Author's Note: Depending on his things for me over the next couple of days, this might be the last chapter I'll be able to put up before Sunday. Thanksgiving for me is kind of a two-day event since I celebrate it with two sets of relatives, and as a rule I usually don't write on Saturdays. So for now, enjoy this next little installment, which is the finale of Alit and Anitak's duel.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 17: Anitak's Grudge
"It is doubtful that you will be able to overcome me at this stage of the duel." Chitose told Alit. "You may continue to struggle if you wish, but it will not change the outcome of this duel. In the end, I will destroy you."
"We'll see about that!" Alit declared as he drew his next card. "I activate the Spell card, Spellbooks from the Pot, which allows us to both draw three new cards! Now I play Monster Reborn and summon Battlin' Boxer Headgeared from the Graveyard!" Headgeared rematerialized on Alit's side of the field. "Next I summon Battlin' Boxer Veil in Attack Mode!"
Appearing next to Headgeared was a humanoid figure wearing knee-high red boots and a grey mask attached with brown leather straps that completely covered his face. Adorning his arms were the two halves of a large round yellow shield.
"I now overlay the level four Headgeared and Veil to Xyz Summon Battlin' Boxer Solar Tekko!" Alit announced.
A yellow vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Alit's two boxers as balls of orange energy. Rising out of the vortex a moment later was a lean but muscular warrior with silver skin. A gold helmet like that worn by a medieval knight covered his head and obscured his face. His upper torso was covered in a piece of gold armor with the symbol of the sun on the chest, and on his back were six golden blades arranged like the rays of the sun. Pieces of gold armor covered his waist, and on each hand was a blade-like weapon similar to brass knuckles. Orbiting around the new boxer were two balls of golden light.
"Solar Tekko gains 200 ATK for each special summoned monster my opponent controls." Alit announced. "Which means since you have three specially summoned monsters out, Tekko's ATK jumps from 2500 to 3100."
"Your new monster's ATK bonus is irrelevant, since Ryuji and Angelique still have higher ATK." Chitose pointed out.
"Not for long, because now I activate the Spell card, Tiger Eye Stare!" Alit announced. "I can only activate this card when my life points are lower than my opponent's and I have a Battlin' Boxer monster on the field! Until the end of this turn, the ATK of all my opponent's monsters drops by 1000!"
Solar Tekko's eyes from behind the eyeholes of his visor began to glow a bright red and his body gave off a red aura. Prima and Angelique both flinched at the sight of this and the expression of fear appeared on both their faces. Ryuji meanwhile tensed up and took a fighting stance.
"Now it's time for my comeback!" Alit declared. "Tekko, take out Angelique! Apollo Knuckle!"
Tekko charged across the field and punched Angelique in the stomach with his right fist. The demon student was knocked backwards and her body shattered into bits of gold light. Chitose's life points dropped to 3700.
"Since you now have only two special summoned monsters on the field, Tekko's ATK drops to 2900." Alit continued. "But now I activate Tekko's effect! By detaching an overlay unit when he destroys a specially summoned monster, Tekko can make another attack this turn! And this time, Tekko's target is Elite Student Prima!"
One of the balls of light orbiting Tekko entered the center of the sun symbol adorning his chest. Tekko charged over and punched Prima in the jaw with his left hand. Prima was knocked backward through the air and shattered into bits of light before she could hit the ground. Chitose's life points took another drop to 2500.
"Since you now only have one special summoned monster on the field, Tekko's ATK is now 2700." Alit continued. "But because he's the only Student monster on the field now, Champion Student Ryuji's ATK is now only 1500. I activate Tekko's effect and detach his final overlay unit to attack Ryuji! Apollo Knuckle!"
The final ball of light orbiting Tekko entered the solar symbol on his chest. Tekko dashed across the field to land a blow on Ryuji. Ryuji responded with a punch of his own, but Tekko quickly turned his body to avoid the attack and punched Ryuji on the cheek. Ryuji was knocked off his feet and his body shattered into bits of light. Chitose's life points dropped down to 1300. The audience cheered upon seeing Alit defeat all three of Chitose's monsters in a single turn.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Alit announced.
