Vile: Why is it that I always seem to make Numbershots faster than I do GSTART chapters?

Haruto: Maybe because the action is broken up into sections rather than all at once.

Vile: That might be the case. Whatever the case, Chapter 2 is already set!

Haruto: Ooh! Is it the Duel yet?

Vile: No, that's next chapter. Disclaimer's on the first page, any bolded cards are mine or another cardmarker's. Enjoy!


Numbershot S43: Pink Light In The Darkness

Chapter 2

After leaving the hospital the previous day, Jenaveve seemed to only regain her worry about Kaito's safety. Orbital 7 had stayed back at the hospital to keep watch over him, giving her any updates. Currently at her house, she had various cards from her Deck laid face-down on a table in front of her, staring at them intently. Haruto walked into the room, confused. "What are you doing, Nee-chan?"

"I'm going to see if the stars have a good thing in store for me." Jenaveve mused.

"What are you, some kind of fortune-teller?" The boy asked.

"Believe me, Haruto. It's worked for me before." Jenaveve replied. Haruto moved closer to the table, standing on his tip-toes to see better. Holding up her Deck, Jenaveve drew three cards. "The cards left in this Deck are the Sacred monsters of the Zodiac. Each one is meant to symbolize someone." She placed the top card she drew face-down. "First card." She flipped it face-up. "Sacred Dabaran."

"Nii-san." Haruto piped up, getting a confused look from the girl. "Dabaran is Taurus. Stubborn and unwilling to give up, just like Nii-san. Yuma, too, but it's also LIGHT, just like Nii-san."

Jenaveve smiled. "Hey, pretty good." Haruto chuckled. Jenaveve placed the second card down. "Second card." She flipped it. "Sacred Spica. This one is me."

"I can see why. It's beautiful yet powerful, like you." Haruto said with a grin.

Jenaveve giggled. "You're good at this, Haruto." She saw that only one card was left in her hand. "Third card." She placed it face-down, then flipped it. "Sacred Scheat."

Haruto's eyes lit up. "That's me!"

"Mm-hmm. Like Scheat, you may be small, but you're a big help to us, Haruto." Jenaveve said, ruffling his hair.

Haruto laughed, then looked at the remaining face-down cards. "What do the rest of them do?"

"The cards that are left are what should be in store for us. This one could determine what's in store for Kai-chan." Jenaveve hesitantly flipped the card over, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Sacred Bireo."

"What's that one mean?" Haruto asked.

"Bireo is Cygnus, the Swan. It means that a good omen is in store for Kai-chan." Haruto smiled. "Since the top of card points toward Dabaran, it means his good omen is in store for very soon."

"That means Nii-san will get better!" Haruto chirped. "This is cool! What does the one for yours say?"

"Let's see." Jenaveve flipped the card below Spica over, but gasped in horror. "Uh-oh…" The card was Sacred Gienah.

Haruto didn't like the sound of that. "Uh… is that one bad?"

"Sacred Gienah is Corvus. The Crow. It indicates a bad omen just like Bireo indicates a good omen." Jenaveve explained. "The head is pointing to Spica… meaning something bad will happen to me soon." Then she noticed two cards connected to Gienah's bottom. She and Haruto looked at each other before both flipping over one card: Sacred Escha and Sacred Hawwa, which were diagonally pointed to Gienah's bottom.

"Aren't those Zodiac Sacreds? When did those get there?" Haruto wondered.

Jenaveve was confused as well. "I must've placed them there without realizing it."

"What do they mean?" The younger boy asked.

Jenaveve looked at the cards carefully. "Escha is Libra… and it indicates something balanced, but robotic… even will-less. Hawwa… That one is Ophiuchus."

"Ophi-what? I don't remember that one being in the Zodiac." Haruto said.

"It normally isn't. Hawwa symbolizes something unnatural. Something that is among us that shouldn't be." The girl mused. "Their cards are touching each other, meaning they are allied in some way." She shuddered. "I can only imagine what kind of horror they may be."

Haruto was worried as well, but then he noticed something. "Huh? Hey Nee-chan, there's another card here." Sure enough, a card laid horizontal between Spica and Scheat. Haruto flipped it over while keeping it horizontal. "Sacred Rigel… Orion!"

Jenaveve was surprised. "Rigel indicates that the one will help another, and that the direction indicates who will help who."

"Rigel's pointing to Spica with Scheat in the back… Does that mean I help you, Nee-chan?" Haruto asked.

"Yes. I guess Scheat really does fit you." Jenaveve said with a smile. "Perhaps this omen is not as bad as we thought." Haruto smiled as well. Jenaveve then got a call on her D-Gazer. "Hello?"

"Jenaveve, I have to work late tonight. Can you run to the grocery store for me? I made a list in the kitchen." Her mother told her.

"Sure, Kaa-chan." Jenaveve said. Her mother thanked her and hung up.

"I guess there's nothing to really worry about, huh, Nee-chan?" Haruto told her.

Jenaveve gave a little giggle, looking back at the omen in her cards. 'Perhaps not all omens come true.' She scooped her card back into her Deck and put it away, then headed out the door, Haruto tagging along.

