Sorry for the long wait. I've been sick, not COVID sick, but too sick to where I couldn't write. Now this chapter doesn't have a Duel, but isn't lacking for excitement.
Chapter 21: Song of Deception
Trey was siting between his two comatose brothers. They would heal soon, but not before the end of the Carnival. "Oh my brothers... we've got our family together... but we've never been further apart..."
Trey looked at his older brother Quattro, and his scar. After their father's disappearance, and their mother deceased, they all went to go live in separate homes. Quinton went to live with their father's friend Dr. Faker, and him and Quattro went into foster homes, and his brother got a bad one.
Trey took his brother's hand and pulled it out, revealing a bracelet with a creaked gem in the center. Trey lifted his long sleeve and revealed his own bracelet, his talisman. It's was the source of their powers, and they each had one. Trey's was on his left wrist, Quattro's on his right wrist, and Quinton's was a pendant on a long necklace. While Tron never revealed his talisman, they suspected it was the red gem in his mask.
"Don't worry. Once you've recovered, me and Tron will have the Numbers, and then we'll all get our revenge on Dr. Faker." He said with a smile.
Yuma, Tori, and Shark were at the hospital waiting to hear about Bronk and Rio's conditions. A doctor the came into view. "Friends or family of Bronk Stone and Rio Kastle?"
That's us!" Shark said, running towards the doctor.
"Okay. First of all, they're gonna be okay. Rio is already able to move fingers and toes, but we're gonna keep her overnight. And Bronk, well, it's gonna be a couple of days before he can get back on his feet." The doctor said, then walked away.
Shark then turned towards Yuma. "Hey Yuma, that blonde with Terra said you two had a deal... what's that about?" He asked, holding back anger.
Yuma exhaled. "She's an... old friend. She's part of a group of Number Hunters called 'The Diamonds'. They want to destroy Astral and Barian World, and they want my Numbers. If I don't give they to her tonight... she'll take them by force." Yuma explained.
"But you're not gonna do it, are you?" Shark asked, alright knowing the answer.
Before Yuma could answer, Tori's alarm went off. "Oh guys, the Starlight concert is about to start! You guys should come, they'll give you free Heart Piece!" She said eagerly.
"Count me in. I don't really like their music, but a free Heart Piece is a free Heart Piece." Shark said.
As the three of them made their way to the stadium, Astral appeared. "Yuma, what is a concert?" He asked.
"It's a performance. Mostly for singing and dancing." Yuma explained. "Here, this is who we're seeing." Yuma pulled out his D-Pad and showed an image of three girls. "The middle one is Ren Hio." Pointing to the brunet in the middle with two pintail. "That's Urania Lin." He pointed to the short haired curly red head. "And that's Charolette Allen." He pointed to the black haired one with a bun. "And this is their music." Yuma pulled up a music video. It showed a giant crystal. It faded and the three girls were sitting in chairs, and a glowing ball floated around them, singing.
[Ren]
Tell me, Tell me you wanna get away
Tell me, Tell me now what you wanna say
Magic's in the air, set yourself free
Take a trip with us that's the way to be
Yuma paused the video.
"I see. The visual effect are quit pleasing." Astral said. "I imagine they bring a lot of joy to people."
"They did. But for some reason they split up last year." Yuma said.
Mayura was heading towards a dressing room with 'Ren' written on it. She went inside and smiled once she shut the door. "You're gonna have to try harder to surprise me." She said.
Eclipsa emerged from the shadows. "Hmm. Nothing gets past you. But I must warn you, don't wear you talisman. We don't need them to wield our powers."
"Maybe not. But it does give us a boost. And I need it with such a large number of people." She said. She pulled out a box with her Crest on it and smiled.
Yuma, Tori, and Shark got past security and got their Heart Pieces. "Man, there's a lot of people here." Shark said.
"Yeah. I wonder why those guys told us to put on our Duel Gazers." Tori said, putting hers on.
