Hi, everyone! I'm pretty new to writing Fanfictions, but I love Yugioh ZeXal with a burning passion! I can say that it's one of my favorite seasons of Yugioh, and we're only on episode 24! Anyway, this is my story about the Heartland World Duel Carnival (which it will focus on mainly, but not necessarily exclusively).
First of all, I should give you forewarning about a few things. I will use the newest version of the banlist. Gasp! Yes, the one with Heavy Storm being limited and Mystical Space Typhoon at 3! I'm a madman! But, I will try my very best not to push those cards or even use them at all (unless the people like Shark actually do have them). I will strive to find alternatives to different play styles!
Secondly, while this is ZeXal, I have altered some things. For example, I like the characters all to have a piece of the action; therefore I made Kotori a duelist because I thought that it could be good for the story and character development. This story will have a lot of familiar faces from the show that you may have forgotten about, any maybe even some new ones too.
Third (and probably the last one), I'm kind of a creative person, so if you see a card in the story that you don't instantly identify to be real, I may make them up. Just a bit of a forewarning, or should I say fair warning? I will tell you which ones I've made up and you are all free to use them in your stories as well (just don't forget to get consent and give credit please!)
I almost forgot one last thing! In this fanfic, Yuma will only have Numbers 17 and 39 and will be working his way up the ladder (not like he even uses any other Numbers besides those two, but regardless, it will give me more to write about!)
If you feel something is wrong, if my characters are off, if the setting is weird, or whatever, please do not hesitate to tell me. Constructive criticism is all good for a writer because it helps us grow, develop and better our craft! So without further ado, I would present to you all…World Duel Carnival!
Chapter One: Let The Games Begin!
The radiating sun shone down on the good people of Heartland, many of whom were not from the city at all. After all, today was the big day of the World Duel Carnival and duelists from all over the world had come to compete in such an event. It was going to be historic. In fact, most of the competitors were already at the scene of the event, readying themselves for their battles ahead. However, for Yuma Tsukumo, the same couldn't be said.
The dichromatic-haired boy tossed in his bed, snoring loud enough to drown out the sound of the whistling tea kettle coming from the kitchen. Moreover, it was capable of minimizing the sound of the footsteps that approached Yuma's bedroom door. The door opened with a squeak and in came two children, a boy and a girl. The girl giggled at her sleeping friend, her green hair bouncing as she did, while the boy sighed at the side, scratching the spiky, ebony hair that jutted out of his backwards, red cap.
"Yuma," the girl softly said, stretching out the "u" vowel in the boy's name. "It's time to wake up."
"K-Kotori…" Yuma said from his sleep. Instinctively, he reached out his arms, as though he was grabbing for something, grabbing for her.
This motion caused the black-haired boy, Tetsuo, to burst out into a fit of laughter, much different from the intense crimson emanating from Kotori's face. The laughter awoke Yuma, who looked at Kotori standing in front of him and screamed.
"Aaah! What are you guys doing here?" he questioned loudly.
"The…World Duel…Carnival is today," Tetsuo answered between fits of laughter.
"Don't tell me you forgot already," Kotori moaned, fixing the bow in her hair. "It's in half an hour, actually."
"N-no, I didn't forget," Yuma insisted. "I was just getting…some duel rest!"
"Duel rest?" Tetsuo chuckled.
"It's real!" Yuma continued. "In fact…"
"Yuma." The boy's sentence was interrupted as his elderly, purple-haired grandmother walked into the room with a giant smile on her face. "I just want you to know that I'll be rooting for you and that I want you to try your best! And lastly, I want you to eat a good breakfast!"
"Grandma Haru, the tournaments in an hour!" Yuma exclaimed, rushing to get dressed and complete his other morning rituals.
Haru's seemingly permanent smile shifted quickly to a stern look and her tone changed from cheery to serious. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Yuma. If you don't eat it, you won't have the brain power to win."
Yuma gulped, rather audibly. "Ok, Granny Haru! I'll have breakfast! I promise!"
"Good!" Haru smiled again. With that, she walked out of the room and back to the front yard of her house where she went back to doing her sweeping.
Yuma never really enjoyed when his grandmother was in one of those stern moods. It personally always freaked him out, like she had an aura about her.
Yuma looked around his room and grabbed the gift from his parents, the Emperor's Key, and put it on. It was a mysterious thing with even more mysterious secrets, but perhaps the most prominent of them all was the dueling entity named Astral that resided in the key.
