Chapter 8: Chapter 8
With the duel over, it was time for the viewers to digest what they have just seen.
Reactions were mainly split into two parties: Duelists who wanted to learn about synchro summoning and concerned parties who were happy Leo and Luna were okay.
Of course, in some select groups, there were different kinds of conversations going on.
Aporia's story was different from Yubel's and Atem's.
In the future of the 5DS world, things had reached the point that the survivors had to travel to the past in hopes of changing things for the better.
If a world like the 5DS world had a future that bad, what about their own?
(5DS) Rex Goodwin was heading a meeting in Neo Domino City to try and study the clues shown in the duel to hopefully avoid that kind of future. Unfortunately, he still had no idea that his research will show little results as a result of tampering from Illiaster that was already established itself in the past.
Meanwhile, the forces of good and evil in the 5DS world were actively trying to assemble themselves ahead of time as the scene where Leo had become a Signer had shown too much information about the Mark of the Crimson Dragon.
On one hand, Yusei and Jack had put aside their duel in hopes of finding their fellow Signers.
On the other, Rowan Goodwin is searching for potential Dark Signers to kickstart his Dark Signer war.
Another day passed by with little else happening. The protagonist's stories just take too long to get started. It was already a good thing for Yugi and Joey to be boarding the cruise ship to the Duelist Kingdom tournament in the DM world as well as ARC-V's world getting a new prominent duelist in the form of Sora.
In the ZEXAL world, Yuma Tsukumo was lying in his bed wondering when he and Astral were going to find the next Number monster. As his eyes started to fall, a familiar screen appeared.
"Initiating start-up sequence. Loading commence. Begin the next duel."
"Wake up Yuma," (ZEXAL) Astral ordered. "The next duel is about to begin."
"I got it," (ZEXAL) Yuma said as he was startled out of his near slumber.
Elsewhere, a disgruntled (ZEXAL) Shark was looking up at the screen with a newly kindled fire in his eyes.
In the three duels so far, each one had a different meaning.
Yugi vs Atem was a rite of passage.
Yubel vs Jaden was about a distorted bond.
Aporia vs Jack, Leo, and Luna was hope vs despair.
If the pattern keeps up, this next duel should have something else to say.
"Next duel. (ZEXAL world): Yuma Tsukumo Vs Barian Emperor Nash."
"What?" (ZEXAL) Shark started. Yuma made the list?
"It's me!" (ZEXAL) Yuma exclaimed as he jumped out of bed in excitement. By the side, Astral shook his head as Yuma forgot that his sister was watching this and she was an avid hater of Yuma dueling. Sure enough, a few seconds later a familiar figure could be seen crashing through the door to give Yuma a lesson.
On the screen, a new picture came on. It showed a large platform under a variety of different colored crystals.
On the empty platform, a figure could be seen waking up. It was the young Yuma struggling to get up off the ground. By his side was the still groggy Tori and the mysterious entity Astral.
"Why does it feel like that guy is similar to me?" (VRAINS) AI asked Yusaku, pointing at Astral.
"Is it an alien?" (ARC-V) Shingo wondered.
"What a fascinating scientific discovery," (GX) Bastion beamed. "A real-life alien!"
On the screen, Yuma couldn't believe what he was seeing. In front of the platform, a world could be seen connected by some loose steps of stairs. It was the Astral World where Astral originated from. To his back, however, was the merged Barian World and Earth.
Why? He thought he had saved his world from merging with the Barian World.
The answer came from a man coming into being behind him.
"No. It's too late. Eart and the Barian World are completely merged," Shark said.
"Why am I there?" (ZEXAL) Shark asked aloud. He thought Yuma's opponent was supposed to be someone named Nash, so where did he come from?
On the screen, Shark explained to everyone that the platform they are on exists between the two worlds. If nothing happens, Astral World and the Earth-Barian World hybrid will collide with each other resulting in the destruction of the Astral World.
"Wait, I thought this was supposed to end when we defeated Don Thousand!" Yuma.
"Shark, could it be?" Astral.
"That's right, I inherited Don Thousand's power." Shark explained. "In case you forgot, I am a Barian warrior. I am your enemy!"
A Barian warrior! Could it be, that this Shark is the emperor Nash mentioned in the title of the video?
In the ZEXAL world, the Barian people residing there were stunned at the course of events taking place. This man named Shark was fighting for them.
