Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal, its characters or any of its related materials. I only own my OCs that appear in this fanfiction.
Chapter 1: Prolog
"Get ready, the first semi-finals of our tournament is about to start! The black horse Nick Schwarz came out of nowhere and made his way straight to the semi-finals of our Tournament and facing him is Shingo who place third last time," the announcer announced.
"So you are my opponent," A boy said walking over to Nick. "You should feel honored to face off against me!"
"Why? You don't seem like something special," Nick stated.
"Don't you know how I am?" the boy asked.
"Should I?" Nick replied.
"Of course I'm the great Shingo, the best duelist here," the boy introduced himself.
"But didn't they say that you were third last year?" Nick stated.
"That was just because my opponent was lucky," Shingo replied.
"I think you're probably not nearly as good as you say," Nick replied.
"What?" Shingo asked angered.
"I said that you are probably not as good as you hype yourself to be," Nick said.
"Oh, yeah. Then I just have to show you how easily I can defeat you," Shingo said.
"It's time to begin the semi-finals would the contestants please come to the table," the announcer said.
Soon after Nick and Shingo were sitting across each other and began to duel.
"Game on!/Duel!" Nick/Shingo
Nick: 4000 LP
Sylvio: 4000 LP
"I'll go first! Draw!" Nick said. "I set fice cards from my hand, face-down! I end my turn."
"Huh?" Shingo exclaimed taken aback by Nick's turn.
"What is this? Nick just set five cards face-down. What is his plan?" the announcer asked.
"Hahaha. That's all? You didn't draw a single monster, huh? I feel so sorry to all that have lost to you since it's obvious that all that brought you here is luck," Shingo said laughing.
"I ended my turn, so get going," Nick replied.
"My turn, draw!" Shingo said. "Since you seemingly don't know how to use your cards, let me use them to give you an example of how one should do it. If there are two or more cards in my opponent's Speel or Trap Zone, I can Special Summon this card from my hand! Appear, Escher the Frost Vassal (Water/Aqua/Effect/ATK: 800/DEF: 1000/LV: 4)! And now I release Escher and Advance Summon Mobius the Frost Monarch (Water/Aqua/Effect/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1000/LV: 6) in Attack Position! Next, Mobius' effect activates! When this monster is successfully Advanced Summoned I can choose two Spell or Trap Cards on the field and destroy them!"
Nick: Two face-down Cards get destroyed.
"What nothing? Are you too impressed by my duel skills to speak?" Shingo asked in a mocking manner.
"What skills?" Nick asked smirking.
"The nerve… I show you how good I am!" Shingo declared pointing at Nick. "I activate the Spell Card Advance Carnival from my hand! This card allows me to Advance Summon again after one Advance Summon succeeded!"
"Oh wow. Shingo is playing around! He is going to release the 2400 ATK Mobius, immediately after being summoned to the field. What is he going to summon?" the announcer announced.
"I release Mobius the Frost Monarch and Advance Summon! Come forth, Mobius the Mega Monarch (Water/Aqua/Effect/ATK: 2800/DEF: 1000/LV: 8)! Usually, this would require releasing two monsters but, if it is a monster that was successfully Advanced Summoned you can release it and have one count as two! This is the power of my Ace!" Shingo announced. "Mobius ability activates! When this card is successfully Advanced Summoned I can choose three Magic or Trap cards on the field, and destroy them! You don't even need to think about activating one of them. It'd be pointless! If this monster was Advance Summoned using a Water-type monster, Mobius prevents the targeted cards from being activated!"
Nick: Three face-down Cards get destroyed.
"Incredible! Even so, Nick set five cards Shingo just blew them away like this was nothing!" the announcer said.
"With this, all your set cards have been destroyed and you only have one card in your hand," Shingo stated. "On top of that, you don't have any monsters out. Just like I said you must have come this far by sheer luck alone! Now my monster will attack you and show you where your place is!"
"I activate the Trap Card in my GY Phantom Knights Shadow Veil!" Nick declared.
