yuma turned his attention towards the duel and noticed Shark was right. Nistro had just ended his turn, meaning Zaira was up. She had drawn a card, and surprisingly made a reckless attack on Alito's face down monster. That of course surprised the crew a lot.

"Hu? She is attacking, but why doesn't she use Cy's effect and destroy 2 cards on the field?" Shark sneered confused. "Did she lose some brain cells doing the last attack?". The others shrugged at that. Astral even hummed at that.

"She must know what she is doing" Astral then mused out "She could have destroyed 2 cards on the field, but for some reason didn't use it. What is she planning?".

"I think I know" Rio then suddenly mused out, getting everyone's attention. "After all we know Zaira is in reality a Barian and is the same kind as Alito. She even fought side by side with him once, when Girag attacked Yuma and us with all of those students. Back then Alito seemed honorable and courageous. Now however...".

"Zaira is trying to save Alito" Yuma then countered, making Rio nod slowly to that. "She is trying to figure out why he changed".

"But by that logic, she does not think straight!" Shark sneered rather annoyed "This could cost miss Stubborn the duel. I knew I should have been the one to duel".

"No Shark, this is Zaira's fight to fight. She can make her own choices" Kite then replied and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You just have to believe in her".

"Big mistake Zaira" Alito then stated and flipped up his monster, who was in reality "Battlin' Boxer Rib Gardna", and since it was flipped up its special effect kicked in.

It could change the attack targets so Zaira's Cy would attack a different monster. Like Nb 54 Lion Hart. But that was not all, since the attacking monster is an Xyz monster. Cy loses all its Ou's and its special effects. That and it was now attacking Lion hart who was a monster who couldn't be destroyed by battle, while at the same time, Zaira would now take the same amount of damage as Nistro would this turn, meaning...

"This is gonna finish off Zaira for good" Kite uttered rather stunned.

"That's right. I am one step closer to defeat Yuma" Alito then shouted almost like a maniac. It gave Yuma shivers. Zaira had been right about him not being courageous.

"Oh no you don't. I activate my trap 'Butterspy protection' and with that, Zaira's damage is cut in half" Dextra then suddenly said and surprised everyone.

Her trap however did activate and created a shield around Zaira, which protected her from half the damage this turn. Zaira did lose 1200 life points, which left her with only 400 remaining. Nistro however, lost all his life points and were therefore out of the duel for good. Or so did they all believe.

"Nistro no!" Dextra shouted as she saw her friend lie beat up at the ground.

Zaira on the other hand had been pushed back by the sheer force of the attack. She was even down on one knee and groaning slightly, before she managed to stand up again. Yuma was amazed by Zaira's sheer will power on not to be knocked out here.

"Tough break for Nistro, but at least they don't have to worry about Lionhart" Kite commented from the sidelines now.

"But... do you think Nistro will be fine?" Yuma then asked worriedly. Nistro was his friend after all. All that earned him was Alito evil laugh now.

"Oh Yuma. Nistro will be fine. Thanks to another of Lionhart effects" He then explained and send them another evil grin "By using an Ou when Nistro's life points becomes 0, he regains 100 life points. Go reviving jolt!".

Alito had just said that, when Lion hart really did use one of its overlay units and fired a beam of electricity towards Nistro. Just when people were having a heart failure. Or at least that was what his grandma told him they did. Nistro let out a groaning sound and were soon sitting up again as his life points went up with 100 points.

"This is... this is remarkable" Astral then commented beside him "As long as Lion hart has overlay units, it will be impossible to knock Nistro out of the duel".

"That is true" Zaira mused slowly as she send Alito a cold wolfy glare "But if this continues, Nistro's body and mind wouldn't be able to withstand the blows. Isn't that right Alito? That's the reason for you setting up this tag duel. You didn't want to take the risks Lion hart was dealing so instead Nistro has to do it".

"Grr stop revealing all my plans!" Alito sneered angrily "You are taking all the fun out of this".

Yuma looked puzzled from Zaira to Alito now. What were Zaira trying to get at? Why was she dueling so carelessly? If it hadn't been for Dextra and her trap she would have lost already. Unless... Did Zaira already have a counter in place but decided not to use it because of Dextra? Nah that couldn't be it? Could it?

