"We'll settle this at the World Duel Carnival!" Kaito called, a wide grin on his face. Then, without another word, he turned away and leapt off the edge of the building. Opening his glider as he fell, he swooped out of free-fall and soared away.

Yuma and Astral watched him go with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. "That's exactly what I'm hoping for..." Yuma muttered. Astral said nothing.

As Kaito winged his way back to Heartland Tower, his thoughts turned back to the phenomenon he'd just experienced. The particles of light that seemed to fall like snow, but up instead of down. The temporal freeze that - for once - he hadn't been the cause of. And most importantly, the three suns in the sky...

He couldn't get them out of his head. The yellow sun was from this world, obviously. And he'd seen pictures of the Barian World - of the desolate landscape, of the deserts, of the ruined buildings, of the rocky savannahs – always bright red. The red sun had to be from the Barian World. But the blue sun… he had no clue. He resolved to ask Mr Heartland about it when he next saw him.

It was then that he heard his transceiver beeping. Wearily, he fished it out of his pocket and held it to his ear. "Yes?"

"Ah, Kaito, good to hear from you," Mr Heartland's over-cheery voice rang out over the transceiver. "Is now a good time?"

"As good a time as any," Kaito replied irritably. "What do you want?"

"I'd like you to make a quick detour for us," Mr Heartland replied. "To a skyscraper near the centre of the city. There's a box waiting for us on the roof of that building. I'd like you to pop over there and pick it up, if you don't mind."

"What's in it?" Kaito asked.

There was a moment's silence. Then, Mr Heartland replied. "Baria Light."

"What?" Katie shouted. "You mean the Barians made a delivery! When did this happen?"

"During the temporal freeze."

"Then you knew?" he asked accusingly. "You knew that time was going to stop like this? More than that: you made plans for when it would happen? And you didn't tell me?"

"I assure you, Kaito, that we had every intention of telling you," Mr Heartland said calmly. "Events just... got away from us a little. And besides, even though we never got around to telling you, you seemed to have gotten on very well by yourself." He chuckled. "You even used the event to your advantage. Moving from place to place, searching for the locations where Numbers have battled. Very resourceful. So I ask you: even if we had told you, would it have made any difference?"

Kaito didn't answer.

"Excellent," Mr Heartland said. "Now, if you wouldn't mind picking up that box for us on the way back, that would be splendid. I'll send the co-ordinates to Orbital. We'll speak properly when you return." The call ended abruptly.

Kaito sighed. Mr Heartland could be a real smooth-talker when he wanted to. "Orbital, revise our route based on the new co-ordinates, and be quick about it."

"Understood!" the robot chirped. He performed a big, sweeping circle in the air, which set them on their new course.

*SOME TIME LATER*

The moment they were low enough, Kaito freed himself from the glider and landed in a crouch on the roof of the building. As Orbital landed beside him, now back in robot form, he stood up and surveyed their surroundings. The floor was made out of concrete, but it was in a real state. There were black burn marks all over it, and cracks etched into its surface. Kaito quickly identified the box – a small metal thing a few metres from where he was standing – but right next to it, a huge chunk of the roof had been blown to pieces, as though something large, round, and heavy had smashed into it.

"What happened here?" he muttered.

"It seems to be the remnants of a conflict, Kaito sir," Orbital replied, scanning the area. "I'm picking up traces of recent Number activity, but none of it corresponds to the memories extracted from the being known as Astral."

"So this duel involved Numbers, but wasn't related to that Yuma boy..." Kaito concluded. Then he shrugged. "Oh well. These Number holders escaped, but they'll most likely show up at the World Duel Carnival anyway. Just grab that box and let's get going."

"Understood!" Orbital said, motoring over to the box. In a matter of seconds, he had the box firmly attached to his back, and was making his way briskly to the edge of the building. "Kaito sir, we are ready for departure."

Kaito was about to follow him, but a tiny glint caught his eye, just a few feet from where he was standing. He turned back and moved closer to examine it – whatever it was.

It was a strip of polished metal, the exact size and shape of a wristband. What was interesting about it was the inner surface; it seemed to have miniscule pieces of circuitry running through it.

Kaito scooped it off the ground and held it up to the light, examining it more closely. "Interesting..." he muttered curiously, "what are you? What could you possibly be...?"


Fun Fact #21: Ooh, did we just directly expand on an event from the canon, altering it for our own purposes? I think we did!

Fun Fact #22: We genuinely have no idea how Kaito and Yuma could've heard each other during that exchange in Episode 25. Yuma was on the ground, while Kaito was standing on top of a really - and I mean REALLY - tall building. And he barely even raised his voice. We can accept things like alternate dimensions and sentient supermonsters and time stopping, but this is where we draw the line! That is pushing the boundaries of physics too far!