When Yuma opened his eyes again the ground was red.
He jolted out of Yusei's arms "Wait, this place-" But the sky was jet black. Tried as he may, he couldn't feel any Chaos around. Strangely enough the place reminded him of the Astral World, dead.
"Yusei, Yusei. Please, wake up." Thankfully Yusei did open his eyes after a few shakes. Slowly the older boy sat up, he opened his mouth to say something but just ended up staring at Yuma.
"What's wrong Yusei?" Yuma panicked, did Yusei hit his head? Did he have a concussion?
"Your face," Yusei finally uttered out. "You have these green marks and your left eye! It's gold! What's going on?"
"I don't know." Although Yuma might have some theories. "The marks, are they diamond shaped?"
"Yes."
Make sense, technically Yuma was born from Astral's soul (and Don Thousand, who was also an Astralite), having Astralite's marking made sense…..Wait…did this means he's-
A pair of freezing cold hands grab Yuma's arm and another and another. Ghoul like body swarmed him, their hands reaching out at his body. Yusei tried to pull them off Yuma but found that his feet were beginning to sink into the red dirt.
From deep within Yuma's soul, the Future Numbers emerged. Accretion Arkros pushed ghoul away from Yuma while Utopic Future lended Yusei a hand.
And although they appeared to be able to handle spirits, Yuma was not gonna take that chance.
Holding onto Yusei's hand, he ran as fast as he could away from the spirits."What are those?"
"They're the spirits of the people who died in the meltdown." Yusei replied.
Looking back, Yuma saw even more dead people had popped up and for all their strength Yuma only had two Numbers. He tried reaching out the Ice Barrier, to Luna or Akiza or Jack, heck even the Crimson Dragon itself. Nothing answered.
A thought suddenly entered his mind.
Yuma halted in his running but before Yusei could question him, Utopic swooped in, snatching him up and carrying him far away from Yuma. Yusei screamed out his name as he was carried away which hurted more than it should.
Accretion Arkos was gone now, waiting in the shadows to protect Yuma should his not very thought out plan fail.
The ghouls drew closer. Taking in a deep breath Yuma released a wave of pure Chaos.
For a moment, it seemed to work. The ghouls calmed down and Yuma can actually make out human features, even if feint. Still, they didn't go away.
More came, crowding him. Yuma released more Chaos and more and more, hoping that even one of these spirits would move on. The Chaos stopped them for a seconds, returning their humanity, before the effect ceased and they reached out for him with much more vigor. So much so, Accretion Arkos was having trouble pulling Yuma out of the group.
More and more, Yuma fed Chaos to all of these ghouls. Trying to keep them happy enough for Accretion Arkos to open a path for him to run. But as time passed, Yuma could feel the weariness seep into his skin. One second of waving and the hungry ghoul lashed out at him. Their pale hands dug into his skin, making him feel cold and empty.
"Stand down, oh lost spirits of the Netherworld." A bright light piece through the swarm of ghouls. "You've taken enough from him."
The spirits did, indeed, move back. Allowing Yuma to catch his breath. One by one they fade away, leaving only Yuma and the figure in the light.
"Who are you?" Yuma asked. It was hard to make out the figure within the light but he was sure it was a man.
"Someone who's very grateful for the help you have provided my son." The figured answer before turning to Accretion Arkos. "But it is time for you to leave."
Yuma closed his eyes…
(-.-)
….And opened it to the sight of Leo, Lun, Trudge and Crow. He blinked confused on how he had gotten back. Slowly he sat up, steady hand helped him halfway..
"Yusei!" Yuma cheered. Yusei was okay, not anymore beat up than when Yuma last saw him. "I'm sorry-"
His words were stopped by a hug. "Please, don't do that again."
(-.-)
Amusement park was a fixture in his childhood. Even after his parents were gone and his family had some money trouble, Akari always took him to the amusement park in the summon. It was bright and loud and fun, he and Kotori would drag poor Tetsuo onto the gnarliest ride they could find and although he whines about it Tetsuo ended up enjoying the ride.
The abandoned amusement park was the complete opposite of that memory.
Leo and Luna stuck close to him as they searched the place for any signs of Mina. Not that he could blame them.
Dusty carousel, broken teacup rise. Enough spiderwebs to form Earthbound Immortal Uru. As if it wasn't enough that Mina was nowhere to be found, this place hammered uneasiness into his chest.
Didn't help that Yuma couldn't feel Akiza at all.
The Lizard Nazca Line was hanging in the air so she must be dueling a Dark Signer. Still didn't explain why Mina was missing.
Through every booth and broken attraction the three of them looked, but found no sign of the woman.
Then the sector security communicator in Luna's arm rang.
"Kid, listen." Trudge's voice grunted out. "If you three see a man in a trench coat, run."
"What why? Is it a new Dark Signer?" Leo questioned. "If so Luna and Yuma can take him."
"Worst, according to Mina it's Sayer."
"Sayer?" Luna exclaimed. "Like the Arcadian Movement Sayer? Didn't he die?"
"He survived, somehow." Trudge growled. "Yusei's handling him but it's for the best that the rest of us re-group by the car."
Following Trudge's direction, the three of them made their way out of the maze of broken attraction. Passing by broken mirrors, Yuma and Luna winced at the same time. Their mark burned as the ground shook.
Leo let out a squeak as Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua could be seen penetrating the clouds.
(-.-)
Akiza and Yusei exited the fight when the sun set.
Another earthquake hit the island. Light striked down from the heavens onto Neo Domino and from it a symbol of a great bird.
Oh, no.