Hello my readers, it's time for the third chapter of Coinciding Light and Darkness! Before we begin, I just wanted to give some news that I already gave in the last update of another of my fanfics. I am currently in the works of a new fanfic requested by a close friend of mine. She's a big fan of the anime and manga of what is going to be my newest work and begged me to write a fanfic of it. She kept on asking until I finally said I would and I hope you will read it when I release the first chapter. Anyway, now that I got that out of the way, on with the chapter!
Chapter Three: Battle of Blades
Of all things to happen a few days ago, facing a mysterious xyz monster and having not one but two ghost-like freeloaders was not what I was expecting. Kazu told me a few things about these Number cards and how they're linked to Astral, as well as what they can do if left unchecked. Needless to say, Kazu needed to gather the Numbers so the wrong hands didn't get them and he wanted me to help. I told him this morning I would think about it as I got ready for school. Kazu and Astral followed us everywhere we went, much to Yuma's annoyance, and we quickly learned we were the only ones who could see them. Astral had a lot of questions, which is understandable due to him having amnesia, and Yuma got more annoyed with each question asked. Luckily Kazu was around to answer Astral's questions for us while we attended class.
I was barely paying attention to my classes and to Yuma's complaining about Astral. I didn't mean to ignore my obviously annoyed brother, but I'm still not sure what to do about the Number cards. I practically spent the whole day contemplating what to do but couldn't come up with a response. One encounter was enough to convince me these Number cards were dangerous, but I didn't know what to do. My first thought was to lock the ones Yuma and I had in a safe and bury it deep underground. Obviously that wouldn't work, there was always the chance of someone else finding them. I didn't want to risk my safety and especially Yuma's just to collect some dangerous cards.
However, I also knew that if we didn't, then there was going to be a lot of damage. I just don't know why it had to be me and Yuma that had to collect the Number cards. All these thoughts have been wreaking havoc on my concentration throughout the school day. When it was finally time for school to end, I couldn't walk home with Yuma today because I had band practice and told him to go on ahead. The band I'm in doesn't have practice on the school campus, we practice in a studio one of our bandmates' family owns. When I arrived, the other band members were already there and ready to go, so I just grabbed to mic and did some warmups.
Nothing will bring me down,
No retreat when I leave all my fears behind
My future's still alive inside!
Take a chance and chase my doubts away,
Believing gets me through my darkest days
I held the mic on its stand as I sang into it with my other bandmates behind me playing their respective instruments. To my left was a boy with tanned skin, fiery red hair, and yellow eyes strumming away on a red guitar with a flame design. Between us is Sora, her fingers gliding gracefully through the keys of her keyboard with amazing concentration. To my right was another boy with green gravity defying hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin plucking at the strings of a brown bass. And behind us pounding away at the drums was a boy with pale skin, purple hair with a black and white checkered headband keeping his long bangs out of his face and black eyes.
Floating over us was Kazu, who had his arm crossed as he listened to the song. I could see that he was lip syncing while I sang which confused me as to how he knew the lyrics. I didn't let my confusion mess with me because I always block out every thought that wasn't about music. It was proving to be difficult today because my thoughts kept coming back to the Number cards. I inwardly cringe whenever my thoughts cause me to sing an octave off but continue to sing.
Take a chance to make it all the way,
Take a chance forgetting yesterday!
Take a breath, my heart will lead the way,
Take a chance, I'll take a chance in today!
Once the song was finished, I took deep breaths to get some air in my lungs. I brought a hand up to wipe away the sweat that built up on my forehead. Seeing this, our guitarist tossed me a hand towel and I gave him a smile of appreciation.
"Alright, let's take five, guys." The guitarist said, a grin on his face as he adjusted the guitar strap on his right shoulder.
This is Blazer, one of my childhood friends, and the guy who suggested we start the band. He always had a fiery passion in whatever he does whether it be dueling or something else. He can be a bit spontaneous, which lands him in difficult situations, but he's a good guy and easy to get along with. When we first started, he was horrible on the guitar, but now he's shredding it like a pro.
"Good idea, we have been at this a while." the bassist nodded in agreement, lightly plucking on the strings of his bass to test the sound.
This is Ryan, the older brother figure of our little group. I say that because he's more mature than the rest of us guys and keeps us, mostly Blazer, in line. His parents also own the studio we use to practice when we started the band. He was the first to reject the idea of starting a band. Ryan wanted to be a baseball player and, in his words, didn't want to be distracted by another of Blazer's antics. However, three days before team tryouts, Ryan injured his leg in an accident making it impossible to play baseball. To say he was devastated was an understatement, he trained so hard only for that to happen to him. We tried everything to cheer Ryan up, but nothing we did got a reaction out of him. That is until Blazer challenged him to a duel and showed Ryan that he can still play baseball and other sports because of his deck. Blazer got completely destroyed later on, but Ryan felt a lot better and decided to give the band a shot.
"Thank god, my arms are on fire." The drummer groaned exhaustedly, resting his arms on his lap as he slouched forward on the stool he was sitting on. The rest of us chuckled, giggled in Sora's case, in amusement.
That would be Kyle, the jokester of our little group. He has a bit of a habit of meddling in other people's love lives, mainly mine. Kyle was the first to find out about my crush on Sora and always tries to hook us up. I told him not to meddle, but he just wouldn't listen and uses every opportunity to get us alone. Kyle was another to reject Blazer's idea of starting a band because he thought that it was a waste of time. But Blazer was persistent and weared Kyle down until he finally agreed to be our drummer. He didn't have that much enthusiasm when we first started but eventually got excited when he plays the drums.
