Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 34: Game of Darkness
"I never thought my efforts to get the Numeron Code would come to this." Bakura spoke. "But as the old saying goes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."
"You've been manipulating the Death Queens this entire time!" Astral realized.
At this, Bakura chuckled. "When you knocked away those three Numbers away from Don Thousand, they were not scattered to the winds of time like Alnia and the others believed. Instead, those Numbers ended up in my domain. When I found them, they tried to attach themselves to me, but my power was too great for the power of your Don Thousand. Instead, I infused those cards with a piece of my own self and scattered them across this world so that humans with hearts open to darkness would find them."
"And just like how the Barian Emperors were the means for Don Thousand to free himself from his prison, the Death Queens were the means for you to revive yourself." Astral deduced.
"It was a good backup plan to have in place in the very unlikely event I was destroyed." Bakura confirmed. "I planted the seeds of darkness, and as I hoped they were able to take root."
"But if you could use the Devil Numbers to appear to us like this, why'd you use Alnia and the others?" Yuma asked.
"Because in this incarnation I am nothing more than a spirit who can't do anything except duel." Bakura explained. "But once I have the Numeron Code, that will all change."
"We want blood! We want blood!" the audience suddenly began to chant, much to Yuma and Astral's surprise. Even the referee had begun to chant.
"What did you do?" Yuma demanded to know.
"I merely put the audience in the mood for the show I plan to put on." Bakura answered. "If it's any consolation, your little friends were unaffected thanks to the Signer marks that two of them have."
Yuma looked and saw that every single audience member seemed to be in some kind of trance as they continued their mindless chant.
"Now then, let's get this little show started." Bakura proposed. "We wouldn't want to disappoint our audience, now would we?"
Seeing that there was no other option, Yuma reactivated his D-Gazer and duel disk. At the same time, Bakura's left forearm began to pulse as something grew out of the back of it. In a matter of seconds, the growth turned into a duel disk complete with its own deck. In place of a normal D-Gazer, the white-haired duelist's left eye turned black and gained a red iris. When the color of the surrounding area changed, the audience stopped its mindless chant for blood.
"I'll start this off." Bakura declared as he drew his first card. "I set one card on the field. Then I summon the Headless Knight in Defense Mode!"
Appearing on Bakura's side of the battlefield was a suit of armor lacking a helmet. It had on a tattered red cape and carried a sword in its right arm. Meanwhile its left arm held a large shield with a round blue gem in the center.
"That ends my turn." Bakura announced.
"What the hell?" Shark spoke up in the skybox with a raised eyebrow. "Why's this Bakura guy playing an old junk card like that?"
"He must be trying to lure Yuma and Astral into a Trap of some kind." Hikari assumed.
"If he is, he's being pretty damn obvious about it." Shark declared.
"What do you think, Astral?" Yuma asked. "Should we attack, or not?"
"I am uncertain." Astral answered. "Attacking that monster might be just what Bakura wants us to do. Then again, maybe not attacking would be playing right into his hands."
"Well I'm not going to play it safe!" Yuma declared as he drew his first card. "I summon Zubaba Knight in Attack Mode!" The sword-wielding knight appeared on Yuma's side of the field. "Next I special summon Kagemucha Knight!" Yuma's shadowy knight appeared on the field next to Zubaba Knight. "Using my two level three monsters, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon!"
A galaxy-like vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Yuma's two monsters as balls of blue energy. A scaly blue object with two balls of blue light orbiting around it rose out of the vortex and transformed into Leviathan Dragon.
"I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect and detach an overlay unit to raise his ATK to 2500!" Yuma announced. The dragon ate one of the balls of light in orbit around him. "Leviathan Dragon, attack Headless Knight! Vice Stream!"
The serpentine dragon breathed out a stream of blue light that vaporized the knight upon impact. Despite the loss of his monster, a confident grin remained on Bakura's face.
"I end my turn!" Yuma announced.
Bakura drew his next card. "I summon Earthbound Spirit in Defense Mode!"
A patch of the stage floor on Bakura's side of the battlefield suddenly turned dirt-brown. The piece of ground bulged up and a pair of hands and an almost human face emerged. The face of the earthbound creature seemed to be in agony.
"That's ends my turn." Bakura announced.
"Say what?" Yuma exclaimed.
"Now he's summoned another junk card." Shark observed. "This one may have 2000 DEF, but it won't last for more than a turn against Leviathan Dragon."
"And if Yuma summoned another monster, Bakura will be wide open for a direct attack." Kaito added.
Yuma drew his next card. "I summon Gogogo Golem in Attack Mode!"
Yuma's one-eyed golem of blue brick materialized on the battlefield.
"I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect and detach his last overlay unit to increase his ATK to 3000!" Yuma announced. Leviathan Dragon ate the last ball of light in his orbit. "Leviathan Dragon, attack Earthbound Spirit! Vice Stream!"
The serpentine dragon breathed out another beam of light down at Bakura's monster. When the attack ended, the only thing that was left of the earthbound creature was a black scorch mark.
