Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 35: Atem's Legacy
"Now, let's begin your slow descent into death." Bakura decided. "I activate one of Underworld Emperor Zorc's effects granted to him by the three Devil Numbers! By detaching one of his overlay units, Zorc forces both of us to send the top five cards of our decks to the Graveyard. I detach your Gagaga Magician to make us bury five of our cards!"
One of the lost souls orbiting around Zorc entered the large glowing eye on his chest. The eye started to shine bright, and suddenly the top five cards of Yuma's deck glowed with a green aura and flew from the top of his deck into the Graveyard slot of his duel disk. The same thing happened to the top cards of Bakura's deck.
"What the heck was the point of that move?" Yuma wondered.
"I do not know, but I'm sure it's the first step in a deadly strategy." Astral assumed.
"I play the Continuous Spell known as Overlay Spirit Energy!" Bakura announced. "Now during each of my Standby Phases, Overlay Spirit Energy will give me 600 extra life points for each overlay unit currently attached to all the Xyz Monsters I control. I end my turn, which means another one of the effects granted to Zorc by the three Devil Numbers activates! During my end phases, all cards in my Graveyard are attached to Zorc as overlay units!"
Suddenly a swarm of lost souls flew out of the Graveyard slot on Bakura's duel disk. The spirits were then pulled into Zorc' orbit, joining the other phantoms that were already compelled to fly around him.
"This isn't good." Kaito declared up in the skybox. "Looks like Bakura's using a similar strategy to the one that Alnia used. Even if Yuma can block his attacks, that combo of Underworld Emperor Zorc and Overlay Spirit Energy will just keep raising his life points each turn."
"Couldn't Yuma and Astral use Utopic ZEXAL to beat him like they did with Alnia?" Kotori asked.
"It wouldn't work." Rio told her. "Utopic ZEXAL's ATK and DEF depend on the number of overlay units attached to him. Yuma would need to have at least seven overlay units attached in order for that to work, and I don't think he has the cards to do that."
"That avatar of yours does look pretty tough Zorc, but I know that Astral and I will find a way to beat it!" Yuma declared as he drew his next card.
"And now the final effect of Zorc granted by the Devil Numbers kicks in!" Bakura suddenly announced. "During each of our Standby Phases, we take 100 points of damage times the number of cards in our Graveyards! Since you have twelve cards in your Graveyard right now, you and your Astral World friend now take 1200 points of damage!"
Suddenly Zorc shot a massive beam of light from the eye in his chest down at Yuma and Astral. The hypnotized audience members cheered as the duo of Yuma and Astral were both consumed by the light. When Zorc's attack finally ended, Yuma and Astral were still standing but their life points had fallen to 1700.
"Of course I won't take any damage from Underworld Emperor Zorc's final effect." Bakura continued. "Technically I don't have a Graveyard because Zorc is my Graveyard. As the ruler of the underworld, all souls who fall into my Graveyard during this duel are bound to serve him. Even when I detach one of Zorc's overlay units, it will just come back to him at the end of the turn."
"Man! What a dirty combo!" Yuma declared.
"Indeed. And it will only get worse if we allow this duel to go on for too long." Astral added.
"Give it up, mortal. You have no chance of defeating me." Bakura confidently declared.
"We'll see about that! I activate Monster Reborn and summon Gagaga Magician back from the Graveyard!" Yuma announced. The silver-haired magician reappeared on Yuma's field. "Next I summon Damage Fighter in Attack Mode!"
Appearing next to Gagaga Magician was a well-muscled young man with spiked read hair, wearing long grey pants and black boots. White bandages were wrapped around the young man's hands, and his left side was scarred shut. X-shaped scars covered his chest, back and shoulders, and a long red headband was wrapped around his forehead. A pair of what looked like dog tags was hanging from the young man's neck by a silver chain.
"Using my level four Gagaga Magician and Damage Fighter, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my most trusted monster!" Yuma announced. "Come forth, Number 39: Utopia!"
