Boy that last chapter was EXREME! Not only the Duel, but Eclipsa stealing Alito's Over Hundred Number! I mean, that was just wow! What does this mean for Alito? Well, we're about to find out!
Chapter 12: Ancient Cities, Ancient Friends
Not soon after Alito's defeat at the hands of Yuma and Astral, the other Emperors found him in lying on the ground in extreme pain.
"ALITO!" Girag said as he rushed over to his friend.
"Holy Lightning! What happened to him?!" Dumon said as he and Mizar ran towards Alito too.
"He's in pretty bad shape. But why did he teleport here instead of Barian World?" Mizar said.
Next to Dumon, his Barian Number, Holy Lightning Glorious Halo, manifested next to him. "Dumon, something is seriously wrong here!" Glorious Halo told Dumon. "His Number is gone!"
"Of course his Numbers are gone! He lost a Duel to Astral and Yuma!" Dumon told his Number.
"Not the Astral Numbers he collected, but his Barian Number Star Cestus is gone!"
Dumon had a shocked look, as did Mizar since his Number told him the same thing.
"No way! Astral could have taken back the four Numbers Alito collected, but no way could he have taken Alito's Barian Number!" Mizar told his Number.
Mizar's Barian Number, Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragon, had manifested next to him. "There is no doubt about it Mizar! All Numbers can sense one another, and I sense no Numbers within Alito, not even his Barian Number." Tachyon Dragon told him.
Girag was in tears. "Alito, who did this you?" He said as he picked up his friend.
Alito grunted. "A girl…" He said faintly.
"A girl? No human has the power to remove a Barian Number!" Dumon said.
"I agree, but maybe she is something else in a human form, just like us. Alito, what did this girl look like?" Mizar asked.
"She…she was young…maybe 13 or 14. She had…blonde hair…braid…partly face covered…purple clothes…and tips…" Alito grunted in pain. "And one blue eye with…with…butterfly above it…" Alito finally passed out.
Alito?! ALITO?!" Girag said as he shook his friend, but Alito didn't wake up.
"This is really bad. That girl must be why Alito ended up here and not in Barian World when he lost. We must return him to Barian World at once." Mizar said.
"No, I'll go." Dumon said. "Whoever this girl is, you two need to find her. With any luck this girl is in the Carnival. While I'm in Barian World I'll him into a stasis crystal, and you two can stay in the tournament and continue our mission for the Numbers. Hopefully that girl will reveal herself to one of you two and this time, we know not to under estimate her."
Alito then woke up, but only for a moment. "Her...her…name…E…Eclipse…aha…" He then passed out again.
"Oh Alito." Girag said as Alito and Dumon disappeared into the portal to Barian World.
"This is serious Girag. This "Eclipse" girl is very dangerous. Even though we will expect her, we can't let our guards down for a second." Mizar said.
"Oh don't worry about me. You should be worried about what I'll do her when I get a hold of her!" Girag said as his eyes glowed.
It was a little after noon, and Yuma was so excited he was about to burst. "This is so exciting Astral! The day is only half done and I have already won three Heart Pieces!"
"Yes Yuma, but only one of the pieces fits with the pieces you won from Alito and the one you already had." Astral reminded him.
"Oh Astral, you really need to lighten up." Yuma said as he pulled out a rice ball and swallowed it whole.
Astral huffed. "Sorry Yuma. It's just since I got a hold of one of those Numbers from Alito, I've felt uneasy."
"Like when you got 96? Do we need to be worried about one of them trying to take over?!" Yuma said with worry.
"No no. It's not that any of the Numbers are like 96, but just the memory I retrieved." Astral explained.
"Really? What was in the memory anyway?" Yuma asked.
"Well, the memory in 96 showed four girls reciting something and they had four symbols under them. Then in my most recently recovered memories I say four symbols in the sky above my homeworld, most likely the same symbols although I can't be sure. Then there was the energy in both memories, it was the same energy, and most likely these two memories are connected." Astral said. "And speaking of the energy, it is very similar to that of-"
"YUMA!" Rio yelled from halfway across the park. Shark was with her too, and both of them ran towards Yuma.
