Ice Queen Cometh

by Nox Barian

Rio Kamishiro never expected her life would become so chaotic in such a short period of time. First her brother, Shark is set on fire and put in the hospital by a psychopath. Then, she is dragged into the War of the Number Cards alongside her friends. but when familiar faces from the past arrive on Earth, she will begin to question whether she is even human at all. (REMAKE)

4. Positive Developments

Welcome Back Everybody!

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Even longer of a wait than last time!

First of all, suffice to say, 2023 hasn't been that great of a year for me, but gaining the inspiration to rewrite this story has been one of the highlights of the year, and knowing there are people out there who still care about this story means a lot to me!

Therefore, I attempted, and succeeded, to get at least one more chapter published before the end of the year!

Second of all, I would like to thank the following individuals for helping make this chapter possible!

1. EpsilonTarantula, for putting up with my shenanigans and agreeing to proofread my work!

2. Donjusticia, for inspiring me with his own fantastic writing and being an equally fantastic friend!

3. TheNew959, for pointing out the inconsistency created when I used the English Dub Name for Yuma's Sister (Kari), instead of her original Japanese name, Akari. I made it a point to stick with the original Japanese names for the sake of consistency last time, so I appreciate pointing that out.

And for the rest of you wonderful readers, all I have to say is this!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Enjoy the Chapter!

---

Chapter 4: Positive Developments

Dawn approached, and Akari Tsukumo sluggishly crawled out of bed, her hand blindly searching for her alarm to turn it off. She already knew today was going to be rough. She didn't get much sleep the night before, and it would take more than coffee to ease her troubled mind.

She scrolled through her phone, her mind divided between focusing on the work she needed to do today, and the events that happened last night.

Her grandmother was right. Based on how she handled the argument, Yuma probably thought she didn't care about him, and now the rift between the Tsukumo siblings was larger than ever. Still, it was for Yuma's own good that he didn't duel. It was safer that way, especially with the reports of these dangerous duelists running around. The last thing Akari wanted was her little brother to get hurt, and while Yuma's determination meant he always got back up after every defeat, too many failures would eventually break him, and he would learn the hard way that some people just don't have what it takes to succeed in what they want to do.

Speaking of which, she had a big day ahead of her if she wanted to succeed in what she wanted. Her boss assigned her the interview of a lifetime, and she couldn't afford to waste any time. If she missed the interview, she could kiss her job goodbye.

"I'll just talk to Yuma when I get back," Akari thought to herself. "I'll try a gentle approach next time. Maybe I'll offer to unground him if he promises to quit dueling for about a month. Maybe by then those weird duelists will no longer be around.. And maybe if I'm really lucky, a month will give Yuma enough time to find a new hobby."

The ringing of her phone snapped her out of her thoughts. "Oh, please don't be my boss," she groaned as she picked it up. There was no caller ID, which she found strange. She reluctantly chose to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Rise and Shine."

Akari instantly recognized the voice on the other end of the line.

"Shuta? What do you want, and how the hell did you get this Number? I thought I blocked you!"

"That's not important," Shuta replied dismissively. "I just want to have a quick little chat before you head off to your little paparazzi party. I wouldn't want to keep your journalist firm from missing out on a chance to join the mayor on his little airship ride across the city."

"How do you know about that?" Akari growled. "Have you been spying on me?"

"A good journalist never reveals his sources," he replied, his taunt making Akari's blood boil. "Look, I know you're upset with me poaching your scoops for the past week, but I did it to get your attention. After all, if these other news stations are so eager for my photos, then shouldn't you take it as a sign that I've improved as a journalist? Perhaps now you might want to hear me out about my scoop on our dearly beloved mayor and the skeletons in his closet."

"Those photos you took didn't prove anything!" Akari shouted into the phone. "I'm about to have proper journalist coverage with Mister Heartland himself, and you have the nerve to bring up your little conspiracy theory NOW? Are you trying to sabotage me to get back at me for terminating your internship? Is that it?"

"Now look who's coming up with the wild conspiracy theories!" Shuta taunted again, Akari growling as she heard his mocking laughter. "I don't want to sabotage anything. In fact, I want to let you in on a scoop way more valuable than some cheap interview and a ride on the mayor's airship. Do you remember that article I published online about those dangerous duelists, the ones with glowing tattoos on their bodies? I have very important information that could put a stop to those duelists forever, that is of course, if you are willing to hear me out."

"Get on with it!" Akari snapped, in no patience for riddles after hearing Shuta's nonsense.

"Alright, Alright. My offer is simple. You agree to re-open my investigation into Mr. Heartland and treat my work with a little bit more respect. I'm sure your boss will appreciate it if I stop selling my scoops to his competition, since he clearly realizes you made a mistake in convincing him to let me go. In exchange, I'll give you the inside scoop on those glowing marks, and I'll even give you partial credit for all my findings. Then you will have two stories to publish with details so juicy that your boss will want to double your salary. Who knows? Maybe you and your little brother might even get some closure on what happened to your parents."

And there it was. Shuta crossed that line again. Akari found her hand squeezing her phone so much, she could have broken it. The arrogant photographer wannabe had the nerve to bring her parents up again. As if he actually had the skill to discover the truth about them, not that she even wanted to know at this point. Her parents were gone. Their reckless sense of adventure got them into trouble just like she thought it would. At least, it was easier to believe that than to open old wounds like Shuta was trying to do.

Akari despised the condescending nature of Shuta's voice. She could tell he was enjoying this. He didn't even seem to care if she rejected him again. He only seemed interested in the satisfaction of rubbing all of this in her face. Did he even have a proper lead, or was he just bringing up his conspiracy theory again just to hurt her?

"The answer is no, Shuta!" She snapped. "I told you last time, and I'm telling you again. Those pictures you took of Mister Heartland's warehouses prove absolutely nothing, and I find it insulting that you would take advantage of my grief to get a scoop published."

"Well I find it embarrassing and sad that somebody who takes journalism seriously would turn away from the facts just because they may not like the truth. Maybe, I should tell Yuma about my scoop on the mayor. I'm sure your little brother would be much more interested in learning there's a chance for him to find out the truth about his missing parents."

"STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" Akari shouted at the top of her lungs. There was silence for the next ten seconds, and Akari thought Shuta finally hung up. "Hello? Did you hear me?" She checked to see if Shuta was still there.

"Loud and clear," he replied, sounding ever so polite with his reply, completely unfazed by her outburst. It made her even more uncomfortable. "Alright, Akari. Have it your way. I will trouble you no further. However, I have one last piece of advice for you. I wouldn't go on the mayor's airship if I were you. You won't enjoy the ride."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Call it a hunch, but maybe this time there might be consequences for choosing not to listen to me. You have a nice flight."

"Consequences? Don't you threaten me you little sh-" but the dial tone of her phone cut her off, indicating Shuta finally hung up.

She breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to talk to him again, but she had a feeling this wouldn't be the last she'd hear of him. If he ruined her interview, she would make him wish he had never been born. Speaking of which, she needed to get dressed. She wasted enough time already. She normally preferred her casual clothes, but today required formal attire for such a special occasion. There would be serious competition on the airship, dozens of reporters from other news stations, so she needed to stand out. If she even got the chance to talk to Mr. Heartland, she needed him to take her seriously as a journalist. Akari exited her room wearing a black business blouse and a white jacket over it with a matching white pencil skirt hugging her waist. Black pantyhoes covered her legs, and an orange tie nestled below her neck. The clicking noise of her modest white pumps alerted the other two members of her family to her presence, who were already having breakfast.

"Morning, Grandma," she greeted Haru, before she locked eyes with her brother, and both siblings immediately looked away from each other. "Sorry I don't have time to eat breakfast. If I stay here any longer, I'm going to be late."

"Oh, is it today?" Haru inquired. Even Yuma looked curious.

"What's today?" he asked.

"Once a year, Mr. Heartland tours the city and the surrounding areas in his airship," Haru explained. "Don't you remember seeing it fly right above our house last year?"

"Oh yeah, now I remember!" Yuma said, snapping his fingers. "Usually, whenever he does this, he has some big announcement for a new project to develop the city, or something like that."

"And the mayor donates all the money made from the tickets he sells to ride in the airship with him to charities, like animal shelters and children's hospitals," Haru beamed. "Such a model citizen. It's good to know at least one city in this country has such a kind hearted member of society running it. I must admit, Akari, I'm slightly jealous you managed to get a spot on that airship this year, but I suppose being part of the press has its perks."

"It does!" She replied, sounding rather stressed. "But I'm not going to be a part of the press any longer if that airship takes off and I'm not on it." She frantically searched for her keys, and after grabbing them, her eyes locked with Yuma for one final time. A flicker of regret crossed her mind.

"Yuma…."

"What?" Yuma muttered, the bitterness in his voice repelling his sister.

Akari sighed and turned to leave the house. "Nevermind. We'll talk when I get back, but don't forget, you're still grounded, so no leaving the house, and no dueling!"

With a slam of the door, Akari left the house, leaving Yuma with nothing to do but groan in annoyance.

