Heartland City, Present…

Two people stood in the crowd of duelist and spectators as the WDC got underway. An old man and a girl around Yuma and Lance's age. The old man had two toned brown hair and matching eyes. His attire consisted of dark jeans and a red with white trim shirt.

The young girl had red hair styled in a similar manner as the old man's, and her eyes matched her hair. Her attire consisted of a pink and white shirt, which reached below her waist, black compression shorts, and a pair of boots in the same color as her shirt.

"Alright, it's time." The girl stated.

She tried to run off until the old man grabbed her arm with a smile. "Whoa Anna, I'm just as excited for your first, huge tournament as anyone; however, what's the rule we discussed on the train."

Anna looked at the ground. "Don't fire my rockets at people." She sighed. "Don't try to ram them with its hover craft setting either."

"Good." The old man smiled. "I love you Anna."

"I love you to Grandpa Jaden." Anna then ran through the crowd as she uncrossed her fingers from behind her back. "Sorry Grandpa, but the person I'm here to find deserves to meet my canon firsthand. Lance Hogan, I'm coming for you."

Park

Lance had beaten some no name duelist and got a heart piece that fit his container. "Two pieces and the day is still young. If I play my cards right, maybe I can knock this out in one day."

Lance stopped when he heard Rio's voice. "Go, Dragunity Knight - Ascalon!"

Lance ran in the direction of that voice and found Rio finishing a duel with a brown-haired guy. He was handing over his heart container and the two shook hands before he left.

Lance approached with a smile. "Hey Rio!" She turned and smiled back. "What's up?"

"Hey Lance." Rio showed her Heart Container. "I just got my third heart piece. What about you?"

"Wow, three heart pieces already." Lance happily showed his own. "Only got two so far, but I've been a little picky. I'm looking for those tougher duelists" He then looked at Rio and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey Rio, you want to grab a bite to eat?"

Rio smiled genuinely. "I am hungry so sure."

"Really?" Lance was jovial. "Cool, anywhere in particular you want to go?"

Roof Nearby

Anna had positioned herself and was aiming at the multi-deck user. "Target acquired. Goodbye Lance."

She fired a rocket.

Park

Lance noticed the rocket just a few seconds before Rio. "Look out!" He grabbed Rio and jumped forward in a way that he shielded her body as the explosion went off. "Are you okay Rio?"

Rio nodded. "I'm fine."

Lance looked up at the roof, but he couldn't see the figure clearly. He stood, got Rio to her feet, and held her hand as he ran. Not a moment later, the area was bombarded by more explosives.

"Keep running Rio!" Lance shouted.

Streets

The pair continued to run only now Rio noticed Anna flying after them.

"Now I got ya." Anna declared.

"Hold on a second, that voice sounds familiar." Lance thought.

She fired off another shot, so Rio wrapped her arms around Lance before jumping away from the explosion. Anna moved into position above them, so the Dragunity user moved in a way that she could best block Lance.

"Get out of the way!" Anna shouted. "I'm not after you."

"You could have fooled me!" Rio didn't move. "Even if you aren't after me, I'm not going to let you hurt Lance. He's important to me."

Lance would have blushed at that, but suddenly he was completely serious as he put a hand, gently, on Rio's shoulder. "It's okay Rio. I need to handle this myself."

Rio looked down at him. "But Lance…"

"Rio, I need to confront this person." He gently squeezed her arm as his gaze softened. "Please."

Rio nodded. "Alright." She stood and helped Lance up "Know that I'm not going anywhere."

Lance accepted the help and moved to stand just in front of her. "Thank you, Rio."

Anna now faced Lance. "Lance Hogan, it's time you paid."

"I don't owe you anything Anna." Lance firmly stated. "I'm not afraid of you anymore."

Rio looked at him. "Lance, who is she? What's this all about?"

"This is that bully I told you about." Lance stated while he never took his eyes off Anna. "Chasing me up trees was the least she ever did to me. Really, it all started when I tried to befriend her." He looked at the ground.

"As I said, I was a shy kid. No courage to make friends; however, she was new and seemed lonely. No one would talk to her. I felt that loneliness through my own experience and couldn't leave someone else in that place. I mustered up the courage and talked with her.

