Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for me to bring everyone this update now that we're so close to the end of this story. Long story short, I had a really nasty week last week and hardly had any time to write.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 33: Invincible Hope
"I activate Black Solar Dragon Lucifer's effect!" Alnia announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, Lucifer sends all other monsters on the field to the Graveyard!"
One of the balls of light orbiting the skeletal dragon entered the Millennium Ring on his chest. Waves of silvery light radiated from Lucifer's body as he let out an echoing roar. Lancelot turned to black mist upon being hit by the energy waves and simply faded away. Soon after, Yuma and Astral's life points rose to 6000.
"You gain life points equal to your undead knight's ATK thanks to Lucifer's effect, but those life points won't save you." Alnia continued. "That's because Lucifer's effect summons four Underworld Soldiers to the field!"
Four skeletal hands burst from the earth on Alnia's side of the field. In moments, four floating armored skeletons baring swords had risen to aid the Barian Death Queen.
"This ends now!" Alnia declared. "Attack him directly, my soldiers of the dead! Cut him to pieces!"
"It's not over yet, Alnia!" Yuma declared as the skeletons flew towards him. "Since I'm being attacked directly, I summon Gagaga Guardna from my hand in Defense Mode!"
Just as the Underworld Soldiers came in striking range, Gagaga Guardna appeared on the field with his shield raised. With their attack blocked, the skeletons flew back across the field.
"As if your little barrier monster can stop me! Lucifer, obliterate that thing!" Alnia ordered. "Breath of the Void!"
"I activate Gagaga Guardna's effect!" Yuma announced. "By discarding a card, I can keep Gagaga Guardna from being destroyed in battle this turn!"
The demon dragon opened his boney jaws and fired a massive beam of black crackling energy down at Yuma's monster. A transparent sphere like a bubble appeared around Gagaga Guardna right as the beam hit. When the smoke cleared, Yuma's monster was completely unharmed.
"Looks like Yuma managed to hang in there for one more turn." Kaito remarked up in the skybox.
"If there's anyone who's good at hanging in there by a thread, it's Yuma." Shark noted.
"Yeah, but how long can he and Astral keep it up?" Hikari wondered. "Not even Cleo could stand up to Alnia's Chaos Number. I'm not really sure I could either, to be honest."
At that moment, the door to the skybox opened. Everyone was surprised to see Michael walking in, leaning on Stacy and his older brother, Christopher for support. The pink-haired boy's shirt was open down the front, revealing a chest wrapped in bandages.
"Michael! You're awake!" Kotori observed.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to be out of bed like that?" Thomas asked.
"The doctors didn't think so, but he was dead set on coming here." Stacy answered.
"I couldn't just lie there in a hospital bed while Yuma was facing Alnia." Michael answered.
"They're running this duel on T.V., you know!" Thomas pointed out.
"It's just not the same." Michael told him. "I have to be here in person to cheer Yuma on."
"Damn straight!" came another voice from the door. Everyone looked to see Gauche standing in the doorway. "There's no way I could stay away from here either, not during Yuma's toughest duel yet."
"Let's just hope you two didn't come for nothing then." Kaito responded. "Yuma's up against Alnia's most powerful might right now. I don't know if he and Astral can even beat it."
"I hate it when my opponents pull moves like that." Alnia told Yuma. "Just give it up! You'll die less painfully that way!"
"Not gonna happen!" Yuma declared. "Astral and I are gonna keep on fighting until we beat you!"
Alnia grumbled something under her breath. "Fine! I end my turn!"
Yuma drew his next card. "I summon Zubaba Knight in Defense Mode!" Yuma's shield barring knight appeared on the field next to Gagaga Guardna. "Using my two level four monsters, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon a monster in Defense Mode! Come forth, Number 55: Gogogo Goliath!"