"My throat is feeling a bit sore." I admitted, clearing my throat when my voice sounds scratchy. I jumped when I suddenly felt something cold pressed against my cheek.
"Great singing there, Yusa." Sora said, holding a water bottle before handing it to me. "Where did you come up with that song?"
"I don't know." I shrugged, fighting the slight blush on my cheeks, taking the water bottle and unscrewing the cap. "It just came to me."
"You were a few octaves off, though." Ryan pointed out, getting my attention as I took a sip from the water bottle. "Was there something on your mind that distracted you?"
"Um, well…" I tried to look anywhere but my bandmates as I tried to think of what to say. I couldn't just tell them about the Number cards and my tagalong only Yuma and I can see. 'I can't keep secrets from them, they're my best friends.'
"They'll think you're crazy if you tell them." I gave Kazu a side glance as he lowered himself to float beside me. "As I told you this morning, only you and Yuma can see me."
"I know that." I muttered under my breath, wondering how Yuma was faring with his tagalong, Astral I think was his name. "How about you help me think of an excuse."
"Who are you talking to, Yusa?" I looked towards Blazer, who had an eyebrow raised in confusion as Ryan, Kyle, and Sora were looking around the studio.
"Nobody." I said quickly, a little too quickly, letting a nervous laugh as I made my way to the door. "Anyway, I should get home before Kari chews me out."
"We still have time for one more song, Yusa." Ryan said, tapping on the clock hanging beside an amplifier. "Your sister knows you have practice today." He rested his hand on his hip with a knowing smirk on his face. "Besides, she's probably in worker mode to meet her deadline right now."
"How do you know that?" I gave Ryan a look of suspicion, understandable since I never tell them whether Kari has a deadline or not. "Are you secretly a spy or something, Ryan?"
"No, I just made an educated guess." Ryan replied, shrugging his shoulders and letting out an amused chuckle. "Everyone here knows how immersed your sister gets when she has a scoop."
"That's true." Kyle nodded in agreement, tapping his drumsticks together before placing them in a bag. "Remember how she didn't leave her room for a whole month that one time?"
"How could I forget?" I let out a groan when I remembered that day. "Yuma and I were the ones who had to bring her food so she didn't starve."
"You guys have it rough." Sora said sympathetically, which I was grateful for and not because of my crush. "But she is the one putting food on the table."
"That's why I don't complain when it happens." I sighed at the reminder that Kari's busting her butt just to make sure we had food to eat. "I just wish there's something I can do to lighten her load."
"You could enter tournaments." Blazer suggested, pausing for a moment to look up in thought. "Actually, nevermind, you'd probably only last a couple rounds."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I won't deny my dueling skills could use some work, but that doesn't mean I like hearing I'd only last a couple rounds in a tournament.
"Seriously?" We all looked to Kyle who had his duel disk out and staring at the screen. "He struck again."
"Who struck again?" Sora asked, voicing the question in all of our heads.
"The Turban Bandit." Kyle turned his duel disk around so we could see what was on the screen. It was a news article about a jewelry store robbery with a blurry picture of a person wearing a dark blue turban and a red cape. "He's been robbing jewelry stores all over Heartland city the last few days."
"Turban Bandit, really?" Ryan raised an incredulous eyebrow after reading the article. "Why are you looking at this article anyway?"
"Just stumbled upon it." Kyle shrugged when the lights in the studio suddenly started to flicker erratically and we looked up at the lights. "That's funny." Kyle addressed Ryan with a questioning look in his eyes. "Ryan, how old is this studio?"
"Well my folks say forty to fifty years." Ryan replied, looking a bit perplexed about the lights flickering. "But this studio has good wiring."
"I guess we should pack it up for today." Blazer said, removing the strap from his shoulder and placing his guitar in its case. "Can't exactly practice if the power suddenly went out."
"Good point." Sora said in agreement, placing a hand on her cheek and wrapping the other around her waist. "And I need to pick up some things on the way home."
"Ah, I forgot!" Kyle suddenly yelled, eyes wide as he picked up the bag with his drumsticks and bolted to the door. "Igottagoguysseeyabye!"
"What's with him?" I raised an eyebrow as Kyle slammed the door shut and I turned to the others who just shrugged.
"What was up with Kyle today?" I wondered as I walked through the streets of Heartland city on my way home. "He was in a real rush."
"Perhaps he's the Turban Bandit." Kazu suggested, an amused smirk on his face as he floated beside me. "Then again, he doesn't seem the type to steal."
"Kyle would never do something like that." I said, stopping as Kazu moved to be in front of me. "I've known Kyle since we were little, and I can tell you he isn't a thief."
"Relax, I was joking." Kazu gave a shrug as he made himself float upside down. "I didn't sense he had a Number card, so he's off the list."
"About that." I said, catching Kazu's attention as I continued to walk home with him following. "I'm not sure if I should gather these Number cards, I especially don't want Yuma involved."
"So you won't help me gather them?" I could hear the disappointment in Kazu's voice and I just nodded my head. "That's a shame, unfortunately Yuma doesn't have a choice in the matter."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, having a bad feeling as Kazu floated upright again. Kazu just silently looked back at me, a blank look on his face. "Tell me Kazu, what do you mean Yuma doesn't have a choice?"
"Because it was your brother who let the Number cards loose." My eyes widened at Kazu's reply and opened my mouth to defend my brother. Kazu raised a hand to stop any words from leaving my mouth. "I'm not saying he's at fault as it was an accident, I'm saying that it's his responsibility to get them back."
"But why him?" I demanded, clenching my hands into fists tightly. "Why does Yuma have to be the one?"