We said we were friends, but friends don't do what she did. Chasing me up trees, graffiti all over my D-pad, glue on the bottom of my shoes, and holes in my gym shorts. Countless ways she'd bully me. It didn't do much to help my less than stellar self-esteem."

"Wait, you knew that was me?" Anna asked.

"How could I not?" Lance asked. "When you end up peaking around the corner every time something horrible happens, even a kid could put 2 and 2 together."

Anna became angry again. "If you can do the math, then how come you never got the message?"

"What message?" Lance asked confused.

Anna suddenly blushed. "I asked you to meet me at the end of the last day I'd be attending our school. I had something important to tell you, yet you never showed up. I was left waiting and waiting all to confess my crush on you."

Rio fell to the ground. "This girl likes Lance. That makes me angry. Really angry. Is this envy? Does this mean Lance is someone special to me? Does Lance think of me the same way?"

Lance was just as shocked, but he recovered. "How would I ever consider your intentions romantic Anna? I was frightened of you. Utterly terrified. I avoided you because I thought you were going to chase me up another tree."

This only seemed to make Anna dig her feet in deeper instead of realizing her error. "It's your fault for jumping to conclusions. Now, you're going to be mine weather you like it or not."

Rio stepped forward composing herself so none of her anger at the situation showed. "Stop right there. You can't just force Lance to fall in love with you. Especially when you've threatened him at gun point."

"Why not, Ms. Perfect?" Anna asked.

"It's because forcing me to love you wouldn't be love at all." Lance declared. "I wouldn't have any incentive to get to know you as a person. Any relationship we'd have would be unhealthy."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Anna angrily asked.

Lance removed his heart container. "Anna Kaboom, you are here for the WDC, right? Then I issue you a challenge for your heart pieces. If you've cooled down after, we'll likely have an easier time talking this out."

Anna nodded firmly. "You're on."

"Are you sure about this Lance?" Rio asked. "I could take her."

"I'm sure Rio." Lance looked forward and closed his eyes. "I now know her 'bullying' wasn't meant to be malicious; however, to really put this behind me, I must do this." He opened his eyes. "I must duel myself!"

"Alright." Rio moved off to the side. "Then, take her down."

Heartland Café

Jaden was enjoying some pastries when he heard a familiar voice. "I should have figured you'd be stuffing your face long before I arrived."

Jaden turned to face Zack. "You know me so well old friend."

Zack took a seat across from him. "It's good to see you Jaden." He shook his head. "It's been years."

"Tell me about it." Jaden smiled. "Jessie said I should make the trip down more often. Just a shame he could be here right now. Still, my granddaughter wanting to compete turned out to be the perfect excuse to get away for a while."

"Oh yeah, Anna." Zack chuckled. "Lance used to be so afraid every time I'd mention her name." He shook his head. "Such a shame. The two could have been good friends."

"Yeah, turns out auntie Blair really rubbed off on here just like Jessie and I." Jaden leaned back. "Hey, I hear he's gotten great confidence over the years. Maybe they can become friends now."

"Yeah, he's no longer the frightened kid he was." Zack smiled. "What's more, his overconfidence seems to be down as well."

"That's great to hear." Jaden stated.

Just then, Winged Kuriboh appeared on his shoulder while Dark Magician Girl appeared next to Zack. Winged Kuriboh flew over and started happily flying around DMG's head while jovially making his usual sounds.

DMG smiled. "I'm happy to see you as well Jaden and Winged Kuriboh."

Winged Kuriboh perched himself atop DMG's head.

Zack gave a sigh of contentment. "Man, it's great when the four of us can get together. Feels a bit like the old days."

Jaden nodded. "I hear you."

Heartland Streets

D-pad go

Duel Gazer on

Augmented vision link established

(Lance 4000/Anna 4000)

"I'm taking the first turn." Anna declared. "I summon Night Express Knight(LV 10/0/3000 effect)." A large white and blue knight atop a train appeared. "He can be normal summoned to the field, but his attack is reduced to zero.

Since an Earth Machine monster was summoned, I can special summon Heavy Freight Train Derricrane(LV 10/1400/1000 effect), but it's original ATK/DEF are halved." A large, yellow train appeared.

"Two level 10 monsters!" Rio shouted.