A vortex in the form of a blue galaxy appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Yuma's two monsters as balls of orange energy. Rising out of the vortex only seconds later was a large stone object resembling a rubix cube with two balls of gold light orbiting around it. More segments sprang from the sides of the cube, and soon it had changed into a monster that greatly resembled Gogogo Golem but was six times the brick golem's size. It had a small dome-shaped head of blue brick with a single red eye and two horns made from pipes the color of red brick. Its torso looked like it had been made from the tower of a grey castle and had a barred window in the chest. Glowing on the golem's stomach in red alien writing was the number 55. It had massive red upper legs with even larger blue lower legs. The giant had long thick tube-like red arms with blue armor covering the wrists, and on its back were two large red tanks that looked like the could be silos of some kind.
"While Gogogo Goliath is on the field, all my monsters gain 800 DEF!" Yuma continued. "That means Goliath's DEF goes up from 1200 to 2000! I set one card on the field and end my turn!"
"That's gotta be your weakest move yet." Alnia remarked as she drew her next card. "I activate Lucifer's effect and detach another overlay unit to send all other monsters on the field to the Graveyard!"
Another one of the balls of light orbiting the dragon entered the ring on his chest. Lucifer roared and sent waves of silvery light all across the battlefield. Gogogo Goliath and Alnia's four Underworld Soldiers turned to black mist and drifted apart in the breeze. Yuma's life points rose to 8400. At the same time though, Alnia's life points climbed up to 6800.
"Because of Lucifer's effect, we both gain life points equal to the total ATK of our monsters that were removed from the field by this effect." Alnia continued. "That includes my Underworld Solider Tokens."
"But now the only monster you have on the field is Lucifer." Yuma pointed out.
"You sure about that?" Alnia asked.
Suddenly four skeletal hands burst up from the ground on Alnia's side of the field. In moments, four new Underworld Soldiers had risen and replaced the ones that had been eliminated.
"Every time Lucifer's effect resolves, I can summon four new Underworld Soldiers to the field." Alnia explained.
"As I suspected, this is the true strength of Black Solar Dragon Lucifer." Astral realized. "Unless we change this situation quickly Yuma, Alnia will simply keep using her Underworld Soldiers to raise her life points over and over again."
"That's right. You can use every cheap trick you've got to hang in there by the skin of your teeth, but if you keep this up for too long, my life points will be too high for you to turn this duel around." Alnia confirmed.
"I activate Xyz Reborn!" Yuma announced. "With this card, I summon Gogogo Golem back from the Graveyard in Defense Mode!"
The giant golem of brick reappeared on Yuma's side of the battlefield. Yuma's giant Trap card then turned into a ball of light and was pulled into Goliath's orbit.
"Just another cheap trick! Lucifer, demolish that eyesore!" Alnia commanded. "Breath of the Void!"
Lucifer opened his jaws and fired a crackling blast of black energy. Gogogo Goliath was hit in the chest and shattered into pieces of brick that rained down all over the battlefield.
"Attack him directly, my Underworld Soldiers!" Alnia ordered.
The armored skeletons flew across the battlefield towards Yuma with their swords raised. Yuma raised his arms to protect himself as the soldiers slashed at him with their blades, but his life points still dropped to 1600.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Alnia announced. "Now I'm getting tired of this damn duel. Just give up already so I can take the Numeron Code and give the people of this world a living hell."
"You know that's not gonna happen!" Yuma told her. "As long as I've got a shot at winning, I'm never giving up!" With that, Yuma pulled the next card from his deck, causing it to glow with a golden light. "I summon Overlay Necromancer in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Yuma's side of the field was a woman with purple skin wearing a blood red cape. Bright orange hair peeked out from beneath her hood, and a white mask resembling a skull covered the upper half of her face. She had on a low cut blood red dress with a short shirt and a piece of white armor covering her chest, and around her waist was a black belt with a gold buckle shaped like a skull. In her right hand, the redhead carried a gnarled wooden staff with a skull at the top. Secured in the skull's open jaws was a round green gem.