"Well maybe you will find this hilarious Alito" Dextra then stated "My trap's other effect activates. Once the battle ends, it switches Lion hart to defense mode".

"That was a good move. Lion hart can't be destroyed in att mode" Kite commented, and Shark continued "So in defense mode it is vulnerable".

"That's it for now" Zaira then stated and ended her turn with a facedown. Yuma just hoped that card was a game changer, because it was now Alito's turn.

Zaira's p.o.v.

I hissed angrily as I was glaring down Alito and in some way Nistro. I still couldn't believe Alito had brainwashed him. It really wasn't his style. Unless that of course was Alito's true colors we were seeing here, but I refused to believe that. I mean we dueled once back when he was a Heartland student and there, he was sincere and courageous. Now he was almost behaving like my so called brother Vector. I had a feeling he was to blame. Mostly because the energies I sensed around Alito here reminded me of those Vector had used at me in the labyrinth of screams. I just hadn't figured out how that was possible, but it was the only solution to why Alito had changed so much. Hissing sounds could then suddenly be heard at my right side. I turned my head towards it, and found Dextra sneering angrily. Almost like a wolf. But then again, who could really blame her. I mean one of her closest fans were brainwashed and facing her in this duel. If this was Shark, I was sure I would behave in similar order. Then again, I had a feeling there was more than friendship between Dextra and Nistro, but that was only a hunch I was having. Even if I asked Dextra, I was sure she was gonna deny it all. Just like I did when I was crushing on Shark. Love really was strange sometimes. Especially in these kind of situations. I was happy that Dextra was my partner in this duel, and it was not because of the trap she had just used to save my life. No that was not it, since I had a backup, which I was grateful to safe for later. No Dextra was perfect. She didn't ask question about my moves, she didn't care I was even a barian here, and she did care about her friends, as it was shown with her determination to save Nistro.

"Nistro! Stop letting that tweep treat you like you are his puppet. You have to resist him. Put up a fight!" Dextra then suddenly shouted which surprised surely everyone.

"Ahr stop calling me a tweep!" Alito then hissed angrily and was tossing yet another tantrum. All which made me snort. So much for being childish. Then Alito gained his compose again and were now glaring at Dextra.

"Besides, your efforts are useless. I have complete control of him" he told Dextra, which only made her even more pissed at him.

Not that Alito really cared there. Because it was now his turn. He drew and were once again grinning like a maniac, before he started off his move by summoning "B.B. Rabbit puncher" in att mode to the field. It was a level 3 monster with 800 att points, so it really didn't surprise me when he used it along with his Rip Gardner to xyz summon the monster called "B.B. cheat commissioner". It was a rank 3 monster with surprisingly 0 att points and 1300 def points. That made me narrow my eyes. If he summoned a monster with 0 att on the field in att mode, it must have some interesting effects. That all soon got explained when Alito surprisingly attacked with his cheat commissioner. Since it was battling, he could force all monsters on the field into att mode. That made me growl rather annoyed, since Lion hart now switched into att mode along with Dextra's face down monster, who now was revealed as "Swallowtail Butterspy".

"Your troubles are far from over" Alito then stated and chuckled darkly "You see cheat commissioner prefers to keep the peace. Not break it so it can have someone else fight in its place. Now Cy and I was once again facing Lion hart.

"Bring it on!" I shouted fiercely as the lion now attacked my Cy.

"Oh really now?" Alito questioned as he send me an evil smirk "Don't you know when you are beat? Let me demonstrate". Then he of course made Lion hart attack.

"Not so fast you barian. I activate my trap 'Butterspy courage'" Dextra then suddenly announced and activated that said trap card "This will make sure you don't lay a claw on Zaira's Cyclone beast wolf, because your monster now has to attack my Butterspy instead. So bring it on Nistro!". I looked stunned at Dextra now.

"Dextra you shouldn't have done that. I was able to..." I began, but Dextra cut me off. She even looked very determined here.

"Don't interfere. I will save Nistro" she said, before both her and Nistro lost 1800 life points and got send flying.