"Great! What do I do now? If I try to look for Shuta, and Akari finds out about it, she'll probably confiscate my deck again, and I'll probably get two whole hours of yelling on top of it."

"Shuta?"

Yuma realized his grandmother was still in the kitchen with him, and despite her age, her hearing was sharp. "I didn't realize the two of you were friends, Yuma, especially after his partnership with your sister ended on such a sour note. We were just talking about him last night."

"We're not friends, Grandma," Yuma explained. "It's just really important that I find him right away."

Yuma wasn't sure how much he should tell his Grandmother. In his experience, she was far more lenient with him than his sister, but how would she react to a story about Duel Monster Cards that change people's personalities and make them go crazy? Luckily for Yuma, Haru saw the distress in her grandson's eyes. One look, and she could tell whatever was going on, it was serious.

She shot Yuma a knowing smile and winked. "Oh dear, it seems I was so distracted by watching the broadcasting of the airship on TV, Yuma was able to sneak right past me and leave the house without my notice. Oh, curse my advanced age and slow mind. Oh, Akari, what are we going to do with that boy?"

Yuma chuckled at his grandmother's sarcasm, but felt more touched than anything. At least one member of his family supported him. "Thanks, Grandma."

"Don't mention it, Yuma," she replied. "But before you go, just hear me out on one thing."

"Alright."

Haru's warm smile disappeared, turning serious. "Your sister loves you, Yuma. I know you don't believe it at the moment, but all she wants is for you to stay safe, Yuma."

"She's got a funny way of showing it," Yuma muttered bitterly.

"I know she does, but remember, you weren't the only one whose heart broke when your parents never came home. She's dealing with her grief very differently from you, and more importantly, she sees a lot of your father in you, my boy."

"She does?"

"Of course she does, and so do I!" she replied earnestly, her smile returning. "That's why I encourage you to keep dueling, even though she can't see how your love for dueling keeps your father's memory alive. One day she'll see that you're going to become just as great of a man your father was some day. Just give her some time, alright?"

Fighting to hold back a few stray tears, Yuma gave his grandmother a hug. "Thanks."

"Anytime, dearie," she replied warmly.

As Yuma opened the door to leave, she called out again. This time the barbed humor in her voice had returned. "And one more thing! If whatever problem you need to run off to solve requires you to duel, try not to make any silly blunders and you'll actually win this time!"

"Yeah, Yeah, I'll try, Grandma!" Yuma yelled back as he raced outside. Astral emerged from the key and chased after his partner in the air.

"That elderly woman gives remarkable advice," Astral remarked. "However, we need to solve the issue of locating Shuta before we can even think about defeating him in a duel."

"I'm working on that!" replied Yuma. "I'll have to call Rio again, and maybe get Kotori and Tetsuo to help too. If the four of us search together we can cover more ground a lot quicker. If only we could spot one of his camera drones, we could follow it back to its owner."

"There is no guarantee we will even see one," Astral replied. "A spy would not leave his equipment out in the open and easy to notice."

While the spirit agreed finding Shuta was going to be difficult, that was not his main concern. Yuma mentioned getting Rio involved, and the thought of Rio finding Shuta first and taking his Number was unacceptable. Astral refused to allow another piece of his memories to slip away from him again.

"Alright, Rio said she would check uptown while we search downtown. I guess all we can do is keep an eye out for one of Shuta's drones. It's the only chance we have," Yuma explained the plan, although he wasn't exactly optimistic about his chances of finding Shuta. "Still… Heartland City is huge! It could take days to find him, even if Kotori and Tetsuo join in the search. We have no idea where he lives. He's probably watching us right now and laughing at us from whatever building he's hiding in…"

Yuma then realized the flaws in his plan and tore at his hair with his hands. "GAHHHH! This is so frustrating!"

Astral pondered the situation, studying and reflecting on everything he knew about the human they were looking for. Unfortunately, Yuma was right. Shuta was an elusive duelist. Even if they found one of his camera drones, it could fly away faster than they could follow it.

"I'm halfway tempted to sneak aboard the airship instead of looking for Shuta on foot," Yuma grumbled. "Maybe if I do that, I'll get lucky and spot Shuta on one of the rooftops."

Astral realized his partner wasn't being serious, but Yuma's comment nevertheless gave him an idea.

"Yuma, this Shuta is a journalist and a photographer by trade. I assume he takes his desire to photograph important events and stunning imagery very seriously."

Astral began his theory, and Yuma perked up with excitement, hoping the spirit was onto something.

"It sounds like the aerial tour of this human aviation device is a very important event to the people of your city. Would Shuta not also desire to photograph and report the event as well?"

"Well yeah, I'm sure he would," Yuma agreed. "But Mr. Heartland takes security pretty seriously. I heard you can't just walk up to the airship and snap a picture like a tourist. You have to buy a ticket or receive special permission to even go near the airship, let alone get a ride on it!"

An even more frustrating idea popped into his head. It was so obvious that Shuta would try to get a ride on the airship. He should have thought of it earlier.

"Oh Man, if Shuta's on the airship, then there's no way we can get to him today! Damn it! Why does searching have to be so hard?"

"Let us take the optimistic route and make the assumption Shuta is not on the airship," Astral offered. "If he did not gain the opportunity to climb aboard, then the next best situation for him would be to find a place in the city with the perfect view to take a picture of the airship."

Yuma nodded his head, growing slightly excited. "Hey, you're right!"

"Is there anywhere in the city you can think of that would be the perfect place to get a view of the airship?" Astral asked, and Yuma snapped his fingers, ecstatic that his friend gave him the perfect idea.

"I got it!" He exclaimed. "Kokoro Rooftop Park! It's an upscale city park on the roof of Kokoro Shopping Plaza. People go there all the time at night to use the telescopes to look at the stars and watch the sunset, and during the day, you can see almost every part of the city for miles. I guarantee that's the best place to see the airship, so if Shuta wants a picture, he'll probably be there!"

But as Yuma finished his theory, his face fell. "But what if he's not there? I'd hate to go all the way there and find nothing."

"At the very least, we have made a decision as to where we should start looking," Astral commented. "If we are lucky, your instincts will be correct."

"Which also means we will find Shuta before Rio does," the spirit silently noted to himself.

"I hope so." Yuma replied. "Come on. We've wasted enough time already. Let's go!"

Yuma raced off into the city streets, and Astral followed, but as the spirit's floating form trailed behind the young human, he began to grow uneasy as the unknown variables of their future opponent danced in his mind. It was only natural for Astral to fear the worst, since all it would take was one single defeat, and he would cease to exist. They would take that same risk every time they found another Number, but Shuta was different from their previous two opponents, both of whom crudely attacked the person who they begrudged. He was methodical, organized, and had planned to duel Yuma long before they were even aware of his presence. A duel with this Number holder would be their most difficult challenge yet.

—-

Akari never understood the eccentric nature of Mr. Heartland or his equally eccentric publicity stunts, but even she had to admit the airship was a marvelous sight. It was a blue rotund craft with the most advanced engines of this day and age serving as its source of power. As she boarded the vessel, her mind briefly thought of Yuma. He would have loved the view of the city, and she pictured him staring out of the glass observatory like a little kid on Christmas. She then imagined her parents. If they were still with her, then all five members of the Tsukumo family would be enjoying the ride together.

She took a deep breath and did what she always did when she felt this way. She buried her feelings and blocked them out of her mind in order to focus on her work. She had a job to do after all, a chance to get an exclusive statement from the mayor on whatever his big plan was for the city, and that could come with a serious pay raise when this was over.

The interior of the airship was equally marvelous. It was like she boarded a plane and somehow ended up inside a mansion. There was plenty of space for the guests to move around. The transparent glass walls surrounding the area allowed for a 360 degree view of the city and created the feeling she was floating in midair. The observatory was crawling with wealthy upper class citizens. Businessmen, city council members, and socialites made up most of the attendance, but among the crowd lurked her competition. Every other news station in the city each had their own representative in attendance, and Akari knew they were just as hungry as she was to get juicy material for a scoop.

After the captain announced the takeoff, and she took in the breathtaking view as the ship began to ascend into the sky, a single door on the farside of the observatory opened, and the man of the hour revealed himself, a middle-aged man wearing a dark green business suit that matched his emerald hair, along with an orange tie and matching orange spectacles, which he adjusted with his hands as he walked towards the crowd.

Mr. Heartland carried himself like a natural born leader as he gracefully spread his arms wide to welcome everyone and allowed the press to swarm him and snap their pictures. Akari barely managed to get her own camera out and take her own in time.

"Welcome, Welcome!" The mayor's voice was boisterous and jolly. "Thank you call for coming and welcome to the first Heartland City Air Tour of the year! Enjoy the view, enjoy the refreshments, and above all, enjoy our beloved Heartland City!"

Akari couldn't help but roll her eyes. Something about the way this man talked started to get under her skin. Everything he said sounded so rehearsed, and while it probably was, as he knew he would be greeting the press in addition to the normal guests, she couldn't help but feel an aura of falsehood behind his jolly demeanor.

