They were at the mall, and a hostage situation was in progress. A litterbot fell from the top floor to the bottom and exploded into a pile of trash and broken machinery.
"Hey! Watch it up there!" Yuma exclaimed, both Tori and Alex next to him staring at the totaled robot in front of them.
"The standoff continues." a reporter commentates. "It is uncertain if the authorities are going to meet his demands for money and a helicopter. Only time will tell."
"Oh man, not good." Yuma comments.
"Yeah, hope they'll get out alright," Alex adds. Just then, Yuma's (phone?) went off. It was a call from Kari.
"Yuma! You're at the mall, right?!" she shouted.
"Are you saying I'm goofing off at the mall instead of doing my homework! How dare you!" Yuma said, acting offended.
"But you are," Tori responds to his remark.
"Yeah, but she doesn't need to know that," he whispers to her. Alex just shakes his head in disappointment.
"I heard that!" Kari shouted, making Yuma panic. "Not that I didn't need her to tell me since I can see you on live TV!" Looking up at the camera, Yuma saw that he and his friends were live on television. "Now since you're over there, how about you get a move on and help me get a scoop!" She ends the call right there.
"You'd think that her being your older sibling, she'd be trying to keep you out of danger instead of forcing you into it," Alex comments.
"Tell me about it," Yuma responds. Then, the one behind the whole hostage situation appeared on screen. "Just who is this guy?" Astral then appeared from the key.
"Look there," he said, pointing out a symbol on the man's left shoulder, the number 56. "It is a number."
"So this bandit has a number card!" Yuma concludes, before turning around and running through the crowd. "I need a closer look! Coming through!"
"Wait!" Tori yells out, following close behind. Alex meanwhile 'got lost in the crowd'.
"If my memory serves me correctly, time should be stopping…" And like magic, everything froze around him. "...Okay, I was kinda expecting to get frozen along with them." A light growl from Dark Rebellion was all that was needed to confirm what happened. "Right… since you have the power to absorb Number energy to become treated as one, I guess this kinda makes sense." A few minutes later, and time flowed back to normal.
"Enter," came the sniveling voice of his 'boss'. Kite followed through without complaint. "Did you retrieve the Number, Kite?"
"I did," he answered.
"That's superb news," Mr. Heartland congratulated him, standing out of his chair. "And superb news for Heartland City. Your dueling skills will soon bring peace here. So how many Numbers is it that you have now?"
"Orbital?" Kite asked his helper robot.
"A-At last count, 11 N-Number cards are in our possession," it answered with a mechanical stutter.
"Wonderful! So many in such a short time!" Heartland said ecstatic. "I knew I picked the right man for the job!" Kite grew silent, which his boss noticed. "What's wrong Kite? Now, now, don't tell me you're upset about all the souls that you've been capturing? You know as well as I that upon taking a Number a bit of that Number keeper's life energy is taken with it, yes? Besides, these keepers had it coming. They're a villainous lot and should be shown no mercy."
"Just promise me that once I've gathered all the Numbers," Kite replied coldly. "My brother will be cured."
"But of course, and speaking of a villainous lot, we've discovered quite a rowdy one at that." Images and videos of Vixen appeared on the screens found in the room they were in. "This little trickster goes by the title, The Number Thief. He mostly works at night so it would be in your best interest to start working the night shift, if you don't mind."
"And why should I care?"
"Well with a name like the Number Thief, I think it's pretty obvious what it is he's stealing, don't you?"
"Numbers…" With an irritated growl, Kite had agreed to look for this, Number Thief, and left without another word.
"Bronk was right! That place was wicked! Jam packed with dueling fun!" Yuma yelled in excitement, Alex and Tori following close behind.
"Despite the fact you lost every match," Alex pointed out with a smirk.
"Hey! I didn't lose all of them!" Yuma countered.
"Sure you didn't," Tori said with a giggle.
"Well… okay, maybe some, or most, okay all of them, but still!"
"Yuma!" Astral said. "I sense that danger is near!"
"Huh?"
"Do you not sense it as well?"
