Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
Chapter 16: Incarnation of Light
"I'll let you go first, Jaden." Electra graciously decided. "I might as well give you the chance to prepare some kind of defense."
Jaden glared at Electra as he drew his first card. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode!" The stone-armored hero appeared on Jaden's side of the field. "Next I'll lay down a face-down and end my turn!"
Electra drew her first card. "I play the Field Spell, Domain of Rituals!"
In an instant the surroundings changed. But right away, Jaden and the others noticed that something was different. Instead of being in a grey wasteland, Jaden and his companions found that they were standing within a large walled enclosure of some kind. Towering above them was the same castle-like structure they had seen in the distance during the other times that the Field Spell had been played. And it seemed that they were now in the castle's courtyard.
"What's going on here?" Jaden asked as he looked around. "How come the area this Field Spell creates is different all of a sudden?"
"The Domain of Rituals is actually based on my homeland during the time of Lord Zott." Electra explained. "In your previous duels, the card only showed you the land surrounding the castle. But now that you're dueling me, the card has brought us to the castle of Lord Zott. Now then, I activate Final Ritual of the Ancients! I offer Sacrifice Maiden Maria from my hand to summon Reshef the Dark Being!"
Appearing on Electra's side of the battlefield was a young woman with short dark-blonde hair and dark-green eyes. She had on a white Roman-style dress and she looked like she was in some kind of trance. Appearing behind Maria was a large brown stone tablet. Glowing white marks appeared on the front of the stone depicting the shape of some kind of monster. The marks shot beams of white light at Maria and instantly vaporized her. The stone shattered apart and a column of golden light shot into the air.
The golden light faded, and appearing to hover behind Electra was a massive robot-like entity with a body made out of gold. It had five long rods projecting from the front of its head and shoulders. The entity had no legs, and a ball of yellow light connected the lower half of its body to its upper half. Its large left forearm was connected to its corresponding upper arm through a ball of red light, while a ball of blue light connected the two segments of its right arm. Reshef glowed briefly with a feint white aura as it appeared and its eyes flashed red.
"I've heard of this card before, but… this is the first time I've actually seen it." A somewhat amazed Reggie spoke from the sidelines.
"Reshef is another one of the world's first Ritual Monsters." Electra revealed. "A wicked being of light that desired ultimate power. Legends say that his lust for power was so great that he even tried to consume the power of the Egyptian Gods. It's said that Maximillion Pegasus personally created Reshef's card, but he only made a few copies because he feared that the monster might be the death of him."
"Am I supposed to be impressed by that?" Jaden impatiently asked.
"I just thought you should know what kind of power you're up against." Electra replied. "I activate Reshef's effect! Once per turn, I can discard a Spell card from my hand to take control of one of my opponent's monsters until the end of the turn. So I discard Shinato's Arc to allow Reshef to take control of Clayman."
Two beams of red energy shot down from Reshef's eyes and struck Clayman. With a flash of red light, Clayman teleported from Jaden's side of the battlefield over to Electra's.
"Wait a minute. Shinato's Arc is a Ritual Spell card." Tabitha observed. "Why would Electra discard a card that might give her such a huge advantage later on?"
"Maybe she didn't have anything else to discard." Sheila assumed.
"I activate the effect Reshef gained from Sacrifice Maiden Maria!" Electra announced. "By sacrificing one other monster I control, I can draw one more card from my deck."
Clayman turned into a ball of white light and flew up into the tip of the horn on Reshef's head. A ball of gold light flew down from the top of Reshef's body and struck the top card of Electra's deck.
Electra drew the card from her deck. "Reshef, attack the Supreme King directly!"
"I activate my face-down card, The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" Jaden quickly announced. "This card lets me summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck!" Jaden's winged ball of brown fur appeared on the battlefield.
"Very well then." Electra responded. "Reshef, attack that pesky little ball of fluff! Radiance of Destruction!"
Reshef fired three blasts of light from the spheres connecting his body down at Winged Kuriboh. The winged hairball was vaporized in a single shot.
"I end my turn." Electra announced.
Jaden drew his next card. "I activate Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Hero Avian with Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Nova Master!"
Avian materialized on the battlefield along with a humanoid beetle-like creature with a mostly blue exoskeleton and a large horn on its head. Both monsters flew up into the small vortex that had appeared in the air. Emerging from the vortex moments later was Jaden's armored hero of flames.
"As powerful as Reshef is, he only has 2500 ATK." Jaden pointed out. "Which makes Nova Master a hundred points stronger! Nova Master, attack Reshef! Supreme Flame!"
