Chapter 40: Fateful Duel Pt. 1

"Duel!/Duel!" The participants yelled out, beginning the duel.

Ren/Z-ARC: 4000 LP

Vs

Yuya Sakaki, Yuto, Yuri, Yugo: 4000 LP (x4)

Turn 1: Ren/Z-ARC

"I'll make the first move." Z-ARC announced looking at his hand, "Well, it seems that I will be using his deck. Nothing to worry about then. I activate a field spell! Orcustrated Babel!" As Z-ARC placed the card on the duel disk, a gold, white and black tower shot out of the ground, piercing through the roof of Duel Academy, which gave way to reveal that the tower pierced even the heavens high above, "Next, I play Foolish Burial to send Orcust Harp Horror to my graveyard. Then, I activate Harp Horror's effect. I banish it to special summon any 'Orucst' from my deck! I summon Orcust Brass Bombard. Then, I Normal Summon a second Harp Horror, and now, open, the circuit of my resurrection! The summoning materials are two monsters including an 'Orcust' so I will set Harp Horror and Brass Bombard in the link arrows. I Link Summon! LINK-2 Galatea the Orcust Automaton!" A young looking robotic girl appeared on Z-ARC's field in his extra monster zone, the scythe she wielded glinting in the reflected light of the tower,

Galatea the Orcust Automaton: LINK-2, 1800 ATK, Bottom-Left and Top-Right Arrows

"Next, I use Brass Bombard's effect! I banish it to summon an 'Orcust' from my hand. To that, I chain Galatea's effect. I can return my banished Harp Horror to my deck to set one 'Orcust' spell or trap from my deck! I set the continuous spell Orcustrated Einsatz and then I summon Orcust Cymbal Skeleton with Bombard's effect. Next, I activate Einsatz and set one card to end my turn.

Orcust Cymbal Skeleton: Level 3, 1500 DEF

Turn 2: Yuya

"Then it's my turn! I draw! I set the pendulum scale with scale one Stargazer Magician and scale 8 Timegazer Magician. I'm taking control of this duel, starting now!" Yuya declared, placing his pendulum cards on the edge of his duel disk,

"No, you aren't. I activate my face-down Orcust Crescendo. This counter trap negates Timegazer's activation and banishes it. Goodbye, Pendulum!" Z-ARC laughed, Yuya's eyes widening,

"Then I re-set my pendulum scale with scale 8 Dragonpit Magician. You'll see I'm still in control! I now Pendulum Summon! Behold, my performers, Performapal Coin Dragon and the star of the show, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Coin Dragon gives all Dragon-type monsters we control, except itself, 500 attack points!"

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: Level 7, 2500 ATK - 3000 ATK

Performapal Coin Dragon: Level 4, 1800 ATK

"Ah, the first of the Five. Go ahead and bring them all out! It won't matter, though. I will still be able to annihilate you all!" Z-ARC laughed,

"I end my turn with a face-down. You're up, Z-ARC."

Turn 3: Ren/Z-ARC

"Why thank you! I draw! I banish Harp Horror to activate its effect! This allows me to summon any 'Orcust' from my deck, as I did last turn! So Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight, join me! Girsu's effect then allows me to send any 'World Legacy' or 'Orcust' card from my deck to my graveyard. I shall send my good old World Legacy – "World Wand". It's effect then activates, allowing me to summon a 'World Legacy' from my hand, and what better than the World Legacy – "World Lance"!"

As Z-ARC declared the summons, a mechanical-looking warrior appeared, and while the ghostly image of a large space station-like object entered Z-ARC's graveyard, a massive lance descended from the sky, piercing through the roof of Duel Academy.

Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight: Level 4, 1800 ATK

World Legacy – "World Lance": Level 8, 3000 ATK

"And since I cannot attack until the last of you have your turn, I will end by activating Galatea's effect, shuffling my Harp Horror back and setting a second Orcust Crescendo."