"No but thanks for freaking me out!" It soon started to rain. "AH! My hair! Quickly let's get out of the rain!"
Tori and Alex ran to keep up with Yuma, the latter of the two purposefully lagging behind knowing what was to come, and not long after Tori was out of his sight, time had once again foze.
"Just as I thought," Alex thought to himself. He then heard a faint whistling. "That must be Kite." Following the whistle, he found both Kite and Yuma having their duel. Kite started strong by summoning two Numbers in one turn, shocking both Yuma and Astral. Orbital cheering Kite on as he ended his turn and reprimanded the bot after. Yuma's turn was just him setting a monster face down. During Kite's turn, he used Number 10: Illumiknight's effect to discard a card and draw a new one. Then he used Number 20: Giga-Brilliant to increase its ATK to 2100 and used it to attack Yuma's face down, Gogogo Golem which due to its effect, prevented its destruction once, to which Illumiknight finished the job. After the battle was over, Kite then tributed his two Numbers to bring out his ace card, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and it was a beauty to see.
Come Yuma's turn, he summoned out Gagaga Magician, and using the spell Monster Slots, he managed to bring out Ganbara Knight. He then overlaid the two into his ace monster Utopia. Then using the spell Blustering Winds, Utopia became 1000 ATK and DEF stronger. It then attacked Galaxy-Eyes, only for the dragon to use its effect to banish both it and Utopia until the end of the Battle Phase. Upon their return, Galaxy-Eyes grew 1000 ATK stronger and Utopia had no overlay units. Seeing no other option, Yuma set one card and ended his turn.
Now that it was Kite's turn again, Galaxy-Eyes was on the attack. While Utopia wasn't destroyed, Yuma still took a large amount of damage, and it only got worse as the spell Photon Wind dealt an extra 1000 damage to Yuma since Utopia wasn't destroyed, also he got to draw a card, and then set that card to end his turn.
When Yuma began his next turn, he contemplated about setting Utopia to defence mode since it wouldn't be destroyed by battle, but Astral convinced him against the idea, something that he would soon regret as upon their attack, Kite's set card Luminize activated, negating Utopia's attack and increasing its ATK even further. It was a no-brainer at this point that Yuma had lost, and it was by pure luck that Kite cut their duel short.
Once time had resumed, the rain once again began to pour, and Yuma and Astral stood in the center of the road as a Truck that was just frozen began to move again. Running from his hiding spot, Alex made his presence known.
"Yuma, there you are! Don't go running off like that!" he said, before 'noticing' the sad look on his face. "Hey, you okay?"
"Did we just miss something?" Tori said, running up to them.
"Yeah, my absolute loss," he responded, and then walked away. "Now I know that even when the stakes are high and I feel the flow, I don't have what it takes." He then ran off, leaving Tori and Alex behind.
Later that night, Vixen was jumping on the roof tops, searching for duelists with Number cards to duel against. "Where oh where are you Number holders?"
"Ah!" came the sound of someone in trouble. Feeling the need to investigate, the Number Thief made his way to the voice, and found two people in an alley. One of them had their hair turned white and their skin was completely shriveled up like a dried prune, and the other was one that Vixen knew all too well, Kite, and in his hands was a Number card.
"So… you're the famous Number Hunter I've recently heard of, huh?" Kite turned to see Vixen above him, a fox-like grin on his mask-covered face. Trying to catch the thief off guard, he cast out his duel anchor, only for Vix to dodge. "Now that's a little rude, don't you think?"
"Orbital," was the only command he gave the robot before time slowed down around them. "So you're the infamous Number Thief I've heard of."
"Seems two people of fame have finally met face to face. Let me guess, you want my Numbers?"
"Indeed. Once we're finished only one of us will walk away with the other's Numbers! Go, photon transformation!" After a blinding light show, Kite's clothes changed from black to white, and his left eye turned from blue to red, and was surrounded by a blue mark, also his crescent moon duel disk shot out of Orbital and attached to his left arm. In turn, Vixen attached his duel disk to his left arm and the left side of his mask glowed red as its built in duel gazer activated.