Nova Master raised his arms forward and blasted Reshef with an intense stream of flames. The golden being exploded with a flash of gold light, and Electra's life points dropped slightly to 3900.
"I end my turn!" Jaden announced.
"That's the best you could do?" Electra remarked as she drew her first card. "I commend you for defeating Reshef, but I was expecting an attack with a little more force. Ah well. For my next move I discard my avatar, Demon Priestess Electra."
"Her avatar?" Atticus repeated with a quirked brow. "What does she mean by that?"
"I'm not sure we wanna know." Reggie replied.
"With my avatar's effect, I add a certain pair of cards to my hand." Electra continued. "But before I play one of those cards, I activate a Spell known as Sacrificial Preparations! By discarding a Spell card from my hand, I can summon five Sacrifice Maidens to the field! I call forth from my deck Sacrifice Maiden Sophie, Sacrifice Maiden Ronda, Sacrifice Maiden Ellen, Sacrifice Maiden Nichole, and Sacrifice Maiden Alexis!"
Five beams of white light shot from the ground in front of Electra. The beams of light quickly faded to reveal five young women. To the horror of both Jaden and Atticus, the young woman standing in the middle was Alexis. She had on an ice-blue Roman-style dress and she looked as if she was in some kind of trance. Sophie and Ronda were standing to Alexis' right. On her left was a young woman white short dark-blue hair that was Sacrifice Maiden Ellen. Next to Ellen was a young woman with long black hair tied in a braided ponytail that was Sacrifice Maiden Nichole.
"Oh my god!" Atticus exclaimed.
"No… Alexis!" Jaden called out as Electra began to laugh.
"If it makes you feel better, Alexis wasn't…'dominated' like the other Sacrifice Maidens." Electra revealed. "Her spirit was too strong for her to be prepared in that manner. So I had my high priest defeat her in a duel."
"Damn you!" Jaden cursed.
"The time has finally come." Electra declared. "I activate the Spell, Revival of Zott! Ordinarily I'd have to offer monsters whose total levels equaled ten or more. But I can also offer five Sacrifice Maidens for the Ritual! So I offer these five women to revive Zott, Demon God of Light!"
The emblem of Zott appeared in the center of the battlefield as lines of white light. Alexis and the other four girls moved to each of the five points of the symbol. Jaden and the others watched in horror as the five were reduced to sparks of white electrical energy. A pillar of white light shot from the center of the emblem into the sky. Moments later a massive bolt of white lightning came down and struck the ground behind Electra.
The energy died down, and standing behind Electra was a massive demonic entity with pale-blue skin. It had long narrow arms and legs with hands and feet tipped with gold claws. On the sides of its head were curled golden horns. The beast's face had a large mouth filled with fangs. Its left eye was completely red while its right eye was covered by a gold plate shaped like the sun. It had a long whip-like tail with a golden spear tip on the end, and its upper torso was covered in white armor with gold trim. Engraved in the center of the demon's chest plate in gold was the emblem of Zott, with a ruby gemstone acting in the center of the eye.
"Ah… at long last I live again." The creature spoke. "You have done very well, Electra."
"I am your eternal instrument, Lord Zott." Electra replied.
Zott glanced down and noticed Jaden. "Well, well. We meet again, Supreme King. You've changed quite a bit since we faced each other last."
"That… that thing can talk?" a stunned Sheila observed.
"You bastard!" Atticus cursed, getting Zott's attention. "What the hell are you?"
"That is a question worthy of answer." Zott replied. "I am an incarnation of what you call the Light of Destruction. I was born ages ago in a kingdom whose name has long forgotten by the human race. The people of that kingdom wished to perform a ritual that would bring to life a creature that they wished to use to destroy a rival kingdom. To perform the ritual, they chose to use a young servant girl of the king as the offering."
"I was the offering for that ritual." Electra interjected.
"Many of the people in that kingdom had gathered together to watch the sacrifice." Zott continued. "But at the exact moment the ritual began, a ray from the Light of the Destruction struck the kingdom right where the rite was being performed. In that moment, I came into being. Rather than my dear Electra being the one sacrificed to give me life, the lives of every man, woman, and child was used."
"In that instant, I was completely reborn." Electra added. "My body was transformed and my mind was opened to the truth of humanity's nature."
"Once I came into being, I made Electra my high priestess so that I could spread my influence across the globe." Zott finished.
"I don't care what the hell either of you are." Jaden declared in a low hate-filled voice. "Before this duel's over, I'm going to kill you!"
At this, Zott chuckled. "Well now, and just what has you so vengeful?"
