Vile: Hah, I was glad to get rest yesterday. *to the viewers* Sorry for not being here yesterday, guys. New Years weekend was pretty sleepless, and not because I was out partying. Sleep just wasn't my friend that weekend. But I see Miracull got my message across yesterday, and I feel way better now, having used some of my time to play games like Dead Cells, Splatoon 2 (yes, I still play that game), and of course, Smash Ultimate. *Miracull licks my cheek* Let's get back into this. Enjoy, folks!

Numbershot 64: A Trial Across Time

Chapter 3

Wandering the streets of Sigma City, Zaman had changed into his civilian clothes in order to not draw too much attention to himself. Despite this, he was using the computer system in his watch to follow what appeared to be a radar system toward a red dot. "Okay, it looks like I'm getting close. Assuming the coordinates you gave me are correct, Touko, he should be-"

"Koi! Pixel HERO – Red Blazer!"

He stopped as soon as he heard that line, slowly looking up from his watch. "…right in front of me." He completed his earlier sentence, watching as from a sphere of multi-colored energy, flames burst out and receded to reveal a humanoid monster clad in white-and-red clothing, sporting a white helmet and an orange mustache, flames brimming from his hands. The monster waved his flaming hands around before dispelling the flames and striking a peace sign, flames erupting behind him, red lightning connected to him from a set of four thin towers with white crystals on top of them.

Pixel HERO – Red Blazer: Quality 4 FIRE Warrior/Composition ATK:2500/DEF:2000 4 Active Soul Towers

"Zeke, that's Pixel HERO – Red Blazer! One of Kohaku Yudin's signature cards!" Touko piped up over the intercom. "Yudin must be nearby!"

"Yes, he's here, Touko." Zaman told her. "…I can see him right now." His vision was locked on a young man roughly his age with hair in a combination of yellow, red, and blue, cyber green eyes, a green sun visor on his head (spun backwards), a red short sleeve shirt, a sleeveless green summer jacket that flared slightly in the back, light blue knee-length shorts, dark blue shoes, white gloves, a holster of some sort on his back, a blue D-Gazer with a clear lens on his eye, and a red Duel Disk of unknown model on his arm: Kohaku Yudin.

Kohaku LP:2400

Opponent LP:800

Opponent field: B.E.S. Big Core, no S/Ts

B.E.S. Big Core: Lv.6 DARK Machine ATK:2300/DEF:1100 3 Counters

"Red Blazer no kouka hatsudo!" Kohaku cried. "Once per turn, one monster you control with less ATK than him is destroyed!" Blazer's hands caught ablaze. "Go, Red Fireball!" With a thrust of his hand, Blazer fired a large bouncing fireball that shot up and struck Big Core, catching its whole body on fire. Alarms went off within the ship as small explosions rocked its frame, until light shone from its body to precede a massive explosion, eradicating the entire craft. "Not a bad piece of tech you had there, but it looks like this is game over! Red Blazer, direct attack! Burning Red Finisher!" The large HERO waved his burning hands around before bringing them together by his side. Then, with a battle yell, he thrust his hands forward, unleashing two red fireballs that spiraled around each other bolo-style, trails of fire spinning behind them. With an impact on the ground, the fireballs exploded brilliantly in such a way that the force catapulted Kohaku's opponent off the ground, causing him to land in a heap.

Opponent LP:0 – LOSER

Kohaku's picture appeared in the AR space with the word "WIN", and a buzzer sounded. "Duel Clear!" Kohaku said with a peace sign.

Kohaku's opponent sat up, shaking his head before getting to his feet. "Man, I thought I was ready for you this time, Kohaku." He held out a hand, clearly offering a handshake. "Maybe next time, huh?"

Taking the hand, Kohaku made sure the shake was firm. "Yeah, make sure you level up some for then. I'll be waiting!"

"Count on it. See you guys in class tomorrow." The opponent said as he started heading off with a couple friends of his own.

Doc, Dizzy, and Plata come up to Kohaku, Dizzy holding his video camera. "Great Duel as always, Koha-kun. Got some primo footage for my channel."

"I'm just glad to get in a nice, easy break after everything that happened with that School War." Kohaku said, stretching his arms behind his head. "Hopefully we won't have to deal with any problems for a while."

