Yuma had the first draw of the duel, causing Astral to appear beside him.
"Yuma," he asked worriedly, "What is going on?"
I gestured toward Mizar and answered, "Trouble; big time."
Mizar eyed Astral and flared his Barian aura while greeting, "So glad you could join us; welcome."
"You can see me," Astral observed and asked, "Who are you?"
Yuma tried to explain that their opponent was a Barian; "But when I'm through, he won't remember where he's from."
Yuma summoned his lvl 4 Goblindbergh, using it's ability to special summon lvl 4 Ganbara Knight. A moment after, he overlayed the two monsters and Xyz summoned No. 39: Utopia. His following thoughts: My gut's telling me that now is the perfect time to use the cards Master Roku left for me. With these, when Mizar summons a Chaos Xyz monster, I'll be ready for him. I just hope Master Roku knew what he was doing by leaving these two cards for me. Otherwise, this is gonna be a short duel. Yuma followed up by equipping the Overlay Chain spell to Utopia, firmly securing the Number's OLUs. That way, according to Astral, Mizar won't be able to steal them when he uses Barian's Force.
Astral was surprised at Yuma's move; it wasn't typical compared to his normal tactics. "Overlay Chain focuses on defense; I would've anticipated you to play Overlay Barrage. It sends all of your monsters OLUs to the Graveyard, and gives your opponent 500 points of damage for each one. It would appear that you have actually applied careful thought to this maneuver, Yuma." Yuma only said they had to be "extra careful." Astral replied, "I see; not a bad strategy." With that, Yuma ended his turn.
Mizar surprisingly thanked Yuma for summoning Utopia, claiming it was "just what I needed." He drew and special summoned lvl 4 Radius, the Half-Moon Dragon. It's special effect - it could only be summoned if the opponent controls an Xyz monster - brought it out, doubling its level to 8. Then he summoned lvl 8 Parsec, the Interstellar Dragon. He overlayed his two dragons and summoned Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. Yinlong immediately appeared next to me, hissing and lashing; Mizar clearly was the Barian who invaded the Shadow Realm and stole a spirit.
"A Number over 100?" Astral asked to no one in particular. I saw Yuma's entire nightmare: Tachyon unleashing a powerful beam, blasting Astral to the ground; Yuma falling into a chasm.
"That monster!" Yuma exclaimed, fear coursing through his head, "It's straight out of my nightmare! Number 107," Yuma asked, "What's that about? I thought there were only 100 Numbers." Astral agreed, stating that his memories were divided into only 100 Numbers; they were both confused. "Number 107 should not exist," he claimed.
Meanwhile, Tori was hoping that we were all okay in this sphere field, when I felt the Kastle twins' minds coming in fast. I looked down to see Shark and Rio getting off his runner, him wondering, "What is that thing?"
Mizar had Tachyon attack Utopia, but Yuma used Utopia's ability to use an OLU to negate the attack. Astral observed the effective defense tactics that Yuma was using, though Mizar questioned if that would keep him safe. Yuma thought Mizar couldn't attack anymore, but he disagreed. With it, Mizar had Tachyon use an OLU to utilize Tachyon Transmigration, ridding Utopia of his effects. As an added bonus, Tachyon gains 1000 atk for every card effect played during a turn, raising it to 4000. Astral ordered Yuma to duel like never before to stand a fighting chance.
"Oh please," the blonde chided, "Your efforts will be in vain. This duel is already mine! Because when I use Tachyon Transmigration, my monster attacks again."
Mizar quickly ordered his dragon to attack with Tachyon Spiral of Destruction, destroying the helpless Utopia. Astral and Yuma braced themselves for impact as I bounced out of the way. The two of them were thrown back to the sphere field wall, LP dropping to 2500. Just as Yuma's back hit the wall, I detected severe electric injuries appearing, as if they were explosions. Astral only lightly hit his head on the wall, but he was instantly worried upon seeing Yuma getting zapped. Yuma dropped to the bottom, falling onto all fours as Astral and I went down to check on him. I looked down to see Rio keeping an eye on Tori, as Shark was really worried about his friend.
"Yuma!" Astral exclaimed as we both reached him, "Are you alright; are you hurt badly?"
"Yes; he is," Mizar replied to Astral's second question, "How pathetic. After a single hit, he's nearly broken! But I'm not done with him yet; not even close." I saw that where most of the pain was coming from was the top of Yuma's back, where the shoulder blades are. Yuma struggled to get up, but the pain was too much for him to bear. "Yes," Mizar taunted, "That's the spirit; get up, Yuma! Get up so I can relish knocking you right back down to the floor again. And while you're down there, you can think about how you let your Utopia slip away."