For a moment, her mind dashed to Shuta's conspiracy theories, but she immediately shook those out of her head. They were nonsense spread by internet forum-obsessed maniacs with nothing better to do with their time; rehearsed speeches that were blatantly artificial in their intent were hardly an indicator of being a criminal mastermind.

Then, her opportunity arrived. Mr. Heartland was taking questions from the press, and her competition was holding nothing back. She cursed under her breath as other reporters managed to get ahead of her and beat her to questions she wanted to ask herself.

"Mr. Heartland, sir!" a middle-aged woman in a blue suit asked. "You've been spending a considerable amount of funding renovating large parts of the city, including districts that don't appear to need any repairs. What is it all for? Does it have something to do with the big urban development plan you mentioned in your last statement?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Mr. Heartland responded with a wide grin on his face. "These construction projects most certainly pertain to a greater ambition of mine, and now is the perfect time to announce it! I'll make an official statement to the rest of the public very soon, but you lucky few get to hear it from me right now!"

Akari immediately pulled out her tablet to take notes; not getting this information was suicidal, no matter who had taken the initiative to ask.

"I've been pulling strings for the biggest event Heartland City will ever play host to! In just a few months, Heartland City will host the most extravagant Duel Monsters tournament that will put all tournaments of the past to shame, The World Duel Carnival! I intend to attract the attention of the greatest duelists from all around the world and bring them here. Thousands of duelists and tourists will be coming here to see just how beautiful our city, and its people, truly are! I may not be much of a duelist myself, but the passion of duelists young and old touches my heart, and I want to see that passion unfold in the best way possible! As my personal motto goes! HEART! BURNING!"

Heartland's speech sent the crowd and the press buzzing with excitement, but Akari did not share their enthusiasm.

"Oh great," Akari groaned under her breath. "Now the whole city's going to be obsessed with dueling for the next few months. When Yuma hears about this, he's never going to stop talking about it."

She tried to fight for space, to get her hand in the air so Mr. Heartland would finally notice her, and at last, he did.

"Yes! The red-haired young lady in the back row! Step forward. Don't be shy and ask away!"

"Mr. Heartland. Akari Tsukumo, North Heartland News. Are you sure…"

"Tsukumo?" Mr. Heartland interrupted her, catching Akari off guard. It was then she made direct eye contact with the mayor for the first time. Behind his orange spectacles, there was a flicker of recognition in the mayor's eyes that made Akari feel very uncomfortable.

"Oh yes! I've heard that name before. I met your parents a few times, and what magnificent individuals they were! I was devastated to hear about their disappearance, so you have my sincere condolences. The best exhibits in Heartland City's museums exist because of them."

"Until the artifacts in the museum were stolen," Akari replied. Her barbed comment caused Mr. Heartland's jolly face to turn sour. "And they were never recovered even though the thieves were caught."

"Yes, most unfortunate," Mr. Heartland replied, dismissively. "It's always sad when villainous people gain a small victory in spite of justice prevailing."

Then, his jolly, fatherly smile returned as if Akari never brought up the museum theft at all. "However, we should not let the darkness of the past block out the light of the bright future ahead of us. Surely you have questions pertaining to my plans for this beautiful city?"

"Yes, I do," Akari said, trying to keep her tone professional and not allow her usual rancor towards dueling bleed through. "Are you sure it's a good idea to host a Duel Monsters tournament in spite of the rumors of dangerous duelists with glowing tattoos running around the city? What do you plan to do to ensure the safety of the people who attend this tournament?"

"More importantly, Yuma's safety," she thought. She wasn't stupid. The moment Yuma found out about this tournament, he wouldn't hesitate to try and go behind her back to participate, which could, no, would easily make him a target of these strange duelists.

Mr. Heartland chuckled, appearing to still be in control, but Akari saw through the fake laughter. The mayor wasn't prepared for a question like that, she could tell. "I'm sorry? Glowing Tattoos? Now I'm not one to pay attention to the fashion trends of today's youth, but I certainly don't believe in the stereotype that having a tattoo automatically makes somebody dangerous."

His comment caused a few members of the crowd to laugh, but Akari's mind was racing. He was avoiding the question. He knew something.

"Still, your comment about safety is an excellent point, as the safety of my citizens is the most important thing on my mind when planning this tournament. Rest assured that Heartland City's finest officers patrol the streets night and day in search of trouble, and once my tournament begins, I will spare no expense in the most efficient security possible. Mark my words. As long as I am your mayor, no harm will come to the citizens of my beloved city!"

The guests applauded from Heartland's speech, and Akari, feeling rattled, started to back away from the press, ignoring the remaining reporters as they bombarded the mayor with more questions regarding the tournament.

"Shuta's article on the marked duelists was on the internet for everybody to see," Akari whispered to herself. "The rumors are more than just rumors, but why would the mayor want to cover up something like that?"

As she tried to come up with an answer, her thoughts drifted to the remark Mr. Heartland made about the museum robberies, which then drifted to the disappearance of her parents. Akari now had a very bad feeling about Mr. Heartland.

—-

Kokoro Rooftop Park was enormous, a vast Savannah of freshly cut grass with plenty of park benches, beautiful cherry blossom trees with several birds nesting in them, and even a playground for the younger children. By the time Yuma finished climbing the stairs and reached the entrance, he was exhausted, and he only felt worse when he saw the crowd of people lined up all in a row like dominos waiting to fall. It seemed Yuma wasn't the only one with the idea that the park was the perfect place to watch the flight of the airship, and this would make his search for Shuta all the more difficult.

"Great! Just great!" Yuma groaned. "We should have gotten here earlier!"

"Your sense of direction is rather abysmal, Yuma," Astral remarked. "I would just be content with the fact that we arrived here at all."

"It's not my fault! Downtown Heartland is like a maze, even to the locals!" Yuma replied defensively. "The real problem is finding Shuta in this crowd."

"Yuma…."

"He could be anywhere among these people, if he's even here at all!" Yuma continued his rant, ignoring the calls of the spirit.

"Yuma….."

"Why can't this guy just make it easy for me and show his face like a man, so we can duel already?"

"YUMA!"

"WHAT, ASTRAL?" Yuma whipped his head around to yell at the spirit, but Astral merely pointed. Sure enough, right in the direction Yuma was pointing, there was a young man, no older than his late teens taking pictures of the birds nesting in the cherry blossom trees. He matched his exact description in the school photo Kotori showed him, dark blue hair that reached his shoulders, an orange and black newsboy hat on his head, an orange vest and tie on his chest, and black slack pants on his legs.

"Oh praise Lady Luck! We found him!" the young duelist exclaimed, and without hesitation, he approached the photographer. Yuma's relief was immeasurable, but Astral was suspicious.

"Yes, we found him…" he muttered. "Or perhaps he allowed us to find him."

"Shuta!" Yuma called, and as if on cue, the photographer put down his camera and smiled.

"Yuma Tsukumo. Right on schedule," The young man's voice was cordial and calm, quite the opposite of what Yuma expected from a spy who just got caught. This guy had only spoken less than ten words, and already he was making Yuma uneasy.

"What do you mean, right on schedule?"

"Simple," the blue haired teenager replied as if the answer was obvious. "I predicted you would find me eventually, so I decided to make it easy for you, and as usual, my prediction was correct."

Astral glared at the photographer. "So I was right. He did allow us to find him."

"Yeah, because you were spying on me with your camera drones!" Yuma accused. "You need to do a better job keeping your toys out of sight, by the way."

"Not that!" Shuta corrected. "Although, yes, I have been using my drones to watch you and your friends. It's very important to me that I figure out where all the remaining Number cards are. That's why you're here, isn't it? You think I have a Number card. You're most likely under the impression that it's driven me insane, and so you want to take it from me for my own good and add it to your growing collection, as if a mediocre duelist like yourself is even worthy of them to begin with."

"So you DO have a Number!" Yuma exclaimed, and a blue 25 appeared on Shuta's cheek to confirm it.

"Yes, but let's not be hasty," Shuta put his hands up, urging Yuma to calm down. "After all, it must be a real pain in the neck trying to locate all of them, especially when you don't seem to be taking advantage of what these cards are truly capable of."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means…." Shuta continued. "Numbers are capable of far more than just helping you win duels. They possess special powers beyond what you could even fathom. Take my Number for example. It's practically tailor made for a photographer like myself. Now I don't have to wait for the big scoop of the century to happen. No, my Number will tell me when and where an important event will happen, before it happens!"

"What, like a fortune teller?" Yuma raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "That's a load of crap. Everybody knows fortune telling isn't real. It's just a scam."

"I doubt he would lie about such a thing, Yuma," Astral commented. "If Numbers are capable of possessing the minds of duelists, then who knows what else they are capable of?"

Shuta's calm and polite face instantly transformed into a scowl. "I can assure you, Yuma, my method of fortune telling is the real deal. Would you like a demonstration?"

Shuta didn't wait for Yuma to answer. He picked up his camera and moved towards the balcony of the park, opposite the crowd looking for the airship. A few floors down, off in the distance but just close enough to see, Yuma saw a group of young kids playing baseball on a large open field. Both the young duelist and his spirit partner stared at Shuta in confusion as the photographer took a few snapshots of the kids.