In (ZEXAL) Heartland, the parties that knew Shark had mixed reactions as this didn't seem like the Shark they knew. He was far more noble and righteous than they've ever seen. If they had to compare, he reminds them a bit of Atem and the Supreme King Jaden.
According to Shark on the screen, Astral World existed out of a desire to "Rank-Up" with all of the parts they discarded making up "Chaos" and the Barian World.
With this inherent relationship between the worlds, it was clear that Astral World didn't see Barian World as their equals, and to save themselves they would sacrifice Barian World. An unacceptable outcome for someone like Shark who valued his Barian World comrades.
Yuma hoped that there was some way for a peaceful solution but Astral World was too weak right now. If the two worlds were to merge as they are, Astral World would cease to exist.
"No way," (ARC-V) Yuzu muttered, covering her mouth.
"It's a win or lose scenario," (VRAINS) Varis analyzed.
"It only ends when one side is completely eliminated," (DM) Seto concluded.
Unable to handle the situation, Yuma kept trying to find a way for things to settle peacefully. He thought it must've been Don Thousand behind it all and Shark adhered to some of that logic. Before Don Thousand had interfered with the memories and lives of the Seven Barian Emperors leading to the current situation but Shark was the lone man he never touched. Shark had come to this point completely of his own free will.
"With the manipulation of the people close to me, I was led to choose to be a Barian of my own free will."
Scenes of his various friends and family being manipulated by Don Thousand flashed across the screen. It was clear that if Shark didn't choose to be a Barian, they would be left to suffer for decisions they didn't want to make. He was their king.
In (ZEXAL) Barian World, several figures could be seen uncontrollably crying.
"Why am I crying?" (ZEXAL) Girag wondered.
"My.. my king?" (ZEXAL) Durbe questioned, bits and pieces of his memories coming back.
In her ward, tears could be seen dripping down (ZEXAL) Rio's face.
"Don Thousand's curse is my own existence," Shark explained. "When I decided to be a Barian, Reginald Castle, Shark, your friend died. Let's settle this with one final duel."
Left with no other option, all Yuma could do was duel his former friend.
Shark raised his hand to the sky and a red light flashed on the bizarre necklace around his neck. In a beam of light, he changed his appearance from a human being to a purple alien without a nose or a mouth donning an emperor's attire.
The Barian Emperor Nash was ready to duel!
His majestic appearance wowed the audience across the myriad worlds as they unconsciously sided with this king among emperors.
(ZEXAL) Yuma and Astral grew serious as they knew this duel might not be one they could avoid in the future. Meanwhile, the present-day Shark watched with mixed emotions as he watched a man seemingly him but not his duel for the fate of a world he didn't know existed.
[4000 LP] [4000 LP]
Being the starting player, Nash used his royal privilege to draw a card. He then activated the spell card Card of Ascension to send a card from his hand to the graveyard in exchange for adding one "Rank-Up-Magic" card from his deck to his hand.
XYZ summoning was a summoning method similar to Synchro summoning as only two worlds were familiar with it while another wasn't aware they could use it. Thanks to that, their first exposure to XYZ summoning was going to be a complex one courtesy of Rank-Up-Magic The Seventh One.
Activating The Seventh One, Nash special summoned from his extra deck Number 101 Silent Honor Ark then immediately used it as material for a Chaos XYZ Change.
Rank-Up! Rank 5 Number C101 Silent Honor Dark!
Silent Honor Dark: [2800 ATK]
A dark knight accompanied by a single pink device emerged onto the battlefield.
Chaos XYZ Change? The bizarre summoning of Silent Honor Dark succeeded in making the audience confused as they didn't know much about XYZ monsters let alone the more advanced XYZ Change.
Nash then summoned from his hand Doppelganger Shark, using its effect to become a copy of Silent Honor Dark. The targeted Silent Honor Dark then gains the ability to attack Yuma directly.
Nash then activated the spell card Chaos Barrier protecting his Chaos Numbers with the same name. With two cards set, Nash's first turn comes to an end.
Before starting his turn, Yuma conversed with Astral trying to find a way for everyone to be saved. The only solution Astral had was the Numeron Code which could rewrite the past and change their future.
Hearing about the Numeron Code set the viewers off like a hive of bees.
Rewriting the past is what Aporia hoped to do.
As Yuma said, however, was that using the Numeron Code was the same as turning away from all of the actions they made in the past for a make-shift future.
