Vile: Another day off the countdown, and another chapter done. The others don't seem to be here, so I'll stop wasting you viewers' time and get right to it. Enjoy!

Numbershot 49: The Most Dangerous Time of the Year

Chapter 2

While many people were out and about doing their random Christmas whatever, our heroes were engaging in some much-needed practice. Kotori and Jenaveve were the ones squaring off with each other, while Yuma, Kaito, Haruto, and Orbital 7 acted as their audience.

Kotori's field: Empty

Jenaveve's field: Sacred Pleaides, no facedowns

Sacred Pleaides: Rank 5 LIGHT Warrior/Xyz ATK:2500/DEF:2000 1 Overlay Unit

"Sacred Pleaides, attack Kotori directly!" Swiping his sword twice, Pleaides charged forward and went straight through Kotori, knocking her back from the sheer force with her landing on the ground.

Jenaveve LP:800

Kotori LP:0 – LOSER

Kotori sat up from the shock as the buzzer blared, shaking her head as Jen walked toward her. She held out her hand as the AR field vanished. "Nice Duel, Kotori."

"You too, Jenaveve." Kotori replied, taking her hand and being helped. "I think now both of us are going to be ready for whatever battles are coming up."

"We all should be ready now. We'll make that Barian sorry he ever decided to give us hell." Yuma growled.

"I know you've gotten a lot stronger too, Haruto, but I don't want you getting involved in whatever happens, okay?" Kaito said to his brother.

Haruto responded with a determined expression. "No promises, Nii-san. Vector murdered Tou-chan right in front of me. If that Barian gets near me, I'll beat him down worse that Nee-chan and I did before. He's going down!" He punched his palm for emphasis.

Kaito sighed, but Jenaveve had a smile. That little boy had toughened up so quick. "Alright, but don't go looking for trouble, got it?" Kaito told him.

"Don't worry, Kaito-sama. I'll keep a close eye on him and his friend, Izuna." Orbital said with a salute.

Haruto turned to him. "Orbital! Does she need to get involved in this?" He asked with concern rather than embarrassment.

"It's better to be safe than sorry. Naturally, I won't say anything to her, but it's possible Vector could try and use her as bait as he tried to do with you and Jenaveve-sama." Orbital told him.

"Khhh…" The boy hissed, looking away with a bit of anger. Kaito and Jenaveve couldn't help but smile at Haruto's reaction. He really did care about that pink-haired girl. However, while he was looking away, Haruto noticed a small dog not too far away from them. It seemed sad and lonely. "Huh?" Haruto squinted to get a better look. "Isn't that… one of Dog-chan's dogs?" The others look as Haruto approached the little dog, kneeling down beside it. "Hey, you all right?" The dog looked up at him and whined.

"Poor little guy. He must've gotten lost." Kotori said.

"Easy way to fix that." Haruto said with a smile. "Orbital, can you locate Dog-chan?"

"Kashikomari." Orbital said, activating his scanner. "Tracking her through her D-Gazer won't be too hard... provided she didn't leave it somewhere." He scanned through a radar map, using Dog-chan's D-Gazer number as the target. Eventually, something popped up on his radar… but something was off, making him tilt his head. "Nani? I found her signal... but there's two signals in the same place!"

"Two signals?" Kaito wondered, him and Jenaveve looking at each other briefly. "Can you tell what the other one is?"

"Analyzing…" Orbital began picking the signal apart, but a small buzzer went off, making him jump up in shock. "Kaito-sama! Numbers!"

"Numbers?!" Kaito gasped.

Haruto felt dread pit his stomach. "Dog-chan! Orbital, lead the way!" Haruto picked up the dog and took off running after the leading Orbital, the others hot on their tail.

*A Few Minutes Later*

Speaking of Dog-chan, the pink-haired girl was walking home after a day of school. She had a rather glum expression on her face, looking at a picture of the same dog Haruto had found. 'Oh, Wanna… Where did you go…?' She thought to herself, running her finger across the picture.

"Dog-chan!" A familiar voice called out, making her stop.

"Eh?" She turned around and saw her blue-haired friend running toward her, along with his brother and friends. "Haruto-kun?" Then she saw the dog in his arms, and an elated gasp escaped her. "Wanna!" Hearing its name, the dog leapt out of Haruto's arms and ran to the girl as she bent down. As she hugged the dog, Wanna licked her face happily, making her laugh.

"Dog-chan, are you alright?" Haruto asked when they reached her.

Dog-chan finally calmed down from her laughter and looked at Haruto with a wide smile. "I am now! You found Wanna! I haven't seen him in weeks!"

"Where's the Number card?" Yuma asked, getting a look shot at him by Haruto that said "Shut up!".

"Number card?" Dog-chan asked, tilting her head.

Orbital was freaking out, checking his radar map again. "I-I-I don't get it! It was just here!"

"You lost the signal?" Kaito asked.

"How's that possible?" Yuma added.

"Calm down, boys." Jenaveve said, kneeling down to Dog-chan's level. "Izuna-chan, sweetie, did you happen to find a rather strange-looking Xyz Monster?"

Dog-chan's head tilted in the other direction, her eyes glancing upward in thought. "Uh... I saw a card blowing through the wind earlier. I didn't grab it, though." Jenaveve nodded in understanding.