"Alit certainly seems to be having fun up there." Hikari observed.
"Of course he is. No matter what, Alit always has a blast when he's dueling." Yuma responded. "Especially when he's up against a tough opponent."
"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Gilag cheered. "Alit's got this in the bag!"
"It's too soon to celebrate yet!" Mizael told him. "Alit may have defeated those three monsters, but Anitak still has that Number of hers."
"I have to say that it really is a thrill dueling you, Chitose." Alit told her. "You're one of the toughest opponents I've ever faced."
"Spare me your praise. I do not need it." Chitose coldly told him. "You and I are enemies, nothing more."
"That's not true. At least it isn't for me." Alit told her. "You and the other Death Queens may be trying to steal the Numeron Code to revive that Zorc guy, and you may have sent those psychic duelist assassins to kill me and my friends. But the truth it, Chitose… I've come to really care about you."
Chitose's eyes went wide upon hearing this. "You… you what?"
"Back when we first met, I was interested in you because you were cute." Alit continued. "But after I saw some of your past after our last duel… seeing how you died… I came to actually care about you. Seeing you suffer the way you did in that other life was like a thousand jabs to the gut." Alit paused and rubbed the back of his head as a blush came to his face. "Plus… I also remember what we did in that classroom. You know… after Durbe defeated that twerp, Mortimer and I came in and saw you still in that bikini?"
Chitose blushed and turned away from Alit. "That encounter was a mistake."
"Wait, is he saying that he and Anitak did what I think they did?" Shark asked as a realization hit him.
"It kind of looks that way." Kaito answered with a scowl.
"That moron." Cleo grumbled. "First Arclight and now him?"
"What're you guys talking about?" a confused Yuma asked.
"They seem to be implying that Alit and Anitak had sexual intercourse at some point." Astral explained.
"Oh…" Yuma responded. "Wait, WHAT?"
"Maybe it was, but it doesn't change the fact that I have strong feelings for you now, Chitose." Alit told her. "You didn't deserve all the crap you got in your past life. You didn't deserve to not have anyone care about you or to have people use and bully you. Even though you had no one in your old life, know that you have me! And I'll fight for you no matter what!"
"You… care about me?" Chitose asked coldly. "Well I couldn't care the least about you!"
Suddenly a pair of black-feathered angelic wings appeared on Chitose's back. A massive bolt of crimson lightning came down from the sky to strike her and Chitose changed into her true Barian form. Her skin had become the color of copper metal and her dark hair had not only lost its braided ponytail but turned silver and had grown all the way down to her waist. On the front of her stomach where her bellybutton would be was a red diamond framed in silver. Covering the Barian woman's chest was a piece of black armor with silver trim, decorated with a Barian Emblem in the center. Around her waist was a short tattered black skirt held in place by a golden belt with a silver buckle adorned with a red gemstone. Much of the audience members were startled on seeing Anitak in her true form.
"What the hell is that?" Shane exclaimed down in the dugout.
"You… you guys weren't kidding, were you?" Stacy asked the others up in the stands. "She really is a being from another dimension."
"Chitose Amamiya died long ago!" Anitak declared. "I am Anitak of the Barian Death Queens! And I will deliver death upon you and the rest of humanity!"
"Whoa! It's been a long time since I've seen Ani this fired up." Samantha remarked in the other dugout.
Alnia chuckled. "That dumbass, Alit's gonna be a bloodstain on the stage by the time Anitak's done with him."
"Your demise begins now!" Anitak declared as she drew her next card. The card she pulled from the deck flashed with a crimson light.
"Did she just…?" Yuma began to ask.
"Pull off a Barian Chaos Draw?" Shark finished. "Looks that way."