"Hey! I thought you said you were going to demonstrate your so-called fortune telling power!"

"Ah, but I am!" Shuta corrected him, his tone disgustingly smug, and as if on cue, the photo developed. "Take a look at this. It looks like the pitcher isn't going to have a good game today."

Yuma looked at the photos, but what he saw was not the still image of the pitching kid ready to throw the ball at the young boy up at bat. Instead, one photo saw a baseball hitting the pitcher in the stomach, and the second photo showed the kid on the ground, clutching his stomach in pain with his concerned friends gathered around him.

"What the heck is this?" Yuma asked incredulously. "What kind of sick trick is that camera of yours capable of? Is this a joke?!"

"Wait for it," Shuta replied, waving a finger, unfazed by Yuma's rant.

Astral grew curious and floated closer to watch, and five seconds later, it happened.

The kid on the pitcher's mound threw the ball, and the batter struck the incoming heater perfectly. Then, like a cannonball, the baseball was sent flying back in the direction of the pitcher, where it struck the poor kid in the stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, the boy fell to the ground, arms wrapped tight around his stomach and gasping for air while his friends rushed to his side to check if he was okay.

"What…. But…. how?!" Yuma could barely comprehend what he just saw. He knew. Somehow, he knew, and not a single detail was off, but as Yuma stared at the little boy writhing in pain on the ground, his shock turned to anger as his focus turned to the child's safety.

"Why would you do that?!" he shouted. "That little kid got hurt because of you!"

"Oh, calm down! You wanted proof, and so I gave it to you," murmured a disturbingly unconcerned Shuta. "Look! Spoiler alert! He's fine."

Shuta showed Yuma a third photo, and Yuma turned his head away from the injured kid to look at it. The photo showed the kid back on his feet with his relieved friends surrounding him, and sure enough, the moment Yuma turned his head back to look, the scene in front of him played out exactly like the photograph foretold. The boy had stood up and seemed to be okay, with his friends collectively breathing sighs of relief.

"Now do you believe me?" Shuta asked with a smug grin of satisfaction on his face. "Or are you going to waste my time by calling me a phony fortune teller?"

"Incredible," Astral gasped. "If this Number Monster is capable of foretelling the future with perfect accuracy, then it must be equally powerful in a duel. Yuma, we must be extra cautious if we are to take this Number for ourselves."

Yuma nodded, and he steeled his gaze at Shuta, his fingers itching to activate his duel disk.

"Alright, Shuta. You've proven your Number can create future predicting photographs, so what happens now? What's the point you were trying to make earlier about your Number's power."

"The point I was trying to make is that you're wasting your Numbers," Shuta explained. "I've been watching you duel, and not only did you win your last one by the skin of your teeth, but you don't seem to be using whatever power your own Numbers are capable of outside of dueling. Why do you even collect the Numbers if you're not going to use them for personal gain?"

Shuta's question offended Yuma even further. "I'm doing it to help a friend! That's all you need to know."

Shuta rolled his eyes. "A noble goal, but what happens if you lose? You'll be letting that special friend of yours down if you do, and I don't think you'll be able to live with that kind of failure, so what if I were to help you?"

"You want to help me?" Yuma asked. He certainly wasn't convinced, and neither was Astral.

"If he is possessed by his Number, then the only person he wishes to help is himself, Yuma. Do not believe a word he says."

"Here's my offer," Shuta continued. "You might be lucky enough to get your hands on a few of the weaker Numbers, but once you face stronger ones, that luck is going to run out. How about I spare you from the disappointment. Give all your Numbers to me, and in exchange, I'll take your photograph and give you the brightest future you can imagine. I could take a photo where that friend you mentioned gets out of whatever jam they're in, or perhaps you would like a picture that depicts you being crowned as the greatest duelist in the world? Wouldn't that be nice?"

"No deal!" Yuma replied without hesitation, causing Astral to nod with approval. "I don't trust these future photos of yours, and I'm not stupid enough to throw away my Numbers just for a false promise of a bright future. You want my Numbers, then you're going to have to earn them in a duel!"

"I thought you might say that," Shuta replied, and Yuma grew uneasy again at the sight of Shuta giving Yuma a sinister grin instead of growing angry at the rejection of his offer. "And it seems you still doubt my power. Well, what if I showed you another special snapshot of mine that I took yesterday, but I'm warning you. You definitely won't like what you see. It's some really bad news."

"What?!" Yuma took the photo Shuta handed him and what he saw made his blood run cold. There in the photo was his sister. She was on her knees. The fear of death was in her eyes. The background of the photo indicated she was on the airship, and Yuma could see in the photo that the engine on the airship's wing was on fire.

"What…. " Yuma finally found his voice, which was shaking with the rest of his body. The photograph foretold death, the death of his sister and all those people on board. It was too much for Yuma. He already lost his parents, and now this madman was threatening to take away his sister. "What is this?! Shuta, what have you done?"

"I didn't need to do anything," Shuta replied, his grinning face growing more twisted by the second. "It's already been set in stone thanks to the power of my Number. Your sister, the mayor, and all those people on board will enjoy their flight for the time being, but they certainly won't enjoy the landing! As for why? Well, if the people of this city only knew the truth about Mr. Heartland, they would celebrate his untimely demise. As for your sister, well… that's what she gets for crushing my chance to get my dream job."

"That doesn't excuse murder!" Yuma shouted, and he immediately tried calling his sister. Shuta merely folded his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, by all means, call your sister and tell her goodbye," he mocked. "It's not like wishful thinking can save her now."

"Akari! Are you there?"

"Yuma? You better have a good reason for calling me in the middle of work," replied a very annoyed Akari.

"Akari, please listen to me! Where are you right now? Don't tell me you're on the airship."

"Of course I'm on the airship. Weren't you paying attention this morning?" Akari scoffed.

"You have to get off! Get off right now! GET OFF!" Yuma screamed desperately.

Akari immediately switched from being annoyed to being worried. "Woah, Woah, Yuma. Calm down. What's this all about?"

"You tell me! Do you see anything wrong with the airship?" Yuma asked. "Any problems at all?"

"Uh….. no?" a confused Akari replied. "Everything looks fine to me. Are you sure you're okay, Yuma?"

Then, as if on cue, it happened. The fear of losing another loved one burrowed its way into Yuma's heart as he heard a loud BOOM through the call line, followed by the sounds of the airship's emergency alarms going off.

"Akari?" He called again, his voice growing hoarse and catching in his throat. "Akari, are you there?"

"I'm fine, but…. Oh My God…."

"What?!" Yuma screamed. "Akari, what is it?!"

"The left engine…. I don't know what happened. It just exploded. The wing is on fire! Yuma, what's going on? How did you know there was something wrong with the airship?"

Yuma didn't answer the phone call, as his attention was directed away from his sister and towards the photographer who had the nerve to grin at the idea of dozens of people dying in a plane crash.

"Shuta…." Yuma growled, barely able to control himself. "Would you really kill all those people just because it would make a big news story, or do you really hate my sister that much?"

"Wait, what? Did you say Shuta?" Akari asked, having heard Yuma's threat over the phone. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Hello Akari," Shuta spoke up so she could hear his sadistic greeting. "I warned you not to go on the airship, didn't I?"

"Shuta! Are you saying you're responsible for this?!" Akari shouted incredulously. "When I get my hands on you…."

"No! He's not responsible!" Yuma insisted. "Well…. It's hard to explain! Shuta's not himself! It's the Number card possessing him! He has a glowing Number mark on his face. It's making him crazy!"

"Glowing mark?" Akari repeated. "Then he's one of them, one of the dangerous duelists!"

"Akari, listen to me!" Yuma pleaded. "I'm going to fix this! I'm going to beat Shuta in a duel, and then everything's going to be okay! You're going to make it out of this alive. I promise!"

"NO! The last thing I want is for you to duel this guy!" Akari argued. "You just told me he's dangerous!"

"It's the only way to save you!" Yuma argued back. "Akari please! You have to trust me!"

BOOM!

The sound of another explosion blasted its way from the call into Yuma's ears.

"What was that?" the younger Tsukumo exclaimed.

"Now the right engine is on fire too! The airship is going down!"

"No it's not!" Yuma shouted. "I'm going to fix this! Just hang in there!"

"Yuma, I need you to remain calm," Astral tried to soothe his panicking friend, even though he too was greatly disturbed by the stakes being raised. Now it wasn't just his own life on the line in the impending duel, but the lives of every passenger on the airship. "I know you are upset, but we cannot hope to defeat Shuta if you lose control of your emotions."

Yuma's head whipped around to face Astral. "How can I calm down when my sister's life is on the line? I just lost my parents! I can't lose another family member!"

"Then hand over your Numbers!" Shuta ordered, his facade of politeness gone. "All you have to do is give me your Numbers, and I'll take another picture. The photograph will depict the airship landing safely, and all those passengers will survive. Sure, it won't be nearly as good of a story as a crash, but I'm willing to give up that opportunity for the chance of making my powers grow. What do you say, Yuma? Are your precious Number cards more important to you than the lives of the people on that airship?"