*Meanwhile*

The Distributor trudged through Heartland's streets with a dark look on his face. "Continue in this direction… she is this way. I'm sure of it." Vector told him from within.

"I'm glad you informed me of just what she could do." The Distributor said. "All we must hope is that she does not know just what she is." The Distributor felt an odd energy pulse elsewhere. "I feel her power. I made sure that I brought the card I needed to counter it." He showed Vector a Field Spell Card that radiated dark energy.

"Ahhhh… Yes, that's perfect!" Vector mused. "That girl will not know what she's dealing with now, ahahahahahahahahaha!"

*Later That Day*

Jenaveve and Haruto walked home from the grocery store, both of them carrying bags. "Ah, that was a good way to get out of the house!" Jenaveve said, feeling chipper.

"Nii-san'll be happy to have dinner when he gets back today!" Haruto said.

All of a sudden, Haruto stopped dead in his tracks. Jenaveve noticed and stopped as well. "Haruto? What's wrong?"

Haruto set one of the bags he was holding down, his hand beginning to glow a lavender color. Then, he snapped his head to the right with a glare. "Rrraaaaaah!" He threw an energy ball from his power into an alleyway, causing a miniature explosion.

"Haruto!" Jenaveve gasped.

"Run!" Haruto cried, quickly grabbing the bag and rushing off. Jenaveve, no time to think, merely rushed after him.

"Rrgh… that little runt!" The Distributor, who was in the alley, growled with a slightly singed coat. He vanished using red darkness.

Haruto and Jenaveve continued running with seemingly no end of their path in sight. Eventually, the two of them came to a stop near Jenaveve's house, panting. "I… I think we lost them!" Haruto gasped.

"Wha… What were we running from?" Jenaveve asked.

"I… I sensed him. …Vector!" Haruto said. Jenaveve gasped in response.

"I didn't appreciate that, whelp!" Vector's iconic voice screeched. Out of nowhere, a Dark Duel Anchor was lashed directly at Jenaveve.

Haruto saw it and quickly pushed Jenaveve out of the way, dropping the groceries in the process. "What the?!" Jenaveve cried.

"Blast it all! Just when I thought you wouldn't be an obstacle anymore." The Distributor's voice said as he came out of where he had ended up.

Haruto growled at the Distributor, both him and Jenaveve glaring at them as they got to their feet. "What do you want with us? Nii-san's not here!" Haruto said.

"I could care less about your brother right now." The Distributor. "It's his woman I'm after!"

"Me?!" Jenaveve cried.

"Yes, you!" Vector declared, emerging from the Distributor's body. "Again, Distributor!"

"Don't move this time!" He growled, lashing another Dark Duel Anchor toward them.

Jenaveve stood ready to fight, but Haruto thrust his arm up into the path of the Anchor, causing it to ensnare his arm instead. "Nii-san's not here, but I'm ready to fight you!"

"Stay out of this, boy! I'm after the girl!" The Distributor growled.

"Anyone who goes after Nee-chan is my enemy! I'm not afraid of you!" Haruto said. "I'll protect Nee-chan for Nii-san… and I'll crush you for what you did to Tou-chan!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So it's still a struck nerve, I see!" Vector jeered. "Crush this kid firmly, Distributor. He'll be seeing his father soon enough."

"…The only one who will face judgment is you." Jenaveve said, stepping forward and surprising Haruto. "Haruto, if they're after me, then I'll bring the fight to them. I don't know what you want from me…" Her hand began to glow pink. "…but you're not going to get it!" With a yell, she lashed her hand forward, causing a pink Duel Anchor to careen toward Vector.

The Barian let out a shriek, but the Distributor intercepted it with his left arm, causing it to be ensnared. "I cannot allow your power to touch him, but this battle is as it seems: 2 against 2. You and that accursed power you possess shall be extinguished!"

"Never!" Jenaveve and Haruto cried.

"Prepare to feel our new power!" Vector declared. The Distributor whipped off his hat and sunglasses. Darkness spiked his hair and turned it silver-gray.

"Duel Disk, set!" Jenaveve and Haruto attached their D-Pads to their arms, which activated. The Distributor's D-Pad formed from dark energy, while Vector formed a purple-colored conical D-Pad from the energy that made his body. "D-Gazer, set!" Jenaveve and Haruto activated their tattoo D-Gazers, while the Distributor's Gazer formed from darkness that billowed from his eye. Vector, however, seemed to do nothing.

"AR VISION, LINK ESTABLISHED." All four players' D-Gazers (Vector's left eye instead) flashed, with no spectators around. "ESTABLISHING LINK BETWEEN A AND B." The area morphed into the Distributor's Augmented Reality: A dark grove, devoid of all other life.

"DUEL!"


Vile: Jenaveve and Haruto have accepted the fight with the Distributor and Vector. What variation of the Chaos power is the Distributor packing this time? ...Looks like the others already left. Good thing, too: I'm out of material. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! Ja ne for now!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.