Dextra was only having 2300 life points remaining while Nistro once again was down to 0 life points. All which made hiss rather annoyed. I couldn't believe Dextra took the fall for me and Cy once again. However at the same time I was also amazed by her courage and bravery. The determination she was showing here regarding Nistro was pretty admirable. It also reminded me of Shark's battle against me at the WDC. How he had been just as determined to free me or a part of me from Vetrix's control. Sure, he didn't quite succeed but he did wear me down before my battle with Yuma, which literally freed me from Vetrix's control. This scenario here reminded me of that. The only difference was that Yuma was not here to free anybody. I was the only one.

"Dextra are you okay?" I then asked. I just had to be sure she was okay here.

"I think I will be alright" she managed to say and were soon sitting at the ground groaning slightly. "What about Nistro?". I turned my attention to the now more beat up Nistro who was lying unconscious on the ground.

"He seems out of it..." I mused slowly but of course got interrupted by Alito.

"Oh Zaira, how quick we forget. Nistro won't be out for the count just yet. He still got work to do. Go reviving jolt!" Alito said and chuckled darkly.

I sneered rather annoyed at that, but I couldn't do a thing to stop Lionhart from reviving Nistro, by using one of his Ou's. I could hear how Dextra was shouting Nistro's name, before she actually managed to get up on her feet again. Guess love really conquers all. Nistro did respond but I think that was more to being revived by the number than to Dextra's outburst. He was also soon on his feet's with that empty controlled look in his eyes. Alito was of course still grinning evilly at the display in front of him.

"He is almost as good as new" he then stated in a weird way of a joke. Because Nistro was not fine at all and Alito knew that.

"You should be ashamed of yourself" Dextra then suddenly shouted to Nistro. I could see how her brown eyes were staring down Nistro as well "Your fans thinks you are a hero and a real hero wouldn't let himself get brainwashed by the bad guy".

"Oh don't waste your time trying to break Nistro free from my control. He is completely under my powers" Alito then replied while smirking evilly. He tossed down a face down and ended his turn. All which made Dextra sneer once again.

"Not if I can help it" she stated back before she drew.

It was after all currently her turn. She started of her move by summoning "Morpho Butterspy" to the field in att mode. Her current monster was having 1200 att and 1600 def points. Her "Blue Mountain Butterspy" effect in her hand kicks in. Since she just normal summoned a monster she could special summon it to the field in att mode. It was having 0 att and 1700 def, but since all her monsters on the field now were level 4, I knew where this was going. Dextra was going for an Xyz summon.

"I overlay my level 4 swallowtail, morpho and blue mountain Butterspy. With these three monsters I build the overlay network and xyz summon 'Night Papilloperative'" Dextra now told us as a rank 4 female butterfly monster appeared onto her field. It was having 2600 att points 2000 def points. It was quite impressive to say the least.

"It is packing some major attack points" I could hear Yuma comment from the side lines, which made me sigh rather annoyed.

Sure Dextra's monster was strong, but against Lion hart, her monster's power was actually a disadvantage. Something Astral pointed out to him of course. Dextra however, was not done with her turn yet. She activated the spell "Overlay capture" which enabled her to steal Lion hart's last Ou and add it to her monster instead. I hummed at that. It was actually a good strategy. By doing so Lionhart couldn't revive Nistro whenever, or if ever she attacked Lion hart. I had a feeling she would. After all Dextra's whole agenda was to free Nistro from Alito's control.

"Ha-ha. I know what you are up to. But let me tell you, it won't work" Alito then stated and were now activating one of his facedown's.

The trap "Xyz Battle Chain to be exact. With this trap he could, since all players were controlling an Xyz monster and were targeting Lion hart, this trap could negate the effect of Dextra's spell and literally destroy it. However, that was not all it did. It also now forces Dextra's monster to engage in battle with Nistro's Lion hart.

"So prepare to strike at her Lion hart" Alito ordered in some way Lionhart but also Nistro.

I on the other hand was not sure what to do here, since Dextra had asked me to not meddle in this. But then again, she couldn't seriously mean that I should just sit there while Nistro and Alito literally destroyed her.

