Boom——
A blinding orange-red fireball suddenly detonated above the overpass. The shockwave twisted and warped the guardrails on both sides, sending burning metal fragments raining down like meteors onto the lower roadway. Thick smoke billowed upward like a colossal serpent, instantly swallowing half the sky. The flames surged higher than the streetlights, painting the steel bridge framework in a furnace-like crimson. Molten guardrails dripped liquid metal along the edges, splashing sulfur-scented sparks across the pavement below. The overpass resembled the gateway to hell, with fresh explosive flashes flickering through the black smoke and tearing fleeting scarlet rifts across the night sky.
Yusei Fudo's Duel Runner sped away from the roaring inferno, its back turned to the blaze. He halted at a safe distance beyond the wall of fire and glanced back, his expression shadowed.
The duplicate of himself had self-destructed.
He hadn't been able to stop it—only just managing to reach safety before the countdown ended.
Yusei stared at the orange flames for a long moment, then lowered his gaze to the card in his hand—the Cosmic Blazar Dragon card that had just been entrusted to him.
The final scene before the copy departed replayed in his mind.
"Though you haven't yet grasped the pinnacle of 'Clear Mind,' if it's you… it's only a matter of time."
The copy Yusei pressed the card into his palm.
"When that time comes, you'll wield it freely."
"Go save your world and your companions, Yusei Fudo."
"."
Yusei dismounted the Duel Runner and stood beneath the night sky dyed blood-red by the firelight. His grip on the card tightened unconsciously.
The weight on his shoulders suddenly felt heavier.
"Yusei!"
He turned. Crow Hogan and Akiza Izinski had already arrived, along with the others.
"Everyone." Yusei stepped forward. "Are you all right?"
"We're fine… but that really gave me a scare." Crow stopped his Duel Runner. "There was literally another me who looked exactly the same. And he was using the same 'Blackwing' cards—even some I'd never heard of."
Crow's expression grew strange. "Could it really be like what Director Goodwin—no, sorry—like what Kira said? Blackwing really does hide power I don't understand."
"You okay?" Yusei asked.
"Ah, I'm fine. My special training for the WRGP wasn't for show." Crow puffed out his chest. "It was close, but I won."
Akiza nodded. "Me too. I ran into another me using the same Black Rose Dragon. Even I thought I was finished for a second there."
"But you're okay now, right, Akiza?" Yusei asked.
"Yeah. Barely." She brushed back her hair with a small smile. "I won by the narrowest margin imaginable."
The desperate final exchange flashed through her mind.
"."
Fifteen minutes earlier, elsewhere.
Akiza: "The effect of the Magic Card 'Soul Elimination'—this turn, instead of banishing a monster from the Graveyard, I can banish one from the field instead."
"So I banish the 'Rose Token' summoned by 'Black Garden' to Special Summon 'Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis'!"
[Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, ATK 2200]
"'Black Garden' activates, Special Summoning a new 'Rose Token' on your field.
Next, my Continuous Trap 'Remove Brainwashing' returns the 'Rose Token' whose original owner was me from your field back to mine."
"Because I control 'Kotodama,' no two monsters with the same name can exist on the field. The newly summoned copy is destroyed. Since I already have one 'Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis,' the second one is also destroyed!"
"When Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis is destroyed, it inflicts 800 damage to you!"
"Then I banish the newly summoned 'Rose Token' to revive another 'Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis' from the Graveyard."
Two full cycles later, the copy Akiza was utterly broken.
She had copied the real Akiza Izinski… hadn't she?
How could this strategy exist? She had never heard of it.
Had she copied a fake Akiza… or was she the fake one?
The duplicate collapsed into the endless Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis hell, drowning in doubt about herself and the world.
"But that other me was genuinely strong."
Akiza still felt the chill of that duel.
"A deck almost identical to mine, piloted with equal skill. If… if that person hadn't helped me grow recently…"
Kira's face flashed through her mind—the man who had shown her the hidden potential in her own cards.
She looked up at the sky.
Where was Kira now? Was he fighting too?
"Me too," Yusei said. "I met another me. We dueled. He left me this card."
He stared at the Cosmic Blazar Dragon in his hand.
"He gave you a card too?" Crow looked stunned, then more confused than ever. "Damn it, what the hell do these guys want? I can't figure out what game they're playing."
"I don't know."
Yusei shook his head, hesitating.
"But he told me a crucial name. It might be the main enemy we'll face next."
Crow and Akiza asked together: "Who?"
Yusei took a breath, his face grave.
"…Z-ONE."
…
At that same moment, Kira and Z-ONE stood together, watching the self-destruct countdown echo from the pseudo-Z-ONE's hovering platform. Seconds later, the fake and its entire device erupted into a brilliant fireball in the night sky.
Just like the copy Yusei. The pseudo-Z-ONE had said his mission was complete. As a reborn duplicate, his only purpose had been to observe and bear witness—to see what became of the artificial 5D's team. Now that their story had ended, he had no reason to remain.
Without hesitation, he activated self-destruct.
He left his deck to Kira.
"Looks like this world has finally returned to its proper course."
Kira gazed toward Yusei and the others in the distance and murmured.
"All dimensional invaders have been eliminated. Yusei Fudo has become this world's first Duel King. It seems stable now."
"Mm."
Z-ONE answered casually, then slowly turned his head.
"You're leaving?"
…