Vile: A few days of a delay, but Chapter 2 is good to go!

Raio: Never a steady pace with you, huh?

Vile: Well, finals week is coming up, so things might get hectic for me.

Astral: Yuma, what are "finals"?

Yuma: I'll tell ya later.

Vile: Anyhoo, disclaimer's on the first page. Enjoy!


Numbershot 94: Shockin' Rockin'!

Chapter 2

"O-Oi, Nee-chan! Little hard to breathe here!" Tetsuo complained, wriggling as Tetsuko practically crushed him in a death hug.

"Arigatou, arigatou, arigatou!" She kept repeating. "You have no idea how happy this makes me!"

Tetsuo finally managed to break free of Tetsuko's grip, panting heavily. "Jeez... and Kaa-chan says I got the muscle between us."

"How the heck did you manage to get these, Tetsuo?" The girl asked, still jittery.

This made Tetsuo grin. "You are gonna be so jealous. I actually met Raio Ruda himself!"

Tetsuko's eyes went wider than before. "NANI?"

"Yep! Granted, it was because a busted street almost made him run me over." Tetsuo grimaced at that. "But he's a cool guy, and he gave me, Yuma, and Kotori five passes total for the concert tomorrow!"

Tetsuko was beaming. "I cannot believe… that you actually met Raio!" She looked off to the side, hands clenched together and a dreamy look in her eyes. "*sighs* Raio's just such a dreamboat… That hair, his smirk, and the way he knows how to rock!" She was distracted from her reverie by hearing her brother snickering. "Eh?" She glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"The fact that you looked so friggin' funny in fangirl mode." The boy said before bursting out laughing. He then started running away as his sister chased after him angrily.

*Meanwhile, Yuma's House*

"How the heck did you get ahold of those passes, Yuma?" Akari asked him with a scrutinizing look.

"I'm serious! Raio Ruda himself gave them to me, Kotori, and Tetsuo!" Yuma fired back. "You can call them yourself!"

Akari raised an eyebrow, then pulled out her Gazer and dialed. "Hello?" Kotori answered on the other line.

"Kotori-chan, Yuma somehow got ahold of two backstage passes to the Thunder Kings concert tomorrow, and he's saying Raio Ruda himself gave them to him." Akari said skeptically. "Is he being serious?"

"Absolutely, Akari-san!" Kotori replied without missing a beat, making Akari's eyes widen. "Raio gave us five passes! I've got one too!" She held up her pass.

"Un-freakin'-believable…" The older girl breathed. She looked at Yuma, who had an "I told you so" look on his face. Akari sighed. "Arigatou, Kotori-chan. Sorry for bugging you." Kotori nodded and hung up. "Sorry about that, Yuma." Yuma held up a dismissing hand. "So why do you have two passes?"

"Why do you think?" Yuma asked with a smirk, handing her one of the passes. Akari's eyes widened, and Yuma winked at her. Akari quickly grabbed him in a playful headlock, giving him a noogie as Yuma laughed and squirmed.

*The Next Day, 8:15 PM*

A major crowd has assembled at the Duel Tower, eager to get in for the Thunder Kings' concert. While several of the Duel-related areas of the tower were still active for those that either didn't have a ticket or just didn't care, the upcoming concert was the greatest attraction. Yuma, Kotori, Akari, Tetsuo, and Tetsuko somehow got through the crowd without losing each other. "Jeez, this place is nuts!" Yuma remarked.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Kotori asked.

"Raio said to find him during the autograph signings." Tetsuo said. "Over there." He pointed at a sign that advertised the signing. Upon entering the room, they found a bunch of people.

"Calm down, everyone! There's plenty of time left!" Raio's voice was heard. They saw him at the end signing autographs.

Out of nowhere, a 20-year-old woman with electric blue hair in a ponytail pushed aside a bunch of the others to get to the front. She had on a purple tank top, a green mini-skirt, and blue heels. "Oh please Raio, sign this for me!" She squealed, shoving a pen and paper in his face.

"Oi! Easy!" He said nervously. The girl was making him feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, what the hell!" "Back of the line!" "No fair!" Several of the other people in the crowd griped.

"Shut up! I'm a bigger fan than all you wanna-bes!" The woman snapped back before immediately going right back to Raio.

"I think he could use a bit of help." Tetsuo said. He whistled. "Yo, Raio!"

Raio heard the whistle. "Eh?" He looked outside the crowd and smirked when he saw Tetsuo. He flashed a peace sign at them with a smirk. "Gimme a little bit here, man!"

"Hello? Raio! Hurry up!" The woman interrupted, impatient.

"Okay, look, chicky. I didn't appreciate you barging to the front of the line!" Raio said. "You want a 'graph? You gotta wait for it!"

"But… but I'm your Number 1 fan! I'm better than all of them!" The fan whined. "I deserve mine now!"

Raio backed up, a little spooked. Then, three security guards walked up. Two of them grabbed the girl. "Gomen, miss, but you need to leave." One of them said before they dragged her away kicking.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! Raio!" The fan griped as he was pulled away. Several of the people in line gave her odd looks.