"I just told you why." Kazu said patiently, as if he was explaining to a child, crossing his arms and crossing his left leg over his right. "You yourself saw what these Number cards are capable of if left unchecked."
"Then let me handle gathering the Numbers." I said as I placed a hand over my chest, looking Kazu in the eyes. I'm still not sure if I should gather these cards, but if it's to protect Yuma, then I'll do it so he doesn't have to. "I won't let Yuma risk his safety just to collect some stranger's cards."
"Unfortunately, that's not for you to decide." Kazu's calm face is really starting to get on my nerves. He's practically telling me that there's nothing I can do to protect Yuma. "The wheel of fate began to turn the moment Yuma met Astral and you me."
"I don't care, I'll protect my family." I walked past Kazu, tightly clenching my school bag with Kazu following me. "I'll make sure Yuma doesn't have to deal with these Numbers, no matter what."
"Why are you so protective of Yuma?" Kazu asked curiously, my house coming into view. "I understand that you care about him, but eventually he'll start to feel smothered."
"We're twins, we look out for each other." I replied, not even giving Kazu a side glance.
"You're contradicting yourself." I paused mid-step at Kazu's words and looked up at him to see he was shaking his head. "It seems more like you're looking out for Yuma, but not letting him look out for you."
"He's the only brother I have." Kazu just gave me a look that said it wasn't a good enough reason. " Is it wrong that I want to keep him safe?"
"No, it's not wrong." Kazu let out a sigh, looking as if he understood to an extent. "But didn't you think for a moment that Yuma might feel the same way?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but soon closed it when I really gave it some thought. When I think about the times I've been overly protective of Yuma, I alway got this vibe from him that he didn't just want to be protected, but also be a protector. Since Yuma and I are twins, we can sort of sense what the other is feeling. Whenever one of us is happy, the other feels it and becomes happy too. The same when we're sad, mad, irritated, and many other emotions. We just know, and that's why we get along so well because the two of us were open books to each other.
Ever since we were little, it was always me protecting Yuma whenever someone tried to bully us. It's not that I don't think Yuma can handle himself, I just hate to see my brother sad and I would do anything to make him happy. Of course, it never once crossed my mind that Yuma might have felt the same. Now that I stopped to think about it, I guess I was starting to smother him with my protective nature. I remembered what Grandma told me when I came home after beating Ryu, and now's as good a time as any to start letting Yuma have my back.
"Hey Yuma, go find me a new scoop, or else!" My thoughts came to a screeching halt when I heard Kari yelling. I looked over my shoulder in time to see Yuma, Tori, and Bronk running down the steps that lead up to our house.
"Hey Yuma, what's going on?" I greeted my brother, who just grabbed my arm and started to drag me along as they continued to run. "Ow, Yuma, you're gonna tear my arm off!"
"I'll explain later, Yusa!" Yuma said, not slowing his pace even slightly as we reached downtown. It was strange to say the least, not a single car or the monorail was moving.
"Kari can get pretty scary when she's mad." Tori added, which was all I needed to know why we were running.
"What happened that got her mad?" I asked as we finally stopped running and we were all out of breath as Yuma let go of my arm.
"Long story short, computer crash." Yuma replied, raising his hand and shoulders in a shrug and I nodded in understanding. "Anyway, how was practice?"
"It was alright." I knew right away that Yuma was looking for a distraction, giving a side glance to the possible source of why my brother needs a distraction. As expected, Astral was floating next to Kazu who was answering questions again. "Something strange happened though, the lights in the studio started flickering like crazy."
"Maybe a ghost was playing with the light switch." Bronk jokes, letting out a chuckle at the idea of a ghost actually doing all that stuff.
"I'm not Sora, Bronk." I gave a short laugh, resting my hands on my hips and lifted my head up high with a confident grin on my face. "Besides, I'm not scared of anything."
"Yusa, there's a spider on your neck." Yuma pointed out and I went still, a chill running down my rigid spine.
I suddenly felt something crawling up my neck and I involuntarily started to scream as I swatted at the back of my neck. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"
"Yuma!" I heard Tori yell with a scolding tone in her voice over Yuma's hysterical laughter. I stopped swatting at my neck to look at my brother, who was holding his midsection, tears in the corners of his eyes, and a toothy grin on his face.
"Not cool bro." I grumbled, turning my back to Yuma and crossing my arms. I couldn't believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book.
"Still have arachnophobia, huh?" Bronk asked, placing a sympathetic hand on my shoulder when Yuma finally stopped laughing. "Not that I blame ya, especially with what you experienced."
"Don't remind me." I sighed, lightly rubbing my right wrist where a poisonous spider bit me when I was six.
*Flashback*
Yuma and I were playing in the front yard, playing a game of hide and seek with Yuma being the seeker. We just celebrated our sixth birthday yesterday and we got a lot of presents from our friends. We got a few of the same presents and whatever we had that was different we shared.
I was hiding in a bush in the yard, hands over my mouth to stifle my giggles when I heard Yuma coming closer. Our mom and dad were watching us with grandma on the porch, smiles on their faces.
"Found ya!" Yuma exclaimed, parting the leaves of the bush so I was in full view.
"Have to catch me first!" I said back, getting to my feet and running out of the bush with Yuma after me. We couldn't help the joyous laughter as we ran around the yard.
"Be careful boys!" Mom called out, her smile still in place as we ran past her, dad, and grandma.
"We will, mom!" Yuma and I called back in sync, getting a laugh from dad and grandma because of how in sync we were.
"Tag!" I felt Yuma tap my shoulder and we stopped running, breathing hard from all the running we did.
