Vile: Wow, people are flocking to this story! It must be a pretty good one!

Anna: Nah. I think they're coming to this story because you finally brought me into the picture.

Vile: The reviews sure do suggest that. Regardless, here's Chapter 2 for my fans! ^_^

Yuma: I can only imagine how he's gonna mess with Anna in this story. *Kotori and Anna both nod*

Vile: If I didn't mess with you, these stories wouldn't be interesting. Disclaimer's on the first page, everyone. Enjoy!


Numbershot 26: Runaway Rampage

Chapter 2

Anna got to her feet slowly, picked up her cannon and returned it to cannon form, and began wandering around Heartland, no destination in mind. Her cannon held by a handle with one hand, Anna had her free hand held against her head as she wandered. 'It had to have happened…' She thought.

*Memory*

Yuma and Anna were playing together, holding hands and laughing. Then, Yuma suddenly kissed Anna on the cheek. In her blushing, Anna forgot she was moving and fell to the ground. She looked up to see Yuma laughing at her, but Anna found it funny and laughed with him. The memory then slowly became staticy until none of it could be seen.

*End Memory*

Anna placed her free hand to her cheek, positive she could feel that kiss. She was trying to focus her memories, but they were staticy, Anna unable to clear it up. 'It happened… Didn't it? Yuma and I were close when we were younger…' Her memories showed her holding hands with someone with different clothing, but the person's face was still obscured by the static. 'Who… who is that…?' Anna had to sit down and try and figure it out. She held her head in her hands and groaned loudly. 'Why… why can't I see him? Why can't I see Yuma's face…?'

"Excuse me, miss. Are you all right?" A voice said. Anna wearily turned to see the Number Distributor walking up to her with a friendly smile.

"No…" Anna breathed. "Yuma… he doesn't remember how close we were as kids… and now my memories are breaking up…" She shook a bit. "Why can't Yuma remember…?"

The Number Distributor gave a sympathetic frown. "I'm sorry to hear that, miss." He said. "Maybe I can help." Anna looked at him. The man pulled out a card. "This card has an odd habit of awakening memories in people. I'm not sure if it will work with you, but give it a try."

Anna hesitantly took the card. "It's… blank…"

"Stare into the blankness. If it works, your memories should become clear." The man told her. Anna stared intently into the white paper.

Out of nowhere, darkness began to billow from the card, but Anna took no notice, intent on the blank space in front of her. As the darkness covered her body, Anna's eyes slowly widened. "I… see it…" Slowly, the static left her mind, but the memories weren't what she expected.

*Memory 1*

Yuma was being led away from Anna by an older girl: Akari, his sister. She could hear her talking to Yuma. "Stay away from that girl, Yuma. She doesn't seem like a good person to me."

Yuma's eyes widened. "Are you sure, Nee-chan?"

Akari nodded. "I'm sure, Yuma." She looked away for a moment, then giggled. "Kotori's waiting for you, Yuma." The younger Yuma saw Kotori waving at him, and he rushed off to meet her.

*Memory 2*

Anna saw Yuma running towards a current-age Kotori, the girl running to him. Yuma caught her and kissed her deeply. Anna tried to reach to him, but she couldn't move or speak. Her eyes began to tear.

*Memory 3*

Anna saw Yuma walking to school, but he then noticed someone behind a tree. "Oi, Cat-chan!" The gray-haired peeked out from behind the tree, and Yuma motioned for her to join him. Cathy smiled and ran out, walking beside Yuma.

*End Memories*

Anna, her eyes clouded by the Number's darkness, let her arm limply fall, unaware that the card was no longer blank. "Did the card work for you, miss?" The Number Distributor asked.

"Yes…" Anna breathed. "Kotori… Cathy… Akari… they all worked together… to keep Yuma from me."

"How horrible…" The Distributor told her.

"I must do something about this…" Anna almost droned. "Thank you for helping me, sir…"

"It was my pleasure. You may keep the card." The man said. "I hope you find a way to right everything." The man bid her farewell and walked off. 'With those memories, she'll definitely figure out a way to right everything. And it won't be pleasant for Tsukumo… Kehehehehehe!'