Raio tapped the third security guard and handed him the paper the fan gave him, his signature scribbled on it. "Make sure she gets this." He said. The guard nodded, took the paper, and followed the other two. Looking back to the line, he apologized and went back to signing. 15 minutes later, signings were over, and Raio met up with Yuma and the others. "What's up, guys?" He asked.

"How's it?" Tetsuo replied, holding out a fist. Raio met it in a fistbump. "What was with that girl they dragged off?"

"Zina? Oy, she's a basket case." Raio said. "Come on, let's walk and talk." The group began moving. "That girl's been at every show we do. She calls herself our Number 1 fan, but she's more like a stalker. Granted, this is the first time she caused any crap."

"That girl is just crazy." Akari said.

"No crap." The rocker replied. "You two ladies must be the two spare passes. Might I know your names?"

"Akari Tsukumo." The redhead told him.

"Oh, the journalist? Interesting." He turned to Tetsuko. "What about you?"

When her eyes met Raio's dark pink eyes, her face went beet red. "Um… uh…" She stammered, touching the tips of her fingers together nervously. She was sweating.

Raio tilted his head in confusion. "She's a huge fan of yours, too." Tetsuo said with a smirk. "I had to plug my ears when she squealed at getting the ticket."

The rocker nodded, then smiled at Tetsuko. "Is that so? Well, you seem like a nice little lady. At least you're not rabid like Zina."

"Akari… I think I'm about to faint…" Tetsuko breathed. Next thing she knew, her body began to fall forward.

She never hit the floor, as the singer in front of her caught her. "Jeez, take it easy. No need to be so… fangirly."

Tetsuko looked at him, still blushing but smiling nervously. "S-Sorry…" She averted her eyes. "It's just every fan's dream to actually meet their idol."

"And you have a crush on him…" Tetsuo cut in.

This made Tetsuko jump up and headlock Tetsuo. "Shut up, damn it!" She yelled.

Raio watched them, amused as Tetsuo struggled. "*whistles* Feisty. Not bad." He mused.

*Meanwhile*

Nearby, they failed to notice someone watching them. Zina, who had somehow snuck back in, watched them from afar, mostly Raio with a dreamy look. "Raio…" When she saw Raio catch Tetsuko, she glared at her. "Who does that girl think she is…?"

*A Little Later, Backstage*

"Whoa… fancy!" Kotori said, looking around.

"Glad you're impressed." Raio told them. "You guys can meet my bandmates, too." He led them into another room where three others were sitting. "Everyone, meet the gang. GP, our lead guitarist."

"Yo." GP greeted.

"Yaro, bass guitarist and occasional keyboardist."

"'Sup." Yaro replied.

"And Beat, our drummer."

"How's it?" He asked.

"We've been practicing a lot today, so they're a little tired." Raio explained. He noticed someone missing. "Hey, where'd Yuma go?"

"Hey Raio, what's in here?" Yuma asked, looking at what like a safe.

Raio smirked. Walking over to the safe, he inputted the combination and opened it. "Behold." Inside the safe was a bunch of guns and knives.

"Holy cow!" Tetsuko gasped. "What a collection!"

"What can I say? I'm a weapon nerd!" The rocker explained. "Handhelds, muskets, hunting knives, you name it! But my prize possession is this!" Closing the safe, Raio pulled out a smaller box that was locked. He pulled out a key, unlocked it, and opened it, pulling out some type of sniper rifle. "Here it is."

Tetsuko's eyes lit up. "No way!" She zipped over to see it. "A Skullcracker M231!"

"You know about this model?" Raio asked.

"Heck yeah! Rare stuff is my hobby!" Tetsuko chirped. "This is the rarest sniper rifle model out there!"

Raio smiled. "You bet it's rare! Only seven copies of this bad boy exist! But it's damn powerful. 60-caliber bullets that can hit a target at a range of up to 2800 meters!"

"Wicked!" Yuma chirped.

*Meanwhile*

They didn't notice that someone was able to see them. Zina had a telescope to see them, and she was glaring daggers at Tetsuko and Raio's friendliness. "Why that little…! She thinks she can move in on Raio like that?" All of a sudden, she heard a THUNK. "Eh?" Looking besides her, she saw a blank glowing card. "What's this?" As she went to grab it, a jolt of electricity shocked her. "Ow! What the?" With a quick grab, she snatched the card. Darkness spewed out from the card, covering her. Lightning streaked across the darkness. "Ahhh! What is this?"

A figure walked away from the area. "Power courtesy of Kaito… with a revision by yours truly."

Within seconds, the darkness waned, lightning crackling around her. Zina's blue eyes opened, lightning crackling within them. "Now it's really time to rock… You're mine, Raio…" She held up a hand, electricity dancing around it.


Vile: This... does not bode well for our heroes.

Yuma: "Our heroes"? You sound like the announcer from Pokemon now.

Tetsuo: You actually watch that, Yuma?

Yuma: What? It's cool!

Vile: Anyway... if you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! See ya!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.