After breakfast, the five of them headed back into the sun. Dan was carrying a bacon sandwich, having chosen to leave his soapy waffles behind. Outside, the streets were still as busy as ever, and the five kids realised that a day of shopping was probably out of the question, much to Leah's dismay.

"So, what should we do now?" Dan asked.

James raised his hand. "Can I make another suggestion, or is everyone just going to overrule me again?"

Katie smiled and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Oh, stop being so grumpy. What's your idea?"

"How about we go swimming?" James said. "There's a leisure centre not too far from here, it's a hot day, why not go for a swim?"

"I'm actually game for that." Dan said, still munching on his sandwich. "I do love me some swimming!"

"Count me in," Leah added. "Sounds like a great idea."

Matt shrugged. "I wouldn't mind."

Katie smiled, and twirled a strand of her amazingly red hair over her fingertips. "While I'm sure my hair will be extinguished if it's put underwater, I don't see the harm." Everyone laughed at the joke. "So, where's the nearest place we can buy swimsuits?"

Matt pointed up the road. "There's one right ov-"

"HEY!"

The five of them stopped, looking all around for the source of the shout. "There!" Matt said, pointing back the way they'd come. All eyes turned to examine the teenage boy standing behind them.

He was tall, with spiked-up blonde hair and a fair bit of stubble, as though he hadn't shaved for a few days. He was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt, and tied around his waist was a dark red jumper. He was panting, as though he'd just been running. And he was looking at them with an expression of sheer fury.

Matt stepped in front of the others, instinctively putting himself between them and this young man. He was already sensing trouble. He didn't know how he knew it, but he did – this boy was bad news. "Can we help you?" Matt asked cautiously.

There was a pause. The boy stared at Matt dispassionately, as if deciding if he was worth the effort. The other shoppers bustled around them, completely oblivious to this stand-off.

Then, the boy replied. "No. You can't. Now get out of my way, there's someone I want to talk to." Matt stayed exactly where he was, now certain that this boy was dangerous, and determined to keep him at bay. But the boy had already forgotten Matt. He was looking passed him, straight at Katie, who was looking at him with puzzlement. "Katie..." he said slowly, his voice dripping malice. "...I'm glad I found you. Did you really think I wouldn't come after you?"

Katie shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I really have no idea who you are. I don't think we've ever met."

He glared at her. "Oh, we've met. You just don't remember." A look of grim amusement clouded his face briefly. "I'm not surprised you've forgotten me. You forgot about her quickly enough!"

"Her?" James asked. "Hey kid, what the hell are you talking about?"

Katie, however, was starting to feel worried. She had an inkling who this person could be, and it was a horrible thought. "W-who are you?"

The boy gritted his teeth. "You still don't remember? You... you sicken me!" He spat into the ground in front of Matt, whose eyes had never left this boy. "Fine then! I'll remind you of who I am. My name is Keane Maxwell!"

'Maxwell…' It was exactly the name Katie didn't want to hear. She felt James stiffen beside her - he recognised the name as well. She took a step back, her eyes fixed on Keane, a look of pure horror on her face.

Keane's expression hadn't changed. "So you remember me now, do you?"

Matt hadn't reacted: his eyes were still glued to Keane, daring him to take a step forward. But Dan and Leah saw James and Katie's reactions. Leah put a hand on Katie's shoulder. "Hey... is everything ok?"

Katie shook her head, but otherwise remained silent, her face white, her hands shaking. Keane was still glaring at her, waiting for her to say something. Leah was attempting to comfort her. Dan turned to face Keane and stepped forward to stand beside Matt. "What's going on here? Why is Katie so scared of you? What did you do to her?"

"What did I do to her...?" Keane repeated slowly, turning to look Dan straight in the face. At that moment, both Dan and Matt saw just how close he was to completely losing it. "You despicable kid! How dare you! Don't talk about that which you know nothing about!"

"Then how about filling me in!" Dan retorted loudly. People were starting to notice the shouting kids, and were hurrying out of the way, afraid of a fight. The kids ignored them. "Answer me! What happened between you two?"

"Between us? Nothing." Keane replied, returning his gaze to Katie. "Personally, I'm not surprised she didn't tell you this story. It doesn't exactly paint her in a good light." He paused. Dan said nothing, waiting for him to continue. Keane took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll tell you what happened..."

He raised his hand and pointed at Katie. "Your friend put my little sister in the hospital! She almost died!"

Leah gasped. James turned his head away. Katie buried her face in her hands. Keane stood there, still breathing heavily, still seething. Dan and Matt turned back to look at Katie. Dan reached out a hand. "Katie... is that true?"

She nodded, unable to look at him, tears running between her fingers. James picked up the story. "It was the Numbers. Katie believed this girl was trying to steal me away, and the Number amplified her emotions. She dueled this girl and, well..." He looked at Matt. "You know what dueling with Numbers is like." Matt nodded sympathetically.

Dan turned back to Keane. He now understood exactly why Keane was so upset. His instincts were telling him to ask Keane how his sister was doing, which is what he normally would have done. But he knew that it would be a bad idea. It would only make Keane angrier. So instead he said, "Alright, so you've found Katie. What now?"

Keane's eyes never left Katie, and Dan could see just how much he'd been waiting for this moment. "Now... we duel."

Katie lifted her head in confusion, and finally addressed Keane herself. "A duel? Why?"

"Simple. Because I want to hurt you." Katie flinched at the venom in his voice. "I want to inflict as much pain on you as I can! I want you to feel all the agony you put my little sister through! You almost killed her, and I'll never forgive you for that!"

Matt took a step forward, towards Keane. "Out of the question." He said forcefully. "I'm not going to allow this duel. That's an end of it."

Keane turned his glare on Matt, who didn't blink. "You'd be wise not to stand in my way..." Keane growled. "I've waited long enough to make her pay... I won't let you stop me."

Matt felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around to see Katie shaking her head at him. "Katie..."

"It's ok, Matt," she said. "I'll duel him. I did a horrible thing, and I owe him that much-"

"No way!" James cut in, grabbing her hand. "I'm not letting you go! You weren't yourself when you hurt Esta, it isn't right that you should pay the price for it!"

Katie smiled at him, and squeezed his hand gently. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

James wanted nothing more than to argue. But Katie was determined, and there was nothing he could say. "Just promise me you won't let the duel go too far!" James insisted. "Promise me that!"

Katie paused, looking at James with a sad smile. Then, without a word, she turned to her opponent. Keane understood immediately; she had accepted his challenge. "Follow me," he said. He turned and walked away. Katie followed, with the others close behind, dreading what was to come.

*FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER*

They had arrived at somewhere familiar.

Matt recognised it immediately. They were standing in the same park where, not even a week ago, he had dueled Hideo. It was deserted now. It was here that his Number had gone insane, destroying buildings and tearing up the ground, and the scars were still clearly visible. There were massive gashes in the soil, and many of the windows of the buildings surrounding the park were boarded up. He felt Leah looking at him and bowed his head, embarrassed and ashamed.

Keane and Katie had prepared their duel disks and D-Gazers while walking. Now they linked them.

"AR Vision – link established"

Six sets of D-Gazers all linked. The augmented reality rose up around them. James shifted uneasily.

"DUEL!"

Keane LP: 4000

Katie LP: 4000

"I'll start." Keane shouted, before Katie even got a chance to speak. "I draw. I Normal Summon Rescue Rabbit!" The adorable little monster hopped into the field, sniffing the air. It was wearing a hard-hat, and looked deceptively cute and cuddly. Somehow it didn't seem to fit Keane at all.

Rescue Rabbit: Beast-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 300/DEF 100

"Then I'll activate Rescue Rabbit's effect. By banishing it, I can Special Summon two copies of the same Level four or lower Normal Monster from my Deck. I choose Noble Knight Artorigus!" Two duplicates of the same monster appeared. They were both dressed in the same old-fashioned armour, with a fur lining and no helmet.

Noble Knight Artorigus: Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1800

Noble Knight Artorigus: Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1800

"Now, both Level four Noble Knights, Overlay!" Both monsters morphed into yellow amorphous masses and shot upwards, clearing the way for a red spiral portal to open beneath them. "I use these two LIGHT-Attribute monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two Xyz Material Monsters sailed into the portal, which upended itself, so it was now standing up between the two duelists. "Appear, Constellar Omega!" A centaur-like creature galloped out of the portal. It was coloured a magnificent white and gold, with black protrusions that resembled wings coming from its back. The Constellar's Xyz crest - a double eight-pointed circle - was afixed to its chest.

Constellar Omega: Beast-Warrior-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2400/DEF 500 – 2 OLU

"Whoa... an Xyz Summon on the first turn." Leah said in awe. "That's no small feat."

"Finally, I'll Set two cards and end my turn." The two face-downs appeared. Keane glared at Katie. Everything about him exuded hatred. He seemed to be disgusted by the very sight of her.