"Oh, hey guys!" Yuma said as his friends approached him. "How have you been doing in the tournament?" Yuma asked his friends.
"Well, I won two Duels, but I lost my last one so I only have two pieces now." Rio said as she pulled up her pieces.
"Oh no." Yuma said.
"Well, it's okay. I mean, I was in a hospital for months so I expected my Dueling not to be top notch just yet." Rio said.
"Oh, well, how well have you done?" Yuma asked Shark.
"Oh, I won seven Duels, and a new Number." Shark said as he held out a Number, Number 51 Finisher the Strong Arm to be exact.
"WHAT?! You won seven Duels already, and gained a new Number too?!" Yuma said with both shock and amazement.
Astral on the other hand was in dismay. "Even though Shark is Yuma's friend, we will need to retrieve his Numbers sooner or later, as well as the couple Rio has." Astral said.
Shark smiled. "Yeah, I won two Heart Pieces from some wrestler as well as this Number. It's not really my style, but it has quit a powerful ability that could come in handy."
"I hear you. I've gotten a couple of Numbers from Alito, and some are not really me, but would help me if I use them. Like the Number you saw Alito use, it has the ability to gain power every turn, but I can't use it because I don't have any Burning Knucklers so I can't really use it." Yuma said.
"You guys are lucky. I only have two Numbers." Rio said as she pulled out her frozen warrior and diamond crab.
"Be lucky Rio. That wrestler I Dueled, he almost took the head off of his last opponent before me! Numbers can really twist people." Shark warned his sister.
"Yeah, not to mention the Barians. There are only 100 Numbers to hunt, and with the three other Barians out there we might come across them, not to mention Kite, who's motive for hunting Numbers is a mystery to us." Yuma said.
"Don't forget about Quattro. He had two Numbers and weren't affected by their influence." Astral said.
"Oh yeah! Don't forget about Quattro. That guy is twisted, but he wasn't affect by his Number just like us and Kite. I mean, I'm protected by Astral, and Kite is by his Photon Transformation thing, and Utopia said that Quattro was protected by his symbol. And to think about it, what is protecting you two from your Numbers?" Yuma asked his friends.
Shark and Rio looked at each other. "Honestly, we've talked about it, and have no explanation for it." Shark said. Then, next to him is most powerful Number, Shark Drake, appeared next to him.
"Shark, another Number is near." Shark Drake said.
Next to Rio, her frozen female friend manifested beside her. "Rio my dear, there is another Number nearby. I suggest you grab it before the other's do." Frozen Lady Justice said.
Utopia formed next to Yuma. "Yuma, there is a Number right in that ally way. Hurry, I imagine that your friends' Numbers have told them too about the nearby Number."
The three teenagers looked at each other and ran towards the alleyway.
"I call dibs on the Number!" Rio said as she ran.
"No Rio! I got it!" Shark said as he ran in front of his sister.
Yuma then blazed in front of both of them both. "Sorry guys, but I'll get it first!" Yuma yelled, with Astral on his tail. Once he got into the alleyway, he suddenly stopped. "Oh no."
Shark and Rio caught up to him. "Why did you stop?" Shark asked.
In front of them were several Duelists beaten and broken, literally. In the center was a woman of Latino descent. Black hair, brownish skin, and a floral pattern dress. She laughed at the carnage she caused. She also had a dark aura, typical of one possessed by a Number. "Soon I will have enough pieces to enter the finals of this pitiful tournament."
Then, before Yuma or his friends could challenge her for her Number, a red whip wrapped around her wrist.
"¡¿Qué?!" The woman said.
Yuma and Astral were struck with fear. They recognized the whip object, knowing who it belonged to. Then, out of the shadowed came a person nobody expected. It was a boy around 15 years old, in a red version of the clothes Quattro wore, and his eyes were green like emeralds and his hair was redish pink and curly. The teenager flicked his wrist and the whip was gone.
"Who the Hell are you, and what was that?!" The woman yelled.
"To answer the last question, that was a Duel Anchor, even though you can't see it, it is still there. And the only way to get rid of it is to Duel me." The teen said.