"I wouldn't exactly say that." A voice Kohaku didn't recognize said, making him turn to see Zaman walking up to him. "I'm afraid that there's... still a problem that concerns you."

Everyone in Kohaku's posse looked confused. "Sorry, and you are?" Plata asked.

"My name is Zeke, but you can call me Zaman if you want. I'm someone who's not from here." Zaman told them, only to look away nervously. "And I'd rather leave it at that, because I'm not sure if you're at the right point to fully understand the situation."

"Try me." Kohaku said, walking up to Zaman confidently. "I've already been through some strange stuff lately."

Zaman's eyebrow went up. "Really? Because what I'm about to say is going to sound like something out of a B-movie plot."

Kohaku held up the Silver Game Card in response. "My experiences sound like they came out of a terrible TV show. Trust me, I can take it."

Zaman sighed, but relented, starting to relay the entire situation to them all: His status as a time-traveler, the reason he was even in Sigma City, the power that the Numbers have, and how a Sykonetyk had managed to bypass the timeline in order to take one for themselves and let it loose in the wrong time. Most of them were initially unsure whether or not to believe him, but the way he said it began to make more and more sense, and they were eventually convinced that what he was saying was true.

When he finished his explanation, the others began to fully take it all in. "Huh. Considering what we've already dealt with, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there are Sykonetyks that can control time and manipulate space." Doc said to no one in particular. "But it makes you wonder why they aren't attacking Koha-kun directly."

"I couldn't tell you for sure, but this current plan is one that has to be stopped, or else the timeline is in danger." Zaman said. "However, I am sure that I can't do it alone. Will you help me, Kohaku Yudin?"

Kohaku sighed. "Not like I have a lot of choices. I'm in. If it means trying to stop these guys who are trying to kill me because I'm supposed to be something powerful, and keeping innocent people out of the crossfire, you better believe I'll help."

Zaman nodded. "Thank you. Now we need to track down the Number, which should still be on the radar I'm using. Hang on." He touched the communicator in his ear to reactivate it. "Touko, do you have a read on the card's signature?"

"Yes, but... umm..." Touko could only get out.

"What's the matter?"

"There's several faint signatures around the city that all match the original Number card."

Zaman's eyes widened. "N-Nani?!"

Even though he couldn't fully hear what Touko was telling Zaman, the look on Zaman's face told Kohaku all he needed to know. "Oh, THAT doesn't sound good."

Zaman kept nodding as Touko kept giving him information, and then he pulled what appeared to be a pocket watch out of his pocket. Opening it, however, it was revealed to be a more high-time device, which projected a digital map that appeared to be of the layout of Sigma City, complete with the Districts shown. Several red dots were visible in different locations in the city… and more were appearing as they watched. "This is bad. The Number's power is already spreading."

After he said that, though, a blue pulse rippled across the map, causing light static on the visual. "I get the feeling it just did something else." Dizzy said.

"Something even worse. Time's already starting to contort." Zaman said. "Because this Number is in this time, Yuma never collected all of them, which means that the Distributor won the Numbers War." He watched as more faint signatures began to appear on the map as another pulse rippled, causing even more static before Zaman closed his watch.

"Then what are we standing here for? Let's get moving!" Kohaku cried before looking to his friends. "Contact the others and tell them to keep their eyes peeled. We don't know what we're dealing with, so tell them to be extra careful, too."

Plata gave a thumbs-up. "Leave it to us, Koha-kun."

"You just be sure not to get hurt yourself." Doc told him.

Kohaku nodded. "Right." He grabbed hold of his visor and spun it to face backward. "It is ON!"

*Some Time Later*

The group had split up to cover more ground as they searched the city, with Kohaku and Zaman on a team together. As they searched the city, they could already see some of the time distortions in action, as the area, which Kohaku remembered was relatively abandoned, looked to be in an even worse state of urban decay than he remembered. The sky above, which should've been blue, was slowly turning an ominous red. "Whoa... So this is what happens when time is messed with?" Kohaku wondered. "No wonder the time Sykonetyk never even tried it beforehand."

"This is likely only because of him interfering with two different points in time rather than one." Zaman explained, having his pocket watch out as a radar to track down a powerful signature. "Plus, I actually watched what happened when he got that card from the Distributor. He said that there was something extra special about this Number, and it's likely that that's what's affecting things as they are."