A galaxy-like vortex appeared in the center of the battlefield and pulled in Yuma's two monsters as balls of gold energy. An ornate giant white sword with two balls of gold light orbiting around it rose from the vortex and took the form of Utopia.
"That ends my turn!" Yuma announced.
Bakura chuckled. "That's the best you could do?"
"For now." Yuma answered. "But sooner or later, I'll find a way to take you down!"
"Foolish boy!" Bakura spoke as he drew his next card. "At this point, the effect of Overlay Spirit Energy activates and raises my life points for each of Zorc's overlay units!"
Suddenly Bakura began to glow with an unearthly green aura. Before the aura faded, Bakura's life points had climbed to 13000.
"As amusing as this has been, it's time to end this foolishness." Bakura decided. "Zorc! Attack his pathetic Number! Zorc Inferno!"
With that, Zorc brought his clawed hands together. Between his palms, a massive ball of green fire began to form.
"I activate Utopia's effect!" Yuma announced. "By detaching one of his overlay units, Utopia can negate one attack!"
As soon as Zorc's ball of flames began large enough, the giant demon fired it as a stream of flames down at Utopia. Before the attack could strike though, one of the balls of light orbiting the Number warrior entered the green gem in the center of his chest. One of the wings on Utopia's back unfolded around him and became like a shield, blocking the stream of flames.
"So you've managed to extend your existence for one more miserable turn." Bakura observed. "But in the end, it will achieve nothing! I activate Zorc's effect and detach Dark Necrofear to force use to send five more cards from our deck to the Graveyard!"
One of the lost souls orbiting around Zorc entered the eye in the center of his chest, causing it to glow brightly again. The top few cards of Yuma and Bakura's decks glowed with a green light and flew into their Graveyard slots.
"I end my turn. And with the end of my turn, all the cards in my Graveyard become attached to Zorc!" More lost souls flew out of Bakura's duel disk and were pulled into Zorc's orbit. "You can use your Number to block my attacks as often as you want, but it won't change anything in the end. No matter how hard you struggle, I will still win!"
"You will never prevail, Zorc!" Astral declared. "You have been defeated before, and Yuma and I will defeat you again!"
At this, Bakura burst out laughing. "Fool! You cannot defeat me because I am darkness itself! And darkness is eternal! I may have lost in the past, but I will always rise again! That is because the people of this world will always call out to the darkness! How do you think it is that the Death Queens became my pawns? It's because their hearts called out to the darkness and the Numbers containing my power answered them! No matter how many times you and those like you try to defeat me, I will always come back!"
"Maybe! But that doesn't mean we should just give up and stop fighting!" Yuma told him. "Even if you and other guys like you keep coming back, there will always be someone to step up and fight you! And that's because the battle to protect this world is worth winning!"
Suddenly the gem embedded in the Emperor's Key began to shine with a golden light. At the same time, the image of the Millennium Puzzle carved at the top of the Tablet of Memories began to shine and a beam of gold light shot from the eye. The light traveled through the halls of the stadium and made its way out to land on the stage next to Yuma. Bakura, Yuma and Astral were all stunned as the light took on the transparent form of Pharaoh Atem.
"What is this?" Bakura demanded to know. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"You should give up now, Zorc!" Atem told you. "Everything that Yuma has told you is the truth."
"Why don't you just stay out of this? You've been dead for a long time, Pharaoh!" Bakura told him. "You can't interfere with me anymore!"
"Maybe not. But in every age, there has been someone who has appeared to oppose you and those like you, just as Yuma said!" Atem replied. "My old partner, Yugi! Jaden Yuki! Yusei Fudo! And now Yuma and his friend, Astral! It is just as I told you thousands of years ago in our first battle, Zorc! The light of my soul will shine on for all eternity! And my legacy will be carried on from one light to the next!"
"Then I'll just snuff out your light right now!" Bakura declared.
"Yuma! It's time that you and Astral ended this!" Atem told him. "The power to defeat him is already with you!"
Suddenly the eye of Atem's Millennium Pendant began to shine with a golden light. At the same time, the top card of Yuma's deck began to glow with a golden light as well. Yuma pulled the card from his deck, beginning his turn.