"You caught me, Yuma!" We both continued to laugh when I felt something crawling on my arm. Confused, I looked down to see it was a black spider crawling down my arm. "Cool, a spider!"
"Really?" Yuma asked and I raised my arm to show the arachnid. We both watched in fascination as the spider continued to crawl with its eight legs.
"I wonder if it's okay to pet it." I thought out loud, slowly raising a hand to touch the spider with the tip of my index finger.
"Be careful, Yusa." Dad warned, walked up to us to make sure nothing bad happens. "We don't want mr. spider to think he's being threatened."
"Kay." I nodded, gently touching the body of the spider with my finger. Its body felt really fuzzy yet smooth which was a weird feeling. "It's kinda cute."
"Me too." Yuma said excitedly, reaching to do what I was doing after I removed my finger. "Whoa, this feels weird."
We continued to take turns petting the spider and watched in wonder as the spider continued to crawl around my arm. We eventually stopped petting the spider once it reached my wrist and we were confused. I suddenly felt a stinging pain on my wrist and I knew that the spider bit me.
"Ow!" I flicked my arm around, sending the spider flying and I held my wrist in pain.
"Yusa!" I could hear mom shout in worry as she and dad knelt to my left and right respectively. "Are you okay?"
"Let me see, Yusa." Dad requested and I showed the bite, tears in my eyes and Yuma holding my other hand in worry. Dad gently held my wrist, carefully inspecting the bite with a critical eye.
I could feel my heart pounding against my chest in worry that the spider was poisonous. I suddenly didn't feel well and my vision was getting blurry. I was falling to the side and everyone shouting my name before I knew it and everything faded to black.
*End of Flashback*
The doctor told me I was lucky to be alive when our parents brought me to the hospital. He said that if we arrived any later then I probably wouldn't have made it. Turns out the spider Yuma and I were playing with was a deadly one that had a very potent venom. The doctor said the venom of this spider could kill whoever it bit in a matter of a couple hours. I've had a fear of spiders ever since, both harmless and poisonous, and avoid them like the plague.
"Sorry, Yusa." Yuma said apologetically and I could see the guilt in his eyes, probably remembering that day too. "I took it too far."
"Don't worry, Yuma." I walked over to my brother and patted him on the shoulder. "You're stressed, and you needed something to take your mind off it."
"That doesn't mean I should use your fear like that." Yuma shook his head before crossing his arms. He then turned his attention to Tori and Bronk before I could say anything. "Anyway, how does Kari expect me to find her a scoop?"
"I don't know, Yuma." I said, giving him a look he knew meant we were far from finished with the previous conversation. I looked around when the honking of car horns continued and a crowd of people gathered. "By the way, why hasn't traffic moved in ten minutes?"
"Nothing's moving." Bronk said, looking around and pointing up to the monorail. "Look at the monorail."
"Something's going on." Tori said, trying to figure out what was causing the traffic jam we were currently witnessing.
"Do you guys hear that?" Yuma asked when the sound of clattering reached our ears. Yuma and I looked to the side to see a vending machine was vending drinks like crazy. "Hey, check it out, the vending machine's spewing juices all by itself!"
"Wait a second Yuma." Tori warned as my brother started picking up as many cans as he could carry. Tori stomped her foot repeatedly in frustration at Yuma holding a small pile of can in his arms. "You can't take those, you didn't pay for them!"
A litterbot suddenly came up behind Yuma and picked him up, effectively making him drop the cans he picked up. It opened its lid and dumped Yuma inside head first and he struggled to get out.
"That is what we would call karma, dear brother." I shook my head and let out a sigh as I picked up the cans and neatly set them around the vending machine.
Later, Yuma and I returned home when it got late, and I dragged my brother to the bathroom for a shower. I didn't leave the bathroom door after I shoved Yuma inside and stayed there until Yuma stopped smelling like a garbage dump. It took two showers until Yuma finally got the smell out of his hair and we heard grandma calling us down for dinner. Naturally, Kari had her head on the table as she stared at the holoscreen of a newscaster reporting the incident early.
"I don't want to hear anyone filing reports." Kari said sadly as she shut off the holoscreen. Yuma and I thanked grandma, Yuma next to Kari and me next to grandma sitting across from each other. "Why did my computer trash my report?"
"Speaking of trash." Yuma said, being reminded of what happened earlier. "One of those litterbot scooped me up today."
"The same thing happened to me." Grandma said, and I could tell that caught Kari's attention.
"Wait, wait." Kari lifted her head enough to rest her chin on the table, tears in her eyes from crying. "What?"
"Downtown was crazy today." Yuma explained, picking up his chopstick as he recounted what happened. "Traffic lights were wonky, the monorail got stuck, and vending machines were just spitting out juices."
"The lights in Ryan's family studio were flickering like crazy too." I added, picking up my chopsticks and taking a bite of my rice. "We had to end practice early because of it."
"The radio said everything's back to normal now." Grandma said, after scolding me for talking with my mouth full.
"So wait." Kari sat straight, the look on her face already telling me she was piecing stuff together in her head. "I'm not the only one who's computer got wiped out?"
"Guess not." Yuma replied, he and I sharing a look as we knew where this was going.
"Something stinks." Kari suddenly said, much to the confusion of Yuma and grandma as they started sniffing themselves. "Not you two, I smell a good story brewing." She suddenly snatched Yuma's grilled fish with her chopsticks. "I gotta replenish my energy and get cracking!"
"Hey, that's mine!" Yuma shouted and before he could get his dinner back, Kari nibbled at the fish quickly leaving nothing but the head, tail, and bones left. "Hey!"
"Gotta go." Kari tossed what was left of Yuma's grilled fish as she ran upstairs to her room to most likely research.
