Chapter 8: A Duel in Darkspace, Part 2

The Duel between Zenovian Emperor Shade and time-traveling Duelist Vizor is at a fever pitch. Shade managed to summon his Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon and Vizor counters by Accel Synchro Summoning his T.G. Blade Blaster.

Vizor's LP: 4000

Field: T.G. Blade Blaster (10/3300/2200) and one face-down card

Hand: 2

Emperor Shade's LP: 3500

Field: Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon (8/3000/2500) and two face-down cards

Hand: 1

"Your Blade Blaster is powerful, but it pales in comparison to my Darkspace monsters." Shade commented.

"We'll see which of our monsters is more powerful. Now, make your move."

Turn 4: Shade (3500)

"Oh, I will!" Shade draws his card. "I activate Card of Dark Cosmic! By tossing a Darkspace or Cosmic monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can draw 2 cards from my deck." He tosses a card into the Graveyard and draws two from his deck.

"Next, I shall summon forth Dark Galaxy Knight!" His new monster is a dark purple-armored version of Galaxy Knight. (Level 8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600)

"Wait a minute! Dark Galaxy Knight is a Level 8 monster!" Leo noticed. "He should've tributed two monsters to summon it!"

"Not exactly, Leo," Mizar spoke up. "Since Shade's Cosmic-Eyes is a Darkspace monster, he can summon Dark Galaxy Knight without tributing another monster."

"That's correct, Mizar. And now I'll overlay my Darkspace Dragon and Dark Galaxy Knight to build the Overlay Network!" Shade's two monsters turn into purple streaks of energy that enter a swirling galaxy and a pillar of light bursts from the swirling portal. "This monster will bring chills into your bones and cause chaos in its wake!" Within the storm cloud, dark energy forms a set of wings and a set of piercing red eyes open within. "I Xyz Summon! Witness the ascension of Cosmic-Eyes Terror Darkspace Dragon!" Shade's Xyz Monster is a corrupted version of Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon, with dark energy emanating within the purple orbs on its body and wings (Rank 8/ATK: 3500/DEF: 3000).

"No way!" Yuya gasped.

"Shade can Xyz Summon?" Astral asked in surprise.

"How does it look to stare into the face of your imminent destruction?" Shade asked.

"I've faced it before and I'm not afraid of it or you." Vizor glared behind his glasses.

"You should be afraid once I activate my Terror Darkspace's special ability!" Shade declared as a mighty black wind blew across the field. "As soon as it's called into battle, all of your monsters summoned from the Extra Deck are destroyed and you take 1000 points of damage for each of them! Go, Terror Typhoon!" A dark twister approached Blade Blaster.

"Your monster's not the only one with tricks! Watch this!" Vizor said as his T.G. Jet Falcon slipped out of his Graveyard. "By banishing Jet Falcon from my Graveyard, I can banish Blade Blaster from the field until the next Standby Phase." Blade Blaster disappears in a burst of pixels just before the twister could hit.

"Well played, but it won't save your face-down card. I activate Terror Darkspace's other ability." Shade declares as the dragon's two Overlay Units enter the core on its chest. "By using two Overlay Units, all of your Spell and Trap cards are blown away!" The twister continues to blow across the field and starts to sweep up Vizor's face-down card.

"You have to do better than that, Emperor! Before you can destroy my card, I'll activate it! TGX3-DX2!" Vizor's Trap is revealed. Warwolf, Catapult Dragon, and Duplicator slip out of his Graveyard. "By returning three T.G. monsters in my Graveyard to my Deck, I can draw two cards!" Vizor's cards return to his deck and he draws two after the deck is shuffled.

"You may have two extra cards, but you still have no monsters. That means my Terror Darkspace Dragon can attack you directly!" Shade declares as the dark dragon prepares to attack. Vizor tries to think of a way to protect his Life Points. He remembered the glowing cards that scattered. He noticed a card on top of a picnic table and rushes over to grab it. The dark dragon fires a purple beam of energy right at Vizor and it strikes. Shade smirks evilly with satisfaction, but it disappears once the smoke clears, revealing that Vizor still stands.

