Author's Note: So far the work for my current online class hasn't been too bad, though it is still pretty early in the semester. Still, at the moment it looks like I'll be able to update this story a little more often than I thought I would.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 7: Artifacts and Relics
Michael waited patiently on the stage for his opponent to show up. Mizael and Cathy had since returned from their little rendezvous and the break period between the duels had expired almost fifteen minutes ago. Already the members of the audience were becoming restless because of the delay. Many of them were checking the clocks on their D-Gazers and grumbling amongst themselves. It almost seemed like a riot was about to break out.
"What's the freakin' holdup?" Shark complained down in the dugout.
"Maybe Michael's opponent isn't even in the stadium yet." Hikari assumed. "Mr. Baker did say that her plane was running behind or something."
"At this point they should just disqualify her and get on with the rest of the tournament!" an annoyed Cleo declared.
"I'm with Cleo." Gauche agreed. "This just a damn waste of time. I could be up there on stage dueling right now!"
"Yeah, but it'd really suck if Michael got to the next round by default." Yuma pointed out.
"Besides Gauche, I wouldn't be so eager if I were you." Kaito told him. "Your next opponent isn't like anyone you've ever faced before."
Meanwhile, the referee looked as his watch before letting out a heavy sigh. "Our apologies, ladies and gentlemen. It seems that Ms. Livingston is unable to show up. So, as we are behind schedule, I have no choice but to declare…"
"WAIT!" a voice called out, getting everyone's attention.
Running towards the stage was a young woman with shoulder-length lavender hair and glasses. She had on a brown leather jacket over a white buttoned-up shirt with a short grey skirt. Yuma and the rest of the gang recognized her Michael's opponent, Stacy Livingston.
"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Stacy rapidly repeated as she ran up onto the stage. After taking her place opposite Michael, she let out a heavy sigh. "I am sooo sorry I'm late!"
"It's quite all right." Michael assured her. "It's nice to meet, Ms. Livingston. So I guess your plane was running really behind, huh?"
"Actually I've been here at the stadium for the past twenty minutes." Stacy admitted. "I was on my way here to the stage when I got distracted by something in the lobby. Did you know that they have the fabled Tablet of Memories depicting an Egyptian pharaoh resembling Yugi Muto?"
"Yes, Mr. Baker showed it to all of us competing in the tournament earlier." Michael revealed. "It really is a fascinating piece."
"I know! I've always wanted to see it with my own eyes." Stacy replied. "My dad wrote an extensive paper on the tablet years ago. He's an archeologist, by the way."
"Wait, is your dad Charles E. Livingston?" Michael asked.
"Why yes he is?" Stacy confirmed. "I take it you've heard of him?"
"Have I! His book on the ties between Ancient Egypt and Duel Monsters is fascinating." Michael told her.
"He's actually working on a new book right now." Stacy revealed. "I was with him on one of the expeditions he did for research."
"I would really love to hear about that." Michael told her.
"Get on with the duel!" a man in the audience ordered. Many of the other spectators joined him in force.
Again, the referee sighed. "As Ms. Livingston has now shown up, the next of the tournament will proceed as scheduled! Both duelists will now begin!"
Finally turning their attention back to the tournament, Michael and Stacy activated their D-Gazers and duel disks. As soon as the other people in the stadium activated their D-Gazers, the color of the surrounding area changed.
"I'll go first!" Stacy announced as she drew a card from her deck. "I set four cards on the field and end my turn!"
"Four set cards and no monsters? Is she having some kind of trouble with her hand?" Alit asked.
"Maybe. She could also be using some kind of Trap deck." Hikari speculated.
"If that's the case, then Michael will most likely lose." Cleo assumed. "He'll probably hesitate just like he did in his duel with me."
"Don't underestimate my brother, Atlas!" Thomas told her. "He won't choke the way he did that last time."
Michael drew his first card. "I summon Chronomaly Nebra Disk in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Michael's side of the field was a large disk made out of a strange green stone. The disk had gold on its sides, and on the front of it were golden circles and dots that looked like some sort of map of the night sky.
"Oh wow! I can tell that this will be a fascinating duel." Stacy declared.
"Since I just summoned Nebra Disk, I can add another Chronomaly monster to my hand!" Michael announced. "Now I activate the Spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon! With this card's effect, I destroy the face-down card on the far left of your field!"
At this, Stacy smirked. "You picked the exact card I was hoping you would. I now activate the Trap targeted by Mystical Space Typhoon, Artifact Sanctum!"
"Wait, can she really do that?" Kotori asked up in the stands.
"Of course. Just about any card can be activated in response to Mystical Space Typhoon, even the card it's targeting." Droite told her.
