A rumour has been circulating throughout the newspaper that Yuma may have cheated during the WDC. As a result, Tori, Cathy and Anna have unexpectedly come down hard on Yuma, causing him to lose his cheerful spirits. Let's rejoin the plot and see what his friends think of this.
Yuma was beginning to slowly walk away from the rest of the gang. His head was turned away so the others could not look at him right in the eye, but from seeing his arm moving back and forth across his eyes, they were able to assume that he was starting to tear up and was wiping his eyes. All the guys could do was stare at Yuma with looks of concern. Then Flip spoke up quickly before Yuma got too far away to not hear him.
"Yuma…?" he began slowly, "Are you feeling alright?" though he was certain he knew what the response would be.
"Not…*sniff, sniff*…really," Yuma managed to reply. Those last few words that the girls said about him, particularly 'cheater' and 'unlikeable', were really starting to get to him.
"We definitely do not blame you for letting all those comments we have heard today get to you, especially those last ones," Bronk spoke up, "But I just hope you still have some spirit left in you for a duel."
"N-no thanks," stuttered Yuma, surprising his friend, "I think I need to go home and t-try to shake the day off. I'm not in a d-duel mood anymore," although they were alarmed at what they heard, the guys understood that Yuma would probably need some alone time to try and avoid anyone else who read the headline featuring him.
"Okay, Yuma. See you later," said Caswell, still sounding worried for Yuma. And with that, the winner of the WDC walked slowly away while starting to tear up a little more.
As soon as Yuma left, the gang turned to look at each other and Caswell spoke up again, "Okay, something is not right here. We have known Yuma for a long time now and know for certain that he would never dare cheat in a tournament."
"Right you are, Caswell," continued Flip, "and it does not seem to make sense for such a headline to be made weeks after Yuma was confirmed to be the champion. A story regarding cheating sometimes hits the paper right after the event it occurs in."
"Not to mention," said Bronk, "Tori and Cathy, who we are friends with, are acting different from their usual selves. As for that red haired girl who tried to shoot us with that flying cannon, I can't recall how she ended up knowing Yuma."
"Oh, I think I know," put in Ray, "Her name is Anna. I first saw her at the recent school festival. She threatened to take aim at Yuma if he refused to be her partner in the Couples Duel Tournament that occurred that day. Other than that, they appeared to get along quite well."
"I see," said Caswell, "so what we have in front of us right now is a newspaper with an unexpected headline and three girls in particular who know Yuma, but are suddenly acting more negative towards him than usual. Anybody able to make a conclusion out of that?" the guys thought for a brief moment about how these events could possibly come to be. Then a light bulb appeared above Ray's head which made the other guys turn towards him.
"Do any of you think that a Number card might be behind this?" question Ray, "As if it not only shifted its targets personality, but maybe also encouraged them to fiddle with the newspaper headline as a means for being able to dampen Yuma's spirits?" all four guys immediately became serious over this assumption.
"It sounds like the only possible explanation," replied Flip, "but would it be possible for just one Number to somehow affect three minds and a headline?"
"Well," said Bronk, "like I said this morning, if there is one thing I have learned from being Yuma's friend, you never know what wacky things could happen."
"Indeed," said Caswell, "and as members of the Super Secret Numbers Investigation Club, we should do something about this at once."
"Right," Ray announced, "how about I go look into seeing who wrote the newspaper story and have a little talk with him, while you three each go after one of the girls that went off on Yuma and see which one is holding a Number, if any? Sound like a plan?" the others were a little confused at this suggestion.
"You really think you will be able to do something about the newspaper?" Flip asked.
"Don't worry," replied Ray, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Well, that plan is all we have to go on. Might as well give it a shot," finished Bronk.
"Okay!" said the four guys in unison, "Let's go!" and with that, Bronk, Caswell, Flip and Ray each went off in a different direction.
Back in the Barian World, the rainfall had ceased, and in the throne room, Vector emerged from a portal. He was chuckling to himself because he knew that his plan was progressing the way he wanted it to.
"Now that Yuma is at his worst," he began, "I just need to have him regroup with those three Number-possessed girls so he can hitch a ride on the Downfall express to Loserville."
"Vector!" shouted a nearby voice. Vector turned to see Dumon and Mizar approaching, as they coincidentally happened to be standing not too far away from him.
"Well hello there, comrades," greeted Vector sounding a little more pleasant than usual due to the plot he was creating, "what's the good word?"
"I think we should be asking you that," responded Dumon, "We were just passing by the room when we heard you chuckling happily. Can we assume that this plot of yours is going well?"
"Oh, it is not going well," answered Vector, "It is going better than I had ever expected."
"Really?" questioned Mizar, "If that is true, please prove it to us."
"With pleasure," finished Vector, and he held out a hand which lifted up a nearby crystal which the Barian's used to view events occurring on Earth. He brought it up close and then used his Barian powers to make the crystal view what Yuma was doing at the moment, "and here we are," the crystal glowed briefly before showing Yuma's whereabouts. Right now, he was sitting on a couch at home, with his sister Kari next to him and his grandma Haru in an armchair across from him. Yuma, while being teary eyed, was trying to explain what had happened at school, while Kari and Haru made attempts to comfort him. Dumon and Mizar were surprised at how depressed Yuma appeared to be.