"I knew that was going to happen." I sighed, cutting my own grilled fish in half and giving the bigger half to Yuma. "Here Yuma, rice without fish is just wrong."
"Thanks Yusa." Yuma happily took the fish half I offered and started to eat.
"So this is how these humans replenish their energy." Astral said to himself as he observed us eat our dinner.
"That's right." Kazu nodded in response to Astral's observation. "If they don't eat a proper meal, then they won't have the energy to do much of anything."
"You seem to know quite a lot about these humans." Astral commented, and I gotta admit I was curious about that too.
"Let's just say that humans fascinate me." Kazu said cryptically and didn't further elaborate.
After dinner, Astral started playing twenty questions again and Yuma was quickly getting annoyed with every question asked. I gotta admit, even I'm getting annoyed with all the questions Astral asks. I get that the Numbers have his memories and that he's a blank slate right now, but he asks questions that are common knowledge.
"And you park your vehicles on something called a driveway." Astral said, summarizing what Yuma and I told him, holding his chin in thought. We were standing, or floating in Astral and Kazu's cases, by the bathroom because Yuma was using it at the moment. You don't need to be a twin to feel Yuma was getting irritated. "Yet you drive them on something called a parkway."
"That can get a bit confusing." I said, trying to relieve my brother of answering any further questions.
"Would you stop talking, just go away!" Yuma yelled from behind the bathroom door, finally losing his patience.
"I am only seeking to better understand your behavior." Astral explained, as if thinking that would do something about Yuma's irritation, which it didn't.
"I'm in a magical room right now." I sighed when I heard what Yuma said and knew he was going to mess with Astral. "If you bother me while I'm in here, there's a chance I may turn into a guinea pig."
"Interesting." Kazu looked like he was fighting to break out into laughter, which I don't blame him since Astral is pretty gullible. "Observation #4: After replenishing their energy, humans retire to a private magical room. And if they are bothered while inside their magic room, they will transform into a rodent."
"Stop observing!" Ah, there it is, Yuma's finally snapped.
"Yuma's just messing with you." I said, attempting to give my brother a break from Astral's rambling for a few seconds. I could feel Yuma's gratitude, even if he knew it was only for a couple of seconds. "Everything he just said isn't true, the bathroom is just a place where humans dispose of waste in our bodies."
"I see, thank you for clearing that up." Astral nodded in understanding before turning his attention back to Yuma just as I heard the toilet flush. "One more thing, you seem to be such a complex and functional being. So then, why do you alway malfunction when it comes time to duel?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Uh-oh, Astral's walking in dangerous territory, because Yuma and I don't take kindly when someone comments on our dueling skills.
"Your dueling is broken and erroneous." Yup, that comment just opened a can of worms as the bathroom door opened and Yuma came out.
"Go away!" Yuma yelled, holding up a fist as if it will help get the point across. "Nobodies perfect, don't you get that?"
"I have to agree with Yuma on that." I nodded in agreement, standing beside my brother and I could see Yuma was happy with the support I was giving him. "If you ask me, people are interesting because we can fail."
"I do not understand that." Astral said, confusing me even more as to how clueless he can be. "Failure is not an option for me."
"But you won't be able to achieve anything if you're afraid to fail!" Yuma said, turning his back to Astral and I could see the frustration on his face before he turned to face Astral again. "Our dad said that and our dad is awesome, so there."
"So what you're saying is that it's alright to fail?" Kazu inquired, his back to us before he looked over his shoulder. He had a neutral look on his face, which is kind of unnerving if I'm being honest. "Even if said failure costs you your life?"
'I don't like where this is going.' I thought nervously, Yuma and I sharing a side glance and I knew he was thinking the same thing as me.
"Yuma, this is a hypothetical question, but has the same meaning." Kazu turned to face us, his neutral face staring my brother down and I had the urge to hold his hand. "Let's say that Yusa was held captive and dangling over a ravine by a rope." I gulped nervously when I thought of the scenario Kazu's painting in our heads. "You're forced to duel Yusa's captor for his safe return." Yuma and I shared a worried look as we didn't like where Kazu was going with all of this. "Every time you lose life points, the rope Yusa's tied to is slowly cut, what happens if you fail to win that duel?"
"What kind of question is that?" Yuma demanded, not the least bit amused by Kazu's hypothetical question.
"A question that explains Astral's situation concerning the Numbers." Was all that Kazu said in response, effectively halting any choice words Yuma would have said. "Since you're linked to Astral through your key, if you lose even one duel with a Number card, Astral will vanish from existence."
"By vanish, do you mean…" I couldn't finish my sentence, I looked to Astral and the always solemn look on his face was all I needed to know. Kazu just nodded his head while Yuma and I shared another look, this time, a look of understanding. "Oh god."
"That's why Astral says failure isn't an option for him." Kazu said, getting our attention again as he let out a sigh. "Please try to understand the situation Astral's in."
The next day, I let out a groan as I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I let out a yawn and stretched my arms. I didn't sleep well last night, not after the talk with Kazu and the revelation about Astral. I don't think Yuma slept well either, who wouldn't after hearing that someone's life was in your hands?
"I wonder how Yuma's taking it." I mentally slapped myself after that thought. "Of course he isn't taking it well, idiot." I looked to my alarm clock, wondering why it wasn't going off as usual. My eyes widened and I was wide awake to see four zeroes staring back at me. "Oh come on!"