"I activate Overlay Necromancer's effect!" Yuma announced. "By banishing two rank four Xyz Monsters from my Graveyard, I can summon the monsters that were originally used to summon them! I banish Diamond King Crab and Gogogo Goliath and summon Goblindberg, Gogogo Golem, Gagaga Guardna and Ganbara Knight back to the field!"
Overlay Necromancer raised her staff and a brilliant green light shined from the staff's gem. Four small black portals appeared on the ground on Yuma's side of the field and covered the stage with a green mist. In seconds, each of Yuma's four monsters rose out of the holes. When they appeared, the green mist covering the tournament stage vanished.
"The monster I'm about to bring out needs at least three overlay units!" Yuma announced. "So I overlay all five of my level four monsters to Xyz Summon the High Priest of Utopia!"
A blue vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Yuma's five monsters as balls of blue energy. Rising out of the vortex only seconds later was a humanoid figure that greatly resembled Astral. He had on a three-pointed crown that greatly resembled Utopia's helmet but had a white cloth hanging down the back. The figure also had on a cape made of a shimmering gold fabric. White armor covered his torso, and on his chest was a large jeweled crest that looked like the Emperor's Key. Panels of white armor hung down around his waist, and hanging from his golden belt was a sword that greatly resembled Utopia's sealed form. The figure's arms were bare, except for a pair of gold bracelets with green gems. His legs were bare as well except for a pair of golden boots. Orbiting around the Astral World being were five balls of golden light.
"When I've summoned High Priest of Utopia when my opponent has at least 3000 more life points than I do, I can draw two cards!" Yuma announced. The cards he pulled from his deck flashed with a golden light.
"So what? That priest of yours only has 2000 ATK." Alnia pointed out. "What's he gonna do, prey my dragon to death? Or maybe you're gonna have him preside over your funeral."
"I activate High Priest of Utopia's effect!" Yuma announced. "By detaching one of his overlay units, I can use High Priest of Utopia as material to Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia from the Graveyard!"
"WHAT!" a stunned Alnia exclaimed.
The High Priest drew his sword and one of the balls of light orbiting around him entered the blade. A split second later, there was a blinding flash of golden light and Utopia was on the field in his sealed form. Five balls of golden light orbited around the Number warrior as he changed into his true form.
"Dammit!" Alnia cursed. "I thought I had gotten rid of that thing!"
"You cannot extinguish our hope so easily, Alnia!" Astral told her.
Suddenly Astral turned gold and began to give off a dazzling light. At the same time, Utopia began to give off a golden light of his own.
"Using Utopia, we rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon a new monster!" Yuma and Astral announced together. "When disorder claims the cosmos, a ray of hope descends to light the chaos! Come forth! Number S39: Utopia Prime!"
A pillar of golden light shot up around Utopia. When the light faded, the warrior had taken on the form of Utopia Prime and had six balls of gold light orbiting around him.
"I activate Utopia Prime's effect!" Yuma announced. "By detaching three of his overlay units and giving up all but ten of my life points, Utopia Prime banishes your monsters and deals 300 points of damage for each one!"
Three of the balls of light orbiting Utopia Prime entered the gem embedded in his chest. The warrior then blasted all five of Alnia's monsters with a blast of golden energy, creating a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Alnia's life points had dropped to 5300 and her Underworld Soliders was gone, but Lucifer was still on the field.
"Huh? What the heck happened?" a surprised Yuma asked.
"I activated my Trap, Out of the Shadows." Alnia explained. "When I take damage from an opponent's card effect, Out of the Shadows lets me summon a banished Chaos Number back to the field, ignoring any summoning restrictions it might have. You really caught me off guard when you summoned that Shining Number of yours, but in the end it still wasn't enough to take me out. You're finished on the next turn."
"Our turn's not over yet, Alnia!" Yuma told her. "Astral and I have only just started!"
"Give me a break." Alnia responded. "Do you idiots really think you still have a shot at winning?"
"The odds may be against us, but Yuma and I can still defeat you!" Astral declared.
