I would like to give a huge shoutout to Unknown entity328. I have ideas concerning Number 96, and it all starts with this chapter. Without him, I would not have the necessary cards for a full Malicevorous deck. He's a great author, so go check out his stories.

Tsukumo Residence: Attic, Night…

Lance and Yuma sat across from one another with all the Numbers they had collected spread out before them.

"Alright, that's 9 Numbers." Yuma crossed his arms and looked at Lance. "Now, what are we going to do with them?"

"I must admit that I am equally curious why you decided we must do this." Astral stated.

"I have a theory I'd like to test, but we need to divide the numbers we have between us. Just humor me for now." Lance stated. "I will say up front that 86 and 54 are mine."

"39 is mine." Yuma stated.

"If you're okay with it, I'd like 57 and 83." Lance stated. "You can have 13, 17, 31, and 34."

Yuma nodded. "Sounds fine to me."

"Okay, now I want to see if this works, so give me a moment." Lance stated as he removed his pendent."

The Heroic user touched his pendant to Number 86. At first, nothing happened, but then the pendent glowed a brilliant white that worked its way onto the card cloaking it with white energy. Lance quickly moved the pendent to the other four cards.

"Fascinating." Astral stated drawing the boys' attentions as the white light died down and Lance put his pendent on. "I can feel my connection to those Numbers, but I can also feel a strong presence protecting them."

Yuma was confused. "Uh, Lance what was this?"

"I wanted to test my grandfather's stories." Lance looked at Yuma. "Remember, he'd always talk about duel spirits as well as dark and light magic. He said my mother and I have his light magic, so I figured I'd give it a try." He looked to Astral. "Now, go into Yuma's key."

Astral did causing 13,17, 31. 34, and 39 to vanish; however, 54, 57, 83, and 86 remained where they were.

Astral then reappeared. "The Numbers you touch with your pendent remained."

Lance nodded. "It panned out as I thought. At the very least, we can protect a portion of the Numbers and hopefully keep you safer Astral. I'm not certain what will happened now if Yuma or I lost though."

Astral nodded. "That is quite alright."

The Syllable duelist smiled. "That was some nice thinking Lance."

Astral nodded. "Yes, clearly you can do the thinking for two. That's good since Yuma doesn't think at all."

Yuma glared at Astral. "Hey, I'll have you know I think about a lot of things."

"Really. I have made no such observations." Astral replied.

Lance could see where this was going. "Right, I'll see you tomorrow Yuma."

The Heroic user ran out of the room as Astral and Yuma started arguing. At least it seemed more like friends arguing rather than strained acquaintances these days.

Later…

Yuma was sleeping in his hammock as a shadowy figure with long hair and the grace of a cat entered the room through the window. They moved about rummaging through his things. Astral appeared invisible to the figure, but the figure was not invisible to him.

Heartland Academy, Morning…

Lance rode through the gate with Yuma arriving early. It was a pleasant surprise considering the two always seemed to arrive just on time. Lance stopped the bike as both he and Yuma noticed a group of fan girls surrounding a student. That student was Nelson.

The former actor smiled nervously. "You're all very nice, but I was kind of hoping my first day would be normal."

"He's so cute in person."

"We loved the end of your series."

"It was so heartwarming."

Lance stopped and looked at Yuma. "You go on ahead. Looks like Nelson's going to need someone to mentor him on how to deal with fan girls."

"Got it." Yuma hopped down and ran off. "Good luck!"

Lance kicked his stand down before running over to the group of girls and jumping over them. He landed in the middle of the group next to Nelson.

"Look, it's Lance."

"That was so cool."

Lance didn't pay them any mind as he looked at Nelson. "I got you."

The Heroic user grabbed Nelson and jumped out of the group before running to his bike.

"Wait, what's going on!?" Nelson asked confused. "What are we doing?"

"I'll tell you more, but we must outrun them first." Lance was referring to the fan girls who were chasing them. "Hop on the pegs and hold onto my shoulders."