"Gogogo Golem! Attack Bakura directly!" Yuma ordered.
The golem of brick charged across the battlefield and punched Bakura in the chest with his heavy stone fist. The attack caused Bakura's life points to drop to 2200. Despite the damage he had just taken though, Bakura's confident grin remained.
"I end my turn!" Yuma announced.
Bakura drew his next card. "I summon the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams in Defense Mode!"
Appearing on Bakura's side of the field was a man in bed who appeared to be asleep. The man thrashed around as though he was in the grip of a terrible nightmare. His mouth opened up and a creature emerged, taking the form of a yellow spirit with a skull-like face and mummified body. Long purple mist-like hair grew from the back of the spirit's head. In its right hand it wielded a sword, and in its left hand was a brown shield.
"I end my turn there." Bakura announced.
"What the hell? Every monster this Bakura guy has played has been a junk card that only eight-year-olds who are new to the game use!" Alit spoke. "It's like he's not even taking Yuma and Astral seriously!"
"He's definitely up to something." Vector told them. "The question is what."
"Whatever Bakura's strategy is, it's kind of creeping me out." Kotori declared.
Yuma drew his next card. "I summon Gagaga Magician in Attack Mode!" The silver-haired magician appeared on the field. "I use the level four Gogogo Golem and Gagaga Magician to build the overlay network and Xyz Summon Number 55: Gogogo Goliath!"
A galaxy-like vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Yuma's two monsters as balls of orange energy. Moments later, a stone cube with two balls of gold light in orbit around it rose from the center of the vortex and expanded into Gogogo Goliath.
"Leviathan Dragon, attack Bakura's monster!" Yuma commanded. "Vice Stream!"
Leviathan Dragon breathed out another beam of light that vaporized Bakura's monster. Bakura was wide open for a direct attack, yet his confident grin still remained.
"Gogogo Goliath! Attack Bakura directly and end this duel!" Yuma commanded. "Block Fist!"
"I activate my Trap, Army of Darkness!" Bakura announced.
Just as Gogogo Goliath swung his massive fist down at Bakura, a pillar of black energy shot up from the ground and blocked the brick giant's attack. After a moment, the pillar of energy faded and to Yuma and Astral's surprise, Headless Knight, Earthbound Spirit and the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams had reappeared on the battlefield.
"What the heck?" Yuma exclaimed.
"When my opponent tries to launch a direct attack against me, Army of Darkness negates that direct attack and ends the current Battle Phase." Bakura explained. "More importantly though, Army of Darkness summons every Fiend-type monster that was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard since the card was first set. I want to thank you both for killing my monsters for me."
"Now he has three level four monsters on his field!" Astral realized.
"You mean he's…?" Yuma began to ask.
"I'm afraid so." Astral confirmed before he could finish.
"Dang it! I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Yuma announced.
"Now the real show begins!" Bakura declared as he drew his next card. "Using my three level four monsters, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon one of my ultimate pawns! Arise, Number 664: Ghost Student Mary!"
A vortex in the form of a red galaxy appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Bakura's three monsters as balls of red energy. In seconds, a broken mirror with three purple will-o-wisps orbiting around it rose from the center of the vortex. The ghostly undead woman that was Ghost Student Mary crawled out of the mirror and stared at Yuma and Astral with her red eye.
"I rather like this particular Number." Bakura remarked. "It fits rather well into my Super Occult Deck Mark 2."
"Say what you will about the guy. He's got good taste in monsters." Vector remarked up in the skybox.
"You need to get some serious help." Anna told him.
"How the hell does this guy have Chitose's Number?" Alit asked.
"All three of those Devil Numbers are the reason why Bakura's able to show himself like this.' Shark pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up summoning the other two Numbers during this duel."
"When Ghost Student Mary battles a monster, that monster's ATK and DEF are switched during that battle!" Bakura continued. "And since your Leviathan Dragon has zero DEF points, it's the perfect monster to serve as my first victim! Mary! Tear that dragon apart! Phantasmal Grudge!"
With a wave of her arms, Mary flung her hooked chains across the field at Leviathan Dragon. The chains wrapped themselves tightly around the serpentine dragon's body. With one strong tug from Mary's arms, Leviathan Dragon's body was pulled apart into four pieces that soon shattered into particles of blue light that drifted away in the breeze. Yuma's life points plummeted to a mere 800 because of the attack.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Battlefield Xyz!" Bakura announced. "When one of my Xyz Monsters destroys another monster in battle, I can use it as material to Xyz Summon another monster that's one rank higher! I use Ghost Student Mary to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon the second of my ultimate pawns! Arise, Number 665: Witch Queen Agatha!"
A red vortex galaxy-like appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Mary as a ball of red energy. Seconds later, a large black sphere with a pin through the center and a face drawn on the front rose from the center of the galaxy with four red fireballs orbiting around it. The object quickly transformed into the masked witch that was Witch Queen Agatha.
"Now he's summoned Samantha's Number to the field!" Thomas identified.
"It probably won't be long before Bakura summoned Alnia's Number next." Kaito assumed.
"What I don't get is why he would use Ghost Student Mary as material to summon Agatha." Kotori pointed out.
"Bakura may have lost Mary by using her to summon Agatha, but this way he gains something else." Shark told her. "It's still Bakura's Battle Phase, and Agatha hasn't attacked yet."
"Agatha's effects are negated due to being summoned with Battlefield Xyz, but she can still destroy that monster of yours!" Bakura continued. "Agatha! Burn Gogogo Goliath to cinders! Vengeful Witchfire!"
"I activate my Trap, Puzzle Blocker!" Yuma announced. "This card switches my Rock-type Gogogo Goliath to Defense Mode and prevents him from being destroyed in this battle!"
Gogogo Goliath crossed his arms in front of his chest as the blast of flames came towards him. The attack struck, but when the flames finally subsides the golem was still standing on the field. The armor that covered his arms glowed bright red momentarily, but beyond that he was completely unharmed.
"Well played." Bakura praised. "I guess I'll end my turn there."
Yuma drew his next card. "I summon Ganbara Knight!" The shield-baring knight materialized on Yuma's side of the field. "Since I just summoned a level four monster, I special summon Kagetokage!" Yuma's shadowy lizard appeared on the field next to Ganbara Knight. "I use my two level four monsters to build the overlay network and Xyz Summon a monster in Defense Mode! Come forth, Number 52: Diamond Crab King!"
Another galaxy-like vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Yuma's two monsters as balls of blue energy. Rising out of the vortex seconds later was a chunk of crystal with two balls of gold light orbiting around it. The giant blue crab grew from the bottom of the crystal as the vortex closed up.
"Gogogo Goliath gives all my monsters an extra 800 DEF! Which means that right now, Diamond Crab King has a DEF of 3800!" Yuma announced. "I end my turn!"
Bakura chuckled as he drew his next card. "You've put up a strong defense, but I'm afraid that it will amount to nothing. I activate the Spell card, Overlay Soul Stealer! This card destroys your two monsters and give their overlay units to Witch Queen Agatha!"
Twin twisters of a spectral green wind suddenly surrounded Yuma's two monsters. The giant golem and crystalline crab suddenly collapsed into piles of grey dust and their overlay units were pulled into Agatha's orbit, changing into four balls of red flame. Soon after, Yuma's life points rose to 2900.
"If it's any consolation, you gain life points equal to half the total DEF of the monsters destroyed by Overlay Soul Stealer." Bakura continued. "In addition, I'm unable to conduct my Battle Phase during this turn. But just because I can't attack this turn, doesn't mean you're safe. In fact, both of you are now standing at the edge of the abyss into eternal darkness! I activate the Spell card, Underdog Promotion! When my life points are lower than my opponent's, Underworld Promotion lets me use an Xyz Monster I control as material to summon a monster one rank higher! I use Witch Queen Agatha to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon the monster of my strongest pawn! Arise, Number 666: Archfiend Pharaoh Lucifer!"
A vortex in the form of a red galaxy formed in the center of the field and pulled in Agatha as a ball of red energy. The stone tablet of the Millennium Items rose out of the center of the vortex with nine balls of golden light orbiting around it. The tablet shattered and Alnia's demon pharaoh descended onto the battlefield.
"And now everything has finally been prepared!" Bakura declared. "Using Archfiend Pharaoh Lucifer, I rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon my avatar in this duel! Come forth from the depths, Underworld Emperor Zorc!"
A gigantic purple vortex appeared in the air behind Bakura and pulled in Lucifer as a ball of purple energy. Nothing seemed to happen for almost half a minute, and then suddenly a large clawed hand with chalk-white skin suddenly emerged from the anomaly. Yuma and Astral watched in horror as a creature resembling Zorc Necrophades emerged from the vortex. His entire body was as white as his hand, but his eyes burned red like the fires of the underworld. Yuma was at least thankful that this form of the demon did not have the second head that jutted out from between his legs. Instead, Zorc's lower half was like that of a serpent. His chest resembled Don Thousand's monster form with a large glowing green eye with a slit-shaped pupil on his chest. On Zorc's back was a pair of massive bat-like wings with holes in the membranes, and orbiting around the demon were ten transparent entities resembling ghosts, each with a face twisted in agony.
"The only type of creature that can destroy my new avatar in battle is one of your Shining Numbers." Bakura revealed. "However, none of the Numbers you used against Alnia have a chance of defeating me. That's because Underworld Emperor Zorc gains certain effects for having Number 664, Number 665 and Number 666 attached to him as overlay units. The first effect is that his ATK and DEF rise from zero to 6000!"
"Not good!" Yuma declared as the color drained from his face.
"Your end is finally near!" Bakura declared. "And once you're both dead, I'll claim the Numeron Code and complete my resurrection! The age of darkness is finally upon us!"
Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed this latest installment of this story. The final chapter is coming up, but I'm afraid it'll be another week before I'll finally be able to post it. Until then, stayed tuned.
Please review and let me know what you think.