"Well, if it's a Duel you want, then it's one you shall get! By the way, my name's Dahlia." She then put on her Duel Disk and Gazer.
"Oh, by the way, my name's Trey!" Trey then threw something into the air, then he summoned a metal gauntlet, like Quattro, and then what he threw into the air attached to Trey's gauntlet, forming a wing like Duel Disk. Then, instead of a Duel Gazer, an orange tattoo formed around his left eye, which changed color to a redish color.
This made Yuma and his friends uneasy that Trey had a tattoo and Duel Anchor like Kite, but looked similar to Quattro, and they too put on their Duel Gazers, wanting to watch this Duel.
Augmented Reality Vision Online
Dahlia: 4000
Trey: 4000
"DUEL!" They both said as they drew their hands.
"Hope you have a powerful monster; you will need one to defeat me!" Trey taunted.
"Oh, you want powerful, I'll show you powerful! DRAW!" Dahlia drew her card. "First I summon out Lonefire Blossom!" Dahlia's first monster sprouted out of the ground like a plant, this plant was tan brown and instead of a flower at the top was a bomb with a fuse.
Lonefire Blossom: Level 3/FIRE/Plant/500 Atk/1400 Def
"Next, I play the Blossom Bouquet!" On the field was a spell showing three flower monsters wrapped in a bouquet. "This spell allows me to summon two more Lonefire Blossoms from my hand. Sadly, all my other Special Summoned monsters lose their special abilities when summoned this turn. Now rise my two other Lonefire Blossoms!" Two more bomb plants sprouted onto the field. "Now, since my first one was Normal Summoned, I can use it, along with my other two Longfire Blossoms' special abilities! I can tribute any one of them to summon any Plant-type monsters from my deck! First I summon Mariña, Princess of Sunflowers!" The first plant lit its fuse then exploded, and when the smoke cleared a sunflower sprouted onto the field, and when it blossomed the top half of a woman came out, with a crown and hair made out of sunflower petals.
Mariña, Princess of Sunflowers: Level 8/FIRE/Plant/2800 Atk/1600 Def
"Hermosa flor. Now I sacrifice my second Lonefire to summon Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms!" The second bomb exploded, and out came a white cherry blossom. When it bloomed a second woman came out, this one had kimono, silky black hair decorated in cherry tree branches and blossoms.
Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms: Level 8/WATER/Plant/2800 Atk/1200 Def
"¡Precioso! Now I sacrifice my final Lonefire Blossom so summon out Tytannial, Princess of Camellias!" Dahlia's final bomb exploded, and a third flower came onto the field, a red camellia. Just like the others, when it blossomed a woman popped out. She had a much more serious expression than the others, wore a petal dress, and had hair made up of petals.
Tytannial, Princess of Camellias: Level 8/WIND/Plant/2800 Atk/2600 Def
"Whoa, those are some pretty powerful flowers!" Yuma remarked.
"Indeed, but I sense that she has something else in store." Astral said.
"¡Fantástico! Now that I have my three Princesses out, I can now Overlay them so summon my most powerful monster!" The three flower ladies turned into elementals and went into the golden Number portal.
"I XYZ SUMMON NUMBER 87: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT!"
Out of the portal rose a peculiar flower, like the kind that grow on cactuses, and when it bloomed, a woman came out in armor and a sword, her hair was pink and had the number 87 glow on her stomach, as it also appeared on Dahlia's hand.
Number 87: Queen of the Night: Rank 8/WATER/Plant/3200 Atk/2800 Def
"That is quit a powerful monster." Trey said, but then he smirked. "But it's not powerful enough to defeat me!" Trey taunted. "And due to your own spell card, your Number lost all of its special abilities! Especially its most powerful ability; not being able to be destroyed in battle except with another Number! So now I can destroy it with any monster! Thanks for that!" Trey said.
"Gilipollas." Dahlia cursed. "If you think that I'm done you're sadly mistaken! But you are right, my Queen of the Night has no special abilities, so its Overlay Units are useless to me, or so you might think! I activate the spell Flower Judgment!"
