Chapter 7: Return

Kai stood directly in front of the Dimensional Transporter; the energy level coming from it was unstable. The improvement he made to it stabilized the energy by continuously diverting it through the wires. He ordered Orbital, "If it can't hold the energy anymore, keep adding more wires. There's something I need to do."

Before anyone could react, he jumped through the Dimensional Transporter. In order to keep them from following him, he shouted, "Don't attempt to jump in after me. If you do, you'll probably end up like V's father. No offense to you V, but it's true. I'll come back with Yuma, just give me a couple hours."

When he arrived, he landed on soft sand. The vines in front of him looked lifeless and could turn to dust with the slightest touch, but a small patch seemed to be alive. It was thriving and glowing. Ahead of him, he could see figures in the distance, though not very clearly.

As he ran closer, he noticed one of the figure was Number 39 and the other kept changing forms, though they were none he recognized.

After running for a straight twenty minutes, Kai arrived at the site of the duel. It was between Yuma and an armored figure, though it seemed like it was near the end. Yuma had only a few hundred Life Points left while the armored figure had a Rank 13 monster.

Kai hid behind a pillar, as the both of them had yet to notice him yet. Looking closer at the background, he noticed Astral encased inside of a crystal; there was a black stain over where his heart would be.

Yuma drew his final card; his right hand glowed with a golden light. The card he drew was Rank Down Magic Numeron Fall. Suddenly, images began flashing through Kai's mind.

City made completely of gold. People dressed in ancient clothing. Boy lying in a coffin.

The images disappeared and Kai saw that Yuma won the duel. With the duel no longer on his attention, Yuma noticed Kai standing behind a pillar. Yuma called out, "Atlas, can't you trust me to do this on my own? Hiding behind something doesn't help either." Once Kai was in full view, Yuma continued, "This here is Eliphas."

Eliphas's reaction was different from Yuma's. He kneeled before Kai and said, "Your Majesty, I have long awaited your return."

Kai took a step back and asked, "Your Majesty?"

"Please forgive my lapse in memory. Your original memories won't return until you retrieve your other half."

Yuma butted in and said, "Eliphas, I hope you haven't forgotten the conditions of our duel."

Eliphas stood up straight and took of his helmet. A light appeared and the stain in front of Astral's heart disappeared. There was a voice that said, "As thanks for helping us, we shall give you our power to aid in your quest."

The crystal shattered and Astral was free. Right after Astral opened his eyes, Yuma tackled him with a hug. After their emotional reunion, Astral noticed Kai standing at the edge of the arena. Before Astral could say anything, Kai quickly warned, "Astral, I would request that you keep my identity confidential. If the wrong person were to know it at this moment, it would wreck havoc on time and space. Sorry Yuma, it's not that I can't trust you; it's the people around you. I'll tell you the truth when the time is right."

Yuma nodded and said, "I'm holding you to that. Do you know how to get back to the others? I wasn't paying attention when I got here."

Kai let a tired sigh and walked in the direction he came from. When Yuma was out of hearing range, Kai heard Eliphas tell him, "You may not remember the past, but know that it will affect your future. The task you came back to finish will be difficult, but you only you can accomplish it. After all, you are the master of your own destiny."

After walking for half an hour, they found the portal they came in through. Once they jumped through, they saw the people they left behind, eagerly awaiting their return.

After a few curt apologies, Kai felt his collar being tugged extremely hard. As he turned around, Kaito whispered to him, "If you ever do that again, I swear I'm going to bury you alive." Suddenly, Kai stiffened, but quickly recovered; only Kaito noticed it. Having a feeling that this wasn't the right time, Kaito resolved to ask Kai about it later.

V announced, "III and IV called. A major problem just came up. I'll explain on the way there."

During the helicopter flight, V explained the mass arrival of the Fake Numbers. Riots were popping up everywhere around the world. It wasn't clear how many there were, but a rough estimate was in the millions.

They landed on a beach, near the ocean. A submarine emerged from the surface of the water and III and IV came out of the it, along with Yuma's friends.

Minutes later, the gravitational field increased exponentially and everybody was wracked with pain. Only Kai wasn't affected. Behind them, a voice said, "Well, nice of you to come back. I wouldn't want you to miss the main event."

It was Heartland. Kaito spat out, "Why don't you disappear to whatever hole you were hiding in?"

"That's not a very warm welcome. And after I spent all this effort to track all of you down."

"I'll make sure I'll put you out of commission permanently. We're dueling."

Kai held him back and said, "Let me duel in your place. Right now, none of you are in the best condition. I'm your best chance." He confronted Heartland and declared, "Get ready to lose because I plan to win."

"As if … I don't believe we've met before, but that doesn't really matter. What I am interested in is how you can resist pressure of this world and the Barian World fusing together."

"You don't need to know as I defeat you."

"Sorry, but I'm not interested. I'm not even sure you have Numbers."

"Then I'll duel with Kaito's Numbers on the line." He looked at Kaito and told him, "Don't worry, I don't make stupid decisions. This time, there won't be any disruptions."

"That's doesn't make any difference. Your souls are going to power the Barian world after all."

As the duel started, Kai thought, I won't let death hold me back, regardless of the warnings. Ever since those images he saw in Astral World, he didn't want to acknowledge it, but there was no denying it.He knew, without a doubt, the boy in the vision he had in Astral World was him.