"DUEL!"
Vixen's LP: 4000
Kite's LP: 4000
"You can go first," Kite said.
"Very well, I draw!" Vix drew his sixth card while he thought in his head. "Alright, this is Kite I'm dueling, so I have to play a lot smarter than I normally have been for the past few weeks." After looking at his hand, he made his move. "First I summon Time Thief Regulator! (ATK: 600, DEF: 200, LV: 4)" The robot dog appeared onto the field with a mechanical bark. "And this little buddy is gonna help me out as I can tribute him to summon two other Time Thieves from my deck! Come Time Thieves Chronocorder (ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, LV: 4) and Bezel Ship! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4)" Both the mechanical butterfly and tiny spaceship flew onto the battlefield once Regulator had shattered.
"Hmm…" Kite grumbled as he watched his opponent's moves carefully.
"Next, I overlay my two monsters in order to build the overlay network! Maiden of quantum mechanics, assist us with your wonderful inventions! I Xyz Summon! Time Thief Perpetua! (ATK: 1900, DEF: 2500, RNK: 4)" The red headed maiden then appeared onto the field in defense mode.
"Impressive monster, but nothing I can't handle," Kite comments.
"Don't think I'm done yet Kite, because by detaching an overlay unit from Perpetua allows me to activate Time Thief Winder's effect from my hand to Special Summon him! (ATK: 1800, DEF: 1300, LV: 4)" Winder appeared to the field in attack position, ready to take action.
"Huh?"
"Next I'll use Winder's ability to search my deck for any Time Thief card of my choosing, and for this scenario, I'll pick Time Thief Retrograde!" The counter trap slid out from his deck and was then added to his hand. "Next up, I'll use Bezel Ship's effect from my graveyard! By detaching Perpetua's final overlay unit, I can bring it back as well! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4)" Bezel Ship then reappeared onto the field through a time portal. "I now overlay level 4 Winder and Bezel Ship in order to build the overlay network! Master of thievery across the temporal plane, appear before us with your masterful craft! I Xyz Summon! Time Thief Redoer! (ATK: 2400, DEF: 2000, RNK: 4)" Redoer appeared in a flash next to Perpetua, taking a defensive stance.
"T-Two Xyz Summons in one t-turn! This guy's good, b-but not as good as you m-master Kite!" Orbital cheered.
"Quiet!" his master reprimanded.
"Next I'll use Pepetua's ability! Once per turn, I can attach a Time Thief card from my deck to another Xyz monster I control! I attach the trap card Time Thief Flyback!" Perpetua pulled a glowing orb from her pocket and began to tinker with it, making the orb glow brighter, then she gave it to Redoer as it proceeded to circle with the other two. "Lastly I'll set a card and end my turn."
"Then it's my turn! I draw!" Kite began his turn now, drawing his sixth card.
"Time Thief Redoer's effect activates!" Vixen cuts in. "During the Standby Phase, he takes the top card of your deck and attaches it as an overlay unit. Quantum Thievery!" Redoer's cable shot out and took Kite's card and turned it into an overlay unit. Orbital was not happy at all.
"Hey! U-Use your own cards b-buster!"
"Shut it Orbital! This is actually good for us, remember?" Kite reminded his robot before continuing his turn. "First since I have no monsters on my field while you control a Special Summoned monster, I can activate this! The spell Treasure Cards of Adversity, allowing me to draw two more cards!" Upon drawing them, a smirk appeared, seeing what he drew. "Next, since I control no monsters, I can summon out Photon Thrasher! (ATK: 2100, DEF: 0, LV: 4) Then I'll summon Photon Crusher! (ATK: 2000, DEF: 0, LV: 4)" Two of Kite's iconic monsters appeared onto the field. "Finally, I shall tribute them both to summon out my ultimate monster!" The two monsters vanish as a giant crest took their place. Grabbing hold of it, Kite threw it into the air, making it spin as it absorbed stardust. "I summon the monster more savage than a supernova! Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! (ATK: 3000, DEF: 2000, LV: 8)" His mighty dragon appeared onto the field with a mighty roar. "How do you like that? Are you quaking in your shoes, because you should be."