"I used the woman he loved as one of the offerings to bring you back, my lord." Electra explained. "Of course he never had the chance to admit his true feelings for her."
"Is that so?" an amused Zott replied. "It seems you've grown quite pathetic over the centuries, Supreme King. Hardly what I'd expect from the being who's supposed to be my opposite."
"We are still in the middle of a duel." Electra reminded Jaden. "Now then, let me explain the effects Lord Zott has in this game. Because of his own power, all non-Ritual Monsters lose 500 ATK and DEF. With the powers gained from Sophie and Ronda, Lord Zott cannot be destroyed in battle and can attack twice during each turn. And thanks to the power he gained from Nichole, my opponent can't activate Spell or Trap cards until after Lord Zott's attack ends."
"How's Jaden supposed to beat a monster with that many effects?" Sheila wondered.
"This is the forbidden power granted by the Sacrifice Maidens." Tabitha remarked with a sad expression. "To think that I used that power."
"Hey! Don't get down on yourself." Sheila told her. "You only did that stuff because that witch messed with your head."
"Or perhaps I only exposed her true dark desires." Electra interrupted. "Now then, I call upon Lord Zott to attack Elemental Hero Nova Master!"
"Light of Divine Darkness!" Zott called as he reared back his head.
From his mouth, Zott fired a massive beam of white light at Nova Master. As the beam traveled through the air, the colors of everything in the surrounding space became inverted. The beam vaporized Nova Master and the colors of the space returned to normal. Jaden's life points dropped to 2400.
"Because of the effect Lord Zott gained from Nichole, my opponent has to send the top two cards of his deck to the Graveyard each time Lord Zott inflicts damage." Electra revealed. "At the same time, another of Lord Zott's own effects activates."
Suddenly appearing in the spot where Nova Master once stood was a young woman with blue skin and long dark-blue hair. She had golden eyes and wore a skimpy white dress. Growing from her forehead were two small blue horns.
"What's this?" Jaden asked.
"When Lord Zott destroys a monster, he summons a Wicked Offering Token to my opponent's side of the field in Defense Mode." Electra explained. "Now, watch what happens when that token is destroyed. My lord!"
"Light of Divine Darkness!" Zott called again as he launched another attack, inverting the color of the space.
The demonic-looking token monster was vaporized by the blast of light and the color of the space returned to normal again. Suddenly Electra glowed with a white aura and her life points rose to 5900.
"Thanks to the power Lord Zott gained from your dear Alexis, whenever he destroys a monster in Defense Mode I gain life points equal to that monster's DEF." Electra revealed. "But more importantly, Lord Zott can use his other effect now activates. Since a Wicked Offering Token was destroyed, I can banish a Ritual Spell from my Graveyard to bring forth the monster that Spell summons from my hand. So I banish Shinato's Arc to summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!"
Zott began chanting something in a strange profane language as he raised his right claw. A large ball of white light formed in the palm of the demon god's claw. The ball shot from Zott's claw and struck the ground on the demon's left, creating a pillar of white light. The light faded to reveal a large angelic figure with six large gold-feathered wings. The creature looked like a living statue of a Japanese deity.
"That's why Electra discarded Shinato's Arc before?" Reggie realized. "So she could use it to summon Shinato with Zott's effect?"
"Fortunately for you, Supreme King, Shinato can't attack this turn since he was summoned by Lord Zott's power." Electra revealed. "So I'll set one card on the field and end my turn."
"Zott truly is a formidable monster." Tabitha observed. "With his power, Electra can summon Ritual Monster without having to sacrifice other monsters."
"That, my darling Tabitha, is because Lord Zott personifies the true nature of Ritual Monsters." Electra explained.
"What's that supposed to mean?" a skeptical Reggie asked.
"Deep down, all human beings are depraved." Zott responded. "I should know, as I am the creation of humanity's dark desires. But I am not the only one. Ritual Monsters are the symbol of the human race's dark desires. They used dark magic and made forbidden pacts all to create monsters to further their own desires. My existence and the existence of all Ritual Monsters is proof of this. When this duel is over, my light shall reveal humanity's true nature to itself and return them to their true state."
"You're wrong, Zott!" Jaden suddenly spoke. "Maybe there are some Ritual Monsters out there who were created by people with evil desires, but there are others who were created by good desires too! The desire to protect!"
"Oh really?" Zott scoffed. "Do you honestly believe that good can truly come from such power?"