I jumped out of bed and scrambled around to get everything ready for school, temporarily forgetting that I didn't see Kazu yet. I pushed that thought away for later contemplation because I had more pressing matters to deal with, namely get to school on time. I had no choice but to skip my usual shower to save time and climb up to the attic. Naturally, Yuma was still asleep in his hammock. I looked over at the grandfather clock on the other side of the attic. Perk of having a grandfather clock, no computer bug can mess with the time on it.
"We're so late." I groaned when I saw the time as I approached Yuma and shook him. "Yuma, come on, we're late!"
I think I shook him too hard, because his hammock decided to drop him on the floor, like usual. My brother groaned before sitting up and looking around the attic before grinning. "Looks like that Astral finally took the hint."
"Astral's missing?" I asked, looking around for my brother's tagalong only to realize that he wasn't there and neither was Kazu. "He is, so's Kazu."
"What are you doing up here, Yusa?" I forgot, Yuma's brain sometimes isn't fully up most mornings. Luckily, the ringing of the grandfather clock answered for me and Yuma got to his feet in a panic. "Oh no, we're late!"
"Hurry and get dressed, Yuma." I said, climbing down the ladder as Yuma scattered around to find his uniform. "I'll wait by the front door."
"You go on ahead, Yusa!" Yuma called out as soon as my feet touched the floor. "I know you want to talk to Blazer about the band!"
"I can do that anytime!" I rushed around my room, stuffing my textbooks in my shoulder bag as well as my duel disk. 'I wonder where Astral and Kazu ran off to, they couldn't have gotten far.'
Yuma and I were cutting it close today, we pretty much had to take a shortcut to get to school. We barely made it on time by just a few seconds, which was a small relief as we took our seats, Yuma next to Tori and me in front of Tori. Problem is, when we got there, class didn't even start and there was the word 'error' on the holoscreen of everyone's duel disks. That's what I love about these duel disks, not only can we use them to duel, they also double as computers.
"So, I know we were going to spend today's class discussing the quadratic equation." Mr. Kay, our math teacher, began to say, getting both mine and Yuma's attention. "And I know you were all looking forward to that. But unfortunately, due to yesterday's system hiccup, our systems are offline. Extra credit for anyone who can find the source of-"
"Excuse me, Mr. Kay!" The next to me with blue bowl cut hair suddenly said, raising his hand. Caswell Francis, our class president, or as I like to call him, Mr. In-The-End, because he always adds 'in the end' in a lot of his sentences. "I can take this one!"
"You know I was being sarcastic, right Caswell?" Mr. Kay asked as Caswell got up and walked to the front of the classroom next to Mr. Kay.
"Okay, pay attention simpletons, because some of this might go over your heads." Oh yeah, he also likes to show off how smart he is, the simpleton comment was unnecessary, though.
'Welp, time to block him out.' I thought as Caswell began to ramble on about what caused the virus attack yesterday. My thoughts were more focused on what happened at home yesterday and Astral's situation. 'If Yuma loses one duel against a Number card, then Astral dies? I wonder if that's true for Kazu too.'
I didn't get to dwell on it for long, though, because Yuma just grabbed my attention as well as the rest of the class. "Hey, since we can't talk about mathy stuff, let's have a duel tournament."
"Well, that's not on the curriculum." Mr. Kay said, giving some thought, before giving a smile. "But sure, why not?"
"That's what I like about Mr. Kay." I looked back to Tori while the rest of our classmates cheered in excitement. "It makes me wish all teachers were like him."
"Yuma!" Tori and I looked at Caswell as he pointed at Yuma. "I challenge you to a duel, here and now!"
"Alright, get set to get decked." Yuma replied, tossing his duel disk as it expanded to it full length and attached to his wrist. "Duel Disk, go!" The zones popped out and got into position as we all pulled out our duel gazers and put them on. "Duel Gazer, let's roll!"
Augmented Reality Vision Link Established
"Let's do this!" Yuma and Caswell declared as they held their starting hands.
Yuma vs Caswell: 4000
"Show him what you're made of, Yuma!" Tori called out, obviously cheering for my brother.
"What are you made of, Yuma?" I could tell that Caswell was trying to taunt my brother. "I heard you beat Shark the other day."
"Well then, you heard the truth." Yuma replied, a confident smile on his face.
"Yusa, come with me!" I didn't have time to process who called out to me, as I was suddenly pulled out of the classroom and out in the hall.
"What the…" I looked to see who grabbed me and saw it was Kyle. "Kyle, why'd you pull me out?"
"Check this out." Kyle said, ignoring my question as he placed his duel disk in my face. "It's another article about the Turban Bandit."
"That guy again?" I took Kyle's duel disk to read the article, which had more detail than the last. Yesterday, none of the jewelry store alarms went off when the Turban Bandit stole from them. Police speculate that the Turban Bandit was the one responsible for the virus attack.
"I highly doubt it was the Turgan Bandit." Kyle said as I lifted my head from the news article. He had his arms crossed and was pacing back and forth. "Why until now would the Turban Bandit not use viruses to steal from jewelry stores? It doesn't make any sense."
"You've been looking into this Turban Bandit a lot lately." I commented, remembering Kyle's rush to leave practice yesterday.
"Well." Kyle rubbed the back of his neck, a light blush on his face, which confused me. He looked around before getting closer and softened his voice. "Okay, there's this girl I like and her mother runs a jewelry store."
"Oh." I blinked a couple of times before a mischievous grin formed on my face. 'Payback time.'
Kyle probably knew what I was thinking, because he started waving his hands rapidly. "Alright, alright, I deserve some teasing you're about to throw at me, but can it wait until we catch this guy?"
"We?" I raised an eyebrow at my sudden addition to all of this.
"Come on, Yusa." Kyle clapped his hands together and bowed his head. "I'd owe you bid time if you help me."
