Chapter 16

Last time on "The Shadow of Yuma:"

Astral: "Kazuma and I learned about Kurai's past. We found out his true weakness and that is what drives him insane. However, we have to be careful not to say it too often. I had regained the courage to fight thanks to Yuma's father. Before I could leave, Dark Mist and the tainted Hope, Demon Tyrant Kaos, had found me. I had challenged Dark Mist to a fight, but he had Demon Tyrant Kaos fight me instead. I don't know what to do now!"

Yuma: "Astral! Hang in there!"

Photon Finex: This time, we're coming back to Yuma! Trouble is brewing up for Kurai this time! Before we get started, I would like to thank my reviewers. TWENTY-NINE REVIEWS! Yay! :D I would like to thank especially: Ying-Yang-Yo, Tsukuyomi-chan, Innocent Demon, and Dairey-Syns. Thank you guys so much for your reviews. You all gave me do much motivation, lol. :D Enough with the chit-chat! Chapter 16 away! *flies out of a cannon*

By the way, to make up for the previous chapters, I DO NOT OWN ZEXAL!


Yuma dashed down the hallway like madman. All he could focus on was rescuing Kotori from that evil Kurai! If your best friend was kidnapped, you would feel the same way. Yuma happened to be anxious and determined at the same time. His mind raced as thoughts of Kurai hurting Kotori filled his mind.

"Kurai, you freak! You better not have hurt Kotori! I swear, if you do, you will regret touching her!" muttered Yuma.

The boy darted down the hall desperately looking for the door Takashi had spoken about.* Come on, purple door, purple door, where is it? thought Yuma anxiously. It's gotta be around here somewhere!

Yuma's question was quickly answers when he saw an all-familiar door at the end of the hall. It matched his own shirt symbol, which was a little confusing to him. This must be where Kurai is holding Kotori hostage! he assumed. Wait…. I can't just barge in Kurai's throne! What if he….. kills Kotori? I can't risk her being killed! I'll just have to listen in to their conversation.

Yuma placed his ear on the door, hoping to hear some talking. Instead, all he heard was….. Pleasent moaning. He swore he heard a deep moan, which he assumed was Kurai. The boy's mind raced intensely. He listened hard and carefully to the noises. What the heck is going on in there?


"Oh, baby! Your hands are sooooo good…." purred Kurai, jerking back a little in his throne. The boy king was getting the treatment of his entire life: A massage by his lovely queen, Kotori. My goodness, her hands feel like an angel's. I knew I made the right decision by making Kotori my queen, he thought.

Before Kotori could massage Kurai's chest, she pointed to his jacket ans said, "Could you take off your jacket? I can't massage your chest if that's in the way."

"Of course." Kurai let his jacket drop to the floor, revealing the rest of his chest.


Yuma couldn't believe what he was hearing! What was going on? Was Kurai making Kotori do dirty things?He scowled, "That's it, Kurai! You've gone too far! First you kidnap my friends, then you make Kotoro play dirty with you! I've had it!"

Yuma backed up a few feet from the door. He readied himself as he stared intensely at the door.

"I'm gonna bring it to you, Kurai," he growled.

Yuma charged at the door from the side. He rammed into the door on his side, and surprisingly, it fell down like a domino.


Inside the throne, Kurai and Kotori were so distracted by each other, they didn't realize that Yuma was invading their throne until they heard the door smash into itty-bitty pieces.

"What the devil?" shouted Kurai, placing his jacket back on his body as he surveyed the damage. The boy's throne was now covered in wood splinters and dust from the door blew all over the room. His throne wasn't as clean and polished as before, since it was filled with debris. Kurai scowled as he marched towards the assasilant under the rubble by the entrance.

"Alright, you little piece of crap! What the hell was this for? Who are you? Show yourself!" barked a pissed-off Kurai.

A cough was heard from below the rubble. The voice sounded familiar to Kurai, which slightly intimidated him. The rubble rose as a body pushed the trash above his head, revealing an all-familiar boy to the king and queen.

"Yuma Tsukumo…. I should've known! How did you get out of that warehouse? Wait…. That's not important," scowled Kurai. He turned his back to Yuma as he walked back this throne. "If you've come for Kotori, you're TOO LATE!"

Yuma growled, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're the one who kidnapped my friends, and you nearly killed me!" He stood behind Kurai and tugged him by the jacket. "Tell me now!" he yelled.

Kurai turned around quickly and grabbed Yuma by the arm. He pushed his double into the ground and placed one foot on his head. "You spineless fool, Kotori is MINE now! She and I are married! Why don't you ask Kotori herself?" Kurai poured towards the mentioned girl sitting in her throne.

Yuma groaned as he lifted his head. He gazed at Kotori, sitting poised in her throne. Instead of her normal clothes, Kotori wore a beautiful, flowing, green dress. Her hair was down and a tiara sat on her head. She looked so much like a real princess, you wouldn't recognize her that easily.

"Kotori! Don't tell me that youre married to Kurai! He is a terrible-" pleaded Yuma.

The mentioned girl stared at Yuma. She gave him an unpleasant look as she rose from her throne. She walked to her husband and scowled at the boy below them.

"So, this is the worm, Yuma Tsukumo, you have told me about, Kurai. He is an even bigger loser than I had expected!" jeered Kotori, sneering at Yuma as she knelt down to his eye level.

Yuma was really hurt by Kotori's statement. "Kotori…."

"By the way, don't even think of asking me to marry YOU, because Kurai and I are married. Can't you see?" said Kotori.

