Author's Note: Well, I'm back. I'm really sorry for not updating this story for such a long time. The reason for the lack of updates was because I had wanted to take a little break from this story, but I had never intended for that break to be so long. It's amazing how chaotic life can get, especially when you're taking an online class that involves an internship. The important thing though is that I'm back now. The way things are right now, I'll probably only be able to continue updating this story once a week, but I am going to be working on it again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 13: Full Metal Devil
Hikari stood on the stage waiting for her opponent to show up. As she looked around the stadium, Hikari glanced into the dugout being occupied by the Death Queens and noticed that Alnia was absent. Hikari knew that Alnia didn't need to be there since she wasn't going to be taking part in any of the duels happening in the current round, yet she couldn't help but find Alnia's lack of presence to be a bit suspicious. What was even more curious though that while Alnia was missing Hikari noticed her next opponent talking in the dugout with the two other Death Queens. Hikari didn't have much chance to dwell on it though, since at that moment Shane was quickly heading for the stage.
"Hi there." Shane greeted after finally getting on stage and taking her position. "So you're the great Hikari Fudo. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Same here." Hikari replied. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, what were you talking about with those two down there?"
"Who, you mean Warren and Amamiya?" Shane asked. "We were just making small talk before the match. Why, is that some kind of problem?"
"Uh… no, of course not." Hikari replied as she shook her head. "Forget I mentioned it."
"Let the duel begin!" the referee announced from his place beside the stage.
Hikari and Shane activated their respective D-Gazers and duel disks. The rest of the audience activated their D-Gazers to watch the show, and the color of the surrounding area changed slightly.
"I'll start this off." Shane announced as she drew her first card. "I summon Geargiarmor in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Shane's side of the field was a strange robot made of several gears, with two large yellow gears on the sides. It had two small white gears for eyes, and on each side of its body was an arm made from a flexible grey tube and ended with a white glove-like hand. Attached to the bottom of the robot was a brownish-grey attachment with two thick powerful legs, and on each arm was a large brownish-grey shield with a gear-like symbol on the front.
"So Shane uses a Geargia deck." Michael observed from the dugout shared by Yuma and his friends. "This should be an interesting duel."
"I activate Geargiarmor's effect!" Shane announced. "Once per turn, I can flip him face-down in Defense Mode!" The gear robot changed to a large card that was facedown on the field. "That ends my turn."
Hikari drew her first card. "I summon Junk Blader in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Hikari's side of the battlefield was a warrior clad completely in purple armor. He had on a tattered dark-brown cape, and in his hand he carried a lance-like sword.
"Next I activate the Spell card, Emergency Teleport!" Hikari announced. "Using this card, I special summon the Tuner monster, Krebons from my hand!"
Materializing next to Junk Blader was a slender humanoid figure wearing a blue and white costume similar to that of a court jester. Its head appeared to be detached from its body and it had a mouth of yellow zipper-like teeth. Over its eyes was a black visor that displayed green digital lines in place of eyes.
"I tune the level two Krebons into the level four Junk Blader for a level six Synchro Summon!" Hikari announced.
Krebons's body flashed orange and he changed into two green rings of light. The rings encircled Junk blader and turned him into four white stars.
"Clustering stars come together to signal the arrival of an unstoppable fighter! Create the path its light shines upon!" Hikari chanted. "Synchro Summon! Rise up! Mighty Warrior!"
The stars flashed and became a pillar of white light that shot into the air. The light quickly faded to reveal a muscular warrior with light-blue skin and clad in a blue tight-fitting bodysuit with gold circuit paths. His left arm was bare and had two think gold rings on his upper arm and forearm, with an even thicker band around his wrist. His right arm meanwhile was mechanical and ended in a large armored hand. On his legs he had on knee-high metal boots with long rocket fins at the knees.
"Mighty Warrior, attack Geargiarmor!" Hikari commanded. "Mighty Knuckle!"