"That's right!" Yuma responded. "And the reason is because no matter how badly the odds are stacked against us, we never give up!"
Suddenly Utopia Prime began to glow again. Soon after, the sky started to rumble with the sound of thunder. At that moment, a golden light began to shine from the Extra Deck holder at Yuma's waist.
"What the hell?" Alnia exclaimed. "What's going on now?"
"Using Utopia Prime, we rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon a new monster!" Yuma and Astral announced together. "Solitary glimmer of hope! Become a streak of lightning and leap from the darkness! Come forth, Number S39: Utopia the Lightning!"
A bolt of golden lightning came down from the sky and struck Utopia Prime. When the light from the resulting flash faded, the warrior had taken on yet another new form. His neck, hands, lower torso, and upper legs had become black. His helmet had turned completely white and had a green gem embedded in the forehead, as well as five golden horns growing from the back. Diamond-shaped pieces of gold armor covered the front of his waist and chest, and mounted in the large pieces of white armor covering his shoulders were two long swords. Orbiting around Utopia were four balls of golden light.
"Utopia, attack Black Solar Dragon Lucifer!" Yuma commanded. "Hope Sword Lightning Slash!"
"But that damn Shining Number of yours only has 2500 ATK!" Alnia pointed out.
"I activate Utopia the Lightning's effect!" Yuma announced. "By detaching two of his overlay units, Utopia the Lightning's ATK doubles during a battle!"
Two of the balls of gold light entered the green gem embedded in Utopia's chest as he drew his two swords. The Number warrior charged across the battlefield and leapt up at Alnia's dragon. The blades of Utopia's swords crackled with electricity as he swung them, cutting into the Millennium Ring on Lucifer's chest. The attack left a glowing X-shaped mark of white light that began to spread glowing cracks all over the dragon's skeletal body. As Utopia returned to Yuma's side of the battlefield Lucifer exploded with a flash of white light. Alnia flicked for a moment between her Barian and human forms as her life points dropped to 5100.
Alnia stood frozen in shock for a few moments before suddenly started to laugh. It was the kind of insane laugh one might have after nearly dying in a fatal accident.
"Utopia the Lightning's power wasn't enough to break the curse of Alnia's Devil Number." Astral observed. "It's not surprising, considering the depths of her hatred."
"In a way, Alnia's not that much different than how I was when I was the leader of the Barian Emperors." Shark noted up in the skybox. "Out of the seven of us, I was the only one who didn't have his memories altered by Don Thousand. It's kind of the same thing with the Death Queens. Anitak and Mitaka were able to see that the people in their old lives weren't as bad as they thought, but Alnia's a different story. Everyone that Alnia cared about was slaughtered in her past life. After having something like that happen, it's probably pretty impossible to forgive the human race."
"Then how are Yuma and Astral supposed to break the curse of Alnia's Number?" Kotori asked.
"No clue." Shark answered with a shrug. "But if anyone can find a way, I'm sure Yuma's the guy to do it."
"You know… you really are something, Tsukumo." Alnia spoke as she finished laughing. "There's actually a part that's been enjoying all this. I've never had an opponent who's been able to push me this far before. For that, I'm gonna make your death one that people will talk about for another five thousand years."
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Yuma announced.
"This turn will end the duel for sure!" Alnia declared as she drew her next card. "I activate the second effect of Rank-Up-Magic – The Devil's Triad! By banishing it from the Graveyard, I can bring back a Chaos Number from the Graveyard! Return, Black Solar Dragon Lucifer!"
A massive black vortex appeared in the air behind Alnia. Lucifer emerged from the vortex and let out a roar that echoed across the stadium.
"And now I'm going to use a power that not even Anitak and Mitaka knew about!" Alnia announced. "I use myself and Lucifer to rebuild the overlay network and summon… Number C666: Hope Destroyer Dragon Lucifer!"
