Stardust Finex: Here it is, Chapter 7, ahoy!

Kotori: Finally! What happens now? Where's Yuma?

Stardust Finex: *winks* Ah, good question, Kotori. You'll find out in this chapter. Keep your eyes peeled for a familiar face from the World Duel Carnival. ;)


UPDATE, 5/7/2012: THERE IS AN ACTIVE POLL STILL OPEN! VISIT MY PAGE TO VOTE! REMEMBER, THE POLL CLOSES FRIDAY, MAY 11! ;)


Chapter 7

Darkness, that was all he had seen.

The sky wasn't blue and pleasant, and the sun was replaced by a ominous version of itself. Heartland City was in total chaos. The once happy city was now on fire, and dead bodies laid almost everywhere from the fire. Suddenly, Astral was screaming in horror. Then, all the boy's friends were frozen in time at something…..


"No, wait, what? AUUUUGGHHH!"

Yuma jolted from his sleep in nervousness and shock. He remembered everything: Kurai, him being scarred, Astral…..

"Where am I? How did I get here?" said a frantic Yuma. He realized he was held down by something. He found rope tied around his body in a chair. "Kurai! He must have taken my Key! Wait…. where's Astral?"

Yuma called, "Astral! Astral!"

The spiky-haired looked to find his Key gone, instead he found Kurai's Key on his neck. "Damn it, Kurai! First you attack me, then steal my Key! He better not have touched Astral! I can't just stand here! I gotta get out of…. wherever I am and get my Key back!" he said determined.

Yuma looked at himself. He noticed he was slightly thin because he didn't eat or drink anything due to him being unconscious for a couple days. His wound scabs fell off and now formed as permanent chest scars.

"Damn it," hissed Yuma. "Kurai will pay for what he has done to me and Astral. How the heck am I supposed to get out of here?"

Out of nowhere, a click could be heard. The click sounded like jingling for some reason. Yuma turned his head to find the warehouse's lock turning. His heart began to race in fear. "Crap! Kurai's back!" he thought. "I am SO dead!"

The door swung open, and to Yuma's surprise, a man was at the door instead. He was whistling while pulling the keys out of the lock. The man walked inside the warehouse, and he jumped at the sight of the boy in his warehouse. Something was familiar about him….

"Young man! What do you think you are you doing here in my warehouse?" inquired the man.

Yuma grunted, "Some idiot tied me up and left me here hostage! Can you get me out of here, please?" His stomach growled loudly in response, wanting to be fed.

The man came closer and he was out of the bright light. A hefty man wearing a straw hat came into Yuma's view. He was wearing a blue shirt with a tomato image, brown gloves, blue pants, along with some work boots. His eyes were squinted like Haru's. Yuma got a good look at the man. That face was very familiar…

"Yasai? What-what are you doing here? I haven't seen you since the World Duel Carnival!*" said a shocked Yuma.

Yasai knelt down. He reached into his pocket and swished a pocket blade. He began to cut the nylon rope. "Ah, long time no see, Yuma. After the World Duel Carnival, I decided to settle here in Heartland City. I gave up on the Tomato Paradise dream, but I had another dream: To grow a vegetable garden!
I built a greenhouse near Heartland Farms to start my garden business, and it has been very successful! People all over Heartland love my tomatoes-"

Yuma yawned, "Great story, Yasai, but can I eat first? I'm starving!"

"Hold on, Yuma, I'm almost done with this here rope," said the farmer.

The blade cut through the final part of the nylon rope. The rope fell off of Yuma's body. Yuma stretched from his chair. It felt great to be out of that chair after being rope bound. He then bowed to Yasai. "Thank you, Yasai! I owe you one!"

Yasai grinned in response. "Hey, it's no problem! All I want from you is another duel some day! Don't forget that! Before you go, take a tomato with you!" He reached into his basket of vegetables and pulled out a round tomato. He tossed it to Yuma, "I wish you the best, Yuma! Tell Kotori I said hi!"

"Will do!" called Yuma as he ran out of the warehouse.


Later that night, Yuma decided to call it a night. He wandered to Heartland Park and looked around. A park bench sat in the distance under a lush green tree. Yuma shrugged, "It's not a bed, but it's better than the sand," he decided. The boy plopped himself on the bench and settled himself. Before he fell asleep, Yuma looked at Kurai's Key on his neck. It wasn't his own Key, but it reminded him of the pain Kurai had caused him…

"Kurai…. What are you exactly?" wondered Yuma, "why are you here? What have you done to Astral…."

Yuma slowly felt his eyes give in to tiredness. The starry sky surrounded him as he finally retired for the night.

A pink-orange haired girl flew over the park. For some reason, she was flying on a strange portable aircraft. The park was coming into her bird's-eye-view. However, what had caught the girl's attention was a familiar boy sleeping on a bench. Despite his…. different clothimg style, she gasped, "Is that who I think it is? Could that be Yuma Tsukumo?"

The girl maneuvered her jet/cannon toward the park for a landing. She carefully lowered her aircraft onto the ground without any noise whatsoever. Of course, as usual, the girl started to lose a little control of the aircraft. She landed in the sand, facedown. The aircraft landed nose-first by her. Not amused, the now pissed-off girl spat sand out of her mouth and brushed it off of her face.

"Grrrr! Where's Yuma Tsukumo? I know I saw him around here on a bench!" she growled.