Katie was scared. More scared than she'd ever been in her life. She didn't want to duel Keane: not because it would hurt, but because she didn't feel justified fighting back against someone who'd she'd wronged so badly. Right then, she very almost surrendered the duel.

Deep down, she felt something stir inside her. Was it her Number? Was it disapproving of her actions? Whatever it was, it snapped her out of these thoughts. She had to take responsibility for her actions, but she also had to try and prove that it hadn't been entirely her fault; that her Number had to take some responsibility too. But how to prove that to him...

"My turn, I draw." She resolved to think about it later. Right now, although she was certain that she'd regret this decision, she'd decided to come out on the offensive immediately. Playing defensive would get her killed. "I activate the Field Spell Card, Solstice Zone of Aphorism!"

The ground rumbled. All of a sudden, a stone slab forced its way out of the ground behind Katie. A second boulder rose up behind Keane, then a third, until eventually both duelists were standing in a circle of stone. Then the sky changed. The dazzling blue colour shifted, and was replaced by a bright orange, like sunset had come early. It was certainly a sight to behold.

"Due to this card," Katie was saying, "all FIRE monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. Also, whenever a Gemini monster is Normal Summoned, its controller can add a FIRE Gemini monster to their hand, then discard one card. Now, I Normal Summon Blazewing Butterfly." The large butterfly, with wings of flame, appeared.

Blazewing Butterfly: Insect-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500

"Which, of course, gets an increase from my Field Spell."

Blazewing Butterfly: ATK 1500 → 1800/DEF 1500 → 1800

"And due to Solstice Zone's effect, I can add a FIRE Gemini monster from my Deck to my hand, then discard one card." Katie's duel disk extracted a card, which she revealed. "I'll add Phoenix Gearfried from my Deck to my hand, and as for the discard, I choose Phoenix Gearfried again." Instead of adding the card to her hand, she sent it straight to the Graveyard.

Dan was looking confused. He nudged James. "Hey, why did she do that?"

James stopped worrying just long enough to force out a grin. "You'll see."

Katie was continuing. "From my hand, I activate the Equip Spell Card, Supervise. Equip to Blazewing Butterfly." The Insect was surrounded by a yellow blazing aura. "By equipping this card to a Gemini monster, the equipped monster becomes an effect monster and gains its effects. So, using that effect, I can tribute Blazewing Butterfly to Special Summon a different Gemini monster from my Graveyard with its effects already applied." Normally, Katie would be enjoying this part of the duel. But there was no excitement to be found here. It was little more than a desperate fight for survival. "Appear, Phoenix Gearfried!" Blazewing Butterfly whipped up an inferno of fire around it and the Supervise card. Keane covered his eyes. When the fire cleared, both the butterfly and the card were gone, and a proud warrior with white and red armour stood in its place.

Phoenix Gearfried: Warrior-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2200

Phoenix Gearfried: ATK 2800 → 3100/DEF 2200 → 2500

"And now, due to the other effect of Supervise, when it's sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon any Normal Monster from my Graveyard. And that includes Gemini monsters. So I revive Blazewing Butterfly." The fiery insect took to the field again, once again in Attack Position.

Blazewing Butterfly: Insect-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500

Blazewing Butterfly: ATK 1500 → 1800/DEF 1500 → 1800

Katie didn't stop. She couldn't. She knew that if she paused for even a moment, she wouldn't be able to do this. "Phoenix Gearfried, attack Constellar Omega!" The great warrior lifted its sword aloft, which became wreathed in flames. With a cry, it leapt forwards and slashed the centaur across the chest. It exploded without so much as a cry. Keane threw his hands in front of his face.

Keane LP: 4000 → 3300

He raised his head to look at Katie again, eyes blazing. 'I swear, on everything I hold dear... for her, I'll make you pay!'

Author-made cards:

Solstice Zone of Aphorism
Field Spell Card
Face-up FIRE monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. When a Gemini monster is Normal Summoned: Its controller can add 1 FIRE Gemini monster from their Deck to their hand, then discard 1 card.

Fun Fact #7: As you will soon see, I really didn't design my Solstice cards with any particular naming themes like Leah's or Matt's. For those who are interested, Aphorism means 'a general truth or astute observation'. If you get the reference there, then well done.

Fun Fact #8: Oh lord! The page layout has changed. I don't want the page layout to change. Why has the page layout changed?

Fun Fact #9: I'm really glad that we got to use Constellar Omega on this fanfic. It's such an amazing monster, as is the entirety of the Constellar archetype.