Yuma had become friends with Astral over time, although their relationship was still a bit rough around the edges at times.
A couple minutes later, the young teen was already to go. He looked at Kotori and Tetsuo and with a smile said, "World Duel Carnival, here we come! Kattobingu!"
As the three kids rushed out the front door to get to the tournament, Haru spoke softly. "Here you are, Yuma."
"Huh?" Yuma asked, just in time to get impaled in the chest by a rice ball.
"Just in case you get hungry later," she grinned. "Now run along. You don't want to be late."
The clock struck 12:00 noon when the children reached the large stadium in the middle of the fairgrounds. They quickly slipped inside it and to their luck, the ceremony had yet to begin. The arena was full of bodies and the sounds of trivial chatter and D-Pads clanking with one another filled the place.
Yuma and his friends took a second to note their competition. Plenty of the people looked strong at first glance, but that wasn't important. What was important was the cards they used and how well they could use them.
"Do you see anyone familiar?" Kotori asked.
"Not a one," Tetsuo replied.
"It doesn't matter," Yuma said. "If we duel new people, it'll be more fun because we'll see more cards!"
The latter part of Yuma's sentence was cut off by prerecorded music that blasted through two large stereos planted on opposite sides of the stadium. The lights dimmed, although it was still fairly bright in the building because of the skylight above. All the duelists turned their heads to the podium on the front of the stage as a green-haired man walked over to it and began to speak.
"Hello, duelists! My name is Mr. Heartland," he began. He took a moment to stop talking and take off his orange glasses, blow on them, and rub them on his shirt before putting them back on. "And I would like to welcome you all to the World Duel Carnival!"
A wave of cheers, fueled by agreement and energy, surged through the crowd. Even though the air was roughly made up of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, anyone could tell that excitement took up the remaining 1%.
"I won't waste your time," Mr. Heartland continued, "so I'll cut to the chase. This tournament was designed by yours truly to test the abilities of each and every duelist out there who thinks that they're the best of the best! That is why you're all gathered here today. And I presume that after this tournament, the world will know who the best is!"
Another wave of excitement swept over the contestants.
"Before I let you all begin though, I have some rules I would like to discuss. First off, I'm sure you will all be happy to know that you have no set opponents."
Hushed murmuring filled the crowd as the duelists turned to one another questioning this statement.
"Allow me to elucidate," Mr. Heartland said. "What I mean by that is that you won't be limited to just one duel per day, nor will you be limited to a chosen opponent. To maximize the most out of this tournament, we will let you participate in as many duels as you would like in a day, however, it is mandatory that you engage in at least one daily."
The duelists nodded and cheerful chatter resumed a bit.
"Alright!" Yuma laughed. "I'm gonna duel all of 'em!"
Mr. Heartland coughed a bit and the attention shifted back to him.
"My second and final ruling is that you all be permitted to wear these."
He held up a small circular device with a yin-yang symbol engraved on it.
"It is a duel monitor that is to be stuck on your D-Pad. But listen up, here's the part you don't want to miss."
He paused for a moment and waited before everyone's eyes were on him, as though they were being permanently glued.
"You are allowed one, just one, loss in this tournament. That is what this monitor is for. If you lose once, the left side of the device will turn white. If you lose twice, the right side will turn black. If both sides are glowing at any given time, you will be eliminated from this tournament. If your device is ever removed from your D-Pad, you will be disqualified from this tournament. Is that understood?"
The room was dead silent. Everyone was still processing it all the information they were just fed. Soon, though, the people agreed upon it.
"Very good!" Mr. Heartland announced. "Then once you leave this stadium, I'll be standing outside giving you these devices. Just remember to have fun, play hard, and let the games begin!"
Mr. Heartland walked off after that to his position outside the door and the stadium was loud with excitement, joy and courage once more.
Luckily for Yuma, Kotori and Tetsuo, they were already standing near the exit so they all took a couple steps back to see Mr. Heartland standing near them.
"Here you are," he said, handing Kotori and Tetsuo their machinery as they approached him.
Yuma walked over to Mr. Heartland next and held out his hand.
Mr. Heartland fished through his box of devices and carefully handed Yuma his. "Ah yes. Here you are, my boy."
"Thank…" Yuma trailed off as he looked at Mr. Heartland. The man wore a smile, but it was only superficial, Yuma could tell. There was something more on the inside.