"What?! How is this possible?!" Shade questioned. "You should've lost a lot of Life Points!"

"Yeah! Terror Darkspace Dragon had 3500 Attack Points, yet Vizor didn't lose any." Luna added.

"If that were the case, then he must've used an Action Card." Yuya theorized.

Everyone who didn't know about Action Cards turned to Yuya, clueless. "Action Cards?" Akiza asked.

"Did you see all those glowing cards that scattered across the battlefield?" Declan explained to everyone. "Those are Action Cards, a special variety of cards exclusive to Action Duels. Action Card has different effects, based on the situation, but any Duelist can use them to their advantage."

"And since Vizor didn't take any damage, he must've used the Action Spell Damage Banish, which reduced the damage he would take to zero." Shay finished as the Action Spell's image flashed above Vizor.

"So you managed to avoid total defeat. That changes nothing. I activate Card of Sanctity!" Shade plays another Spell.

"Since when does he use that?" Joey gasped.

"Now we both draw until we have six cards in our hands." Shade explains as he draws six cards while Vizor draws two. Shade sees his hand and grins maliciously. "And now I have everything I need to bring about your end, Vizor! I set the Pendulum Scale with Scale 1 Darkspace Cosmic Squad and Scale 10 Darkspace Cosmic Spino!" He places the two cards in his Pendulum Zones, the word "PENDULUM" in rainbow letters appearing on the blade of his Duel Disk. In the transparent pillars of light, a purple-scaled humanoid amphibian wielding a trident and a dark-scaled Spinosaurus appeared, the numbers representing their Scales appearing below.

"I can now summon as many monsters from Level 2 through 9 all at the same time." Shade declared. "I Pendulum Summon! Come forth, Darkspace Salamander!" He calls out as two streaks of dark energy emerges from above, revealing a purple-scaled lizard with eyes made from dark space. (Level 4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 900) "…along with Darkspace Ninja!" His other monster is a ninja with purple robes, piercing red eyes, and a body made with pure energy. Dark energy can be seen emanating from his kunai. (Level 4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000)

"First, Xyz Summoning, now Pendulum?!" Sora gasped. "What's next?"

"How about I show you? Level 4 Darkspace Salamander tunes my Level 4 Darkspace Ninja." The small lizard turns into four motes of light, which form black energy rings that surround the energy-bodied ninja, transforming it into four motes of light. A dark pillar of light shines behind the emperor. "I Synchro Summon! Arise, Galaxy Darkspace Psychic Dragon!" A corrupted version of Thought Ruler Archfiend emerges with a resounding roar (Level 8/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2000).

"Xyz, Pendulum, Synchro… It's like he's been studying our every move." Mizar theorized.

"I have been studying your moves, Mizar. I've studied all of your moves to ensure I have mastered everything I need to carry out my master plan." Shade informs everyone. "You don't stand a chance against me." He finishes his turn with a face-down card. "And after this, you never will."

"Don't think that you'll win this Duel just because you outnumber my monsters two to one." Vizor challenged.

"You don't have any monsters right now, Vizor."

"You're right, I don't. But that will change."

Turn 5: Vizor (4000)

"And it starts here!" Vizor draws his card and sees T.G. Gear Zombie. "First, since I banished my Blade Blaster last turn, it returns to my field during my Standby Phase." Blade Blaster emerges from the purple portal below. (Level 10/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2200)

"Next, since I only have T.G. monsters, I can summon T.G. Drill Fish straight away!" He summons a fish with a drill in place of its nose. (Level 1/ATK: 400/DEF: 800)

"Next, by lowering Blade Blaster's Attack points by 1000, I can summon T.G. Gear Zombie." His second monster is a zombie with gears protruding all over its body. (Level 1/ATK: 600/DEF: 0) (T.G. Blade Blaster: ATK: 3300→2300)

"I've seen this strategy before," Yusei admitted.