"Wow, you must really like this girl." I gave it some thought for a moment before shrugging and gave Kyle a thumbs up. "Alright, I'll ya get the girl."
"Thanks Yusa!" Kyle suddenly wrapped me in a tight hug which almost knocked me off my feet. He then grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hall. "Let's get started!"
"Wait, we still have school!" My words fell on deaf ears as Kyle continued to drag me out of school and into the city. 'Kari and Grandma are going to kill me.'
"No time, we gotta begin the stakeout." Kyle said, not loosening his grip on my wrist as dragged me through the park and crossed the street to what looked like a jewelry store. "This is the next store to be robbed by the Turban Bandit."
"How can you be sure of that?" I asked and his response was to show me a map of Heartland city on his duel disk. On the map were a series of red x's in what I think were to show which stores already got robbed. "Oh."
"And here." Kyle tossed me a mini camera that can easily be hidden in someone's clothes without being noticed. "You said you wanted to help Kari somehow, so why not like this?"
"Get her a scoop." I said in realization, a smile on my face as I attached the camera to the collar of my uniform.
"Exactly." Kyle nodded, pulling me to a group of bushes that was perfect to hide in and we crouched behind them. "Now we wait until he strikes."
And wait we did, for quite a while I might add, because the Turban Bandit doesn't strike until night time. So, to pass the time, Kyle and I dueled and I noticed that my Number cards were missing. I was panicking until Kyle shut me up, reminding me that we were on a stakeout and we needed to stay quiet. Good thing I already messaged Yuma, telling him what I was doing and asked not to tell anyone. Kazu finally showed up again and he explained that I couldn't use the Numbers without him around. That made sense to me since he's the one who extracts them, which meant the same for Astral and Yuma. It was finally night and needless to say stakeouts were really boring.
"There he is!" Kyle said softly, making me choke on a yawn as we peeked out of the bushes.
Sneaking towards the jewelry store was a tall man wearing a dark blue turban and a red cape like in the article from yesterday. Because I could clearly look at him, I could see that he also wore a purple, sleeveless vest and baggy, cream pants. Half his face was covered by a mask, but I could see he was grinning. We watched as he broke into the jewelry store and came out a few minutes later with a couple bags. He then ran in our direction and I looked to Kyle who nodded and quietly handed me something. It was a rope already tied into a lasso, which confused me a little.
'No time, here he comes.' I thought as the Turban Bandit entered the park. I calmed my breathing and watched the thief's every move before tossing the lasso and catching his arm. "Gotcha!"
"Who's there?!" The Turban Bandit demanded, dropping the bags to try and undo the lasso. I quickly tugged on the rope as Kyle and I left the bushes. "A couple of kids?"
"A couple of kids that's taking you down." Kyle said, taking the rope from me and started tugging on it, pulling the thief away from his spoils.
"I think not." The thief said as he pulled out a knife and cut the rope. With the sudden lack of resistance, Kyle fell on his behind. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a getaway to make." He turned to grab the bags only to see me standing in front of them. "When did you?"
"After I handed the rope to my friend." I replied pulling out my duel disk and glared at the thief just as Kyle got behind him. "And you're not going anywhere."
"We'll see about that, brat." The thief pulled out a duel disk and attached it before pulling out a card and chuckled. "Actually, your timing is perfect, I've been dying to test this new card."
"Be careful, Yusa." Kyle warned, not taking his eyes off the thief who pulled out his deck and placed it in the deck slot. "I have a bad feeling about that card.
"Relax, as my brother always says, I'm feelin' the flow!" I said as I tossed my duel disk in the air and attached it to my wrist. "Duel Disk, set!" The monster zones popped out and got into position before pulling out my duel gazer and putting it on. "Duel Gazer, ready!"
"Should I just observe, Yusa?" Kazu asked as the area got covered in code. "Or would you like some advice?"
"I'll ask if I need advice, Kazu." I replied as I drew my starting hand and watched the thief do the same. "For now, I want to see what he's capable of."
Augmented Reality Vision Link Established
"Let's duel!" The thief and I declared as our 4000 life points came into view beside us.
"The first move goes to me, I draw!" The thief declared as he reached for his deck and drew a card. He took another card and showed it to me which depicted a monster in dark robes peering around the corner, spying on two men conversing. "I activate the spell Reconnaissance Mission!"
"Reconnaissance Mission?" Kyle repeated in confusion, voicing my thoughts as I never heard of that card before.
"This spell allows me to pick a random card in your hand and you have to reveal it." The thief explained, much to my shock as a beam fired from the card and striking the middle card in my hand. The card left my hand and turned to reveal itself as being Gogogo Goram. "Since a monster was revealed, I can add a monster of the same attribute from my deck to my hand."
"Gogogo Goram is an earth attribute." Kyle commented as a card flew out of the thief's deck and he caught it. "What did he add to his hand?"
"I'll end my turn there." The thief declared, to our surprise as he didn't place anything else on the field.
Yusa: 4000
Turban Bandit: 4000
"I don't know what you're planning." I said I drew a card from my deck and placed it in my hand and grabbed another. "But it won't stop me from summoning Gogogo Goram!" I slapped the card onto my duel disk and my club wielding golem appeared on the field.
Gogogo Goram/EARTH/Level 4/Rock/ATK: 2300/DEF: 0
"However, because of his ability, he's switched to defense mode." I watched as my golem brought his club up and got on his knees. I looked over to the thief and my eyes widened when I saw a man wearing an orange turban and robes was on his field. "Hey, why's he on the field?"