Yuma's fists were clenched and his jaw was shut tight. He turned away from Shuta, unable to even look at him without his fury boiling over, and in the horizon, he saw it, the airship. It was already in the sky, far away from them now, but it would approach them soon. The other civilians on the rooftop noticed the smoke in the distance and began pointing and murmuring to each other with concern and worry. After taking a few deep breaths, he gave his answer, but not to Shuta.

"Astral…" he called out to his friend as he barely contained his anger. "When a person possessed by a Number loses a duel and loses their Number, they return to normal, right?"

"Right."

"Then that could also mean…" Yuma continued. "That anything affected by that Number's power will return to normal too."

"It is hard to say," Astral answered, feeling slightly guilty he could not give a more hopeful reply. "There is only one way to find out, and that is to defeat him in a duel."

"Then let's do it!" Yuma announced. "No deal, Shuta! We're going to duel, and I'll save my sister by taking that Number away from you!"

"HA! Fine!" Shuta answered. "But you've already sealed your fate. Now you'll experience the pain of losing your Numbers and losing your sister. I've already predicted your defeat, but why tell you about it when I can show you? LET'S DUEL!"

Yuma activated his duel disk, while Shuta threw his polaroid camera into the air. The case of the camera extended outwards before positioning itself firmly on the metal strap containing his deck box on his risk. His camera had now transformed into a duel disk, and the two duelists were now ready to literally fight for the future.

Duel Gazer Set

Augmented Reality Vision Online

Yuma Tsukumo: 4000 LP

Shuta Hayami: 4000 LP

DUEL!

Before Yuma could draw any cards and even contemplate a move, Shuta's duel disk flashed several times, temporarily blinding Yuma as he covered his eyes with his arm.

"Hey! What are you doing?" he cried in annoyance. "Why are you taking my picture now?"

"I know most people don't like spoilers," Shuta grinned maliciously "but for me, I can't wait to skip ahead to the end and find out what happens."

Several photographs emerged from Shuta's camera, and when he took a look at them, his grin widened.

"Since I think it's only fair for my opponent to view such juicy information as well, here!" Shuta tossed the photograph to Yuma. "Take a look, but I warn you. This photo foretells bad news for you."

Yuma stared at the photo, pale as a ghost, silent as the grave, his mouth a gaping hole.

There he was in the photo, on the ground, defeated. Shuta, meanwhile, was holding Yuma's Number cards in sadistic triumph.

"No way…. It can't be….." he whispered, before growing angry. "I don't believe it! This photo has to be a fake! We haven't even started the duel, so you can't just automatically know that you're going to win!"

"Accusing me of lying won't change the future," Shuta rebuffed. "In fact, since you don't believe that my future photo will come to pass, I'll show you another one. Perhaps that will explain to your tiny mind just how we get from point A to point B."

Shuta tossed two more photos to Yuma, each of them showcasing an event happening during the duel. Hope was on the field, but there was a massive hole in his chest plate courtesy of an unknown attacker piercing through it with a beam of light.

"This move takes place on turn five. You will summon Number Thirty-Nine, King of Wishes, Hope. Then, I will destroy Hope and win on turn six," explained Shuta as if the outcome was obvious and unavoidable. "So, with that little spoiler alert out of the way, I'll give you one last chance. Hand over your Number cards right away, and you can avoid such a humiliating future where you not only lose the duel, but you fail to save your sister."

"NEVER!" Yuma shouted, his temper boiling over. "I'm still not buying into your cheap parlor tricks. I decide my fate whenever I duel, not my opponent!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," shrugged Shuta. "If you insist on digging your own grave, then who am I to stop you? I guess you'll have to learn the hard way like everybody else, so just make your move and let's get this over with."

"With pleasure!" Yuma agreed. "I draw!"

Yuma drew his cards, but the moment he saw a certain monster in particular, Gogogo Golem, he grew excited, eager to summon it on the field and start his turn with a strong monster. He was just about to summon it in attack mode, when Astral's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Yuma, I want you to think about this for a second," Astral gave his partner a stern warning.

"There's no time to think!" Yuma argued. "The stakes are higher this time! It's not just you and your Numbers I have to lose. Akari is in trouble too and I have to win this duel as quickly as I can if I want to help her!"

"If you rush into the situation, you will be playing right into your opponent's hands," Astral continued, his voice completely serious. "Your opponent is attempting to manipulate you through stress and pressure. You have a talent for not listening to others, so use it to your advantage and do not listen to Shuta's threats or his so-called future predicting photographs."

"Oh gee, thanks a lot. Now's the perfect time to insult me…" Yuma grumbled, but he suddenly realized Astral was right. In both of his duels where Numbers were on the line, he made foolish mistakes, and had he not recovered, he would have paid for it with Astral's life, and this time, somebody else was in danger too. Annoying as he was, Astral was only trying to help, and if his help could save Akari…..

Yuma made a decision to swallow his pride. "Alright, Astral. If you have a plan, then let me hear it."

"Play cautiously and do whatever you can to force Shuta to reveal as much information about how his deck operates. He already knows what your deck is capable of, so it is imperative that we level the playing field."

"And then when we find out what his Number does, we surprise him and go in for the kill," Yuma finished. "Not my style, but it's better than nothing."

He then turned his attention back to his opponent. "Alright, Shuta! If you want my Number, then come and get it! I set a monster face-down and one card face-down and end my turn!"

Yuma noticed that Shuta seemed to nod his head as he watched Yuma make his move, as if Yuma's behavior and subsequent turn played out exactly like he thought it would. Yuma was growing more nervous with each passing second as he watched Shuta study his own hand. How could he stop Shuta if nothing he ever did could catch him off guard?

"My turn, draw!" Shuta checked his latest card and smirked. "You know, I have a pretty good idea what your monster is, but let's check and make sure I'm right. I activate the continuous spell card, Spy Camera! When I activate this card, all defending monsters on the field switch to attack mode, so let's get the scoop on what monster you're hiding from me!"

A large black camera mounted on a tripod appeared on Shuta's field. The telescopic lens of the camera extended, and the camera began a rapid series of flashes. The blinding light exposed Yuma's monster, forcing it into the vertical position and revealing its identity.

"My Gogogo Golem!" Yuma exclaimed, before stomping his foot in frustration. "Are you kidding me?! Even when I summon Gogogo Golem correctly by putting him in defense mode, it backfires? WHY?!"

"That's because a mediocre deck like yours doesn't stand a chance against my cards!" Shuta taunted. "Especially when I summon this monster, my Cameraclops!"

In a sudden flash of light, accompanied by the snapping noise of a camera, Shuta's first monster appeared. It was a strange robotic humanoid with metallic skin. An antique camera rested on its shoulders where its head should be, with the lens serving as the creature's single eye.

Cameraclops: Level 4/LIGHT/Warrior/1400 ATK/1600 DEF

"Why would Shuta play a monster like that?" Astral wondered. "He went through all the trouble to force Gogogo Golem into attack mode only to summon a monster weaker than it."

"Battle! Cameraclops, attack Gogogo Golem! Red-Eye Reduction Beam!"

The camera on the creature's head zoomed in on the golem, taking a few snapshots of its target before the lens of the camera turned red, firing out a laser which pierced the golem's torso and destroyed it.

"Hey, what gives?" Yuma protested. "Gogogo Golem is stronger. How did you destroy it?"

"When Cameraclops attacks a face-up monster with fifteen hundred or more defense points, its effect activates and automatically destroys your monster before applying damage calculation," Shuta explained. "Not even the Half Unbreak trap card you set on your field could save you from that."

"Well at least I didn't lose any life… wait!" Yuma's train of thought stopped in its tracks when he realized Shuta knew about his trap card, down to its specific name. His blood ran cold again.

"What did you just say?"

"Are you deaf? I said your Half Unbreak trap card won't save you," Shuta repeated, a dismissive and judgmental look creeping onto his face. "If you don't believe me, then the proof is in the picture." Shuta threw another one of his photographs at Yuma's feet, and the image depicted the exact process of Yuma's turn.

"How?!" Yuma exclaimed. "You took that picture before the duel started!"

"My Number Monster told me everything that would happen this turn," Shuta sneered. "Every picture I have depicts the events of a turn in this duel. You would start by setting Gogogo Golem face-down and setting your Half Unbreak Trap card. Had you activated it, you could have prevented Gogogo Golem from being destroyed by battle even though I had switched it to attack mode. However, Cameraclops destroyed your Golem with a card effect, rendering your trap useless. I now set one card face-down and end my turn, and by the way, I wouldn't bother playing defense from now on. With my Spy Camera on the field, any monster you choose to set face-down automatically gets switched to attack mode."

Yuma growled in irritation. "My turn, draw!"

As Yuma began to ponder his next move, Shuta taunted him again. "Remember, this is turn three. Two more turns, and you will summon Hope, just as my future photos foretold. Then, you will lose at turn six."

"Yeah, Yeah! You can see the future, bla, bla, bla! You sound like a broken record!" Yuma snapped. With Shuta finally going quiet, Yuma returned his focus to his card, but Astral spoke up again.

