Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 6: Dark Matter Dragon
Orbital 7 kept a silent vigil over Yuma's unconscious form, every now and then looking around to see if Kaito was returning. After several minutes, the robot finally did see someone coming towards him and Yuma, but it wasn't Kaito. It was Anna. Remembering Kaito's orders to stay out of sight, Orbital 7 panicked and quickly hid in a nearby bush. Anna did not once notice the robot, but quickly noticed Yuma facedown on the ground.
"Hey! Yuma!" Anna called as she prodded the young man with the toe of her shoe. After a moment, Yuma finally woke up. "You okay?"
"Yeah… I think so." Yuma answered as he slowly got back to his feet.
"What the hell happened to you?" a concerned Anna asked.
"I'm not really sure." Yuma answered as he cracked his neck. "First I ran into this weird guy who said he knew me, then something shocked me in the back."
"Shocked you?" Anna repeated. "You mean like a stun gun?"
"I think so." Yuma replied.
"Well c'mon. Let's get you inside so you can sit this off." Anna told him.
With that, Anna began to escort Yuma back to the school. As the two left, Orbital 7 extended his cord-like neck out of the bush and silently watched them go. Once again the robot went into a silent panic. He knew that when Kaito got, he was probably going to throw him into a trash compactor for letting Yuma slip away.
"I activate the Spell card, Rune Reload!" Alice announced. "With this card, I can attach two Spell cards from my hand or Graveyard to a Rune Mystic monster as overlay units. So I'll just take Polymerization and De-Fusion from the Graveyard and attach them to Cyber Drake!"
Two balls of light flew from the Graveyard slot of Alice's duel disk and changed into red fireballs. The fireballs were then drawn into Cyber Drake's orbit.
"And now I shall show you just how easily that Photon Dragon of yours can be crushed." Alice continued. "I activate Cyber Drake's first effect! Once per turn I can take one of my opponent's monsters and attach it to Cyber Drake as an overlay unit. And the monster I choose of course is Prime Photon Dragon!"
Cyber Drake fired beams of red light from the twelve eyes on all three of its heads. The beams hit Prime Photon Dragon in the chest and changed him into a ball of red fire that was pulled into Cyber Drake's orbit. With Kaito's Number consumed, his clothes stopped giving off their blue light.
"And there you have it. Any monster, no matter how powerful, is nothing before the power of my Cyber Drake." Alice confidently declared. "Just like any man, no matter how strong his will, is powerless before me. You are no different, Tenjo. I'll crush you as easily as I crushed your little dragon."
"I never thought I'd meet anyone more arrogant than Mizael." Kaito remarked. "But at least Mizael has honor, unlike you!"
"Say whatever you wish. It makes no difference to me." Alice indifferently replied. "I summon Proto-Cyber Dragon in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Alice's side of the battlefield was a mechanical creature with a snake-like body made from metal cylinders connected by flexible mechanical joints. The head of this creature had a simple jaw and two small round orange eyes connected by cables that fed into the back of the neck.
"I activate the second of Cyber Drake's effects!" Alice announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, I can banish monsters from my field or Graveyard to Fusion Summon a Cyber monster! So I detach Prime Photon Dragon and then banish the Cyber Dragons in my Graveyard along with Proto-Cyber Dragon to summon Cyber End Dragon!"
Cyber Drake moved to get behind Proto-Cyber Dragon and the ball of fire that was once Prime Photon Dragon entered the large red sphere embedded in the center of its chest. The three-headed robot dragon fired a blast of red light from the sphere at Proto-Cyber Dragon. The incomplete dragon robot melted down into a pile of molten red metal that formed into a vortex. The ghostly forms of the two Cyber Dragons from earlier in the duel appeared and went into the vortex. A blast of red light then shot up from the vortex into the air, fading after a moment to reveal a new mechanical dragon.
Like Cyber Drake, the beast had three heads. Each of the three heads was distinctly different from the other. Its right head was like that of a snake with two large round green eyes, while the left head had a pair of red spherical eyes and two curved spikes on the sides of its jaw. The center head had two small yellow eyes and a large jaw with several sharp teeth. The two large blade-like wings on its back had two large blue spheres embedded in them, and a third sphere was embedded in the center of its chest.