The Heroic duelist got on his bike as Nelson jumped onto the back gripping his shoulders. Lance then sped off down the path outpacing the girls.

Roof of the Academy, Later…

After riding around the school, a couple of times, Lance left his bike on the rack and took Nelson through the school straight to the roof where they were alone. As they rode and ran, Lance had filled him in on certain things alleviating his confusion.

Nelson looked at Lance gratefully. "I did not know the fan girl situation would be so concentrated here." He nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Lance nodded. "I've been dealing with fan girls, without security, since the first day of middle school." He patted Nelson on the back. "Stick with me, and you'll become a master of evasion. Now, do you have your schedule?"

Nelson pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over. "It's right here."

Lance looked it over. "Good, we got every class together." He gave it back to Nelson. "This gives me the full day to show you the best ways to avoid the fan girls."

Nelson gave a small, slightly embarrassed smiled. "Thanks Lance."

"What are friends for?" Lance moved towards the door. "On that note, we should go. Class will start soon."

Nelson nodded. "Right."

They made their way down as a smaller kid observed them from the shadows obscuring his features. "I should count myself lucky Lance didn't notice me since he's usually more observant. At Duel Period, I'll make my move to gather information for the Fusion Dimension."

Cafeteria, Lunch…

Lance, Tori, Yuma, Caswell, and Nelson sat at a table as other students looked at the odd assortment of people. Two boys who were distinguished in the eyes of many sat with bottom duelist of the school and one of the only girls that didn't fawn over Lance.

Man, Lance just looked forward to this time as it was the only time that the fan girls were kept at bay. Yuma opened his lunch revealing a five-star quality seafood lunch which everyone at the table noticed.

Caswell looked at the Syllable duelist. "Yuma why is it that your lunch seems to randomly spike in quality at least 2 days out of the week?"

"I don't know." Yuma smiled. "I guess grandma has gotten into making great lunches recently."

Lance crossed his arms. "That can't be the reason." Everyone looked at him. "These lunches only appear on the days we don't sleep over at each other's houses. Not to mention, Haru has made me lunches before, yet they're never this quality."

He shook his head. "That's not to say I think her lunches are bad. She's an excellent cook just never like this. Nothing this fancy. Couple that with all the other strange occurrences the past few days, and it seems something is up."

Tori nodded. "I see what you mean. Like the gym class incidences, that time Yuma was hooked by a cable, and the time his gym clothes were replaced by a green track suit certainly come to mind."

Astral appeared only visible to Yuma and Lance. "Whenever Lance hasn't slept over, a figure has broken into Yuma's room. It's been several times now."

Yuma angrily shouted at Astral. "Someone's been sneaking into my room, yet you keep it to yourself!?"

"You never asked me to keep you informed. How was I to know?" Astral asked.

Nelson looked over at Caswell. "Uhm, what's going on?"

Caswell turned to him. "Apparently, Yuma and Lance can see an invisible duelist they call Astral." He shrugged. "You'll get used to it. Especially with Yuma constantly yelling at nothing."

Nelson looked closely at Yuma. For a mere moment, he made out the outline of a person floating next to him. The former actor quickly rubbed his eyes only for there to be no one there. He shook his head thinking maybe he got less sleep than he thought.

"That's it!" Yuma declared. "I'm getting to the bottom of this!" Yuma declared.

Lance looked around the cafeteria to see if he spotted anyone of note. He noticed a girl with a resemblance to a cat. She had two pieces of her gray hair held up by clips which looked like cat ears and large green eyes hidden behind large, square framed glasses.

Her current attire consisted of a uniform like Tori's meaning she was in their class. The other was a guy wearing a first-year uniform. That meant he was also in their class. He was shorter than Yuma by a couple of inches at least.

He had short, spiky black hair with red eyes. What set Lance off on them was the fact that the girl seemed to perk up while the boy averted his gaze when Lance looked at him. The rest of the cafeteria looked about what you'd expect whenever Yuma yells.