"Level 1 Gear Zombie tunes Level 1 Drill Fish!" Gear Zombie transformed into a single mote of light that turned into a green ring that surrounded Drill Fish turning it into a mote of light. A pillar of light shone above. "Remove Level 2 Limiter! Open Regulators! Navigation is a go! I Synchro Summon T.G. Recipro Dragonfly!" His Synchro Monster is a dragonfly with mechanical wings that form helicopter blades. (Level 2/ATK: 300/DEF: 300)

"Recipro Dragonfly lets me send a T.G. Synchro Monster to the Graveyard and revive its Synchro materials. Blade Blaster, you are dismissed!" Blade Blaster disappears in a flurry of pixels. Hyper Librarian and Star Guardian slid out of the time traveler's Graveyard and reappear on the field. (Hyper Librarian: Level 5/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800; Star Guardian: Level 5/ATK: 0/DEF: 2200)

"You plan on Accel Synchro Summoning again, aren't you?" Emperor Shade questioned.

"Not quite. I plan on something beyond Accel Synchro!" Vizor declared. A red aura emanated from his body.

"Beyond Accel Synchro!?" Shade gasped.

"Yes. A power only Yusei and myself can utilize. And I will show you here and now! Go, Delta Accel Synchro!"

"Did he say Delta Accel Synchro?!" Jack gasped.

"Level 5 Star Guardian, tune with Level 2 Recipro Dragonfly and Level 5 Hyper Librarian!" Star Guardian transformed into five motes of light that surround both Recipro Dragonfly and Hyper Librarian, turning them into seven motes of light that accelerate rapidly through the rings. A much brighter beam of light shines above.

"Top Clear Mind! Remove max limiter! Open regulators! All systems are a go! Infinite power will create a new future! I Synchro Summon T.G. Halberd Cannon!" His most powerful monster, armed with a long-range laser and clad in gray and orange armor appears (Level 12/ATK: 4000/DEF: 4000).

"So this is the power known as Delta Accel Synchro. But I'm afraid one Delta Accel Synchro monster won't be enough to defeat me." Shade smirked.

"Yes, but let's see if you can take on two! I activate Miracle Synchro!" Vizor plays a Spell, the image depicting three Synchro rings emerging from the Graveyard. "This Spell Card lets me Synchro Summon with monsters in my Graveyard!"

"He can do that?!" Leo gasps.

"Anything is possible, Leo," Yusei noted.

"Once again, I tune Level 5 Star Guardian to Level 2 Recipro Dragonfly and Level 5 Hyper Librarian!" Emerging from the Graveyard, Star Guardian once more turned into green rings that surround Hyper Librarian and Recipro Dragonfly, the monsters turning into accelerating stars once again. The beam shines above once again.

"Top Clear Mind! Remove max limiter! Open regulators! All systems are a go! Darkness will blanket the past, paving the way to a brighter future! I Synchro Summon T.G. Digital Reaper!" His new monster is a mechanical skeleton in a dark robe wielding a scythe formed from solidified data (Level 12/ATK: 4500/DEF: 0).

"Two Level 12 Synchro monsters, that's nice, but their power isn't enough to defeat me." Shade chuckled lowly.

"We'll see about that. Halberd Cannon, attack his Psychic Dragon!" Halberd Cannon takes off into the air and aims his laser at Psychic Dragon. Halberd Cannon starts charging its laser, just as Shade rushes over to an awning and reaches for an Action Card. Vizor leaps over to the card and grabs it before the emperor does.

"You'll have to move faster if you want to beat me," Vizor smirked.

"You fool. I wanted you to grab that Action Card before me." Shade laughed, earning a raised eyebrow from the time traveler. "I wanted to draw your attention away from my face-down cards. And I will use one of them now! I activate the Trap Darkspace Force! Since you were foolish enough to attack my Darkspace monster, all of your monsters in Attack Mode are destroyed and you take 200 points of damage for each one." A transparent dark barrier surrounded the monster and blocked the attack.

"It won't work. I activate the Quick-Play Spell Forbidden Scripture! Since my monster battled yours, all other cards have their effects negated until the end of damage."