"It doesn't matter what card you've drawn, because now Zorc's effect activates and deals damage for each card in your Graveyard!" Bakura announced. "Die!"
Zorc fired another beam of light from the eye in the middle of his chest down at Yuma. Before the beam could hit though, a ghostly image of Damage Fighter suddenly appeared and blocked the impact, striking the head of the beam with his fist and causing it to shatter. With the attack blocked, Damage Fighter vanished from the field.
"What did you just do?" Bakura demanded to know.
"The overlay unit that I detached from Utopia during your last turn was Damage Fighter." Yuma explained. "And since Damage Fighter was in the Graveyard, I was able to banish him and negate the damage from Zorc's effect! Not that, Damage Fighter lets me draw two more cards!"
The two additional cards that Yuma pulled from his deck shined with a golden light. Suddenly a small pink ball of fur with two goggly eyes and transparent insect-like wings on the sides of its body appeared in the air and turned into a ball of gold light that was pulled into Utopia's orbit.
"One of the cards I just drew was Overlay Sprite!" Yuma announced. "When Overlay Sprite is drawn using a card effect, I can attach him to an Xyz Monster I control!"
"So your Number's overlay units have been reloaded." Bakura observed. "In the end, that will make no difference. No matter how many of my attacks you manage to block, the outcome of this duel will still be the same!"
"I'm not blocking any more of your attacks!" Yuma declared. "I now activate the Spell card, Rank-Up-Magic Millennium Force!" A large Spell card showing an image of the Millennium Puzzle appeared behind Utopia. "Millennium Force lets me use a Utopia monster to Xyz Summon a Shining Number with twice the Rank!"
"What?" Bakura exclaimed.
"We use Number 39: Utopia to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon the true king of Numbers!" Yuma and Astral announced together. "Spark of hope that shines in the darkness! Ignite and become the shining dawn of a new day! Come forth, Number S39: Utopia Pharaoh!"
Utopia's body gave off a blinding flash of golden light that covered the entire stadium. When the light faded, Utopia had grown to twice his original size and had three balls of gold light orbiting around him. The armored wings on his back had become a massive pair of wings covered in gold feathers. On his head was a blue and gold cobra hood headdress like that of an Egyptian pharaoh, and on his chin he had the fake beard worn by Egyptian royalty. The eye-like symbol of the Millennium Items had appeared around the green gem in Utopia's chest. Hanging down from the front of his waist was a golden breechcloth with hieroglyphs written down the front. In Utopia's right hand was an ornate golden scepter with a green gem at the top.
Bakura chuckled. "An impressive-looking monster, I'll admit. But it only has 5000 ATK, a thousand points short of being able to match Zorc!"
"I activate Utopia Pharaoh's effect!" Yuma announced. "By detaching all three of his overlay units, I can target an opponent's Xyz Monster that has Numbers attached to it as overlay units and summon them to my side of the field! I use Utopia Pharaoh's effect to summon Number 664: Ghost Student Mary, Number 665: Witch Queen Agatha, and Number 666: Archfiend Pharaoh Lucifer!"
"NO!" Bakura shouted.
The three balls of light orbiting the king of Numbers entered the eye on the center of his chest. From the eye, Utopia Pharaoh fired a beam of golden light at Zorc. Suddenly three of the lost souls orbiting around Zorc turned into balls of gold light and flew down to Yuma's side of the field, becoming the three original Devil Numbers used by the Death Queens.
"I'm going to win this duel and take back the souls of Alnia and the others!" Yuma declared.
"Damn you!" Bakura cursed. "Now Zorc has lost the effects he gained from having the Devil Numbers attached!"
"That's not all your avatar has lost, Zorc!" Atem told him with a confident smirk. "Underworld Emperor Zorc needed the three devil Numbers attached to him for his ATK and DEF to become 6000. But now that he lost those numbers as overlay units, his ATK and DEF are now zero!"
"The effects of the monsters summoned using Utopia Pharaoh's effect are negated, but they can still attack!" Yuma announced. "Ghost Student Mary, attack Underworld Emperor Zorc! Phantasmal Grudge!"
