Disclaimer: I do not own YGO ZEXAL
"Let's win" said the…I was about to say man but he doesn't look old. He actually looks our age, maybe a year older. It's sort of weird thinking about this, considering he's blue.
"Who are you?" asked Yuma.
I already said he was blue but he also had these jewels all over his body. He had almost-white, blue hair and earrings. The part that stuck out to me was his eyes though. They were mismatched. One was white while the other was a golden hue.
Yuma flipped up, "Ju-just who are you?!"
"Astral" the being said.
"A-Astral?" questioned Yuma.
"My memory of that is clear," he said.
"Wh-what's this guy on about?" asked Yuma. Right, I forgot, Yuma is a very impatient person.
"What's wrong, Yuma?" asked Kotori as she used her D-Gazer to talk to Yuma.
I rolled my eyes, lazy little suckers. Wait…They can't see this Astral?
Tetsuo used his as well, "What're you talking to yourself about?"
That definitely confirmed it.
"Can't you guys see him?" asked Yuma, pointing at Astral.
"Eh?" asked Kotori.
I guess to Kotori and Tetsuo it looked like air, "Come on, here! Right here!" Yuma shouted.
"Is someone there?" asked Kotori as her and Tetsuo squinted to look.
"Of course there is! Rima, you can see him, right?!" Yuma asked, desperately trying to convince himself he wasn't crazy.
"Yes, I can see Astral," I said as I watched him hop around Astral.
Yuma nodded, "See? Rima can see him! There's this weird-looking guy right here!"
"Rima, huh?"
I blinked and looked at Astral. He was looking at me, "Yeah…my name's Rima," I said as I pointed to myself.
He nodded, "So you, too, can see me."
"Could he be so scared he's lost it?" asked Tetsuo.
"I'm not scared!" yelled Yuma.
"I don't think…anyone other than us can see Astral," I said to Yuma.
He reached up, "Are our D-Gazers broken? Hey, where did we get these from?"
"Yuma, all D-Gazers are made by the exact same brand unless its' custom made" I said with an eye-roll.
"You can't understand my existence, can you?" asked Astral.
"Could it be you're a ghost, right?!" asked Yuma.
Ghost…? I was totally lost by that.
"Ghost?!" asked Tetsuo and Kotori incredulously.
"What kind of effect does a ghost have?" asked Astral, "When does it activate?"
I smiled slightly despite the situation. He was talking about dueling.
"Huh?" asked Yuma, "What are you talking about?"
"It seems like I have lost my memory," said Astral, "Most likely when I arrived in this world some kind of impact scattered them, or so I'd assume."
"Scattered?" I questioned. How can a memory…scatter?
Yuma went around Astral, "ME-MO-RY?! Memory loss, you mean? Besides that, what about memories being 'scattered'? It's no good! I've totally lost it. Why during such an important duel?"
Personally, I think Yuma is overreacting.
"Calm down," said Astral.
"This is your fault!" yelled Yuma.
"Is Yuma okay?" asked Kotori.
I sweat dropped, "Define 'okay.'"
Kotori looked worried, "He's been chatting to himself for a while now."
Yuma was talking with Astral but Astral wasn't really listening. Well, maybe a bit but not really.
"I knew it was too much for him, challenging Shark to a duel," said Tetsuo.
"Tetsuo, you aren't allowed to wimp out too!" yelled Kotori, "Both your and Yuma's decks are riding on this duel! Like we'll let someone like Shark take them away."
I laughed slightly, "You go girl!"
"Get it together now, Yuma!" yelled Kotori.
"I have got it together!" Yuma yelled back. He looked to Astral, "So only Rima and I are the only ones who can see this guy. On top of that, since that numbers card appeared, the feeling I get from Shark has suddenly changed."
So he noticed as well. Something's wrong with Shark.
"No.17 Revise Dragon" said Shark, "When this Xyz monster appeared, energy rushed into me. Right now I feel like I can't lose to anyone. I will take your deck! I set one card on the field. Turn end!"
