Hello, everyone! *bursts out of a giant box* Welcome back to "The Shadow of Yuma!"
Just to clear some things up, last chapter, Yuma's friends suffered through…. a terrible change. They will NOT remain that way forever. The boys will turn back to normal. I can't say how, but you will find out in the future.
So now, enjoy Chapter 13! Yay!
Chapter 13
The storm from Heartland City started to end as the sun started to set, shining it's red light through the rainy clouds. Some storm clouds remained, but the sunset made up for the gloominess. The sun shone like a ruby in the red sky. It looked even beautiful in the mountains outside of Heartland City.
In the forest area of Heartland Mountains, a boy and a girl sat on the rooftop of a house watching the sun set. The spiky-haired boy and a pink-orange headed girl stared at the sun as its radiant colors shone in the night sky.
The girl looked at her friend in concern. She could tell that something was bothering him, but she didn't know what. She wasn't sure whether to ask him, because it could probably have been a personal issue. Then again, a friend is a friend. If a friend is troubled, at least help them get past their troubles.
"Yuma?" said the girl.
Yuma, the said boy, turned away from the sky and looked at his friend. "Anna? Is something wrong?"
Anna took a deep breath. "I should be asking you that," she replied, making eye contact with her friend. "Is there something bothering you?"
"Everything is wrong. Kurai has stolen my life, and he's ruining my image! I can't imagine facing everyone, because they'll think that I'm a troublemaker! I can't even think of my grandma or my sister because they probably hate me, and I am sure that my friends hate me now!" Yuma quivered as he felt tears swell in his eyes. He lowered his head as tears fell onto the ground. "Damn it, Kurai! Why the hell did you even come here in the first place? What did I ever do to you? You're nothing but a sick freak!"
Yuma sobbed loudly, with Anna staring at him in shock. Thinking quickly, she then said, "Yuma, that's not true! You're NOT a bad person! I know this, because I'm your friend, and I believe in you! You would never lose hope in a situation like this, but I am not sure if you even HAVE hope! You need to stop running from your problems and face them!"
Anna's words rung in Yuma's mind. It started racing like crazy as various thoughts and memories popped into his mind. Yuma's family, friends, Duelists he had met all flashed in his memories. Then, Astral…..
"Astral…."
Yuma woke up to find himself in a white subspace. Everything was completely white. There were no buildings or any sign of life. It was only Yuma in a cold, lonely, white subspace. Yuma never felt so alone. He crouched down in sadness, dropping his head into his knees.
"ASTRAL!" he shouted at the subspace.
"Yuma!"
The boy moved his head, his face full of tears, towards an all-familiar blue alien in the distance.
"Astral!" cried Yuma.
The blue ghost couldn't leave his spot for some reason. Not willing to give up, he cupped his hands and shouted, "Yuma! Don't give in to the darkness! You will find a way to stop Kurai!"
"How? Kurai has practically ruined my life!" cried Yuma.
"No, he hasn't. If you can stop him from possibly ruining Earth, every-
thing will be alright!"
"How do you know?"
"You need to trust me, Yuma! Right now, the only person who can save Heartland City and all of our friends is YOU!"
Astral's words flowed into Yuma's mind. He felt like a part of Astral became a part of himself. Suddenly, Yuma felt confidence returning to him. He took a deep breath and held the Key ((Since Yuma is in a dream, he has his Key back)). To Yuma, all of his friends, family, and Astral were all inside this one little Key.
"Astral…. I will definitely save you, and I will definitely not give up!" cried Yuma.
Black tentacles lashed out of the middle of nowhere in the subspace. It gripped tightly around Astral's body, which was placing a lot of pressure onto the spirit.
"Yuma! This…. Is my last strength…. Stop Kurai and Black Mist before its too late…." moaned Astral, as the subspace suddenly started to destroy itself.
Yuma acted quickly, holding out his hand. "ASTRAL!"
"Yuma, can you hear me? Yuma!"
Yuma groggily opened his eyes as he yawned. He found himself in his bed inside his temporary room.