"I'll prove it by showing you one of those monsters right now?" Jaden declared as he drew his next card. The card he drew gave off a feint black aura. "I activate the Spell, O-Oversoul! With this card, I summon one of the monsters sent to the Graveyard by Zott's deck destruction effect! Elemental Hero Neos!"
A circle of blue flames appeared on the ground in front of Jaden. Soon after in the middle of the ring off fire, Neos appeared with a flash of white light.
"Now I activate Primal Awakening and add Rite of the Primal Flame and the monster it summons to my hand!" Jaden announced as the flames around Neos subsided. "Now I activate Rite of the Primal Flame and sacrifice Neos to summon Primal Neos!"
Two ornate torches appeared to each side of Neos and shot fireballs into the gem on the hero's chest. Neos was enveloped in a pillar of flames, which subsided to reveal the hero in his ancestral form.
"Zott only has 3700 ATK." Atticus recalled. "Which means that if Primal Neos attacked Zott, his power up effect would make him just strong enough to beat him."
"Except Zott can't be destroyed in battle thanks to the effect he gained from Sophie." Reggie pointed out.
"So this barbarian hero is the type of monster you speak of." Zott observed. "The power of the Primal Flame may have defeated me in the distant past, but thanks to the power I've gained from those young maidens I am immortal. I have the true power that a Ritual Monster can possess. Your Ritual Monster is nothing more than a weakling."
"Maybe, but he can still beat Shinato!" Jaden pointed out. "Neos! Take down Shinato with Primal Wrath!'
"I activate a Trap, Sacrificial Shield!" Electra suddenly announced.
Just as Neos was about the leap into the air to attack Shinato, Alexis suddenly reappeared on the battlefield. She was chained to a wooden pole in front of Zott and Shinato. Her face still had a vacant expression.
"What… what is this?" an unsettled Jaden asked.
"Sacrificial Shield let's me summon a Sacrifice Maiden from the Graveyard." Electra explained. "Now the only monster you can attack is your dear Alexis. Of course you could go ahead and attack her. But then there's no telling what might happen to her if you do. You might end up actually killing her, making her soul irretrievable."
"Jaden, you can't take the risk of harming Alexis!" Atticus told him.
"I know." Jaden replied. "I equip Neos with Shield of the Supreme King and end my turn!"
Appearing on Primal Neos' left arm was a black circular shield with a red demonic eye on the front. Four fin-like blades projected out from the shield's rim.
"Lord Zott and I will try and make your end quick." Electra spoke as she drew her next card. "I activate a Spell called Blessings of the Dark Gods! With this Spell I can draw a card for each Ritual Monster on the field. And since there are three, I can draw three new cards. Now I activate the Spell known as Fulfillment of the Contract! By paying 800 life points, I can summon Reshef the Dark Being from the Graveyard!"
Electra's life points dropped slightly to 5100. Soon after, a pillar of golden light shot up from the ground to Zott's left. The light faded and Reshef reappeared to hover beside Zott.
"This is not good!" a concerned Atticus declared. "With Reshef back, that witch can take control of Neos and swarm Jaden."
"I activate Reshef's effect!" Electra announced. "By discarding a Spell card from my hand, Reshef can take control of Neos!"
"I activate the effect of Shield of the Supreme King!" Jaden quickly announced. "Once per turn, I can send a card from my deck to the Graveyard to negate the effect of an opponent's monster!"
Reshef shot a pair of red beams from his eyes. Neos quickly raised his shield and the beams entered the demonic eye on the shield's front.
"Well played." Electra praised. "But a pointless move either way. Lord Zott, I call upon you to attack Neos!"
"Light of Divine Darkness!" Zott called out as he fired another blast from his mouth.
The intense beam of white light headed strait down at Neos. The primal hero raised his shield and blocked the attack. The blades on the rim of the shield spun as the beam hit it. When the attack ended, Jaden's life points dropped to 1950.
"What's this?" Zott asked with a quirked brow. "Why is that barbarian still alive?"
"As long as Primal Neos is equipped with Shield of the Supreme King, he can't be destroyed in battle." Jaden explained. "Not only that, any battle damage I'd take is cut in half."
"Well then, if I can't kill that barbarian monster I can at least inflict more pain!" Zott responded as he prepared for another attack. "Light of Divine Darkness!"
The demon god fired another intense blast of light from his mouth. Neos raised his shield and withstood the attack. Jaden's life points dropped further to 1500.
"Shinato, attack Primal Neos!" Electra commanded. "Divine Judgment!"
Shinato pointed his index finger down at Neos and fired a bolt of gold lightning from the tip. The bolt of lightning hit the front of the shield, protecting Neos from destruction. Jaden's life points dropped to 1250.
