In a port on the coast of Heartland City, Kite and Orbital were researching the whereabouts of Astral, or as they call him, the Original Number, and their finds had led them to Yuma. The two stood before a large computer that the robot was clicking away tirelessly on.
"So this pendant that he wears is made of an extraterrestrial material?" Kite asks the robot.
"Y-Yes, so perhaps that this Yuma is the host to the Original Number?"
"And what about him, have you been able to locate him?"
"U-Unfortunately not…"
"Are your circuits fried? Because I should've expected you to have at least found something!" the Number Hunter responded angrily, making Orbital panic.
"N-No! I-It's just that… well…"
"Well what?"
"F-From what I can figure out, h-his appearance patterns have no t-triangulated location," the robot stammered, pulling up sitings and maps showing the thief's appearances by dots. "T-They always appear at random."
"What about his facial features?"
U-Unknown I'm afraid…"
"Grr… well, anything on his deck?"
"N-Nothing recognisable except for a few cards, b-but they are legal apparently."
"Grr…!" Finishing his frustration, Kite slammed his fist on the monitor that Orbital was using, causing the said robot to cry out in shock. "Vixen… I swear when I find you… I'll make you regret ever beating me in a duel! My loss isn't permanent, I promise you that."
Unknown to the two, a shadowed figure was watching them from the wall, staring longingly at the young man before walking away. "I'm sorry Kite, but this Number Thief has started to become an obsession to you and are now unable to focus on what's important. That's why I'll defeat him first."
"Where have you been Alex?!" Tori exclaimed to the said boy, looking more tired than usual. "Don't you know what happened the past few days?!"
"Uh… no," the black haired boy replied.
"Well, some Number Card tried to take over Yuma and a jewelry thief was caught using litterbots to smuggle riches!"
"It's already after the Lillybot episode?" Alex thought to himself. "Guess I've been so busy that I missed it." For the past few days, Alex has been searching for ways to sneak into the heart of Heartland City, Heartland itself. He's managed to map out a few entrances, but beyond that, he has yet to figure out any routes to the tower where Kite, Hart and Mr. Heartland was at. If what Nistro said was true, he needed to know exactly what Yuma might be up against so he could assist.
"Sorry, I was so busy with other things that I've been unable to hang out with you guys."
"I'll say," Bronk says, walking up to them. "You look like you haven't slept in days."
"You have no idea," the raven haired boy whispered to himself.
"Huh? Ya say something Alex?"
"Ah… nothing too important."
"Well you really should get some sleep, you look like you could use a lot of it," Tori adds. "Anyways, me, Bronk and Yuma are going to gym class now. See ya Alex," They then left on their way.
"Alright… activity… great…" Alex replied, with a tired expression on his face, his eyes slowly drifting off to sleep. "Wait… is something supposed to happen today? Ah… I'm sure I can handle a couple minutes of rest." And with that, Alex began to nap on his desk, unknowingly missing a certain robot sneaking its way into school to snatch Yuma's key.
"When Acid Golem is destroyed, You take 2000 points of damage, and that means this duel is mine!"
"No! AH!"
Shark's LP: 0
Kite Wins!
"I'll be taking that Number Card of yours now, along with your soul!" Kite said, using his Photon Hand to rip Shark's soul from his body, causing the said boy's hair to grey and whiten. With his soul in hand, Kite prepared to shatter it, only to realise he'd been duped. "Hang on, there is no Number."
"Shark!" came Yuma's voice as he ran up to the Number Hunter, who then turned to meet his eyes.
"Yuma, long time no see."
"Hello Kite," was the kid's response, as the rest of his friends came up behind him (except for Alex).
"M-Master Kite, your Photon Mode is only at 43%. No more dueling today, please," Orbital advised. Kite, with slight reluctance, jumped off the building as Orbital turned into his wingsuit mode to fly off.
"No! He's got Astral! Kite, come back!" As the said boy shouted to the Hunter, His friends looked solemnly, until the door they came out of opened, Alex finally deciding to join them.