The girl's question was quickly answered when she found a boy sleeping on the said bench. He was lying sideways on the bench, sleeping like a baby. The girl laughed at the sight of Yuma sucking his thumb.

"Mmm…. Chocolate rice balls…" muttered Yuma, "really, Granny? I can have more? Why, thank you.."

"Heh heh, Yuma Tsukumo, you're so cute when you sleep. But, I can't leave you out here, I think I'll take you with me," whispered the girl.


The sun's bright lights shine brightly through the blinds. It was like as if they were fighting their say into the bedroom. For some reason, Yuma could feel an essence of warmth in his sleep.
His eyes started to slowly open, gathering as much light as possible for sight.

"Ugh… What did I eat last night? Oh yeah, I had that tomato…" moaned an exhausted Yuma. The boy looked around his surroundings. He was in a bedroom, but it appeared to have a log-cabin appearance. Overall, it looked like the typical bedroom. A confused expression spread on Yuma's face. "Huh? How did I get here? Where am I? I thought I was at the park last night."

"Good morning, Master Yuma."

Yuma jumped at the voice. It sounded metallic. Something was familiar about that voice… To his surprise, a Litterbot entered Yuma's room with a tray of riceballs and juice. It was the typical model of a Litterbot, which reminded Yuma so much of Obomi, because he had a bow on his chassis. What was different was that this Litterblt had a masculine voice. The robot extended its arms and placed the tray in Yuma's lap. "I am Litterbot Number 19-96, but you may call me 'Rob.' Enjoy your breakfast, Master Yuma. If you need anything, call me."

"I think that's enough, Rob," said a female voice.

A girl entered Yuma's room. She wore a pink-white top with a skirt, black leggings, and pink futuristic-like boots. Her eyes were a bold yellow and her hair colors, pink and orange, stood out. Yuma immediately recognized this girl.

"Anna Kozuki?" he said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

The said girl gave a small laugh, "Ah, if it isn't Yuma Tsukumo!"

Yuma looked at Anna. "How did I get here? Why am I in a log cabin?"

"I live here," replied Anna. "Make yourself at home, Yuma. You and Rob already met, right?" she said, gesturing to the Litterbot.

Yuma nodded. "Yeah, Rob reminds me of Obomi."

Anna nodded, "Ah, well, my parents don't mind you staying here. Until then, why don't you tell me why you were at that park?"


"WHAT? There's ANOTHER you?" Anna shrieked loudly, the whole house could her hear.

Yuma jumped at how loud Anna's voice was. None the less, he replied, "Yeah, his name is Kurai, and he has the same last name as me. He left me in Yasai's warehouse tied in a chair to die," he replied angrily, not very happy about Kurai.

The pink haired girl clenched her fists. Anna growled, "Does this Kurai Tsukumo think he can mess with MY Yuma? I don't think so! That jerk, when I see his face, I'm gonna kick his-"

"Wait a minute, Anna!" cried Yuma, holding up his hands, "I don't even know where Kurai is now! He could be anywhere around Heartland City! How did you know it was me, and not Kurai on the park bench? We both look EXACTLY the same."

Anna unclenched her fists. "Hmph. So I see, Kurai looks EXACTLY like you, but isn't there a way to tell you two apart?"

"Kurai stole my clothes and my Key, so he's probably wearing them! He put on his clothes on ME!" said Yuma gesturing to the clothes on a chair.

Suddenly, Rob started beeping. His optics glowed blue and his head turned and turned. "Master Anna, you might want to see this!" he said monotonously.

Rob projected a video from Heartland news. What Yuma and Anna had seen was frightening.

On the screen was a video of a mysterious boy breaking a glass case containing a rare card. He destroyed the case with no problem. He snagged the card and suddenly, a dark blur surrounded his body and he dissipated from the scene.

"Once again, that was the footage from Heartland Museum. A rare Duel Monsters card was stolen last night by a boy. Security footage shows that the boy was accompanied by a mysterious dark blur…." blared the news reporter, while reading the papers on her desk. "The footage could not get a image of the thief's face, but it did capture that the thief was wearing an oddly-shaped pendant."

An image of the strange pendant was broadcasted onto the news screen. The results were shocking to Yuma and Anna.

"No. Way! That's the Emperor's Key!" cried Yuma.

The news reporter continued, "If you have seen anyone wear this pendent, call the nearest authorities IMMEDIATELY, before he commits another card stealing spree! I am Tasuku Tanaka**, and this concludes our story. Elijah James***? What do you have?"

Ron shut down his projector and said, "I hope this was useful to you, Master Anna." With that, Rob wheeled out of Yuma's temporary room.

Yuma and Anna slowly turned to the side and stared at each other. Silence filled the room for a moment, before Anna said, "Is that who I think it was?"

"Yeah," growled Yuma, "it was Kurai. Who is that dark blur with him? Why is- Wait….. No! No! It can't be!" flailed the boy.

"Who? What are you talking about?" cried Anna.

"It….. It's Black Mist," Yuma said hoarsely. "He's with Kurai…"


*See episode 30 of Zexal. You know, the one about tomatoes?
** The new's reporter's name is a reference to Tasuku Hatanaka, Yuma's Japanese voice actor!
*** A reference to Eli Jay, Yuma's English dub actor!


Stardust Finex: Looks like trouble is brewing for Yuma! What will happen next?

Takashi: Don't give us any spoilers!

Stardust Finex: *laughs* Relax, the story is just getting even better!