She waved her diamond ring on her hand in front of Yuma. The boy stared at the ring. It's real alright, complete with a diamond! Damn it, Kotori! Why did you go for Kurai? He is the bad guy here! thought Yuma.

Kurai unrolled a piece of paper from his pants. He carefully unfolded it, making sure not to wrinkle the paper. He opened the paper, waving it in Yuma's face. "Why don't you look at our wedding certificate? Kotori even signed it, agreeing to marry me! You can't do anything about it, because Kotori is mine, ALL MINE!" he hissed, placing great emphasis on 'mine.' "So, take it and leave it, Yuma Tsuku-loser" bragged Kurai.

"Kurai is right, Yuma. He is my husband, and I refuse to cheat on him in any way!" snapped Kotori.

Yuma took a step forward, looking straight into Kurai's eyes angrily. "Listen here," he hissed, poking Kurai in the chest. "Duel me."

"Say what?"

"I said, duel me."

Kurai couldn't help but chuckle. "HAHAHAHA! You want to duel ME? You've got to be joking!"

"I'm not kidding!" snapped Yuma. "Duel me now, or are you too chicken to even fight me? I don't remember one king ever being chicken!

"Shut up! If it'll make you shut your damn mouth, I duel you, on the following condition," interjected Kurai.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

Kurai sneered. "You haven't seen your precious friends as a part of my animal collection, have you? If so, you lose, you will make a nice addition to my collection."

Yuma scowled even more, clenching his fists. "I accept your challenge! But, if I win, you have to let Kotori go!" he declared. Yuma stood boldly in front of Kurai, face-to-face. "I'm not letting you go that easily, Kurai," he said in a low voice.

"Oh, please! You think I'm scared of a loser like you? Bring it on!" shouted Kurai, readying his D-Pad.

"It is so on!" replied Yuma. He reached into his pockets to reveal his D-Gazer and D-Pad. "Let's go!"

"D-GAZER, SET!"

Yuma tossed his D-Gazer into the air. It transformed from it's normal form to a dueling scouter. It's vibrant colors resembled his Ace Monster, Hope. Once the D-Gazer finished its morph, Yuma grabbed the scouter and placed it over his eye.

Kurai scoffed at the scouter, placing his hands on his hips. He sneered, "Heh, that's so lame! Get a load of this! "SHADOW CHANGE!"

As Kurai readied his deck, a yellow D-Gazer tattoo shaped like a serpent generated itself over Kurai's eye. The tattoo changed his blood red eye color to a dark green shade. At the same time, Kotori had put on her D-Gazer, but this time, she too had a D-Gazer tattoo instead. It was shaped like a phoenix with its colorful red shade. Kotori's hazel eye color immediately morphed into a dark pink-like shade.

Suddenly, Kurai's body started to glow white. The room became so bright, Yuma had to cover his eyes. "What the heck is going on? Don't tell me that this is like Kaito's Photon Change!" he shouted.

As the light began to shimmer, Kurai's appearance changed completely. Instead of his usual outit, the boy now bore an armor strikingly similar to a Dragoon's. ((A/N: Think of "Final Fantasy III." Imagine the Dragoon armor with a vibrant purple shade and gold)) Kurai smirked as he approached Yuma. "Can't you see that I'm practically unbeatable? You're going to regret dueling me in the first place!" he jeered.

"D-PAD, SET!"

Yuma tossed his red D-Pad into the air, as it shifted to form a Duel Disk. Once it finished changing, it landed into his arm.

Kurai, on the other hand, held out his normal midnight-blue D-Pad. The boy's D-Pad glowed as it began to change shape. Instead of a standard D-Pad, all Yuma saw was a midnight black dragon-shaped D-Pad.

"Think you're still gonna duel me?" jeered Kurai.

"I am done running away from the fight!" shouted Yuma hotly. "I am tired of being held down because you think you're better than everyone else!"

"You're making me bored already," yawned Kurai, "can't we just start the damn duel already?"

"I think you already know the answer to that," snapped Yuma.

Kurai held up a hand. "Before we even begin out duel, Yuma, I need to do one quick thing." The boy king placed the Diamond Heart into Kotori's hands, who was standing by their thrones. "Don't let anything happen to the Heart. If anything happens to me, the throne is yours, my dear."

Kotori replied monotonously, "Your wish is my command."

"Excellent," hissed Kurai. He then waved his hand. In an instant, a giant bubble-like substance covered Kotori.

Yuma stated at the giant bubble. "What the hell are you doing?" he shouted.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk, Yuma, I can't just let you run off with Kotori, now can I? Besides, it would be a shame if you left with a Kotori still loyal to ME," smirked Kurai.

Yuma growled angrily as he stared at Kurai, then a mind-controlled Kotori. "Kurai, let's duel!" he shouted.

In response, Kurai laughed. "I thought you'd never say it! Soon, you'll fall into the darkness!"

"DUEL!"


Next time:
Yuma and Kurai have what could he the duel of the century! However, things aren't looking good for Yuma, as Kurai has a few tricks up his sleeve! At the same time, Astral and Dark Mist fight for control over Hope, who had become Demon Tyrant Kaos! Can Yuma prevail and turn things around? Will Dark Mist reign control over Kaos? Find out next time in, "The Shadow of Yuma!"

Photon Finex: Just a heads up! Honestly, I ABSOLUTELY suck at writing a complete duel, so I'll only do a few parts of the boys' duel. Thought I should let you all know. See you later guys! Bring it to 'em!