Yuma special summoned the level 7 Buzzbuzz Seven since Shark controlled an XYZ monster and summoned the level 4 Gagaga Magician. Using Gagaga Magician's monster effect, Yuma turned Gagaga Magician into a level 7 monster.
Overlay Level {7} Buzzbuzz Seven {=} and Level {7} Gagaga Magician
Xyz Summon! Rank 7 Number 11 Big Eye!
The first real XYZ summon!
Many analysts recorded the summoning method to be used for study in the future.
Big Eye: [2600 ATK]
Big Eye was a silver cone surrounded by two purple stars drawing circular trajectories around its cone. Some smart viewers can draw conclusions based on Silent Honor Dark's summon that this was what happened to the monsters used to XYZ summon XYZ monsters. They became XYZ materials.
Using Big Eye's effect, Yuma gained control of one of Nash's Silent Honor Darks and used it to turn the other into its XYZ materials.
In a flash of light, one of the dark knights turned into a pink device and accompanied its former partner on Yuma's side of the field.
Yuma then attacked Nash using his new Silent Honor Dark.
Nash: [4000 LP] - [1200 LP]
Taking advantage of the damage Yuma dealt with Silent Honor Dark, Nash activated the trap card Duo of the Seven Emperors which can only be activated if Shark was attacked by Chaos Number and took damage. Yuma had just played into his strategy, allowing him to special summon from the extra deck Rank 5 Number C102 Archfiend Seraph and Rank 5 Number C103 Ragnafinity!
Wow!
"Archfiend Seraph!" (ZEXAL) Durbe exclaimed seeing his ace monster.
(ZEXAL) Rio's fist clenched on her hospital bed.
Yuma set a card and ended his turn.
Nash started his turn and called out to his comrades represented by Archfiend Seraph and Rangnafinity. Silhouettes of his friends could be seen by the audience as the two monsters destroyed Yuma's XYZ monsters.
Yuma: [4000 LP] - [3700 LP]
Since Silent Honor Dark was destroyed while it had an XYZ material, it revived on Nash's field and restored Nash back to 4000 LP.
Nash: [4000 LP]
Nash then declared a direct attack with Silent Honor Dark. Yuma protected himself with Gagaga Gardna, special summoning it to his side of the field in attack mode.
Gagaga Gardna: [1500 ATK]
Yuma: [3700 LP] - [2400 LP]
Nash ended his turn by setting a card.
Yuma summoned level 3 Gagaga Caesar. Since he had a "Gagaga" monster on the field, he special summoned level 2 Gagaga Clerk from his hand. Yuma then used Gagaga Caesar's monster effect, removing from the game the Gagaga Magician in his graveyard to turn his monsters into level 4 monsters.
Overlay! Level {4} Gagaga Caesar {=} and Level {4} Gagaga Clerk
Xyz Summon! Rank 4 Number 39 Utopia!
"Go Utopia!" (ZEXAL) Yuma cheered, forgetting the stakes of the duel.
Yuma equips Utopia with the spell card Utopia Sword, giving it 800 ATK.
Utopia: [3300 ATK]
Utopia attacked and destroyed Silent Honor Dark before sending Utopia Sword to the graveyard to destroy the rest of Nash's monsters. In one fell swoop, Nash's field was cleared.
Nash: [3500 LP]
Nash was expecting it however and activated the trap card Chaos Hundred Universe, special summoning the destroyed monsters back to his side of the field and summoning three "Number C100X" XYZ monsters on Yuma's side of the field in defense mode.
Nash summoned to Yuma's side of the field Rank 5 Number C104 Umbral Horror Masquerade, Rank 5 Number C105 Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus, and Rank 5 Number C106 Giant Red Hand.
Six of the seven Barian "Number C100X" were on the field! Not even the Seven Barian Emperors could've imagined the day they'd see something like this.
Nash then activated the spell card Hundred Call to summon the last of the seven Barian Emperors' aces, Rank 9 Number C107 Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon.
All Seven Barian Emperors' iconic monsters were on the field!
Using the effect of CXYZ Barian Hope, Nash overlayed all of the "Number C100X" monsters on the field to XYZ summon CXYZ Barian Hope!
The symbols of the Seven Barian Emperors turned into rays of light before entering a black hole in the sky. Out of the black hole came a chaotic war god.
Xyz Summon! Rank 7 CXYZ Barian Hope!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone