Homura and Madoka were resting in a café near the centre of Heartland, trying to recover from the ordeal IV had put them through. Madoka in particular looked incredibly weakened from the episode.
'That was horrible,' murmured Madoka. 'I didn't think people like that existed.'
'I don't like to either,' concurred Homura, 'but they do, and we're up against one.'
'So what do we do?' asked Madoka.
'I will not allow you to fall into danger,' stated Homura. 'But if I focus solely on you, others will be in danger as well, and I don't want that. So what we need to do now is find out as much as we about these people – that "four" character, and that boy he was going to have me kill.'
Madoka nodded, but then looked thoughtful. 'How are we going to do that?'
'There must be some records,' replied Homura, frowning. Someone tapped on her shoulder, and she turned to see a tallish boy with strange, deep-blue hair.
'Did I hear you say you had a run-in with IV?' he asked. 'Because if you're after information, I think that I've got everything you need.'
Yuma carefully walked through the building, shuddering at every creak that it made.
'This place is going to just collapse around me,' he moaned. 'What am I doing, Astral?'
'You are investigating,' replied Astral. 'That signal could be part of the key to who I am.'
'But look at this place!' yelled Yuma. 'It's falling apart! It's not safe!'
'If it was going to collapse, then it probably would already have.'
'That's not-' started Yuma, before the rotted timbers underneath him cracked and he fell through them, slamming into the wood underneath hard.
IV spun. 'What was that?' he whispered. He'd heard a very loud cracking noise only a few rooms away. He turned to look at the last of the computers he had to wipe, shrugged, and, picking it up slowly, threw it at the ground, where it smashed through four decaying floors and finally ended as a shattered mess in the hotel's kitchen.
Yuma got up just in time to dodge a large black box that came tearing through the ceiling and kept going into the ground. He looked up to see where it had come from – only to stare straight back into the startled eyes of IV.
'So,' he laughed, relaxing, 'we've got some company that managed to get past my little brother, huh?' Then his eyes widened further as he recognised Yuma. 'And not only that,' he continued, 'it's the little boy with the Chaos Numbers! Come to bring me to justice, hmm?'
Yuma stared back up at him, and turned to run. IV flicked his hand out, and a thin red cord emerged from it, wrapping around Yuma's arm and holding him.
'What the-' started Yuma, before turning to look back at IV.
'Can't have you getting back to Kaito and bringing him up here, can we?' said IV. 'If you want your freedom, you're going to have to duel me for it.'
'Yuma, this is not a good idea!' protested Astral.
'I can't do anything about it now!' yelled Yuma. 'He's got me caught! We're going to have to duel him.'
'I will lend you all of my strength, then,' replied Astral. 'IV is not an opponent to be taken lightly.'
IV leapt down the hole in the ceiling, landing opposite the hole in the ground. 'Let's duel, little boy,' he crowed insanely. 'And when I defeat you, your "Chaos Number" will be mine!'
'So you know who he is?' Homura asked.
'I know a lot about him,' answered Ryoga. 'I mean, I don't know why he's hunting the Numbers, although that's only to be expected given their nature. And I don't really know too much about his past. But I know almost everything he's done since…'
'The nature of the Numbers?' interrupted Homura. 'What do you mean by that?'
Ryoga frowned. 'The Numbers are evil cards that corrupt their owners and fill their hearts with darkness. Some people have the ability to resist this possession, but most who hold a Number are corrupted by their influence. I was the first to be corrupted, but I was saved from my darkness by the Number Hunter, Yuma Tsukumo.'
'So Yuma could be able to help us…' mused Homura, and Ryoga laughed.
'I doubt it,' said Ryoga. 'Yuma's out of his depth as it is. He's managing to stay ahead in this game through a combination of foolhardiness and luck, but they won't last him forever. And despite my warnings, he insists on duelling these psychopaths!'
Madoka stared at him, eyes wide. 'You mean… IV? He's duelled IV? But he's not too bad, I mean, Homura-sama could beat him!'
Ryoga's eyes narrowed as he examined the taller girl. 'You defeated IV?' he muttered.
'I did,' replied Homura. 'That's when this whole mess began.'
Ryoga paused thoughtfully. 'Do you have a recording of it on your D-Gazer?' he mused.
Homura took from her buckler a small black device and handed it to Ryoga. 'Do you mean this?' she asked. Ryoga nodded and placed it next to his own D-Gazer, before taking a set of wires from his pocket and beginning to connect the two devices.
