Author's Note: I'd like to take a moment to respond to a recent review I got this morning from PatchGlade, who had some concerns that Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend was going to be appearing in this chapter or later chapters of this story. Since this may be a concern that might be shared by other readers, I decided to use this author's note to assure everyone that Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend will not be showing up in this story or any future ZEXAL fanfic I might do involving Cleo. A few of the other "Red" monsters used by the Arc-V version of Jack Atlas might show up later in Cleo's deck, but Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend is where I draw the line.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 21: Duelist Empress
"Because I currently have three Tuners in my Graveyard, Red Nova's ATK rises to 5000." Cleo announced. "Red Nova, obliterate Comet Shark! Burning Soul!"
Red Nova's body became shrouded in crimson flames as he flew towards Comet Shark. Upon impact, the mechanical space shark's body exploded and the metal pieces of its armor scattered across the battlefield. Shark's life points took a heavy drop to 1200.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Cleo announced.
"You really have improved." Shark admitted. "That makes you even more of a pain in the ass."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Cleo responded. "You should just make things easy on yourself and surrender now. I'm sure that Rio would understand."
"Like hell!" Shark told her as he drew his next card. The card he pulled from the top of his deck gave off a crimson flash. "I activate Rank-Up-Magic – The Seventh One! With this card, I call forth Number 101: Silent Honor ARK to Xyz Summon Number C101: Silent Honor DARK!"
A large vortex formed in the air behind Shark and his blue submarine monster flew out. The front of the submersible burst open and the aquatic warrior that was Silent Honor DARK leapt out and landed on the battlefield. Soon after, the Number monster's original form changed into a red crystal with gold plates.
"I activate my face-down card, Demise of the Land!" Cleo announced. "When my opponent special summons a monster, Demise of the Land lets me activate a Field Spell from my deck. The Field Spell I activate is Domain of the Earthbound!"
Suddenly dark-purple clouds that flashed with lightning had covered the sky. The stadium floor had become grey and had large lines drawn upon it. The lines appeared to be part of some sort of pattern, but whatever the pattern was it was too large to identify from the ground.
The color drained from Hikari's face upon seeing their surroundings. "What… what's Cleo doing with this Field Spell?"
"You've seen this Field Spell before Hikari?" Yuma asked.
"Yeah. Once." Hikari confirmed. "Now that I think about it, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Cleo has this card too, considering what Red Nova Dragon is."
"I don't know what kind of trick you're trying to pull, but it's not going to work!" Shark declared. "I activate Silent Honor DARK's effect! Once per turn, I can target one monster my opponent controls and change it into an overlay unit. And the monster I'm targeting is Red Nova Dragon!"
"Big mistake." Cleo told him.
Suddenly Number C101's body became completely covered in red flames. When the flames subsided, the only thing left of Silent Honor DARK was a scorch mark on the ground.
"What the hell just happened?" a stunned Shark demanded to know.
"Red Nova happens to be of a special breed of monsters that Domain of the Earthbound protects." Cleo explained. "When a monster targets Red Nova or one of his kind with an effect, Domain of the Earthbound lets me negate that effect and destroy the monster that used it."
"This must be the countermeasure that Cleo prepared for Shark's Number." Astral realized. "As long as Domain of the Earthbound is on the field, effects that require a specific target like that of Shark's Number are rendered completely useless."
"And Red Nova can't be destroyed by opposing card effects." Hikari added. "Plus even if Ryoga could boost the ATK of one of his monsters, Cleo can use another one of Red Nova's effects to block the attack."
"I activate another one of Silent Honor DARK's effects!" Shark announced. "Since he was just destroyed by your Field Spell, I can summon him back from the Graveyard and gain life points equal to his original ATK!"
Number C101 rose up from the ground like a ghost, twirling his red spear above his head. The aquatic warrior glowed with a blue aura as he appeared, showing Shark with sparkling blue lights. The water duelist's life points quickly rose back up to 4000.
"I'm not going down that easily." Shark declared. "You can knock me down all you want, but I'll just keep coming back."