"Hey, so what happened? When I finally woke up the whole school was trashed and-" He was then cut off by a fist to the head, courtesy of Tori. "AHHH! What the heck, Tori!"
"'WHAT THE HECK?!' WHILE YOU WERE SNOOZING IN THE CLASSROOM DURING GYM CLASS, SHARK JUST DUELED KITE FOR YUMA'S KEY AND LOST!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the said duelist whose soul was just taken from his body.
"Now's not the time to be angry, Tori," Bronk cuts in. "We need to get Shark to the nurse, stat!"
"Right!" Yuma responds, now carrying Shark in his arms. "Everything's gonna be okay Shark! I promise!" He then proceeds to run to the door, with everyone else following close behind, except for one. Alex, who after hearing what Tori had said, now starred in the direction Kite had left.
"He was here… he was here and I didn't even know it," he thought to himself. "I could've stopped him but by overworking my job as the Number Thief, I grew tired and slept right through it! Damn it!" He then gripped his hand into a fist and grit his teeth. "Well no more waiting around. No more shall I wait for him. This time, I'll go after him myself!"
He then proceeded to run out of the school and into a dark alley, entering a sewage lid. By sunset, Vixen popped out of a different lid on the city's ocean coast. He then proceeded to make his way to find Kite's secret base.
"Hopefully I'm not too late. If what Nistro said about Kite improving his deck is true, then Yuma and Astral might not be able to tie like they did in the anime. I'm going to have to duel him to get Yuma's key back myself!" he thought to himself, until something wrapped around his arm and pulled him onto a rooftop. "GAHHH!" After shaking his head he looked up to see the butterfly hunter herself, Dextra. "Oh… it's you…"
"Yes it is I, Dextra! Kite is busy at the moment, so I'm gonna have to stop you!" she replies.
"Look, as much as I want to show you your place, I'm gonna have to take a hard pass," Vixen says as he tries to walk away… "Maybe next ti-ME!" ...only to be yanked back towards his next opponent with her duel anchor.
"You're not going anywhere unless you beat me in a duel!" Dextra reprimands with a cold tone, a hidden anger within her eyes. "So what will it be, Number Thief?"
"...I guess I have no choice," he responds, activating his duel disk, the left eye of his mask glowing. At the same time Dextra did the same, a duel tattoo forming around her eye.
"LET'S DUEL!"
Vixen LP: 4000
Dextra LP: 4000
"As much as I want to end this duel quickly, I'll have to take this slow against someone like her," Vixen thought as they drew their hands.
"My move! I draw!" Dextra starts, drawing her next card, her eyes widened at it, silently thanking whichever deity is out there for her luck. "I'll start this duel off by setting 3 cards face down!" 3 cards then appeared in her spell/trap zones. "Next I'll summon Swallowtail Butterspy! (ATK: 1800, DEF: 1200, LV: 4)" Next a butterfly warrior bearing the wings of a monarch butterfly appeared. "I end my turn…"
"My turn then! I draw!" Vixen shouts, drawing his new card and studies his opponent's field. "3 set cards aren't a good sign, so I'll have to tread carefully," he thinks before playing his card. "I summon Time Thief Winder! (ATK: 1800, DEF: 1300, LV: 4) Thanks to him, I can add any Time Thief card from my deck to my hand. I'll add Time Thief Retrograde! Next I'll activate Time Thief Startup! This card lets me summon a Time Thief from my hand! Come forth, Time Thief Bezel Ship! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4)"
"Here it comes!" Dextra thinks to herself.
"I now overlay my two Time Thieves 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)" The Time Thief boss monster then appeared onto the field with a grand fleur. "Now Redoer, attack Swallowtail! Quantum Strike!" Redoer then flew towards the butterfly, only for Dextra to have her plan move into motion.
"I activate my face down! Butterflyoke! This card equips to your monster and forces it into defence mode!" she says as her card activates, forcing Vixen to use his monster's ability.