"Well no actually I'm not, and here's why! I activate Time Thief Redoer's ability!" Vixen counters, catching Kite off guard. "Once per turn I can detach up to three overlay units of different card types! And depending on what is detached an ability is activated! I detach a monster and trap card!" Two overlay units were absorbed into Redoer's device. "Since a monster was detached, Redoer is banished until the End Phase, and since a trap card was detached, a card on your field returns to the top of your deck!"
"What?!" both Kite and Orbital respond shocked.
"Go! Quantum Jump and Phantom Reversal!" Both Redoer and Galaxy-Eyes vanished into their own time portal. "Also since a Time Thief monster left the field via card effect, Time Thief Chronocorder is summoned from my graveyard!" Chronocorder then appeared in Redoer's place in defence position.
"...I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that, but I won't make the same mistake twice, and I'll start by playing the spell, Hand Destruction! We both must discard two cards from our hands, and in turn, we can draw two cards!" Vixen selected his two with a smirk and discarded them along with Kite as they then drew two new ones. "Next I'll activate the effects of the Lightserpents I just discarded, Special Summoning them from the graveyard to my field! (ATK: 1200, DEF: 800, LV: 3)X2" Two glowing snakes of light then appeared onto the field, hissing in an attempt of fear. "Now I'll overlay them both in order to Xyz Summon! Number 48: Shadow Lich! (ATK: 1800, DEF: 0, RNK: 3) Shadow Lich, attack his Chronocorder!" The skeletal figure in a red cloak then charged at Chronocorder, destroying it with its giant scythe.
"Since Chronocorder was summoned through its graveyard effect, it is banished," Vixen tells Kite as his monster is removed from play. Kite then smirked in triumph.
"I'll set a card and end my turn," Kite finished.
"First, Redoer returns to the field!" The head Time Thief then appears back onto the field. "Then I'll draw, and then Redoer will take the top card of your deck! Quantum Thievery!" Once the top card was taken, Orbital then gave a sigh of relief.
"It's a g-good thing you played that Hand Destruction when you d-did! I-If you didn't then Galaxy-Eyes would've been taken as an overlay unit!"
"I am well aware of that Orbital," Kite responded annoyed.
"Next, Perpetua will attach another Time Thief card to Redoer! I'm attaching another Chronocorder! Then, I'll banish Breakthrough Skill from my graveyard to activate it, negating the effects of one monster on your field! I choose your Shadow Lich!" The trap card that Vixen discarded through Hand Destruction was then used as it appeared and shot a beam at Shadow Lich, dampening its abilities. "Now I'll have Redoer attack your Shadow Lich!" After gaining its new overlay unit from Perpetua, Redoer attacked Shadow Lich with a one two punch, but before it made contact…
"I activate my trap, Defense Draw!" Kite countered. "I take no damage from this battle and I get to draw a card."
"On the contrary Kite, I wasted nothing. I activate my counter trap, Time Thief Retrograde! This card negates your trap card and attaches it to a Time Thief Xyz monster I control as an overlay unit!" The set card on Vixen's field flipped up, shooting a beam at Defense Draw, negating it and turning it into an overlay unit and attaching it to Redoer. The Time Thief then finished its attack, destroying Shadow Lich since its effects were nullified.
Kite's LP: 3400
"Next I'll banish Time Thief Flyback from my graveyard to attach a card from your graveyard to a Time Thief I control as an overlay unit! I'll attach that Shadow Lich to Perpetua, and end my turn there with a face down."
"It's my turn then! I draw!" After looking at what he drew, he immediately played it (After Redoer's Quantum Thievery). "I activate Photon Sublimation! By banishing two Photon monsters from my graveyard, I can draw two cards!" After seeing what he drew, his grin returned. "I summon Galaxy-Eyes Cloudragon, (ATK: 300, DEF: 200, LV: 1) and by tributing it, I can summon back my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! (ATK: 3000, DEF: 2000, LV: 8) Welcome back my friend." Galaxy-Eyes returned to the field, and he did not seem too happy about what Redoer did to him last turn.