"Move," said another duelist, pushing Yuma aside before he had more of a chance to think about it.
"Sheesh," Yuma sighed, rubbing his arm. He looked at his friends and smiled, wishing them luck before all three went their separate ways.
"Man," Yuma groaned. It had been an hour since he left Kotori and Tetsuo and still he hadn't found anyone to duel (a fact that he thought was unfair considering he had already seen 12 duels in progress in that hour). He decided to take a break and sit on a bench, rubbing his feet (despite having shoes on).
The Emperor's Key moved a bit as Astral arose from it. He looked at Yuma and then at the boy's shoes. He pointed to the bottom of Yuma's shoe and asked, "What is that?"
Yuma looked down just as his hand grazed what Astral was pointing at. A loud "squish" noise sounded and Yuma's fingers encountered a wet wad.
"That…would be gum," he sighed.
"Gum?" Astral said, following the boy who had now got up to use the bathroom.
"Never mind," Yuma said.
He found a bathroom after a couple minutes of searching and rubbed the gum down with ice cold water.
"I'm just saying that you would think they'd have hot…" Yuma began before bumping into someone on his way out of the bathroom. He landed on his backside while Astral watched.
"Watch where you're going," said a voice. One that Yuma recognized all too well.
"Professor Ukyo!" Yuma said, excitedly. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" the teacher frowned. "I'm here to duel just like you are."
Yuma squinted his eyes a bit to look at his teacher. There's something different about him he thought. He's not usually this cranky, unless he missed his morning tea.
"Watch out, Yuma," Astral warned. "He seems dangerous."
"Relax," Yuma shrugged. He looked back at his teacher before thinking of something. "You said you're here to duel?"
"No, I'm just here to waste my time on the rides," Ukyo sneered, heavy sarcasm filling his words.
"Well then duel me!" Yuma declared. "Judging by your yin-yang loss reader, either you haven't dueled at all today, or you just haven't lost. And if that's the case, then dueling me is a win-win!"
Ukyo thought Yuma's unorthodox method of explanation over for a bit before agreeing.
"Sweet!" Yuma said, putting on his D-Gazer just as Ukyo did.
Both duelists drew 5 cards before looking at each other. "Let's duel!"
Yuma Tsukumo – 8000 LP
Professor Ukyo – 8000 LP
"Age before beauty," Ukyo said, drawing a card from his deck.
He set two cards on his D-Pad and immediately a concealed monster followed by a card in the Spell/Trap zone appeared.
"That's all?" Yuma asked, drawing. "Well, let's see that monster stand up to Gagaga Magician!"
Yuma played his monster and a portal appeared. An aged sage rose from it with a saggy hat and a steel chain that wrapped around his body, connecting to the golden belt buckle with 8 indents on it. (1500 ATK)
"Attack that monster with Gagaga Magic!"
The mature magician jumped over to the monster and struck it with his fist, but he soon bounced back when he saw a bomb-headed creature with an orange and white striped shirt that had an "X" on the chest. (2000 DEF)
Yuma flinched as the impact reversed towards him.
"What's the matter?" Ukyo laughed. "Crashbug X too strong for you?"
Yuma frowned as he set a card before his Gagaga Magician. "Your turn."
Yuma Tsukumo – 7500 LP
Professor Ukyo – 8000 LP
The teacher silently drew a card and played it on his D-Pad.
Another bomb-headed monster appeared, this one tall and lanky with white and blue striped underclothes and a blank shirt with a "Z" on it. (0 ATK)
If he keeps this up, I'll win for sure Yuma thought, grinning at the idea.
"I know what you're thinking," Ukyo said, noticing Yuma's composure change.
"Are you a psychic too?" Yuma wondered, eyes nearly popping out of his head.
"No," Ukyo glared. "I'm just clever enough to know that big things come in small packages. Take Crashbug Z here for example because when I play him when I have Crashbug X out on the field, I can automatically summon Crashbug Y from my deck!"
In a flash of light, a third Crashbug monster appeared. This one was portly with handcuffs slung on its shoulder. Red and pink diagonal lines covered its body. (1400 ATK)
"That's still a little weak," Yuma pointed out.
"Yes, that is a commonality that all the Crashbug monsters share," Ukyo admitted. "However they also all share the same level!"
"But that means…"
"I can Xyz Summon!" Ukyo yelled. "I construct the overlay network with my three monsters!"