"Oh no!" Kotori exclaimed as she rose from her seat.
"Cyber Drake gains 1000 ATK for every Cyber monster I control, which means his ATK is now 3600. Of course he can't attack during the turn I use this effect." Alice continued. "But Cyber End Dragon's 4000 ATK is just enough to finish you off in one blow. Cyber End Dragon, attack Tenjo directly! Enteral Evolution Burst!"
Cyber End Dragon fired blasts of blue-green light from the mouths of all three of its head. The blasts merged together into a single attack and struck Kaito, creating a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared though, Kaito was still standing and his life points had only fallen to 2000.
"What! How do you still have life points?" Alice demanded to know.
"When you attacked, I discarded Kuriphoton from my hand and paid half my life points to negate the damage I would've taken." Kaito explained. "Losing 2000 life points is better than losing 4000."
"Well, it seems you're a lot tougher than I thought." Alice observed. "But no matter. No matter what you do, you'll still be crushed under my heel in the end. I'll set a card on the field and end my turn."
Kaito drew his next card. "You're going to regret detaching my dragon like it was just another overlay unit! I activate the Spell card, Xyz Revenge! With this card I revive Prime Photon Dragon from the Graveyard and attach one of Cyber Drake's overlay units to him!"
A black vortex appeared in the middle of the battlefield and Prime Photon Dragon rose out of it. As soon as Prime Photon Dragon returned, Kaito's outfit regained its previous blue light. One of the fireballs orbiting around Cyber Drake changed into a ball of blue light and was pulled into Prime Photon Dragon's orbit.
Suddenly Alice began to laugh. "You foolish boy! Did you really think I'd have detached Prime Photon Dragon from Cyber Drake before if I didn't have a contingency plan for this? I activate the Continuous Trap, Rune Chain!"
Suddenly several red chains burst up from the ground in a circle around Prime Photon Dragon and wrapped themselves around the dragon's torso and upper arms. The glowing orange symbol of the Rune Mystic monsters then appeared beneath Prime Photon Dragon's feet.
"Since you special summoned a monster while I have a Rune Mystic monster on the field, Rune Chain prevents that monster from attacking or using its effects." Alice explained. "The chain only goes away when the monster it's binding leaves the field or uses it as an overlay unit. Now on my next turn, I'll simply turn your dragon back into an overlay unit for Cyber Drake and attack you directly."
"You won't be getting a next turn!" Kaito told her. "It seems you've left me no choice but to summon the other powerful Number at my disposal."
"What are you talking about?" Alice asked.
"Among the Numbers there is a third Galaxy-Eyes monster, one that's the complete opposite of Prime Photon Dragon." Kaito explained. "While Prime Photon Dragon is the dragon of light, the other monster I speak of is the dragon of darkness. And now that the light has been stopped, it must give way to darkness! Using Prime Photon Dragon, I rebuild the overlay units and Xyz Summon a Number that's one Rank higher! A Number that strikes fear in the hearts of all who see it!"
A vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared on the battlefield and the chains binding Prime Photon Dragon shattered. The glowing dragon turned into a ball of purple energy and was pulled in. In an instant, the blue light emanating from Kaito changed into a black darkness that showed the stars of space. The photon duelist's body began giving off a powerful purple aura. Just then, a small black vortex that crackled with black electricity rose out of the galaxy.
"Awaken, Number 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon!" Kaito commanded.
The black hole changed into a pitch-black cloud that began to grow in size. A pair of massive wings burst from the sides of the cloud, and the top of it formed into a head with two small eyes and mouth filled with large white fangs. The bottom half of the creature changed into a trail of black mist that split into two heads that looked like tormented lost souls. The number 95 appeared on the beast's torso in dark-green alien writing. Orbiting around the wicked dragon were two balls of purple light.