Hikari's warrior charged across the field at Shane's facedown monster, causing it to return to its true form. Mighty Warrior punched the gear robot with his metal fist, causing it to explode in a flash of fire and smoke.
"When Mighty Warrior destroys a monster in battle, my opponent takes half that monster's ATK as battle damage!" Hikari announced.
Mighty Warrior took aim at Shane with his mechanical arm, and his fist shot off towards her like a rocket. Shane quickly raised her arms to shield herself from the additional attack, but her life points took a slight drop to 3450. With the damage done, Mighty Warrior's fist reattached itself to his arm.
"Nice move. But because Geargiarmor was flipped face-up by your attack, I can add another Geargia monster to my hand." Shane announced. "And the monster I choose to add is Geargiano."
"I set one card on the field and end my turn." Hikari announced.
"Wow! You really are as good as they say you are." An impressed Shane declared. "This was just the kind of duel I was hoping for."
"Glad I didn't disappoint." Hikari replied.
"Well to be honest, I was really hoping that I'd get the chance to duel you in this tournament." Shane revealed. "The reason is because I'm a real big admirer of your dad. Not just for his skill as a duelist, but for his mechanical skills too."
"A lot of people don't really talk about that, actually." Hikari admitted. "Whenever I do hear someone talking about my dad, it's always about what a legendary duelist he is. Few people appreciate him for his talents with machines."
"Yeah? Well I'm not one of those people." Shane replied. "Hey, is it true that your dad built his first D-Wheel from pieces of junk?"
"Sure is." Hikari confirmed. "That was all he had to work with back in the old days of Satellite."
"Too cool. Well, we're still in the middle of a duel. And my counterattack begins now!" Shane declared before drawing her next card. "I summon Geargiano Mk II in Attack Mode!" Appearing on Shane's side of the field was a small robot made of gears that looked exactly like the one that was part of Geargiarmor. "Since I summoned Geargiano Mk II, I can summon another Geargia monster from my hand. So I summon Geargiano Mk III!"
Appearing next to Shane's first gear robot was a second one that was virtually identical. The main difference was that this version had blue gears instead of yellow ones on the sides of its body.
"Because I just summoned Geagiano Mk III with the effect of a Geargia monster, I can special summon another Geargia monster from my hand!" Shane announced. "So I summon Geargiano!"
A third small robot made of gears appeared on the field next to Shane's other two. Unlike the first two machines, the large gears on the sides of this one's body were silver.
"Shane now has three level three monsters on the field!" Yuma realized.
"Using my three level three monsters, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my ultimate fighting machine!" Shane announced. "Mobilize, Geargiagear Gigant XG!"
A lafrge blue vortex appeared on the stage behind Shane and pulled in Shane's three tiny robots as balls of orange energy. Rising out of the vortex a moment late was a giant human-shaped robot with a mostly orange torso that had a pair of large black tank treads built onto the back. The robot's head was with a silver faceplate and a blue V-shaped visor over the eyes. Its legs were mainly green and grey, and on its hips were two red blade-like gears. Built onto the right arm of the robot was a large yellow gun with a black barrel and a red number three written on the top, and mounted on its left arm was a large grey shield shaped like a gear. Shane's three original gear robots were built into the machine's chest, and orbiting around it were three balls of yellow light.
"I attack Mighty Warrior with Geargiagear Giant XG and activate his effect!" Shane announced. "When a Machine monster of mine attacks, I can detach one of XG's overlay units to negate the effects of all face-up cards my opponent controls until after the battle! Not only that, my opponent can't activate any effects until after the battle either!"
One of the balls of yellow light orbiting Shane's giant robot entered the back of its large gun. Geargiagear Gigant XG then took aim at Mighty Warrior.
"XG, blow Mighty Warrior away!" Shane commanded. "Giga Cross Spin!"
The robot fired a ball of red energy from its gun that quickly took the shape of a large spinning gear. The attack hit Mighty Warrior and caused him to explode in a flash of fire and smoke. When the smoke cleared, Hikari's life points had dropped down to 3700.