"And you actually dueled to save that Mitaka woman and her followers from getting into Yuma's pants not knowing something like that?" Cathy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, Astral was backing me up a little during those duels." Kotori admitted. "Plus is was Kaito and the others who actually took on the girls working for Mitaka."
"Explains how you were able to beat me." Anna remarked.
"When activated, Artifact Sanctum lets me summon an Artifact monster from my hand!" Stacy announced. "I summon Artifact Moralltach!"
Suddenly appearing on Stacy's side of the field as a small whirlwind appeared around her Trap was an oversized grey and bronze mechanical sword with a short wide blade and a gear in the center of the guard. Parts of the sword gave off a blue light, and holding it was a male figure with long hair made out of blue energy.
"When Moralltach is summoned during my opponent's turn, I can destroy one face-up card they control!" Stacy announced. "And the card I choose to destroy is Chronomaly Nebra Disk!"
As the small whirlwind created by Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed Stacy's Trap card, the figure holding the sword swung the giant weapon, sending a blade of blue energy across the battlefield. The blade cut Nebra Disk in half, and the two remaining pieces shattered into bits of light.
"And now, because Artifact Sanctum was destroyed, I can destroy one set Spell or Trap card that I control!" Stacy announced. "And the card I choose is Artifact Beagalltach!"
One of Stacy's cards exploded and a sword similar to Moralltach flew into the air. It spun around several times before the large blade stuck itself into the ground. Suddenly lines of red light began to glow on the blade as the gear in the center of the guard began to spin, and appearing by the weapon was a male figure with long hair made of red energy. The red figure grasped the handle of the mechanical sword and pulled it from the ground.
"Wait, what the heck?" Yuma exclaimed. "Where'd that other monster come from?"
"When Beagalltach is destroyed as a set card during my opponent's turn, I can summon him to the field!" Stacy explained. "And because Beagalltach was summoned this way, I can destroy the two remaining set cards I have on the field!"
The red figure wielding Beagalltach turned around and swung the massive sword and sent two large blades of red energy at Stacy's two remaining cards. The cards exploded and sent two new weapons flying through the air. Both weapons were incredibly large shields that seemed to be made of bronze and had gears inside them
"The cards I just destroyed were Artifact Aegis and Artifact Achilleshield." Stacy revealed. "Since they were destroyed as set Spell and Traps during my opponent's turn, I'm able to summon them back to the field in Defense Mode."
Lines of yellow light began to glow on the front of the first shield, Aegis, and the gears inside it began to spin. Appearing behind the shield to hold it up was a woman with long hair made of yellow energy. The second shield known as Achilleshield, which had a much more round design, began to glow with purple lines on the front as the gears inside it began to spin as well. Appearing behind the shield to pick it up was a male figure made of purple energy.
"Fascinating!" Astral declared. "So the true power of these Artifact monsters are only released during the opponent's turn, and when used in the right way they can swarm the field in an instant."
"I've heard about the Artifact monsters before." Michael told Stacy. "They seemed like interesting monsters, but I had no idea they had this kind of power."
"The truly interesting thing about the Artifacts is that they're based on ancient weapons made using technology too advanced for their time." Stacy revealed. "In that way, they're very similar to your Chronomaly monsters."
"Then let's see which of them is stronger!" Michael declared. "Since I just activated a Spell card during this turn, I can summon Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem from my hand!"
Five orbs made of blue, red, white, green, and yellow light descended from the sky above and began to swirl around a fixed point on the ground. The rotation of the orbs sped up until they quickly merged to form a red, orange and green mechanical body. A beam of green light then shot up from the ground beneath the body and formed into another green orb. The orb took its place above the monsters neck and changed into a red and gold Aztec mask with a face on the forehead like that of a leopard.
"I now play the Continuous Spell, Chronomaly Pyramid Eye Tablet!" Michael announced. "As long as this card is on the field, all my Chronomaly monsters gain 800 ATK! Meaning that Aztec Mask Golem's ATK rises to 2300!"
A large golden tablet engraved with hieroglyphics and the symbol of a large eye at the top appeared behind Aztec Mask Golem. A beam of gold light began to shine from the eye on the tablet, causing the golem to glow with a brilliant golden aura.
"Impressive." Stacy praised. "But I'm afraid that the effect of Achilleshield prevents my Artifact monsters from being attacked during this turn."
"Then I'll set one card on the field and end my turn!" Michael announced.
"This is turning out to be one big waste of time." Samantha complained from the other dugout. "Is this a duel or Antiques Roadshow?"
"I'm finding it fascinating, actually." Chitose responded.
"You would." Samantha replied as she rolled her eyes.