Kohaku looked around, watching as the buildings slowly began to fall apart. "We gotta find this thing quick. I don't want this so-called "destiny" of mine to end so quickly."

"I don't plan on letting that happen." Zaman said. "I've viewed time before, and I've seen where you end up in the world. Your place in time is valuable."

"So they tell me." Kohaku said, sighing. "I'm guessing it'd be a bad idea if you could tell me some things about my destiny?"

Zaman paused, making Kohaku stop as well. "...It's a lot more complicated than that. I exist outside of time, so I could inform you of what's to come. However, your destiny is a rare case. The only concrete part of it is the end result, which involves victory in some way. The rest of it is just... this." Pressing a button on his wristwatch, Zaman caused a panel of what looked like glass to form in the air, which showed a visual… a minimal visual, as it was nothing but fog with a symbol that Kohaku knew about: A strange merger of a lowercase Alpha letter and a capital Omega letter. "This panel is a scene from your future. For whatever reason, your power even prevents the details of your own future from being glimpsed."

"Great." Kohaku gave a light laugh, clearly forced, as he sat on a stoop. "I guess that would have been too easy." He tightly clenched his hands into fists.

Zaman looked at him with concern, dispelling the visual. "I know this can't be easy for you, Kohaku, but based on what little I've seen-"

"A vague future even you don't know that much about?" Kohaku interrupted, holding up his hand to stop Zaman. "Sorry, man, but I really don't think I can put stock in that, even if you seem like a good person." He sighed. "I mean, this thing I'm supposed to be doesn't sound too bad, but I just wonder to myself: Why ME? Out of all people in the world, why am I this powerful... thing?"

Zaman sat down next to him and looked at him intently. "Why were Yusei, Jack, Crow, Akiza, Luna, and Leo picked as the Signers?" His question made Kohaku "Eh?" and look at him, which didn't faze the time-traveler. "Humor me, please."

Kohaku went silent, trying to think of a response. "...I don't know. For all I know, they were born that way."

"And how did Yuma and Astral end up together? Or why was it Yugi who solved the Millennium Puzzle?"

"I... I don't know."

"I've seen plenty of people give the idea of destiny grief, but that is only because they don't truly understand what it can do." Zaman told him, looking up at the sky. "Fear and doubt make us second guess ourselves a lot, and, because we don't know what first set us on our paths, we end up falling off of them because of those emotions. Besides, I know someone who may never know what his future holds because he himself can't see it."

This made Kohaku curious. "Who's that?"

Zaman looked back at Kohaku and pointed at himself. "Me. Because of the powers I hold, I'm technically no longer part of time itself. I don't know my own future, because my future isn't considered part of the timeline. I once hated the state I was in, but now it allows me to make my own future the way I desire it. Perhaps that's the same way with you, Kohaku. Your destiny may be up in the air... but that just allows you to make your choices yourself without anyone controlling you."

"Maybe... but still..."

Zaman placed a hand on Kohaku's shoulder. "You've got a lot more weight on your shoulders compared to the others, but I know for a fact that all the heroes of this world at one point or another felt the same way you do. And just like you, they would have all been just normal people if their fates hadn't stepped in, but now, the world knows them as heroes and legends."

Kohaku felt his hands clench tightly again as Zaman removed his hand. "…But I don't want to be a hero or a legend." He hid his face in hands. "I just want things back to the way they were."

"Back to when the only troubles you had was skinning your knee on the sidewalk?" A voice that SOUNDED similar to Zaman's said, but it sounded distinctly younger. Kohaku looked up and looked next to him... and he saw that Zaman was gone, and next to him was a younger kid, around 10, but his features were a dead ringer for Zaman.

"Nyeehhh!" Kohaku cried, quickly piecing together that Zaman had changed his own age.

Zaman chuckled. "I couldn't resist trying to lighten the mood." Holding up his arms, he showed that his sleeves were now too big for him. "Shoulda changed my clothes before I did that, though." Kohaku blinked, trying to process the situation, but eventually, he couldn't help but give a genuine laugh, making Zaman smile. "There we go. There's that smile your famous for."

"My smile's famous?" Kohaku asked, surprised.

"It will be. One thing I can tell you is that even after all of these events, you do get to live a rather normal life, unlike me."

"What do you mean?"

