V was working on a way for the serum to stop causing brain damage. The headset he wore blinked silently and occasionally beeped in his ear. His queen watched over his shoulder with slight admiration as he examined and applied the components that would ensure that no damage would occur; he even added some components that allowed the serum to act faster than before. Finally, he held up a vial of liquid.

"It is done, my queen," he said blankly.

"This will work?" she asked.

"Yes, my queen."

Shing took the vial approvingly. "Thank you. This will prove more efficient. Do me a favor and bring me Kaito. I need to see if he's well enough to take the headset off."

V bowed and left the room to search for Kaito, who was already up and about since three days ago. Shing exited the room and went back to her prisoners, who have been moved back to the cells. Right now, Yuma was bringing them back out and strapping them in. He himself was already off of the headset.

"Yuma, stop this," Kotori pleaded. "This isn't like you! Stop before you regret anything!"

Yuma briefly glanced at her with those empty eyes. "Kotori, you should know that remorse is the last thing I feel right now."

"What would Astral say, huh!? What would he think of this!?"

Yuma proceeded to strap her down. Her questions didn't even give him pause. "He isn't here, is he? So that isn't important. What is important is that my queen rules the city like it should be."

"That's right, my pet," Shing purred, pleased with her knight.

"But that's insane!!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Only to those who don't see reason. Don't worry, my dear. You'll see reason soon enough."

Kotori glared at Shing while Yuma went back to the jail to retrieve Cathy. It was decided that the girls would be recruited at the same time to save time. After that, Tetsuo and Takashi would go together. They would be recruited two-by-two; it was decided by both Shing and Yuma.

"They'll catch you soon!" Kotori spat. "You won't get away with this!"

Shing smiled sweetly. "No, they won't, Kotori. I'll make sure of it."

Yuma came back with Cathy, who gave up hope a while ago. Now, she wasn't struggling at all. He strapped her down with no problem, and he connected them both to the tubes so the serum could enter their bodies.

"Ready, you two?" Shing asked, but she didn't really care if they were or not. Without waiting for an answer, she flicked the switch.

Both girls tried to resist the effects if the serum, but unfortunately, V also made it stronger and harder to resist. They succumbed to the serum quickly. Shing was smiling widely. The serum was working as promised! The brain waves were still steady and strong.

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, releasing them from their bonds. "Now, stand up."

The two girls stood up without any weakness. After assigning the girls to different roles, Cathy with the boys to train and Kotori as her maid, Shing went back to the other room to check up on Kaito. Like a good soldier, he was already seated and relaxed on the chair.

"How are you feeling today, Kaito?" Shing asked as she hooked Kaito up to the machine. 

"Refreshed," was his immediate response. "The headset you gave me cleared my mind. Thank you, my lady."

Shing smiled and checked his brain waves. Her smile widened; his waves were very strong indeed, and it was an amazement to see that he didn't need the headset anymore. "Well, Kaito, you're in luck. Your brain is free of damage, and you can take the headset off now."

Kaito took off the headset as per her instructions. He stood up, feeling more refreshed than before. Thanking her once again, he exited the room. Shing followed.

Yuma was just about to take Cathy to the training room to help her train her skill in dueling when something strange happened. The Key started blinking. First once, then twice, then three times, and then in rapid succession. Everyone shielded their eyes as the Emperor's Key shone brightly as its owners finally unlocked it after endless hours of work. That deep, inner portion of everyone in the room cheered; they all knew that Astral of all people would have some power to help them.

Two forms exited the Key. The first one was Astral, and when the light dimmed down, Dark popped his head right out of the gem embedded in the Key.

"What are you two doing here?" Shing asked in a mildly aggressive tone. Something told her that these two were going to be a pain to capture.

Astral looked around at Yuma and his friends, and he felt their inner selves screaming at him to help them. He ignored her and placed his hand on Yuma's temple. "He's in here, Dark. It's faint, but he still clings to himself."

Dark seemed to cringe at the boy, but he nodded. "I'll keep her busy, then. You do what you need to do."

Astral formed a shield around himself and Yuma. Cut off from his queen, Yuma couldn't hear her give orders to him to resist. He just stood there, staring at Astral. He didn't say anything, didn't do anything.

"Yuma..." Astral whispered and had them both kneel on the floor. Yuma followed his urging and knelt on the ground. "What has she done to you?" Yuma didn't respond. Astral looked at his blank face sadly and cupped that same face with his hands and touched his forehead to Yuma's. "Don't worry. I will bring you back."

Meanwhile, Dark took a protective stance in front of the shield. Shing giggled. "Finally, a challenge!" she exclaimed.

Dark cracked his knuckles. "You don't look like much."

"Don't worry about that." She clenched her fists and crouched into a fighting stance. "Come on!"

Dark immediately took the first, second, and third strike by catching her off guard. He sent a punch to her stomach, a punch to her cheek, and a kick up her chin. Shing flew to the ground, but she didn't stay down. She jumped back up and caught Dark with a punch right to his jaw. He took the damage without flinching. He made sure that his and Astral's mental link didn't include physical pain so his twin wouldn't be distracted.

Astral looked deep into Yuma's mind to look for the inner Yuma, the one that was crying out to him to free him. It was easy to locate him, but setting him free was a different matter. He concentrated hard to try to unlock the inner part of his dearest friend.

Yuma's eyes widened, and his mind was once again his own. He saw Astral sitting back with a smile. "Welcome back, Yuma."