"I activate my monster's special effect!" Dextra then suddenly shouted and made her monster use one of it's Ou's. "By using one Ou my night Papilloperative gains 400 att points for each Ou on the field. Since there is 5 Ou's on the field, it gains 2000 att points".

That of course surprised me big time. Why was Dextra raising her own monsters att points, when all it did was hurting herself in the process? Something Rio also pointed out at the sidelines as well.

"She must know that, but I think this could be her way of sending a message. Dextra must be hoping that this exchange would jog Nistro and bring him back to his senses" I could then hear Kite state which made me look surprised over at Dextra now.

She really was rather determined. All which made me slide my hand with my duel disk down to my waist. If Dextra wanted to do this, who was I to stop her. She wanted to go through with this attack and I couldn't meddle. After all this was her battle.

"Cy, we are on standby" I told my trusted number.

I knew this might be the wrong decision considering that if Dextra lost, it would be a two against one duel, which left me with facing Nistro and Alito on my own, but it was clearly shown that Dextra had to do this, regardless the risks.

"As you wish mistress" Was Cy's loyal and trusted responds.

"Attack!! Strike at Lion hart with all the force you possess! Snap Nistro out of his trance!" Dextra then shouted and made her monster attack.

In some way Dextra was mimicking her monsters movements, as its punch hit Lion hart with all the force it possessed. It was like Dextra was punching the Lion herself. She continued "Nistro hear me! Come back to your senses before it is too late! You are stronger than that barian! Break free from his control!". That was the last thing she managed to say before the impact from Lion hart got redirected to Dextra and her monster. Both her and Nistro was now send flying through the air. Both of them was down to 0 life points. Nistro hit the ground as usual, while Dextra got send flying into a boulder. I couldn't help but run to her and see if she was okay.

"Dextra! Dextra please be okay" I said as I slowly tried to shake her awake. I could hear her groan slightly, as she weakly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"So sorry Zaira. It's over for me" She said in a low voice, but surprisingly were sending me a little encouraging smile "I may be out of this duel, but you can still use my monster that is still on the field. Night Papilloperative can help you defeat that barian and save Nistro". She coughed a little before she was looking up at me again.

"I know you are a barian too Zaira, but... You are nothing like him. Please just save Nistro". That was her final words before she went unconscious.

"I promise Dextra" I said in a low voice as I got up and turned my attention towards Alito and the soon to be revived Nistro.

I was clenching my fists. I was gonna bring Nistro back for sure while at the same time I was gonna be just as fierce and courageous as the hero from this legend. I was gonna give it my all. That I promise.

Alito's p.o.v.

Alito smirked evilly as Dextra fell to the ground, beaten and defeated by Nistro's Lion hart. That was after all the outcome he had been looking for. Now he only needed to defeat Zaira and his revenge against Yuma Tsukumo could begin. That was all he was really here for. To get even with Yuma for beating him. Everything else really didn't matter here. He chuckled darkly once again as he was staring down Zaira. She was currently attention her other party member Dextra, but whatever they were discussing weren't really important here. At least not to him. Whatever scheme those two girls were having, could never compare to his strategy with Nistro and Lion hart here, and he was gonna prove that in a second.

"It's going to be a two against one duel now" Alito then stated and smirked evilly.

Sadly that also earned him Zaira's attention and he soon found himself been glared down by Zaira's purple fierce eyes. That made him very nervous for a sec. Her glare could really be rather intimidating. However, of course he gained his compose rather quickly. He was a barian emperor and couldn't be shown as weak. Especially not in front of his enemies. He quickly turned towards Nistro instead.

"Work your magic Lion hart. Bring back Nistro" he then in some way ordered as Lion hart once again jolted Nistro. Alito smirked evilly at that "Get up! We have work to do". Then he was once again laughing like a mad man.

"You seriously have issues" he could then hear Zaira say. She even let out an annoyed snort "Do you really believe that this is a victory for you? All you are doing is hiding in the corner while Nistro is doing all your dirty work".

"Yeah listen to what Zaira has to say" Yuma then also uttered from the stand "How can you consider this a victory when you brainwashed my friend". '

"Oh Yuma" Alito replied and chuckled again "I told you before, Now I will do anything to win. As soon as I defeated Zaira here it is your turn".