"I activate the Spell card, Repeat Term!" Anitak announced. "By banishing a Malicious Student, an Elite Student and a Champion Student monster from my Graveyard, I can special summon three Student monsters from my hand or deck at the cost of negating their effects! I call back to the classroom from my hand, Combat Student Kyoko, Model Student Shion and Delinquent Student Marco!"
Three new Student monsters appeared on Anitak's side of the field with flashes of blue, white and purple light. The first one, Kyoko, was a young woman who appeared to be in her mid to late teens. She had long dark-blue hair tied in a ponytail that went half way down her back and chocolate-brown eyes. Her uniform was almost exactly like Combat Student Chad's, only had a short green skirt. In her hands, Kyoko carried a long chain that ended with a spiked metal ball.
The second Student monster, Shion, a girl in her mid teens with short light-green hair, and purple eyes behind a pair of black oval-framed glasses. She had on the same uniform as Model Student's Harriet and Tessa, and under her left arm she carried a blue and white textbook. The third Student monster, Marco, was a young man in his mid teens with tan skin and long unkempt dark-brown hair. He had on a uniform like the one worn by Delinquent Student Shauna, only it had black slacks and brown shoes, and in place of a necktie, the young man wore a yellow bandanna around his neck.
"All monsters summoned by the effect of Repeat Term will be destroyed at the end of the turn." Anitak continued. "But that will not matter, as you will soon see. I activate the Spell card, Curse of Fiend! By the effect of this card, the battle positions of all monsters on the field change!" Solar Tekko took a kneeling position on the battlefield, as did the three Students. "Using the level four Kyoko, Shion and Marco, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my ultimate monster! Araise, Number 664: Ghost Student Mary!"
A massive vortex resembling a red galaxy appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Anitak's three monsters as balls of purple energy. Emerging from the phenomenon a moment later was an object resembling a broken mirror with three balls of purple light orbiting around it. A pair of bony chalk-white hands burst from the broken, followed by a pair of arms inside pink sleeves. Coming out of the mirror after the arms was a horrid-looking head of long stringy black hair. The only part of its chalk-white face that could be seen was a large red eye.
The thing soon emerged fully from the mirror and floated over the battlefield. It appeared to be female, a fact reinforced by the pink and blue school uniform it was wearing. There was a hole torn in the entity's pink jacket right below the right breast, revealing a set of ribs. Tied around each wrist was a set of two long chains that ended with hooks that rested on the ground. Glowing on the left lapel of the creature's jacket in red was the number 664. She had a very slender almost skeletal build, and her head was tilted to the right, revealing that the eye that was showing was her left one. Orbiting around the ghostly student were three balls of blue light that resembled will-o-wisps.
"Oh man… you weren't kidding, Yuma." A very unsettled Shark spoke. "That Number looks like something out of a horror movie!"
"That's Anitak's Number? Cool!" Vector declared up in the stands.
"You would say something like that." Rio told him.
"Now I activate the Spell card I drew at the beginning of this turn!" Anitak announced. "Rank-Up-Magic – The Devil's Triad!" The large card that appeared on the field showed an illustration of the Barian emblem hanging upside down behind three purple stars connected by bolts of purple electricity.
"Devil's Triad?" Alit repeated.
"Just as you former pawns of Don Thousand have your own exclusive Rank-Up-Magic card, we Death Queens have ours!" Anitak told him. "Using Ghost Student Mary, I open the gates of the underworld to rebuild the overlay network and summon a monster one rank higher! Arise, Number C664: Reaper Student Mary!"
A pillar of crimson light shot up from the ground beneath Mary, and a horrid scream could be heard from within. After a few moments, the light faded to reveal Mary in a new form. Her pink jacket had turned black with white trim, and the sleeves had been torn off to reveal slender arms wrapped in bandages. Her legs were wrapped in bandages as well, and her tie and skirt had turned purple. Mary's long stringy hair had changed from black to white, and her face had become covered in a mask made from stitched-together pieces of black leather. All that could be seen of the specter's face was an evil glowing red eye. Four long chains ending in large red hooks hung from her back, and in both hands Mary held a long scythe with a massive red blade at the top. Orbiting the malevolent spirit were four red fireballs that looked like will-o-wisps.
