It was a miracle Vector had stayed conscious.

Don Thousand may have meddled in his past and stolen his powers, but Vector would never be anything but himself. He wouldn't dare forget, even as his soul was mercilessly battered by Chaos and shredded to pieces. He thought a hundred times just how easy it would be to let himself dissolve away, but there was absolutely no way he'd die like that. It took a while- how long it was he didn't know, for what was time in the middle of a soul anyway?- but he managed to sew himself back together until there was enough of him in one place for him to say with certainty that he'd be laying off the cannibal jokes for a while. Being atomized and crudely digested was a terrible experience and seeing his fellow Emperors frown wouldn't be worth the reminder.

At least he could be bitterly comforted with the thought that he was too stubborn for Don Thousand to fully consume. Take that, you damn meddlesome God!

Still, he had to keep murmuring to himself to remind himself that he was Vector, the Barian Lord, the old Prince of Madness- anything to keep his memory solid. It had taken enough effort to stitch his soul into a tattered mess, and forgetting his identity for even a single moment would weaken his resolve and send the pieces floating away.

"Shingetsu!"

Hah, Vector grimly thought, it seemed that his mind was playing tricks on him even in this hell. Was consuming him not enough for Don Thousand? Was his soul now going to be prodded with horrible memories? No thanks.

"Shingetsu! Hey!"

It was suddenly too light, this wasn't the red hell of Don Thousand's soul, this was- he knew this place.

The tacky yellow desks and lime green benches of Heartland Academy stood plainly before his eyes, in the same infuriatingly neon he remembered them. He blinked his eyes- he had those now, and looked down at his hands. One, two, yes, all of his fingers were moving. He quickly glanced at one of the large windows, and his scrawny human form stared back at him, eyes far wider in bewilderment than he'd care to admit.

He turned his head, and Yuma was right there, staring eagerly at him. Vector definitely didn't yelp in surprise, because that would be completely and utterly beneath him.

"You were napping really hard! I thought you'd never wake up!"

Napping? If he could call his soul getting dissolved a short nap, that would be the life.

Yuma was there, along with his band of squabbling friends, and the way they were smiling told him quickly that he hadn't showed himself to be a Barian just yet. Had he been thrown back in time, or was this some sort of sadistic dream? "I guess I was more tired than I thought," he quickly lied, slipping into his Shingetsu voice, "I'm okay now, though."

"Great, because you promised to duel me after class!"

Nope. If he had to play happy go lucky lovely and marvelous friends once again, he was going to bash his head against the wall until he lost consciousness. Maybe then he'd be absorbed properly instead of floating around in space as a pile of half-digested scrap meat.

"Which deck are you going to use this time? No wait, don't tell me! I'll beat you either way!"

Which deck? What was he talking about? Oh, maybe Yuma meant the Shining deck that he used with his disguise. Still, the temptation to have Masquerade Umbral formally crush Yuma this time around was pretty alluring. He supposed he could play along with this delusion for a bit, if it meant he could see Yuma grimace in frustration for a while.

He gleefully agreed, but the moment he drew his hand, Vector quickly knew something was wrong. Constellar…Pleiades? He'd never seen that monster before in his entire life. He wasn't going to complain too much, it seemed like a pretty decent card, but aside from Shining Bridge lying against his pinky, there wasn't a single card in his hand he recognized.

Still, they turned out to be really, really good. It would have been way more satisfying for his Numbers to be the one to knock Yuma into the nearest wall, but watching Constellar Ptolemys blast Yuma's life points down to nothing was such a treat.

Yet, despite completely crushing Yuma with ease, he felt disappointed he wasn't able to at least destroy Hope, which now that Vector had the time to think about it, hadn't shown up in the entirety of the duel. Yuma couldn't last a single duel, much less a single turn without itching to summon Hope, so why hadn't he tried? Now that Vector took a good look at Yuma, the golden necklace always clinging to Yuma's chest was missing.

When Yuma came over, still grinning and laughing, forever annoyingly unperturbed by losing, Vector quickly donned his usual high-pitched fake voice to ask where Yuma's Key was.

"What Key? Come on, Shingetsu, I haven't forgotten my house keys just yet! I don't need to turn them into a necklace, see?" Yuma jangled the set of keys at his waist, but didn't produce the Emperor's Key.

If Vector knew anything about Yuma, it was that he was an optimistic idiot that couldn't lie to save his life. Come to think about it, Astral didn't emerge once during the duel either, and if Yuma didn't have his Numbers, did that mean that the Barians won?

Vector wasn't sure which prospect was worse, Yuma getting his hands on the Numeron Code or Nasch doing so, but he hardly had time to grumble before the rest of Yuma's little group swarmed them both with idle chatter. He quietly excused himself from the all too familiar babble, breaking into a dash the moment he was out of sight. If he remembered correctly, the roof usually didn't have this many people this time of day. The silence that greeted him let him relax a little; here he could be as loud as he wanted.