"Numbers," said Astral making me face him. "There should be some kind of important memory linked with that. My instincts are telling me to win this duel."
"Duel?" asked Yuma, "You know about duels?"
"You just figured that out," I said, "When Astral was talking about the ghost, you truly didn't think that had anything to do with dueling?"
"Shut up!" said Yuma crossing his arms, "He was asking about a ghost weirdly. It had nothing…" he thought for a second before sighing, "Ah, okay you win."
"Rima is correct," said Astral, "I am a duelist."
"A ghost that's a duelist?" asked Yuma, shocked.
Not sure if he's a ghost but okay…
"A ghost that's a duelist?" questioned Tetsuo and Kotori.
"I am a duelist!" said Astral and he pointed outwards, "My turn!"
"It's MY turn!" yelled Yuma angrily.
I think it was sorta cute that Astral was doing that.
Yuma continued, "My turn, draw!"
Astral looked over Yuma's shoulder, "I set Gogogo Golem in defense position"
Interesting…I guess he knows about said-monsters effect.
"Don't butt into my duel!" yelled Yuma irritated. Ugh, he's so loud, "I summon Gogogo Golem (Atk: 1800-Lvl: 4) in attack position!"
"1800 attack points can't defeat his monster," said Astral. Hopefully, Yuma knows that.
"I know that!" said Yuma, "From my hand, I activate the magic card Unprecedented Wind! It increases the attack points of one attack position monster by 1000 points until my next turn (Atk: 2800)!"
Kotori jumped up in joy, "Yuma, now's your chance!"
Even if this attack works, Shark will not be finished off. However, the monster will be destroyed, which is great.
"Go, Gogogo Golem! Attack Revise Dragon!" ordered Yuma.
The attack went through creating a bit of smoke.
Shark: 3700LPS
Yuma: 1000LPS
"Alright!" cheered Yuma, "Now Revise Dragon is destroyed and I've started chipping off Sharks' life points! Yay!"
I stared off into the smoke though. I caught a glance of the blue-ish purple. How…?!
"Look" said Astral staring at the rising smoke. Ah, so he saw it as well.
"H-huh?" asked Yuma.
"Even though the life points went down…" said Kotori before shaking Tetsuo, "Why didn't he beat it? If they're both in attack position, the one with more attack points wins, right?"
"Not always," I said with narrowed eyes, "A lot of things could get in the way, such as monster effects and set cards."
Tetsuo nodded, "Ah, what Rima said."
Astral nodded, "That's correct."
"Wait a minute!" yelled Yuma, "Revise Dragon should have been destroyed, shouldn't it?"
"Whoops," said Shark, "I didn't tell you, did I? A number can't be defeated, except by another number."
Yuma faltered, "No way. I don't have a number!"
"Numbers can't be beat unless it's by another number?" asked Tetsuo incredulously, "What are you supposed to do about that?"
"Bu-But numbers have nothing to do with it," said Yuma, "Gogogo Golem's attack points are higher than Revise Dragon's."
Did Yuma forget about the overlay effect?
"On the next turn, Gogogo Golem will be destroyed" said Astral, "If there is a monster with 800 attack points or more in his hand, we already can't win this duel."
"I still have 1000 life points…" said Yuma.
"But Revise Dragon has one overlay unit left," I pointed out.
"Hah?" asked Yuma, "What does that have to do with anything?"
I face-palmed, what an idiot!
"My first result of my observations: Your dueling tactics are far inferior to mine," said Astral to Yuma.
"Inferior?!" asked Yuma, mad. But then he sweat dropped, "S-so what are tactics?"
I almost fell, "Yuma…"
"It means your strategy," explained Astral. With that tone of voice, it was as if he speaking to a child.
"Oh right, my strategy," said Yuma before glaring, "What was that?!"
"This will decide the match!" said Shark, "My turn, draw! Cheh…I summon Drill Barnacle (Atk: 300-Lvl: 3)!"
I sighed out of relief as Astral spoke, "300 attack points. We're saved."