"Oh man! Just when I thought Anitak's Number couldn't get any creepier!" Yuma spoke as the color drained from his face.
"It's not only creepy, it also has 3800 ATK." Kaito pointed out.
"While Mary is on the field, the ATK and DEF values of all other face-up monsters are switched." Anitak announced. "Meaning Solar Tekko's ATK has become 2400."
"I'm guessing that there's more to Mary's new form than just that." Alit assumed.
"Right you are. I activate Reaper Student Mary's effect!" Anitak announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, I can change the battle positions of all monsters my opponent controls!"
One of the will-o-wisps orbiting Mary entered her glowing red eye. The four red chains on her back rose up and the ends dove into the ground as if it was made of water. Suddenly several hooked chains emerged from the empty space around Tekko and forced him to his feet, binding his arms and legs as well as his midsection.
"If the current ATK of a monster switched to Attack Mode by this effect is lower than its original ATK value, that monster is destroyed!" Anitak announced.
Mary raised the blade of her scythe and swung it down on Tekko. The solar boxer was cut down the middle and the two halves shattered into bits of gold light.
"Mary gains 500 ATK for each monster destroyed by this effect until the end of the turn." Anitak continued. "Meaning her ATK has just risen to 4300!"
Mary's body suddenly began to give off a blood red aura. Suddenly three rays of golden light shot up from the ground on Alit's side of the field into the sky. The lights soon faded to reveal Glassjaw, Headgeared and Veil.
"What is the meaning of this?" Anitak asked with fury in her voice.
"When Tekko his destroyed, I can summon three Battlin' Boxer monsters from the Graveyard." Alit explained.
"I see. So you were expecting me to destroy Solar Tekko and give you the material needed to summon your Number." Anitak observed. "But I will not let that plan succeed! Mary, attack Headgeared! Soul Cutter Scythe!"
"I activate my Trap, Negate Attack!" Alit announced as Mary raised her scythe. "My monsters aren't going anywhere!"
As Mary swung down the blade, a small vortex appeared above Headgeared. The vortex blocked the scythe and nearly knocked the large weapon out of Mary's hand.
"It seems you've extended your miserable life for one more turn." Anitak remarked. "In that case, I shall end my turn here. And with the end of my turn, Mary's ATK returns to its original value."
"Why are you so angry, Chitose?" Alit asked. "All I told you before was that I care about you."
"I told you before that Chitose Amamiya is dead." Anitak responded. "And you honestly expect me to believe that you truly have feelings for me? I know what people are truly like! The hell I lived through in my former life as Chitose showed me how wretched humans truly are! Every single one of them deserves to suffer a thousand times worse than I did! That is why my comrades and I seek to revive Lord Zorc! So that we can give the human race the hell that they deserve!"
"Not all people are like that, Chitose." Alit told her. "There were a few nice people in your past life, remember? Like that girl, Tea who helped you pick up your books that one time."
"A single act of kindness proves nothing." Anitak coldly replied. "Beyond that brief interaction, we had no other encounter with each other. For the rest of my time in that school she gave me the same kind of indifference as every other student who didn't delight in tormenting me! Nothing you say or do will convince me that you or anyone else ever cared about me in this life or my previous one!"
"We'll see about that!" Alit declared as he drew his next card. "Using the level four Glassjaw, Headgeared and Veil, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my ultimate fighter! Come forth, Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus!"
A galaxy-like vortex appeared on the battlefield and pulled in Alit's three monsters as balls of red energy. Emerging from the vortex soon after was a large bronze object that was shaped almost like a bowtie. The object unfolded and expanded, taking the shape of a blue and grey armored warrior with golden yellow plates on his chest and legs. A golden yellow blade adorned the top of the warrior's head, and on his shoulders were two large blue armored plates trimmed a golden-yellow. The number 105 glowed in red alien writing on the armor of the warrior's right shoulder. Orbiting around the warrior were three balls of yellow light.