"I activate Time Thief Redoer's special ability! By detaching a monster as material I can banish it until the End Phase! Quantum Jump!" After one of its overlay units was absorbed into its wrist device, Dextra gave a smirk.
"Just what I was waiting for," she said as another face down activated, chains flying from it and wrapped around the thief, stopping its escape and Butterflyoke equipped onto it, switching to defence mode.
"What happened?" Vixen asked in confusion.
"My Fiendish Chain continuous trap that's what. It negates your monster's abilities and prevents it from attacking!" the Hunteress answered, revealing her activated card. "It seems that your thief has been trapped. Also as your Battle Phase ends, I'll activate my last set card! Talisman of Undying Pain!" Her last set card then flipped up, causing a paper talisman to appear on Redoer's chest. "Just like Butterflyoke, this card equips to your monster!"
"So what's it do?"
"You'll just have to wait and see." Looking at the last four cards in his hand, he makes a backup plan.
"I'll set two cards and end my turn." Two face downs then appeared onto the field, ending Vixen's turn.
"My turn! I draw!" After looking at the card she drew, she instantly played it. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy one of your cards! I choose the one on the right!" The magic twister then appeared under the card she chose and revealed it to be Storming Mirror Force. She grit her teeth in silent anger as that wasn't the card she wanted. "Damn, alright then, I'll summon Morpho Butterspy! (ATK: 1200, DEF: 1600, LV: 4)" The next butterfly warrior then appeared, its wings a mixed color of sky blue and midnight purple. "Now I'll overlay them in order to build the overlay network! I Xyz Summon Photon Papilloperative! (ATK: 2100, DEF: 1800, RNK: 4)" Dextra's ace monster then appeared onto the field, a female butterfly warrior with streaks of blue light on her. "Now I'll use her ability! By detaching an overlay unit, I can change your Redoer from defence mode to attack mode, and your monster loses 600 ATK!" The butterfly warrior then cast a gust of sparkling wind from its wings, changing the thief's battle positions and weakening it.
(ATK: 2400 - 1800)
"Papilloperative! Attack Time Thief Redoer!" The said monster then slashed at the thief, however, it wasn't destroyed.
"Why wasn't Redoer destroyed?" Vixen asked, until noticing the talisman start to glow.
"That would be due to Talisman of Undying Pain's effect! Your monster isn't destroyed, but you take double the damage!" Vixen then grunted as he felt his LP decrease.
Vixen's LP: 3400
"I'll set a card and end my turn," Dextra finished.
"My turn, I draw, and I'll start by summoning Time Thief Chronocorder! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, LV: 4)" The mechanical butterfly then appeared next to Redoer with a robotic whir. "Next, by detaching an overlay unit from Redoer I can summon Bezel Ship back from my graveyard! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4)" The ship then flew out of a portal on the ground. "Now I'll overlay them in order to Xyz Summon a monster with a lot of air in its lungs! Come forth Tornado Dragon! (ATK: 2100, DEF: 2000, RNK: 4)" The monster made of tornados then appeared with a roar, Dextra giving a gasp of distress. "Now I'll detach an overlay unit to destroy a spell or trap card on the field, and I choose Fiendish Chain!" Tornado Dragon then aimed one of it's tornados at the said continuous trap.
"I activate my set card Forbidden Chalice! By granting your dragon 400 ATK I can negate its special abilities!" The set card then flipped up to reveal the quick play spell, but Dextra had a good idea of what came next.
"Appreciated, but no thanks. I activate my counter trap Time Thief Retrograde! While Redoer may not be able to use his abilities, yet, I can still use him for other things, such as Retrograde's effect to negate your spell's activation and attach it to Redoer as an overlay unit!" Vixen's only set card then flipped up and shot a beam that hit Forbidden Chalice and turned it into an overlay unit that began to orbit Redoer. After that, Tornado Dragon's effect finished and blew the continuous trap away, causing the chains to shatter from Redoer. "Now, Tornado Dragon, attack Photon Papilloperative!" The two monsters then clashed causing a mutual destruction.