"Oh really? Well then you have to wait a long time, because you are never gonna beat me. Nistro's Lionhart has no Ou's, so in the next blow he is finished" Zaira then replied and send him one of her fierce glares.

"Oh I beg to differ" Alito then replied and smirked rather confidentially and activated a trap called 'Numbers Overlay Boost'. With this card... "Did you feel safe because Lion hart ran out of Ou's. Too bad. Because this trap card changes two card in my hand into Ou's for Lion hart". However, all he earned from Zaira was another snort.

"That really makes no difference" She then stated "Because I am giving everything my all and with that, I am gonna win. Unless of course I am faced with the same determination from my opponent. What do you say... Nistro? Hasn't Dextra got through to you yet? Show me the fierceness I experienced when you and I were having a battle royal along with Nelson in the WDC".

"Oh it is so cute when people think they can break my control" Alito just replied and send Zaira an evil smirk "Try as you might, but Nistro is completely under my power. Isn't that right Nistro? Get up on your feet and destroy Zaira for me".

It was to no surprise to him, when Nistro of course headed his command and got up on his feet. He was still having that empty puppet look in his eyes, which just confirmed that nothing could break his mind control over Nistro.

"It is my turn, I draw" Nistro then said in that empty voice of his and drew a card from his deck.

As he did, Alito could feel the power rose around him, and from that he knew what card Nistro had drawn now. Ah, he drew Barian's force, but with this next move, Zaira will lose, so we won't even need it. The barian emperor chuckled darkly at that. Then the attention turned to Zaira again. She didn't seem faced at all, which was a little weird. If Zaira really claimed to be a barian as well, surely a low one at that since he hadn't heard or seen her before, she would have felt the barian power as well. However, she was having that confident look instead, which made Alito wonder what she had planned. There was no way she could stop Nistro and his lion hart was there? Then he shook his head a little.

"Well Nistro? What are you waiting for? Attack with your Lion hart. Use your special effect to destroy...".

"I activate the equip spell 'Stoic Challenge'" Nistro suddenly yelled up and interrupted him completely "By sending all of Lionhart's Ou's to the graveyard I can equip it with this spell card. It powers up Lionhart by 600 for each Ou it lost, but that's not all. It also doubles all battle damage". Alito was staring in disbelief at him.

"No! That's not what I wanted you to do!" he then sneered back. Surprisingly, it did seem like Nistro was ignoring his commands.

"In order to use this, Lionhart must be destroyed on the next turn however" Nistro then mused out. All which earning him chuckling laughter coming from Zaira. That of course annoyed Alito even more.

"That's not all. I am also equipping Lion hart with the spell 'Heroic Growth'" Nistro then told them "When I have fewer life points than Zaira, heroic growth doubles Lion hart's attack points".

Alito looked in awe as Nistro's Lion hart grew in size as it doubled its att. It was now having 2600 which was 100 more than Zaira's Cy. That was not all that happened though. Nistro had surprisingly let out a fierce battle roar that riled up all the blue light spirits at the stand. They were enticed for sure.

"Alright. That's more like it Nistro. I knew that fierce warrior I battled once were still in there" Zaira then stated just as fiercely. She looked at her monster "Cy, give it your all. Give Nistro the battle he so craves".

"Lionhart attack Cyclone beast wolf!" Nistro then shouted and made his monster attack. '

Cy surprisingly responded and attacked just as fiercely, before the wolf was defeated by one of Lion hart's fierce punches. Zaira got send flying, hitting the ground pretty hard. Her Cy got send to the grave while Zaira's life points dropped from 400 to 200. Thanks to Nistro's stoic challenge spell, she took double the damage. Nistro then ended his turn with a facedown.

"What the heck does he thinks he is doing?" Alito questioned rather puzzled. Had he followed his intended plan, Zaira would have been beaten by now.

"He wants to win this his way" Zaira then responded as she got up from the ground. Few bruises and scraps were shown, but Zaira didn't seem to care as she faced both Nistro and Alito now. Her wolfy glare was glaring them down now.