All the color drained from Alice's face upon seeing Kaito's new dragon, but after a moment her confident smirk returned. "I'll admit that's quite the dragon you've summoned, but it only has 4000 ATK. It might be stronger than Cyber Drake, but not stronger than my Cyber End Dragon."
"When Dark Matter Dragon is Xyz Summoned, I can send three Dragon monsters from my deck to banish three cards from my opponent's deck!" Kaito announced. "The monsters I send to the Graveyard to use this effect are Galaxy Dragon, Photon Wyvern and Galaxy-Eyes Cloud Dragon!"
As soon as Kaito inserted the three cards into his Graveyard slot, one of the lost spirits that emanated from Dark Matter Dragon flew down and struck Alice's deck before vanishing. Soon after, three random cards in Alice's deck turned black and flew out, seeming to vanish from existence.
"And just what good is that effect supposed to do?" Alice asked.
"I activate the Trap I placed face-down earlier, Banishment Curse!" Kaito announced. "When a card effect banishes one or more of my opponent's cards, all of my opponent's monsters lose 700 ATK for each banished card!"
Upon the activation of Kaito's Trap, both of Alice's mechanical dragons turned completely grey and began to give off a strong black aura. Cyber End Dragon's ATK dropped to 1900, while Cyber Drake's ATK fell to a mere 1500.
"I now activate Dark Matter Dragon's effect!" Kaito announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, Dark Matter Dragon can make two attacks on monsters during this turn!"
One of the balls of light caught in Dark Matter Dragon's orbit entered its mouth. Once again all the color drained from Alice's face.
"If… if I take two attacks now…" a horrified Alice spoke.
"I could've used Dark Matter Dragon's effect without activating my Trap." Kaito revealed. "You forget that Dark Matter Dragon can only be destroyed by another Number, which means it would've been unharmed if I attacked Cyber End without lowering its ATK. But I'm not going to show you any mercy! Dark Matter Dragon, destroy her monsters and end this duel! Dark Matter Storm of Destruction!"
Two streams of black mist shot from Dark Matter Dragon's mouth and struck both of Alice's mechanical dragons. Cyber End Dragon and Cyber Drake exploded upon being hit, and the resulting blast knocked Alice to the ground and reduced her life points to zero. With the duel over, Dark Matter Dragon vanished and the auditorium returned to normal. Kaito's outfit resumed its original appearance and his D-Gazer tattoo vanished. As Kotori ran up onto the stage, Kaito walked over to check on Alice.
"Is… is she in a coma?" Kotori asked. "Like those psychic duelists that Anitak sent after Shark and the others?"
"Quite possibly." Kaito answered. "I'll have to check her over to be sure. But I wouldn't be surprised if Mitaka gave the same penalty to her followers for losing."
"That was a pretty close duel you fought against Alice." Kotori remarked. "That other dragon you used at the end kind of freaked me out."
"The truth is… the form of Number 95 represents the darkest part of myself." Kaito revealed. "I happened to find it as a blank card when I first started my Number hunting days. Because it was blank, it ended up taking a form that was a reflection of who I was. I never dared to use until today because it represented the worst part of me."
"But that's not who you are anymore." Kotori told him. "I'm sure that Yuma would say the same thing."
"Maybe. But Astral gave it back to me all the same." Kaito replied. "I can't help but think that he gave me Number 95 to remind me who I was and all the evil I committed, both as a Number Hunter and as Droite's consort during the Morphia incident."
"I don't believe that." Kotori told him. "Astral gave you that Number because he knew you're the best person to use it. Maybe that Number really is based on the evil that used to be inside you, but I know that you can use it for good."
"Thanks." Kaito replied as the ghost of a smile briefly appeared on his face. "Now let's go. On the way here I ran into Yuma and had Orbital knock him out so we can take him back to the tower. Hopefully we can find a way to break the spell that's blocking his true memories."
"What about Alice?" Kotori asked.
"I'll send Orbital to get her later." Kaito replied.