He had two deck boxes at his waist, so he rifled through them both, just to be sure. The first deck was the one he used to trash Yuma- a nice deck, he should have invested in these cards to begin with- but the moment he saw the familiar text of his Umbrals in the second deck, he breathed a sigh of relief. The first card he spotted was Umbral Unform, then Will o' the Wisp, Ghoul-

He froze. Where was Masquerade Shining? Or Umbral? He reshuffled the deck again and spread them all out so he could see them all at once. Maybe they were defeated along with Don Thousand, but there was no Judge Buster either. He'd had that card since he was a kid, right? So why wasn't it there? No Numbers of any kind, only the dull browns and muted blacks of normal cards.

His hand flashed to his neck, but he couldn't feel the red marble of Baria Lapis he always kept beneath his collar. His limbs went cold at the thought; no Baria Lapis, no easy Bariaphose. He tried concentrating hard to see if maybe he could recraft the large lapis on his chest, but all it ended up doing was make him lightheaded.

A mad laugh slipped past his lips as he slapped the cards aside. If this was a joke, it wasn't very funny. "Hey!" He shouted up at the clouds. "Don Thousand! You can hear me right, you damn pesky god! Is this what it's like in your disgusting stomach? Get me out of here before I kick my way out!"

There was no answer, no matter how hard Vector glared at the sky.

He closed his eyes, sitting down trying to feel the strands of energy that flowed across the world, the pink threads of Chaos that sustained the Barians. There wasn't much in the human world, but there was always an undercurrent of Chaos, like a river flowing underneath a tunnel. Don Thousand had lived alongside his heart for quite some time, enough that Vector knew it was literally impossible for him to be around without dragging a noxious trail behind him. The damn bastard couldn't clean up after himself, but there wasn't a single trace of Chaos in this world. If time had been turned back, then he'd been able to feel a few strands of Chaos, but no, nothing.

Vector wouldn't admit he shivered, but his body twitched a bit. Yeah, it was probably just a spasm.

He sucked in a gulp of air and started to slowly collecting his scattered cards. He could feel his lips turning down, with every passing thought. No Chaos meant no Don Thousand, so the Barian god had likely been purged. Good riddance, ridiculous good-for-nothing meddler. No Emperor's Key, no Astral, no Chaos, no Numbers, no Baria Lapis; none of that meant he'd been dumped in someplace completely changed, or different as a whole. He took one look at his Umbrals before stuffing them back in his deck box with a huff.

Speaking of Chaos, where were those so-called comrades of his? As much as he hated to go seek them out, there was a chance one of them could know a little more than he did, and talking to them was slightly better than screaming at the sky. Alit and Gilag, if they had been revived too, usually hung around the school grounds, and even jokes of pawns might have some basic information.

He couldn't tear open the Overlay Network, or even feel where one of its entrances might be, so that meant he had to hike all the way to the duo's worn down hideout. Aah, what a pain, those other Emperors were nothing but trouble.

He'd only just stepped downstairs when he caught a familiar flash of long blonde hair, and his eyes widened in surprise. He had to rub his eyes and pinch his cheeks to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but that was definitely Mizael and Durbe coming down the hall. What were they doing here? Was Mizael actually wearing one of those god-awful school uniforms without complaint? Was Durbe not only alive, but also in the human world for once instead of peering through one of his prying crystals? Something huge had to happen for them both to be here and in those horrible disguises.

He bounded up to them, waving his arms eagerly like the simpleton Shingetsu would have done. "Miza-chwaaaaan! Durbe!"

Mizael grimaced quite visibly, that at least Vector recognized. In a world where everyone seemed to be smiling excessively, seeing Mizael's angry face was a small relief. "What?" the blonde asked in a strained voice.

"All for the sake of the Barian world, right?"

Durbe gave him a confused look, one that he'd never have given in response to those words. Durbe was the most dedicated to the Barian cause, and he'd never abandon it, even if Nasch pouted at him really hard.

He- really didn't know anything, did he?

Vector needed an excuse and fast. Durbe wasn't a gossiper, but he could easily send Vector to the counselor's office if he wasn't careful enough. Mizael- well, Mizael was about as subtle as a freight train. He spotted a stack of folders in Durbe's hands, clipped with the term 'Writing Club'. "Do you like it? It's the title for my new story!"

Durbe's confused expression vanished instantly. "It's a bit long, you might want to consider shortening it."

"Okay! Hey, Durbe, do you think you can look it over when I'm done with it?"

"If I have time, I don't see why not."