Lance dug into his lunch. "Now isn't a good time to confront either of them. I'll wait until duel period to look for them. That's if I can find either of them. I'll be honest, I don't remember seeing either student before now."

Dueling Period

Like most times, Lance arrived to duel period earlier than Yuma and Tori only now he was on the lookout for the silver and/or black-haired students. Only problem was that he simply didn't see them.

In the end, he was certain only them, Yuma, and Tori were the only ones not out there because Nelson had just walked out onto the field wielding a light blue D-pad with a blue and gold duel gazer. The former actor was looking around at the duels going on with amazement.

"Wow, this is everything I dreamed it'd be and more." Nelson was just in awe to be surrounded by so many duelists.

Since Lance couldn't find the people he was looking for, he decided to approach his friend. "Hey, glad to see you didn't get lost Nelson."

Lance had not forgotten about Nelson, so he had left the boy detailed instructions to make it from their last class to here.

"Oh yeah, I didn't have any trouble." Nelson looked at Lance. "Lance… would you mind being my first, real duel opponent." He looked at his deck. "I know you say we dueled that night, but the details are fuzzy. Plus, this deck was the deck I wished to use."

"I'll agree, but there is something I want to know. What was the deal with that deck you used? I mean, why was it made and what happened to it?" Lance asked.

"It was made when The Sparrow started to become popular and given to me in case I had to duel. Something I had yet to really do. I already had this deck, but it wasn't 'befitting a hero'. At least, that's what mom used to say.

Now, it's actually scheduled to enter a museum over in America called the Smithsonian along with my costume." He rubbed his head. "Turns out my show was just as popular there as it was here."

Lance nodded. "Alright, let's find a nice, open space. It's time to have our first, true duel."

Nelson smiled. "Thank you, Lance. I will try my best." The Heroic duelist walked off and the former star followed. "So, why aren't the fan girls swarming us?"

Lance chuckled. "Consider this a favorable time to relax Nelson. There's no need to hide in Mr. Kay's office or run after the period is up. At the very least, the fan girls of this school respect the art of dueling."

The two boys found a place to duel and faced off.

D-pad go

Duel Gazer on

Augmented vision link established

(Lance 4000/Nelson 4000)

"Alright, best in school first." Lance declared. "I'll start with Heroic Challenger-Double Lance(LV 4/1700/900)." A warrior decked out in white and light blue armor appeared. "Double Lance can count as two monsters for the Xyz summon of a Heroic Champion.

I'll use him to construct the overlay network. Xyz summon Heroic Champion-Gandiva(R 4/O 1/2100/1800)." A warrior decked out in dark blue and yellow armor appeared atop a horse. "I'll end my turn with a face down."

Nelson drew. "I activate Fire Formation – Tenki allowing me to add one level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior from my deck to my hand. Since I control no monsters, and control one Fire Formation card, I can special summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Coyote(LV 5/2100/500 effect). All my Fire Formation cards give my Beast-Warriors 100 more ATK as well."

"That's nice, but I'm actually activating Heroic Champion-Gandiva(R 4/O 0/2100/1800)'s effect." Lance interjected. "By detaching an overlay unit, I can negate my opponent's special summon and destroy the intended monster."

"You actually put a hold on my plays." Nelson chuckled good naturedly. "So, this is what a real duel is. I still have my normal summon, so I'll bring out Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Buffalo(LV 4/1800/1000 effect)." A warrior decked out in yellow armor appeared.

Lance drew. "I'll tribute Gandiva to summon Heroic Challenger-War Hammer(LV 6/2100/1300)."A warrior in dark blue, light blue, and silver armor appeared wielding a massive war hammer. "He'll attack your Buffalo (Lance 4000/Nelson 3700).

When War Hammer destroys a monster by battle, I can equip said monster to him and increase his ATK by the ATK of that monster Heroic Challenger-War Hammer(LV 6/3800/1300 effect). I'll then end my turn with a set card."

