Me: ... I'm currently hiding underneath my bed... in case any of you freak out at me later because of this chapter... and because Astral's currently scaring me because of episode 106... I will be under here until further notice...

Chapter 17: One, Two, Three, Four, The Barians Now Declare War

"Um, okay then…. So… One…" The name felt weird to say. This was the whole Arclight situation all over again for Sarah, with the names Three, Four, and Bui which should have been pronounced Five. "Are you alright?"

"It'll take a while for me to recover my strength, but I'll be alright in the end." One replied. He tried to sit up, then winced and fell down again. "But at this rate, I won't be able to talk with Yuma."

Sarah stared at him, trying to figure him out. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god. I got it! I know why you know Yuma!" One looked at her in shock. "You were one of the extremely minor characters in the background of one of the episodes who got sent here by accident too!"

One made a face. "What?"

"That must be it! Although I don't remember you… you must have not been named. Although…" Sarah's hand went to her chin as she thought hard, "I think I would remember a hairstyle like yours… you could almost cosplay as Yuma!"

"Cos…play…"

"Yeah! Your hair's bangs are sorta like Yuma's, although their shorter. And your hair sticks out at the back, although its sticking down instead of up. I guess that makes sense, since otherwise it would defy gravity and that makes no sense. I've tried using hair gel although it doesn't work! Jeez how do those wig makers do it!" Sarah ranted. "Oh! Once you get better we should cosplay together and go to a convention! That'd be fun!"

"Um, that's… not the case." One said slowly.

"It isn't? But going to a convention would be so fun!"

What kind of girl had he been stuck with? "Look, I've got a bunch of things I need to tell Yuma. Can you pass along a message?"

"Yeah, of course." Sarah nodded.

"Do you know about the Yugioh tournament coming up soon? The one where a winner gets a new Number card?"

"Oh yeah, Yuma's been going on about joining it for a while. Why?"

"Be careful. Be careful about the people who enter, be careful about the people who are holding it, and be careful of the prize."

"The Numbers? Why? It's just a card here."

"This is no regular Numbers. Or just any regular card either. Be wary of it."

Sarah made a face. "Maybe back in the cartoon world, but this is real life here."

"Your real life. To you, this is real life and what I'm talking about is cartoon. To us, this place is cartoon, and what you call cartoon, well that's our real life."

She stared. "I-I, well,"

"I need to rest up, take a nap. I'll be fine. You can go now." One said, closing his eyes and pulling the sheets up. Sarah stood up, looking at him with suspicion and confusion. She opened her mouth to ask something, then stopped and turned away. As she was halfway to the door, she heard him speak again.

"One more thing, well, two more things." One said. "See, Number 96 might come around to cause trouble, so when that happens you need to—"

"Woah woah woah woah woah! Woah! Woah woah woah pause right there!" Sarah yelled, pointing at him. "What about creepy Black Mist?! He's loose?!"

"Yeah, didn't Yuma tell you—"

"No he did not tell me!" Sarah screamed. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god this is bad this is SO bad!"

"You know how bad he is?"

"I've read enough fanfiction to know what his definition of trouble is!" She yelled, her face turning red. "Oh no, what if he comes and does, all that, in the middle of the night!"

One stared at her. "What have you been reading in the internet?"

"I've read enough to know what he does with those creepy tentacles of his!"

He sighed. "I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be reading those things at your age. Aren't they rated M for 18+?"

Her face turned red. "W-What kind of messed up things do you think I've been reading?!"

"Stuff that includes tentacles, fanfiction, Black Mist, and things you shouldn't be reading at your age. What are you, 14?"

"13…" Sarah mumbled. "And I have not been reading things like that!"

"You say that… although your face is all red…" One sighed again. "But just be careful, he could appear anywhere."

"Yeah, like a dark alley… or at night in my house…"

"Not the time for your fantasies." One said. "He has more things going on than it seems."

"Mmmhmmm…" Sarah nodded, not completely believing it. "So what's the next thing?"

"Be careful about Shingetsu." One said. She made a face. "He's more than he seems."

