This arc is about Zexal. I know a lot of people judge it and hate, so if you don't want to read this, just skip to chapter 59.
In his throne room, Zorc sat silently upon his throne, holding in his hands a book, which would surely cause absolute turmoil for the rest of the universe if he managed to do with it what he was hoping to. He slowly ran his fingers upon its golden texture, which contained in its center an image of the eye conected all too much with the topic of the Millennium Items. The Millennium Spell Book, a treasure and archive from eons ago, was the most prized and feared possession of the ancient Egyptians, whom used it's power to contact the world of Duel Spirits and to create the Millennium Items, which brought about an age of ambivalence, surging somewhere between paradise and Hellfire. This book, which was sealed away somewhere far from the prying and tempt eyes of the Egyptian public, had wound up in the Shadow Realm, but it's powers remained useless to Zorc for he could not open its hallowed pages due to a great magical enchantment upon it. Not even his strongest powers could break through this seal, but he knew that it was necessary for him to read the contents of the book. Frustrated, he threw it upon the floor as both Don Thousand and Nightshroud looked onward.
"Idiotic albatross of a defiant piece of literature, why won't you open?" he shouted, slamming himself down upon his throne, throwing a tantrum that echoed his inner rage.
"Zorc, is there any indication of what we need to unlock it and read its secrets?" Don Thousand asked curiously.
"Is there, perhaps, a key of some sort?" Nightshroud added.
"Yes… There are seven keys… And I don't know where they are!" Zorc, shouted, slamming his fist upon the arm of his throne.
"And what are these seven keys?" Nightshroud asked.
Zorc opened his mouth, sighing.
"The seven Millennium Items…"
Back at the castle of the Knights of Atlantis, it was a usual day of training for the Pharaoh's army. General Truesdale was training some new duel spirits - a few warriors types, a fairy-type or two, and a beast-warrior - who had just joined and he was not going easy on them.
"I want to see you all work harder than this! If we're going to beat Zorc than you need to give it your all and this isn't your all, so I'd better see each one of you working harder!" Zane declared.
"Yes, sir," came from the mouths of all the recruits as they did push-ups.
"Aren't you being a little hard on them? Came the playful voice of Jaden from behind. His light-heartedness both amused and disgusted Zane, whom was a true warrior and the most ferocious of all the generals.
"No, I'm not being hard enough, Truesdale replied through his teeth as Jaden's eyes opened widely and Syrus stepped behind him, truly frightened by his older brother's harrowing attitude.
Zane stormed away, his black trench coat undulating behind him as he made his way to the Pharaoh. Sitting upon the throne of Timaeus he was with Yugi at his side alongside the two magicians whom were his eternal servants. Discussing something with General Altas, Atem turned his head to General Truesdale.
"My king, it is important for you to know that my scouts have recently freed a few dozen duel spirits who were enslaved at one of Zorc's torture camps. They've been freed and have taken refuge in Heaven with the majority of this planet's populace, waiting for it to be liberated of the Dark One's influence so they may return."
"Very well, Zane. Keep up the work," Atem nodded before an abrupt flash of blinding white light struck the floor before them.
"I have dire news to tell you," spoke the one known as Ra in his humanoid form. Instantly, everyone of the hundreds of souls in the room bowed to him, recognizing him as one of the three divine gods. His long and glorious blonde hair shone in the light of day as his golden robes rippled according to his gracious and majestic movements, displaying a work of visual art infused with the impeccable power of the gods. "The time has come for you to send a team of your best to the world known as Astral World. There, they will meet its rulers and help protect it from the harm that Zorc is intending to cause it. You know what to do, Atem."
"Yes, my God," Atem nodded as Ra vanished.
"So, it's time?" Yugi asked.
"It's time," his husband agreed.
That evening, Atem stood in a field not so far away from the castle. With him, Yugi and a few others including Zane, Jack, Jaden, Jesse, Mai, Rebecca, Ishizu, and Yusei, watched as he bid farwell to the expedition team, whom were lined before a ship about half the size of a football field, containing two stories. Physically, it was a bit circular, almost like a saucer, and upon it were a great many turrets for fighting oncoming oppressors.
"Team Zexal, we are entrusting you with this salient mission of journeying to Astral World, where you will meet its rulers and defend it from the threat of Zorc. I am wishing you luck and I trust that you will return here successfully," Atem spoke.
"Ah, don't worry. My friends and I won't let ya down. After all, we gotta save Astral!" Yuma enthused as he threw his fist into the air.
"You have a Galaxy-Eyes master with you? How could we lose?" Mizar smiled, swaying backward his gorgeous and long hair of the most vivacious blonde.
"Two," Kite added, nodding.
"Don't get too ahead of yourselves. we've got some ass to whoop," Shark said.
"I'm in too!" Tori added.
"Yeah, I wanna blow up some shit!" enthused Anna Kaboom.
"We're ready when you are," Yuma nodded.
"There's no way you guys can get this done without me," said Vector, recalling his quote from the first days of his redemption when he joined them to save Astral World for the first time.
Yuma threw his arm around him and the biggest smile etched itself across his vigorous face and he was charged with optimism.
Everyone bid them farewell as they boarded the ship, making their way to its bridge to skyrocket it off into the cosmos. Together, Yuma, Tori, Shark, Kite, Mizar, Anna, Rio, Dumon, Girog, Alito, Quinton, Quatro, Tre, and even Vector were ready for takeoff.
"Engines ready," Kite said.
"Shields to max," Anna said.
"Weapon systems on," Quatro said.
"Systems stabilized," Mizar said.
"Alright, let's see what this baby can do. Initiate liftoff," ordered Shark.
The ships computer alerted them of their actions.
"Lift off in 10.. 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."
And with a great start and after the Pharaoh and all the others had cleared away enough to get away from the smoke and debris, the ship blasted off, expediently voyaging upward and shattering the sky's limits as they bid farewell to the world that had been their home the past month, setting coordinates for Astral World.
The thrill of blasting off into outer space was powerful and exhilarating, nearly devouring the emotional capacity of everyone on board. Through the windows could they see the darkness of space rapidly approaching them as they were leaving the planet's atmosphere. Finally, they reached it and it was glorious. The lights of billions of stars resonated, shining brilliantly across the galaxy as Tori stared in awe at their beauty, which was something that seemed to calm her after the intense ferocity of the liftoff.
"We're leaving the planet's orbit. Buckle your seatbelts and get ready for hyperspace," Kite said, pressing some buttons upon a control panel.
"Awe, it's all so pretty," Tori admired.
"It's like something you'd see in a movie in life, but even better," Anna added.
"Don't get too happy, girls. We've got a huge battle ahead of us," Shark informed, pulling back his long and purple hair into a ponytail.
At one of the control stations did Yuma sit, mesmerized by everything going on around him. Here he was in the emptiness of space, bearing witness to the intergalactic infinity of the outer reaches and on a journey to se the one he truly cared about most - maybe even more than his husband Shark. Every vein in his body was surging with blood pumping vigorously through it and he felt alive and vibrant, shining with joy over the simple fact that he was going to see Astral soon. All he could think about was getting to see his old friend again, someone he barely got to see. In fact, he was so overjoyed by it that he nearly forgot the true purpose of this mission, focusing on his platonic ambitions instead. He fixed his gaze to the cosmos, stretched out for an infinity of distance before his very eyes, reflecting upon their reddish shade, and with a start did he take to the controls to join his teammates in the race to Astral World. Grabbing hold of them, he muttered to himself, recalling the mission, and throwing all caution to the wind that this would be a grand success.
"It's time to high-five the sky!"
PLEASE REVIEW!