"My move!" Nelson drew. "I activate Fire Formation-Yoko. With this, I can target a monster you control, discard a Beast-Warrior from my hand, and destroy the target. In that line of thinking, I will target your War Hammer.

Next, I can special summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Panda(LV 5/2300/400 effect) since I activated a Fire Formation card. In addition, another Fire Formation card means all Beast-Warriors I control gain 200 ATK. Panda will attack you directly (Lance 1700/Nelson 3700)."

It's time to end this." Astral drew. "I summon Heroic Challenger-Spartan(LV 4/1600/1000)." A warrior decked out in gold and red roman styled armor appeared. "I then activate Copy Knight. Since I normal summoned, this trap special summons a token copy of Spartan.

Same level and name with 0 ATK/DEF and no effect. I overlay both my monster to Xyz summon Heroic Champion-Excalibur(R 4/O 2/2000/2000)." A large warrior decked out in red armor and carrying the famed blade appeared. I can detach both his overlay units to double his ATK."

Heroic Champion-Excalibur(R 4/O 2/4000/2000 effect). "I can further increase his attack by activating Magnum Shield granting Heroic Champion-Excalibur(R 4/O 2/6000/2000 effect) ATK equal to his DEF. He'll use it to destroy your Panda (Lance 1700/Nelson 0)."

"I lost." Nelson laughed. "That was great!"

Lance walked over and patted his friend on the back. "You did a good job Nelson. For your first duel, that wasn't bad. Wasn't bad at all."

Just then, the Heroic duelist noticed Tori about to duel the boy he spotted in the cafeteria.

Nelson noticed where Lance was looking. "Does that duel interest you?"

Lance had a thoughtful look. "It certainly does." He walked over. "Come on, I want to see that guy duel."

The Fire Fist user followed, and they came to stand near the duel. Lance noticed the duelist look over at him before quickly adverting his eyes. This made the Heroic Duelist raise an eyebrow.

Tori looked at the student. "I don't mind dueling, but I don't really know your name." She quickly apologized. "Sorry. I know you're in my class by your uniform, but I'm drawing a blank."

The little guy quickly bowed. "That's quite alright Ms. Meadows." He stood up. "No one in our year really notices me because I skipped fifth grade. Advanced placement." He opened his eyes wide. "I'm sorry. You asked my name. I tend to ramble. My name is Shane Conner."

"Alright." Tori nodded with a smile. "Let's have a good duel Shane."

Shane nodded. "R-Right."

D-pad go

Duel Gazer on

Augmented vision link established

(Tori 4000/Shane 4000)

"If it's alright with you Ms. Meadows, could I go first?" Shane asked.

Tori nodded. "You're more than welcome to."

Shane said, "I summon Malicevorous Skewer(LV 2/300/300) in ATK mode." A little fiend in dark purple armor appeared holding a skewer. "I'll end my turn with that."

Nelson looked at Lance. "I've never heard of Malicevorous monsters. Do you know anything about them?"

Lance nodded as he crossed his arms. "It started as a small series of three cards, spoon, fork, and knife, before evolving with more monsters with support." He closed his eyes. "It's a deck that focuses on massive swarming and Xyz summoning of multiple Ranks."

"You mean that deck can summon more than just Rank 2 monster?" Nelson asked.

"Yep." Lance nodded. "It can summon more than one would expect, but it really excels at summoning monsters from Rank 2 to 5. Its support helps the monster breaches into mainly ranks 3, 4, 6, and 8. You just have to play your cards right to accomplish such feats."

Tori tilted her head. "Only one monster? He didn't even play it in defense mode. Well, I can't exactly pull my punches because that wouldn't be respectful to my opponent. Still, I think this one has the opposite problem of Yuma."

She drew. "I set one monster and activate Book of Taiyou allowing me to flip that monster into face-up ATK mode. I reveal Kamui, Hope of Gusto(LV 2/200/1000)." A girl with green hair and lighter green cloak appeared.