Rio shrugged when Dahlia said the name of the spell, having faced it before. "That Trey guy has a world of hurt coming."
Dahlia smiled. "See, this spell turns Queen of the Night's useless Overlay Units in something quite useful! By getting rid of them, Queen of the Night gains 800 attack points for each one!" The three Overlay Units went into the Graveyard, then a shower of petals encased Queen of the Night, powering it up.
Queen of the Night Atk: 3200 + 800 x 3 = 5600
"5600 attack points?!" Shark exclaimed at the massive amount of attack points.
"How's that for powerful? I end things with a face down." Dahlia said in a cocky tone.
"I'll admit, that is powerful. But, not enough to defeat me! Draw!" Trey drew his card. "First, since you control a monster and I don't, I can summon out Chronomaly Crystal Bones!" Trey's first monster was a headless skeleton made entirely out of bluish silver crystal.
Chronomaly Crystal Bones: Level 3/LIGHT/Rock/1300 Atk/400 Def
"Astral, what is that Chronamona thingy? It looks like something my parents collected." Yuma said.
"It's pronounced "chronomaly". It is a term given to artifacts that are too advanced to have been built by your primitive ancestors. Who made them or where they came from is a mystery. And yes Yuma, given what you've told me about your parents, they would have been very interested in chronomalies."
"Next, since I summoned Crystal Bones this way, I can Summon Chronomaly Crystal Skull." Trey then summoned out a skull made out of the same crystal as Bones, in fact it looked like the missing head.
Chronomaly Crystal Bones: Level 3/LIGHT/Rock/900 Atk/600 Def
"Let me guess, you're about to Overlay them and summon out a Number." Dahlia guessed, not worried at all.
Trey smiled. "Not quite. See, I have a second Crystal Skull and I can send it to the Graveyard to add any Chronomaly monster from my deck or Graveyard to my hand! I'm adding and then Summoning Chronomaly Golden Jet!" Trey wasted no time summoning his third monster, which was a small plane made out of golden plates.
Chronomaly Golden Jet: Level 4/LIGHT/Machine/1300 Atk/1400 Def
"Next, since I have a Chronomaly monster in my Graveyard, I can activate Chronomaly Technology!" On the field, a large circular tile appeared on the field. "By banishing my second Crystal Skull, I can draw 2 cards, but I have to send one of them to the Grave." Trey did just that and smiled at one of the cards he drew. "And since I just activated a spell, I can bring out a very special monster of mine!" multicolored lights appeared and collided, forming the body of a stone warrior. "Meet the mighty ancient warrior Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem!" Then an Aztec mask burst out of the ground and attacked itself to its body, though the mask was upside down.
Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem: Level 4/EARTH/Rock/1500 Atk/1000 Def
Everyone was in aww. "No way. He summoned four monsters with different Levels in one turn!" Yuma said.
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention Golden Jet's special ability! Once per turn, I can raise the Level of all my Chronomalies by 1!"
"¡Coño! You can really raise the Level of all your monsters?!" Dahlia said, hoping it wasn't true.
"Oh I can and will!" Trey said. His Golden Jet flew into the air and out of its Jetstream came three Level stars, and one went into each of Trey's monsters.
Chronomaly Crystal Bones and Skull: Level 4
Chronomaly Golden Jet and Aztec Mask Golem: Level 5
Everyone was in gasp. "This Trey certainly is powerful. He just summoned out four monsters and raised all their Levels in one move." Astral said.
Trey smiled as his plan was coming together. "I Overlay my Level 4 Chronomaly Crystal Bones and Crystal Skull, then I Overlay my Level 5 Golden Jet with my Aztec Mask Golem!" Trey's four monsters disappeared into two separate Number portals.
"I XYZ SUMMON NUMBERS 36 AND 33! CHRONOMALY FORK HOYUK AND CHROMOMALY MACHU MECH!"
The two portals in the sky exploded, first came out was Number 36 Fork Hoyuk, which was a large Babylonian city, surrounded by a blue force field, had a large black sphere with blue markings in the center of the city, and had a large blue 36 on the side of the force field.