"I'm betting that card you have face-down is Scrap-Iron Scarecrow." Shane continued. "That's a pretty tough card to get around, but as long as I have XG on the field, it's useless."
"Looks like Shane has Hikari in a pretty tough spot." Yuma remarked.
"You're a fool to assume anything like that." Cleo told him. "Just as Shane is a fool to assume that Hikari's face-down card is Scrap-Iron Scarecrow."
"You mean it's not?" Yuma asked.
"It very well might be." Cleo admitted. "But the moment anyone assumes that Hikari's moves are that predictable is the moment they've ensured their defeat."
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Shane announced. "Your move."
Hikari drew her next card. "I summon Quick-Span Knight in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Hikari's side of the field was a small humanoid robot that was mainly silver in color. It had a large head in the shape of a wrench with two eyes.
"Next I activate my Trap, Descending Lost Star!" Hikari announced. "With this card, I can summon a Synchro Monster from my Graveyard in Defense Mode. Only that monster loses a level and its DEF becomes zero. And of course the monster I'm bringing back to the field is Mighty Warrior!"
A column of purple light shot up from the ground next to Quick-Span Knight. The light soon faded and Mighty Warrior was back on the battlefield in a kneeling position.
"Wait! So that wasn't Scrap-Iron Scarecrow?" a surprised Shane asked.
"Nope. Not a bad guess though." Hikari answered. "By the way, thanks for taking down Mighty Warrior before. You made things a whole lot easier for me."
"Now Hikari has everything set up to summon her dragon." Shark realized with a smirk. "This was probably her plan all along."
"I tune the level three Quick-Span Knight into the now level five Mighty Warrior for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Hikari announced.
Quick-Span Knight flashed orange and changed into three green rings of light. The rings quickly encircled Mighty Warrior and transformed him into five white stars.
"Clustering hopes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon!" Hikari chanted. "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
The stars flashed and became a pillar of light that shot into the sky. The light soon faded to reveal a magnificent silvery-white dragon with dazzling wings and well-developed arms and legs. Its head ended in a three-pointed crest and at the end of its snout was a long horn. As the dragon flapped his wings, particles of green light showered down onto the field. The audience gazed at Hikari's newly summoned dragon with awe.
"Looks like we both have our ace monsters on the field." Shane noted. "Of course both of them have 2500 ATK, so a battle between them would be a draw."
"Don't be so sure, because now Quick-Span Knight's effect kicks in!" Hikari announced. "When he's used for a Synchro Summon, one of my opponent's monsters loses 500 ATK. And of course the monster I choose is Geargiagear Gigant XG!"
Quick-Span Knight's head appeared and flew through the air at Shane's robot. The head struck the middle Geargiano robot embedded in the center of Geargiagear Gigant XG's chest, causing the larger robot's ATK to drop to 2000.
"Stardust Dragon, attack XG!" Hikari commanded. "Shooting Sonic!"
Stardust Dragon opened his jaws and fired out a stream of sparking light at Shane's robot. XG was struck in the chest and exploded in a huge mass of fire upon being hit. When the smoke cleared, XG was gone and Shane's life points had dropped down to 2750.
"I activate my Trap, Xyz Reborn!" Shane announced. "With this card, I summon XG back to the field!"
XG rose back up out of another blue vortex that had appeared on the ground behind Shane. As soon as the robot fully emerged, the large Trap card that had summoned it turned into a ball of yellow light and was pulled into the machine's orbit.
"Looks like we're back to square one, huh?" Shane observed.
"Looks that way." Hikari agreed. "I'll set one card on the field and end my turn."
"Hikari certainly seems like she's having fun up there." Yuma remarked.
"Indeed." Astral agreed. "Shane is quite the skilled opponent."
"Get ready Hikari, because this is where things really heat up!" Shane declared.
"Bring it on." Hikari dared.
