I knew I had to find a way to show everyone the truth about Vector. But considering how naive and overly allegiant Yuma is to his friends, it won't be easy to convince him of a betrayal. And Vector having Yuma keep it a secret from Astral doesn't make it any easier for me. As complex as Vector's plan is, it's surprisingly clever and he has all sorts of ways to cover all of its weak points. No doubt exploiting the truth was going to be a challenge in itself, but I'd have to find a way to do it somehow.
However, what I did know was that I was completely exhausted. I spent the entire night speaking with the Barian emperors. I really wanted to do something about my gauntlet, because I could not get it off. It was as if that thing was part of my body the moment it materialized on my arm. But when I concentrated on it, the silver turned into a thin-banded bracelet, with the crystal the same size. Not long after I got back to my house, I managed to get myself cleaned up. Once I got into some nightclothes, I thankfully went to bed, falling asleep instantly.
(Star Dreaming) A creepy-looking man was walking through the halls of a hospital. His name appeared to be Chironex, and his footsteps created small amounts of water. A nurse walked up to him, sternly asking where he was going, and that the area was for staff only. The man said he wasn't going anywhere, and that the nurse was going to sleep for a while. Weird tentacles extended from his long sleeves, jabbing the nurse in the back and knocking her out.
He continued walking to one of the rooms, his footsteps continuing to form a trail of water. When he found the desired room, he entered it. In the hospital bed was an unconscious Rio, though I don't know how she got that way. His arm raised and the tentacles appeared again with a single thought in his mind: target identified. Yuma, Tori, and Trey suddenly arrived on the other side of the hall. One of the hovering tentacles poked Rio in the neck; a small glint of light appeared where it made contact.
The machines connected to Rio went haywire, and Yuma demanded to know what he did. The man turned to Yuma and immediately recognized him. Yuma was confused as to how the stranger knew him and wondered whether he was a Barian. Chironex started to glow, saying that after he was done with Rio's brother, Yuma was next. He then turned into a large sea wasp and faded until he disappeared. Trey realized that he was going after Shark, and they needed to warn him. Yuma tried calling Shark, but he wouldn't answer, much to their frustration. The three of them decided to split up and try to warn him. Tori called the SSNHIC; Trey called his brothers. Before they did so, a familiar mind came in and asked Trey what's wrong.
(Star) I woke up feeling much better than I had when I first got back home. But when I looked out my window, I saw that I had slept for the entire day. The sun was already going down, and hopefully I didn't worry anyone. I got up to get something to eat after such a long night, mainly because I didn't eat anything since yesterday. But I wasn't ready to go back to sleep again; I wanted to find something out about my family.
After having dinner, I went up into the attic of my house. I found Shadow hunting through some tight spaces, coming out with a rodent in her jaws. At first, I didn't suspect anything, until she turned and looked at me. Then, I noticed that her eyes were now the exact same color as my own. The spirit of Dark Magician came out of my deck.
That was my handiwork, he explained and gestured to my cat. You're father wanted you to have a companion to come home to. On their orders, I enchanted a cat to have the same features as you. It was in the Shadow Realm while you grew up, so it wouldn't age and it'd be there when the time came.
I smiled wistfully at the memories of my parents before the incident. They really thought of everything for when I'd come to Heartland City.
After he finished explaining, the Spellcaster went back to his card. Living up to its card info, there was a Wretched Ghost of the Attic up here. It seemed pretty happy that someone of the Choseki family now lived in the house. I asked the little spirit to help me sort things out in the attic, which it happily agreed. Most of what I was able to find included some old ancestry records. After a few minutes of searching, the little Fiend found a journal shared by my parents. It gladly handed it to me as I patted it on the head and went downstairs.
Once I was settled in a couch in the living room, I opened the journal to see what it read. I used one of the moon globes for lighting. My parents seemed to alternate writing in it, and the first page was written by my mother. The next page, my father.
Marina: Tomo and I have decided to name our baby girl after her first word: Star. Even from birth, neither of us can tell what sort of power she has. She seems to already be making good friends with duel spirits, just like her father. But at the same time, her oddly-colored eyes hold a gaze much deeper than normal. She also seems to have odd seizures at the exact same time as I do, and I can see the future. But the Great Mother was killed 10 years ago by scientists that hate our people. Yet Star shows signs of all three possible powers, and the shadows dance around her. Could the Shadow Realm have chosen our Star to be the next ruler?
Tomo: We decided to bring our little Star to visit an old friend. He seemed quite intrigued with our little girl, as was his two sons. Star had already taken a liking to the older son when they first saw each other. The way they were both looking at each other was a sight to see. The two of them had the exact same look in their eyes, though their eye colors were different. Our daughter has indigo irises, but the scleras are lavender. The oldest son has blue eyes, and is otherwise normal. Marina already told me about her various signs of powers. Unfortunately both of us are stumped in that category.
I turned the page, and a picture fell out of the journal. The photo was of me as a baby staring into a familiar boy's eyes. After looking a little closer, I realized who it was: Quinton. Both of our hairstyles at the time were a lot shorter; but our eyes were still the same. In the background was my mother next to Byron, who had a familiar boy on his shoulder. When I flipped the photo to the back, the names were written, and the familiar boy was Thomas, aka Quattro. I was barely a year old when it was taken, so Michael (Trey) wasn't around yet.