Number 36 Chronomaly Fort Hoyuk: Rank 4/LIGHT/Machine/2000 Atk/2500 Def
Trey's second monster, Number 33 Chronomaly Machu Mech, was an even larger floating city than 36. This one was looked a bit more like Machu Picchu, and had a large mechanism on the bottom and canons between the city and the mechanism. It had a large 33 on side of the mechanical bottom.
Number 33 Chronomaly Machu Mech: Rank 5/LIGHT/Machine/2400 Atk/1500 Def
Everyone has their jaws dropped. None of them had ever seen such huge monsters in their lives, including Astral, but he was more interested in the glowing green symbol on Trey's left hand, which looked like a flower.
Utopia then manifested next to Yuma. "He has a symbol over his soul protecting him from the Numbers he wields. Just like that Quattro guy." Utopia informed.
"Guys, Utopia says that Trey's symbol is protecting him form the Numbers, like Quattro." Yuma told his two friends.
"Yeah, I figured he was somehow involved with him since his clothes are a dead ringer for Quattro's, minus the color." Shark said.
"Yeah, and that marking of his pretty much confirms it." Rio said.
"You have TWO Numbers?!" Dahlia said in shock by this.
"Oh yes, and they have quit the powerful abilities! I use one Overlay Unit from Fork Hoyuk to activate its special ability; once per turn I can make one monster's attack points zero!" Trey said as his monster absorbed an Overlay Unit into its sphere and an energy wave began to be emitted from it, affecting Queen of the Night.
Queen of the Night Atk: 0
"ARGH! Not so fast! I activate the trap Rose Binding!" Dahlia's trap pictured a giant being bounded by rose vines coming from a famous rose themed dragon. "Since I control a Plant-type monster all your monsters are bounded and prevented from attacking!" The physical cards of Trey's monsters become wrapped by thorny rose vines coming from Rose Binding. "Sorry Trey, but your little monsters oversized monsters are useless!"
Trey only smiled. "Doesn't matter because my victory is assured even if I don't attack!"
"¿Qué?" Dahlia was confused. She had 4000 Life Points, and even though her monster lost all its attack points, Trey's monsters couldn't attack.
"See my monsters don't need to attack to win. I had this all planed out since the beginning! I wanted you to power up your monster so I could depower it with Fort Hoyuk's ability, then I would use Machu Mech's special ability to finish you, like NOW! MACHU MECH!" Trey held his hand up to his second Number. "I use an Overlay Unit to activate its all-powerful ability; When a monster's attack points change, Machu Mech deals you damage equal to the change!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone said.
"With that ability he can do some serious damage!" Rio said.
"And when combined with Fork Hoyuk, he can do even more damage!" Shark said.
"Forget about even more, he could wipe out a Duelist's Life Points on one move!" Yuma said.
"Indeed, that is called a One Turn Kill, to get rid of an opponent's full Life Points in one move!" Astral said.
"JODER!" Dahlia said, facing hopeless defeat.
"Machu Mech, finish this! INFINITY CANON!" Trey order his monster city, which charged its canons and fired a barrage of light at Dahlia, finishing her as she was sent flying.
Dahlia: 4000 – 5600 = 0 (LOSE)
Winner: Trey
Everyone watching was in dismay as they saw that Trey finished his Duel in a single turn. Trey walked up to Dahlia and held out his left hand, with is symbol in his palm, then it appeared on Dahlia's chest. Then her Number rose up and flew into Trey's hand as the Number marking on her hand disappeared.
"Now, I believe you also owe me something else…" Trey said, referring to the Heart Piece.
Dahlia grunted pulled out a Heart Piece. "I do have one question."
Trey smiled. "Alright, what is it."
"Ever since I got that Number, I've had its number on my hand, but when you summoned yours that flower symbol appeared on your hand instead. Why is that?" Dahlia asked.
"It's called a Crest. It protects me from the Number's influence and allows me to collect them." Trey said.
"What do you mean influence?" Dahlia asked.
"Look, around you. Is this really you?" Trey said, gesturing to the knocked out Duelists.