"In that case, I'll activate Redoer's ability yet again!" Redoer held his device into the air as three overlay units flew into it, except that Kite already had a counter.
"I thought I told you I wouldn't fall for the same trick twice! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card Photon Submission from my hand!" The spell then appeared onto the field in its activation, shining a bright light from it. "While I control Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, I can activate this card to negate the abilities of all Xyz Monsters for the rest of the turn!" Redoer's device short circuited in the shining light, and Perpetua seemed to weaken. "Also for every Xyz Monster my opponent controls that had its abilities negated by this spell card's effect, I get to draw a card!" Kite then drew two cards that he added to his empty hand.
"A-All right M-Master Kite!" Orbital cheered.
"Now Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, attack Time Thief Redoer! Photon Stream of Destruction!" Galaxy-Eyes then attacked Redoer with a blast of angered rage, only for Vixen to activate his set card.
"I play my trap! Storming Mirror Force!"
"S-Storming Mirror Force?!" Orbital comments.
"Just like the original, it affects all your attack position monsters, only instead of destroying them, they're sent back to the hand!" A gusting wall of wind blew towards Galaxy-Eyes, it beginning to feel itself start to blow away.
"I activate Galaxy-Eye's ability! I banish both our monsters until the end of the Battle Phase!" Kite countered, both Galaxy-Eyes and Redoer vanishing from the field.
"Thanks for that, because since Redoer left the field by a card effect, my other copy of Chronocorder comes back! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, LV: 4)"
"But it won't be there for long. At the end of the Battle Phase our monsters return!" Both Galaxy-Eyes and Redoer return to the field. "And for every overlay unit your Xyz Monster had, Galaxy-Eyes becomes 500 attack points stronger!" Redoer's only overlay unity was then absorbed into the dragon's chest gem, increasing its power.
(ATK: 3000 - 3500)
"Then, I'll activate the Quick-Play spell, Photon Aftershock! At the end of a Battle Phase where Galaxy-Eyes activated its ability, it banishes all monsters you control!" The spell then shone as all of Vixen's monsters vanished from his field.
"Redoer, Perpetua, Chronocorder!" the Number Thief called out to them before they vanished.
"Finally feeling scared? I'll set a card face down and end my turn!"
"I must admit, this is the first time I've ever been pushed so far," Vixen thought as he drew his next card. Upon seeing it, he smiled. "I guess now's as good a time as any to use my secret weapon!"
"I'll admit Kite, you're one of the few to actually put up a decent challenge for me," Vixen commented while Kite merely rolled his eyes, thinking his opponent is trying to make himself sound tougher than he is. "But even you must admit that only the best duelists aren't entirely reliant on one summoning method alone."
That got a response as Kite gave Vixen a questioning gaze, Orbital asking the very question on his mind. "W-What do you mean by that, meatbag?"
"Why tell when I can show? I summon Black Salvo to my field! (ATK: 100, DEF: 1100, LV: 3)" A small black orb with a lit fuse and a fiendish face appeared onto the field. "And when it's summoned I can bring out a Level 4 dark Machine monster from my graveyard! Come forth Time Thief Regulator! (ATK: 600, DEF: 200, LV: 4)"
"H-Hey! Those monsters don't have the same level so you can't Xyz Summon with them!" Orbital pointed out.
"That's because I'm not Xyz Summoning, you see Black Salvo is what's known as a Tuner Monster!" the Number Thief explained.
"Searching database… *gasp* y-you're going to…"
"I tune level 4 Time Thief Regulator with level 3 Black Salvo! (4 + 3 = 7) Dragon whose petals glow in the light of the moon! Appear before us with your mighty gales! I Synchro Summon! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon! (ATK: 2400, DEF: 1800, LV: 7)" Black Salvo exploded into three green rings that circled Regulator as four stars formed from it's clear body. In an explosion of energy, the manga counterpart for Akiza Izinski's ace monster appeared onto the field with a mighty roar.