As Shane drew her next card, her expression suddenly went blank. She groaned and staggered as if she was just about to collapse, causing Hikari to become concerned. The dark-haired duelist quickly recovered though and looked at Hikari with an evil grin. The same eye-like symbol that had appeared on Sousuke's forhead was now on Shane's and her eyes had become the same color as Alnia's.
"Sorry, Signer. But the fun and games end here." Shane told Hikari in a slightly different voice.
"Alnia!" Hikari identified.
"Oh crap!" Shark cursed. "Don't tell me…"
"Alnia's controlling Shane the same way she controlled that actor Yuma dueled before the tournament." Kaito confirmed. "This duel just got very serious."
"I thought something was fishy when I noticed you weren't there with Anitak and Mitaka!" Hikari declared. "You have no right to use Shane as your puppet and butt in on this duel!"
"Sorry, but you Signers are too big of a pain in the ass to leave running around loose." Alnia told her through Shane. "Which is why I'm going to kill you right here and now!"
"There's no way you're taking me down with some cheap trick like this!" Hikari declared.
"We'll see about that! I activate Rank-Up-Magic Diablo Force!" Shane announced. "Using Geargiagear Gigant XG, I rebuild the overlay network and summon a Devil Xyz Monster! Arise, DXyz Geargiagear Devil XG!"
Shane's robot became engulfed in a pillar of red flames that shot high into the air. The flames quickly died down to reveal XG in a new form. Its torso, lower arms and legs had become red, while the other parts of its body had turned black. The robot had a pair of dark-grey horns on the sides of his head, and his faceplate had shattered to reveal a mouth full of metal fangs. The three small gear robots embedded in XG's chest had turned red and black and all had aggressive glowing yellow eyes. Orbiting around the machine were two balls of golden flames.
"With 3000 ATK, my new robot here trumps that dragon of yours." The possessed Shane continued. "Next I summon Geargiattacker in Attack Mode!"
Flying down onto the field was a small yellow and red jet with a green gear-shaped symbol on the side. Fitted into the cockpit of the plane was another Geargiano robot like the ones that had summoned XG's original form.
"I attack Stardust Dragon with Devil XG and activate its effect!" Shane announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, I negate the effects of all face-up cards you control and prevent you from activating any effects until after the battle!"
Devil XG took aim at Stardust Dragon with its cannon. Soon after, one of the fireballs orbiting around it entered the back of its gun.
"Devil XG, blow Stardust Dragon away!" Shane commanded. "Apocalypse Cross Spin!"
Devil XG fired a ball of red light from its cannon that took the form of a large spinning gear. The attack impacted Stardust Dragon, and the resulting explosion nearly knocked Hikari off the stage. When the dust settled, Hikari's life points had fallen to 2700.
"How did I just lose 1000 life points?" Hikari asked as she noticed the number on her life point counter.
"I forgot to mention that as long as Devil XG is on the field, monsters that all my Machine-type monsters attack lose 500 ATK during the battle." Shane explained. "Now I activate another one of Devil XG's effects! When a Machine-type monster I control inflicts battle damage while it still has the original XG as an overlay unit, Devil XG lets me destroy one of my opponent's Spell or Trap cards!" With that, Hikari's large facedown card suddenly exploded.
"Geargiattacker, attack the Signer bitch directly!" Shane commanded. "Kamikaze Gear Strike!"
The flying gear robot flew down at full speed and struck Hikari, knocking her onto her back. Her life points took a heavy drop to 800 as she got back to her feet. Meanhile, Geargiattacker flew back over to Shane's side of the field.
"Looks like you're on your last legs." Shane observed. "One more attack, and you'll be finished. But for now, I'll end my turn there."
"Dammit!" Shark cursed. "I'm gonna get Alnia for this!"
"Relax, Ryoga. Hikari has this under control." Cleo assured him. "It'll take more than cheap tactics like the ones Alnia is using to defeat her."
"Go on, Signer. Make your last move." Shane told her. "If it makes you feel better, I'll be sending Don Thousand's old pawn Nasch and your fellow Signers to join you in the afterlife soon enough."