"Like I said, what are you on about?" asked Yuma. We pretty much ignored that.
"Revise Dragon's effect activates!" said Shark, "It uses one overlay unit and its attack points go up by 500 (Atk: 3000)!"
"3000 attack points?" asked Yuma, "For real?!"
"One of Revise Dragon's overlay units remained," said Astral, "It was obvious he'd use that effect and increase its attack points. Rima warned you."
Yuma needed to learn how to read a situation.
"You're kidding!" yelled Yuma, who was generally shocked.
"Go, Revice Dragon!" ordered Shark, "Attack Gogogo Golem!"
Shark: 3700LPS
Yuma: 800LPS
"He dropped my life points to 800!" said Yuma and he finally figured out the rest.
"I still have an attack remaining," said Shark, "Drill Barnacle, drill attack!"
Yuma was thrown backwards, "Damn it!"
Shark: 3700LPS
Yuma: 500LPS
"Yuma," said Kotori in concern.
Yuma may be losing but he still could have a chance.
"When Gogogo Golem is in defense position, just once, it has an effect which prevents it from being destroyed by battle" said Astral, "If you had done as I instructed, and played Gogogo Golem in defense position, this pinch wouldn't have been so-"
"Shut up!" shouted Yuma as he jumped up.
"Hm?" Astral stared at his hand. Actually, he looked sort of…transparent.
"What is this?" he asked, "My very life is being depleted" He closed and reopened his eyes, "Numbers…"
"Huh?" asked Yuma.
"I've remembered," He said quietly, "These numbers are pieces of my memory! Numbers are special cards among Xyz monsters. They cannot be defeated by cards of this world. What's more, in a duel between numbers, the victor absorbs the losers' number"
"What do you mean…?" I asked. Absorb?
"If I cannot win this duel I will be erased from this world," said Astral, "I must win this duel."
Yuma looked irritated, "I've been trying to win from the start! But right now I don't have any cards I can use to counterattack. On his next turn, if I can at least stop Revise Dragon's attack, even if I take Drill Barnacle's attack, I'll still have 200 life points."
"It's useless even thinking about that," said Shark, "Drill Barnacle's effect activate! When it deals damage to my opponent, it can increase its attack points by 1000 (Atk: 1300)! Also, Drill Barnacle is a monster which can direct attack in the first place. Next turn, if it can direct attack it's over!"
Sadly, that's true. Yuma better get a good draw.
"For real?" asked Yuma, "If I get hit by that I'll really lose. What do I do? What do I do? Oh! I had a trap card set! Um…What was this card again?"
I couldn't see the card on the Duel Disk. I was a bit shocked that Yuma forgot about one of his set cards.
Astral spoke, "Bye Bye Damage, huh? If you had activated that on top of dealing damage to him, Gogogo Golem wouldn't have been destroyed."
Yuma's making a bunch of mistakes.
Yuma stomped his foot like a child, "I forgot because you were grumbling at me!"
"How about you give up this duel already?!" asked Shark.
"Like I'd give up!" retorted Yuma.
"Are you telling me you still have a way to win?"
"I'll never give up!" countered Yuma.
"Never give up?" repeated Shark. I had to strain to hear the other part, "I don't like hearing those words."
"One thing after another…" said Yuma. staring at his deck.
"There's still a chance," said Astral, "Summoning two monsters are the requirements for it. Listen carefully, um…"
You'd think Yuma would introduce himself by now.
"My name is Yuma!" said Yuma impatiently.
"Now listen carefully…Toma."
I nearly burst into laughter. I stifled it though and Kotori looked at me like I was crazy.
"It's not Toma!" said Yuma not amused, "It's Yuma!"
"With your next draw, pull a card that can special summon monsters," explained Astral.
No idea what he's talking about. It could be advance summon, fusion summon or Xyz summon. That doesn't help much.
"A card that can special summon?" repeated Yuma.
"Whatever you do, you must pull that card," said Astral.
"Oh, shut up!" said Yuma annoyed, "Both my and Tetsuo's decks are riding on this duel! My turn, draw!"