A vortex in the form of a red galaxy appeared beneath Alnia's feet and pulled her in. Lucifer turned into a ball of red energy and was pulled in after her. The vortex gave off a flash of crimson lightning and the skeletal dragon rose back out of it only a second later. Lucifer's wings had changed from black to red, and Alnia's upper half was growing out of the top of the dragon's head. A single ball of red light was orbiting around the dragon. Many of the audience members were taken aback by how Alnia had apparently merged with her monster.
"A monster with an ATK of 4800." Astral observed. "This duel just became a lot more difficult."
Alnia let out a maniacal laugh. "What do ya think of me now, Tsukumo? I activate one of Hope Destroyer Dragon Lucifer's effects! When he's been Xyz Summoned, I can attach four Fiend-type monsters in my Graveyard to it as overlay units! I attach Tragoedia, Archfiend Mummy Soldier, Bandit Guardian Diabound and Number 666: Archfiend Pharaoh Lucifer!"
Four balls of red light flew out of the vortex that Lucifer had just emerged from and were pulled into the dragon's orbit. The crimson vortex then shut itself, leaving no trace of its existence.
"I attack Utopia the Lightning with Lucifer and activate one of its effect!" Alnia announced. "By detaching one of Lucifer's overlay units, he drops the ATK of the monster he's battling to zero!"
One of the balls of red light orbiting the dragon entered the ring on his chest. The dragon then blasted Utopia with ray of red energy that turned the warrior's armor grey.
"Lucifer! Let's remove that annoying Number from existence once and for all!" Alnia ordered. "Despair from the Void!"
Lucifer opened his jaws and fired a blast of crackling black energy at Utopia. The attack struck and pieces of armor flew everywhere across the battlefield. Alnia laughed triumphantly upon seemingly ending the duel, but when the attack ended, Utopia Prime had reappeared on the field with six balls of gold light in his orbit. What was even more surprising was that Yuma's few remaining life points were untouched.
"What the… how the hell are you both still alive?" an outraged Alnia demanded to know.
"I activated my Trap, Shell of Hope!" Yuma explained. "This Trap let me negate your attack by using Utopia the Lightning as a shield. Then I was able to summon Utopia Prime back to the field with all the overlay units he had when he was originally Xyz Summoned!"
"You annoying little piece of shit!" Alnia cursed. "Why won't you just die? Why are you and the Envoy hanging in there so damn hard?"
"Because we're trying to help you, Alnia!" Yuma told her. "We get why you want to bring back Zorc to punish everyone, but you don't have to do that! I know you're angry and in pain, but maybe I can help you through it somehow! Your past life may have been a tragedy, but this life can be a whole lot better! Because you'd have me as a friend!"
"A friend? You?" Alnia asked. "Why the hell would you want me as a friend?"
"Because we've dueled! And I consider just about everyone who I duel as a friend!" Yuma answered.
"Oh really? You think I'm a friend, huh?" Alnia responded in a cold tone. "Well you can take your damn friendship and shove it up your ass!"
"Yuma! Since Alnia seems to have ended her turn, it's time we start ours!" Astral decided.
"Right! We're gonna end this duel right here!" Yuma declared as he drew his next card. The card he pulled gave off a golden flash of light.
"By discarding Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force, we use ourselves and Utopia Prime to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon a new monster!" Yuma and Astral announced together. "Invincible hope that shines in the darkness! Appear here and now and bring forth the light of possibility! Come forth, Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL!"
A golden vortex resembling a galaxy appeared under Utopia Prime's feet and pulled him in. Yuma then changed into a ball of red light while Astral transformed into a ball of blue light. Both lights flew into the vortex and caused a pillar of gold light to shoot into the air. The light faded after a few moments to reveal Yuma in a new form. The form resembled his armored ZEXAL form, only with a black bodysuit under white and red armor that was far less bulky. He had large spiked orange hair with a ponytail that grew down past his waist. In his right hand, Yuma held a sword with a blade made from golden energy. Orbiting around the Number human hybrid were seven balls of gold light.
"What the hell is this?" Alnia asked.