"Shane was really looking forward to having this duel with me." Hikari told her. "I won't forgive you for using her like this!"
With that, the Signer marks of both Hikari and Cleo began to glow with a crimson light. As Hikari pulled the next card from her deck, it gave off the same kind of crimson flash.
"I activate the Spell card, Stardust Shimmer!" Hikari announced. "Using this card, I can summon a Dragon-type Synchro Monster from the Graveyard by banishing monsters from the Graveyard whose total levels equal that dragon's. So I banish Krebons and Mighty Warrior to revive Stardust Dragon!"
Particles of stardust began to gather together on Hikari's side of the field. In moments the particles took the complete form of Stardust Dragon.
"And just what do you hope to accomplish with that pathetic dragon of yours?" Shane asked.
"From my hand, I equip Stardust Dragon with the monster, Dragon Star Weapong-Dead Star Killer!" Hikari announced.
Flying down from above was a monster that looked like a red spacecraft with a cockpit shaped like the head of a dragon. On the sides of the craft was a pair of rocket engines that broke off and flew over to connect to the top of Stardust Dragon's wings. From the front end of each rocket extended a long silver spike. The spacecraft's head then disconnected from the rest of vehicle. It flew over and attached itself to Stardust Dragon's chest like a piece of armor. The rest of the craft attached itself to the silver dragon's back, becoming like a large booster engine.
"That's the monster that Hikari used to beat Kaito and Droite when they were vampires!" Yuma recalled.
"Because of Dead Star Killer's effect, Shooting Star Dragon's ATK shoots up to 4400!" Hikari announced. "Not only that, any Xyz Monster that Stardust Dragon attacks loses ATK equal to its own, meaning you're finished!"
"What?" Shane exclaimed.
"Stardust Dragon, attack Devil XG!" Hikari commanded. "Star Slayer Blitz!"
Stardust Dragon glowed with a white light and flew full speed into Devil XG. The resulting impact triggered an explosion that took Shane's life points to zero. With the duel over, Shane's remaining monster vanished and the color of the surrounding area returned to normal.
"Well, I guess I'll let you have that round, Signer." Shane told Hikari with a look of disgust. "But this is far from over."
With that, the cards for Diablo Force and Devil XD fell from Shane's duel disk and bust into flames. Shane staggered and the Diablo Force symbol vanished from her forehead. When she opened her eyes again, her eye color had returned to normal.
"What's going on?" a confused Shane asked as she looked around. "Wasn't I in the middle of a duel?"
"And the winner of the duel is… Hikari Fudo!" the referee announced.
The audience cheered as Shane rubbed the back of her head to try and figure out what was going on. Hikari walked over to her side of the stage.
"You okay?" Hikari asked.
"I guess so, but why did I black out like that?" Shane asked.
"I can explain that." Hikari replied. "It's kind of a long story though."
"Gee, and I was hoping for this duel to be perfect." Shane responded with a sad expression.
"Don't worry. We can take another shot at it some other time." Hikari assured her. "Now let's get off the stage and join the others."
Just before Shane and Hikari stepped off the stage, Hikari glanced down at the rival dugout and saw that Alnia had already returned. Hikari glared at Alnia, who responded with an evil grin.
"It appears your strategy to eliminate Hikari Fudo was unsuccessful." Chitose remarked to Alnia.
"I guess I underestimated her a little." Alnia admitted. "Her and the power of that damn Crimson Dragon. It won't happen again though."
"The next duel will be between Samantha Warren and Thomas Arclight!" the referee announced. "The duel will begin in ten minutes."
"Looks like you're up, Mitaka." Alnia told the redhead. "You better not screw this up."
"Relax Alnia. I've got this." Samantha assured her. "Before I'm done, Thomas Arclight will be begging for death."
Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed the duel featured in this chapter. It may not be my best work, but considering I had a huge case of writer's block where this duel was concerned before, I'd like to think I did okay. If not, the next duel should totally make up for it.
Please review and let me know what you think.