"Wait," he spoke, calmly this time.

"What's the matter now, Astral?" asked Yuma, feeling his stress levels go up from being interrupted again. "I won't be able to save Akari in time if you keep slowing me down!"

"And we may not be able to save Akari if we cannot figure out a countermeasure to play around Shuta's supposed future predicting photos. Regardless of whether they are real or not, we must take them into account as a factor that could result in our defeat."

"Alright, Fine!" Yuma caved. "I'll listen. What do you think I should do this time?"

"The card you just drew is very powerful. You drew the trap card, Bye Bye Damage. Should Shuta attack one of your monsters on his next turn, you can use that trap card to protect that monster. Also, should you take any battle damage, you can inflict double the amount of damage to the opponent."

"Yeah, I know what that card does!" Yuma replied, still annoyed. "So why is that bothering you?"

"Because there is a very good chance Shuta will see that move coming," Astral explained grimly. "More than likely, he will have a way to counter that trap the same way he prevented you from using Half Unbreak on your last turn. He most likely has a photo depicting you using that card."

"Well I can't just keep this card in my hand and not use it out of fear that it won't work!" Yuma argued. "Akari's life is on the line, so I have to try everything to save her even if there's a chance it could backfire!"

"Are you going to set your Bye Bye Damage trap card, or are you going to keep talking to yourself?" Shuta asked in the form of another taunt, and Yuma's heart sank. Astral was right. Shuta had seen it coming. "Come on! Do it!" the photographer goaded. "It's the only move you can make."

"Fine!" Yuma snapped. "I'll set one card face-down and then I'll summon Gagaga Girl!"

Yuma's next monster appeared in the form of an adolescent girl with pale skin and spiky blonde hair. The girl wore blue robes with a pink skirt and a conical blue hat that dropped forward. She carried a strange looking cell phone in her hand, and two tiny skulls dangled from the end of the device like a keychain.

Gagaga Girl: Level 3/DARK/Spellcaster/1000 ATK/800 DEF

"Next, I activate the spell card, Ego Boost! This gives Gagaga Girl a boost of one thousand attack points until the end of the turn, making her stronger than your Cameraclops!

Gagaga Girl: 1000 + 1000 = 2000 ATK

"Battle! Gagaga Girl, attack his cameraclops with CELL SPELL!"

Behaving in accordance with the ego boost spell, the young witch gave a flirtatious pose and took a quick selfie before using her phone as a makeshift magic wand. A beam of purple light fired out of the screen of the phone and destroyed the camera on top of the robot's head. The now headless machine tumbled to the ground and exploded.

Shuta: 4000 - 600 = 3400 ATK

"I bet you didn't see that coming! Now I'll end my turn, and Gagaga Girl's attack points return to normal!"

Gagaga Girl: 2000 - 1000 = 1000 ATK

"You destroyed one monster and took away less than fifteen percent of my life points," Shuta scoffed. "You have done nothing worth celebrating about. Observe!" The possessed photographer threw another photo at the ground, and sure enough it was a picture of Gagaga Girl destroying Cameraclops.

"If you think you can change the future with a little girl and her magic tricks, then you're even dumber than I thought. Now let me show you a real work of magic. I summon the monster, Camera Magician!"

Shuta's new monster appeared, several flashes of light heralding its arrival. It was a tall wizard with clean white robes, a pointed white hat and silver goggles covering its eyes. Circular camera lenses covered its shoulders, elbows and chest like pieces of armor, and in its right hand was a large black staff with a camera attached to the end of it, resembling a selfie stick.

Camera Magician: Level 4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1600 ATK/1400 DEF

"Camera Magician's effect activates! When I summon it, I can add the spell, Night Beam, from my deck to my hand, and I think I'll activate it right now. Night Beam destroys one spell or trap on the field, now the question is, which one should I choose?"

Yuma had a gut feeling that Shuta already knew which one he should pick, and a single point of his opponent's finger confirmed his suspicions. "I choose the one on the right!"

A flash of white light shot out of Shuta's spell card, piercing a hole in the card behind Gagaga Girl and shattering it.

"NO! That was Bye Bye Damage!" cried Yuma, but Shuta wasn't done.

"It's only going to get worse for you. Since one of your spell or trap cards was sent to the Graveyard, Camera Magician gains four hundred attack points, and then you take four hundred points of damage! Go, Magic Snapshot!

The magician fired a beam of light from his staff which flashed in front of Yuma's face, causing him to recoil and shield his eyes from the blinding ray. "OUCH! OH, THAT HURTS MY EYES!"

Yuma: 4000 - 400 = 3600

Camera Magician ATK: 1600 + 400 = 2000 ATK

"Next, since I control a LIGHT attribute monster, I can special summon Camera Commando from my hand!"

Another series of camera flashes called forth Shuta's next monster. It was a military soldier dressed in gray camouflage. Goggles resembling camera lenses covered the soldier's eyes, and instead of a weapon, the man stood behind a camera mounted on a tripod. However, the long telescopic lens of the camera made it more closely resemble a military rifle.

Camera Commando: Level 6/LIGHT/Warrior/2000 ATK/1400 DEF

"Camera Commando's effect activates! I can target one LIGHT attribute monster on the field, like my Camera Magician. Once I do, that monster will gain six hundred attack points and its level will increase by two!"

Camera Magician: 1600 + 400 + 600 = 2600 ATK (Level 6)

"Battle! Camera Commando, attack Gagaga Girl! Go ahead and activate your Half Unbreak trap card, Yuma! It might spare you a bit of damage, but in the big picture, it won't stop you from losing eventually!"

The goggle wearing soldier took several snapshots of Gagaga Girl before the telescope on his camera rifle extended and fired a blast of white light.

"If that's what you want, then you'll get your wish!" Yuma declared. "I activate the trap, Half Unbreak! Now Gagaga Girl can't be destroyed by battle this turn, and any damage I take is cut in half!"

On Yuma's command, a bubble-like shield surrounded the young witch and the energy blast bounced off it and disappeared into the sky.

Yuma: 3600 - 500 = 3100

"But now your trap card goes to the Graveyard," Shuta reminded him "That triggers the effect of Camera Magician again. You lose four hundred life points and he gains four hundred attack points! Go, Magic Snapshot!"

"No, not again! OW! MY EYES!" Yuma cried out as the blinding light of the magician's staff hit him a second time.

Yuma: 3100 - 400 = 2700

Camera Magician ATK: 2600 + 400 = 3000 ATK

"Now, Camera Magician, it's your turn to attack Gagaga Girl!"

The magician fired yet another beam of light from his magic staff. Just like before, the attack bounced harmlessly off the bubble shield, but Yuma's life points still took a significant hit.

Yuma: 2700 - 1000 = 1700

"I end my turn, and now that I have, Camera Magician's attack points return to normal." Shuta declared, and as Yuma watched the magician's attack points drop, Shuta scratched his chin as if he appeared to be pondering something.

Camera Magician ATK: 3000 - 1400 = 1600 ATK

"Hmmmm, now let me see. How many turns have passed?" He asked himself, although Yuma could tell he was being sarcastic. "One, two, three, four, oh yes! Now I remember! I believe we have reached turn number five. Remember my little prophecy, Yuma? You're going to summon Hope on turn five, and then I will destroy it and win on turn six."

"Yeah, Yeah, you think you're going to win. I've heard just about enough regarding your cock and bull yellow journalism story about my future!" Yuna snapped. "Just be quiet and let me take my turn. I draw!"

"Let me guess!" Shuta interrupted. "You drew Gagaga Magician."

Yuma groaned in annoyance and, not seeing any other point, simply summoned the monster in question to prove Shuta right. The brown robed magician appeared on the field with an angry glare on its face, its mere presence causing Shuta to grow excited.

Gagaga Magician: Level 4/DARK/Spellcaster/1500 ATK/1000 DEF

"Yes, Yes! Keep going!" Shuta shouted, growing more rabid and maniacal with each second. "It is just like the photos predicted. You drew Gagaga Magician and summoned it. Then, you will use Gagaga Girl's effect to copy your Magician's level and change her into a level four monster. Finally, you will Xyz Summon Hope and lose the duel! Do it, Yuma! My photos never lie! You cannot fight fate!"

"You put my sister in danger!" Yuma growled. "So I'm going to fight whoever and whatever I need to fight to save her, even the future itself. What makes you so certain the outcome of your photo will happen anyway? Don't you know the future contains too many possible outcomes to keep track of?"

At the mention of the word, possible outcome, Astral's yellow eyes flickered ever so slightly with a trace of clarity, the gears in his mind starting to turn.

"That's the entire problem with the future," Shuta's tone switched from arrogant to bitter and resentful. "You never know when something is going to go horribly wrong. That's how life was like for me before I found my Number card. I always wanted to be a professional photographer, to have my photographs be works of art, or front page news, but I was never in the right place or the right time, and if I was, something would go wrong to mess with my shot, and then somebody else would get the award winning picture that should have been mine."

