I don't own Yugioh Zexal or any of the characters in it. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs.
A/N Mariana because why not? This one was super fun to write. Please review! They really make my day!
Chapter Thirty-eight: Deciding For the Future
Mariana POV
Mari grasped the railing of the suspension bridge, wind whipping around her ginger-and-blonde-streaked pigtailed hair. She gazed with half-closed eyes at the drowning sun. The wide spectrum of colors danced across the dusky sky.
How long, she wondered, had she been in this world for? Would she ever be able to return home?
Probably not. Only Don Thousand could build new timelines with variations he desired. Perhaps that was why some people were irregularities like she. By eliminating one from a timeline, they could not be a bother to him there. But once they were so, they gained a new power. Perhaps that was why the female irregularity had such great power. At least, that was what it seemed like. She had, after all, granted Mari the power to travel forward, backward, and between timelines. But that raised a question. She knew Cahira had requested Don Thousand to build a timeline more to her liking for her, but that didn't make Mari an irregularity. What timeline had Don Thousand created that did not include her? Did she really pose such a threat to him that he would eliminate her from the equation altogether? And lastly, she lacked complete understanding of how twin timelines would be the undoing of everything. Don Thousand was a being of Chaos, so she assumed that was what he desired.
She watched a group of teenagers around her age laughing together about something. Jealousy rushed through her. That and a bit of sadness. They hadn't a care beside their education. Thinking of education, perhaps she could attend the school they went to. She'd learn a lot about this world that way.
One of the teens said something funny, and the others doubled over in laughter.
Why, she wondered, had she been chosen to suffer?
Trey POV
Their humanoid adversary smiled, a frightening thing that turned Trey's blood to ice. "I'll take pleasure in tasting your memories, boys. And no one likes things that take too long, so I'll keep this short and sweet by attacking first. I summon Oily Cicada. Because I possess an Insect-type monster, I may special summon Dream Cicada from my hand! I activate its effect, which changes the attack position of Oily Cicada."
The yellow exoskeleton of the monster cracked open, releasing a purple mist. The mist faded away, revealing a less menacing Oily Cicada.
"When Oily Cicada's battle position is changed, I can use it as two overlay units. I use Dream And Oily Cicada to build the overlay network! Appear, Number Three: Cicada King!"
Trey gasped quizzically. "Number Three?"
"I don't care what you believe, boy. This is the true number three!"
Yuma squinted. "It's in defense mode."
Then it must have some kind of dangerous effect. That's usually how it goes, anyway.
He looked at his hand and grinned to himself. This should be perfect. "I summon Ancient Gear Wyvern!"
The dragonlike creature raised its head and narrowed its mechanical eyes.
Yuma squinted. "Ancient Gear? Where're your Chronomalies at?"
Trey smoothed his coat. "I brought these since my Chronomaly deck relied on Xyz summoning Number Six and Number 33. I had no idea you would give them back to me. But anyway, back to the duel. When my Wyvern's normal summoned, I can add an Ancient Gear monster to my hand. And with that I'll activate 'Ancient Gear Fusion' using Ancient Gear Golem, Ancient Gear Wyvern, and Ancient Gear. I Fusion Summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!"
He smashed his fists together as the three monsters fused behind him. He beamed once again. With 4400 attack points and an unbeatable ability, this duel would be over in no time.
"Fusion summoning," Yuma muttered to himself.
"I'll attack your King Cicada with Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem. And even though your monster was in defense mode, you're still taking damage due to his effect!"
Semimaru didn't flinch. "Effect, you say? Then I'll detach an overlay unit and negate that effect. And because of that, Cicada King gains 500 defense points. And don't forget that you just used your only attacking card and utterly wasted your battle phase. Only a number can destroy a number."
My hand has nothing that I can use now. The best I can do is use this.
"I end my turn."
Yuma looked downward, deep in thought.
What're you thinking about? Might it be Astral?" Heartland taunted, twirling his staff between his fingers.
Yuma growled under his breath and yelled at the man to shut up. He ignored the boy, explaining how insects tend to annoy people. That's why they were called 'bugs'.
He drew, summoning Gagaga Magician. "Because I summoned a level four monster, I can special summon Kagetokage from my hand. With my two level fours, I'll Xyz summon Number 39: Utopia!"
"You've summoned your ace," Semimaru muttered. "Too bad it won't be here for long."
Yuma ignored him. "Now that he's in play, I'm activating the spell Reservation Reward. It lets me add a Quick-play spell to my hand, and I can activate it this turn! Now go, Utopia—"
"Stop, Yuma! He'll negate Utopia's effect, which means that Utopia will be destroyed and you'll take 1000 damage!" Trey exclaimed, stopping his friend from making a foolish decision.
