So there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that this chapter took over a month to do. But the good news is that I have graduated college! *insert party streamers here* But now there's the job hunting to do. *insert sobs here* Anywho enjoy this chapter
Matt- I do see those decks working for them
BahamutX987- Glad I could make you happy
KizaurBoss1- I didn't not think of the tofu shop when making Rise's deck. That is kind of funny.
It was late at night but Alit didn't care. He had wondered this city for quite some time but he now knew where he needed to go. He felt powerful and could feel raw energy in his veins. But his head felt rather funny and hazy. The last thing he clearly remembered was his duel against Yuma. Then next thing he knew is that was he was in their palace in Barrian world, looking straight at Vector. Of course Vector was very unhelpful about filling Alit in on his memory but did inform him of the Legendary Numbers and that Yuma was looking for them as well. That got Alit excited, the chance to face Yuma again? He would gladly take any day. Now he was deep in Italy having located the entrance of where the Number was said to be. As he walked through the corridors he tried his best to ignore the illustrations telling a story on the wall about a gladiator. It felt too eerily familiar to Alit for comfort. He finally found the center of the ruin and saw something, or someone he didn't expect. There was a man in a gray coat with orange fur trimmings and bright red hair sitting in a position that made it look like he was waiting for something.
"Yo! I guess you're one of those Barrians."
That caught Alit off guard, "So you know who I am?"
"Sure do. I got orders to collect the Number here and defeat any Barrians that showed up. Sorry for you but my assistant already has taken the Number away from here."
Alit growled slightly, "Care to tell me where they went?"
The man laughed, "She would kill me if I told you."
"Then how about a duel?"
The man contemplated this for a moment, "I should say no but…..I would love a good challenge. I need the practice if I want to face Yuma again."
Alit raised an eyebrow, "You know Yuma? Perhaps we have a few things in common."
"Maybe we do, bring it on Barrian!"
"My name is Alit, care to tell me yours?"
The man grinned, "It's Gauche, let's do this!"
Yu just felt…odd. That was the best way to say it. He had woken up that morning with his hand clenched tightly around the deck Igor had given him. He didn't understand how that was possible and for some reason had panicked when he saw Yuma stirring and shoved the deck into his uniform pocket. It had felt like a lead weight the entire day as he went through school. How was he going to explain how he gotten the deck to everyone without revealing the existence of the Velvet Room? On top of that there was that blank card as well and just having that card was begging for trouble. Maybe he should just talk to Yuma privately about this. Yu once more checked his pocket confirming the deck's existence as he arrived at the June's food court to their usual table and found quite the site.
"Wait…so how does a lockdown work again?"
Yuma's head met the table, "How about you just put on your glasses and have Astral explain it."
"Oh….why did we do that from the beginning?" Rise said as she put on her pink frames.
"Actually…why don't we just wear these things all the time?" Yosuke wondered from his end of the table.
"We could just claim they're just a fashion style." Yukiko said.
"I think I would get a headache from wearing these all the time." Kanji rubbed his eyes.
"So what's going on here?" Yu said making his presence known.
"Oh hey Sensei!" Teddie chirped, "Yuma and Rise are having a practice match," he said motioning to the spread of cards on the table. Yukiko currently had a note pad keeping score.
"They've been at this for about an hour." Naoto slightly chuckled, "It is kind of amusing."
"This would go faster if Rise remembered the rules better…." Yuma groaned.
"But there are so many! It's so hard to keep them straight." Rise pouted.
"But it's easy….." Yuma said before turning to his left, "That did not happen!"
Rise started laughing to everyone's confusion.
"Umm…what just happened?" Chie asked.
"Oh…" Rise took a breath to calm down and tapped her glasses, "I was able to hear Astral tell Yuma that he was once so bad and stubborn that he had to use reverse psychology to get him to play right."
Now everyone at the table was laughing.
"It's not funny!" Yuma exclaimed
"Sorry…but it is…" Yosuke managed to say in between laughs.
Yuma then proceed to try to become one with his seat out of embarrassment, "I forget that I'm not the only one who could see Astral anymore."
Yu cleared his throat once he had calmed down, "So Yuma…I've been meaning to ask you…" He pulled out that D-Gazer that Kaito had given him the previous day, "How do you use this thing."
Yuma immediately brightened up, "Oh! That's right…it didn't come with an instruction manual." Yuma took the device and presses a button on the side making the screen light up and display a list. "That's the main power button and these are the list of functions." Yuma selected the first option and the device unfolded. "This is for when you're dueling or watching a duel. You just slide it around your ear and your all set! Here try it on." Yuma handed the D-Gazer back to Yu who took it and rather awkwardly tried to get it around his ear.
"I'm not used to this…" He muttered.
"You looked like you just walked out of a sci-fi movie." Yukiko commented.
"Or an episode of Dragon Ball Z." Kanji added.