"Chitose, I told you before that I'd fight for you no matter what!" Alit told her. "And right now I'm going to fight you with everything I've got to get you back your heart!"
Suddenly Alit began to glow with a brilliant golden light. The same golden light began to shine from Star Cestus as well.
"What's going on?" Yuma asked.
"This power! It's the same kind Mizael used!" Kaito realized.
"So, that buffoon really did have what it takes to call upon a Shining Number." Mizael remarked.
"Using Star Cestus, I rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon a monster one rank higher!" Alit announced. "Come forth, Number S105: Battlin' Boxer Seraph Cestus!"
A golden vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared beneath Star Cestus as he changed back into the object he had first appeared as. The object receded back into the vortex, which shot a beam of golden light into the sky soon after. The light faded to reveal an object resembling a silver diamond-shaped shield with a gold cross on the front and ten gold-feathered wings on the back. Four balls of golden light orbited around the object. The shield then began to glow and change into a new form of Star Cestus.
The new incarnation of Alit's Number was clad in silver and gold armor. His helmet had a visor with a gold star-like cross that covered his eyes, and on the sides of his helmet were two small gold-feathered wings. Ten golden wing-like blades were on the warrior's back. The top left wing bore the number 105 in red alien writing. The same cross-like symbol that was on the warrior's helmet also adorned the armor on his chest, as well as on the back of the armor covering each of his hands.
A look of utter terror appeared on Alnia's face when she saw the Shining Number. "This… this can't be! Now there are two of those damn things?"
"Star Cestus is unaffected by my opponent's Xyz Monster effects, meaning his ATK and DEF aren't reversed." Alit announced.
"Perhaps, but your new monster only has 2500 ATK." Anitak pointed out. "There's no way it can overcome Mary!"
"Guess again, because I attack Mary with Seraph Cestus and activate his effect!" Alit announced. "When Seraph Cestus battles a monster while it has the original Star Cestus as an overlay unit, I can detach one overlay unit and have him gain that monster's ATK during the battle! Seraph Cestus, take Mary down and end this! Holy Knuckle!"
As Seraph Cestus charged at Mary, one of the balls of light orbiting him went into the star cross on his visor. Star Cestus gave off a brilliant golden aura as he moved in and delivered a powerful blow to Mary's stomach. Anitak doubled over as if she had been punched in the gut as well and her life points dropped to zero. Suddenly cracks of golden light began to form all over Mary's body. The same cracks started to appear all over Anitak as well. Anitak let out a scream and suddenly both she and Reaper Student Mary exploded with a blinding flash of white light.
Author's Note: I obviously had to make up a few new cards for Alit to use in his duel. The name of Alit's new Xyz Monster is based on an old Japanese weapon called a tekko. It's basically a brass knuckle-type weapon, only it has a blade instead of a metal knuckle (or whatever the proper term is). The name of the Spell card Alit used, Tiger Eye Stare, was a reference to the famous Survivor song, Eye of the Tiger. That song of course was used as the theme song for the movie, Rocky III. I guess I could've just called the Spell card, Eye of the Tiger but I didn't want to be blatantly obvious about it. Finally, before anyone asks, yes, Battlin' Boxer Seraph Cestus's appearance was molded heavily after Seraphimon from Digimon. His effect was originally going to be almost exactly like the effect of Utopia the Lightning as a reference to how Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus and Utopia Ray V have the exact same effect, but when I wrote the duel, the doubled ATK just wasn't enough to bring Anitak's life points to zero.
That does it for the epic duel between Alit and Anitak. In the next chapter, we have yet another flashback to the past. A flashback that will include a few very special "guest stars". So stay tuned, and in case I don't update again until Sunday, happy Thanksgiving.
Please review and let me know what you think.