"Monster Reborn, huh?" said Astral, "Destiny hasn't abandoned me yet."
"I'm the one who pulled it!" shouted Yuma, "I summon Ganbara Knight (Atk: 0-Lvl: 4) in attack position!"
"Attack position?" I questioned. That doesn't make much sense. Unless he's trying to be a target, this won't really help.
"Yuma!" yelled Tetsuo, "Why in attack position? Ganbara Knight's attack points are zero!"
"Wha?!" shouted Yuma, "Oh no!"
"It seems I win, huh?" said Shark obviously enjoying this little moment, "Give up!"
"I will never give up!" said Yuma, "I can Kattobingu anytime!"
"Kattobingu?" repeated Astral questioningly.
"Kattobingu is taking on a challenge," said Yuma, "The heart to never give up. When a person gives up, their heart dies."
"You're all wind," said Shark, "'Never give up, never give up'. Guys like you irritate me the most! First off, how are you going to stand up to my monsters with a zero attack point monster?"
Yuma let out a breath.
"This will do," intercepted Astral, surprising me, "If you had played it in defense position, our chance would've been lost, Toma," he added.
"It's Yuma!"
Those two are exhausting.
"Revive Gagaga Magician with Monster Reborn," ordered Astral.
"What?" asked Yuma, confused.
"I must not disappear here," said Astral, "Trust me."
Yuma stared at him, contemplating it. He turned, "It's not like I believe you or anything."
I rolled my eyes, "Stubborn…"
He rather didn't hear me or he ignored it. I choose the former.
Yuma continued, "From my hand, I activate the magic card Monster Reborn! The Gagaga Magician in the graveyard is revived (Atk: 1500-Lvl: 4)!"
"Calling out a 1500 attack point monster at this point, what's the point of that?" asked Shark.
"With this, the requirements are in place," said Astral, "Overlay the level 4 Gagaga Magician and Ganbara Knight!"
No way… I stared at him, an Xyz summon?
"That couldn't be…an Xyz summon?" asked Yuma.
Astral didn't answer, "Look at your extra deck."
Yuma took a card from there and stared at it, "What is this Xyz monster? I can't read its' text."
What? Is it written in a different language or something?
"I can read it," said Astral, "No.39 The Aspiring Emperor – Hope."
"That's a number card?" I asked.
"That's right," said Astral. So he had one the entire time…
Yuma looked confused, "So, I have to summon it?"
"It's the power granted to you," said Astral.
Yuma looked ready, "Now, I have to bet on this. Kattobingu daze, ore! I overlay the level 4 Gagaga Magician and Ganbara Knight! With these two monsters I construct the overlay network"
Astral and Yuma spoke in unison, "No.39 Aspiring Emperor – Hope (Atk: 2500-Rank: 4)!"
I grinned, they might have a fighting chance! Hope looked cool.
The duo spoke once more, "Go, Aspiring Emperor – Hope! Attack Drill Barnacle! Hope blade slash!"
Shark: 2500LPS
Yuma: 500LPS
"I did it!" cheered Yuma, "I did big damage to Shark!"
"A number?!" asked Shark, shocked.
"This is our only trump card for defeating Revise Dragon" stated Astral, "Aspiring Emperor – Hope!"
"Another number?!" asked Tetsuo incredulously. Ah, I forgot they couldn't see Astral.
"Aspiring Emperor – Hope?" asked Kotori, "Did Yuma have a card like that?"
"He didn't," said Tetsuo, "As far as I knew…"
"With this, I end my turn," said Yuma. Then he cheered, "That right there was my first Xyz summon in my entire life!" He ran over to us, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Did'ya see that?"
"Yeah, we saw," said Kotori.
"You saw, right?" asked Yuma.
I don't blame him for being excited. However...I stared at Shark.
"Kattobingu, it has paid off!" said Yuma happily.
"What're you so happy about?" asked Tetsuo, "Hope's attack points are 2500. If it gets attacked by the 3000 attack point Revise Dragon, it's over."