"Alito, you have been dueling like a coward, but Nistro duels like a warrior" Zaira continued and send them a confident smirk "Sure, you might still control Nistro to duel for you, but his determined warrior spirit is another story. His determination and fury to duel can never be erased by barian worlds powers. He just wants to give it his all and win and for that reason I have decided to respond the same way. With all my powers of determination and spirit".

To prove her point, Nistro let out yet another battle roar. It was like he was on fire. Alito was not sure how he should take this at first, but then he gained his compose.

"Nice speech there, but we both know that without your precious number Cyclone beast wolf, you are no match for me or Nistro for that matter" He then began lecturing "And look, your fierce canine just hit the grave. Well that's too bad".

"I have other wolves in my deck. Something I am gonna show you two right now" Zaira responded in a fierce tone before she drew.

She started off her move by activating the spell "Xyz treasure". Since there were three xyz monsters on the field she could draw 3 cards from her deck. It gave her a total of 5 cards in her hand. As she drew however, Alito did notice that Zaira was beginning to glow in a magenta aura. This was clearly a barian aura but what surprises Alito the most was its power. It was strong. Really strong. He had only felt that power in the present of their real leader. The one Dumon was currently replacing and it send shivers down his spine. It didn't help that he as the only barian here besides Zaira, could feel this pressure. Although Alito had a feeling Astral might, but then again, he wasn't an Astral being so how should he really know. All he knew what that this was going to be an intense duel. That was for sure.

"For my first move I activate the spell 'Xyz Shift' which allows me to shift Dextra's monster out with yet another xyz monster. I choose my trusted but ferocious 'Flame devil wolf'" Zaira then told them as a rank 4 Xyz wolf/beast monster appeared onto the field.

Its red flaming fur and impressive horns on the top of its head, made it rather impressive indeed. It even had 2500 att and 2400 def points.

"Xyz shift becomes an Ou for my new monster, but that's not what's important here. This card is" Zaira then stated and were holding up another spell card. Alito's eyes widened at that as he recognized some of the text on that. Rank up magic...

"I activate my 'rank up magic full moon ascension'" Zaira now said in a fierce tone "With this card I rank up my monster into a chaos Xyz monster. I rebuild the overlay network with my Flame devil wolf. Go chaos xyz evolution!".

Alito was staring in awe as Zaira's monster disappeared into the overlay network where after it did come back evolved into a new and scarier form. Its fur had now taken an almost orange flame like color to it. its mane had gotten more spiked up, along with its horn growing longer. Its att and def points were now 2800/2600 and Alito didn't wanna know how its effects now were working. Besides that it was a number less wolf Xyz monster. One Alito was okay with not being acquainted with.

"Meet my 'Demonic wolf king'" Zaira introduced and looked fiercely at Nistro "Let's get to it. Demonic wolf king show them what you are made off".

"Oh yeah?! Well since your monster is stronger than me, I just have to activate this trap card" Nistro then claimed and did just that "It's called 'Battler's Cry' and it doubles my Lion hart's attack points".

Alito looked in awe as Nistro's Lion hart att points now rose to 5200. Zaira however shook her head.

"Not gonna happen, because I use my wolf king's effect. By using one Ou it negates one card on the field, and I choose your 'battler's cry' trap" she then stated, and Alito could see how her new wolf ate that Ou and negated Nistro's trap.

Lionhart's att went down to 2600 again. All which pissed off Alito even more. If this attack went through Nistro and Lionhart would be out of the duel for good. That he couldn't let happen.

"I activate my face down spell" Alito then shouted and activated his last face down card "Its called 'spell of pain'. With this card, I negate your wolf's effect and deal you the damage Nistro is taking in this battle".

"I don't think so Alito" Zaira responded "My wolf still has one Ou left, so it negates your spell".

Alito could see how Zaira's wolf ate its last Ou, but to be honest, he really didn't care. He just needed Zaira to use up that effect, so she couldn't stop his real plan in all this. His 'Cheat Commissioner's.

"Ha, you took the bait" Alito said while grinning like crazy. "I really don't care about you stopping my spell. Now that you are out of Ou's, your monster cannot stop this. I activate my Cheat Commissioner's effect. By using all of its Ou's it can end the battle and activate a spell from another players hand, and I know just the one. Nistro activate the spell barian's force to pay the path to victory!".