The three creatures turned into bright glowing spirals that flew in the airs, swirling around until they created one big burst of energy that came crashing down onto the ground, creating a dark portal.
"Appear now, Number 34: Terror-Byte!"
"Number?" Yuma and Astral both gasped.
A large golden cube with dark turquoise markings appeared on the field. Slowly, it started to unfold, producing a long tail protruding from a small body and a horn atop the head. Three gravitating orbs, the souls of the three Crashbugs monsters, floated around it. (2900 DEF)
"I knew something was wrong," Astral said. "Watch out, Yuma. The Numbers have possessed him."
The boy frowned at his teacher. How could this have happened?
"Pay attention, class!" Ukyo laughed. "I'm using Terror-Byte's effect. At the cost of one of my overlay units, I can take control of a low leveled, face-up Attack Position monster you have until my turn's end!"
Yuma stared at his Gagaga Magician as Terror-Byte's tail pierced the Spellcaster and dragged him over to the other side.
"Attack your former master now, Gagaga Magician!"
Gagaga Magician's eyes turned red as he leapt over to Yuma and punched him in the gut, sending the adolescent flying back.
"And remember how I said he'd return to you?" Ukyo asked. "Well, I had a change of plans."
Gagaga Magician disappeared as Ukyo's facedown card sprung up. Virus Cannon.
"At the cost of Gagaga Magician," Astral explained, "you now have to send one of the spells in your deck to the Graveyard."
Yuma sighed, picking up his deck and sending his Thunder Short spell to the Graveyard. Somehow, he didn't feel it would be of much use to him.
"I'm done," Ukyo said, clearly satisfied at his progress.
Yuma Tsukumo – 6000 LP
Professor Ukyo – 8000 LP
"Then I'm up!" Yuma said, resolute as ever.
He drew a card, Gogogo Golem.
"Since that Terror-Byte can only take Attack Position monsters, it'd be wise to use that in Defense Position," Astral explained.
"Good idea," Yuma said, placing Gogogo Golem facedown and ending his turn.
"Haha," Ukyo laughed, looking at the card he had picked up. "Nice effort, but it won't work!"
He flipped around the card and revealed Stop Defense.
"This card flips your Defense Position monster into face-up Attack Position!"
Yuma's heart raced as his Gogogo Golem stood tall. (1800 ATK)
"And you know what that means," Ukyo said, getting rid of another overlay unit.
Terror-Byte's tail crashed into Gogogo Golem's stone and moved the mass monster over.
"You know what to do!" Ukyo commanded.
Gogogo Golem nodded, swung its fist back and struck Yuma sending the boy crashing down.
"Now I'll set this and end my turn," Ukyo said, as a card appeared behind Terror-Byte and Gogogo Golem moved over to Yuma's field.
Yuma Tsukumo – 4200 LP
Professor Ukyo – 8000 LP
"Draw!" Yuma yelled, picking up a card.
He looked over his hand consisting of Achacha Archer, Tornado, Blustering Winds, Fallen Cone and the newly drawn Wonder Wand. He touched the screen on his D-Pad that reminded him that he still had Half Unbreak on the field.
"I'll switch my Gogogo Golem to Defense Position and set this," Yuma declared, setting his Achacha Archer facedown next to the rock monster. (1500 DEF)
"Tsk, tsk," Ukyo said. "You should know better than that."
His facedown lifted and Enemy Controlled revealed itself.
"I will switch your Golem into Attack Position!"
Sweat trickled down Yuma's forehead as his Gogogo Golem once again changed modes. (1800 ATK)
"Draw!"
Ukyo picked up a card and sacrificed his last overlay unit to take Gogogo Golem hostage.
At least he can't attack directly Yuma thought, overwhelming relieved by this.
"And now I play two handy spells! One's called Infected Mail and the other is called Cracking!"
Yuma's raised eyebrows informed the educator that the boy was in need of clarification.
"You see, with Infected Mail, I can choose one monster like Gogogo Golem and it can attack you directly. However, after that, it is sent to the Graveyard, where Cracking comes in, dealing you 800 points of damage!"
Yuma gasped. "But if all that hits then I'll get damaged for…"
Astral sighed as Yuma started counting the damage on his fingers. "2600 points," the entity finished.
"Uh oh!"
"Attack with Gogogo Blow!" Ukyo declared.
The Golem jumped past the facedown monster and straight for Yuma, striking him down to his knees before disappearing. A swarm of tiny chunks of the former rock monster rained down on Yuma's fallen body.