"Is this a private party, or can anybody join?" a voice suddenly cut in.
The three Death Queens looked to see another young woman entering their dugout. She had long black hair tied in a ponytail and had on a black leather vest over a white t-shirt with faded blue jeans. On her hands she wore black fingerless gloves, and atop her head was a green and white baseball cap. The Death Queens quickly recognized who the young woman was.
"You're Shane Ford, the girl that Hikari Fudo is up against in the prelims." Alnia identified.
"Guilty as charged." Shane confirmed. "I hope you ladies don't mind, but I have this thing about not being around people I'm about to duel before the big event."
"By that logic, you shouldn't be around us either since at least one of us may be your opponent in the semifinals." Chitose pointed out.
"Ah details." Shane shrugged. "So, is it okay if I chill here?"
"Look you…" an annoyed Samantha began.
"It's fine." Alnia told Shane before Samantha could finish, greatly surprising the redhead.
"Thanks." Shane replied as she sat down on the bench next to Alnia. "So, this is quite the show we've got here, huh? A bunch of artifacts and relics duking it out isn't something you see every day."
"Guess not." Alnia responded.
"You okay?" Shane asked her.
"Yeah, just a little worked up is all." Alnia answered.
Meanwhile, Stacy drew her next card. "First I think I'll take a page from your book and activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Pyramid Eye Tablet!"
A whirlwind appeared behind Michael's tablet and caused it to shatter apart and crumble. As soon as the pieces turned to dust, Aztec Mask Golem's golden aura faded.
"And now I overlay the level five Moralltach and Beagalltach to Xyz Summon Artifact Durendal!" Stacy announced.
A silver vortex appeared on the center of the field, and the two figures holding the giant mechanical swords vanished. The two swords broke down into their component parts and were pulled into the anomaly. Rising out of the vortex a moment later was a new giant mechanical sword that looked like it was made from the parts of the other two. Two balls of light orbited the sword, one red and one blue. Suddenly a figure made of red and blue light appeared to take hold of the sword.
"Durendal's 2400 ATK should be more than sufficient to defeat Aztec Mask Golem." Stacy declared. "Durendal, attack Aztec Mask Golem! Grand Blade of the Ancients!"
"I activate my Trap, Negate Attack!" Michael announced. "Aztec Mask Golem's not going anywhere this turn!"
The being holding the giant sword swung the weapon and sent forth a massive blade of white light at Michael's monster. At the last second, a vortex appeared in front of Aztec Mask Golem and sucked in the blade of light.
"Well played." Stacy praised. "I guess I'll just set one card on the field and end my turn."
"Wow! This is turning into one heck of a duel!" Yuma declared. "Neither of them has lost a single life point since this thing started."
"True, but Michael still has a big advantage over Stacy." Astral observed. "In summoning her Artifact monsters, Stacy has used up her entire hand."
"Oh yeah. It's kinda like how Anna duels." Yuma recalled.
"Indeed, only there seems to be a little more strategy in how Stacy duels." Astral pointed out.
"Plus she's got that sword monster of hers dominating the field right now." Shark pointed out. "Not only does it have good attack, it's probably got some powerful effects we haven't even seen yet."
Michael drew his next card. "I activate the Spell card, Chronomaly Technology!"
"And at this point I activate one of Durendal's effects!" Stacy announced. "By detaching an overlay unit when an opponent activates a Spell card, that card's effect changes into one that destroys one of my set Spell or Trap cards!"
The blue ball of light orbiting Durendal entered one of the gears on the sword's guard. The being holding the giant sword raised it into the air and the blade glowed with a brilliant white light. Suddenly Stacy's remaining set card exploded, causing a large mechanical scythe made of silver and bronze to fly through the air and stick its blade in the ground. Suddenly lines of purple light appeared on the scythe as its gears began to turn. Materializing to hold the ancient weapon with a longhaired male figure made of purple light.
"The card you just destroyed is Artifact Scythe." Stacy revealed. "And when Scythe is summoned during my opponent's turn, my opponent is unable to summon any monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of that turn!"
"Which means she just sealed Michael's Xyz Monsters!" Astral realized.
"Okay then. I activate the second effect of Chronomaly Nebra Disk from the Graveyard!" Michael announced. "Since I have at least one Chronomaly monster on the field, I can summon Nebra Disk from the Graveyard!"
A beam of gold light shot up from the ground next to Aztec Mask Golem. The light quickly faded to reveal Michael's ancient stone disk.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Michael announced.
Stacy drew her next card. "Durendal, attack Aztec Mask Golem! Grand Blade of the Ancients!"