"I'd love to jump in and sink my teeth into this guy for Yuma," I heard Shark sneer. Yuma kept trying to get up, but he kept crashing back down.
"Come now, Yuma," Mizar kept jeering, "Don't deprive me of my sport. You see, beating humans is such a rare treat."
Yuma kept trying to push himself up and said, "Well that's too bad then, Mizar. 'Cause there's too much on the line for me to lose."
Astral stared in awe and murmured, "Yuma..."
"I must... go... on..." Yuma wavered and fell, clearly too weak and injured to stand.
"That's it!" Shark called, "I'm stepping in to duel in Yuma's place."
But before he could go in, an unfamiliar voice rang out, "No; I am!" Out of the blue, a blonde boy with dark green bangs came flying in; his "wings" were an attachment from his robot. He seemed to be dressed in a white outfit, with a blue tattoo on his right eye, turning it red.
"This duel is mine," he declared as he detached from his robot and landed, "I'm taking over now!" I saw that he was Kite; Quinton's former pupil from what I could see; his robot, Orbital 7.
"Get real," Shark told him, "You don't have what it takes to beat him."
"Reginald, don't," Rio interrupted, her voice warped and eyes turning green, "The two Galaxy-Eyes, they are now calling out to one another. I sense the two dragons need to battle; they wish to duel."
Mizar followed my gaze to find Kite down below the sphere field.
"Ah," he mused, "So you possess a Galaxy-Eyes. How enticing." As they stared at each other, I could see the spirits of their rivaling dragons; understanding their roars of challenge and defiance. I challenge you, the dragon by Kite, Photon called to Tachyon. He saw the other dragon and roared, Who dares challenge me?! Photon roared back, I am Photon; now accept my challenge! Both of their duelists glared at each other, as if the issued challenge had clearly been accepted. The sphere field expanded, absorbing Kite and leaving a very worried Orbital behind.
Kite materialized not far from where I was standing. I looked into his silver eyes, as he was looking into my own deep green ones. He seemed to recognize me from when I was down after battling Heraldry Crest.
"You must be Kite," I said to him, "Quinton told me about you; I'm Star." Interesting, his thoughts mused as he looked down to Yuma and Astral. Yuma managed to get out, "Kite... I..." He trailed off.
"Leave the dueling to me," Kite ordered, "I'll take care of this Barian for you. Don't worry; you see... me and this guy need to settle something. Only one can master the power of the Galaxy-Eyes. And that honor belongs... to me!"
Mizar smirked, "I must disagree; for it is I who is the one. Your confidence is greatly misplaced."
Kite glared back, "That's your second mistake; bringing me here was your first."
"That was not me, it was my Galaxy-Eyes; it seeks to face your Galaxy-Eyes." the Barian informed.
"I see, so be it; then whichever of us wins shall stand as the one." Kite concluded. Mizar agreed and set a facedown, with Kite switching places with Yuma to continue the duel, bringing Tachyon's atk back to 3000.
"No matter," the blonde Barian tossed his head, "Human duelists like you are easy to defeat."
Kite didn't plan on losing the duel as he drew a card and used Photon Trade. By sending a monster to the Graveyard, he could draw two cards. He special summoned lvl 4 Photon Thrasher, as he had no other monsters. He also normal summoned lvl 4 Photon Crusher, tributing them to make a red shuriken to appear. He threw it upwards as he introduced lvl 8 Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, to whom Tachyon roared at loudly. (Unbeknownst to anyone, I shivered from all the Light-attribute monsters; Light and Dark don't mix well.) Energy started pouring out from the two dragons in their proximity, causing a bright light to break out.
I could feel the fear of everyone down below, but it started to get further away. On top of that, another mind surfaced: Ray, aka Vector. I turned to him, giving him a sharp glare. The jig is up, Vector, I shot at him. I know that you're a Barian; you can't hide from a Phantom.
"'Having two Galaxy-Eyes poised to fight is as rare as it is risky.'" Mizar recited, "This may have explosive results." Kite suggested to kick things off with a bang before commanding Photon to attack Tachyon. He quickly activated Photon's ability, banishing the two monsters and making Tachyon lose its OLU. After the Battle phase, both dragons returned to the field; Photon gained 500 atk from the lost OLU, raising it to 3500.