Lance grit his teeth. "I don't think she's stopping there."

"I now overlay my two level 10 monsters to Xyz summon Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max(R 10/O 2/3000/3000)." A huge canon on three tracks appeared. "By detaching one overlay unit, I can bypass the rule of not attacking you this turn.

For your information, he deals 2000 life points (Lance 2000/Anna 4000)." Anna smiled. "Alright, that's half your life points gone. Soon you're going to be all mine Lance. I set three cards."

"We'll see about that." Lance drew and smiled. "Normally, I'm not for ending a duel this quick, but I'll make an exception in this case. Especially since prolonging this duel would mean bad news for me.

I summon Heroic Challenger-Double Lance(1700/900)." A warrior decked out in white and light blue armor appeared. "His effect allows him to count as two monsters during the Xyz summon of a Heroic Champion.

"I'll use that effect to summon Heroic Champion-Excalibur(R 4/O1/2000/2000)." A mighty warrior decked out in red armor and with a huge blade appeared. "I'm not stopping there because I activate Rank-Up-Magic King's Legacy.

For this, I must target a Heroic Champion-Excalibur I control and rebuild the overlay network to Xyz summon Heroic King-Arthur Pendragon(R 8/O 2/3500/3000)." A young man with flowing blond hair and adorned in silver and red armor appeared wielding the true Excalibur.

Anna was shocked. "It's more powerful than Gustov, and only a Rank 8."

Rio smiled. "Alright Lance."

"Just wait because this card has some powerful effects. For starters, he can't be destroyed by card effect. I'd tell you the one concerning overlay units, but I won't need them. I can activate Heroic Chance doubling my King's attack, but he can't attack directly." Lance informed.

Heroic King-Arthur Pendragon(R 8/O 2/7000/3000 effect)

"7000 attack!" Anna was in shock. "You got your monster up that high?"

"This duel is over." Lance declared. "Heroic King-Arthur Pendragon attack Gustov Max (Lance 2000/Anna 0)."

Anna was blown onto her back as Lance won the duel.

"That's the way!" Rio cheered. "You did it, Lance!"

Lance then approached Anna who was on her knees. "Now that you should be a little calmer, you can tell me why we couldn't just be friends all this time? Why did it have to a relationship?"

Anna looked at the ground. "Don't you see Lance? Didn't you ever see? You are my only chance at finding love. At every school, no one would approach me. I was a wild tomboy. No girls wanted to hang out with me, and I was too much for any of the guys.

Eventually, I started to believe that no one would love me. Then, you treated me like a person. You were nice to me. I wanted us to be more than friends, but you didn't understand my feelings. You abandoned me when I had the most important thing in my life to say to you."

Lance got on his knees before her. "Anna, I thought you were going to hurt me with another prank. Had I known, maybe I'd have shown up. Perhaps things could be different today."

Anna lowered her head in shame. "I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to get your attention." She sighed sadly. "I guess I acted like a wild tomboy again." She shook her head. "I'm sorry Lance. I understand if you can never forgive me."

Lance let out a sigh of great relief. "You know Anna, long ago I reached my hand out to a girl who seemed to understand what it was like to be friendless. When she turned into what I thought was a bully, it hurt. It hurt so much that the pain never really healed.

I see that because it's genuinely healed now." He had a small smile. "Rather, I never let it heal. I held a grudge all this time. Look, I'm not certain if a relationship can bloom between up, but I'd be content burying the hatchet to start over as friends."

"I won't deny that I still have feelings for you, but I won't make the same mistake twice." She nodded with a small smile of her own. "Friends." They both got to their feet and Anna pulled out her heart container. "Here, you won fair and square."

Lance took it. "Thank you, Anna."

Anna blushed. "Right, well I'll be going now." She climbed onto her hovercraft. "Lance, don't you dare lose, you hear me. I'll be watching you compete."

She flew off and Rio approached him. "So, we still going to get a meal."

Lance smiled as a huge weight, he didn't even know was there, had been lifted off his shoulders. "Yeah Rio." He chuckled. "I worked up quite the appetite."

They started down the road with Rio looking at the multi-deck user. "He now knows Anna has feelings for him, but he doesn't seem interested right now. That means I must figure out how I feel soon."