"Grr…" Dextra growled in annoyance.
"I'll end my turn with a face down," Vixen said, his set card appearing on the field.
"And during your end phase I'll activate Butterflyoke's effect to switch your thief to defence mode!" The yoke then glowed forcing the thief to change its batte position again. "Now it's my turn! I draw!"
"And now that Redoer is no longer chained, he can use his effect to attach the top card of your deck to himself as an overlay unit! Quantum Thievery!" The thief then used his effect to draw the top card of Dextra's deck, much to her chagrin.
"I'll activate Treasure Cards of Adversity! Since you control a Special Summoned monster while I control none, I can draw 2 cards! Next I'll continue by activating another copy of Treasure Cards of Adversity, drawing another 2 cards." After drawing her new cards she made her next move. "First I'll summon Necro Butterspy, (ATK: 1300, DEF: 1400, LV: 4) and when she's summoned, I can bring a Butterspy back from my graveyard! I bring back Morpho Butterspy! (ATK: 1200, DEF: 1600, LV: 4) Next, I'll use Butterflyoke's effect to switch Redoer to attack mode! That then activates Morpho Butterspy's effect, lowering Redoer's ATK by 1000!"
(ATK: 1800 - 800)
"Now I'll overlay Necro Butterspy and Morpho Butterspy in order to Xyz Summon Photon Alexandra Queen! (ATK: 2400, DEF: 1200, RNK: 4)" Another Butterfly Warrior appeared onto the field, whose butterfly wings were colored maroon in attack position. "Now Photon Alexandra Queen! Attack Time Thief Redoer! Next I activate Ego Boost, increasing Alexandra's ATK by 1000!"
(ATK: 2400 - 3400)
"End this duel with this one strike Alexandra!" The butterfly queen flew at the thief with a mighty power shining from her scales, the talisman glowing as it was about to protect Redoer from destruction, something that Vixen wouldn't need to worry about.
"I activate Redoer's ability! By detaching a Monster and spell card from it I can activate two effects! I draw one card and I banish Redoer until the End Phase! Quantum Jump!" The thief then jumped through a portal while Vixen drew a card. "And since Redoer left the field, those cards equipped to him get destroyed!" Dextra's traps then shattered, being sent to the graveyard.
"So? My Alexandra can still attack you directly, and her attack points are the exact amount needed to finish you!"
"That's what Chronocorder is for. As an Xyz Monster left the field by a card effect, I can bring it back! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, LV: 4)" The mechanical butterfly then appeared on the field in defence mode.
"Grrr… Fine! Alexandra, attack Chronocorder!" Dextra then orders, the butterfly then flies at the machine, only for a hilt to pierce the warrior's chest, turning her to stone. "What?!"
"While I could use Chronocorder's effect, I have a better plan in mind for it. That's why I activated the Phantom Knights' Fog Blade continuous trap! Like Fiendish Chain, it negates your monster's abilities and stops it from attacking!" Dextra's eyes widened in shock at the revelation of the trap set for her.
"I… end my turn…" Upon the turn's end, Redoer returned and Ego Boost's effect ended.
(ATK: 3400 - 2400)
"My turn! I draw!" Upon drawing it, Vixen began his final turn. "Redoer's effect takes the top card of your deck! Quantum Thievery!" The thief takes the top card and turns it into an overlay unit. "Now I'll detach that overlay unit to bring back Bezel Ship one last time! (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4) Now I'll overlay them in order to build the overlay network once more! 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 appeared next to Redoer in attack mode. "Now I'll use her effect to attach Time Thief Flyback from my deck to Redoer! Quantum Gadget!" After a little fidgeting in her hand, Perpetua created an overlay unit for Redoer, which Dextra dreaded at seeing. "Now is Redoer's effect! By detaching a trap from it I can return a card you control to the top of your deck! Phantom Reversal!" A time vortex swallowed Alexandra Queen leaving Dextra's field empty. "Looks like you have nothing left. Redoer, Perpertua, attack her directly! Quantum Strike and Quantum Blast!" Both monsters charged at the butterfly maiden, Redoer throwing a punch while Perpetua used a laser pistol.