His scowl grew deeper. "Or somebody would come along and turn their nose up at me, not appreciating how hard I work to do what I'm passionate about, like your sister. That's why I thought you'd be a little bit more understanding, Yuma. She dismissed your passion for dueling just like she dismissed me. She's an obstacle to our goals, so I think our lives would be a little bit better if she was out of the picture."

"She's still my family!" Yuma protested, disgusted Shuta would even suggest that his sister was better off dead. "Family comes first. I would never sacrifice my family to get what I want!"

"Then you're doomed to a life of disappointment," Shuta replied dismissively. "You could have harnessed the power of your own Number to make your dreams come true, just like I harness my Number's power. Now any little thought in my head can appear on a photograph. I don't have to wait for a once in a lifetime picture. Now, I can make them happen, and I can only imagine how much my new power will grow when I have more Numbers!"

Astral let out a quiet gasp. "Wait, that's it!"

"Shuta, you make me sick!" Yuma growled. "Look, I know that Number's messing with your head, but if you really think I should hurt people to get what I want, then I can't even describe how wrong you are! That's why I'm collecting the Numbers, not just to help a friend of mine, but to make sure people like you don't use them for the wrong reasons!"

Shuta simply shrugged his shoulders. "Well that depends on what you believe the right and wrong reasons are. The perception of the future, and even the present is very easy to twist and distort, especially by weak minded people like you. You may think my Number is corrupting my mind, but my head has never felt clearer since the day I got it."

Yuma was about to argue further, when Astral floated in front of him to get his attention.

"Yuma, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I think I have solved the mystery behind Shuta's future predicting photographs."

Just the thought of avoiding the loss predicted by Shuta's photograph was more than enough to perk Yuma up and make him focus entirely on Astral. "Okay, Astral, I'll bite. What's your theory?"

"Did you not listen to Shuta's explanation?" Astral asked rhetorically. "He said his Number Monster allows him to make any thought he thinks appear on a photograph. Furthermore, we also know he was spying on us when we dueled Professor Ukyo and acquired Terror-Byte. He studied how we dueled, imagined the ideal outcome he wanted when it was time to duel us, and now he has spent the entire game trying to convince us it is the only outcome that can happen, but that is a lie. It is only one of many possible futures, just like you said. Hope is a powerful card, but what is more important is free will. You decide your fate in this duel, not Shuta, and Hope is not the only powerful monster you possess."

Yuma was floored by Astral's explanation. He looked down at his deck box and realized the thought of summoning Hope caused him to have tunnel vision throughout the entire duel. He was so busy thinking of how to avoid losing the duel when he summoned Hope, he never considered the possibility of not summoning Hope at all.

"What if that's the wrong decision though?" He made the lingering doubts in his mind be known.

"It is possible, but one thing is clear," Astral continued. "Shuta is obsessed with maintaining control of this duel and proving the events in his photographs will come to pass. If you chose not to summon Hope, then it will prove he is not in control of the duel. Instead of manipulating us, we shall manipulate him."

Astral then dropped his stoicism for a brief second to smile at Yuma. "Besides, you have quite the talent for disobedience. Shuta is telling you to summon Hope. Since when do you even consider doing as you're told?"

Seeing Astral wasn't truly insulting him, Yuma chuckled. "Is that an actual joke from you, Astral?"

"If you can learn from me, then I can learn from you in turn," the spirit replied.

"What are you waiting for?!" Shuta growled like a wild animal. "Summon Hope already! DO IT! If you stall any longer, then Akari won't last much longer."

"I'm done stalling!" Yuma shouted defiantly. "I activate the effect of Gagaga Magician! Once per turn, I can change his level to any Number I want in between one and eight, and I choose to make him a level six monster!"

Shuta's maniacal expression shifted dramatically at the sight of the magician's levels changing. Hope was a rank four, but now the levels of the two magicians did not match.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Yuma's response was to continue his turn. "Next, I activate Gagaga Girl's effect. If I control Gagaga Magician, I can change her level to match that of her partner, so now she's a level six monster as well!"

Shuta now realized what monster Yuma was about to summon, and his temper boiled over as he saw his future slip away.

"NO!" he screamed. "You have to make them level four! You have to summon Hope!"

"I don't have to do anything your stupid photos tell me to do!" snapped Yuma. "They might show me a possible outcome, but they don't control my choices, and I say my future is looking pretty bright right about now since I can see through your little camera tricks! I overlay Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl! With these 2 Level 6 monsters, I build the overlay network!"

The two magicians joined hands and dove into the golden galaxy, and to Shuta's mind destroying levels of horror, the sealed form rising out of the portal was not the folded wings of hope but the coffin of Dragulas.

"XYZ SUMMON! GO, NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR, DRAGULAS THE VAMPIRIC DRAGON!"

Number 24: Dragulas the Vampiric Dragon: Rank 6/DARK/Wyrm/2400 ATK/2800 DEF

As the coffin opened and transformed into the black and white dragon, any form of composure left inside Shuta completely crumbled and gave way to a series of screams and mad ravings.

"No! Not him! NOT HIM!" He roared, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. "It was Hope! It has to be Hope! You can't do this! My photos never lie!"

Yuma relished the loss of self control from his opponent, which all but confirmed he made the right decision, but he elected not to reply to Shuta's madness and simply twisted the knife by continuing his game changing move.

"Gagaga Girl's effect activates! When she's used to summon an Xyz Monster, I can reduce your Camera Magician's attack points to zero! CELL SUBTRACTION!"

One of the overlay units orbiting Dragulas briefly conjured the transparent image of Gagaga Girl, who pointed her phone at Shuta's magician and fired a green beam shaped like the number zero. The oval orbited around the white robed sorcerer and locked its body in place.

Camera Magician: 1600 - 1600 = 0 ATK

"Battle! Dragulas, attack Camera Magician! SANGUINE STORM!"

Yuma's dragon fired its crimson breath at Shuta's magician, while Yuma himself prepared to celebrate. However, the moment he saw Shuta's eyes glance downward, now taking his hateful gaze off his opponent and onto a single card in his back row, Yuma realized he couldn't celebrate yet. Despite his scam of predicting the future being exposed, Shuta was far from done.

"I activate my trap card, Blinding Flash!" Shuta growled. "This destroys one LIGHT attribute monster on the field, so I'll destroy my own Camera Magician before you can attack it!"

Shuta's monster exploded, and from the explosion came dozens of bright flashes, like an onslaught of paparazzi cameras. The attack faded away, and Dragulas covered its eyes with its clawed hands, shrieking in pain from the blinding light.

"Now I get it!" Yuma exclaimed with sudden clarity. "That's the card you were going to use to destroy Hope!" Now he was certainly grateful he summoned Dragulas.

"How perceptive of you, Yuma," said Shuta, a dark aura surrounding his body as he talked, while the glow from the blue 25 on his cheek seemed to intensify. "Hope is a LIGHT attribute monster, so my trap card would have destroyed it the moment it hit the field, but you summoned Dragulas, a dark attribute monster, so my trap card can't touch it. However, I can still destroy my own monster to protect my life points. You see, Yuma, LIGHT attribute monsters I control cannot be attacked during the turn I activate Blinding Flash, so even if you did defy my future photos, you still failed to defeat me."

"I end my turn," said Yuma, disappointed he couldn't finish the duel, but he now felt more confident than before. Even if Shuta had yet to summon his Number, the tables had turned.

"Then it's my turn again. I draw, and I swear to you, Yuma. I'll make you suffer for defying the will of my Number," Shuta hissed. "I control the future! I decide what happens in this duel! Now watch! I summon Camera Chimera!"

More flashes burst around the field as a new monster appeared, a mechanical lion with camera lenses for eyes, two more cameras mounted on its shoulders, and a third camera sticking out of the end of its wire-like tail.

Camera Chimera: Level 6/LIGHT/Beast-Warrior/2400 ATK/1400 DEF

"Camera Chimera may be a level six monster, but I can Normal summon it without a tribute since you control a monster that was special summoned from the Extra Deck."

"Here it comes, Yuma," Astral warned. "He has two level six monsters. Be very careful."

"I overlay Camera Chimera and Camera Commando! With these 2 Level 6 Monsters, I build the overlay network!"

The golden galaxy appeared again, and once Shuta's two camera creatures vanished, the Number's sealed form made its presence known. It was a double layered pink cube with four camera lenses stuck on each of its four corners.

"XYZ SUMMON! APPEAR, NUMBER TWENTY-FIVE FORCE FOCUS!"

The lenses detached from the cube and the cube reconfigured its shape, metal mechanisms shifting and twisting until its body grew into a more rectangular form. The lenses reattached themselves onto the Numbers body, and finally, its transformation complete, the Number resembled a gigantic 35 mm antique film camera with its lenses on all sides of its body. The largest lens stared at Yuma like a creepy pupiless eye while a small blue 25 mark rested underneath it.

Number 25: Force Focus: Rank 6/LIGHT/Machine/Xyz/2800 ATK/2400 DEF

"Battle! Force Focus, attack his vampire dragon now! PHOTO FINISHER, KILL SHOT!"