"That's right!" said Yuma getting back to his senses, "This is bad!"
"Though you've summoned a number, you're still no match for me!" said Shark, "My turn, draw! From my hand, magic card Surfacing, activate! This card special summons a Water-attribute monster from the graveyard. Be reborn, Big Jaws! And now I release Big Jaws to advance summon Jawsman (Atk: 2600-Lvl: 6)!"
"Advance summon?" asked Kotori.
"It's-" Tetsuo and I stared at each other. I nodded, "You explain."
He nodded, "It's a way of summoning where you release a monster to summon a high level monster.'
Shark continued, "This cards attack points increase by 300 for each Water-attribute monster on my field except itself. Revise Dragon is a Water-attribute so Jawsman's attack points are 2900. This is the end! First up, Revise Dragon attacks Hope!"
Yuma dodged an A/R rock, "Doesn't Hope have some kind of effect?"
Astral explained, "Hope's effect is, by using one overlay unit, it can negate a monsters attack."
Nice effect.
"Tell me that sooner!" yelled Yuma, "I activate Hope's effect! I use up one overlay unit and negate Revise Dragon's attack! Moon barrier!"
"So that's Hope's effect?" stated Shark, "However, if you dodge attacks but can't defeat my monsters, you can't win"
"Defeat his monsters…" said Yuma.
"You only have one overlay unit left to use," said Shark, "Numbers can't be defeated by an attack, except that of another number but damage can pass. If you want to escape this damage then use your last overlay unit! Go, Jawsman! Attack Hope!"
"Right now, it's as he says," said Astral. It's the only thing they can do, "Use Hope's effect again!"
"A way to defeat his monsters…" said Yuma and then he grinned, "Alright! Trap card Bye Bye Damage, activate! This protects one monster on my field from being destroyed by battle this turn!"
"Why didn't you use Hope's effect?!" asked Astral incredulously.
I looked on in worry. Yuma must have a good idea to lose life points like this.
"'Cuz I'm me!" smiled Yuma before being attacked, "And when the player takes battle damage, it inflicts double that damage to the opponent!"
Shark: 1700LPS
Yuma: 100LPS
"Now Yuma's life points are only 100," said Kotori.
Damn it, Yuma! I glared at said-person before sighing, he better win this.
"Because you activated a trap, I activate the continuous trap Urchin Bomb!" announced Shark, "This is a trap that inflicts 1000 points of damage to my opponent when my turn comes. Now my victory is assured!"
"It's no use," said Tetsuo, "Yuma had already lost."
"It can't be…Yuma…" said Kotori.
"No," I said. I stared blankly ahead. "He's going to win."
"Rima?" asked Kotori but I ignored her. If Yuma has a certain card in his hand…he'll be able to win.
"Now, just give up!" said Shark smugly.
Yuma stood up, "I'm not done. I won't give up yet!"
Shark sneered, "You only have one turn left. Why won't you give up on this duel?"
"Right back at you," said Yuma fiercely, "Why do you want me to give up so badly?! If you're so insistent about it, are you sure you haven't given up on something precious?"
I looked away, Rio…
"Haven't you given up on something precious?!" asked Yuma once more.
I turned to see Shark's eyes widen. For once, he looked back to normal. My hope was snatched as soon as it came. Shark's eyes got that evil edge once more.
"As long as you don't give up, you can Kattobingu again, anytime," said Yuma courageously, "I'll show you!"
"Are you still saying there is still a way to turn this around?" asked Astral.
"There is!" said Yuma and I believe him, "A combo in my deck to beat him."
Yuma took something out of his jacket, uh…
I ignored him for a second and looked to Shark. He looked really out of it.
"My duel meal!" I heard Yuma yell.
I looked back to him just to see him scarf down a rice ball. I rolled my eyes, "Boys."
He then did some flips, "Recharge complete! My turn! Right now, if I'm going to win, it has to be right now!" He started running, "Kattobingu daze, ore! Draw!" He then landed on his behind. Gosh...