"No!" Shade yelled as the barrier shattered from the force of the attack and destroyed Psychic Dragon. Shade recoils from the shock. (Shade: 3500→2100 LP)

"Digital Reaper, it's your turn now. Attack his Terror Darkspace Dragon! Destruction Deleter!" Digital Reaper raised its weapon and sliced Terror Darkspace Dragon in two, destroying it. Shade shields himself from the impact with his arms. (Shade: 2100→1100 LP)

"All right! He's backed the Emperor into a corner!" Luna cheered.

"And it gets even worse for Shade. Digital Reaper's special ability can destroy any monster with ease and ensures that it can never leave the Graveyard for the rest of the duel." Crow smiled.

"And even if he does summon a monster, Halberd Cannon can negate its summoning and destroy it once per turn," Jack added.

Shade gets up and starts to chuckle, eventually growing into a hearty laugh. "I must say, Vizor. No Duelist has ever backed me into a corner like this. You must be proud of yourself."

"I do what I can."

"But I'm afraid this is where it ends."

Turn 6: Shade (1100)

"Here…" Shade draws a trail of darkness following the card. "…and NOW!" He sees the card and smirks. "I summon Darkspace Egg!" He summons a small dark purple egg with light purple spots. The egg cracks open and a pair of red eyes peer out (Level 1/ATK: 300/DEF: 250).

"That egg looks quite weak, but I know of its special power. Once per turn, it hatches into your Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon. And whenever it's in the Graveyard, it turns into an Overlay Unit for any Xyz Monster you have." Vizor examined his opponent's monster. "Well, it's not going to work on me. I use Halberd Cannon's special ability. Darkspace Egg's summoning is negated and your monster is destroyed! Closed Summon!" Halberd Cannon fires a red beam from its chest, destroying Darkspace Egg.

"Not bad, Vizor. You knew of my Egg's power." Shade smirked.

"Now there's nothing left you can do, Emperor."

"Is that so? There's more than one way to revive a monster. I activate the Equip Spell Dark Galaxy Zero! It lets me revive a Darkspace Monster from my Graveyard. Of course, it can't attack or use its abilities. Return to me, my Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon!" The dark version of Galaxy-Eyes returns with a roar. (Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"You're taking a big risk, Emperor," Vizor said to him. "If I attack your dragon and you destroy that Equip Spell to protect it, then it loses all of its attack points."

"I'm all about risks, and they're well worth the reward. Especially when I have everything I need to win! I activate my Spell Darkspace Fusion!" Shade reveals one of his face-down cards.

"Darkspace Fusion!?" Jaden gasped.

"With this, I can use any monsters from my hand, field, or Pendulum Zones to Fusion Summon. And this Fusion Summon will be your end!" Shade said as the monsters in his Pendulum Zones approach Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon. "I fuse Cosmic-Eyes, my Cosmic Spino, and my Cosmic Squad!" All three monsters ascend behind a swirling portal. "Watch as the shadows of the galaxy become the glimmer of light, even from within the deepest darkness! Now emerge from within the depths of darkness!" The three monsters swirl into an orb of dark energy. "I Fusion Summon! Neo Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon!" The result of the Fusion is a dark version of Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon with some of Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon's characteristics, such as its long necks and wide wings (Level 10/ATK: 4500/DEF: 3000).

The dark dragon stares down at Vizor. "I've never seen such a monster. But it doesn't matter to me. Digital Reaper's special ability will soon destroy your monster in an instant. I may have already used Halberd Cannon's ability, but it won't be enough to finish me."

"Don't be so sure." Shade counters.

"What did you say?"

"When my Neo Cosmic-Eyes is successfully Fusion Summoned, the effects of all other cards face-up on the field are negated. Go, Darkspace Howling!" The dark dragon let out a tremendous roar that dispelled Halberd Cannon's and Digital Reaper's powers.

"Not good. Halberd Cannon and Digital Reaper have lost their powers." Crow said nervously.

"That's alright. Halberd Cannon and Digital Reaper are both Synchro Monsters, so that dragon can't siphon their abilities." Shay reassured.