"Aaaaand, you can't tell me straight out because?"

He sighed. "It would disrupt a lot of things. Besides, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it."

"What do you want me to believe about him?"

"What is Shingetsu to you?"

She thought about it. "Um, Shingetsu's a comic relief, a fanboy of Yuma, a kid who's even stupider than Yuma although he's really funny and cute at times, a kid who tries to be nice but messes up a lot, and I guess I could sorta call him a friend."

"And that is why you would never believe me."

Sarah made a face at him. "Do you make a habit of confusing others, or is it just me you like annoying."

"It could be both." One said. He closed his eyes in the hospital bed, and Sarah took that as a hint that the conversation was done, so she left the room. As soon as she was gone, One opened his eyes, and looked at the bedside next to him, where his deck was. He grabbed it and flipped through the cards to a problem.

"One, we have a problem." He said.

I heard. Force is meddling.

"Along with the so-called Shingetsu." He growled. "Attacking the link between them. Using dirty tricks… figures he'd do something like that."

So what are you going to do? You can't exactly fight him in this state.

"And he still believes the Barians will help him. No matter how many times I tell him." He sighed. "And since he isn't working fast enough, they decided to involve Shingetsu in it. Just like so many other worlds…" He looked down. "This always happens. And I thought things could be different in this world…"

There's still ways. At this rate, there isn't going to be many left.

"And I would have been one of them if it wasn't for you." He thought about it, smiling slightly. "One of them. One. Irony."

Not the time, you know.

"Having a little laugh isn't bad. It's actually quite refreshing, considering all we had to go through."

Rest up. As soon as we're recovered, we have to get going.

"Got it got it." He put the deck back on the table, looking out the window. It was dark. He pulled the blankets up and closed his eyes. "G'night One."

Good night.

-linebreak-

"Done and done and done!" Yuma said, clicking the button on the computer, sending the application.

"Hey! I'm back!" Sarah yelled as she entered the house, holding two plastic bags full of food. She set them down on the table, then walked over to them. "Whatchya doing?"

"Sending in application for that cool duel tournament! I can get a Numbers from it!" Yuma said.

"It'll be so cool! Yuma-kun will definitely win!" Shingetsu cheered. Sarah looked at him, at his cheery expression, thinking about what One had said.

"Um, Shingetsu…" She began.

"What is it?" He asked happily.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She couldn't say it. "N-Nothing." She said, opening the bags. "So, who want's dinner?"

"I do! I do now!" Yuma yelled. Kotori sighed next to him.

"Of course you do." She said.

The four of them sat around the table, eating the take out. "So, where's Kaito and Shark?" Sarah asked.

"Kaito's still researching, and he had Shark go out to help him." Kotori replied.

"How's Astral?"

Yuma looked down at his Key, holding it gently. "I don't know. He's been inside all afternoon. Apparently the Barian Sphere Cube knocked a lot out of him. Maybe if we get that new Number, he'll get better!"

"That could work." Kotori said.

"So it's settle! Me and Sarah'll go and win that Numbers!"

Sarah froze mid-bite. "What?"

"Oh, I signed you up too! Me and Shingetsu thought it would be bad if you got left out." Yuma said, with Shingetsu nodding behind him. "Plus Kotori and Shingetsu aren't that good duelists, and you managed to win all of those cards and Numbers here, you must be pretty good! We're both going to that duel tournament!"

Sarah stared at him, not moving. Her head hit the table, and she screamed.

-linebreak (originally gonna end the chapter here but figured what the heck continue!)-

"Okay! Let's win some Numbers!" Yuma cheered in front of the mall. Him and the others stood in front of the downtown shopping mall, where the tournament was happening. Next to him, Sarah was breathing heavily, bundled up in the largest coat he had ever seen.

"Kay, kay, kay, it's just dueling, just duel, easy, simple, calm down, yeah… it'll be alright…" She muttered. "Oh jeez oh jeez oh gods oh gods oh gods…"

"Why am I here?" Shark complained.