"It was thanks to your monster." The thief replied, much to mine and Kyle's confusion as he pointed at Goram. "When you activate a monster's ability, I am able to summon Orange Assailant from my hand."
Orange/EARTH/Level 7/Psychic/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000
"Are you serious?" I looked over the cards in my hand for a possible strategy.
"That's not all." The thief said as another card flew out of his deck and into his hand. "Since I summoned Orange Assailant with his own ability, I can add an Assailant monster from my deck to my hand."
"Then I'll use the Stop Defense spell card!" I declared as I played the spell card. The card depicts a man with a shield and a big white X in front of him. "This forces a monster in defense to offense."
"Nice, that means Goram can attack this turn." Kyle pumped a fist when Goram made a move to stand when my spell was blown away by a sudden wind. "What happened?"
"Yusa." I looked at Kazu and saw him pointing at the thief's field and standing beside Orange Assailant was a shorter monster wearing green robes.
"When my opponent activates a spell that targets a card on the field, I can summon Green Assailant and negate that spell." You can practically feel the grin on the thief's face as he explained what happened to my spell and the appearance of his other monster.
Green Assailant/Wind/Level 7/Psychic/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1700
"Are you kidding me?!" I shouted in frustration, waving an accusatory finger at the thief. "Stop using my own moves against me!"
"Calm yourself, Yusa." I looked to Kazu was calm and had his arms crossed. "Since a spell was negated, you can summon Acrobat Witch from your hand."
"I can?" I looked over my hand and found the monster Kazu mentioned. I read over its effects before revealing it. "Since my spell was negated, I can summon Acrobat Witch from my hand!"
Appearing next to Goram was a blonde haired girl wearing a bright pink witch outfit. She did a few acrobatic moves before taking a bow.
Acrobat Witch/DARK/Level 4/Spellcaster/ATK: 900/DEF: 1700
"Alright, two level fours!" Kyle shouted in excitement when he saw the levels of my monsters. He stopped for a moment before looking at me. "Yusa, please tell me you have an xyz monster."
"Of course I do, Kyle." I replied, easing Kyle's worries as I raised my right hand. "I overlay level four Gogogo Goram and Acrobat Witch!" Goram and Witch became orange and purple lights respectively before shooting into the air as the overlay network formed. "With these two monsters I build the overlay network!" My extra deck popped open, revealing two cards inside and reached for one as the lights entered the network causing it to explode. "I xyz summon Number 98: Antitopian!"
The number 98 appeared and flashed red as Antitopian's sealed form rose from the network. The sealed form began to rearrange itself until it was now Antitopian swinging his broadsword a couple times before holding it with both hands in front of him.
Number 98: Antitopian/DARK/Rank 4/Warrior/Xyz/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2500/OLU: 2
"So cool." Kyle muttered under his breath at the sight of my xyz monster.
"Antitopian, attack Green Assailant!" I declared as Antitopian brought his sword to the side and charged at Green Assailant.
"Yusa, wait!" Kazu suddenly shouted, making me jump since I've never heard him raise his voice before.
I didn't get to ask anything, because I was occupied with watching as ropes suddenly burst out of the ground tying themselves around Antitopian. Antitopian tried to free himself from the ropes but to no avail. Out of the ground came another robed figure holding ropes in his hand.
"Since you declared an attack on my Assailant monster." The thief said and looked towards him to see he was holding a card before sending it to the graveyard. "I can send my Rope Assailant to the graveyard to negate the attack and for monster to defense mode."
Rope Assailant tugged on the rope hard, forcing Antitopian to drop his sword and get on a knee. Antitopian then rested an arm on his other knee and had his head bowed signifying he was now in defense mode.
"That's why I told you to wait." Kazu said, his eyes critically analyzing the thief and the cards in his hand. "Chances are his deck is full of hand traps waiting to be used."
"I guess that would explain why he didn't place anything down last turn." I gritted my teeth as I looked over the rest of the cards in my hand. I reached for one and placed it into the spell and trap card slot of my duel disk. "I place a card face-down and end my turn."
Yusa: 4000
Turban Bandit: 4000
"My turn, I draw!" The thief drew his card before pointing to his two monsters. "I now overlay level seven Orange Assailant and Green Assailant!" The said monsters became orange and green lights respectively and shot into the air as the galaxy-like overlay network formed. "With these two monsters I build the overlay network!" The lights entered the network causing it to explode. "I xyz summon Number 74: Master of Blades!"
The number 74 appeared and flashed orange as swords circling around a straw basket appeared out of the network. The basket was suddenly stabbed by the swords and exploded. Out of the debris was a man wearing a blue turban with the number 74 on it and a cape of the same color. He wore an electric blue sleeveless vest and matching pants.
Number 74: Master of Blades/EARTH/Rank 7/Psychic/Xyz/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2300/OLU: 2
"Brace yourself, Yusa." Kazu said, eyeing the monster in front of us that pulling out a few glowing daggers. "We're in for a battle of the blades."
Now onto replying to all of your reviews!
Karsap: Yeah, it did, and the same with this chapter. But it takes time to get a result you are satisfied with.
HunterHQ: I plan to do that soon, rest assured. Glad that you liked the duel and I plan to do a few difference so it's not a complete copy and paste of canon.
Cyberbee15: Happy to hear that it made your day and you're welcome. That's good to hear, I'll have to check it out when I find the time.
Zeromk7: Blad to hear that you loved the chapter and Antitopian and I hope you loved this chapter as well. Hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter.
Pryjeel1223: I hope that you found this chapter as interesting as the last.
Tara Mccan: You ask and I deliver, happy to hear that you loved it.
With that said, I bid you all farewell until next chapter and I apologize for the cliffhanger.