Turn 4: Yuto

"Then it is my turn! I draw! I summon The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak! Then, since I control a 'Phantom Knights' monster, I can special summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots! Now, I overlay Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots! The Souls of the fallen rise to fight again! I Xyz Summon! Rank 3, The Phantom Knights of Break Sword! Now, I activate Break Sword's effect! This allows me to detach an overlay unit to destroy one card on both our fields! I shall target your face-down and Break Sword itself!" Yuto declared, his horse riding knight appearing,

"Go ahead. I didn't want it anyway." Z-ARC taunted as the cards were vapourised,

"Then, Break Sword's effect! This allows me to revive its materials as level 4 monsters! Soul Rebirth! Now, I overlay the now level four Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots! Cloaked in shadow and relentless in its objective, I call upon the most dangerous of dragons! I Xyz Summon! Rise up, Rank 4, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon! And my dragon gets a boost from Yuya's Coin Dragon!" As Yuto's dragon emerged, it unleashed a roar, Odd-Eyes reciprocating, and the four boys suddenly felt a pain in their heads,

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: Rank 4, 2500 ATK - 3000 ATK, 2 ORU

"And so the second emerges. You do realise that it will become harder and harder for you to duel as you summon more of them, right?" Z-ARC asked,

"Be that as it may, it is what we have to do. I now set three cards and end my turn."

Turn 5: Ren/Z-ARC

"And that is what will lead you to your destruction! I draw! Now, open the circuit of my soul!" Z-ARC called, his voice strangely loosing all its distortion for a moment, "The summoning conditions are at least two monsters, including an 'Orcust' so I set Cymbal Skeleton, Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight and Galatea, the Orcust Automaton, treating it as two materials in the Link Arrows! Instrumental weapon of the warrior who lost it all, be born and bring despair to those foolish enough to attack the Orcustal Order! Be born, the symphony of my soul, LINK-4 Orcustrion!" Z-ARC declared, his voice again loosing its distortion, confusing his opponents slightly,

Orcustrion: LINK-4, 3000 ATK, Top, Bottom, Top Right, Top Left arrows

"My monster happens to point to both your dragons, but fortunately for you I cannot use my behemoth's effect as I do not meet its conditions yet. I set another card and end my turn."

Turn 6: Yuri

"You seriously have messed up by allowing us to all build our paradises before you could attack. We will build an unbreakable menagerie of lovely dragons that you will not break!" Yuri passionately declared, "I draw! I summon Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio, who's effect allows me to discard one 'Predaplant' from my hand, in this case Bufolicia, and then summon Darlingtonia Cobra from my deck. Darlingtonia's effect then allows it to bloom a 'Polymerisation' or 'Fusion' card and allows me to add it to my hand! I now activate the Polymerisation I added! Scorpion of the most poisonous plants and cobra of the most beautiful blossoms, bloom into a whole new botanical beauty! I Fusion Summon! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, your prey is ready!" Blooming from the fusion portal was the third of the Dimensional Dragons settling into their Extra Monster Zone, and the three roared, causing an even more intense headache in the four boys.

Starving Venom Fusion Dragon: Level 8, 2800 ATK - 3300 ATK

"Argh!" Yuri cried in pain, his eyes briefly flicking magenta, "Rgh. I set one card and end my turn!"

Turn 7: Ren/Z-ARC

"A full field of spells and traps and almost a full field of monsters! I applaud you all." Z-ARC sarcastically stated, "And thus begins my final turn without an attack. I draw! Using the effect of Monster Reborn, I can revive my Galatea to the zone that my Orcustrion points to. Then, I shall end my turn." Z-ARC's turn was short, such an action slightly confusing the four boys, but they weren't complaining.

Turn 8: Yugo

"And now it's my turn! I can attack right?" Yugo quickly asked,

"Sure. Go ahead." Z-ARC drawled,

"Before you make a move, I activate the trap The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine!" Yuto declared, "This trap summons itself as a level four monster. Go ahead Yugo!"

"Thanks! I draw!" Yugo looked over his cards, "Perfect! I summon the level three tuner monster, Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice! And thanks to Yuto's trap card, this is perfectly set up! Level three Tri-Eyed Dice tunes level four Shade Brigandine! Beat your wings to whip up a whirlwind of destruction! I Synchro Summon! Level Seven, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" As Yugo called, his dragon emerged, and as the now four dragons roared, all of the boys grasped their heads in pain,

"Argh. What is this?" Yuya asked,

"Not sure, but it doesn't seem good." Yuto responded,

"Oh, this is good! Now all four I initially owned are together again! Don't you all think it is time to reunite?" Z-ARC taunted,

"NEVER!" All four shouted as one.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: Level 7, 2500 ATK - 3000 ATK

"We activate Dark Rebellion's effect!" They all shouted, their eyes all glowing, "We detach one material to HALF the attack points of your World Lance! And then we do that again! Treason DISCHARGE!" As the dragon roared, pink lightening engulfed the lance.