"That should be all for now."
Yuma Tsukumo – 1600 LP
Professor Ukyo – 8000 LP
It took a bit of time, but Yuma stood back on his feet, still determined to win the duel.
"I draw!" he said, slowly picking up the top card of his deck.
He looked at it and grinned.
"First, I'll flip summon Achacha Archer!"
A fiery red warrior appeared on Yuma's field with dark armor and a long wooden bow. (1200 ATK)
"And when he's Flip Summoned, you automatically receive 500 points of damage!"
Achacha Archer took a flaming arrow from his quiver and pulled back on his bow, shooting Ukyo with the weapon.
"And now, I'll summon Rai-Rider!"
A crash of lightning struck the field as a motorcyclist rode down from the bolt. His long, red hair flowed from his black helmet and the engine inside his motorbike revved. (1200 ATK)
Ukyo nodded, following where this was going.
"I overlay both of my monsters to create the overlay network to create Number 17: Leviathan Dragon!"
Yuma's monsters spiraled up and swirled like Ukyo's had and came crashing down to the ground, leaving in their place a purple-ish orb with 6 attachments on top. The 6 sickle-like attachments transformed slowly into wings as a horned head poked out, roaring loudly. (2000 ATK)
"Very nice, Mr. Tsukumo," Ukyo surprisingly complimented. "But not good enough to defeat my monster."
"Well, how about if I play this?" Yuma smiled, flipping over his Blustering Winds spell. "Now my monster gains 1000 more ATK!"
Leviathan Dragon screeched as it increased in power. (3000 ATK)
"Attack Terror-Byte with Vice Stream!"
The dragon twisted its head and shot a burst of blue light at the machine. It immediately rusted and soon after imploded.
"Yes! I beat the Numbers!" Yuma proclaimed.
Yuma Tsukumo – 1600 LP
Professor Ukyo – 7500 LP
"But you haven't defeated me!" Ukyo yelled, drawing a card.
He dug through his grave and picked up the three Crashbug monsters.
"By banishing these three creatures, I can play my ultimate monster!"
Ukyo put the three monsters in his shirt pocket and played a card on his D-Pad. Instantly, a large, pixilated monster appeared. It was predominately green, but had pink lines painted on its body. (3000 DEF)
"That's a pretty good defense," Yuma admitted, "but Leviathan Dragon still has a fair amount of points too!"
"Does it?" Ukyo questioned. "Look closer."
Yuma took a look at the monster on his D-Pad with 0 ATK. "What happened?"
"It's not called Super Crashbug for nothing. He changes the ATK and DEF scores of all Attack Position monsters on the field!"
Yuma gulped, realizing that this would be hard to overcome, but thankfully his teacher's Number monster was destroyed. As long as he didn't have another, Leviathan Dragon would be safe in Defense Position.
"I end my turn."
"Draw," Yuma said, pulling a card. He contemplated using it, but decided against it.
"I'll switch Number 17 to Defense and call it a turn."
Leviathan Dragon curled up in a ball. (0 DEF)
Ukyo picked up a card and laughed.
"What do you know?" he said, turning it around to reveal Stop Defense. "Déjà vu."
Yuma gasped, watching his dragon stand up and get hit by Super Crashbug's ability. (0 ATK)
"And by switching my Crashbug into Attack Position, he can gain the benefits too!"
Super Crashbug stood tall at nine feet and eyed Leviathan Dragon. (0 – 3000 ATK)
"Finish this duel, Super Crashbug! Virus Overload!"
Super Crashbug raised its arm to the Number monster and in a flash, a million pixels approached the dragon.
"Not so fast!" Yuma shouted. "I play Half Unbreak!"
Large bubbles formed from the trap card and one sheathed Leviathan Dragon, protecting him from the full impact.
"With this trap, I only take half of the damage I would have, and my monster is safe from destruction!"
The teacher growled and ended his turn.
Yuma Tsukumo – 100 LP
Professor Ukyo – 7500 LP
Yuma brushed off the dirt from his apparel and looked at Astral, who looked back and nodded at Yuma, knowing that Yuma would never give up until his life points had fully dropped.
"I can do this," Yuma said, gripping the top card of his deck. "If I'm going to become Duel Champion, I have to do this! Kattobingu!"
He yanked the top card of his deck off and looked at it.
Monster Reborn.