Dahlia gasped. "Oh no. No, this isn't me. If this is really what that Number did to me, I thank you for setting me free." Dahlia then handed Trey her Heart Piece.
Trey took the Heart Piece and pulled out his own and added it to his own, now he had a complete Heart set.
Yuma, Shark, and Rio were both amazed and horrified that Trey now had a complete set.
"How could he have won so many Duels already?" Yuma said.
"What do you mean how? Didn't you just see he committed a rare One Turn Kill on his first turn!" Shark said.
"Yeah, his strategy is flawless. His two Number combo can wipe away any monster's attack points and deal a good amount of damage. And even if it didn't get rid of all his opponent's Life Points, if used against a monster with decant attack points that that was used against will have zero attack points." Rio said.
"Oh, then an attack from either Number will assure victory." Yuma finished.
Trey then clinched his Heart Pieces, and his Crest glowed so brightly that everyone had to shield their eyes, then Trey was gone.
Yuma and his friends then walked out of the alleyway and discussed what just happened. "Well, I can at least confirm something." Yuma said.
"What Yuma?" Shark asked.
"I had some thoughts that Quattro might me involved with Kite since they are both Number Hunters, but I think we can all agree that Trey and Quattro are connected."
"Oh without a doubt they are." Shark said.
"Same clothes and they have a… what did he call it? A Crest?" Rio said.
"Yeah, and Kite didn't have one, he had the Photon Transformation deal. But most importantly is their Number removal methods. Trey used his Crest, so I think we can assume Quattro does too. But the way Kite does it removes the soul, and ages the person."
"So this means that besides Kite and the Barians, we have a third party to watch out for. As if looking for Numbers wasn't hard enough." Shark said.
Yuma then realized something. "Hey guys, where's Tori and Bronk?" Yuma asked.
"Oh, well after your Duel with the soccer player she went to go see how Bronk is, and last I heard Bronk won two Duels." Rio said.
"Oh, well tell her what happened here if you see her, Bronk too." Yuma said. The he and his friends split ways again.
Eclipsa was standing on top of the building next to where the Duel was. "Another job well done. Number Hunting is so much more efficient with multiply Hunters in play." She said with a smile. She looked over at the alleyway on the other side of the building and saw Devon Knox, a Pro-Duelist and an incredible caring instructor. Only he wasn't alone, he was with an injured Duelist. "Oh my, this is interesting."
On the ground, Devon was tending to an injured Duelist. "Kid, what happened to you?" He asked with a caring tone.
They Duelist sniffled. "I was competing in the World Duel Carnival when these thugs beat me up and stole my Heart Pieces without even Dueling me first." The kid started to tear up.
"Man, I just hate it when people do that. It's just so despicable, those people shouldn't even be called Duelists." Devon said with a clinched fist.
Eclipsa laughed. "So, this Duelist wishes to punish those who cheat. I admire that." She then pulled out a card. "Maybe with a little help, you can!" Her Crest manifested on her hand holding the card, which became encased in purple energy. She then crushed the card with her hand, and when she flattened her hand, the card had transformed into a purple butterfly. "Let's see what he can do with this." She whispered to the butterfly and blew a kiss, then the butterfly took off.
Yuma and Astral are walking in the park where they first meet, looking for a new opponent.
"Yuma, I have to tell you something. And hopefully I won't be interrupted this time." Astral said.
"Okay, what is it Astral?" Yuma asked.
"Before I tried to tell you that I have felt the power in my memories since I have been on Earth, but now I have felt it twice."
"Twice?" Yuma asked, growing curious.
"Yes, twice. See, in my memories I have seen four different colored symbols, red, yellow, green, and purple."
"Wait, symbols? Green and purple, does this mean you have seen Trey and Quattro before?" Yuma asked.
"No, not exactly."
"What do you mean not exactly?"
"See, while can't make out the symbols in my memories, the… Crests that Quattro and Trey bear are the same in color, but the emanating from them is a… a term you might understand is a "watered down" version of the power." Astral said.
"What do you mean by 'watered down'?"
"Well, the power in my memories is more intense than the Crests that Trey and Quattro possess. While I have no doubts that their Crests are connected to the ones in my memories, they aren't the same ones." Astral explained.
