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Episode #26

ZAP! Victory Will Always Be Mine!

Synopsis written by Lina Inverse (lina@maison-otaku.net)

As the episode opens, we find a now somewhat crazed Copy Rezo attacking Flagoon with random blasts of fiery magic, addressing the tree in person and complimenting it on its power to resist him, even as he is joined with Zanaffar. The destruction continues to take its toll on the shelter that Zelgadis-tachi are using, as the house literally comes down on top of them, Phil's brute strength being the only thing to save them.

Amelia bemoans the situation, wondering what to do, and Zelgadis and Gourry assert that fighting Rezo is impossible. Prince Philoniel doesn't take this well at all, and he launches into a huge sermon on how giving up is the surest way to find defeat, and not giving up if your cause is just brings victory, a stance Amelia fully supports. Zelgadis, more practical than they, counters with "Do you expect me to close my fist, then say 'ALL RIGHT! LET'S GO GET REZO AGAIN!'", noting that if spells and the Hikari no Ken won't work, then attacking Rezo is suicide, not bravery. Gourry gets into the act as well, but makes an idle wish that Lina were present; "She'd cast a spell on the Sword to increase its power and we'd be set." Zelgadis and Amelia's eyes light up at that suggestion, the idea having never occurred to them. Now armed with knowledge, the two shamanists resolve to head into battle once again, planning on Gourry's idea which even HE doesn't quite understand yet...

Meanwhile, Sylpheel and Lina, now in perfect shape, are making their way out of the underground catacombs where the Blessed Blade was located. Along the way Lina and Sylpheel debate some of the strategy to be used against Zanaffar and Rezo, while Lina worries that Zelgadis and the others might be doing something stupid. Impatient, she decides to blast her way out with repeated Dam Brass spells (much to Sylpheel's absolute horror), hoping to catch them in time to keep them from acting rashly.

Back out in the ruins, Rezo is having a grand old time blithely blowing Flagoon into toothpicks; however, as one particularly large chunk of Holy Tree hits the ground, the Red Priest notices three figures behind it. One of them is Zelgadis, who admonishes Rezo that "You should protect the environment, Copy Rezo-san." Rezo grins and once again demands that Lina Inverse be brought to him, noting that Zelgadis, Gourry, and Amelia are more or less expendable since they have no use. Amelia reminds him that he should save such talk until after he's defeated them, at which point Gourry makes clear that he's still not quite up to par with the plan.

Rezo prepares an attack and launches it at the group, but it's stopped by Amelia's quick casting of the Valis Wall spell. Before Rezo can attack again, Zelgadis casts Elmekia Flame on the Hikari no Ken, pumping it with Spirit power. Amelia bounces up and down, cheering on a now charging and enraged Gourry, who swings the enhanced Hikari no Ken through the various hydra-heads of the Zanaffar miasma. At first glance Zel pronounces it didn't work, but Amelia disagrees, and she proves to be right: two of the heads fall to the ground, severed, and disappear. Rezo, now bleeding from wounds caused by Gourry, remarks how impressed he is with the counterattack, but that it is essentially hopeless. Zelgadis calls to Gourry to repeat the attack again, but Rezo is ready, knocking out both men in one fell swoop. Amelia, however, takes this chance to grab the Hikari no Ken, preparing "Amelia's Super Special Attack": she tosses the activated sword into the air above Rezo, then channels a Ra-Tilt through it; the resulting eruption of intense magic surprises even Zelgadis in its power. A now confident Amelia attempts to finish the whole thing off with a well-aimed Pacifist Crush of her own, but learns very little from her father; Rezo swats her out of the sky like a fly, hurt but not down even after Amelia's Ra-Tilt.

Amelia is luckily caught by Gourry, but a now enraged Rezo comments that he was merely swatting a bothersome insect by attacking Amelia, preparing to finish Gourry and the others off in one cruel shot. Zelgadis immediately calls for defensive magic, but not before a familar voice calls out "Behind you!", shortly before a fire spell impacts with Rezo's field. Of course, standing in a dramatic pose with the Blessed Blade is our beloved Lina Inverse, who wholly steals Amelia's schtick, boasting that Rezo had better behave now that she's here, before backflipping to stand in front of Gourry and Amelia. (Amelia, for the record, is QUITE unhappy when Lina steals her lines).

Rezo seems pleased that Lina has returned, asking her if she'll show him her Giga Slave now. She replies with an enigmatic "Maybe!", as Gourry tosses her the Hikari no Ken. Lina, of course, is thrilled and asks Gourry if he's giving it to her for good. Of course he replies that he ISN'T, that she can have it to beat Rezo. Lina blinks, then tosses it back at him, saying she doesn't need it...then points the Blessed Blade outward, stating it will be all she needs. Rezo asks her what she plans on doing with that "toy sword", and Lina taunts him to find out just how much of a toy sword it really is. He does so by lashing out at her with a tendril of Zanaffar's miasma, which Lina easily slashes through with the Blessed Blade, absorbing the evil power into itself.

Rezo blinks in surprise, then smiles at the challenge one more time, now thoroughly lost in his desire to kill Lina Inverse. Lina outlines her plan to kill Rezo: Zel and Amelia will head out front, casting astral spells at Gourry's sword, which will amplify them. Everyone will then take formation to push Rezo up against the Holy Tree. Rezo calls up as much power as he can, then remarks he's glad they're taking the situation so seriously now, before lashing out with magical energy.