Anna placed the card in her Extra Deck Holder absent-mindedly. Her other hand clenched around the handle of her cannon. "I'll make sure you all pay for trying to keep us apart…" A creepy and weary smile made its way onto her face. "We'll be together like we should have been, Yuma…" With her mind made up, Anna began wandering around Heartland again, looking around for a certain place. "Where… Where can I make a plan…?" As Anna walked around, her eyes caught sight of an old house. It looked abandoned. A small smile appeared on Anna's face as she wandered over to it. There was no security or blockage, so Anna was able to enter the house. The house was completely deserted and decrepit, being two stories high. Anna's smile became a weary grin. "This is perfect. Now to begin the planning…" Anna opened the compartment of her cannon, removing some of the missiles from the loader. Looking around, she saw some rope nearby.

"Did you have an idea?" A voice asked. Anna turned around and saw the Number Distributor standing near her.

"Are you following me…?" Anna asked.

"Oh, gomen. I couldn't help but keep checking up on you because of your state." The man said.

Anna nodded, buying the story. "I do have an idea… but I need to figure out how to get them here."

The Number Distributor knew what she meant. "Hmm… I believe I can help yet again." Anna looked at him, and the man whispered something into her ear. As he whispered, Anna's weary grin returned.

"Yes… that's perfect." She breathed.

"In that case… I have some hacking to do."

*The Next Day*

Akari was working on her computer at the house. Spade had been sent out to try and find a new scoop for her to use. All of a sudden, an email appeared on her screen. "What is this?" She clicked the link and read the story in it. "Whoa… Egyptain God Cards rumored to have been found in the Sand Triangle? This could be the best scoop of all time!" She picked up her D-Gazer and dialed Spade.

"Y'ello?" Spade picked up.

"Spade, I think we got something hot!" Akari told him. "It's said that someone found the Egyptian God Cards in the Sand Triangle! Go check it out!"

"Sorry, Akari! No can do this time!" Spade told her. "I just got a request for a new Time Trial, so I gotta do this! See ya!" The high-speed teen immediately hung up after that.

Akari sweatdropped. "Great. Just when something good comes up, I'm the only one available." She got up and grabbed her purse. "Oh well. Can't let this scoop go to waste if it turns out to be true!" She quickly left her house and hopped on her motorcycle, making sure to put on her helmet before riding off. After riding around and dodging traffic for a good ten minutes, Akari made it to the Sand Triangle, a large sand pit in the east end of Heartland shaped like… well, you take a guess. Oddly, when Akari got there, there was nobody around. "What the…? I thought the God Cards were unearthed here!" The next thing Akari felt was a harsh pain to the back of her head before everything went black.

A shadow stood over her form. "One down… two to go."

*Later That Day*

The school bell had rung and everybody, Yuma and co. included, were heading home. The first to separate from the group was Cathy, eager to get home for a reason she didn't disclose. When she was near her house, she heard a meow and looked down, seeing one of her cats staring intently down an alley. "What's wrong?" The girl asked the cat. Another meow came from the cat followed by a hiss. Glaring, Cathy decided to see what the problem was and walked toward the alley. Peering inside, she found nothing. "There's nothing in there." As she turned around, the lid on a trash can opened up. Cathy felt something prick her neck, and she immediately collapsed to the ground, a dart in the back of her neck.

Someone climber out of the trash can and contacted someone else through a D-Gazer. "That makes two."

"Good work, but the final one will not be so easy." The voice on the other end said.

"Don't worry… I have a way to finish this plan…" The caller said, hanging up. "So close now… I won't stop here." The figure was fully unaware of a red "26" glowing on her neck…


Vile: This isn't going well. Akari and Cathy have been knocked out, and there's still one more target!

Cathy: At least I finally get more screen time in a Numbershot.

Vile: Yeah, but you end up unconscious for someone's plan.

Yuma: Not a very good trade-off, in my opinion.

Vile: Eh, crap happens. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! Ja ne!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.