'I need to find out IV's weakness,' he said, smiling. 'And I need to get into contact with Yuma Tsukumo. And if you've really beaten him, then that means I can hack through into the satellites and figure out everything that he's doing. Let's bring him down.'
'My turn, draw!' yelled Yuma. Across from him, IV had only a set monster. 'I Summon Goblindbergh!'
Above him appeared a curious toy-like plane hauling a huge steel crate.
ATK: 1400, LV: 4
'When Goblindbergh is Summoned,' continued Yuma, 'I can Special Summon a monster from my hand! And I choose Ganbara Knight!'
ATK: 0, LV: 4
'Yuma, wait!' started Astral, but Yuma ignored him.
'With these two monsters I construct the Overlay Network!' declared Yuma, as his monsters vanished into the galaxy-shaped portal. 'Xyz Summon! Rise forth, Number 39! Aspiring Emperor – Hope!'
Before him unfolded a huge gold-clad warrior, wielding a pair of long silver swords.
ATK: 2500, RK: 4
'Now go, Hope!' yelled Yuma. 'Destroy that guy's face-down monster!'
IV laughed as Hope's sword tore into his card, revealing the scattered remnants of a doll. Yuma paled.
'I applaud you for destroying my monster,' mocked IV. 'But I think you've had your fun now.'
'I set a card and end!' finished Yuma, flinching.
'That monster was his "Gimmick Puppet – Baby Face",' stated Astral, 'the card he used to perform the One Turn Kill against Takashi and Tetsuo. You should have been more careful.'
'I know that!' replied Yuma, irritated. 'But there wasn't much else I could do!'
'My turn, draw!' laughed IV, drawing. 'You've had your fun, Tsukumo, and now it's time for me to have mine! Because you control an Xyz Monster and I don't, I Special Summon Gimmick Puppet – Magnet Doll!'
ATK: 1000, LV: 8
'Then, I Normal Summon Gimmick Puppet – Scarecrow, and activate the Spell Card, Level Cross! By discarding Gimmick Puppet – Spider's Web, I can double Scarecrow's Level!'
ATK: 800, LV: 4→8
'Here it comes…' whispered Yuma.
'Now, allow me to destroy your pathetic Hope! With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!'
The two monsters vanished into a galaxy-shaped portal of their own, to be replaced with a metallic heart seemingly made of limbs, which immediately began unfolding into the form of a horrific black puppet.
'Appear now, Number 15! Gimmick Puppet – Giant Killer!'
ATK: 1500, RK: 8
The puppet's empty green eyes stared down at Yuma and Hope.
'And now, I'm sure you remember Giant Killer's effect,' said IV. 'Because I'm activating it! By detaching an Overlay Unit, your Hope is destroyed, and you take damage equal to its attack points!'
Giant Killer threw strings from its hands that wrapped around Hope, pulling it towards its chest, which opened to reveal an empty chest and a shredder, which swallowed Hope. Then, a cannon emerged and fired a beam of red at Yuma.
'Yuma-' started Astral.
'I KNOW!' yelled Yuma. 'I activate Achacha Chanbara's effect! By Special Summoning it, I can negate this effect damage, then inflict 400 damage to you!'
Before Yuma appeared a dull-clothed swordsman, who deflected the blast with his sword, then sent a plume of fire from it into IV. IV scowled.
DEF: 400, LV: 3; IV: 4000→3600
'Well then,' said IV, 'if killing your Hope once won't do the trick, maybe I'll just have to try again! I activate Baby Face's effect, banishing it from my Graveyard to Special Summon your Hope back to your field!'
From the ground before Yuma appeared Hope, pulled by strings. Its armour was damaged and it looked at Yuma balefully.
ATK: 2500, RK: 4
'I'm sorry, Hope,' Yuma whispered.
'I activate Giant Killer's effect again!' crowed IV, and Yuma turned away, only to be flung into the wall by Giant Killer's second cannon blast. 'Now,' continued IV, 'I attack your Chanbara!'
YUMA: 4000→1500
'I activate Half Unbreak!' declared Yuma. 'My Chanbara cannot be destroyed by battle and damage I take from battles with him is halved!'
'Why won't you just accept your defeat?!' roared IV, before breathing in and resorting to simply glaring at Yuma. 'I'll set a card and end.'
Beneath Yuma and IV's battle, III, Kaito and Gauche were still battling hard.
'Go, Excalibur!' declared Gauche victoriously. 'Destroy Kaito's Galaxy-Eyes!'