With that, Kaito and Kotori left the auditorium. Outside they soon found Orbital 7 waiting for them on the path. Knowing his robotic sidekick as he did, Kaito noticed that Orbital 7 seemed very nervous. He also noticed that Yuma was not where he had left them. Kaito and Kotori stopped directly in front of the robot.
"Orbital, where's Yuma?" Kaito asked as he crossed his arms.
"I-I-I-I-I was only following your orders, M-M-Master Kaito." Orbital 7 answered. The fact that the robot was stuttering far more than usual told Kaito that Obrital was quite terrified. "Y-you said to stay out of sight, and well… someone started to come by, so I hid."
"And you left Yuma out in the open?" Kaito asked.
"Y-y-yes sir." Orbital 7 answered. "T-the person who came by was… Anna Kozuki. She woke Yuma up and… t-took him back into the school."
On hearing this, Kaito's hands clenched into fists at his side. "So let me get this straight, Orbital," Kaito began in the calmest voice he could manage, "you hid and let Yuma walk away with one of the two people we didn't want him being within fifty feet of?"
"Um… yes?" Orbital responded.
"Dammit!" Kaito cursed. It took every fiber of restraint he had not to slam his fist into the top of Orbital's head.
"So… does that mean that Yuma's with Anna right now?" a worried Kotori asked.
"Don't worry, Kotori. We'll find a way to fix this." Kaito assured her before turning back to the robot. "And Orbital, if we lose Yuma to Anna or Mitaka, I'm going to take you apart and rebuild you into an outhouse!"
"Y-yes sir." Orbital 7 replied in a high voice as he gave a trembling salute.
Samantha stood in her basement lair at the school before a large orb that was floating above the table. The orb showed an image of Kaito and Kotori talking to Orbital 7. With a wave of Samantha's hand, the orb went dark and vanished from the room. The redhead plopped herself into the nearest chair with a discouraged expression on her face. At that moment, Chitose walked down into the basement.
"From your mood, I take it that the member of your coven that you sent after Mezuki failed in her mission." Chitose deduced.
"Kaito Tenjo interfered." Samantha revealed. "It seems that before I cast my spell over the city, the Envoy managed to give him a few of his Numbers too."
"That is indeed troubling." Chitose replied. "Tenjo is a formidable duelist, and very skilled using Numbers. He could cause some major problems for us."
"It's bad enough that we still have to deal with a couple of Don Thousand's old pawns." Samantha told her. "Their 10X Numbers would've prevented my spell from working on them too."
"I'm surprised you didn't wait to strike until all seven of the former emperors left the city." Chitose pointed out.
"Hey, I couldn't wait for all of them to leave town." Samantha told her. "Besides, two of those old pawns should be easy enough for us to handle ourselves. But Tenjo, he's dangerous. We'll either have to tag team him, or call Alnia to ask her for help. And that's one call I do not want to make."
"Tenjo would be a difficult opponent for us to handle, but it seems that the only true threat to this plan of yours is Kotori Mezuki." Chitose pointed out. "We can avoid a confrontation with Tenjo if you or a member of your coven can seduce Yuma."
"You know, the curse would work with you too, Ani." Samantha revealed. "I mean you did bang that ex-pawn Alit before. Yuma wouldn't be all that different."
"I am only willing to go so far to help you with this plan." Chitose told her. "And as for my encounter with Alit, that was for personal reasons."
"Okay, okay. We'll try it another way." Samantha replied. "Since Mezuki might be the only real threat to this plan, as you said, let's just focus on killing her for now. And I think I may have the perfect girl for the job."
"Another member of your coven?" Chitose asked.
"Uh-huh. Fujisaki." Samantha answered. "And before she's finished, birdie-girl's gonna find herself wishing for a quick death."
Author's Note: I came up with that alternate backstory for Number 95 on the spot. I really liked the idea of a Number that represented Kaito's dark side. Actually, a possible AU with this idea could be a story of how Kaito ends up finding Number 95 and ends up being slowly corrupted by it. It's a thought. Anyway, this'll probably be the last update I'll be able to do for this story until Friday or Sunday. So until next time, stay tuned.
Please review and let me know what you think.