"Because I'm outside of time, I can't really age normally. Believe me, I checked. I spent ten years on my own in a random time, minding my own business so not to influence things too much, and I didn't age a day by the end of it."

"Blessing and a curse."

"You don't know the half of it. I can adjust my age to match up with my family and friends normally, but that's only by conscience choice. Technically, I'm immortal and I know full well that I'm going to end up outliving the people I love. It scares me to think about what my life would be like after I lose everything." Zaman gave a light laugh. "Guess that was part of the reason why I went off the deep end a while back."

"I won't ask out of respect." Kohaku said after hearing that. "However, from where I'm sitting, because you are the way you are, you can help your future continue to exist, right?" It was Zaman's turn to have Kohaku's attention from his remark. "Unlike everyone else, you can get to see what your great-grandkids will be like, and even further than that. You can help them see the beauty of life even more than anyone because you now know how precious it is."

Zaman wasn't expecting that kind of remark from Kohaku, as it actually made him think about it. "Maybe you're right. And what about you? I know how worried you are about this unknown destiny you need to fulfill, but you know you're not the only one affected by it. You're not the kind of person who lives for themselves, Kohaku, so why don't you try taking the days as they come, and living more from them than for this destiny? After all, you actually have siblings to take of." Taking advantage of his current younger state, he did as good a childlish voice as he could, even headtilting as he said "Ne, Onii-chan?"

Kohaku chuckled at this display, feeling a little better. "Yeah... I guess you're right." He looked at the sky, watching the clouds go by. "I always used to be someone who lived for the present... and because of what I am, I changed overnight and didn't even realize it."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Zaman told him, returning to his normal age mid-sentence. "I only got these powers because I stumbled onto a strange crystal. And ever since, my life and outlook became something different than before. I guess you and me have a lot more in common than I thought, Kohaku."

"Yeah... Yeah, we kinda do." Kohaku said as he stood back up. "I guess this is basically the resolution of my game's plot twist: I have new powers, I know what they're for... but now I need to get myself back on my path."

"Wherever it leads you, I know there will more twists to come, but I also know you can handle them." Zaman said.

Kohaku smiled. "Thanks, Zaman."

Zaman held up a finger with a smirk. "Zeke."

"Zeke." Kohaku parroted with a nod. However, at that moment, Kohaku's Disk beeped with a new message. "Nani?" Pulling out his Gamepad, Kohaku opened the alert visible on the screen, only for Dizzy and Doc's D-Vatars to both pop up, waving SOS flags. "Uh-oh. Dizzy-kun and Doc-kun are in trouble! Let's go!" Kohaku started to run off, but Zaman grabbed him by the back of his shirt to stop him before hitting the button on his watch, causing a loud chime to sound as time completely stopped around them, sparing Kohaku from its influence. "Eh? What are you doing?"

"Making sure we can get there without problems." Zaman said as he pocketed the radar device. "Right now we're moving in milliseconds, so let's not waste them."

"...Okay, I like the way you think." Kohaku said. "Come on!" The two of them quickly rushed off, following Kohaku's Gamepad rather than Zaman's radar as it led them down the city blocks. Eventually they managed to reach the location they were looking for, only to see an unpleasant (albeit paused) sight: Doc was completely surrounded by a horde of people and looked scared, while Dizzy was on the ground. "Doc-kun! Dizzy-kun!" He then took a look at the horde, noticing that all of them had glowing yellow eyes and fierce looks on their faces. "What the heck?"

"I'm almost afraid to put us back in normal time." Zaman said, moving over to the hoard. Looking around, he eventually caught sight at a person he recognized. "Kohaku! Look." He pointed to the person in question.

Kohaku walked over, gasping when he saw her. "P-Plata-chan?!" Sure enough, Plata also sported the same yellow eyes and feral expression. "What happened?"

"That would be the interesting side effect of the Number." A voice spoke; one that Zaman recognized. He looked up, Kohaku doing so as well, and saw the Sykonetyk duo of Chrono and Ourano staring down at them, pleased smiles on their faces.

"I should've known you'd be watching this." Zaman said with a groan.

"It wasn't long before I could sense the source of the time alterations." Chrono said, waggling his eyebrows. "Guess that puts me one up on your primordial time controller."

"Hmph. Whatever tech allows you to do this doesn't stand a chance against mine." Zaman told him with crossed arms.