"You're not the only one who can combine with their monster!" Yuma told her. "Utopic ZEXAL gains 1000 ATK for each of its overlay units! Since I have seven right now, that means I have an ATK of 7000!"
"Is that right? Well I hate to burst your bubble, but you 7000 ATK isn't worth squat!" Alnia declared. "I can use Hope Destroyer Dragon's effect when he's being attacked as well!"
"That's what we thought!" Yuma responded. "Which is why I activate Utopic ZEXAL's effect! By detaching one of my overlay units, I can keep you from activating Lucifer's effects for the rest of the turn!"
One of the balls of light orbiting around Yuma entered the guard of his sword. Yuma pointed the blade up at Lucifer and fired a blast of gold energy that hit the dragon in the chest. In seconds, Alnia and the dragon that was connected to her body were bound in chains made of golden light. Alnia and Lucifer struggled to break free of the chains, but it was no use.
"I equip Utopic ZEXAL with SZW – Pegasus Wing!" Yuma announced.
Flying down from the sky was mechanical Pegasus covered in red armor with white trim. It had a silver blade for a mane and two glowing gold-feathered wings. The Pegasus struck Yuma and changed into a golden light. When the light faded, a piece of red armor baring the symbol of the Emperor's Key was covering Yuma's chest, and a pair of glowing golden wings had sprouted on his back.
"Pegasus Wing doesn't boost my ATK, but it gives me to inflict the ATK of the monster I destroy as battle damage!" Yuma announced. "I'm sorry it's come to this, Alnia! But I'm doing this for your own good!"
"Damn you!" Alnia cursed.
"I attack Lucifer with Utopic ZEXAL!" Yuma announced. "Hope Star Pegasus Slash!"
Yuma took off into the air and flew full speed towards Lucifer's head. When he came in range, Yuma stabbed Alnia through the chest with his energy blade. Alnia screamed as he life points dropped to zero and cracks of white light formed all over her body and Lucifer's. After a few more moments, Lucifer exploded in a flash of blinding light that washed over the entire city and the parts of the city beyond it. When the light faded at last, the sky had returned to normal. Yuma was standing one the stage in his original form next to Astral. On the floor of the stadium in front of them were the cards for Number 664, Number 665 and Number 666.
"Uh… and the winner of the Millennium Tournament is… Yuma Tsukumo!" the referee finally declared.
The audience began to cheer loudly upon hearing Yuma being declared champion. Up in the skybox, Kotori and many of the others breathed a major sigh of relief. Back down on the stage, Yuma took a look at the three Devil Number cards on the floor.
"Guess it's finally over." Yuma spoke.
"Indeed. Now that the Death Queens have finally been defeated, I can use the Numeron Code to bring them back as humans." Astral replied.
Suddenly the three Devil Number cards began to spark with black electricity. Before Yuma and Astral fully noticed, the cards shot a pillar of black energy up into the sky. Up in the skybox, Hikari and Cleo's Signer marks flared up again and created a barrier that covered the inside of the entire room. Meanwhile the pillar of energy began to shoot the audience members and the referee with bolts of black lightning.
Inside the pillar, a laugh could be heard. "H-HA HAA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!"
After a few moments, the pillar of energy finally faded. Standing in place of the Devil Number cards was a young-looking man with long white hair and wild purple eyes. He had on a blue and white striped shirt with a black vest and faded grey jeans. Hanging by a brown leather string from the young man's neck was the Millennium Ring.
"Well… I guess congratulations are in order for defeating my little pawns." The young man spoke. "Alnia obviously never gave the two of you enough credit."
"Hey! Aren't you…?" Yuma began to ask.
"Who are you?" Astral demanded to know.
"I am an avatar of Zorc Necrophades." The young man answered. "You may call me Bakura."
Author's Note: Surprise! He's baaaack. Needless to say, this tournament has just gone into overtime. So stay tuned. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoyed the conclusion to Yuma and Alnia's duel.
Pleas review and let me know what you think.