"I activate my Trap, Crystal Magnetism!" Michael announced. The illustration of the large Trap card he activated showed the image of a crystal skull flying to attach itself to the neck of a crystal skeleton sitting on a throne. "By paying half my life points, I can use two Chronomaly monsters I have for an Xyz Summon during this turn! I use the level four Aztec Mask Golem and Nebra Disk to Xyz Summon Chronomaly Golden Aztec Golem!"
As Michael's life points dropped to 2000, a large blue vortex appeared in the middle of the battlefield and pulled in Michael's two monsters as balls of blue energy. A pillar of gold light then shot from the center of the vortex, fading to reveal a larger version of Aztec Mask Golem made of gold. On its chest it had a giant mask resembling the face of a leopard with two large green orbs for eyes. Orbiting around the creature were two balls of golden light.
"A-astounding!" a stunned Stacy spoke.
"If you can summon monsters during my turn, then it's only fair that I can do the same." Michael responded. "I activate Golden Aztec Golem's effect! During either player's turn after a Spell or Trap card is activated, I can detach an overlay unit to destroy all special summoned monsters my opponent controls!"
One of the balls of light orbiting the golden golem entered the open mouth of the mask it had on its chest. The mask spewed out a wave of lava that struck all four of Stacy's monsters and melted them down into molten metal.
"Golden Aztec Golem gains 400 ATK for each monster he destroys using his effect." Michael revealed. "Which means his ATK goes up from 2500 to 4100."
"Oh… oh dear." Stacy spoke.
"It's time to finish this!" Michael declared as he drew his next card. "Golden Aztec Golem, attack Stacy directly! Sun God Prominence!"
The golden golem fired a beam of gold energy at Stacy, knocking her onto her back. The lavender-haired girl's life points dropped from 4000 to zero in an instant. With the duel over, Michael's monster vanished and the color of the stadium returned to normal.
"The winner of the third duel is… Michael Arclight!" the referee declared, prompting the audience to cheer.
Meanwhile, Stacy got back up and walked over to Michael. "That was an amazing duel. But there is something I would like to ask you though. You were counting on me to use Durendal's effect on that Spell card you played before, weren't you?"
"To be honest, yeah." Michael admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "I actually knew all about Durendal's effects from an article I read on the Artifact monsters once. So I activated Chronomaly Technology hoping that you'd respond with Durendal and give me enough monsters to power up Golden Aztec Golem for a final attack."
"I guess I acted a little too recklessly then." Stacy replied. "Still, I enjoyed every bit of our duel."
"Me too. I hope we can have another duel like that sometime." Michael replied as he shook Stacy's hand.
"The final duel of today's preliminary round will be between Gauche and Alnia!" the referee announced. "There will be a ten minute break before the duel starts."
Down in the Death Queens' dugout, Shane's watch began to beep, causing the dark-haired girl to look. "Aw dang! Is it that time already? Sorry ladies, but I've got a little errand to take care of. I'm afraid I can't stick around for the next duel."
"It's no problem." Alnia told her.
"…You're Alnia, right?" Shane suddenly realized. "This might sound weird, but how would you like to swing by my hotel room later tonight?"
"Sure." Alnia agreed.
"Great. Here's where I'm staying." Shane told her as she handed her a slip of paper. "I'll see you later." And with that, Shane walked off.
"Hey Alnia, why are you being so chummy with that girl?" Samantha asked.
"Because she's dueling the Fudo girl in the prelims tomorrow." Alnia explained. "Those Signers could become a real pain in the ass, so I'm going to use Shane to kill Fudo before she has a chance to become a threat."
"A wise strategy." Chitose replied. "At the moment though, you should probably be concerned with the opponent you're about to face."
"Relax, Anitak. This Gauche guy isn't even close to my level." Alnia assured her. "This'll be a piece of cake."
Author's Note: I hope this chapter wasn't boring for anyone. In the planning stages of this story when I was figuring out the prelims, I tried very hard to avoid potential chapters that could be considered filler. At the time though, a little bit of filler seemed unavoidable. Actually if I had been thinking, one thing I could've done was have Miriam from BVP show up as Michael's opponent in an attempt to get to Cleo. Of course there would've been a few problems with that duel. Either way though, it was too late to turn back.
Anyway, the duel for this chapter ended up being a little hard to write. Part of the problem was that I had to come up with a new Xyz Monster for Michael, since all of the current Chronomaly Xyz Monsters are Numbers. In the end the best I could come up with was a powered-up version of Aztec Mask Golem. Despite the difficulties though, it was kind of a fun duel to write because of the whole Chronomaly vs. Artifact concept. By the way, that Trap card Michael used to summon Golden Aztec Golem was a small reference to Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'm sure a few of you reading probably caught that.
Please review and let me know what you think.