"Astral...thank you!" Yuma was about to hug his friend when Astral suddenly flinched, holding his chest. It seemed Dark's separation from their link didn't last long.

They both looked back and saw Dark caught on the wall with Shing keeping him pinned with her claws. Dark didn't seem to be affected, though.

"I need to go help him. Stay in the bubble, Yuma." Astral then hurried off to go help his brother, sending a burst of mental energy right at Shing to get her attention.

Shing turned around and saw Astral. With a wide grin, she sent a wave of paralyzing energy his way, but he managed to dodge in time and reach out to Dark. Once they touched, a bright light washed over the whole room as they fused together into one being. The only ones expressive enough to present their shock were Shing and Yuma. The rest watched with blank expressions, but inside, they were just as shocked to see this new person.

A being with patches of both white and blue emerged from the light. The right eye was completely white, and the left was a gray color. Splotches of purplish black covered his body. The new being blinked a few times before turning back around and attacking Shing with relentless force. For a while, it only engaged in hand-to-hand combat, looking for an opening to land a deadly blow.

The new being suddenly found one when he saw that she left her entire right flank wide open. Without missing a beat, he maneuvered his body to where his right hand would feign a punch to her stomach. Just as expected, she fell for the bait, and he quickly switched positions so that his left hand would hook her flank.

Unfortunately, Shing expected this. She knew this being was inexperienced, either because he hadn't been formed in a while or he just wasn't all that experienced. She knew that a warrior would target an unprotected side quickly. Putting all her power into this one attack, she pushed a large wave of mental energy right into the being's unprotected mind.

The being suddenly cried out in pain at the assault of mental waves. The shock was so great that he separated back into his two halves. Astral writhed on the ground, clutching his head since he took the brunt of the attack. Dark looked back at his brother and growled back at Shing. Acting on impulse as usual, he attacked her flank and bit right down on her side.

Shing immediately stopped sending the waves and cried out in pain. Astral rubbed the gems at his forehead and stood back up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuma banging against the bubble and yelling something, but the bubble muffled all sound.

"We were clumsy," Dark told Astral mentally. "We just attacked on impulse."

"We need to be more careful," Astral agreed.

Once more, they came together and fused. The being's eyes were far colder and more calculating than before. "Next time, I will not be so careless."

"We'll see about that," Shing replied.

They engaged in battle once again, but this time, the being was far more careful. He calculated every single move before he did it, his mental fortifications were high. Shing herself was being far more aggressive in her attacks. The ones still in control watched their queen handle the intruder. There seemed to be no end to this dance. None of them did anything because their queen hadn't expressed her need for assistance.

However, Kaito looked upon this scene and saw that she needed help. There was no other way to end this, so he pulled out a pocket knife given to him, Yuma, and V and rushed into the heat of the battle. It was clear to him that this being was solid. How else would he be able to fight her physically? He brought out the knife and stabbed the being deep into his side. The being cried out in surprise and lashed out at Kaito, turning his back to Shing.

Shing saw her opportunity and sent another stronger wave of mental attacks. The being started screaming in pain again, and as he separated, his two halves were sent back to the Key to recover. The bubble burst; Yuma was free yet vulnerable to be captured again. 

He started running. Promising to come back for his friends as soon as possible, he booked it to the door. Shing made it there before him. Her expression was oddly tender, as if she really wanted him to stay. She didn't want to hurt him, but given the situation, she didn't have a choice. She rushed at him, the tenderness replaced by determination. Yuma was shocked to see how fast she moved and had no time to move himself. He wouldn't have been able to, anyways! 

Just before she reached Yuma, a golden ball of light surrounded Yuma. A shield made out of golden wings then replaced the ball of light and enclosed Yuma inside. Yuma stumbled back, his back hitting the back of the ball. It started rolling toward the wall.

Shing barked an order for Kaito and V to slow down the ball before it hit the wall and let her knight escape. The two followed the order obediently and chased after the ball. V got right behind it and slowed down its progress right before it even touched the wall. He tossed Kaito a wrench he had in his pocket so that he could smash the shield. It took only a few hits to shatter the shield, and the both of them quickly grabbed the flailing boy and brought him back to Shing.

"Let go of me!!" Yuma exclaimed, attempting to kick his captors, but they just held on tighter. 

Shing walked up to her pet and touched his temple. "There's still a bit of you left that's loyal," she said softly.

Yuma's eyes widened in horror. "No, you can't...!" he whispered hoarsely. He knew what he did to his friends, and he didn't want to go back to that. He shrank away from her touch.

Shing frowned at his reaction. Why is he acting like this? This'll be all for the greater good. She placed her palm against his temple and activated the small part of him that was still under her control. Almost immediately, Yuma started screaming in denial, trying his best to resist. The control was too deep, though. All too soon, his struggles stopped, and he fell limp.

Kaito and V let go of him when they thought he was stable enough. Yuma swayed a little, but he could still support himself. "My queen?" he asked.

"I'm right here, Yuma," Shing replied, taking his hands. "You're safe now. But..." She glared at the Key, which was now fully lustrous. "I think we should get rid of that before it causes more trouble."

Yuma's hand flew to the Key and grasped it. "No!" he gasped.

Shing took a step back at the sudden intensity. She noticed how his eyes showed that inner self that was buried deep. As quick as it came, though, it went away.

"I mean...I am unsure, my queen..."

The girl frowned. "If you say so. Go rest now."

"Yes, my queen." He walked away and went to his room. His hand still gripped the Key tightly.