"Oh trust me…a lot of kids like to make that joke back home." Yuma laughed to himself.
"I think I got it." Yu said only for the D-Gazer to slide down his face a little.
"Let me help you there…" Yuma reached up and corrected the placement.
"Oh…sorry…." Yu sheepishly said, "So what else this thing can do?"
"Oh yeah, it doubles as a phone," Yuma grabbed the D-Gazer from Yu's head and collapsed it and selected another function which displayed a number. "Oh…it looks like that Kaito already put his code in here."
"Makes sense…since he did want to keep contact with us. I wonder how the searches at those other ruins are going…." Naoto wondered.
"I hope they didn't run into anything weird like we did." Yosuke said with a worried tone.
"After what has happened to us….my suspension of disbelief is really high right now." Kanji groan, "I mean…it's a freaking card game."
"And we fight inside a TV, I don't see how that's any different." Rise pointed out, "So where were we Yuma?"
"It was your turn."
Astral watch with mild interest as the conversation and duel continued. Every now and then he would pitch in some advice for Rise or Yuma to follow which Yuma always responded by telling that he should stop helping both sides. But other than that he was quite. Usually he would be more interested with what was going on but now his mind was elsewhere. What had happened in the ruins yesterday still bothered him and right now the hunt for the other legendary numbers were now in Kaito's hands and he had no idea if he was having any luck. On top of that, Black Mist was still very free and now had Barrian and Shadow powers at his control as well as one of the Legendary Numbers. Astral was one hundred percent sure that Black Mist would come after him again. But what was really eating at him was what he discovered during the night.
He had gone into the Key as Yuma slept to check the memory that was inside Sky Pegasus. He went through is usual routine of meditating to clear his mind to receive the new memory. But he was shocked that the memory was not his own. He had saw a knight clad in armor riding a winged horse, the very same knight and pegasus from the legend that was recorded in the ruins. But that knight's face was very familiar. When Astral saw the knight's face up close, he nearly snapped out of the memory in shock. The knight looked identical to the human guise that Durbe had taken on.
What on earth was that memory? Astral massaged his temples in frustration. That memory was not my own but why did I see Drube in that vision. I wish we managed to claim the other from Black Mist. I can't make any theories only based on one memory. I hope that Kaito has claimed some of the other Numbers. Astral turned his attention back to the group again. The duel was once again forgotten as everyone took turns messing around with the D-Gazer that Yu had received trying to figure out how the device worked and Teddie had tried to make it fit around his mascot form. He was about to go back into his own thoughts when he sensed a pulse of energy emitting from Yu's pocket. Curiosity got the better of him as he reached for the coat pocket fully knowing that he won't be able to physically grab the coat but he would be able to sense that energy better when his hand passed though. The first pass yielded nothing but Astral tried again just in case and…
Astral stared down the demon heart full of determination and knowledge of what would happen if he failed. There was one last thing he could try put it was risky and there was a thirty percent chance it wouldn't work. But he had to try anyway…there was too much at stake. He drew the top card from his deck and poured all of his remaining energy into it. The card glowed and emitted a white light that became so intense that it exploded energy ripping the demon apart as it vanished. But the same energy began to tear its way through Astral. He screamed in pain as he mentally tried to keep himself together but it was hopeless as he felt a large piece of himself being torn away and flying deep into the cosmos. Then something dark headed towards him…
Astral reeled in shock trying to catch his breath. That was a memory, his memory, and a painful one at that. But if he saw a memory, that meant he had just touched a Number. Astral began to panic, was Yu aware that he had a Number in his possession? What if it was already influencing him? Could having Persona abilities hinder or amplify the Number's attempts to control him? He needed to get Yuma's attention now.
"Yuma! YUMA!"
"Ow! Astral!" Yuma turned around, "Why are you yelling so loud?"
"Ask what Yu has in his pocket."
Yuma just looked on confused, "Huh?"
"Ask him!"
"Okay okay…." Yuma turned back to relay the question, "Um Yu….Astral wants to know what you've got in your pocket."
Astral saw a mix of confusion and fear on Yu's face before he answered, "Um…these…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck. An actual deck.
"Dude! When did you have time to put one of those together?!" Yosuke asked in shock.
"Um…well…" Yu seemed to be searching for an answer before the deck got snatched away by his group and they began to look through the contents.
"Wow Sensei…these cards look amazing!" Teddie exclaimed.
"They do seem to suit you very well Narukami-sempai." Naoto commented.
"Hey…what's the deal with this blank card?" Chie asked holding up the card and question.
"Printing error?" Rise suggested.
"I don't know…it just suddenly appeared with the others." Yu said.
Astral stared at the card intensely. There was no doubt about it. This was the card that was the source of the energy that he felt earlier. He reached out and grabbed the card and pulled it out of Chie's grasp.