"S-Synchro Summon?!" Orbital cried while Kite stared in shock at the dragon before him.
"Now Moonlight's ability activates! When it is Special Summoned, one Special Summoned monster you control returns to your hand! Sayonara Galaxy-Eyes! Moonlit Gale!" Shining rose petals swirled from the dragon's body as it formed a tornado that blew Galaxy-Eyes back into Kite's hand. "Now Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, attack Kite directly with Moonlit Flare!" A shining inferno spat out of Moonlight's mouth as it thrashed Kite's life points. To Vixen's slight confusion but great ease, he did not activate his face down.
Kite's LP: 1000
"I'll set two cards and end my turn."
It took Kite a moment before he got his bearings back together. "I don't know how you learned this Synchro Summon, but that won't stop me from winning this duel! I draw!" He took one look at his card before he played it. "I activate Photon Sanctuary! This card summons two Photon Tokens to my field in defence mode! (ATK: 2000, DEF: 0, LV: 4)" Two wisps of light then appeared onto the field. "You tried again and again to get rid of my dragon, but like a phoenix it will keep coming back to ravage you! I tribute my two tokens to bring back once more, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" The dragon flew to the field in a gust of power, roaring triumphantly as it faced down Vixen's Black Rose Moonlight Dragon. "Now your dragon shall feel the wrath… of…" Kite paused as another strong wind began to pick up, this time originating from… Moonlight.
"Did I forget to mention that Moonlight's ability also activates whenever a level 5 or higher monster is Special Summoned to your field?" The rose dragon then let loose another gale of wind that blew into another twister that returned Galaxy-Eyes back to Kite's hand.
"W-What?!" Orbital exclaimed, before throwing accusations at Vixen. "Y-You cheater! How dare you fail to mention that to M-Master Kite!"
"Oh, and am I supposed to tell you what my face downs are too?" the thief rhetorically asks the robot. "There is nothing in the rules that state I have to tell you everything a card does, but moving on it would seem that our duel has come to an end."
"Don't think that you've won!" Kite responded, ending his turn.
"Oh I think I have, the only card you have in your hand currently is Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, and as for you face down, let me guess, the trap card Luminize, right?" The shocked look in Kite's eyes was all that was needed for confirmation. "It's a trap card that can only be activated while you control a Light attribute monster. I've studied your deck Kite, I know how it works, how it plays. It is an anti-Xyz deck which makes it powerful against other Xyz decks but lacks when facing decks that aren't entirely reliant on Xyz Summoning. As you told me when this duel began, only one of us will be walking away with the other's Numbers, and that one is me." He then finally drew his card. "You want to know the saddest thing about this Kite?" The said duelist just looked at his opponent with a faraway glance. "I haven't even used my ace card once during this duel." You could practically hear the glass shattering.
"Just to be on the safe side, I'll summon Time Thief Bezel Ship, (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4) and next I'll activate my trap card The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine, which will be Special Summoned as a normal monster upon activation! (ATK: 0, DEF: 300, LV: 4) Now I'll overlay them in order to summon a dragon with a lot of air in its lungs! I Xyz Summon Tornado Dragon! (ATK: 2100, DEF: 2000, RNK: 4)" A being made entirely out of twisters and tornadoes appeared onto the field next to Black Rose Moonlight Dragon. "Now by using an overlay unit, Tornado Dragon can blow away a Spell or Trap card on the field! Say goodbye to your face-down!" The wind raged as Tornado Dragon used its own whirlwind to blow away what was in fact Luminize.
"Remember this name well Kite, for it was Vixen the Number Thief who finally managed to bring you down! Now Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, finish this duel with Moonlit Flare!" The said dragon unleashed its final attack on Kite, ending the duel.
Kite's LP: 0
Vixen Wins!
Time flowed back to normal as Orbital stared in shock at Kite's defeat. "M-Master Kite?" A flash of violet and Orbital saw Vixen making his way towards his downed opponent. Thinking fast, the robot quickly pulled his master out of the way, but not before the Number thief managed to snag Number 48: Shadow Lich from him. Before he could steal any more, Orbital quickly changed to glider mode and flew them out of there.
