Author's Note: Personally I would've liked to have gotten this chapter up a little sooner, but I've had kind of an off week. Part of it has to do with my latest online class. I actually could've gotten this chapter up last night I suppose, but there was a movie on T.V. that I wanted to watch.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

Chapter 5: Clashing Prides

Mizael waited impatiently up on the stadium stage for his opponent to arrive. The blonde dragon tamer had an annoyed scowl on his face. He was insulted by the fact that Cleo was making him wait. At long last though, Cleo walked up onto the stage opposite Mizael, causing the audience to cheer. Rio meanwhile returned to the dugout with Yuma and the others.

"Just what were you two doing this whole time?" Shark asked his twin.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Ryoga." Rio replied.

Shark's only response was to turn his head back towards the stage and grind his teeth. He had a pretty good idea of what Cleo and his sister had been up to and decided that it was best to try not to think about it.

"It's about time you and I settled things, Atlas." Mizael told Cleo. "Now I can finally pay you back for what you did to Cathy before!"

"You're still upset about that?" Cleo indifferently asked. "It was her own fault for bringing all those cats with her in Rio's presence. But I'm fine with dueling you either way. I've been wanting to put you in your place for some time now."

"As if a weakling like you could even come close to matching my power." Mizael scoffed. "Before this duel's over, I'll have you groveling at my feet!"

"That is something that will never happen." Cleo declared before pointing her finger straight into the air. "There's only one empress of duelists and that's me! Cleo Atlas!"

"Oh dear god!" Hikari sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Stuck-up bitch." Thomas grumbled under his breath.

"Well, at least Cleo's confident." Yuma pointed out.

"I'm not sure which of these two has the bigger ego." Kaito remarked.

"You can take her, Mizael darling!" Cathy cheered from up in the stands.

"Since when did you and dragon boy become so close?" Anna asked her.

"At least I've moved on from Yuma." Cathy responded. "I'm not like a pathetic girl like you who spends her life pining over a guy they'll never have."

"You're lucky I don't have my cannon with me, catnip breath!" Anna shot back.

"I wonder which of these two will win?" Kotori asked, trying very hard to ignore Cathy and Anna.

"It's hard to say." Durbe replied. "Both Cleo and Mizael are quite powerful."

"And they've got egos to match too." Gilag added.

"Frankly, I don't really care who wins." Vector remarked. "I'm just looking forward to seeing these two beat each other to a pulp."

"The second duel of the preliminary round will be between Cleo Atlas and Mizael!" the referee announced. "Begin!"

With that, Cleo and Mizael both activated their D-Gazers and duel disks. The audience activated their D-Gazers as well and the color of the area in the stadium changed.

"I'll be taking the first turn!" Cleo declared as she drew her first card. "I set one card on the field. Then I summon Mystic Tomato in Defense Mode!" Appearing on Cleo's side of the battlefield was a large red tomato with a face like a jack-o-lantern's. "That ends my turn."

Mizael drew his first card. "I discard a Dragon-type monster from my hand to summon Binary Star Dragon from my hand!"

Materializing on Mizael's side of the field was a ball of white light with two dragon's heads growing from the top, both of which were attached to long necks. Each head was covered in silver scales and had a pair of glowing golden eyes, along with a pair of short golden horns. Extending from the bottom of the ball of light was a long silver tail with a small golden blade on the tip.

"Binary Star Dragon, destroy Mystic Tomato!" Mizael commanded. "Shooting Star Bolt!"

The dragon's right head opened its jaws and fired a ball of white light at Cleo's monster. Upon being hit, Mystic Tomato shattered into particles of light.

"When Mystic Tomato is destroyed, I can summon a Dark monster from my deck in Attack Mode." Cleo announced. "I summon Skull Knight 2!"

Taking Mystic Tomato's place on the battlefield was a warrior clad in silver armor with a tattered red cape on his back. His face was a white skull and he had red horns on the sides of his helmet. In his right hand, the knight carried a bone-like sword.