"When she's flipped, I can special summon a Gusto from my deck. I choose Gusto Falco(LV 2/600/1400)." A little green bird wearing armor appeared. "I now overlay Falco and Kamui to Xyz summon Daigusto Phoenix(R 2/O 2/1500/1100)."

An orange and green featherless phoenix appeared. "I then activate Xyz Energy. By detaching one unit from Phoenix, I can destroy Skewer. Then by detaching the last unit I can activate Phoenix's ability allowing him to make two attack. They'll be direct (Tori 4000/Shane 1000)."

Shane drew. "I summon Malicevorous Fork(LV 2/400/400) in ATK mode." A fiend wearing dark purple armor and wielding a large fork appeared. "I end my turn."

Tori was very confused as she drew. "Daigusto Phoenix will ATK Fork (Tori 4000/Shane 0)."

Shane sadly bowed to her. "Thank you for the duel Ms. Meadows."

He ran off disappearing among the crowd.

Tori was concerned. "Shane, wait! Where did he go!?"

Lance still had his eyes on the boy as he ran by Tori. "Don't worry, I got this." He called back to Nelson. "Stay with Tori!"

"Got it!" Nelson called out.

Inside the Academy, Hallway…

After feeling certain that Ms. Meadows hadn't followed him, Shane had entered the academy and was now slowly walking through the halls towards his next class. Maybe the teacher would be nice enough to let him in early.

"I knew you'd come this way." Lance stated as he came out from around the corner standing in Shane's way.

Shane fell to his butt. "It's Lance!"He looked at the ground and started to cry while mumbling to himself. "He must think I'm a terrible duelist. Not that he'd be wrong. I don't know what I'm doing. Now he must think I'm a crybaby. I didn't want to meet him like this."

"Easy now." Lance crouched before him. "I didn't mean to startle you. Are you alright?"

Shane sniffled. "I'm fine."

Lance rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, no one who cries is okay. Look, I sincerely apologize if I caused… I didn't mean… I should have been more careful in how I approached…"

Shane frantically waved his hands in front of himself. "No, you really didn't make me cry."

Lance asked, "What did?"

Shane quietly said, "I embarrassed myself in front of you. You've been my idol ever since the 1st day of middle school. You're just so confident and cool. You're great at dueling. I want to be just like that, but I don't know how to duel.

I live in a nice house with a butler that became my guardian. He's nice, but he doesn't know dueling. I could have brought this up with him, but I didn't. That's my fault. I'm certain he'd have found someone to teach me.

I just… I want to become a great duelist like my father was. Now, you must think I'm a terrible duelist and a cry baby. Middle schoolers aren't supposed to cry. I'm pathetic and weak. This isn't how I wanted to meet you. Not that I ever had the confidence to try."

Lance put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Whoa, that is a lot to unpack, but I don't think you're weak for crying. It's only natural for people to cry when they feel sad. I don't think you're a terrible duelist. Heck, I don't think Yuma's a terrible duelist.

He just needs work like you. You simply need someone to show you the ropes." He smiled confidently. "Who better than the number one in school. I'll whip you into dueling shape in no time." He chuckled. "Especially since you seem capable of learning normally unlike Yuma."

Yuma was by no means stupid. He just learned differently.

Shane opened his eyes in shock. "Do you really mean that you'll become my teacher?"

Lance helped Shane up. "That's what I'm offering."

Shane hugged Lance. "I promise I won't let you down Mater Hogan." Eventually he let go. "What's the first step? I'm ready for anything."

"This kid is an odd one." Lance thought with a sweat drop. "The first step is to get you cleaned up. If we're lucky, you may be able to have a duel before the period's up." He started to walk to the bathroom. "Come along."

Shane nodded. "Yes, Master Lance."

"I think it's safe to say Shane isn't the one behind the meals or pranks. That leaves the silver haired girl as the likely suspect." Lance thought. "Only question is, where is she?"

Guard0077:I went back to change Pilica. As for the number question. Anything can happen.

guicontiero2:I have ideas for number 96.