Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 12: Yuma's Power
"So you and Dr. Faker actually made that Synchro Monster?" a still very stunned Yuma asked.
"We created Kaiser Photon Dragon using data taken from the Galaxy-Eyes Crimson Photon Dragon card that Hikari used against Morphia." Kaito revealed. "We also used every bit of data we could find on the Signer Dragons and their evolved forms, and even the Crimson Dragon itself. The end result is the monster you see before you, an incarnation of Photon Dragon that uses the same kind of power as the Crimson Dragon."
"Guess that explains why my Signer mark and Cleo's are reacting to that dragon." Hikari realized.
"Hey Droite, did you know that Kaito and Dr. Faker were working on a card like this?" Kotori asked up in the stands.
"Of course I did." Droite revealed with a somewhat sad expression. "In fact I was behind the creation of the card all the way."
"With Kaiser Photon Dragon, I'll be able to easily stop the Death Queens." Kaito declared.
"Kaito, you said before that you and Dr. Faker created this card in order to stop other threats besides the Death Queens." Astral recalled. "Just what is the real reason you made this dragon?"
"…Let's just that I know for a fact their might be a new threat down the road after this situation with the Death Queens is resolved." Kaito answered with a rather sad expression.
"I see… you're concerned that your unborn child might become a threat." Astral realized, causing Kaito to become very surprised.
"Wait, WHAT!" a completely blindsided Yuma exclaimed.
"How the heck did Astral know Droite was pregnant?" an equally stunned Hikari wondered.
"Yeah, how did… wait." Shark spoke as a realization suddenly hit him. "Hikari, did you already know about this?"
"Uh… well I…" a flustered Hikari spoke. "Aw dammit!"
"Droite, is what Astral just said true?" Rio asked up in the stands. "Are you really pregnant?"
"Uh, yeah. Are you?" Kotori asked with a fake look at surprise.
"You already knew about this, didn't you Kotori?" Cathy quickly deduced.
"Of course I… yeah, I did." Kotori admitted.
"And yes, it is true. I really am pregnant." Droite confirmed.
"Why do I feel like I'm missing something big here?" Stacy asked.
"How the hell did you know about this?" Kaito asked Astral.
"I can sense an energy coming from Droite, an energy similar to when she was a vampire." Astral revealed. "Since she is still obviously very human, I assumed that energy was coming from a child inside her. Judging from Yuma's reaction just now, I take it you did not tell him about this."
"Actually, the only people who knew before now besides Droite and I were Dr. Faker, Hikari and Kotori." Kaito revealed with a slight look of irritation.
"You told Kotori before me?" a stunned and somewhat hurt Yuma asked.
"Only because I didn't really have a choice." Kaito answered. "We were going to tell everyone eventually though."
"It appears I just made a major social blunder." Astral realized. "For that, I apologize."
"Hey wait a sec. Kaito, are you saying that you and Dr. Faker made Kaiser Photon Dragon to fight your own kid?" Yuma asked.
At this, Kaito sighed. "At one point during Mitaka's attempt to grab the Numeron Code, Droite stepped in to protect Kotori from one of Mitaka's followers. During her duel, Droite ended up summoning a new Dead Star monster, one so powerful that only a Dragon-type Synchro Monster can destroy it in battle. After the duel, Morphia appeared before Droite in a dream and told her that the Dead Star monster was to belong to our child, that it was going to be at least half vampire."
"But, that could just be a dream. Right?" Yuma asked.
"Considering that the new Dead Star monster Droite used is very real, neither of us thinks so." Kaito replied. "That's why I wanted to be prepared in case the worst happen."
"In other words, you believe you child might become a threat." Astral deduced. "Kaito, while the child you and Droite are having may indeed be half vampire, it does not necessarily mean that it will grow to become a threat in the future."
"You don't know that for sure." Kaito pointed out.
"Indeed I do not." Astral admitted. "But I have faith that you and Droite can raise this child to become a force of good."
"Same goes for me, Kaito." Yuma told him. "This kid you're having with Droite may be half vampire, but it's still your kid. Which means I know it'll turn out great. And if you and Droite every need any help with the little guy, I'll be right here."
"…Thanks Yuma." Kaito replied with a small smile.
"You bet!" Yuma replied with a thumbs-up. "Now how 'bout we get on with this duel?"
"Right." Kaito agreed. "I activate Kaiser Photon Dragon's effect! Once per turn, Kaiser Photon Dragon can detach an enemy Xyz Monster's overlay units and absorb them. And of course the monster I'm targeting is Utopia Ray Victory!"