A few minutes later, the dome on the stadium closed, darkening the stadium, and a single light shone on stage, and in it was none other than Mr. Heartland himself. "Welcome everyone. Thank you all for showing up. Now, please enjoy the performance!"
The lights went out and the AR system turned on, and the dome turned into the night sky. The curtains disappeared and three lights flew into the sky and shined brightly. The Starlights then flew down, with Duel Gazers on and black dresses, Urania wearing a pink crystal pendant, Charlotte wearing a dark blue one, and Ren with a gold peacock shaped hair pin, it had five rounded points as tails, decorated with small green gems, a large green diamond as the body, and as small gold curved hook as the head.
[Ren]
Oh, when I'm feeling doubts
They then landed on stage.
[Starlights]
I know I can count on my best friends
Instruments then manifested in their hands, with Ren's being a microphone.
Yeah, the word is out
United, our friendship rocks
They all began playing their instruments.
[Ren]
On the up, standing side by side
Hear that sound,
[Starlights]
Hear that sound
[Ren]
Let the whole world know that we're back in town
Ren then danced over to Charlotte.
Spread the word around
She then threw her hand down and disappeared in a swirl of glitter, then reappear next to Urania.
We've come back in town
Ren then went back into the middle, and sparkles appeared under all of them and moved upwards, transforming their dresses.
Let the music take you higher
Their dresses changed color to match their gems' colors, and each gained a pair of wings, Urania's was a pair of butterfly wings, Charlotte's looked like spiderwebs, and Ren's was green bird wings.
[Starlights]
Raise your hands, you can touch the sky
Their instruments disappeared and they danced and raised their right hands up in the air.
Reach the stars, we can make you fly
After a quick spin their wings flapped and they jumped high into the air.
[Ren]
Call the girls, fun is in the air
They threw their hands into the air again.
SOS, we'll be always there
Raise your hands, you can touch the sky
They continued to dance around in a synchronized sequence.
[Starlights]
Rock your world in a fantasy
Let the music take you...
Underneath them a large crystal grew and launched them high into the air, auras formed around them as their wings flapped, levitating and sparkles flying.
[Urania]
Higher
[Charolette]
Higher
[Ren]
Oo-ooh
The area became dark , except for the Starlights, who then glowed even brighter and faded. There was then a snap and the stage was once again illuminated and they were on it.
[Charolette]
One, two, three
Yeah, we're stepping out
She counted with her fingers then pumped her fist.
[Starlights]
Hear that sound, hear that sound
They then once again regained their instruments.
[Ren]
Let the whole world know
Say it loud and proud
[Charolette]
That we're back in town
Charolette's tambourine then turned into a spiderweb and she tossed it over to Ren.
[Ren]
Spread the word around
Ren then tossed it over to Urania, who blasted it with her keytar.
[Urania]
On the up, standing side by side
Urania's blast turned the web into a swarm of butterflies that flew all across the stadium.
[Starlights]
Hear that sound
Can you hear that sound?
The group then walked closer to each other.
[Ren]
Let the whole world know that we're back in town
[Urania]
Spread the word around
They hit their feet on the ground and crystal platforms appeared in front of them.
[Starlights]
We've come back in town
They stepped on them, then were projected high into the air, and regained their auras as their wings flapped.
Let the music take you higher
They then floated down onto levitating plates high in the air, Urania's was a pink butterfly, Charlotte's was a blue spider, and Ren's was a green cluster of feathers.
Raise your hands, you can touch the sky
They threw out their hands and danced on their plates, then threw up their hands.
Reach the stars, we can make you fly
They twirled and jumped high into the air, landing on their plates.
Call the girls, fun is in the air
SOS, we'll be always there
They continued to dance, despite their limited space. Their gems then glowed brightly as Ren and Charlotte held their left hands up high, and Urania held her right hand up, and there seemed to be a glow behind them.
Raise your hands, you can touch the sky
Wand formed into their hands, and they danced with them, with a stream of glitter behind the wands.
Rock your world in a fantasy
They then pointed their wands into the air and casted sparkles that exploded into glitter.