The group immediately springs into action, Zelgadis launching a Goz Vu Rou and Amelia tossing an Elmekia Lance at Rezo, who easily blocks both attacks and knocks Amelia to the ground. Lina snatches Amelia into the air with her via Raywing, then shouts for Gourry out in front. Zelgadis and Amelia cast the Bram Blazer spell at the Hikari no Ken, which Gourry uses to thrust the amplified spell at Rezo, who spends much of his energy defending it...leaving Lina wide open to slash at the miasma with the Blessed Blade, driving Rezo back onto the thick roots of Flagoon. Rezo, bleeding now from more wounds, is astounded. "Their tactics are different now...is it all because of that girl?"

At this point, with Zanaffar so close, the golden light spheres from Flagoon drift about as Sylpheel, magical rod in hand, approaches the group. Rezo begins a tirade about surpassing the original Rezo once again, stating his need to defeat Lina...without it, he has no purpose in life. Two mouths appear in the palms of his hands, and he uses them to chant triple spells, launching high-speed energy at the group. Zelgadis calls for them to scatter, but a protective dome of holy power encloses the group, courtesy of Sylpheel, who asks that defense be left to her.

Zelgadis notes that Rezo must be part Mazoku now after the merge, using three mouths to chant multiple spells at once, explaining his extreme magical power. Lina notes that she can probably use that against him, and gives her "final orders". Using the Raywing spell, Lina takes the Blessed Blade and flies up into Flagoon's branches for cover, followed by a hail of magical bolts from Rezo. Once Lina is out of sight, however, he focuses a fiery spread at the remaining group, who is shielding by Sylpheel. Zelgadis and Amelia being the Ra-Tilt, casting it in tandem (the spell energy forms a small heart when it merges!), and Gourry amplifying it via the Hikari no Ken. The attack hits Rezo hard, forcing him to use most of his power to defend, the energy released forming a huge blossoming column of magical energy.

As the powers rage on, Lina descends from the branches, holding the Blessed Blade in attack position, speeding along with her Raywing straight at Rezo. The Red Priest counterattacks, but Lina manages to dodge the incoming bursts of flame, eventually flying STRAIGHT into Rezo, driving the Blessed Blade through his body and pinning him to Flagoon with the Blade itself. Rezo cannot seem to handle this; he calls it impossible and is stunned beyond belief at his defeat. Lina explains that she doesn't know why Rezo really picked this fight with her, and she doesn't want to. However, Lina claims Rezo made two mistakes in exacting his revenge. One was hurting a lot of people doing it...the other was picking a fight with Lina Inverse!

At this point, Lina calls out to Sylpheel to act, and she certainly does, beginning a powerful casting of the Recovery spell. Rezo begins to look panicked and grabs Lina, though he can do little more than that. His eyes go somewhat crazy, and his voice takes on insane tones as he shouts "I MUST surpass the original Rezo! No, I HAVE surpassed him! Haven't I? HAVEN'T I?!" Lina, however, answers only with a shake of the head. Sylpheel finishes the Recovery spell, the bright white light of it blinding...and suddenly, the Holy Tree begins to recover from the damage Rezo had inflicted. The blinding white light expands outward from the Blessed Blade, as Lina explains that the now-healed Flagoon, along with the Blessed Blade, is once again absorbing the evil power of Zanaffar into itself.

When all is said and done, Rezo lies dying at the foot of Flagoon, lit with the bright light of holy power, as Lina approaches him. Rezo asks Lina if he had truly lost, and she sadly agrees. Rezo can't seem to understand why, and wonders if he truly was nothing more than a copy. Lina, however, disagrees and explains. Rezo's true weakness was that he couldn't see any farther in front of him than killing Lina, and that made him weaker than any clone could ever be. Rezo nods, finally understanding...and before he dies, he asks Lina what it is she sees that keeps her going. She smiles, and simply replies "I see a flower whose name I don't know yet." Zelgadis inquires of the Copy Rezo what he would like on his gravestone, but the Red Priest declines, asking instead that the Holy Tree Flagoon be his monument, and he finally passes on, having acheived understanding for the first time.

When we next see our heroes, it is in the venue of the now rebuilding townsfolk of Sairaag, busy constructing houses...and in the frame of one house, wolfing down a table full of chicken and other goodies, is none other than Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev, along with Amelia and Zelgadis, who are also eating at Linaspeed (tm). Sylpheel seems a little embarassed by this, as Gourry asks if she will be eating. When Sylpheel declines, everyone else shrugs in a "more for us!" manner, before Gourry asks Sylpheel what she plans to do now, and she meekly replies that she'll have to help rebuild her city and her home. In an attempt to change the subject, she throws the question back at Lina and Gourry, who in tandem reply "Haven't thought about it at all!". Sylpheel sweatbeads and asks Zelgadis the same question, who stoically replies that he'll travel to find a cure for his condition. Amelia invites him back to Saillune, but before she can really finish her sentence her father rides up on the horizon. Lina greets him as "Useless Phil" and inquires about his health...but when his familial relation to Amelia is revealed, Sylpheel goes into the same kind of shock Lina displays when she meets Phil in ep.11 (Sylpheel: "But princes are supposed to be smart and handsome!" Zelgadis: "Reality is never that sweet."), shortly before passing out. Amelia makes a comment about not treating Phil like a monster, but that then again that might be hard. Everyone has a good laugh, and fade to black on our heroes...

...for all of 5 seconds, until a Saillune messenger screaming for Phil comes streaking toward the group, about to deliver a message to Phil shortly before Sylpheel interrupts him by smacking him in the head: "Don't call him a prince in front of me!" However, Phil of course needs to run off to Saillune right away to solve the problem, dragging a protesting Lina Inverse behind him. Amelia naturally follows right behind on command, then Gourry and Zelgadis do the same after exchanging resigned shrugs/smiles, and of course Sylpheel, left all alone, dashes off after the group in a panic. So now, our heroes are off on another quest, god only knows where...but we know for sure victory will certainly be theirs!

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