With a wave of her arms, Mary flung her hooked chains up at Zorc. Several more hooked chains suddenly came down from the air as well, and the blades from all of the hooks slashed Zorc's chest and caused cuts of green light to appear. The same glowing green cuts appeared on Bakura's body in the same spots as Zorc as he grimaced in pain from the attack. The attack had also caused Bakura's life points to drop to 9800.
"Witch Queen Agatha! Attack Zorc with Vengeful Witchfire!" Yuma ordered.
Agatha levitated into the air and raised her arms forward and fired a stream of crimson flames at Zorc that hit the demon in the face, causing him to roar in pain and cover the right side of his face with his clawed hand. Bakura cried out as well and covered the same part of his face with his own hand as his life points fell to 6400.
"Next I attack Zorc with Archfiend Pharaoh Lucifer!" Yuma announced. "Millennium Ruin!"
Lucifer aimed his Millennium Rod up at Zorc and fired a blast of cracking black energy at the demon. Zorc was hit in the giant green eye in the center of his chest, causing him to roar in pain and cover the destroyed eye with his other hand. At the same time, Bakura made a sound as though he had been punched in the chest and covered the Millennium Ring with his other hand as his life points fell to 2800.
"Now for the finishing blow!" Yuma announced. "Utopia Pharaoh gains 1000 ATK for every other Number monster that I control! Which means his ATK jumps from 5000 to 8000! Utopia! Attack Zorc and end this duel! Shining Hope Solar Ray!"
Utopia Pharaoh aimed his scepter at Zorc and fired a massive beam of golden light from the gemstone at the end. Upon being hit, cracks of white light began to form all over the demon's body. The same cracks formed on Bakura's body as well, and when his life points fell to zero both he and Zorc shattered apart and began nothing. The darkness that has been covering the sky shattered apart as well and revealed the sun. With the duel finally at an end, Utopia Pharaoh and the Devil Numbers vanished.
"You fought well, Yuma." Atem praised.
"Thanks for your help towards the end there, Atem." Yuma told him. "Do you think that's the end of Zorc?"
"We can only hope so." Atem answered. "But if he should come back there will always be someone to oppose him."
"It was an honor to meet you, Pharaoh." Astral told him.
"And you as well." Atem replied. "Take care."
With that, the spirit of the legendary pharaoh vanished into thin air. All over the stadium, the people that had become entranced by Bakura's spell were coming back to their senses.
"It's finally over." Kotori observed with a sigh of relief.
"Hopefully that demon, Zorc will stay dead this time." Hikari remarked.
"I'm gonna go for a walk." Thomas decided. "I'll see you guys later."
"Aren't you going to watch as they award Yuma with the tournament prize?" Michael asked.
"Nah. I kinda need to be alone right now." Thomas answered. "I've got a lot on my mind."
A few moments later down on the tournament stage, the tournament officials awarded Yuma with a trophy and a rather large check. After being given their prize, Yuma and Astral waved at a cheering audience.
"This tournament did have some pretty bad moments, but it was still pretty fun." Yuma declared. "Having you duel along side me in this thing was a blast, Astral."
"I feel the same." Astral replied. "But there's still one thing left that I have to do."
"Oh yeah! You gotta bring back Alnia and the others with the Numeron Code." Yuma remembered.
"…You realize that once I use the Numeron Code, I'll have to go back to the Astral World." Astral told him.
"I know." Yuma replied. "But we'll see each other again, right?"
"Of that, I have no doubt." Astral assured him.
Astral lifted his hand and a floating card of light appeared above his palm. The card gave off a flash of blinding light, and in a split second he was gone. A slightly bitter half smile formed on Yuma's face, but he shrugged and continued to wave at the crowd. Meanwhile up in the skybox, Alit noticed a flash of white light in the corner of the room. He turned and saw an unconscious Chitose on the floor. Alit instantly rushed over to the dark-haired girl's side. In a few moments, Chitose began to stir.
"Hey there." Alit greeted.
