Desperate to escape the vision, I fought for control of my sight. I was able to see what was really happening for a few seconds at a time, despite the pain. I could faintly hear Shark, Rio, and Tori coming up to the roof to find out what was wrong. After a few bursts from the vision, I got myself to deactivate my duel gazer tattoo. Something was telling me that it wasn't going to help with this situation.
Wait for me, I ordered the three of them, I'll come back when this is over with. With that, I was dragged back into the vision.
As the vision progressed, I saw something that I didn't expect in Vector's mind as he cackled away. Seeing his memory, I realized that he was why I wasn't able to save Kazuma or Byron five years ago. And the night before I turned eight, he also had someone put a seal on my powers, turning my eyes green. No wonder my powers felt so cramped; they weren't allowed to go into full strength. Not to mention something always looked and felt wrong with my eyes when I saw myself. In the vision, every time our powers clashed, a kind of seal appeared in front of my hand, restricting my powers. But not long after figuring out what Vector did in the past, I felt the vision fading away, and the pain releasing.
I opened my eyes to see Tori and both of the Kastle twins sitting around me. My head was in Rio's lap as I felt their concern and curiosity as to what happened to me.
"What in the world was happening to you, Star?" Tori questioned, fear visible in her thoughts. She was screaming so loudly, like something was tearing apart from the inside. What kind of pain was she going through? I sat up, touching the scar on my forehead with my hand.
"My power is rebelling against a seal that was put on it on the night my life fell apart. If I can break this seal, my eyes can return to their real color; according to what I had seen, they shouldn't be green."
Everyone around me gasped at my words that my eyes were the wrong color. I also heard from their minds that Tori, Rio, and Shark all wanted to know what color my eyes should've been.
"I say go for it," Shark encouraged, "If your real powers can come out of hiding, they might not give you such a bad seizure."
I closed my eyes, focusing on finding this seal, using the symbol I saw in the vision as reference. Within seconds, I found it, hidden deep inside my mind. Inside my mind, I created the same crystal spear I used to defeat Heraldry Crest. From the spear-tip down the handle, it glowed brightly with detained power, echoing my will to be free of this seal. Channeling all the power that I had to the spear, I was ready to take aim. But I was stopped short as my spear morphed into an indigo, crystalline scythe, still glowing, but even brighter. After testing the weight of my new weapon-of-choice, I aimed for the center of the seal's symbol. It resembled the Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, which made sense with what it was doing to me. Holding my scythe tightly in both hands, ready to swing, I rushed at it.
As soon as the seal got within range of my weapon, I swung my scythe at it. The sudden movement unleashed a surge of power as the blade carved it all the way through. Still pushing at it, I watched as the seal began cracking. The cracks spread further and further, all the way around. When the seal couldn't take any more, it shattered and dissolved.
The moment the seal disappeared, I felt something break deep inside me. It wasn't in a bad way; it was more like chains breaking off of me. Satisfied with my newly found freedom, I returned to reality. I opened my eyes to see that they were all staring in awe.
"What color are my eyes now?" I asked them all. No answer from any of them; they weren't looking at my eyes, they were looking at my body. I stood and looked at myself, seeing that all of the scars on my body were glowing with lavender energy. The glowing was actually showing through my clothes, the edges prominent. After the glowing faded, Shark and the girls all stood up and looked me in the eyes. Tori took out a small folding mirror from her bag, opening it and showing it to me. I looked into it to see that my eyes were now indigo, with lavender scleras. They were still somewhat dull; but instead of lifeless, they looked real. "If you ask me, this is much better," I proclaimed, smiling at them all.
"They're beautiful," Rio beamed in agreement with me. Star's eyes don't look nearly as blank as before, Shark observed, and with her full power ready, the Barians don't stand a chance. I looked past them to see that the Barian sphere field was still there. When I activated my duel gazer, my right eye just glowed more than my left; no tattoo. I pointed at the sphere field, asking rhetorically, "Let's get back to this duel, shall we?" All three of them nodded, putting their duel gazers back on and climbing down.
Currently, Astral and Yuma were starting to merge together. Alito had his over-hundred, rank 4 Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus, on his field. It seemed that none of them were paying attention to my little episode due to their duel. We watched as Astral and Yuma became two beams of red and blue light, and combining. In a bright golden flash, I heard Astral's voice:When two distant souls become one, the power of Zexal is revealed; go Zexal Morph!
When the light faded, Yuma and Astral were now one person. Standing in red and white armor, the morph had Astral's eyes, along with gold hair and a golden aura to match.
"That's the most incredible thing I ever witnessed! I can sense this duel is about to get even more intense!" Alito exclaimed, and he meant it.
Shark hummed, "Looks to me that Yuma and Astral may still have a fighting chance."
Tori was eagerly cheering Yuma on as he activated the Xyz Treasure spell to draw a card for every Xyz monster on the field. After drawing his two cards, he performed his Chaos Xyz Evolution with Utopia, ranking it up to rank 5 Number C39: Utopia Ray.
Tori and "Ray" wondered why Yuma summoned Utopia Ray and lost 2500 atk. Shark knew what they were doing as much as they did: Star Cestus can only use its ability if the enemy has more atk, but they were now the same. Yuma and Alito ordered their monsters to attack; both of them, unbeknownst to each other, were planning to use the exact same card to return their monsters after they destroyed each other. After they did so, Yuma activated the Xyz Stand spell to revive Utopia Ray without its abilities. Alito laughed, "That's so cool; I guess it's true that great minds think alike, 'cause I did the exact same thing!"
He seemed to catch everyone except me by surprise as he activated his own Xyz Stand to bring back Star Cestus with the same restrictions. Since Utopia Ray couldn't attack at the moment, Yuma ended his turn with two facedowns.