Spread your wings, we will set you free
Call the girls, fun is in the air
The continued to throw out their sparkles, until the glitter formed into their symbols high in the air, and Astral took notice of the feather one.
Let the music take you...
The glitter symbols them swirled together and then flew high into the air and exploded, spreading all over the stadium, and the girls on the ground, with Ren pointing into the air. Unknown to anyone but Astral, Yuma and Shark seemed to be glowing, as was the Starlights, and a few people in the audience, and when h looked up he saw one above the stadium. The curtains reappeared and the AR system went off line, and the effects disappeared.
"Wow. That was pretty amazing." Yuma said as he took off his Duel Gazer. "What did you think Astral?"
Astral looked at Yuma with a blank face. "Interesting... very interesting." He said.
The Starlights were back stage, discussing their performance. "That was awesome. Right Ren?" Urania asked.
"Sure." She answered.
There was some kind of commotion going on by the door with some security. "What's going on here?" Charolette asked.
"These kids say they have have VIP passes, but we weren't notified of any given out." One security guard said.
"We didn't give any out." Urania stated.
"Shit! I'm gonna kill him!" One kid said said.
"Yeah, he took out Heart Pieces!" The other said.
"What are you talking about?" Charolette asked.
"This kid that goes to our school traded passes for Heart Pieces." One said.
"Argh! I just hate it when people prey one others hopes!" Urania said with her face turning as red as her hair.
"Hmm. Seem like you might want to teach this kid a lesson." Ren said with a smile.
"Yeah. Got a description?" Charolette asked.
It was about an hour later and Yuma was shoving rice balls in his face. "Want some Tori?" He asked.
"Um sure." Tori said, taking one, and took a few small bites.
"Yuma, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." Astral said.
"What is it Astral?" Yuma asked.
"It's those symbols shown during the performance... one of them looked exactly like-" Astral was cut off by a blood curdling scream.
Tori looked at Yuma. "Did you-"
"Yeah. I heard that." Yuma said. They both ran off and found the source of the scream. "FLIP!" Yuma said.
Flip was a classmate of Yuma and Tori, and a con artist. "Help me!" He screamed. He was being hoisted up a tree by none other than Urania and Charlotte.
"You two, get out of here." Urania said, pulling out a bat. "This kid's gonna be taught a lesson about scamming people."
Yuma gasped. "Hold it! Flip might be a crook, but you don't have the right to use him like a piñata!"
"He messed with our fans! He lied to them and stole their Heart Pieces! He's lucky that's all we're doing to him!" Charolette said, pulling out her own bat.
"Still, I won't let you do this!" Yuma said, stepping forward.
"Oh, do you really want to challenge us?" Urania said, putting their right hand on her pendant, and her hand glowed a pink butterfly Crest.
"Yeah, do you?" Charolette said, with a glowing blue Crest on her left hand as she gripped her pendant.
Astral gasped as he saw the Crests on their hands. "Yuma, you can't take the two girls on alone!"
"Astral, I don't have a choice. Shark isn't here, and I can't let them do this to Flip!" Yuma said.
"Wait Yuma, you're really gonna take them on?!" Tori said.
"Don't have a choice." Yuma repeated.
Tori then pulled out a Deck. "Yuma... I'll help you!"
"What?!" Yuma exclaimed. "Tori you can't-"
"I can and will Duel Yuma!" Tori said. "Amber lent me her Deck before she left in case you did something stupid and needed help, like now!"
"Okay!" Yuma said, knowing better than to argue with Tori. Hell would freeze over, twice, before anyone could win an argument with her. "We challenge you two to a Tag Duel!" He said. 'I just hope Tori can last.' He thought to himself. "Duel Disk go!" Yuma set his D-Pad up, as did everyone else. "Duel Gazer, let's role!"
Augmented Reality Vision Online
Charlotte: 4000
Urania: 4000
Yuma: 4000
Tori: 4000
"Let's Duel!" They all said as they drew their hands.
Not really a thrill seeking chapter, but next one will have you going WTF!