Mizael shot a glare at Vector and dragged Durbe away after insisting they had things to do and for the first time, Vector wasn't sure if he wanted them to go so soon. Neither of them remembered their desire to save the Barian World, or even that it existed. If it existed anymore, that is.

Vector kicked at an eraser forgotten on the floor, idly watching it hit the wall. He didn't want to save the Barian World, but if it was going to be destroyed, he'd at least have liked a confirmation beforehand, or have crushed it himself. No Chaos in the human world meant no portals to the Barian World. No Barian World meant no place to escape to, leaving him tethered to the human plane. A Barian that couldn't transform, and was without powers or Numbers to call his own was no better than human. Repulsive, absolutely repulsive!

In the distance, he spotted a head of purple-pronged hair that made him grit his teeth until his gums groaned from the pressure. Nasch- he'd know that irritating presence anywhere.

Durbe had died by Vector's hands, and he hadn't the slightest clue where Mizael was before Don Thousand swallowed him whole, but Nasch was at the very least alive to fight Don Thousand. Out of everyone, he'd be the most qualified to answer Vector's questions, at least if Vector didn't choke on his own vomit first. Unclenching his fists, he skipped towards Nasch with a pleasant smile. Nasch didn't even see him coming, this was the perfect opportunity for a surprise right hook, but no, Shingetsu Rei wouldn't dare do something like that. "Oi, Nasch!"

Nasch didn't turn around. Not even a twitch of a reaction, typical Nasch.

Vector put on put on his most daring smile and flicked his enemy's shoulder. "Hey, Nasch. You trying to ignore me?"

Nasch turned around and frowned at him, but it wasn't nearly as deep of a frown as Vector expected. "Stop calling me that, okay? It was a dumb nickname, get over it. Playing make-believe was fun, all right? But we were kids, so don't bring that up, it's embarrassing."

…Huh? It took all Vector's willpower to not let his mouth drop open. "Hey, Nasch, what are you talking about-"

"I told you before, I'm busy. I'll talk to you later, Rio's waiting on me."

Vector was left standing stunned in the hall, his eyes wide and his mouth dry. What… was that, anyway? Some sort of sick joke? He sucked in a deep breath and slapped both his cheeks, hard. Okay, Vector, you've gotten out of much worse before. The least he could do was think of how to get out of this mad situation.

Somehow, he had learned a little more when talking to Nasch. Miracle Nasch managed to teach him anything, but Nasch seems to be less annoying in this place than when he wore that stupid cape and sat on that dumb throne. Just the thought made Vector simmer with rage- he'd have his hands around Nasch's throat at any cost.

His wave of homicidal glee quickly bubbled down into disappointment. This Nasch- was it his Nasch? Consummate liars could pick out lies with ease, for something, from a twitch of the nose to a flicker with the eyes, would always give them away. Nasch, filthy, ridiculous, heinous Nasch didn't even seem slightly untruthful; more annoyed if anything.

Annoyed. That was unimaginable for the Barian leader; Vector had half expected Nasch to draw his fist back and slam it into his face, or maybe knock Vector down and try strangling him. No matter how badly Yuma got to Nasch's inner human sympathies, he couldn't so easily get rid of his hatred like that.

Still, Nasch mentioned being childhood friends, and Vector had to clap his hands over his mouth and bite his fingers to stop him from bursting into laughter. Him and Nasch, childhood friends? Yeah, he wasn't so far gone to think that trying to actively murder Nasch was an act of friendship. When he was still a bright eyed and optimistic prince, he admitted that the thought of befriending a neighboring king sounded like a nice prospect, but that was all it was- a prospect. Holding hands and laughing over vapid stories? Hah, the thought made him sick. A wave of bile hit his throat, and Vector quickly dashed to the water fountain to wash his mouth out.

Something had clearly changed everyone's thinking but his own, something crazy powerful enough for Durbe and Mizael to forget that Barian World existed, if it existed, and for Nasch to think they'd been friendly as children. The immense amount of power to rewrite history could only be the power of the Numeron Code, but clearly that power was imperfect.

After all, he still remembered being Vector, and no sort of complete reset could possibly leave any loose strings hanging. Everyone can't be this happy and pathetically normal. Was this really the world after being rewritten by the Numeron Code? No, that couldn't be, he still remembered absolutely everything; the only one who remembered absolutely everything.

No, no, no, no, they wouldn't be that cruel, it couldn't be, this had to be someplace completely different. He wouldn't let it be a rewritten universe.

This was a different world.

That was the only explanation, he had to have been dropped in someplace similar but completely different, into the body of the Shingetsu Rei that had lived in this absurd world. They dropped him in here to punish him, they dropped him in here to die, without an Overlay Network to escape on.

Vector chewed on his lip, tearing skin away until he bled. Good luck with that. He wouldn't let all these cheerful smiles sweep him away. No, he'd stay alive just to show them all.