"And that's gonna leave a mark," Kite added, "Because without OLUs, Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon is all bark -"
"I know what you're thinking," his opponent interrupted. "But I'll show you it has plenty of bite left."
He used the spell Instant Overlay, giving an OLU to Tachyon, using it right away. Photon lost all of its abilities and extra atk.
"Big deal," Kite sneered, "You just delayed the inevitable; I pity you if that's the best you got."
Mizar tilted his head down, "Kite, you're missing the big picture: I have the advantage now, fool. My dragon's special ability not only weakened your dragon; it also added 1000 atk to my monster."
Kite looked down at his cards, If I play Lumenize, not only will it stop his Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon's attack, but my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon will gain atk equal to his monster's atk. Kite placed one facedown and ended his turn.
Mizar drew and activated Energy Attractor, a card that turned itself and Lumenize into Tachyon's OLUs. He considered his dragon's lack of them as a momentary inconvenience.
"There goes your trump card," I remarked to Kite as the OLUs attached to Tachyon. Mizar also activated Tachyon Drive, gaurding his dragon from traps and spells. Then he had Tachyon attack Photon, destroying him. Mizar had his dragon use its ability after to gain 1000 atk and attack again. But before the attack connected, I saw Kite activate something. Once the dust cleared, Photon was standing in front of Kite. He activated an ability in his Graveyard: by banishing Specter, he can return a monster by negating its effects and lowering its atk by 1000. But that was "a small price to pay" to bring Photon back. Mizar sighed, ending his turn, and Tachyon's atk lowered.
Kite drew, his duel-gazer eye glowing brightly as he activated Monster Reborn to bring back Photon Thrasher. He also summoned Photon Circle and activated Up Shift; all three monsters became lvl 8. Mizar welcomed the new challenge as rank 8 Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was Xyz summoned. It immediately activated its effect Photon Howling, since Photon was used to summon Neo Photon. Tachyon's special abilities vanished, which Mizar considered "fairly impressive." Then Kite used another effect that used an OLU and took Tachyon's OLUs, gaining 500 atk, having it attack after. For the first time in the duel, Mizar got thrown back to the wall, getting zapped on contact as his LP halved, and Kite ended his turn.
Mizar drew and used Monster Reborn to bring back Tachyon, which wasn't helpful for Neo Photon's temper. I could tell that Mizar was done playing around in human form. He commenced a Barian Battlemorph, his necklace glowing with crimson light. As the light faded, he was in his true Barian form; that was what Alito meant by "all our Barian power," the power to take their true appearance. Astral sounded pretty shocked at Mizar's new look. While Kite complimented the getup, he failed miserably in a first impression. Mizar claimed that he could harness his power and activated Barian's Force. He performed Chaos Xyz Evolution with Tachyon, bringing up rank 9 Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon.
I commented, "Something tells me that shouldn't look like a golden ghost flame." Mizar looked rather worried himself.
"My Tachyon Dragon... it has harnessed too much energy! This could breach the sphere field." He reverted back to human form as Neo Tachyon overpowered the field, disappearing into the light. He claimed it was far from over; one day he'd be the Galaxy-Eyes Master. The field began to fall apart around all of us as we began to fall. I had Yinlong to be my ride, apparently materializing her, as Orbital caught Kite. Yuma dropped from a tree and fell down a chasm; Shark tried to grab his hand, but he fell in as well. I used Shadow Summon, materializing Koumori and Curse of Dragon and sending down the chasm to pick up the boys. I watched as both dragons dropped down, hoping that they'd be caught in time.
Kite and I both landed safely on the ground as we all waited for the dragons to fly up. A few minutes after, we began to hear wing beats, before both of them slowly flapped up the crevasse. Koumori came up first, with Shark weakly clutching its back. Not long after, Curse flapped up, too, with an unconscious Yuma draped over his neck. Rio was able to help her brother off Koumori; Kite and I had to lift Yuma off of Curse.
"Thanks," Shark said to me once he was off, "We needed that." I nodded at him and looked at Yuma's many injuries; Tori kept his head in her lap with a worried look. I turned to Kite and told him, "Go call for help. Judging by the look of these two, we'll need a helicopter."
Kite nodded and commanded, "You heard her, Orbital."
"Y-y-yes sir!" the robot saluted and called someone. Within a few minutes, a large Heartland helicopter landed. Kite and I moved away from everyone as Yuma and Shark were brought into the chopper.
"Star," he asked quietly, as if forcing himself, "Do you want to... come over to my place?"
I smiled softly and nodded, "Sure."