Mizael smirked. "Your moves couldn't be any more transparent. You forget that I saw your duel against that mad psychic woman, which means I know exactly why Skull Knight 2 was the monster you decided to summon from your deck. Unfortunately for you, you won't get a chance to use his power! Binary Star Dragon can attack twice during the same turn, which means your knight is finished! Binary Star Dragon, obliterate Atlas' knight! Shooting Star Bolt!"

"As if I'd give you the chance!" Cleo shot back as the dragon opened the mouth of its left head. "I activate my Trap, Shadow Spell!"

Before Binary Star Dragon could fire another shot, several black chains shot up from the ground and wrapped themselves around the dragon's body. The chains even wrapped themselves around the snouts of both of the dragon's heads.

"Not only does Shadow Spell prevent your dragon from attacking, it lowers its ATK from 2450 to 1750." Cleo announced. "Did you really think I would be so foolish as to summon my Skull Knight without a way to defend it?"

Mizael scowled. "I set one card on the field and end my turn!"

Cleo drew her next card. "I sacrifice Skull Knight 2 to summon Emissary from Pandemonium!"

Cleo's skull knight shattered to bits, and in his place appeared a very large blue dog with a mouth full of fangs and two very large red horns. Much of its body was covered in black armor adorned with several spikes and chains.

"Since Emissary from Pandemonium was summoned using only one tribute, his level is reduced from seven to five." Cleo announced. "Now, because I sacrificed Skull Knight 2 to summon a Fiend monster, I can summon a second Skull Knight 2 from my deck!" A duplicate of the demon knight appeared next to Cleo's underworld hound. "I tune the level five Emissary from Pandemonium into the level three Skull Knight 2 for a level eight Synchro Summon!"

The demon hound howled and transformed into five rings made of green light. The lights encircled Skull Knight 2 and changed him into three white stars.

"The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power!" Cleo chanted. "Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

The stars flashed and a pillar of white light shot into the air. The light quickly faded to reveal a muscular black and red dragon with three tan horns on its head. The two horns on the sides of its head curved forward, while the third horn went straight back. Much of the audience went into a frenzy of cheers upon seeing the iconic dragon used by both Cleo and her father.

"Looks like she really is the daughter of Jack Atlas." Gauche observed from the dugout. "If she wins this duel, I'm going to have my work cut out for me later in the tournament."

"The same is true if Mizael manages to win." Alit pointed out.

"Red Dragon Archfiend, destroy Binary Star Dragon!" Cleo commanded. "Absolute Power Force!"

Red Dragon Archfiend flew towards the two-headed dragon as a massive ball of red flames formed in his right palm. The dragon slammed the fireball into Binary Star Dragon, causing it to shatter into bits of white light. Mizael's life points dropped to 2750.

"I activate Binary Star Dragon's final effect!" Mizael announced. "Because Binary Star Dragon was destroyed, I can summon two dragons from my deck with the effects negated! I summon two Schwarzschild Dragons!"

Two identical serpentine dragons appeared on Mizael's side of the battlefield with a flash of yellow light. Both dragons were brow in color and each one had a set of three red eyes.

"Now whose moves are transparent?" Cleo remarked. "Ah well. I set one card on the field and end my turn!"

Mizael drew his next card. "Using both level eight Schwarzschild Dragons, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my ultimate monster! Arise, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!"

A large vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Mizael's two dragons as balls of yellow energy. Rising out of the middle of the small galaxy soon after was an object that looked like a black metal top with red and blue lights near the top. Orbiting around the top were two balls of yellow light. The top unfolded and changed shape, transforming into a black mechanical dragon with purple lines glowing on parts of its body. Glowing on the dragon's head crest was the number 107 in alien writing.

"So, now they both have out dragons with 3000 ATK." Alnia observed. "This is getting rather amusing."

"In a straight-up fight between these two, the Tachyon Dragon would be the winner since it can only be destroyed by another Number." Samantha noted.

"Both of them also have face-down cards on the field." Chitose pointed out. "It is hard to tell how this next battle will go."