"I'll end my turn there." Electra announced. "Go ahead and make your next move. But now that Lord Zott is immortal and that girl is being used as a shield, there's nothing you can do. You might as well surrender and make things easier on yourself."
Jaden drew his next card, hoping to get something that could turn the situation around. Though he couldn't think of a single card in his deck that could do that. Looking at the card he just drew, Jaden saw that he had gotten Super Polymerization.
Yubel sighed heavily as she appeared next to him. "Looks like you just drew the one card that can help get Alexis out of harm's way."
"Wait, do you mean…?" Jaden quietly began to ask.
"It's our only option at this point." Yubel replied. "You can use Shield of the Supreme King to bring me to the field."
"But… are you sure?" Jaden asked.
"Believe me, I wouldn't be suggesting this if there wasn't any other way." Yubel answered. "Looks like Alexis and I are going to get to know one another. Just do it and get it over with."
Jaden nodded and turned his attention back to the duel. "I activate another effect of Shield of the Supreme King! By sending the shield to the Graveyard, I can summon Yubel to the field!"
Neos threw his shield to the ground, causing it to shatter and explode with a small burst of black energy. Suddenly Jaden's eyes began to glow orange and teal, and a large shadow stretched from his feet onto the battlefield. Rising from the end of the shadow was a humanoid demon with eyes glowing in the same colors as Jaden's, and a third more demonic-looking eye on her forehead. The skin on its face, parts of its torso, and the bicep of its right upper arm were bright purple, while the rest of its body was mostly black. The demon had a pair of large bat-like wings, and it had a head of long shaggy hair that was white on the left side and dark-blue on the right.
"You gave up your barbarian's near-perfect defense to summon that pathetic creature?" an amused Zott asked.
"You're not such hot stuff either, fang face." Yubel retorted.
"What the… now Jaden's monster is talking?" a surprised Sheila asked.
"Do you really expect Lord Zott and I to be foolish enough to attack that guardian of yours?" Electra scoffed.
"I activate Super Polymerization!" Jaden announced. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can fuse Yubel with a monster my opponent controls!"
"Just what are you trying to accomplish?" Electra asked. "Are you planning to try and merge your guardian with Lord Zott?"
"That would actually be an improvement over what I'm actually going to be merged with." Yubel responded.
"The monster I'm fusing Yubel with is Sacrifice Maiden Alexis!" Jaden announced.
"What?" a stunned Electra exclaimed.
"He's fusing Yubel with my sister?" an equally shocked Atticus responded.
A massive vortex suddenly appeared in the sky above the battlefield. Yubel flew across the battlefield and slashed the chains binding Alexis to the post with her claws. The demon then grabbed Alexis and flew into the air with her towards the vortex. Jaden and the others watched as Yubel and Alexis entered the center of the fusion storm. Seconds after they vanished from view, the vortex exploded with a flash of golden light. The energy from the explosion died down and a ray of white light shined down onto the battlefield.
Descending towards the field was Yubel in a new form. Her appearance had become fully female and her right wing had become covered in white feathers. The purple parts of her body had become light blue, while the black parts had turned white. The right side of her shaggy head of hair had become blonde, while the left side had turned black. Yubel had on a two-piece dress made of glittering gold fabric consisting of a short skirt and a low-cut shirt that showed her midriff. Covering the upper half of Yubel's face was an ornate golden mask.
"Say hello to Fallen Angel Yubel!" Jaden announced as Yubel softly landed on the ground. "And now that she's on the field, you and Zott are as good as finished!"
Author's Note: Early in the planing stages of this duel I had decided that Electra would use at least one other Ritual Monster besides Zott. I went with Reshef the Dark Being because it was a Light monster, and both Electra and Zott are connected to the Light of Destruction. I was aware of Reshef from the non-cannon Capsule Monsters arc of the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I had ended up looking into Reshef's role in the Reshef of Destruction game for the Gameboy Advance. I may revisit the concept behind Reshef for a future GX story.
As for Zott, I had a real challenge coming up with his stats and effects. Let alone the effects he was going to gain from all those Sacrifice Maidens. I actually got the idea for Zott's name from this old mummy movie I saw one Saturday afternoon when I was like twelve or thirteen. There was a flashback scene where these Egyptian priests were chanting the name of a deity they called Zot. Of course this was an Egyptian god that was pretty much made up (though I could've misheard the name). I remembered that scene when I was trying to come up with the main monster for this story, and the name just kind of stuck. Of course I added an extra T to the spelling.
Please review and let me know what you think.