I felt Girag's mind standing just out of sight from the others, resenting that all Alito cares about is dueling. Alito declared that this is a duel he always dreamed of, and though Yuma was "feeling the flow," he was feeling fierce. His Baria Lapis appeared on his right wrist in an orange wrist cuff with a spike that went down his forearm. Using the crimson crystal, he performed a Barian Battlemorph, entering his true form. Girag couldn't believe Alito had to go to such extremes to win. Now in his Barian form, Alito may have looked scary, but he still had his childish mind that was so much like Yuma. Releasing his Barian aura, he claimed that it was much better, though Shark didn't consider it an improvement. Yuma was thinking, He's gonna be even tougher to stop now, but we've gotta find a way.
Alito drew and also activated Xyz Treasure to draw two more cards. He then used Rank-Up Magic Barian's Force, turning Star Cestus into rank 5 Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus. Using an OLU, Comet Cestus could destroy Utopia Ray, dealing damage equal to its atk. Fortunately, Yuma activated the trap Overtraining to protect his monster. Alito called it a "clever move" before having Comet Cestus attack Utopia Ray with Celestial Burst. Yuma did save Utopia Ray, but his LP was now down to 200. Alito put down one facedown and ended his turn.
Astral was pretty impressed at Yuma and Alito being so alike, considering him a worthy foe that deserved their best. I began to hear Astral again:A truly powerful duelist can shape the outcome of a duel; he can even generate the very card he needs to draw.
With that, he and Yuma performed a Shining Draw and summoned lvl 5 ZW Eagle Claw, who didn't need a tribute as Alito had at least 2000 LP more than they did. Eagle Claw was equipped to Utopia Ray, who got boosted by 2000 atk to 4500. The two of them were ready to attack when Alito used Counterpunch's ability from his Graveyard to use Battle Rush. Yuma activated Eagle Claw's ability to stop the trap and continue the attack. Alito was just about to use Corkscrew Counter when Yuma activated Last Chance to utilize Alito's Counter Clash and destroy the trap. Utopia Ray destroyed the over-hundred with Eagle Counter Magnum, followed by Rising Sun Eagle Slash. Alito flew into the wall as his LP dropped to zero, and Yuma won.
The Barian sphere field disappeared as Yuma and Astral split again, and we all took off our gazers and I climbed down from the roof. Yuma, worried for his Barian friend lying on the ground, rushed up to Alito with me not far behind. Yuma helped him up as the young Barian held onto his arms for support. He chuckled softly, "Now that duel was truly epic."
Yuma smiled down at him softly, "Yeah, but our next one... will be even more." Alito hanged his head, shaking it with a sad smile. "What do you mean? Is there something wrong?"
Alito turned toward the blue spirit, who hovered about a yard away. "Hey Astral, my Number belongs to you now." Astral stretched out his hand to take the Number, but nothing happened.
"I cannot absorb Alito's Number!" Astral remarked, looking at his empty palm.
I concluded, "That must mean Astral can only take the original 100 Numbers; Over-Hundred Numbers don't apply." As I turned around, I noticed that "Ray" was gone, and an Overlay Network opened behind Alito. Without Yuma's help, Alito shakily got to his feet, knowing he had to leave "It's time for me to go; goodbye, and thank you."
He disappeared into the Network as Yuma begged, "Wait; don't go!"
"He has to," Astral figured, but was cut off when an explosion of pain came from Astral's chest. He fell kneeling on the ground, flickering and not responding to anyone. Everyone except Rio could see him, and instantly knew something was wrong. Getting past Yuma, I knelt in front of him, putting my hand on his forehead. I transferred a thought to him: I'll help you back into the key; you can rest in there.
He mentally complied, morphing into a small, glowing ball of blue light. I stood, turning back to Yuma and holding the orb up to his key as it was pulled into the green gem. I used Shadow Summon to bring out Koumori Dragon and mounted onto it.
"If you'll excuse me," I told, "I have something else to take care of, assuming it hasn't already happened." After that, I flew off to the BARian, in hopes that Alito hasn't already been mauled.
I got there just as Vector's Barian form was about to fire a ball of energy, Alito already on the ground. I had Koumori swoop in there as I shot a Shadow Stream. The shot was successful, stopping the fired orb and effectively blowing it up just as it was fired. I jumped off of my dragon, crystallizing my scythe and ready to face off Vector. He seemed to understand my body-language as I held the scythe blade-up at him.
"So it is you," he confirmed in his warped voice, "And it seems that you have also broken the seal." I knew exactly what he was talking about, and what he wanted me to do: go into a blind rage and attack recklessly. Instead, I swung upwards, causing a purple wave of energy to fly at him as I heard, Shadow Shockwave. He got the message as the wave carved the wall above him, disappearing into another Overlay Network.
I was relieved that Vector was gone, letting my scythe dematerialize as I walked up to Alito. I placed a hand on his chest, glad that his heart was still beating.
"Don't worry, Alito," I whispered, "I'll go get Mizar; he'll know what to do." Then, I mounted back onto Koumori and went off to find that blonde Barian.
I looked through Central Park, where Mizar was currently in a tree. My dragon growled to make him look at us, and he didn't look too surprised seeing it.
"What do you want, Phantom?" he questioned in a cold tone, though his mind was curious and somewhat worried. I Shadow Summoned Curse of Dragon and ordered in an emotionless tone, "Just get onto Curse; I, Star, will show you when we get there." He rolled his eyes, jumping onto the yellow dragon's back, and we both flew back to the BARian, where Girag was kneeling by an unconscious Alito.