I was thunderstruck at what I had discovered in that photo. Quinton and I had known each other - our families knew each other - even back then. Now that I think about it, that explains how I knew where to find them when phantomized. But does their father remember those times when we lived here, before my parents' souls vanished? I sure hope so; that would be a big help in reconnecting our families. I was hoping to read more, but I didn't want to sleep the day away again. So I dimmed the moon globe and got whatever rest I could.
When I got up the next morning, I decided to roam the city for a while. Tori called and told me of events in Yuma's classes I'd be better off not seeing. I knew that Heartland Academy was having a special event soon enough that required costumes. Good thing I already got one after poking around in the attic. It seemed to describe me quite well, as a monster from my own deck.
As I was roaming the rooftops, I started to notice a pair of mechanical wings flying above. He seemed to be sulking about Kite not letting him take a break. It didn't get much better when something covered his lenses and made him crash-land into a fountain. When I went over to exactly where he landed, I found it was the romantic area of town. He was about to take off again when Lillybot rushed by and crashed into him. He yelled a few offensive things (for robots), but looked a little love-struck when he made eye contact with Lilly. He tried to apologize, when Lilly knocked him aside and went back to the Tsukumo residence. Orbital looked like he just got dumped; poor bot.
I followed him back to Kite's laboratory, waiting in a nearby tree. A while later, Kite came out looking rather disappointed. The source was that he believed Orbital was daydreaming.
"Hey," I greeted, making him look up at me.
"Hello, Star," Kite replied.
I revealed, "I actually know the reason why Orbital is... out of focus lately."
"Really; what is it?"
"Let's just say that he's 'taken a shine' to Lillybot. He has a crush on a female litterbot that lives with Yuma's family."
"Did he crash-land in Romance Park?" I nodded, finding the name of the place pretty self-explanatory. "Just what we need," he sighed with clear sarcasm. I shrugged innocently.
"I guess this is what happens, when you give love a bot name."
Next morning, I went back to Romance Park, seeing that Orbital was also there. I stayed atop a building so he wouldn't notice I was there. He was watching that weird romance movie that always plays in that park, and just discovered that he was in love with Lillybot. He wanted to know her name, thinking it was beautiful "like her perfectly stainless-steel exterior." He just wanted to find her and declare his love for her.
Speaking of whom, Lilly was hurrying home from a shopping trip judging by the bags she was holding. In the collision, she dropped her shopping list from Haru. To any newbie to Yuma's crew, the list would look like a distress call. Trust me, it isn't; it's just an abbreviation method that Haru uses. Unfortunately, Orbital didn't know that yet and only read: SA-VE M-E. He thought that his first crush was in danger, and followed Lilly to Yuma's house. Severely misreading the list, he started considering Yuma a villain. He thought of Yuma being a big bad boss to Lilly, which I know full well is a false accusation. I tried throwing small crystals to get his attention, but kept missing. He started calling Yuma a monster and vowed revenge. I sighed deeply; this is already getting out of hand.
When I got over to HLA, I stayed outside the open window to hear everything. Yuma was ready to have a duel with "Ray" when Orbital called Yuma by name. He asked the cape-wearing robot, "Where's the costume party?" The silver bot denied of any costume party and challenged Yuma to a duel.
"If I win, y-you must release your robot prisoner."
Yuma cocked his head, "You mean Lillybot?"
Orbital sighed dreamily, "Her name is Lillybot. Lillybot, I've never heard a more beautiful sound. Release my Lillybot you scoundrel; you got that!?"
Yuma replied with a confused "no" while Tori and I looked on disapprovingly. Orbital clarified that Lilly was on the line and they were "dueling for her freedom."
After school, we brought Lilly and went to the meadow where Orbital was waiting. He still didn't understand that he misread a shopping list. He claimed that he would "save" Lilly from Yuma's "reign of tyranny." Yuma didn't get the gist of it, but was ready to duel. Astral came out and recalled, "Yuma, I have seen you lose to a vending machine. Are you sure this is wise?"
I laughed at the comment, finding it none too surprising as Yuma said he was sure. The two fired up their d-pads and gazers, ready to duel. Tori whispered, "You should probably get Kite; he might want to see this. Besides, Lilly isn't in any kind of danger with Yuma. What could have happened to make Orbital think like that?"
I replied, "Long story short, he misread a shopping list and thinks Lilly's in danger. The letters that were on the list spelled out 'save me.' I was going to get Kite either way, Tori; this is getting way out of hand."
Tori nodded in agreement and approval of what I said. So I turned and teleported over to Kite's lab. Just as I figured, Kite was just outside his lab, wondering where his robotic assistant went. I tapped his shoulder to get his attention, making him turn around.
"Do you know where that bot has gone?" he questioned automatically. I nodded, "He's dueling Yuma over on the other side of town." I Shadow Summoned our ace dragons. "I'll fill you in on the way there." He nodded as we mounted our dragons, and we flew over to the duel, with me explaining the whole situation.
By the time we got there, we activated our gazers to see the duel so far. Orbital had his Googly-Eyes Drum Dragon against Yuma's three instrumental Djinns. From what I could see in the spectators, Yuma had slight trouble with it, which I reported to Kite. But we got there just in time to see Yuma pull a triple attack with his Djinns and claim victory. Not long after, a weird beam fell from the sky and caused a small explosion as Orbital's backup plan. Since that ultimately failed, Tori cleared things up and properly introduced the two bots. With that, Kite and I both went back to our homes on our dragons.