"It's a good thing your friend bailed you out like that. Turns out that without Astral, you're simply a mediocre duelist at best," Heartland taunted.
Yuma, please remember. The bonds you forged in past duels will leave you strong. With them you're never alone. In the past, I took Astral away from you. I'm still having trouble forgiving myself for doing that.
Semimaru drew a card. "I activate Cicada Illusion! When a monster I control is switched to attack position, it gains attack equal to its defense!
Trey's eyes widened. "So that's why it was in attack position! But that means…" He gasped. "That must be what he meant earlier!"
"Yes, it is. Let's end this now! I attack Utopia with Cicada King!"
Trey's eyes widened, but eventually returned to his field.
The destruction of Utopia stirred a huge cloud of dust, covering everything around Yuma.
"Not so fast!" Trey shouted, tearing a card from his field and smashingly into his Graveyard. "I activate my own quick-play spell! Ancient Gear Protector can make sure that Yuma doesn't take any damage this turn. All I have to do is send him straight to the Graveyard. And when he's activated, he can't be targeted by monster effects.
Yuma blew a tiny mushroom cloud and wiped sweat off his forehead. "Thanks for the save. I thought for sure that I was done for!"
"I did say I'd be your sword and shield, didn't I?" the Arclight said with a crooked smile.
He looked downward. "Yeah. But in a normal duel, you wouldn't be there to save me like that." He glanced back at Trey, red eyes watering. "But the truth is that without him, I'd still be using Gagaga Magician as my ace and telling my opponents I set a trap card. You remember how that duel between the two of us ended. Without Astral, Final Prophecy would have turned the world into a portal to Astralworld." He lowered his head, and a lone tear traced down his frowning face. "Without him, I'm nothing!"
The fact that he was using their duel as a way to prove his worthlessness twisted the knife already lodged so deep in Trey's heart. "Yuma…" Trey's hands curled into fists. "That's no where near the truth! I've seen you duel, and I know that Astral wasn't the one that made you love dueling so much. You alone made that choice. Remember when I asked where your power came from? Can you remember what you told me?"
He forced Yuma's gaze toward him. "You said to never give up or stop trying. 'Feel the flow and go for it!' I think you should try taking your own advice."
"Never give up or stop trying…" he repeated. Feel the flow and go for it…. I did say that, didn't I? And I guess that if we don't beat this guy, I'll never get back my friend's memories. Let's beat this guy, Trey!"
Trey smiled. "Yeah. And one other thing. Call me Michael. It's what those closest to my heart call me. I think that's a good enough reward for my first and best friend."
The boy nodded.
Heartland pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. "How sweet. But let me remind you that you can't beat Semimaru."
"You won't, indeed. I activated Cicada Destruction, a trap that deals the attack of one Cicada monster to all three duelists in just one turn. I needn't worry, but you on the other hand…"
A weak "Yuma," behind Trey made both boys turn around. It had been Tori who'd said it. The others sitting next to her followed, blinking with their empty eyes. It was frightening and yet encouraging at the same time.
"Even without their memories…how?"
Trey narrowed his eyes. "They may have forgotten what was in their minds, but not in their hearts! I'm no expert, but I think that's what true friendship is. You can stop diminishing us, because we're ending this this turn!"
Yuma looked at Trey. "Yep! So I'll activate 'Release, Reverse Burst!' By discarding an Xyz monster, I can destroy all spells and traps on the field! Now, because I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Gillagillancer! Michael will take 500 damage next turn, and I will gain 500 life points. For now, though, I'll set a card and end my turn."
Trey smiled. "I'm normal summoning Ancient Gear. Because his—"
"Negated with Cicada King's effect."
"That's just what I hoped you'd say! I activate De-Fusion. With all of my old materials on the field, I activate Power Bond! Meet Chaos Ancient Gear Golem! Because his attack was doubled, I take that much damage this turn. But that's no matter."
"I'll just negate its effects, too!"
Now he's used up all of his monster's overlay units and my Golem could be targeted by spells.
"To top it off, I activate Limiter Removal, doubling his attack again! Finally, I attack Cicada King with Chaos Ancient Gear Golem!
Semimaru's life dropped to 0.
"We beat him!" Yuma exclaimed.
Trey wiped sweat off his forehead. "Yeah. You know, you were the one that activated that trap to turn things around. Without it, I don't think we would have won."
Yuma was acutely listening, his attention drawn to his now completely safe and conscious friends.
That was good. This was a hard earned reward for him, and he deserved it after all of this heartbreak and loss.