"Damn, that robot threw off my aim," Vixen comments. "Oh well, at least I got one, so that's good enough for me."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE LOST?!" Mr. Heartland exclaimed.
"I-I mean that M-Master Kite lost his duel to the Number Thief! H-He used a summoning method f-forgotten to time to completely catch M-Master Kite off!" Orbital explained while Kite simply stared at the floor while he leaned against a wall, his duel with Vixen flowing through his head.
"I didn't even manage to deal a single point of damage to him, but at least I managed to keep him on his toes. At least, until that Synchro Monster was summoned," he thought to himself.
"...ite… Kite… KITE!"
"Hmm?" He then looked up to see a not so happy Mr. Heartland.
"I said, how are you going to redeem yourself?! Without those Numbers your brother has no hope for recovery!"
Thinking back to the duel, he then remembered something that the thief had told him.
"I've studied your deck Kite, I know how it works, how it plays. It is an anti-Xyz deck which makes it powerful against other Xyz decks but lacks when facing decks that aren't entirely reliant on Xyz Summoning."
"...I need to change my deck's dueling style!" he declared. "As much as I'd hate to admit it, he had a point about my deck being too reliant on my opponent using only Xyz Monsters, so get me some new cards to work around that." He then proceeded to leave the room.
"Excuse you? Do you have any idea of what you're asking?" Mr. Heartland rhetorically asks.
"Yes," he answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see my brother." With that he finally left the room, Orbital following soon after. Mr. Heartland just sighed in defeat, just as a hologram appeared behind him.
"So, Kite lost, did he?!" Dr. Faker shouted, Mr. Heartland jumping in a panic. "So much for his deck being unbeatable!"
"No need to worry Dr. Faker!" Mr. Heartland replied. "We'll be adding some new cards to Kite's deck to assure us that this won't happen again!"
"You'd better, or else you'll be another piece of trash set to destroy Astral World!" the doctor threatened before ending the transmission. Mr. Heartland took another sigh of relief, before shaking his hand in anger.
"Curse that Number Thief! Not only did he have to defeat Kite but now he made me look bad in front of Dr. Faker! Oh I'll get Kite some new cards alright, but first." He then pressed a button on his chair. "Nistro, Dextra, come up here please." A few minutes later, a man and a woman entered the room.
"You called for us Mr. Heartland?" Dextra said.
"Yeah, whatcha need?" Nistro asked. "We got some Number holders to deal with?"
"...Kite has lost a duel," Mr. Heartland answered, shocking the two behind him.
"What?" Nistro responds in shock.
"That's impossible," Dextra adds.
"Believe it or not, it's true. Luckily Orbital managed to get him out of there before he lost all his Numbers," their boss explained. "So now Kite needs to improve his deck with some new cards. Meanwhile, I want you two to find and defeat the one who beat Kite." The screens lit up as Vixen was once again seen. "This is Vixen, the Number Thief. He has been a thorn in Dr. Faker's side and now mine as well. Find him, defeat him, and steal his Numbers."
"It shall be done Mr. Heartland," both Nistro and Dextra said as they proceeded to walk off.
"To think that Kite would've lost," Nistro said in disbelief. "I'm still finding it hard to believe."
"Well, I don't see any reason for Mr. Heartland to lie to us, so it must be true," Dextra continued, a seething rage filling within her. "And I will make this Number Thief pay for beating Kite!"
Nistro just sighed and scratched his head seeing his coworker get all worked up over some guy. "Man, I'll never understand women and their emotions."
Author's Note: Surprise! Alex knows Synchro Summoning! Add that to the list of skills to look out for. Anyways, I hope this duel was as good and I didn't underplay Kite too poorly, but I wanted the relationship of dueling skill between Alex, Yuma and Kite to be like Rock Paper and Scissors. I'm sure you can figure out what that means. Anyways 'till next time!