"Unbelievable," gasped Dumon, "I remember you saying you would use a rumour in part of your plot revolving around the WDC. If you don't mind me asking, just what rumour did you make?" Vector then proceeded to explain how he used his Barian power to alter a newspaper headline to make it include a story of how Yuma was being accused of cheating in the WDC.
"And people are buying it?" asked Mizar.
"Indeed they are," replied Vector, "Well, it is mainly thanks to the power I had placed in the newspaper. With it, anyone who reads it believes it. Many people have read it already and have murmured many negative comments towards Yuma which ended up bringing his spirits down. And the three humans I had given Numbers to have thrown even harsher comments at him, increasing the effect tenfold!" and with that, Vector started to laugh like a madman.
"Save the laughter for later, Vector!" exclaimed Mizar, making Vector stop abruptly, "It is clear that you have not yet completed your plot in full yet. What is it you will do next?
"Be patient, Mizar," replied Vector, "Now that it is more likely that Yuma will be more unsuccessful in a duel, I simply need to find a means of getting him to duel the humans I gave Numbers to so we can secure them for ourselves," and he returned his attention to the viewing screen and used it to take quick glances of the Numbers locations. Every time Vector viewed Tori, Cathy or Anna with Number in possession, he noticed that one of Yuma's friends was following behind each of them, "Hmm…said duel might be happening sooner than I thought."
"And just why exactly would that be the case?" asked Dumon, making Vector turn around to face his fellow Barians.
"No time to explain," Vector responded, "I must return to the Human world at once to begin Yuma's Ultimate Fall: Phase Two. I will notify you when things are about to get interesting. Cheers." And with that, a portal appeared behind Vector as he departed for Earth once more.
"Vector, hold on!" shouted Mizar, but Vector was already out and away. Mizar sighed and he turned to Dumon, "Remind me again why we agreed to have Vector get involved."
"Last resort," was all Dumon answered with.
"Oh yes, I remember now."
As the sun was setting on another day, Tori was strolling through Heartland City minding her own business, blissfully unaware of a follower close behind. Bronk was following a few feet behind Tori, trying to see if he could make out any glowing marks to prove that Tori was being possessed by a Number, but with no luck.
"Maybe Tori is not the one with the Number we are looking for," Bronk said to himself, "Might as well signal the others and see if they are having any luck," but as he pulled out his D-Gazer to contact the other guys, he noticed that Tori had suddenly stopped dead in her tracks with hers arms simply placed on either side. And because they were, Bronk was able to make out a green glowing number on her right hand. Surprised by his discovery, he quickly slipped behind a nearby tree and contacted Caswell straight away.
Caswell was hiding behind a brick wall while pursuing Cathy, when he noticed Cathy suddenly stood motionless while an orange glow came from her neck. Then his D-Gazer rang. Noticing the caller ID as Bronk, he picked it up and kept his voice to a minimum.
"Hey Bronk," began Caswell, "Good thing you called me. Guess what I just found."
"Not now, Caswell," interrupted Bronk, "I have just confirmed that Tori's under a Number's influence," this took Caswell by surprise.
"Huh?" questioned Caswell, "That can't be right. I see a Number's glow coming from Cathy," now Bronk was surprised.
"You sure?" asked Bronk as he checked Tori again just to be safe, and Caswell did the same. Sure enough, they both saw a glow from their respective targets.
"I'm sure," replied Caswell.
"But I saw a number mark too," Bronk claimed, "You think multiple numbers might be involved in this situation?" But before Caswell could speak, another ring occurred on his D-Gazer.
"Flip's trying to contact me, Bronk. I'll add him to our discussion so we can review the situation to him," said Caswell as he used his D-Gazer to have Flip join in, "Hey Flip. Bronk is connected to this call as well, and we have just confirmed that both Tori and Cathy have a Number."
"What?!" gasped Flip as he was caught off guard, "There are two more Numbers involved?"
"Huh? What do you mean 'there are two more Numbers involved?'" asked Bronk and Caswell together.
"I just caught sight of Anna with a glow coming from her left hand," answered Flip who was looking at the purple glow in question, "she has a Number too!"
"No way!" exclaimed Bronk, "So there are three Numbers in this scenario?"
"It seems so," replied Flip, "We have got a triple threat on our hands!"
"We've got to do something quick!" declared Caswell. But before they could go any further, the guys each had a rope made of red energy latch onto their arms simultaneously. They each turned to notice that the girls they were following were the source of this.
"If you want to get out of this jam," said Tori loud enough so that all six members of the conversation could hear, "Listen carefully."
Uh oh. Yuma's friends have been caught by the now confirmed Number possessed girls. How will they get out of this jam, and will Yuma be up to the challenge to secure them? Stay tune for Chapter 4.