"…Alit?" Chitose spoke as she opened her eyes. "What… where am I?"
"It's kinda complicated to explain, but the short version is that Astral brought you back using the Numeron Code." Alit explained. "Now you're just a human like the rest of us."
"I… I see." Chitose replied as she slowly stood up. "I suppose that means that Yuma defeated Alnia."
"You think that's a bad thing?" Alit asked.
"…I suppose not." Chitose answered. "But… where do I go from here? I no longer have a mission now."
"But now you have a shot at a normal life." Alit told her. "And it won't be like that crappy life you had at Domino High. I'll make sure of it."
"I suppose… I could give this life a chance." Chitose replied.
Alit looked at Chitose for a few moments before suddenly moving in and planting a firm kiss on the dark-haired girl's lips. The action caused Chitose's face to turn a deep shade of red.
At that very moment, Shark looked back at the spectacle and rolled his eyes. "Geez! This was way too much trouble to go through for Alit to get a girlfriend."
Thomas had only gotten a few feet away from the stadium when he noticed a flash of white light in the alley he was passing. He went in to investigate and saw an unconscious Samantha on the ground. In a flash, Thomas rushed over to the redhead's side and sat her up against the wall. In moments, Samantha stirred and opened her eyes.
"You're back!" Thomas joyfully spoke as tears came to the corners of his eyes.
"What the… how did I get here?" Samantha asked.
"I guess Astral brought you back with the Numeron Code like he said he would." Thomas assumed.
"So… I guess that means I'm human now, huh?" Samantha deduced.
"Looks that way." Thomas replied. "Samantha, I… I know how things ended between us in our past lives, but… maybe now we can have a fresh start. I still love you, Samantha."
"…Ah, hell. I guess I'm still in love with you too." Samantha responded. "Looks like I'll never be rid of the stupid village girl that I used to be."
"You weren't the one who was stupid back then. I was." Thomas told her.
With that, their lips eventually met in a deep kiss.
It was the start of another ordinary day at Heartland Academy. Only a week had gone by since the end of the Millennium Tournament. Yuma sat down at his normal desk in the classroom, and as the bell rang Kotori rushed in and took her normal seat next to him.
"Hey. It's not everyday that you're almost late for class." Yuma remarked.
"Yeah, I was talking with Chitose out in the hall." Kotori revealed. "She was telling me how Shark and the others just finished getting her into her new apartment."
"That's great. I'm glad to hear that she's settling in." Yuma replied.
"Chitose also told me that she heard back from Samantha last night." Kotori added. "She and Thomas landed safely in the city where his next tournament is going to be. Guess Samantha and Thomas are doing okay so far."
"Yeah. I just wish we knew what happened to Alnia." Yuma told her. "It's kinda weird how she seemed to just disappear while Chitose and Samantha came back. Chitose hasn't heard anything from Alnia, has she?"
"Not so far. But I'm sure she'll turn up." Kotori assured him. "I guess after the way that the tournament ended, I'm a little more worried about that monster Zorc coming back, or something like him or Don Thousand showing up again."
"Don't worry." Yuma told her as he took her hand. "I kinda doubt that Zorc will ever show up again. But if he or someone else does show up to cause problems, I'll be there to stop 'em!"
MILLENIUM TOURNAMENT – END
Afterward: Well, that finally brings an end to The Millennium Tournament and the Devil Numbers Trilogy. I never imagined that this story would take me over a year to finish. It was fun to write, but also exhausting. Writing a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic with nearly back-to-back duels like this can be kind of exhausting, and this story was no exception because some of Yuma's duels ended up being the most difficult to write. There were times when I even got burnt out on this story and walked away from it to do other projects. But I'm happy to have finally finished this story, and I hoped that everyone enjoyed reading it.
I do plan to do at least two more ZEXAL fanfics in the future. The next one that I have planned is going to focus on Chitose and Alit. For the immediate future though, I plan to take a break from doing Yu-Gi-Oh! stories and work on some other projects that I've been neglecting for far too long. So until next time, please leave some reviews and let me know what you think.