Kaiser Photon Dragon fired a beam of golden light from the gemstone on his chest that struck Utopia Ray Victory. All the color drained from the warrior's armor and the balls of light orbiting around him were pulled into the beam and traveled up it into Kaiser Photon Dragon's gemstone. Before long the beam of light stopped, and Kaiser Photon Dragon roared and began to glow even brighter.
"Kaiser Photon Dragon gains 500 ATK for each overlay unit he absorbs, which means his ATK goes up from 4000 to 5500." Kaito continued. "Not only that, when Kaiser Photon Dragon uses this effect on a Number, that Number's effects are negated."
"Which means Utopia Ray Victory can be destroyed in battle now!" Yuma quickly realized.
"This is what makes Kaiser Photon Dragon the perfect weapon to defeat Alnia." Kaito added. "Kaiser Photon Dragon, attack Utopia Ray Victory! Photon Stream of Revolution!"
Kaiser Photon Dragon opened his jaws and fired out a massive stream of gold and red energy at Utopia Ray Victory. The Number warrior was instantly vaporized by the attack, which kept on going and hit Yuma. Yuma was nearly knocked off the stage as his life points plunged to 1300.
"Yuma! Astral! This is far as the two of you go in this tournament!" Kaito declared. "Leave taking down Alnia and the other Death Queens to me!"
"Not bad, Kaito." Yuma smirked as he got back up. "But it'll take more than that to make Astral and I just walk away! We're not giving up until the last draw!"
"Then I'll just end my turn right here." Kaito responded. "If you think you and Astral have what it takes to face Alnia, then prove it to me by beating me right here and now!"
"You asked for it!" Yuma declared as he drew his next card. "I now activate one of my Traps, Xyz Reborn! I use this card to bring back Utopia!"
With a flash of light, Utopia reappeared in the field in his original form. The large card that was Yuma's Xyz Reborn Trap turned into a ball of gold light and was pulled into Utopia's orbit.
"Now I activate my other Trap, Rank-Up Replay!" Yuma announced. "By banishing a Rank-Up-Magic card from my Graveyard, Rank-Up Replay lets me use that card's effect to Rank Up an Xyz Monster! So I banish Limited Barian's Force from the Graveyard and use Utopia to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon Number C39: Utopia Ray V!"
Another galaxy-like vortex appeared on the battlefield as Utopia went back to his original sword form. A few moments after the white sword receded into the vortex, a new and darker sword emerged and changed to take the darker form of Utopia. On the ground by Utopia Ray V were two red crystals covered with gold plates.
"I get it. You're planning to use Utopia Ray V's effect to destroy Kaiser Photon Dragon and take out my life points in one hit." Kaito assumed. "Well I'll save you both from some embarrassment right now and tell you that Kaiser Photon Dragon is completely unaffected by the effects of Xyz Monster cards!"
"Say what?" Yuma exclaimed.
"That's one of the feature's of Kaiser Photon Dragon that makes him the perfect card to fight the Dead Star monsters." Kaito revealed. "Against some of the normal Dead Star monsters, their effects to lower the ATK of a monster that battled with it wouldn't apply."
"It seems that you made the perfect weapon to use against the Dead Star monsters by making what is perhaps the ultimate anti-Xyz Monster card." Astral observed.
"I just blew your strategy out of the water." Kaito told his two opponents. "Looks like your best just wasn't quite good enough."
"Who said that Utopia Ray V was my best?" Yuma replied. "I activate the Spell card, Pot of Avarice! By returning Zubaba Knight, Kagemucha Knight, Leviathan Dragon, Leviathan Devil Dragon and Utopia Ray Victory to the deck, I can draw two more cards!"
The next two cards that Yuma pulled from his deck flashed with a golden light. Kaito could tell that the current turn was probably going to be Yuma's final move.
"I activate the Spell card, Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force!" Yuma announced.
"You mean you're going to…" a surprised Kaito began.
"Yep. I use Utopia Ray V to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon a monster two Ranks higher!" Yuma announced. "Come forth, Number C39: Utopia Ray VII!"
A massive pillar of golden light shot up from the ground beneath Utopia Ray V. The light faded after a few moments to reveal the dark knight in a new form. He had grown to twice his original size, and a pair of angelic wings with read feathers had replaced the wing-like blades on his back. The warrior's black helmet had gained a grey faceplate similar to the golden faceplate that Utopia Ray Victory had. On the forehead of his helmet was a white crest made to look like the Emperor's Key. The once red parts of Utopia Ray V's shoulder armor had turned gold, and the armor on his upper arms and legs had changed from black to white. In his right hand, the new form of Utopia carried a double-bladed sword with curved golden blades, and covering his chest was a plate of golden armor with the Roman Numeral VII in the center written in black. Orbiting around the warrior were three balls made of red light.