"Ugh… What happened? The last thing I remember was Astral when we were on the roof…" said Yuma. He the looked at Anna, making eye contact. "Did you really mean what you told me, that you are my friend?"
"I really meant it, and because you never give up. When I was beating you to pulp in our fist duel,** you didn't quit and you found a way to defeat me. You can't give up, not here, and not now," said Anna, gently caressing Yuma's arms.
"Anna…. You don't know how much this means to me. I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't found me. Thank you…" said Yuma, as he was starting to slowly feel a lot more relived.
Silence filled the room for a moment. Suddenly, a beep could be heard outside the room.
"Master Anna!"
The teens looked at the doorway to find Anna's Litterbot/assistant, Rob, his optics flashing like crazy.
"I have important information! Important! Important!" chirped the Litterbot.
Yuma and Anna looked at the Litterbot in confusion.
"I'm sorry, Rob, but could you repeat that?" said a curious Anna.
"What do you mean, by 'important information'?" inquired Yuma.
The Litterbot beeped as his face turned and turned. "My apologies, Yuma and Anna-sama. What I am trying to tell you is that I have detected an unusual, peculiar energy from a place called Heartland Tower. The energy levels are very high for some reason," explained Rob.
Anna looked towards a boy sitting in a chair next to her. He was looking a little tense, which was unusual for him. "Yuma? Is something bothering you? Rob had just told us that he received strange energy levels from Heartland Tower."
Yuma raised an eye in confusion. "Can Rob get any footage of what's going on in Heartland Tower? I have a feeling something's going on in there."
"Certainly, Master Yuma," replies Rob. "Beep beep. Scanning…. Scanning….."
DING!
Rob's optics lit up as his mouth opened to reveal a mini-projector inside. A projection of Heartland Tower's live security feeds popped up all over the screen. At least 23 cameras were on the screen.
Yuma and Anna stared at the screen in awe. They all looked at each camera to see if they would find anything unusual. After passing a few cameras showing empty rooms, Anna stopped at one particular camera: Number 15. "Yuma! Look at the 15th camera! I think you need to see something!" she cried, pointing at the camera feed.
Yuma bolted out of his bed and stood at the foot of the bed. He stared at the 15th camera as instructed. An all-familiar look-a-like sat poised on a throne, with the Diamond Heart in his hands. Sunglasses draped over his eyes, and the clothing caught Yuma's attention. "Oh my god…. What has Kurai done?" he said in surprise.
Anna's eyes grew wide as she liked at the live feed. "Yuma! Look who is in the other throne next to Kurai!" she said, pointing to the throne to the right of Kurai. "It's Kotori Mizuki!"
"WHAT?"
Yuma stared at the live video even more. Kotori sat like an elegant princess in her throne, massaging Kurai's shoulders. Yuma swore he could hear Kurai moaning in pleasure.
"Kotori, your hands feel so soft! You're like an angel! I think I've died and gone to heaven!" said Kurai in the video.
"My king, you flatter me too much!" Kotori said jokingly.
Rob turned off his projector and let it fall back inside his system. "I hope this as helpful to you, Master Anna."
"You did well, thank you Rob," replied Anna. "Could you stay here for a little while?"
"Certainly," chirped Rob.
Anna turned away from Rob to find Yuma gritting his teeth, clenching his fists. The brunette had never seen Yuma this angry before. "Yuma?"
"Astral….. I will make Kurai pay for what he has done! How do I know? I'm going great Kattobing!" shouted Yuma.
A familiar green-haired girl popped into Yuma's mind. She smilies happily as she flashed through his memories.
"Kotori… I will save you!"
*See Chapter 4.
** Remeber Anna's first appearance, AKA episode 29 of Zexal?
Holy cow, this chapter was so emotional! I almost broke into tears writing this chapter! Sounds like trouble is brewing for Kurai! Take that, you sneaky jerk!
Kurai: Huh? Wait-
Yuma: Too late! *punches Kurai in the face*