"You said that you couldn't make out the symbols in your memories, so maybe their Crests aren't as powerful as then!" Yuma said.
"I don't think so. The Crests, at least I think they are, in my memories have a different outline. The four fit perfectly together, while the ones that Quattro and Trey possess don't fit together in the same way. So I have some serious doubts that they are the same ones." Astral concluded.
"So if Quattro and Trey's Crests aren't the same ones, then that means we could have more enemies to deal with soon!" Yuma speculated.
"I do believe you're right Yuma." Astral agreed. "So, we could possibly have four more unknown enemies out there. Not to mention the two mystery girls, the one Rio said gave her teacher a Number, and the one that killed the men who killed Amber's parents, but I think they may be one and the same. Then again, they could be two different girls, I don't know which."
Yuma grunted. "So we have like five or six unknown enemies, the mystery Emperor along with Dumon and Mizar, Kite, Quattro and Trey, plus there could be others who have Crests! This is gonna make Number hunting so much harder for us!" Yuma complained.
"Not necessarily Yuma. With so many people hunting Numbers, and there being only so many out there, this will eventually mean that all Number Hunters will only have Numbers, meaning that only a select few will possess Numbers, so that means we will all Duel each other for Numbers, eventually leaving just two with Numbers, hopefully us being one of them."
"Then we Duel them and you get all 100 Numbers!" Yuma concluded.
"Yes, but there is a down side to this: that means more people will be coming at us." Astral said.
"ARGH! ARE YOU KIDING ME?!" A female voice yelled.
Astral and Yuma turned to see a woman with long silver hair. She was pointing a ring at them, and it was shining brightly, it was Estrella.
"I walk around this entire human city looking for you, and you ended up right where I started?!" Estrella complained.
"Uh, what are you talking about?" Yuma asked.
"Quiet human! Why don't you run along and-" Estrella then noticed the key around Yuma's neck.
Astral gasped. "Wait, are talking to me?" Astral asked, hoping he wouldn't get a response.
"Of course I am, I'm not a human!" Estrella said, looking directly at him.
"So are you a Barian?!" Yuma asked, thinking that this woman might be the mystery Emperor.
"Of course not! How do you even-oh you must be his host!" Estrella said.
"What do mean I'm his host?!" Yuma said.
"Astral's powers and memories are scattered, as his host you would know this, so he doesn't have the power to maintain a human disguise, thus he needed to attach himself to the object that acted as the portal to this world. That pendant of yours is Astral World in origin, so that acted as the door way to allow Astral here, but it needed to be tethered to your soul first, which is why you are able to see him." Estrella explained.
"A doorway…" Yuma clutched his key, remembering the door that he opened during his Duel against Scorch and Chills and Astral came out.
"But, you said that you weren't a Barian, does that mean… you're like me?" Astral asked.
"I guess you wouldn't recognize me in this form." Estrella then held up a card. It had a normal background, but instead of having spaces for writing or even any card color, the picture took up the whole card. It was a space background with the golden key in the center. Then she tossed it in between her and Astral, then it landed with a corner of it stuck in the ground, then it glowed gold and sunk into the ground.
"What the?" Yuma said as golden light wave passed through the ground as a dome formed around the three of them.
Astral then gasped as he felt a power surge through him, like in the Barian Sphere Field, only this energy didn't hurt him. Actually, it seemed to strengthen him.
Within seconds the dome was complete and energy flowed through it. "Holy crap! This is like the Barian Sphere Fields!" Yuma remarked.
Estrella laughed. "Oh no, this far more advanced! See, like those Sphere Fields this gives us the ability to use our full power, but this Astral Field is hidden from all those who aren't energy beings, and anyone who comes in contact will just phase through and be none the wiser. Perfect for battling on this planet without getting those humans all riled up."
Estrella held her star ring up to her head and she transformed. She was the same size, but now her skin was blue like Astral's, her hair was longer, had a crown that looked like a constellation, and her ears were pointed too with star earrings. Her blue dress was translucent at the bottom revealing her legs, but the dress had sparkles in it, like little stars. The top half wasn't translucent, but had a large silver four pointed star over each of the breast area. "Do you recognize me, Astral?" Estrella asked.