Chrono chuckled. "Is that so?" He asked as his shoulder pad began to glow.

"Their power is a lot stronger than anyone realizes." Kohaku told Zaman. "It lets them control elements themselves." Zaman gave a "Hmm?" in response. "Fire, water, wind, earth… and who knows what else. There's gotta be more than what we've seen." Zaman nodded in understanding. "But even they have limits. There's only so far they can push their own boundaries. Probably why baby blue up there is weaker than you."

That remark finally triggered Chrono, making his eyes widen. "Weaker?! I'll show you weak, Yudin!" He cried, holding his hand to the sky. "It's showtime!" He gave a loud snap with his fingers as his shoulder pad gave a flash. As the flash covered the area, time resumed its flow, causing Doc to be knocked to the ground as the horde surrounded him and hid him from view, Dizzy crawling away from them scared.

"Kuso!" Zaman cried before he jumped away from the horde, Kohaku quickly following his lead while grabbing and dragging Dizzy with them.

Dizzy finally managed to get into a sitting position after they stopped, looking back at the horde in fear. "Aw, man! Doc!"

"Dizzy-kun!" Kohaku cried, kneeling down. "What happened?!"

Dizzy realized that Kohaku and Zaman were with him, and he got to his feet as he got his mind back together. "…We found the guy. He was some creepy kid I Dueled during the War. He used to use retrained, zombified versions of monsters from the beginning of the game, but now... and then that card..." His words started to fail him. "I… I know I probably shouldn't have but I tried to use Cycloner's full power on it, and it did nothing. He beat us, and then suddenly all these people stumbled out like zombies."

"Don't run from me..." A voice groaned. The group turn to see Shido, the Zombie Duelist, limply walk out from within the horde with an eerie grin. "You don't really want to leave, do you...? The party's just beginning. Your friends here are having such a great time..." As he said that, the controlled Plata moved beside him, as did Doc, now sporting the same yellow eyes.

At this point, Zaman looked up to see that the sky was starting to turn a strange red color, and the buildings around them began to crumble even more. "This is bad... We need to get that card out of this timeline, now!"

"Yeah, it's turning Sigma City into a post-apocalyptic zombie game!" Kohaku added.

"I've been slowing things down just to watch you guys squirm, and now it's time for the main event: the fall of the 15th Alphomega." Chrono mused before looking to the culprit. "Shido! Time to give Kohaku Yudin his final Game Over!"

Shido let out a very creepy laugh. "Ryōkai (Roger), Chrono-san." He thrust his hand out, and out of nowhere, Dizzy was suddenly grabbed by both Cleo and Kowa, both of whom also sported the yellow eyes.

"Cleo! Kowa! Not you guys, too!" Dizzy cried.

"Relax. You will be admitted in due time." Shido mused, approaching Zaman and Kohaku. "You'll stay normal long enough... to watch them be crushed." He placed his D-Controller on his arm, activating it.

Kohaku and Zaman backstepped, but Kohaku looked stern and stepped forward again. "Hey, Zeke, I feel a bit stupid for asking... but you mind backing me up here?"

"I'd do so even if you hadn't opened your mouth." Zaman replied, stepping forward and pressing his wristwatch's button, changing from his casual outfit to his timewalker suit.

Kohaku clenched his fist. "Prepare to go down like just another boss fight! It is ON!" He grabbed his Dueling gear from his holster, tossing it into the air. "Duel Disk, set!" His D-Controller clacked onto his arm, unfolding and revealing its Zones. "D-Gazer, set!" He grabbed his D-Gazer and placed it over his eye.

Zaman narrowed his eyes before clicking the watch on his left wrist, causing two clock-hand-shaped prongs to stick out. Card Zones lit up on them, slots for Spells and Traps opened, and a Deck holder opened, a Deck already inside. "I will set time right again!" Green markings formed over his left eye, creating a tattoo D-Gazer that turned his eye gold.

"AR VISION, LINK ESTABLISHED." The AR System said as the area changed into the Augmented Reality, all three D-Gazers flashing.

"DUEL!"

Vile: The Duel is upon us, a Duel to save time from a temporal anomaly. I hope you guys weren't expecting something overly video game-themed here, but trust me, there is still that theme for the Duel, if you know what the material is. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me, and I'll see y'all tomorrow! Ja ne for now!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.