"What!? From the GY!?" Shingo asked shocked.
"When a direct attack is declared, I can Special Summon as many of these cards as monsters as possible," Nick explained.
3 * The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil (Dark/Warrior/ATK: 0/DEF: 300/LV: 4) in Defense Position.
"When the cards Special Summoned using this effect are sent to the GY they are banished," Nick explained further.
"Look at this! Nick just got three monsters onto the field in an instant!" the announcer shouted into his microphone.
"They are just weak monsters that can do nothing to my Mobius! I'll just have to destroy them! Mobius attack one of his Shadow Veil!" Shingo ordered.
Mobius the Mega Monarch (ATK: 2800) attacks The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil (DEF: 300)
"Now my Shadow Veil gets banished," Nick said.
"You could barely protect your LP this time… I set one card face-down and end my turn," Shingo said. "But don't think that you will be so lucky next turn!"
"There will be no next turn for you!" Nick declared.
"What?" Shino asked.
"Nick just declared that he will end the duel in this turn! But how does he want to pull it off?" the announcer said.
"Draw! I thought you'd put up more of a fight but… your dueling is lacking. You're not even close to the opponent I'm searching for!" Nick declared.
"What was that," Shingo asked a bit angered by that statement.
"All the conditions have been met," Nick said. "When there are two monsters with the same level on my field my deck's true power manifests itself! I use the two Level 4 Shadow Veil to construct the Overlay Network! Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose its treacherous fangs! Descend, now! XYZ Summon! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (Dark/Dragon/XYZ/Effect/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000/RA: 4/OV: 2)!"
"What you are an XYZ user," Shingo said. "But, are you planning on battling against my Mobius with that monster? Your XYZ Dragon's ATK is 2500, while on the other hand, Mobius' ATK is 2800! It seems your XYZ Summoning turned out to just be a bluff!"
"It seems like you don't get it. XYZ Monster's true power is to use their overlay units to annihilate their foes," Nick stated.
"Enough, I'm not interested in a lecture from a loser like you!" Shingo said.
"Then I should show you instead! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon's effect activates! By using one overlay unit until the end of this turn, it can lower one Level Five or greater monster on my opponent's side of the field ATK by half, and Dark Rebellion's ATK increases by that amount!" Nick declared.
Mobius the Mega Monarch (ATK: 2800 / 2 = 1400)
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 2500 + 1400 = 3900)
"No way!" Shingo exclaimed shocked by this new development.
"But this isn't enough to finish you as I promised, so I activate Dark Rebellion's effect again!" Nick said.
Mobius the Mega Monarch (ATK: 1400 / 2 = 700)
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 3900 + 700 = 4600)
"No, no, no!" Shingo said.
"Battle Phase!" Nick said. "I attack Mobius the Mega Monarch with Dar Rebellion XYZ Dragon! Go! Crush that glacier with your fangs! Revolt of the Lightning!"
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 4600) attacks Mobius the Mega Monarch (ATK: 700)
Shingo: 4000 – 3900 = 100 LP
"What a turn! Nick just with one turn almost finished of Shingo but it seems that he could keep his promise to end it this turn," the announcer stated.
"You may come close but this is far as you get!" Shingo declared. "I activate my Trap Ice Rage Shot! This card can be activated when a Water-type monster on my field is destroyed in battle. It destroys one of my opponent's monsters and deals damage to them equal to its ATK! Now your Dark Rebellion will be destroyed and you take 4600 points of damage! I read your moves and planned ahead by setting this trap card and now I've won!"
"What? Just when I thought Nick would have taken the lead Shingo comes and wants turns the tables on Nick," the announcer said.
"Such a cheap tactic… it's child's play honestly," Nick replied.
"What was that?" Shingo asked.
"I activate from my GY the Spell Phantom Death Spear! When my opponent's Trap Card activates by banishing this card from my GY, I negate the effect of the Trap Card that triggered it and destroys it! And then it deals 100 points of damage to my opponent!" Nick explained.