"GAHH!"
Dextra's LP: 0
Vixen Wins!
"Well, that was oddly less challenging than I thought it would be," Vixen commented as the duel anchor fizzled out.
"I'm sorry Kite. I've failed you," Dextra silently spoke, laying on her back. When she sat up, she saw Vixen making his way to the edge of the tower they dueled on. "Once Kite's new deck is finished, you're through Number Thief!" That caused the said thief to stop.
"You mean to tell me that Kite's deck hasn't been improved yet?" he asks, turning to her with a questioning gaze.
"...Yes…" she responds confused,the confusion growing as Vixen gives a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank goodness, I thought that Yuma and Astral might be in danger."
"Who?"
"Oh nothing to worry your head about. I shall be taking my leave. Tata!" And with that, Vixen vanished into the cool night air.
"Yuma!" Tori called out from among the rubble, tears starting to flow from her eyes, until a piece shifted out of the way, revealing a slightly battered Yuma, much to his friend's relief. As he got up from the debris, his foot slipped on a loose rock causing him to fall. His friends quickly rushed to his aid, only to find him being suspended by a thin wire.
"Hello there!" came the voice of the one that only few would know as the anti hero of Heartland City.
"The Number Thief!" Tori, Bronk, Caswell and Cathy exclaimed.
"Vixen…" Yuma said, Astral silently floating beside him.
"Sorry I wasn't able to come in time to assist! I had a bit of trouble on the way!" The thief then assisted Yuma onto his legs. "But it seems you were able to do well without me!"
"Yeah… me and Astral ended up having a rematch with Kite, but it ended in a draw," Yuma responds.
"Don't worry about it. You managed to keep your Numbers and that's good enough." The thief then grappled onto a building. "Now I must be off! Have things to do, Numbers to steal. Seeya later!" And once more, Vixen was gone into the night.
"DAMN IT ALL!" came Mr. Heartland's very angered voice, Dextra and Nistro looking at the ground while their boss raved mad in front of them. "I GAVE YOU BOTH ONE JOB AND YOU LOUSE IT UP THIS BADLY! THAT THIEF HAS DONE NOTHING BUT MADE ME LOOK LIKE A FOOL IN FRONT OF DR. FAKER, AND I HAVE JUST ABOUT HAD IT!"
"We are sorry to have failed you sir," Dextra said.
"OH REALLY?!"
"His deck was very powerful. It's like he had back up plans for his back up plans," Nistro comments.
"I DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF PLANS HE HAD! WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY YOU BOTH DIDN'T JUST DUEL HIM 2 ON 1! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH EASIER!" Both the hunters looked at each other for a second, before looking back in shame.
"It didn't cross our minds," they both said at once. Mr. Heartland then looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.
"HOW DID I HIRE SUCH INCOMPITANT, IMBECILIC, IDIOTIC, DUMB-"
"Excuse me," came a familiar voice from the door leading into their room. Turning to it, they saw Kite standing there, an expressionless look on his face. "What is happening here?"
After some deep heavy breaths, Heartland gave a fake smile. "Nothing to worry your little head about. So how is your new deck coming?" Kite then gave a smirk of confidence.
"I finally got the cards I needed to improve my deck," he said as he held one up to them. It was an Xyz Monster that showed the image of a warrior wielding two swords. "With these, I'll win my rematch against Vixen!"
"You'd better Kite," Mr. Heartland responds with his evil grin. "For your brother's sake."
Kite then nods in understanding, before turning away and taking his leave, his superior silently praying that he pulls through, for his own self's sake.