Astral thought about it, and the memory he was talking to Yuma about also contained a man and a woman, the woman in front looking like the Astral Being he addressed to as Estrella. "Is it, Estrella?" Astral guessed.
She gasped. "So you do remember me?"
Astral grunted. "Not exactly. I only have one memory of us lying on the ground, then a light engulfed our world, and I addressed you as Estrella." Astral said.
"Hmm, that would have been around a thousand years ago, when Don Thousand disappeared and both our worlds were engulfed in light." Estrella said.
"Don Thousand?" Astral said, somehow knowing that name.
"Oh right, your missing memories. Allow me to refresh your mind. Don Thousand is the Deity of Barian World, and he has been a pain in our asses of millennia. Then, two thousand years ago you Dueled him and won, but the cost was that you lost a portion of you powers and memories, being sealed in the Numbers."
"Wait, the Numbers have been her for two thousand years?!" Yuma said.
Estrella looked at him. "No, not all of them. Roughly 25 Numbers. Then in the thousand-year span between that battle and the memory you described, the Barian Emperors appeared, and the war between our two worlds climaxed. But, then one thousand years ago an event occurred, nobody exactly remembers what, but you lost another 25 Numbers, leaving you with 50 and Don Thousand vanished from existence. Not even the Emperors know what happened to him, thou last night his energy reemerged and now, we fear he has reappeared." Estrella said.
"What?!" Astral said. Though he had no memory of Don Thousand, just hearing he has returned sent chills up his spin.
"Yes. That is why I have come to this planet, to bring you home."
"What?! But I need to collect the rest of the Numbers to restore my memories!" Astral exclaimed.
"I understand, but we need you home to help us fight him. You beat him once before, and with our help, we can retrieve all the Numbers!" Estrella said.
Astral thought about it. He felt a duty to protect his world, but then he looked at Yuma and smiled. "No." He simply said.
"What?" Estrella said, hoping she heard wrong.
"I said no. Yuma and me are a team, and I can't leave him alone to deal with the Barians since they will target him." Astral said.
"But Astral, our world needs you! So what if you have to leave this human behind?!" Estrella said as she pointed to Yuma.
"ENOUGH!" Yuma yelled. "My name is Yuma! And if Astral doesn't want to go, then he shouldn't! He's my friend and I won't let you take him!" Yuma told Estrella, who ignored him and looked at Astral.
"If you won't come back to Astral World with me, then I'll force you!" Estrella said as she readied her Duel Disk.
"What? You want to Duel me?" Yuma said.
"No, not you human. Astral and I will Duel." Estrella said as she looked at Astral.
Astral looked at Yuma. "Yuma, I will need your cards!" Astral summoned a Duel Disk similar to the one that Number 96 used, only his was blue colored. Then all the cards in Yuma's card case flew out and went into the card slot on Astral's Duel Disk. "This way you will be Dueling with me!" Astral said as he smiled at Yuma, who was smiling back.
"You go for it Astral!" Yuma said as he pumped his fist.
"Astral, are you ready?" Estrella said as she drew her hand.
"Of course, hope you are." Astral said as he drew his hand.
Estrella: 4000
Astral: 4000
DUEL!
Fanfic Cards:
Blossom Bouquet: Normal Spell
Target 1 plant-type monster you control; you can Special Summon up to 2 monsters in your hand with the same name as the monster you targeted. However, any monster you Special Summon this turn, except those Summoned by this card's effect, lose their special abilities.
Rose Binding: Continuous Trap
As long as this card is face up on the field, monsters your opponent controls can't attack.
Author's Notes:
On a role here! Will try to continue posting one chapter a month. On another note, what did you think about my Flower Princess appearance? For those who might not know, Queen of the Night is a flower on a cactus flower so it fit with the Flower Princess deck, and the user Dahlia is also a flower! Also, can anybody guess what Estrella's deck will be? It is a cannon deck that appears in either the anime or magna series (all series, not just Zexal series) Winner gets a shout out!