Kaito grimaced as his monster was sliced apart by Gauche's. 'That was a cruel trick,' he said.
'I'm not on your side, Kaito,' replied Gauche. 'You made me your enemy yourself. I end!'
ATK: 8000→2000
Kaito glanced at the field. Out of the three of them, III was in the most powerful position, still controlling his "Machu Mach", though now Material-less thanks to Galaxy-Eyes' effect, floating in front of it the strange violet "OOPArts Crystal Alien", and behind the two a single set card. Across from III, Gauche had nothing on his field but Excalibur. On Kaito's own field, he had a single set card, and he frowned at it.
'My turn,' he declared. 'I draw!' He glanced at the card he drew and smiled.
Perfect, he thought.
'I activate the Spell Card, Photon Sanctuary!' he declared, throwing his hand out. 'This allows me to Special Summon two "Photon Tokens" to the field!'
In front of him appeared two glittering orbs, glowing bright blue.
ATK: 2000, LV: 4
'And now,' he continued, 'I release both Tokens to Advance Summon Photon Kaiser!'
DEF: 2800, LV: 8
Beside him appeared an armoured warrior, wielding a huge shield. III's eyes widened and he gasped in shock, realising what was about to happen.
'Defence of 2800…' mused Gauche. 'Planning to stall, are we, Kaito?'
'Stalling is for the weak! And when Photon Kaiser is used for an Xyz Summon, he is treated as two monsters!' declared Kaito. 'I activate my set card, Photon Surge! This allows me to revive my Galaxy-Eyes in defence position!'
DEF: 2500, LV: 8
Kaito glanced at the last card in his hand, and laughed, before turning to Gauche. 'Don't you dare call yourself superior to me, Gauche,' he said, and began to glow red. 'There is a reason that I am the Numbers Hunter, and it has nothing to do with Faker! This is why I'm the Number Hunter!'
Gauche blinked and stared, whilst III hid behind his two monsters, eyes widening.
'I overlay Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Photon Kaiser!' declared Kaito, as the two monsters vanished into light, disappearing into the huge red portal that was appearing in the roof above them. III looked utterly terrified.
'Radiant galaxy,' chanted Kaito, eyes blazing red and shockwaves reverberating around the room, 'become the striking light! Now all you need to do is to arise!' From the portal emerged a huge trident-like crest, which Kaito threw into the air, when it span and twisted, light transforming around it into the shape of some massive creature.
'Descend, my very soul!' he cried, as the shape solidified into the form of a massive dragon. 'NEO GALAXY-EYES PHOTON DRAGON!'
ATK: 4500, RK: 8
Gauche's eyes widened in shock. 'What… what is that…' he whispered.
'Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon's effect activates,' declared Kaito, 'negating the effects of all other cards on the field! Go, howling blow!'
The dragon roared, sending a shockwave through the hotel. There was an unpleasant cracking sound, and III looked around hurriedly. Gauche turned slowly to face III. 'You knew…' he whispered.
'Now then,' continued Kaito, relentless, 'I attack Excalibur with Neo Galaxy-Eyes! Go! Ultimate Photon Stream!'
The dragon breathed in, and sent a blazing stream of energy that slammed into Gauche's monster and then Gauche himself hard, reducing his Life Points to 0. Kaito spun to face III.
GAUCHE: 500→0
'Don't think I'm through with you, III!' he yelled. 'I chain Galaxy Pulse! As Neo Galaxy-Eyes destroyed an Xyz Monster this turn, it can attack once more! Now, Neo Galaxy-Eyes, destroy Machu Mach! ULTIMATE PHOTON STREAM!'
The huge dragon turned its attack to III's monsters, spitting its violent red stream into them-
'I activate the trap card, OOPArts Ancient Citadel!' declared III, taking Kaito by surprise. 'This negates your attack, but as a cost, I take 800 damage for each monster I control!'
Kaito blinked as his monster's attack was absorbed by a glittering blue portal, and then III smiled sadly. 'I won't let you hurt my monsters,' he said. 'They're the only friends I have left.'
There was a flash, and electricity struck III from the very same portal that had protected him, reducing his Life Points to 0.
III: 1400→0
The field and the monsters around the trio disappeared. Kaito walked over to III.
'I won't let you hurt my brother,' protested III.
'I promise I won't, okay?' replied Kaito, before turning and scowling at Gauche. 'Don't get in my way again,' he said, before walking away from Gauche, up the stairs towards IV.
There was a long pause, and then Gauche whispered, 'What the hell was that…'