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 3000 ATK - 5250 ATK, 2 ORU - 0 ORU

World Legacy – "World Lance": 3000 ATK - 750 ATK

"Now, let's BATTLE! Clear Wing! ATTACK with Spin Storm Sky Strike!"

"You are forced to attack the World Lance, but I activate the effect of Cymbal Skeleton, which I can do as a quick effect due to my field spell! I banish it to summon back Girsu in defence mode! This triggers Girsu's effect, sending a copy of Harp Horror to my graveyard, then I banish Harp Horror to use its effect! I special summon a second Cymbal Skeleton in defence mode. Then, I activate the effect of Orcustrion! Because there are three or more banished Machine-type monsters in my graveyard, I can return three of them to my deck and reduce the attack points of any linked monsters you control to zero and negate their effects… permanently! So goodbye Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion!"

"NO!" The boys shouted as Z-ARC's monsters appeared, and the largest of them unleashed a blast of sound, forcing Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion to cower slightly,

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 3000 ATK - 0 ATK

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 5250 ATK - 0 ATK

Orcust Cymbal Skeleton: Level 2, 1500 DEF

Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight: Level 4, 0 DEF

"Continue your attack Clear Wing!" The Synchro Dragon roared and swooped in the sky before crashing down onto the Lance, shattering the shaft.

Ren/Z-ARC: 4000 LP - 1750 LP

"Heh, nice shot." Z-ARC growled,

"And THAT'S not all! STARVING VENOM attack Galatea with Venomous Drenching!" The four called, and a miasma was unleashed,

"That's nice! It is a shame that Galatea is linked, however. If she wasn't you may have been able to destroy her!" Z-ARC taunted as he took damage.

Ren/Z-ARC: 1750 LP - 250 LP

"We end our turn!" The four laughed, Z-ARC starting to cackle himself.

Throne Room – When Clear Wing attacked

Standing over his defeated father, Declan held his duel disk at the ready, his monsters ready to jump into action, but suddenly a loud, verbose roar ripped through the room.

"No…" Leo practically whispered, "He found the others."

"Zarc, you mean?"

"Of course. This is very bad! If a single one of them falls, either him or the ones you call allies, we all lose."

"But if they're dueling…" Declan trailed,

"Yes, my son. It may very well be far too late." Leo admitted,

"Indeed. I doubt they could force a draw on the best days. And this is far from that best day." Declan mused,

"I need to activate ARC-V NOW!" Leo shouted, "Even if Ray's fragments aren't in the machine, the recombination of the Dimensions may force her back together!"

"You know I can't allow that, Father. Not at this moment."

"If the Demon comes back, I won't hesitate to sacrifice everything. Even if it includes you and myself if it gives even the slightest chance of denying him."


Next Chapter Preview: The Fateful Duel continues! With Z-ARC on the backfoot, with Yuya, Yuto, Yuri and Yugo be able to claim victory, or will the Demon Within be able to turn things around?


Hey all! Sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. I know it must be concerning. I practically dropped off the face of the earth for a week, but I assure you all that I am fine now! I actually got rather sick last weekend and over last week, and as such couldn't work on this chapter, but I have since recovered. I thank you all for reading and being patient!

Onwards to reviews!

Hope Brave Eyes – Thank you so much for your review! If I had to put a moment that was the hardest to write, it would probably be Zuzu vs Celina back in Chapter 6. I didn't really know what I was doing back then, and I also, and still am, not sure on how I would have extended the duel.

Silverman77 – Thank you so much for your review! Now, I do actually read other fanfics in this community, and I would be glad to provide recommendations! I would highly recommend fics like The Fifth Circuit by Scififan599, The Six Dimensions by BlaiseCandell, Pendulum's Fifth Swing by SkyRig and Dragons of Zero Remix by DSpaceZ. All of these authors make wonderful stories, and I actually get inspiration from a number of their plot elements.

Aqua – I'm very glad you enjoyed those duels, they are some of my favourites that I've written in fact, and I hope that this chapter delivered!

Next week will be a usual upload and I hope you all are looking forward to it! - NightWingBOI