"You seriously can't find the signal anywhere, Orbital?" Kaito asked.

Orbital sighed. "...Negative, Kaito-sama. It's as if the card simply vanished."

At that moment, Astral and Mia emerged from the Key. "How strange. It is unlike a Number to simply disappear." Astral mused.

"Perhaps it possesses a power of teleportation?" Mia wondered.

"Whatever it is, we need to find it. Between all the Numbers and who has what, that Number is the last stray Number out there." Yuma said.

Dog-chan looked utterly confused. "Haruto-kun, what exactly is everyone talking about?"

Haruto backstepped. "Uh…" He really didn't want her getting involved in this. "Nii-san…?" He nervously looked at Kaito, only to realize that he was too busy talking to Yuma and Orbital to notice.

Thankfully, Kotori and Jenaveve stepped in to help. "It's nothing you need to worry yourself over, Dog-chan." Kotori told her.

"Right. That card is just part of a special set, but we'll find it." Jenaveve added.

Dog-chan then had an idea. "Maybe Wanna and I can help. Wanna has a pretty good nose for finding things."

"He can sniff out a card?" Haruto wondered.

"I don't know, but we're willing to help in any way we can. Right, Wanna?" Dog-chan replied, Wanna barking in agreement.

"I found it!" Orbital suddenly said, getting everyone's attention. "Wait... Oh, this is bad."

"What is it, Orbital?" Kaito asked.

Orbital hesitated before answering. "The signal is coming from Yuma's house!"

"MY house?!" Yuma cried.

"Hai, and it's still there too. I know for a fact it isn't one of your other Numbers, because I had a special marker tagged on each of them to keep track, in case any of them went missing."

Yuma groaned. "Oh, great... If Nee-chan or Obaa-chan get that card, who knows what'll happen? Let's move!" The group hightailed it in the direction, Dog-chan and Wanna deciding to tag along.

*A Little Later*

Upon reaching Yuma's house, Yuma burst in through the front door. "Nee-chan! Obaa-chan! Are you alright?!"

Akari was giving him the "second head" look. Obomi, who was cleaning in the background, barely noticed. "Geez, Yuma, what's the matter with you?" Akari asked.

"Eh…" Yuma breathed, otherwise silent for the moment. Kotori, Kaito, and Haruto peeked in from the sides.

"…I guess we got here just in time." Kotori mentioned.

"Uh… Not quite." Orbital said. "I just lost the signal again."

"Oh, come on!" Haruto griped.

"Yuma, what's going on here?" Akari asked her brother.

Yuma sighed. "We were chasing after a Number card that somehow ended up here, but it's gone again!"

"You'll never believe what just flew through the kitchen window." Haru said, coming in from the kitchen.

Yuma sweatdropped. "Believe me, Obaa-chan, I think I can." He said, assuming she was talking about the Number card.

"Oh, you already knew about the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet at that new place down the road?"

Yuma immediately stopped his thought process. "Say what?" Haru handed Yuma a piece of paper and went back into the kitchen. Yuma read the paper, noting that it was a flyer for an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet that had recently opened up. "Well, that's a little anti-climactic."

Haru looked on the counter, but found nothing. "Now, where did that card go off to?"

"I wouldn't recommend searching for it. The card seems to be able to teleport." Kaito said.

Yuma immediately realized what his grandmother had just said. "Wait, you mean you had it, Obaa-chan?"

"Why yes, I found a card in the street that looked similar to some of yours, Yuma, so I brought it home to give to you. But it seems to have vanished after that flyer flew in the window." Haru explained. "You know, it was a strange coincidence that flyer appeared after I wondered if I bought enough stuff for dinner."

"Yeah… that is weird." Yuma said, him and Kotori looking at each other for a moment.

"It almost sounds like earlier, with how I was wishing I could find Wanna, and then you guys show up with him." Dog-chan piped up.

A lightbulb moment hit Kaito. "Wait, you wished to find Wanna, and Mrs. Tsukumo wished she'd have enough for dinner. Hmmm..."

"What are you thinking, Kaito?" Kotori asked.

"Perhaps this Number… is a wish-granter." The others expressed slight shock. "Akari-san, have there been any strange coincidences in your newspaper today?"

Akari went into thought. "Hmm... Come to think of it, Reika was complaining about a lack of information about a criminal case she was following. Next thing I know, she's got the crook's first name ready for the front page news!" At that moment, Akari's computer beeped. She checked it and found information from Reika about what happened at the mall.

"You sure about this, Nii-san? It just seems like random coincidences." Haruto said.

"It's all too convenient, Haruto. If it isn't the work of another power, what could it be?" Kaito asked.

Yuma shrugged his shoulders. "Christmas miracle?"

"Kaito-sama, I found the signal again. And it's close." Orbital said.

"Now where is it?" Kaito asked.

"Up the block, and moving."

"Let's hurry before we lose it again." Jenaveve said. The others agreed and quickly filed out of the house.

Akari sighed. "I'll be glad when all of this is over…"

Vile: The readers might not share that sentiment, Akari: My Numbershots have been around for quite some time, and it's going to be sad when they finish. But that's the duty of a writer: The story's gotta end at some point. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! Ja ne for now!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.