"I don't need to steal powers to win. I activate the Action Spell Encore." Shade plays his Action Spell.

"How did you get that?"

(Flashback: Vizor's turn)

Shade was driven back by Digital Reaper's attack. He saw an Action Card by his left foot and picked it up.

"You didn't notice? When you knocked me back with your last attack, I picked it up while you weren't looking." Shade explained.

(End Flashback)

"Now I can use Encore to copy an Action Spell in my Graveyard and Zero Penalty is perfect because Digital Reaper's Attack Points drop right to 0!"

"No!" Vizor yelled ad Digital Reaper's strength vanished (12/4500→0/0).

"And now that that's out of the way, time to finish you. Neo Cosmic-Eyes Darkspace Dragon, attack Digital Reaper and finish him!" Shade commanded his monster to attack. Vizor panics as he looks for any Action Cards and finally sees one atop a lamp post and rushes over to it. "Go, Ultimate Darkspace Stream of Destruction!" Just before Vizor can grab the Action Card, Neo Cosmic-Eyes fires a giant purple beam from its three heads and it hits Digital Reaper, causing it to explode. The shockwave sends Vizor hurdling to a building.

"VIZOR!" Yusei screamed his name as Vizor fell to the ground. (Vizor: 4000→0 LP)

"He… He lost…" Akiza whispered sadly.

"You've fought well, Vizor. But I'm afraid that this is the end." Emperor Shade said.

"We're not afraid of you!" Yuma barked.

"Yuma's right! I bet I could beat you blindfolded!" Joey challenged.

"I appreciate your tenacity, Joey Wheeler, but you're not worthy enough to face me," Shade spoke. "And even if you were, I would surely defeat you as easily as I defeated Vizor."

"Leave my friend out of this!" Yugi yelled.

"Oh, I will, Yugi Muto." Shade complied. "I think I shall leave you all out... in the deepest void of space!" A dark purple aura glowed in Shade's left hand.

"You can't do that!" Aster Phoenix barked.

"I can and I will. Farewell, Legends!"

The evil Emperor created a wormhole that leads to a dark corner of space. Everyone hung on for dear life. But seeing the kind of skill his opponent had in the duel, Shade shuts the wormhole.

"On second thought, I have a better idea."

"Huh?"

"Wait, you mean... you're not going to send out into a deep vacuum of space?" Vector asked.

"I may be cruel, but I know a good duelist when I see one. I've decided to invite you and the rest of your friends to a special tournament."

"A tournament?" Yusei asked.

"Yes, and in this tournament, all forms of dueling are welcome. Standard duels, Action Duels, and even Turbo Duels."

"Well, I don't know if we can trust you." Crow was skeptical of Shade's intentions of holding a large-scale tournament.

"C'mon, Crow! With a tournament this big, how can we say no?" Joey told him.

"Alright, we're in." Yusei accepted the invitation on the others' behalf.

"Splendid! The opening ceremony is in three days. I expect you to give your all in this competition." Shade told them as he turned away and reentered his ship. He smiled evilly once inside. "That's right, duel as hard as you want, for I shall reign supreme in the end."

Back on the surface, everyone saw the emperor's flagship take off. "I don't like this one bit. First, he appears out of nowhere, then he beats Vizor in a duel, and now instead of throwing us away, he invites us to some tournament? Something's not right." Crow mused.

"For once, Crow, I agree."

"Hey, who said that?" Yuya asked.

They turn around and see a boy around Yuya and Zuzu's age. He is wearing a blue shirt with a white coat, black shoes, and short brown hair. His most distinguishing features are his dichromatic eyes. His right eye was red while the left was green. His Duel Disk looked futuristic, but it bears a resemblance to Jaden's.

"Who are you?" Jaden asked.

"All will be explained in time, Legends."

The mystery boy typed something in his Duel Disk and a portal opens behind him.

"Hold on! We want answers!" Yugi called out.

"If it's answers you seek, Yugi, you'd best follow me."

Unsure of what the boy meant by what he said, the duelists followed the boy through the portal.