Shingo: 100 – 100 = 0000 LP
Nick: Win
"There we have it! Just as we thought Shingo would win Nick turned it around and finished off Shino!" the announcer said as Nick began to leave the table.
"Boss, what do you think of that guy?" a boy in the crowd asked the taller one standing next to him.
"He is good but he still doesn't come close to me," the boy said.
"You're right boss!" the boy next to him said.
"The organizer spoke about a special prize that one can only get today and I'm not gone let anyone else get his hands on it," the taller boy stated.
"You're right. A punk like this shouldn't get what you deserve," the smaller one said.
"Then we better make sure. See if you can take a look at his cards while I duel in the semi-final," the boss said.
"Alright Boss, leave it to me," the smaller one said.
"It is time for the second semi-final. Please give warm welcome to Frank, who is one of our regular competitors, and our undefeated champion Carlos. Let's see if our champion can reach the finals again!" the announcer announced as the two boys approached the stage.
Backstage
Nick decided to rest a bit away from where the tournament when a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He wears an unzipped black suit over a dark red, buttoned vest. He also wears black trouser shoes and long, dark pants.
"Hello, you must be Nick Schwarz if I'm correct," the man said.
"That's right, but how are you?" Nick asked.
"Sorry for not introducing myself before asking for your name. I'm Jaune Lionheart, the organizer of this tournament, it is nice to meet you mister Schwarz," the man said extending his hand.
"Same here," Nick replied grabbing his hand.
"If you don't mind I would like to ask you a question," Jaune said.
"Go on," Nick replied.
"What did you mean by `You're not even close to the opponent I'm searching for!` in your last duel?" Jaune asked.
"It means that his duel skills weren't good enough to let me have fun in with the duel," Nick said.
"So what you want to say you want an opponent that can really give you a challenge?" Jaune asked-
"Yeah, something like this," Nick said.
"So that's the reason behind it," the man said. "Well, I may know a way how you can achieve it."
"Really, then tell me," Nick demanded.
"Now, now. I will tell you but only under one condition," Jaune said.
"What condition would that be?" Nick asked.
"You have to win the final, then I will tell you," Jaune said.
"I didn't plan on losing anyway," Nick replied.
"Well then I wish you the best of luck," Jaune said as he took his leave.
"This is maybe what I've searched for," Nick said to himself as he made his way back to the table where he left his deck. Upon seeing his deck he noticed that his cards were all over the place.
"Seems like someone took a peek at my cards, but even if it would be like this I won't lose," Nick said looking at his Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon.
At the main stage
Carlos: 4000 LP
Field:
Black Stego (Earth/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK: 1200/DEF: 2000/LV: 4) in Defense Position.
1 Face-Down Card
Frank: 800 LP
Mine Golem (Earth/Rock/Effect/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1900/LV: 3) in Defense Position
"Your annoying defensive tactic has delayed your defeat long enough! It's time to end this!" Carlos declared. "First I summon Gilasaurus (Earth/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK: 1400/DEF: 400/LV: 3) in Attack Position. Next I Special Summon another Gilasaurus in Attack Position."
"But that means I can Special Summon a monster from my GY through the effect of your card," Frank stated. "I Special Summon Guardian Shinx (Earth/Rock/Effect/ATK: 1700/DEF: 2400/LV: 5) in Defense Position."
"That won't help ya! I use the two Level 3 Gilasaurus to construct the Overlay Network! Appear, Grenosaurus (Fire/Dinosaur/XYZ/Effect/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1900/RA: 3/OV: 2)!" Carlos exclaimed. "Next he will destroy your Mine Golem!"
Grenosaurus (ATK: 2000) attacks Mine Golem (DEF: 1900)
"Now that Mine Golem got destroyed by battle you're going to take 500 points of damage," Frank said.
Carlos: 4000 – 500 = 3500 LP
"It also seems like you won't finish me of this turn since you forgot to switch you Stego into the Attack Position," Frank stated.
"You're an idiot. I activate the effect of my Grenosaurus by detaching one overlay unit. You take 1000 points of damage," Carlos said.
"But that means I'm losing!" Frank stated.
"We have a winner or rather another loser!" Carlos said.
Frank: 800 – 1000 = 0000 LP
Carlos: Win
"There we have it is. Carlos is still continuing his winning streak! But in short, we will see if Nick can be the one that finally beats Carlos! We will have just to wait because in 15 minutes the final will start," the announcer said.
Carlos left the stage and disappeared into the crowd to meet up with his lackey.
"Did you get the info I was looking for?" Carlos asked.
"Of course Boss," the lackey said.
"Then tell me already about his deck," Carlos demanded.
"He uses Phantom Knights and from what if seen his strategy involves manipulating the cards while they are in the Graveyard. Though they have other effects, the Main Deck monsters share a common effect of banishing themselves from the Graveyard in order to search Spell/Trap Cards out or place Spell/Trap Cards in the Graveyard. Their Spell and Trap Cards also activate from the Graveyard in order to Special Summon more Phantom Knights, including multiple Pseudo-Trap Monsters. These plays are meant to set up the Xyz Summon of Rank 2-4. His Ace monster is indeed the dragon we saw earlier," the lackey reported.
"My deck doesn't really have any cards that would take care of this kind of strategy and it would take too long to change my deck," Carlos stated with an angry expression.
"But you will still win Boss!" the lackey said.
"Of course I will win! I'm the strongest after all!" Carlos exclaimed.
Sometime later
"Let's see if you're as good as you're said to be," Nick said.
"A punk like you will never be able to defeat me!" Carlos said.
"It is time for the final duel to start! Duelists get ready because it's time to duel!" the announcer said.
"Just one question. Could you shut up and let us concentrate?" Nick asked the announcer.
"But I am supposed to comment what is happening," the announcer replied.
"Can't you make an exception for the finals?" Nick asked.
"But…" the announcer started to say but got interrupted.
"Don't be like this. If both of them want to concentrate on their duel we should let them," Jaune said entering the stage.
"If you say so director," the announcer replied.
"Alright I ready to go," Nick said.
"About time we start," Carlos replied.
"Game on!/Duel!" Nick/Carlos
Nick: 4000 LP
Carlos: 4000 LP
"I go first! Draw! I summon The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm (Dark/Warrior/Effect/ATK: 1500/DEF: 500/LV: 3). I play for cards face-down and end my turn," Nick said.
"Huh, the same strategy like last time. Draw!" Carlos said. "Not that it would matter! I Special Summon Gilasaurus through its effect. Next, I tribute him to Advance Summon Dark Driceratops (Earth/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK:2400/DEF: 1500/LV: 6) in Attack Position. Next, he will attack your Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm!"
Dark Driceratops (ATK: 2400) attacks The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm (ATK: 1500)
Nick: 4000 – 900 = 3100 LP
"Now that my Phantom Knight got destroyed I can activate the effect of The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor (Dark/Warrior/Effect/ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000/LV: 4) and Special Summon him in Defense Position," Nick finished.
"That doesn't mean anything! I play one card face down and end my turn," Carlos said.
"Alright, my turn. Draw!" Nick said. "I summon The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (Dark/Warrior/Effect/ATK: 1000/DEF: 500/LV: 3) in Attack Position. Next I Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (Dark/Warrior/Effect/ATK: 200/DEF: 1200/LV: 3) through his effect. Now everything is ready. When there are two monsters with the same level on my field my deck's true power manifests itself! I use the two Level 3 Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots to construct the Overlay Network! Come forth, The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (Dark/Warrior/XYZ/Effect/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000/RA: 3/OV: 2). Now my Break Sword's will gain 1000 additional ATK!"
The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (ATK: 2000 + 1000 = 3000)
"Next I activate the effect of Break Sword," Nick declared. "By detaching 1 overlay unit from him, afterward I can target 1 card you control and 1 card I control and destroy them. I destroy your Dark Driceratops and one of my face-down cards!"
Carlos: Dark Driceratops gets destroyed.
Nick: 1 Face-Down card destroyed.
"Battle Phase! Break Sword will attack you directly!" Nick declared.
The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (ATK: 3000) attack directly.
"You fool I activate my Trap Magic Cylinder. Through it, your attack will be redirected towards you and you will take 3000 points of damage!" Carlos exclaimed.
Nick: 3100 – 3000 = 100 LP
"Hahaha, you should have destroyed my face-down card," Carlos said laughing.
"I end my turn," Nick said.
"It's time to show you to finish you off! Draw!" Carlos said. "I activate the effect of my Destroyersaurus. By discarding him I can add 1 Jurassic World from my Deck to my hand. Next, I activate my Jurassic World through which all Dinosaur-Type monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. I summon Sabersaurus (Earth/Dinosaur/ATK: 1900/DEF: 500/LV: 4) in Attack Position."
Sabersaurus (ATK: 1900 + 300 = 2200/ DEF: 500 + 300 = 800)
"Next I activate Double Summon which allows me to do a second Normal Summon this turn. I sacrifice my Sabersaurus to Summon Frostosaurus (Water/Dinosaur/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1700/LV: 6) in Attack Position," Carlos exclaimed.
Frostosaurus (ATK: 2600 +300 = 2900/ DEF: 1700 + 300 = 2000)
"Next I equip my Frostosaurus with Axe of Despair which increases his ATK by 1000," Carlos said.
Frostosaurus (ATK: 2900 +1000 = 3900)
"Time to finish you off for good, Frostosaurs attacks his Break Sword!" Carlos said.
"I activate the Quick Spell Emergency Provisions! I send my remaining two face-down card to the GY to increase my LP by 1000 for every card I sent to the GY," Nick explained.
Nick: 2 Face-Down cards get sent to the GY.
Nick: 100 + 2000 = 2100 LP
Frostosaurus (ATK: 3900) attacks The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (ATK: 3000)
Nick: 2100 – 900 = 1200 LP
"Through the effect of my Break Sword I can Special Summon 2 Phantom Knights from my GY if it gets destroyed. I Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves and The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my GY. But I'm not done yet the effect of Break Sword also increases the LV of both monsters by 1," Nick explained.
The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (LV: 3 + 1 = 4)
The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (LV: 3 + 1 = 4)
"Dame! Then I just finish you of the next turn!" Carlos exclaimed as he plays a card face-down.
"You won't get a next turn! Draw!" Nick said. "All the conditions have been met. I use the two Level 4 Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots to construct the Overlay Network! Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose its treacherous fangs! Descend, now! XYZ Summon! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (Dark/Dragon/XYZ/Effect/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000/RA: 4/OV: 2)! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon's effect activates! By using one overlay unit until the end of this turn, it can lower one Level Five or greater monster on my opponent's side of the field ATK by half, and Dark Rebellion's ATK increases by that amount!"
Frostosaurus (ATK: 3900 / 2 = 1950)
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 2500 + 1950 = 4450)
"But don't forget that my Dragon has still his second overlay unit! I activate the effect of Dark Rebellion again!" Nick declared.
Frostosaurus (ATK: 1950 / 2 = 975)
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 4550 + 975 = 5425)
"Now it's time to battle! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon will take out your Frostosaurus and you with him!" Nick declared.
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 5425) attacks Frostosaurus (ATK: 975)
"I activate my Trap Mirror Force, you idiot! Now you stupid Dragon gets destroyed!" Carlos said laughing.
"Pathetic… you're just as bad as my opponent in the semi-finals!"
"Don't you dare to insult me like this you loser!" Carlos said.
"Didn't you watch my last duel? I activate from my GY the Continues Spell Phantom Death Spear! When my opponent's Trap Card activates by banishing this card from my GY, I negate the effect of the Trap Card that triggered it and destroys it! And then it deals 100 points of damage to my opponent!" Nick explained.
"What!?" Carlos exclaimed.
Carlos: 4000 – 100 = 3900 LP
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon (ATK: 5425) attacks Frostosaurus (ATK: 975)
Carlos: 3900 – 4550 = 0000 LP
Nick: Win
"Here it is! Our new champion is Nick Schwarz!" the announcer said.
"How… how could I have lost against a punk like you?" Carlos asked but Nick ignored him and looked at Jaune.
"Now if the top winner of the tournament would please come with me to receive your special prize. Please come with me," Jaune said gesturing to the door leading further into the building. Nick followed him through the door and walked into the office of Jaune.
"So will you now tell me what you meant earlier?" Nick asked.
"Well, it's more like an offer I want to make you," Jaune said.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked intrigued.
"I wanted to ask you if you would like to make dueling the center of your life?" Jaune asked.
"You have to be more precise," Nick replied.
"Well, what I mean with this is that I want to send you into a world where dueling is the main attraction. There will be strong opponents for you to face," Jaune said.
"What's the catch?" Nick asked.
"There is none. I just make this offer to one person who I think would fit better into this other world than into this one," Jaune explained.
"What happens if I decide to go over to that other world?" Nick asked.
"Well, the memories of you from anyone who met you till today will vanish and that's it," Jaune explained.
"That would be a problem since I don't have any parents or friends left in this world," Nick stated.
"I sorry to hear that," Jaune said.
"I've been told that often enough, so please spare me," Nick said. "But moving on to more important things. How would I live over there? Will I live in the street or something?"
"Of course not," Jaune said. "When you arrive there you will have a little house for your own and all. Also, all papers will be filled out for your new school."
"The first part sounds great but the second not so much," Nick replied.
"You can just abound your education," Jaune said.
"Oh, well this sounds better than what my life is right now, so I accept," Nick said.
"Alright, then one last thing could you show me your Ace Monster," Jaune said.
"Huh, alright here it is," Nick said holding out Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon. Suddenly the card began to shine and Nick shielded his eyes with his free arm.
"Now please read the effect of your Dragon," Jaune said.
"2 Level 4 monsters. You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 Level 5 or higher monster or 1 XYZ monster your opponent controls; its ATK becomes half its current ATK, and if it does, this card gains that lost ATK. These changes last until the End Phase. This card can destroy Number monsters." Nick finished reading the card text. "Huh, so its effect works now against XYZ monsters. Need, but I don't get that Number monster part."
"Well, the let me explain," Jaune said. "Number monsters are special monsters that can only be destroyed by other Number monsters. There are 100 of them."
"I guess I got a bit of collecting to do when I get over there," Nick replied smirking.
"But be careful these cards can take control over their user," Jaune stated.
"This makes this more interesting," Nick stated.
"Then I say my farewell here. I wish you the best of luck in the new world," Jaune said as suddenly a bright liked illuminated the room.
"Why must this be so bright?" Nick asked his last question in this world.
"Finally all done. Now all three people are on their way," Jaune said sighting. "From now on it's up to them. Oh well, I'm sure that everything will work out just fine."
With Nick
As Nick regained his conscious, he looked around trying to figure out where he was. He noticed that he was lying on a bed in a room he has never been before. He stood up and walked out of the room. Nick looked around the whole house to see if someone else would be there but no one was.
"Huh, I guess that what Jaune keep his word," Nick said as he noticed a note on the table, he grabbed it and began to read what was written on it. One it was standing that in the wardrobe in the room he woke up has his school uniform, for his new school in it. It also stated that school will start at 8 o'clock and a map for Nick to find it.
After Nick finished reading it he looked at a clock on which showed that it was 7:13. After seeing this Nick decided to go into the room he woke up and change into his school uniform. Afterward, he looked into the mirror and was surprised to see that his appearance changed. He now has shaggy white hair and bright crimson eyes. Afterward, he made his way to the door of his house.
"I guess this will be my first step in this new world. Let's see what is going to happen from here on out," Nick said smirking.
I'm sorry if my English is bad.