"This form of Utopia was born from combining the powers of the now united Astral and Barian Worlds!" Astral declared. "It is this power that will be your undoing in this duel, Kaito!"
"That is a pretty impressive monster you just summoned." Kaito admitted. "But it only has 3600 ATK. Plus Kaiser Photon Dragon is immune to whatever effect it might have."
"Maybe, but I've got one card in my hand that Kaiser Photon Dragon's not immune to!" Yuma revealed. "I activate the Spell card, De-Synchro! This card lets me get rid of a Synchro Monster on the field and summon its materials back from the Graveyard! And of course the Synchro Monster I'm using this on is Kaiser Photon Dragon!"
Kaiser Photon Dragon suddenly crackled with green electricity and broke apart into ten white stars. The stars gathered together in two places on Kaito's side of the field and changed into Photon Priestess and the original Photon Dragon. At the same time, Kaito's golden aura faded.
"De-Synchro? You had that card in your deck the whole time?" a shocked Kaito asked.
"It was Yuma's idea to include the card." Astral revealed with a smirk.
"Well, I figured that we'd probably be up against one or two people who used Synchro Monsters in this tournament, so I figured it'd be a good idea to have at least one card that could cause them some major problems." Yuma explained as he rubbed the back of his head. "Of course I didn't think I'd ever be using it against you, but here we are."
"I see." Kaito responded with a small smile. "Looks like I really underestimated you."
"I activate Utopia Ray VII's effect!" Yuma announced. "By detaching any number of his overlay units, Utopia Ray VII can destroy an equal number of my opponent's monsters and deal damage equal to their ATK!"
"Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon has an ATK of 3000, and Photon Priestess has an ATK of 1400." Astral added. "That adds up to a total of 4400, more than enough to end this duel!"
"Let's go, Utopia Ray VII!" Yuma commanded. "Diffusion Blade!"
Two of the balls of red light orbiting the warrior entered the crest on the forehead of his helmet. Utopia Ray VII threw his blade at Kaito's monster. As the blade spun through the air, it duplicated itself and cut both of Kaito's monsters in half. Both monsters exploded and Kaito was hurled back, taking the photon duelist's life points from 4000 to zero in an instant. With the duel finally at an end, Utopia Ray VII vanished and the color of the stadium returned to normal. Kaito's outfit returned to its usual black as well.
"And the winner of the duel is… Yuma Tsukumo!" the referee declared.
With the result of the duel announced, the audience burst into cheers. Yuma meanwhile went over and helped Kaito up to his feet.
"That was a really great duel, Kaito." Yuma declared. "Astral and I really had a blast."
"Same here." Kaito replied. "Looks like I was wrong before. You and Astral really do have what it takes to beat Alnia."
"The next duel will be between Hikari Fudo and Shane Ford!" the referee announced. "The duel will begin in ten minutes!"
"Well, looks like I'm up next." Hikari observed.
"Yuma and Astral are sure going to have their hands full in the next round." Shark responded.
"That's assuming that I make it to the next round, of course." Hikari pointed out.
"You will." Shark told her. "…So, when were you going to tell me about Kaito and Droite's kid?"
"Drop it, Ryoga." Hikari responded with a sigh.
Over in the other dugout, Chitose and Samantha had been silently watching Yuma and Kaito's duel alone. At that moment, Shane arrived to join them.
"Hey there, ladies." Shane greeted. "I hope I didn't show up too late."
"You still have about ten minutes before your scheduled duel with Hikari Fudo." Chitose informed her.
"So I guess I showed up in time then." Shane observed. "I would've been here sooner, but I woke up this morning feeling kinda… well, hung over I guess. Hey, where's Alnia?"
"Oh, she's around." Samantha replied with a mischievous grin. "How'd you and her make out last night?"
"Uh… pretty well." Shane answered. "Of course some of that night's kind of a blur. But never mind all that. Right now I'm totally focused on my next duel. Hikari Fudo's not going to know what hit her."
"You have no idea how right you are." Samantha replied.
Author's Note: For a while, the hardest part about this duel was figuring out how to resolve it. In the end, I wound up taking a bit of inspiration from the final duel between Yugi and Kaiba in Battle City. I also toyed around with the idea of having Yuma use a new Number F monster instead of Utopia Ray VII, but I was kind of drawing a blank on what that Number should be.
Please review and let me know what you think.