"AAAAHHHH! FLOATING CARD!" Yosuke started to panic.
"Calm down," Yuma said rather flatly, "It's just Astral."
Now that he had the card in his hand, he felt the energy flow into him and the memory he saw replayed in his head. "This is a Number."
"It's what?!" Yuma exclaimed.
"Translation?" Kanji asked.
"Astral said that card is a Number!"
"Glasses on…now." Naoto said as everyone obliged. "Astral…how is that a Number?"
Astral took a breath to keep his nerves under control. "I sense a large pulse of energy emitting from Yu's pocket. When I reached for it I was able to see a memory…Now that I'm holding it I can say for certain that this is a Number."
"But…it's blank. Why is that?" Yu asked.
"I'm not quite sure…I have never seen a Number that has never taking on a form."
"And what contributes to a Number taking form?" Naoto asked.
"In the past when Yuma and I faced those who had found Numbers, the Numbers had taken form based on either insecurities or dark desires in their hearts and amplified them causing them to go on rampages."
"And Narukami was walking around with that in his pocket all day?!" Yukiko was worried.
"But Yu acted fine all day. And he didn't act any differently today." Yosuke pointed out.
"So you're saying that there's nothing for that card can form based on Sempai?" Kanji asked.
"That's the only thing I can think off…" Astral looked the card over again, "Though I am nervous about letting him keep it."
"I'll be fine don't worry about it," Yu tried to reassure Astral.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Astral hesitate for quite a while before relinquishing the card back to Yu's possession. "If you feel anything off…"
"I'll give it to your straight away." Yu gave Astral a reassuring smile.
"So Astral, what memory did you see?" Yosuke asked.
Astral froze up and looked away from the group down casting his eyes.
"Hey…Astral? OW!" Yosuke rubbed his head where Chie smacked him, "What's that for Chie?!"
"Learn some decency. It's clear that the memory wasn't a happy one and he doesn't want to talk about it!" Chie scolded.
Yuma only looked at Astral in worry. There were too many things that have been happening and he could tell that Astral was on edge. Whatever he saw clearly didn't help. Wanting to keep this private he sent his question mentally. Astral…what's wrong?
Astral didn't even look at him when he answered, I…I don't want to talk about it.
Why not? You can tell me anything.
This time Astral offered a small glace, I saw something that has left me confused that's all. I just need more information.
Yuma wasn't convinced but didn't get a chance to say anything when he heard his own D-Gazer beep indicating an incoming call. Sighing a bit he pulled it out of his pocket and answered seeing Kotori on the other line. "Kotori what's up?"
Hey Yuma! Kotori cheerfully beamed on the other side, I'm just letting you know that we're about to hop on the train to visit you for the weekend.
"We? Who else is coming?"
That would be us! Yuma laughed as he saw Tetsuo, Cathy, Tokunosuke, and Takashi try to squeeze into frame. That was one disadvantage to having the screen so small.
"Wait? Is Shark and his sister coming?" Yuma asked.
Well….Tokunosuke began.
You see….Cathy continued
They are coming but…Takashi was interrupted but a very loud voice in the background.
RIO GET BACK HERE AND DELETE THOSE PICTURES RIGHT NOW!
NO WAY! THIS IS PERFECT BLACKMAIL!
There was loud rumbling heard and the group on the other end of the call looked behind them but obscuring what was going on to Yuma's side.
They're having a bit of a disagreement but we'll make sure they will come. Kotori reassured Yuma.
Yu leaned in frame, "What's this about pictures?"
Everyone on the other end started giggling.
We don't want to ruin the spurise-ura. Takunosuke managed.
We'll tell you when we get there and it will be worth it. Tetsuo said with a sly wink.
So we'll see you tonight Yuma. Kaito got us reservations at a place called the Amagi inn I believe. Kotori said.
Yukiko nearly launched herself over the table. "Hey, that's my family inn!"
Really? Awesome! We'll see all of you there tonight!
"See you soon guys." Yuma waved as his friends hanged up. "Man….I really do miss those guys."
"They're aware of Astral correct?" Naoto asked.
"Yep. Actually…I wouldn't have met most of them if it wasn't for Astral." Yuma gave his friend a grin.
"Though I vote that we don't tell them about the TV world if we don't have to." Rise suggested, "They might hop in themselves to check it out."
"Knowing them…they might." Yuma agreed.
"Well…" Yukiko stood up, "If all your friends are coming to our inn I've got to go help my mom get ready."
"See you later!" Chie waved has Yukiko headed home.
"Well…." Yu patted Yuma on the back, "How about we work on that homework before your friends get here?"
Yuma's once again met the table, "I suppose so."
Astral suppressed a chuckle.
I really have no idea when I'll be able to post the new chapter but I'll try my best but I do have to change some plans as more information about Persona Arena Ultimate Suplex comes out since those games are cannon. That includes getting Maria in here somehow.