"Let me guess. Now you're either going to have your dragon attack mine in attack that would normally destroy both our monsters, or you're going to evolve into its chaos form."

"Neither." Mizael told her. "What I am going to do now is demonstrate a power that I gained during our conflict with Team Arcadia! A power that I have since perfected!"

"Wait! He's not talking about…" a surprised Kaito began.

"I use Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon a monster that's one Rank higher!" Mizael announced. "Behold! The ultimate and undisputed ruler of time! Number S107: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Tachyon Dragon!"

Tachyon Dragon let out a roar and changed back into the top-like object that he had first appeared in as another galaxy-like vortex appeared on the ground beneath him. The object disappeared into the vortex it exploded with a blinding flash of white light. After a moment the light faded, and rising out of the galaxy was a sword made of white metal with three balls of golden light orbiting around it. The front of the sword's blade had gold alien writing written on the front, and fitted into the crossguard was something that looked like a clock. The giant sword quickly transformed into a new version of Tachyon Dragon.

The dragon's mechanical body had changed from black to white and had glowing blue lines on parts of him. The color of the number on the dragon's head crest had become blue as well; as did his eyes which both had the image of a galaxy swirling within them. The dragon's chest had gained a golden plate, in the center of which was an object that looked like an hourglass with blue sand. On each side of its body it had five golden blades that acted as the dragon's wings. The dragon's entire body gave of a golden aura like that of a star.

"A Shining Number!" an awe-struck Astral spoke.

"Kaito, is that the monster Mizael used to save Cathy that one time?" Yuma asked.

"No. It's the same kind of number, but this dragon's different." Kaito answered. "For one thing, it has the same ATK and DEF as Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon."

Meanwhile, all the color had drained from Alnia's face. "What… what the hell is that thing?"

"Alnia? You okay?" Samantha asked.

"That… that dragon!" a horrified Alnia spoke. "How did that old pawn of Don Thousand's summon that abomination?"

"I now activate Prime Tachyon Dragon's effect!" Mizael announced. "I detach one of his overlay units and reverse the flow of time on the field!"

One of the balls of golden light orbiting the mechanical dragon entered the hourglass mounted in his chest plate. The dragon roared and his body began to give of a loud ticking noise like that of a clock. Suddenly the blue sand in the dragon's hourglass began to flow upward into the top half. The sound of a loud clock chime was heard and a wave of blue light spread from Prime Tachyon Dragon all across the field. As soon as the wave hit Red Dragon Archfiend, the dragon vanished and in his place had appeared Emissary from Pandemonium and Skull Knight 2, the very monsters that had summoned him.

"What… what did you just do?" a stunned Cleo demanded to know.

"I just told you that I reversed the flow of time." Mizael told her. "When Prime Tachyon Dragon uses his effect, all special summoned monsters beside himself that weren't on the field at the beginning of the previous turn are returned to the hand. Or in the case of your Red Dragon Archfiend, they're returned to the Extra Deck. Also, in the event that the monsters sent back by Prime Tachyon were Fusion, Synchro or Xyz Monsters, the materials used to summon those monsters are summoned from the Graveyard to the same side of the field they were on before."

"In other words, Mizael's dragon literally turned back the clock." Shark observed.

"Not only that, since Emissary from Pandemonium was summoned from the Graveyard, it's a level seven monster again." Hikari added. "Even if Cleo is somehow able to survive Mizael's next attack, she can't use those monsters to re-summon Red Dragon Archfiend."

"Even the strongest monsters are helpless against the power of time! And that is the power my dragon and I wield!" Mizael declared. "Your so-called reign as empress ends here, Atlas!"

Author's Note: The Shining Number that Mizael used in BVP was actually more of a prototype for the Shining Number we've seen him use in this chapter. I actually had kind of a hard time coming up with the new Shining Number he'd use. Even the name was kind of a problem until I realized I could just make this Number a counterpart to Kaito's Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon.

Please review and let me know what you think.