"Perhaps, but what do you expect to do with just that Number of yours and Bahamut Shark?" Cleo asked.
"Nothing, for now." Shark answered. "But the fact is that while you may have that practically invincible dragon, it can't take down my ultimate monster."
"It does seem like we've reached a stalemate." Cleo admitted.
"The way it is now, Red Nova can't be destroyed or targeted for card effects." Hikari observed. "But at the same time, Number C101 can just revive itself from the Graveyard after being destroyed and can only be destroyed in battle with another Number."
"In other words, unless something changes, neither monster can overcome the other." Astral restated.
"So then what happens now?" Yuma asked. "I mean, this can't go on forever, can it?"
"The stalemate will continue until either Shark or Cleo can draw a card that can tip the scales of battle in their favor." Astral answered. "The question is, who will draw that card first?"
"This is turning out to be a real laugh, huh Mitaka?" Alnia asked Samantha in the rival dugout. "It's like the irresistible force against the immovable object. I actually wouldn't mind facing either of these losers in a duel. They'd sure be an improvement over most of the other chumps in this tournament."
"I'm not sure I'd be that eager to face the leader of Don Thousand's former pawns if I were you." Samantha told her. "He could end up having one of those Shining Numbers like that one that took down Ani."
"You make a good point." Alnia admitted. "Plus the Singer girl's combo of that dragon with Domain of the Earthbound could pose a problem even for my Number. Still, I do enjoy a challenge."
"I'll end my turn here." Shark announced. "I don't know how this duel will end for sure, but even you have to admit that I'm not the same guy you dueled two years ago."
"We do seem to be evenly matched." Cleo admitted. "But in the end, I will still be the one to win this duel! That is because I am the empress of duelists!"
"Get over yourself!" Shark told her. "You may be the daughter of a legendary duelist, but that doesn't make you invincible! Even if you are some duelist empress like you say you are, then I'm going to knock you off that throne of yours!"
"That's where you're wrong, because I'm going to end this duel right now!" Cleo declared as she drew her next card. The card she pulled from the deck seemed to give off a brief flash of crimson flames. "I activate the Spell card, Scarlet Dominion! Because I have a Red monster on the battlefield, I can banish all monsters my opponent controls and deal 500 points of damage for each one!"
Red Nova roared as his body gave off a fiery red aura. A large red fireball began to form in the dragon's right hand. Red Nova thrust his fist at Shark's monsters, sending the fireball across the field. Upon hitting the ground, the flaming projectile exploded and both of Shark's monsters were vaporized. The water duelist's life points took a drop to 3000.
"Your Number can only revive itself from being destroyed if it's in the Graveyard." Cleo pointed out. "Since Silent Honor DARK was banished from the field, you can't bring him back to protect you."
"Shark doesn't have any face-down cards on the field." Kotori observed from the skybox. "It looks like this duel is pretty much over, doesn't it?"
"Dammit, Nasch!" Mizael cursed. "I thought that at least you could avenge my defeat to that woman."
"Shark gave it a good effort." Kaito spoke. "Still, Cleo seems to be on a whole other level. She really is the daughter of Jack Atlas."
"It's time to end this!" Cleo declared. "Red Nova, attack him directly! Burning Soul!"
Red Nova's body became shrouded in flames once again as he flew across the field. In seconds the dragon rammed into Shark, nearly knocking him off the stage. Upon being struck, Shark's life points went to zero and the duel came to an end. Red Nova vanished and the surrounding space returned to normal.
"And the winner of the duel is… Cleo Atlas!" the referee announced.
The entire stadium erupted into cheers upon hearing this declaration. Meanwhile down on the stage, Shark got back to his feet and walked up to Cleo.
"I guess you win this round." Shark told her. "But don't think this is over between us. Once I get a bit stronger, I'll come back to take you on again."
"I look forward to it." Cleo replied.
"You still get under my skin, Atlas. But I respect you as a duelist." Shark admitted. "Next to Yuma, Kaito and Thomas, you're one of the strongest opponents I've ever faced."