For a moment, silence were all around them. Everyone, including Alito, was waiting to see if Nistro was gonna ignore his command or not. To be honest, Alito felt rather desperate right about now and had purred all his barian power into making Nistro obey him. He just didn't want to face off against Zaira and her wolf alone, and if this was seen as cowardly, then so be it. Surprisingly, Nistro did lift his arm, grabbing the barian card and were about to play it when Zaira suddenly were laughing like crazy.

"Why thank you. You did exactly as I anticipated" Zaira then stated, and then send him a confident smirk "Even if you didn't, I would have negated another one of Nistro's cards. You see, my wolf has yet another effect. It can sacrifice itself to stop any effect from happening, in this case your Cheat Commissioner's, and when it does, and has no Ou's on it, everyone on the field takes damage equal to its att points + 500 for each wolf subject that is in my grave".

"Wait what?" Alito uttered rather scared as he began counting.

It was currently having 2800 att points. Zaira was having Cy, along with the 2 monster she summoned it with, plus the Ou's she just discarded. That was...

"Zaira has 4 wolves in the graveyard, which means you all take 4800 points of damage" He could hear Astral conclude. The Astral prince had just arrived at Zaira's side and was staring him down. He did however look worried at Zaira.

"No way. There is no way I would survive that" Alito then shouted in distress, but then he turned towards Zaira "But at least I am taking you all with me".

"You wish" Zaira then snort out "I have 'sleeping wolf' in my hand. If I discard it from the hand, I will take no damage this turn. Goodbye Alito".

That was the last words she spoke, before her wolf exploded and made the field get blown up. Just like a bomb. 4800 points of damage hit him and reduced both him and Nistro's life points to 0. However, that was not all that happened. As Alito was being blown backwards because of the impact, images suddenly hit his mind. Pictures of a brave warrior who actually resembled him a little, was shown for his inner eye. He saw the fierce warrior battling in the arena. He saw how he was condemned for treason and how the prince defended him. Alito couldn't believe what he was seeing here. Are those memories? Are those memories really mine?! He hit the ground pretty hard and as he managed to get up, he noticed that Yuma had rushed to Nistro's side, and helped him against the blow from Zaira's attack. Alito really didn't care now. He didn't care about him even losing the duel or that he lost his chance to fight Yuma again. All he cared about was those scary fractured images he had just seen.

"I don't understand where those memories come from?" he uttered rather distressed before he opened up a portal to barian world. The last thing he saw was Yuma's puzzled face towards him and Zaira's fierce wolfy glare.

Zaira's p.o.v.

Then a lot of things happened. After Alito left, his control over Nistro disappeared as well and Nistro fell into the protective arms of Yuma for a sec, before he became conscious and were wondering what had happened here. Yuma and I filled him in on everything and in the end, Nistro gave Yuma Lionhart. In reality he actually wanted to help them in taking down the barians, but Yuma refused, stating that he couldn't force Nistro to give up his dreams in becoming a champion. That and give children hope. Yuma also found another coin from his dad. In the end we decided to return to the hotel, just before the sun was up in the sky, and later that afternoon we were all assembled in Spartan city arena, where Nistro fought for the championship finals and won. There he gave an encouraging speech on how to follow your dreams and never give up to his fans. I felt it rather inspiring. Then, finally, after all that, Yuma and I along with the crew of our friends, returned to the ship to follow the next course toward the next number ruin and soon to be new number. Of course along the way, Tori was giving everyone an earful on why they hadn't waked her up, resolving in her missing out on all the excitement as she quoted. Surprisingly, Orbital agreed with her on that, since he had been stuck on the ship the whole day. Something I however literally ignored. I were instead listening to Yuma and Astral talking about Alito. Like me, Yuma hadn't given up on Alito, which puzzled Astral a big deal. Who could really blame him, since Yuma were defending the enemy. However, if I were honest, I were agreeing with Yuma here. Something had happened to Alito. That was for sure. People couldn't suddenly chance that drastically. Unless you followed Shark's philosophy in that this was just Alito's real true colors. I didn't buy that. Something had happened and I was determined to find out why. Or one day I would find out why. After all it was not as important as finding the remaining numbers.