"Why couldn't Shark do it instead of me!" Sarah yelled.

"I don't care about things like this." Shark replied.

"Why couldn't Kaito do it instead of me!"

"Kaito's busy trying to figure out how to get home. He and Orbital are working overtime." Kotori said.

Sarah looked back and forth between all of them. She groaned, yelled, and punched the wall, then shook her knuckles out to try and ease the pain, the knuckles bruised and scraped.

"Let's go!" They all went inside, Kotori dragging Sarah.

At a sign-up desk inside the mall, Yuma went up to the guy there. "Yuma Tsukumo and Sarah Walker, here!" The guy wrote down their names, then waved them into an area packed with people.

"Wow. Didn't think there'd be this many people." Kotori said. Sarah was panicking next to her, freaking out anytime anyone came near her.

"Sarah?" Sarah jumped, turning around to see Shingetsu looking at her. She took a deep breath.

"Yeah Shingetsu?"

"Can we talk?"

Sarah looked around nervously. "Um, about…?"

"I know how to get rid of your anxiety!" He replied happily. Sarah mentally breathed out. Oh, it was just that.

"Sure." She nodded. "I'll be gone you guys!"

"Get back before it starts!" Yuma said. The two of them pushed out of the crowd, then went outside to the back of the mall.

"So, Shingetsu, what've you got?" She asked when they were alone.

"Well, they designed the competition a bit strangely. See, they're going to have one contestant use the new Numbers throughout the competition, and if that person won they could keep it. Although if they lost they would give the card to the winner. They asked me to give it to you."

He held out a card, and she stared at it.

"Oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD!" She screamed, taking it. "THIS IS SO COOL! I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS CARD BEFORE, and although I'm kinda getting used to it, OH MY GOD!"

"I'm glad you like it. So I'll lend you some other cards too to help."

"Really?" Sarah looked at him happily, and he nodded.

"They should help. After all, you've never been a good duelist."

Huh? Sarah looked at him funny. He continued. "You've been avoiding this all day, and panic around crowds, people, and small places. It's honestly sad."

Sarah blinked.

"Despite you obviously being socially and emotionally lacking, you always seem to be able to get to annoying loopholes." He said. "You're naivety and stupidity is honestly surprising, in some ways even more than Yuma's. But despite all that, you're still able to struggle and fight. You've made contact with him. You heard him talk, didn't you? If he gets his way, my plan won't work out fully as I planned it. It's getting in my way."

He took out two more cards, and she stared at them.

"W-Wha…" She looked at him in shock. "S-Shinge…. H-How do you…."

"Hmm? Whatever are you talking about?" He said playfully. Her head hurt, as she looked back and forth between the cards and him.

"Y-You…" Her eyes widened.

"Don't worry. I said I know how to get rid of your anxiety, and it does that. Although…" He laughed.

Sarah's chest hurt as she looked at the card, and she grabbed it. "You, you little!" She yelled. "You, you…" Her eyes glazed over as she took the cards, looking at them blankly. "All for the... sake of the... Ba...rian... World..."

"Dirty tricks." Force scoffed from behind her.

"They work, so what's the problem?"

Force frowned, and looked at Sarah, who wasn't moving, then back at the orange-haired deceiver, who smiled back at him. "We got ourselves a perfect weapon to destroy Yuma-kun with, and if that doesn't work I have a backup too!"

"I'll defeat this Yuma. We don't need your other plan."

"Eh? But it's so fun!"

"Only you would think that that is fun." Force took Sarah's arm, and began dragging her away. "I'm going now, and sending her back."

Vector smirked as he watched the boy leave with Sarah. Honestly, Force really was too naïve sometimes. Everything in his plan was going just as planned. Poor Yuma. Poor, poor Yuma. He had no idea what was going to happen next.

None of them had any idea what was going to happen next. And that's why his plan was working so well.

Me: . . . So. . . I'll be hiding underneath my bed now. From both readers and Astral. . . Review… cause I'm leaving to a place with no signal or wifi and am going to be stuck there until Wednesday. I'm sorry!