Streets of Heartland City

The day was still young, and Shark was taking advantage of it to scour the city for Quatro while taking out duelist at every turn. So far, he's defeated 20, yet only three pieces fit his container meaning he was just 1 away from getting into the finals.

"I'll find you Quatro." Shark thought. "When I do, you will pay for everything you've done to my family."

"You seem in a bad mode Reginald Kastle." A strange voice stated off to his right.

Shark looked over at a tall figure in a black cloak, black boots, and black gloves sitting on a nearby bench. "You're that Organization guy Lance told me about." He stared him down. "If you're looking for a duel, I'll oblige."

Organization stood and walked on over. "Peace Shark."

"That's another thing. You know my name and nickname." Shark firmly stated. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is no concern of yours. At least, not at this point in time." He moved his hand, which glowed with crimson energy, in front of Shark. "All that matter is that I'm here to help you get revenge on Quatro."

Suddenly, Shark was glowing crimson red. "What are you doing to me!?"

The glow faded almost as soon as it began.

Organization replied. "I am merely awakening a power dormant within yourself." He removed a small stack of cards. "Your opponent is one who has Numbers which do not influence his mind due to his own brand of power.

I, like him, have my own power. I have used it to collect a variety of Numbers myself. I have awakened your own inner power and now offer you these Numbers to even the playing field. Whether or not you defeat him is reliant on your skills."

Shark looked at the small stack of cards. "What? I'm supposed to take these cards and keep quiet? I owe you a favor? You want me to take down Lance and Yuma?"

Organization genuinely sounded angry, but it was not directed at Shark. "You owe me nothing and are free to tell anyone you wish about how you got these Numbers. I merely wish to see Quatro pay for what he has done to Marin. I considered her a younger sister myself."

Shark looked at him. "Quatro hurt your sister as well?"

"In a manner of speaking. It is a little complicated." Organization sighed regaining his composure. "I know my word may not mean much; however, everything I have said is true. I promise you that no Number shall be able to sway your will anymore."

Shark took the small stack of cards. "I'm going to tell Lance about this exchange."

Organization walked away. "You are free to do so."

Shark spread out the Numbers in his hands noticing that the cards he'd been given were Water attributes and seemed perfect for his deck. He slipped them into his extra deck for now and decided to get back on the hunt.

"Whenever I get the chance, I'll tell Lance about my encounter, but I'm using the rest of today to search for Quatro." Shark thought before moving on.

Streets of Heartland

Rio was looking around for more competitors when Organization walked out of an alleyway putting her on guard. "You're that Organization guy Lance told us about. You want to duel? Here to make it to the finals of the WDC?"

"Peace Rio Kastle." Organization stated as he waved a hand before Rio causing her to glow a crimson red. "I am merely here to help."

"What are you doing to me!?" Rio asked as the glow died down. "What was that?"

"I was simply awakening the powers that lies dormant within you. With your power awoken, you will never have to fear Numbers taking you over." Organization retrieved a card from within his cloak. "In addition, I offer you this Number."

Rio looked at the cards. "Why should I trust you?"

"Numbers attune to the duelist desire." Organization stated. "This Number is blank meaning your desire will be what fuels. Even if you lose control, you could sway that desire to defeat me. Really, what do you have to lose?"

Rio looked at the card before looking at Organization. "My deepest desire is to defeat the duelist that stands before me." She took the care, and it glowed with black energy as it transformed into a Number befitting her deck. "I still feel like me."

"It is as I said." Organization turned into red particles which dissipated. "Farewell for now Rio."

Rio looked at where Organization had been. "I'll need to tell Lance and Yuma about this." She tucked the card into her deck. "For now, I need to focus on getting more heart pieces."

Train Plaza, Evening…

Cat was frantically searching for her next opponent. So far, she managed to beat one duelist because every other duelist her cats found had been beaten before she arrived. She suddenly stopped as Organization walked towards her.

"You!" She got into a position to defend herself. "What do you want Organization?" He pulled out a card that cast an eerie red glow causing Cat's eyes to go blank. "I will do anything for Barian World."

Organization walked forward and produced a before passing it to the girl. "Tomorrow, I want you to focus your attention on defeating Lance with this deck. Do not inform him of Barian World but do use the Rank-Up spell in it. Also, tell him it was I who sent you."