"You're not so bad yourself." Cleo told him. "You're not quite on Hikari's level, but you are one of the stronger opponents I've come up against. Now, let's clear off this stage."
With that, Cleo and Shark left the stage and returned to the dugout. Yuma and Hikari walked up to the two as soon as they entered.
"Sorry I had to crush your boyfriend just now, Hikari." Cleo told her.
"Don't worry about it." Hikari replied. "I'll just pay you back when we face off in the next round."
"Don't be so sure about that, Hikari." Yuma cut in. "If you want to get to Cleo, you'll have to get past me and Astral first."
"The next duel will be between Michael Arclight and Alnia!" the referee announced. "The duel will begin in five minutes!"
"Well, looks like I'm up next." Michael observed as he stood up. "Wish me luck, everyone."
"Be careful out there, Michael." Yuma told him. "Remember how Gauche ended up in the hospital."
"Don't worry. I've got the perfect strategy to take down Alnia." Michael assured him. "Her Number won't be an issue."
"Perhaps I should loan you some of my Numbers for this duel as a precaution." Astral suggested.
"Thanks for the offer Astral, but I'll be fine." Michael replied. "Alnia won't even know what hit her."
Yuma and Astral couldn't help but look on with worry as Michael headed towards the stage. They both knew that Alnia was one of the most dangerous duelists they had ever encountered, and while they knew that Michael was as skilled a duelist as just about everyone else in the group, Yuma and Astral were not all that confident in his abilities to overcome the leader of the Barian Death Queens. This feeling seemed to be shared with most of the others watching from the skybox.
"So now Michael is going up against Alnia." Kotori observed. "Is there any way he can beat her?"
"Michael's a pretty smart duelist." Droite pointed out. "He may not be able to overcome Alnia when it comes to sheer power, but I'm sure he has some kind of strategy up his sleeve that might just trip her up."
"It may not be enough." Kaito told them with a grave expression. "Out of all of us left in the tournament, Cleo seems to have the best chance of beating Alnia in a duel. That combo of Red Nova Dragon and Domain of the Earthbound can render at least two of the effects that Alnia's Number possesses useless."
"You guys are writing off Michael just a little too quickly." Stacy interjected. "He might just end up surprising you all in this duel."
"Do you know what kind of strategy Michael has up his sleeve?" Rio asked.
"Yep. I helped him plan it out last night." Stacy revealed with a wink. "As for what that strategy is, I'm going to let that be a surprise."
Down on the stage, Michael waited patiently for the five-minute intermission to end. He took the time to double-check the cards in his deck to make sure he had everything he needed to execute his plan. At long last, the referee announced the start of the next duel and Alnia walked into the stage.
The white-haired Death Queen looked at Michael with a scowl. "Guess you're the last wimp I have to crush before I can get to the real opponents. Let's make this quick, Chronomoly boy."
"You shouldn't underestimate me." Michael warned. "You may have a powerful Number, but I've figured out one weakness it has that I can use. Don't be surprised if you end up losing this duel."
Alnia burst into laughter. "You sure have some stones on you, girly-boy. I'll give you that. But let me make one thing clear, I am way out of your league. If you were smart, you'd just walk off this stage now. Otherwise, I won't have any choice but to rip you to pieces."
"Let the duel begin!" the referee announced.
Michael activated his D-Gazer tattoo while Alnia's red eye turned from green to gold and her left arm took on its Barian form, causing her blade-like duel disk to appear. The members of the audience activated their D-Gazers as well and the color of the surrounding area changed again.
"There's no turning back now, kid." Alnia told him. "Prepare to experience hell."
Author's Note: I know, I know. This chapter was pathetically short. For that, you all have my deepest apologies. I thought I could split the duel into two equal halves, but it turns out that I was mistaken. I couldn't really figure out a good way to stretch out the rest of the duel, so this was the best I could manage. Again, I apologize.
Anyway, those of you reading who are familiar with my previous works might remember the Domain of the Earthbound card that Cleo uses from 5D's Alternative Book 2: The False King. I do enjoy dusting off old cards I made up for previous stories to use in new ones.
Please review and let me know what you think.