"Zaira" I could suddenly hear someone say.

I was currently standing at the railing to the ship and were in deep thoughts now, when I heard my name being called. Kite were suddenly surprisingly beside me, which confused me a big deal. Sure Kite and I were friends. We faced up against his father and Vector after all, but unlike Shark and the others, we weren't having the biggest ties. Then again, I have been having the weirdest hunch that Kite knew I was a barian and Vector's sister way before everyone else. I mean he did connect the dots at the ship at that time where we escaped Sargasso, so maybe I should have seen this coming. Sadly, I didn't, and I turned surprised towards Kite, as he approached me.

"We need to talk" was all he said before I even managed to utter a word.

"Oh, okay" was my only responds to this and wondered what he wanted. Sure, I remember I asked him for help regarding information about Mizar, but that couldn't be it. Could it?

"You were reckless in your dueling at the ruin..." he then began which only made me snort annoyed. Astral had given me a similar lecture earlier after all.

"Oh please. Not you too" I began, but Kite surprisingly cut me off.

"I am not talking about your skills" he sneered out in a surprisingly low voice. He didn't want the others to hear this apparently "I really don't care about how you duel Zaira. What I do care about is your resolve and where you stand".

"I am not sure I follow..." I began. I felt rather confused here to be honest.

"Zaira, you are a barian. Just like Alito are" Kite then said in a firm low tone "And to be honest, I don't care. I don't care about your love life or where you are from. However when your dueling resolve begins to crumble and leads us, the team, in danger, I can't stand by got it?". All that earned me was even more confusion, which all made Kite sigh rather annoyed.

"In your duel against Alito, you didn't have your heart in it" he then said "You hesitated and were reckless. Your actions put two of my colleagues at risk today. My guess is that you, like Yuma, sees Alito and maybe other barians, as friends, and that crumbles your resolve in defeating them". At that I was literally staring at him.

"Wait what? But Yuma...".

"Has Astral to steer him on the right course" Kite interrupted "He already made his choice in where he stands, unlike you Zaira. He helps Astral and us on earth against the barians. He had ties to his family and friends. You on the other hand have very loosely ties to Yuma and Astral, a gangster boyfriend, And an insane Barian brother. All which can break at some point and force you to choose".

"But Kite I..." I mused out, but was not sure what to say here because he was right.

In the duel, I wanted to help Alito, Yuma and Nistro in one go. It was first after Dextra literally gave her all, that my resolve in winning got triggered. That, and I didn't know what to do if I ever had to face either Dumon or Vector.

"Choose Zaira. Choose. If you pick the barian's side, then so be it, but you can't help or be there for all of us. It is humanitarian impossible and all it does is drain you. Having to archive two goal at the same time will only make you fail both" Kite continued and were having one of those rare concerned look on his face, before he left me alone once again.

It made me realize that Kite might actually be talking from experience here. He had after all been trying to gather the numbers, while at the same time trying to stop his father and care for his brother, without caring much about himself. Sure my situation was not exactly the same, but this insecurity would mentally drain me at some point.

"Choose hu?" I mused slowly and sighed deeply "Like that is so easy".

After all did, I even have a choice, considering Astral's dad, Eliphas had linked me to his son, making only death pull us apart? Now I of course knew why, but still.

"They are only using you as a weapon in the war".

That thought ran through my mind now. The line which Vector told me in barian world. I shook my head rather wildly. Astral was not like that. His dad might, but not Astral. I sighed once again and wondered, why the heck everything could be so complicated.

A,N: Well that was that chapter. Talk about a mouthful of events in the coliseum eh. Especially this ending, if I shall say so myself. In the next chapter, Mizar's ruin is up and surprisingly does not focus much on Zaira, but Cy. Or that is at least what I attend to do. Things can change. However, with all the things Zaira has to think about, it might make sense. Or not. It is up to you readers. Hope it piqued your interest. Please comment on what you think and thank you so much for your support so far. It means a lot to me and motivates me to continue writing. ;D