Cat nodded. "Yes sir."

"Until then, act as though nothing is different." Organization ordered before leaving the area.

Night…

Lance was leaning against the wall of the building while talking to Rio through his duel gazer. "Organization left you with a Number?"

"He did, and I have no idea why." Rio stated

"Shark and Rio encountered Organization and unlocked some sort of power within them that makes the Number's usual effects nonexistent on them." Lance sighed. "Thanks for keeping me informed."

"No problem." Rio stated. "Talk to you later."

"Same." Lance stated.

They hung up, and mere moment later the multi-deck user heard his best friend. "Hey Lance!"

Lance saw him. "Yuma!" He moved to meet his friend. "It's good to see you. I have some stuff to tell you and Astral."

Astral appeared and spoke to Lance through his mind. "We have a lot to tell you as well. Like the fact that we can communicate through our minds."

Some Time Later…

Yuma talked about his duels against a soccer player, farmer, and construction worker which was the duel where he found out about the communication through their minds. Then, Lance told them about everything he'd done and heard.

Astral was left contemplating things. "That does sound rather peculiar."

"Tell me about it." Lance stated.

Yuma sighed. "Man, this Organization guy is hard to read."

"I agree with you there." Lance nodded. "Still, having others on our side that can use Numbers will be a god send."

"Agreed." Astral stated. "You two only use so many of them anyways. After absorption, we can deal out Numbers to each of them for their use in the upcoming duels. For now, you two should pace yourselves. There are still two days left in this tournament."

"I was hoping to get another duel in." Yuma complained.

"I have to agree with Astral." Lance chuckled. "Knowing us, the following days are going to be just as crazy as this one." He shook his head. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to slip up from an overload of insanity."

Yuma sighed. "I guess."

With Kite and Shay

The brothers were walking the streets together and going over their progress for the day. Both had completed their heart containers with ease, yet neither had found a single Number. This had resulted in more duels well after the completion of their containers.

"Kite, you think it's possible Yuma and Lance have been hunting Number more fervently?" Shay asked.

Kite rubbed his chin. "It's possible, but we can't rule out the possibility of other parties at play. Recently, Orbital has been picking up traces of Barian energy. Nothing big, but enough to be noticeable."

"So, a Barian might be around." Shay stated. "We'll have to keep our eyes peeled. Whomever they are could lead us to answers."

"Keep your eyes peeled. If they are in fact collecting Numbers, they've been meticulous and silent as to not catch our eyes. In fact, we do not know how many Number Hunters there could be." Kite explained.

Shay nodded. "I got it, Kite."

Heartland Tower, Computer Room

Heartland stood before the hologram of Faker. "How are Kite and Shay doing?"

Heartland smiled. "Those two do not know the meaning of lose. The end of the first day sees both with full heart containers. We've also seen half the duelist in this tournament defeated. Many who remain must have Numbers."

"Lulu and Hart are still as well as can be expected?" Faker inquired.

"I see that Lulu receives only the best care and Hart, despite being further exhausted from the increased pace, is fine." Heartland replied.

Faker nodded. "Continue to see that remains the case."

Heartland bowed. "Yes sir."

1: I will say unintentional help... for now.

Martin: I currently have plans for that. They may change when I enviably get to that point, but I do have plans.

Martin: There are many reasons I didn't include them in this fanfiction. A big one being that I wanted to keep the main group a smaller unit. You know, the school group. With all the character I was going to add, having Bronk and Flip, to me, felt like this tory would be inflated with characters that hung around. Far to many than I thought I could balance. In addition, I felt as though I couldn't give either of them windows of duel opportunity.

Give other characters the chance to shine. Unlike everyone else, I couldn't feasibly see them paired with any other deck. That would have meant they'd lag behind the growth of everyone else. Now, of course there has to be a reason I choose these two, over anyone else. There is. Everyone is free to enjoy their characters, but I personally didn't. They didn't resonate with me. I still enjoyed Yugioh Zexal immensely, but those two never really drew me in.

Haro654: That question will be answered.

1: Even if this wasn't a continuation of my previous fanfiction, I still think Anna is Jaden's granddaughter... even if it is through adoption.