Dr. Faker is dead and Mr. Heartland has fallen before Yagumo's power! Now with the dying Haruto firmly under his thumb, the fiendish nihilist's control over Heartland is complete, and he's brought Kaito an ultimatum. Either he helps collect Numbers energy through one final duel with Yuma, or his little brother's life will fade away. Yet even as he sets the stage for these two rivals to duel to the death, Yagumo’s also ready with another phase of his endgame: settling the score with an old buddy...

Kaito's been through a lot, hasn't he? Between his little brother Haruto's mysterious illness, Dr. Faker's madness, the sundering of the Astral world and the sinister hunt for Numbers, he's broken bad and become little more than a super-powered assassin. Haruto’s been the one thing keeping him going: saving his body from its disease and his mind from the Astral world. Yet through it all, one obstacle or another stood in his way: either some villain dangling Haruto’s life on a string or Yuma’s goofy, duel-loving self constantly reminding him of everything he lost.

Now even his rematch with Yuma has become yet another gambit by someone out to use him like a box of tissues.

The situation gets even worse with the horrible discovery that Kotori and Luna make: the Numbers-fueled doomsday weapon key to Yagumo's homicidal plans is also Haruto's life-support system! Yuma's got to somehow figure out how to beat Kaito AND save both Haruto and reality itself. Yet in this final duel between himself and his annoyingly non-bitter rival, Kaito's dueling for his brother and his own honor. It's time for him to confront everything he has done...and how stained his hands truly are.

Given his super villain-esque behavior so far, it's not surprising that Yagumo blames Shark for his corruption. Shark had taken the fall for Yagumo years ago when he had cheated at a major tournament, and while it had cost Shark his public reputation, Yagumo had gone on to become a world-famous champion. Like Kaito, Yagumo had had a little brother of his own before his parents were killed in a freak traffic accident, and he and his brother had been put up separately. Yagumo's former desire to become a champion had hinged on becoming famous enough to find him again. Yet now, Yagumo claims that this act of kindness had simply been condescension, and that only misery had awaited him from then on. What could have possible happened to drive him so far into despair?

The duels are getting crazier, and so is the crowd. We've had twist after twist lately, so where will it end? What other forms will Yagumo's cards take, and what other secrets could he be hiding? The final battle nears, and Yuma, Astral, Kaito and Shark had all better be ready!

Number 23: Lancelot, Dark Knight of the Underworld

Yagumo's deadly Number 23: Lancelot, Dark Knight of the Underworld comes free with this volume of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. As with its manga counterpart, Lancelot may attack your opponent directly as long as it has at least one Xyz Material attached. Unlike in the manga, however, Lancelot can destroy ANY monster on your opponent's field if its direct-attack is successful, so don't worry about ATK values. Finally, it negates the activation of any card effect once per turn at the cost of one of its two Xyz Material monsters.

Yet Lancelot has one serious drawback in the actual game that it does not have in the manga: this last effect is mandatory. Once summoned, you MUST detach one Xyz monster to negate the next Spell, Trap or Monster Effect that a player (read: you OR your opponent) activates. Also remember that Lancelot can only negate one card per turn, so if you're worried about a couple face-downs on your opponent's field, try to clear as many of them up as possible before you bring him out. Also remember that Lancelot's Direct-Attack ability only works if he has Xyz Materials, so chances are that this ability won't last long. Number 23's super-powerful, but save him for the right time if you plan on bringing him along!

You can read these incredible duels by picking up Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Vol. 7 available now!

by Chris Turner