He looked at his card and smiled, "It's here! Go! Hope, attack Revise Dragon!"
"Unbelievable!" said Astral, shocked.
I was stunned myself, "Yu-Yuma!"
"Why?!" asked Kotori.
"Why with the lower attack point Hope?!" asked Tetsuo.
"And now I activate Hope's effect!" ordered Yuma.
I blinked, "Eh?"
Yuma continued, "By using an overlay unit, Hope's attack is negated!"
Shark was chuckling, "What's the point in a combo that can't deal damage to me?!"
Yuma was still smiling, "The point is its over! From my hand, I activate the quickplay spell Double-Up Chance!"
"A quickplay spell?!" asked Shark incredulously.
I smiled, finally understanding. It's that card that Yuma didn't know how to use.
Yuma explained, "When a monster's attack is negated, this card doubles its attack points and lets it attack once more (Atk: 5000)!"
"5000 attack points?" asked Shark disbelievingly but he knew the answer.
"Kattobingu, Hope!" yelled Yuma, "Attack Revise Dragon!"
Shark was thrown backwards but the impact.
Shark: 0LPS
Yuma: 100LPS
Yuma is the winner!
I couldn't believe that just happened. Yuma…won?!
The A/R dispersed.
Yuma looked like he couldn't believe it either, "Did I…win?
Tetsuo then said, "Yuma…"
"Won…" said Kotori.
"Against Shark…" I finished.
We all looked at each other before they dashed to Yuma. I went as well but I was watching Shark out of my peripheral vision.
"I won!" yelled Yuma as he jumped up, "I won against Shark! I won, Kattobingu!"
I was still walking while watching Shark. I hope he's okay…
"Losing against a guy like that…You've fallen too low, Shark!" yelled the minions and they ran away. Poor Shark…
I bumped into something or someone. Someone grabbed my shoulder and I was able to keep my balance. I blinked before noticing it was Astral, "Ah, sorry."
"It's fine," he said as he let go of me.
He was staring at Shark for a bit before holding his hand out towards him. What was he doing? I watched as a card lifted out of Shark's chest. Well, you don't see that every day. The card flew to Astral's hand.
Shark flinched and the No.17 disappearing from his hand. I looked at No.17 in Astral's hand. First it was white but then the text appeared. I…I was able to read it. It wasn't in Japanese (kanji) though…
The card glowed before dissolving into the air. I watched as Astral's eyes widened. He looked really shocked.
"Are you alright?" I asked him in concern.
He was able to snap out of it, "I'm fine. Thank you, Rima."
I was about to answer him but my key felt a bit warm. I looked at it, "What…?"
Astral stared at my key, "That is…?"
I was about to answer him but then I saw Shark walking up to us.
"Shark," said Yuma unsurely.
Shark held out something. It was Tetsuo's deck! He looked somber, "As agreed."
Yuma put his hand on it, "Right, I'll have you give back Tetsuo's deck."
Shark turned around, his back facing us, "Yuma Tsukumo, I'll remember this."
He started walking away. Yuma then said, "Shark. I had a lot of fun! Let's duel again! This time without betting decks…let's Kattobingu to each other!"
Shark walked away without another word. Though, he turned back to me and gave me a small smile before leaving.
I smiled, he's back to normal…
"Believing in one single draw," said Astral gaining our attention, "and betting everything on it, huh?"
"Huh?" asked Yuma, "You're in a different mood."
True…
"Well, whatever," said Yuma as he smiled, "No problem!"
"It seems you're a duelist that exceeds my understanding," said Astral before adding that word, "Toma."
Suddenly, Yuma looked really annoyed and irritated. Just by the look on his face, I laughed. "It's not Toma!" yelled Yuma, "It Yuma!"
"You always have to exaggerate," I said as I put my hands behind my head.
"Oh, so Toma is always like this, Rima?" asked Astral.
"Now I know you're messing with me!" yelled Yuma, "You remembered Rima's name but not mine!"
I smiled. Astral did remember my name.