"This just might work," Yuma said hopefully. "I play Monster Reborn!"
A golden ankh appeared and instantly vanished, leaving Gagaga Magician in its place. (1500 – 1000 ATK)
"And now I'll equip Gagaga Magician with Wonder Wand!"
A wand with a crystal ball on the end and an odd face in the middle flew into the hands of the wizard. (1500 ATK)
"But neither will last too long," Yuma explained. "Because by offering Wonder Wand and the monster equipped with it, I can draw an additional two cards!"
Gagaga Magician and his magic stick vanished as Yuma made two draws.
Yuma looked at his hand intently, trying to formulate a plan, however Astral already had one.
"Yuma, play Zubaba Knight in Attack Position."
Yuma looked at Astral, a lack of faith in that plan apparent.
"Trust me," Astral added.
Yuma necessarily didn't want to get eliminated from the tournament this quickly, so he really had no other choice.
"I summon Zubaba Knight in Attack Mode!"
A warrior appeared dressed in opulent gold armor with a red flowing cape. Engraved "Z" markings could be seen on the scimitars he carried in each hand. (1600 – 900 ATK)
"Now what?" Yuma asked, curious as to where Astral's plan was going.
Astral pointed to a spell card and finally, it clicked for Yuma.
"Now I play Flip Flap," he shouted! "And with it, your Super Crashbug goes into Defense Position!"
The monster went back to kneeling on one knee, although his aura continued. (3000 DEF)
"What's the good in that?" Ukyo asked.
"You'll see," Yuma said. "But first, I sacrifice an overlay unit to power up Leviathan Dragon!"
The weakened beast ate one of the orbs floating around it and gained a bit of strength. (500 ATK)
"Now watch! Zubaba Knight, attack Super Crashbug with Zubaba Sword!"
Zubaba Knight threw both scimitars at the monster and immediately it depixilated and disappeared.
"How did that happen?" Ukyo said with his mouth agape.
"When Zubaba Knight attacks a face-up Defense Position monster, it's automatically destroyed," Yuma said. "And with that gone, my monsters return to normal!"
Leviathan Dragon gave a roar as its power revived (2500 ATK) and Zubaba Knight stuck out his chest and he gained more strength. (1600 ATK)
"Now attack, Leviathan Dragon! Vice Stream!"
Another burst of blue was born from the dragon's mouth, this one firing directly at the teacher.
"Aaah!" Ukyo screamed, finally experiencing the discomfort that his student had been the whole duel.
"And I'll set this," Yuma said, ending his turn with a facedown behind Zubaba Knight.
Yuma Tsukumo – 100 LP
Professor Ukyo – 5000 LP
"My move," Ukyo declared, drawing one card.
It might not be how I wanted to win he thought but at least I will win!
"I summon Prometheus, King of the Shadows!"
A dark figure appeared with a devilish red cape and hood and gold upper armor, mainly on its shoulders and arms. (1200 ATK)
"And before you say anything, yes he has a special effect."
Ukyo raised Terror-Byte and Super Crashbug and placed them in the same pocket as the other Crashbug family members.
"For each of those monsters that I just pocketed, my monster gains 400 more ATK points!"
Prometheus was covered in a veil of darkness as that increased his stature. (2000 ATK)
Fear took over Yuma, paralyzing him like a deer in headlights.
"Prometheus, attack Zubaba Knight and win this!"
Yuma looked at the oncoming attack, frozen, but still hearing something. A voice.
Astral's.
"Yuma! Use your trap card!"
Yuma looked down and realized that he still had another card. Oh, right!
"I activate my trap, Clean Barrier –Clear Force-," he said as the trap card lifting revealing a picture of a pristine crystal.
"Clear Force?" Ukyo parroted.
"That's right," Yuma said proudly. "And when you attack with a monster, I can use this to turn that monsters ATK score back into the base score!"
Ukyo's eyes widened as he saw Prometheus drop back down to 1200 ATK just in time to get sliced in two by Zubaba Knight.
The professor grimaced but set a trap with satisfaction.
Once his Leviathan Dragon attacks me directly, I'll just use Damage Vaccine Ω MAX to gain those points back.
Yuma Tsukumo – 100 LP
Professor Ukyo – 4600 LP
"My draw," Yuma proclaimed, picking up the top card of his deck and looking at it.
"Zubaba Knight, attack with Zubaba Sword!"
The knight rushed at the teacher and slashed him, causing the adult to fall to one knee before quickly recovering.
Yuma Tsukumo – 100 LP
Professor Ukyo – 3000 LP
All according to plan, Ukyo grinned.
"Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, end this duel!" Yuma declared.
Ukyo was taken aback. He knew that Yuma was bad at math given his test scores, but how could the boy have told his monster to end the duel? It didn't have nearly enough points to defeat the teacher.
"Take a refresher course," Ukyo taunted. "2500 is less than 3000, not greater."
"True," Yuma said, "but 3500 is greater than 3000!"
He dramatically played a spell from his hand and it appeared on the field for Ukyo to see. Giant Shadow of Egotism.
"Now since my monster is attacking you, it gains 1000 more ATK during this, meaning that this duel is over!"
Leviathan dragon's blue burst turned a bright rainbow as the spell increased its power level to 3500 ATK. The blast knocked Ukyo down on his back as the augmented reality duel ceased with a picture of Yuma's face above a caption reading "Winner!"
Astral extended his hand from behind Yuma and a card rose from Ukyo's chest. It flew over into Astral's hand as he examined it. Number 34: Terror-Byte.
Almost immediately, Astral was overcome with something. A memory.
Somewhere in space, another world existed. Blue and pink hues coated it and it wasn't like Yuma Tsukumo's home planet of Earth. It was Astral's home planet.
Yuma walked over to his professor while Astral was caught in his reveries. "Are you ok?"
"Yuma?" Professor Ukyo's eyes slowly opened as he caught a glimpse of perhaps his worst, but nicest student.
"Hey, Teach," Yuma chuckled. "Fun duel! We should do that again sometime!"
Ukyo's eyes opened fully now. "We dueled?" He looked down at the yin-yang symbol on his D-Pad and saw the white side flashing. "And I lost?"
Yuma chuckled as his teacher hung his head in defeat. "It was close though!"
"I'll have to take your word for it," Ukyo sighed.
Elsewhere in the fairgrounds, two people had been watching the duel from the scenic vantage point of the Ferris wheel.
"Quite an impressive victory, don't you think?" said the first one.
"It was alright," replied the second. "Nothing too spectacular, although he does have potential. We'll keep an eye on him and see how he does in this tournament."
"Agreed."
New/Anime Cards Shown In This Chapter! –
Fallen Cone (Monster)
Plant/Level 1/Effect/EARTH
200 ATK/400 DEF
Effect: During your Main Phase: You can discard 1 "Growing Pinecone" from your hand; Special Summon this card from your hand.
Rai-Rider (Monster)
Thunder/Level 3/Effect/LIGHT
1200 ATK/1400 DEF
Effect: If this card battles an opponent's monster: That monster cannot declare an attack while it is face-up on the field.
Giant Shadow of Egotism (Spell)
Quick-Play
Image: A superhero with a large, heroic shadow facing off against Lava Battleguard.
Effect: When a monster declares an attack: Target 1 face-up monster on the field; it gains 1000 ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.
Note: The preceding three cards are found in the Photon Shockwave booster pack, set for release in the United States in November.
Half Unbreak (Trap)
Normal Trap
Image: A monster being protected by a barricade of bubbles.
Effect: Target 1 monster you control; this turn it cannot be destroyed by battle, and any Battle Damage you would take from battles involving that monster is halved.
Note: This card was first used by Yuma Tsukumo in episode 6 of "Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal." All credit goes to the writers of that episode.
Flip Flap
Normal Spell
Image: Madjinn Gunn being crushed by a 10,000 ton weight.
Effect: Target 1 monster on the field; change its battle position.
Note: This card was first used by Yuma Tsukumo in episode 9 of "Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal." All credit goes to the writers of that episode.
Clean Barrier –Clear Force-
Normal Trap
Image: A priceless jewel sparkling in the light.
Effect: Activate only when your opponent's monster declares an attack. During this turn's Battle Phase, the ATK of your opponent's monsters return to their original ATK. The effects of Spells, Traps, and Effect Monsters cannot be activated in response to this card's activation.
Note: This card was first used by Astral in episode 24 of "Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal." All credit goes to the writers of that episode.
Woohoo! My first chapter is done! Please don't hesitate to tell me how I did, if you liked or hated something, or if you want specific person(s) to duel soon. I don't have many duels planned ahead, so I can pretty much write to the will of the people!
Thank you for reading and have a good day,
Signed, ZeXal Fanatic