Force Focus zoomed its lens forward to lock-on to the dragon, and after taking three pictures, it began absorbing sunlight into the lens, charging its attack in the process.

"Activate the effect of Dragulas!" Astral commanded. "Its defense points are equal to the attack points of Force Focus. If we flip Dragulas face-down now, the attack of Force Focus will fail. Afterwards, the effect of Dragulas will activate, sending Shuta's Number Monster straight to the Graveyard."

"You read my mind!" Yuma agreed. "I activate the effect of Dragulas! By detaching one overlay unit, I can flip my monster face-down and with twenty-eight hundred defense points, you won't be destroying him. In fact, Dragulas will be the one destroying you!"

"I don't think so!" Shuta thundered defiantly. "Force Focus activates its own effect. By detaching one overlay unit, I can negate your dragon's effect!"

Dragulas' wings began to fold its wings like a cloak to prepare for switching to defense mode, but Force Focus suddenly turned its body sideways and flashed several shots with its right side lens. Blinded once again by the light, its concentration broken, Dragulas shrieked in agony and covered its eyes with its claws.

"OH NO!"

"OH YES!" Shuta mocked. "But that's not the only surprise. Since Camera Chimera was detached from my Xyz Monster, its effect activates as well, allowing me to cut the attack points of your Vampiric Dragon in half! Now, finish him off, Force Focus! KILL SHOT!"

Dragulas ATK: 2400/2 = 1200 ATK

Facing forward again with its largest lens, Force Focus fired its beam of light, piercing Dragulas chest and shattering it instantly. The beam continued forward and knocked Yuma off his feet, who fell hard on his back when he hit the ground behind him.

Yuma: 1700 - 1600 = 100

"Now do you see that you can't defy the will of Force Focus?" Shuta's sadistic sneer returned to his face as he taunted his downed opponent. "Together, we decide the fate of every human being on this planet. Even if you refused to obey my predictions, you still can't win this duel. If you play defense against Force Focus, my Spy Camera will switch it to attack mode. If you set a trap card, the second copy of Night Beam I have in my hand will destroy it, and if you so much as think of trying to turn the duel around with a monster effect, my Force Focus will negate it. It's over! HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Great," Yuma muttered to himself. "I exposed Shuta's scam, only for his Number to get the better of me. Now what? If I don't make a comeback right now, I'll lose anyway, prophecy or no!"

"Let him gloat all he wants, Yuma," Astral soothed. "You have made it past the sixth turn and you still have life points left. Now you have proven once and for all that these future photos are false. The only reason they could come to pass was because Shuta was able to convince people there was no other alternative. The photos were self fulfilling prophecies."

Yuma perked up again. "Hey, you're right!" He then grinned and pointed at Shuta. "Hey Shuta, I wouldn't be laughing if I were you. I thought you said you were going to beat me on the sixth turn."

That shut him up immediately. Shuta's angry scowl returned to his face, while Yuma's grin doubled in size.

"And with my only monster gone, I can't summon Hope," Yuma continued. "So if Hope isn't on the field for you to destroy, then there's no way the outcome of this duel will go the way you said it would."

"No…" Shuta shuttered, his photos and cards falling out of his hands. "My photos. I know they're real. They have to be real! Force Focus has never steered me wrong before, so why now? WHY?!"

"The game is yours, Yuma. You can win this!" Astral urged Yuma to push forward for victory, and Yuma was eager to do just that.

"My turn, draw! First, I summon Achacha Archer!"

A flicker of candle-like flame signaled the arrival of Yuma's new monster. It was a humanoid archer wearing a yellow japanese tunic and a silver mask covering most of his face. The archer pulled out his bow, equipped with a flaming arrow, and with a maniacal look in his eyes, gave a barbaric cry of "ACHACHA!"

Achacha Archer: Level 3/FIRE/Warrior/1200 ATK/600 DEF

"When this monster is summoned, I can automatically hit you with five hundred points of damage, but first, I want to ask you something. Are you going to use Force Focus to stop my monster's effect, or are you going to take the hit?"

"Of course I'm not going to stop it. Do you think I'm stupid?" Shuta answered. "That has to be the oldest trick in the book! I'm not going to waste my monster's effect on something that could barely scratch my life points."

"Okay then, you asked for it." said Yuma. "Let him have it, Achacha Archer! FIRE!"

With another scream of "ACHACHA!" The archer fired an arrow from his bow, which zoomed past Shuta, grazing his shoulder in the process.

Shuta LP: 3400 - 500 = 2900

"Heh, that tickles," Shuta gloated. "If you honestly thought I was going to waste the effect of Force Focus on your measly little archer so I wouldn't be able to stop a stronger effect, then you're sadly mistaken."

"Actually, you're the one who made a huge mistake, Shuta," Yuma answered with an almost giddy look on his face. "Now I know for sure that you're going to lose, and I don't need some future predicting camera to prove it! If you had stopped Achacha Archer's effect, you would have enough life points to survive what's about to happen."

"You're lying!" snapped Shuta, but the growing smile on Yuma's face told him otherwise.

"I'm not lying. I'm just making a prophecy of my own, and I have a feeling this one is going to come true, even without some stupid fake photographs. Let me show you. I activate the spell card, Monster Reborn! Now I can bring back Gagaga Girl!"

The young apprentice spellcaster backflipped out of the conjured black portal and landed next to the archer.

Gagaga Girl: Level 3/DARK/Spellcaster/1000 ATK/800 DEF

"And finally, since I control two level three monsters, I can special summon Kanga Switcheroo from my hand, and when I do, I can change its level to three as well!"

Yuma's final monster bounded onto the field. It was a strange looking Kangaroo with white fur from the waist up, but black legs and a black tail. Red clown make-up adorned the marsupial's face, and red boxing gloves covered its hands. Bouncing up and down and punching the air with its fists, the kangaroo hopped around the field and landed in between the witch and the archer.

Kanga Switcheroo: Level 3/DARK/Beast/800 ATK/800 DEF

"I overlay Gagaga Girl, Achacha Archer, and Kanga Switcheroo! With these 3 Level 3 Monsters, I'm going to build the overlay network again!"

Giggling like a clown, the kangaroo backflipped into the golden galaxy and both archer and witch followed, heralding the arrival of Yuma's third and most recently acquired Number. Its sealed form was a collection of computer chips arranged methodically on a motherboard and protected in layers of yellow and black armor plates.

"XYZ SUMMON, APPEAR NUMBER THIRTY-FOUR, TERROR BYTE!"

The plates unfolded and rearranged themselves to form four flat shoulder and back plates while the chips transformed into the silver metal of a quadrupedal robotic beast. While its rectangular android face appeared reptilian in nature, the arrangement of its body parts behind it gave it a more insectoid appearance, with four spindly legs, beetle-like wings, a shiny emerald horn, and a scorpion-like tail. The creature's beady eyes flashed a shade of red as it suddenly reared up on its hind legs and let out an electronic screech of predatory aggression.

Number 34: Terror Byte: Rank 3/DARK/Machine/Xyz/0 ATK/2900 DEF

Shuta looked at the third Number with familiarity, having studied it when he spied on Yuma with his camera drones. His arrogant smirk returned when he recognized what the aggressive bipedal stance of the Number meant.

"HA! Talk about tripping at the finish line!" he laughed. "You were getting so excited about turning the duel back in your favor, but now you screwed up by accidentally putting a monster with zero attack points in attack mode. Your sister was right. You shouldn't be dueling if you're going to make rookie mistakes like that!"

"Actually, I summoned Terror-Byte in attack mode on purpose!" Yuma explained, and Shuta's confidence vanished again. "You were so busy focusing on the Xyz Monster I was going to summon, so you didn't pay attention to the monsters I used as Terror Byte's overlay units! Force Focus can only negate the effects of monsters that are on the field, not monsters that have been transformed into overlay units!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The first thing you need to worry about is my Kanga Switcheroo. Since this little guy was used as an overlay unit to perform an Xyz Summon, I can switch the attack points of my Xyz Monster with its defense points, so now instead of having twenty-nine hundred defense points, Terror Byte has twenty-nine hundred attack points! POWER BOUNCE!"

Terror Byte: 2900 ATK/0 DEF

"Go ahead and attack me then!" Shuta goaded Yuma on. "I can handle a mere one hundred points of damage. You may destroy my Number Monster, but I'll still be in the game."

"You didn't let me finish, Shuta," Yuma replied, trying to replicate his opponent's finger-waving. "You forgot about my Gagaga Girl's effect. Remember what happened the last time I used her as an overlay unit? She can now reduce the attack of your Force Focus to zero! CELL SUBTRACTION!"

A beam green light struck Force Focus, and as its attack points were drained away by the spell, all color on Shuta's face drained away with it.

"WHAT?! NO! You can't do this to me, Yuma! You can't! My photos were supposed to predict the future! I was supposed to win!"

Force Focus: 0 ATK/2400 DEF

"BATTLE! TERROR-BYTE, ATTACK FORCE FOCUS! ELECTRO-VIRUS!"

The viral creature's horn flashed, and its tail began to crackle with electricity like an overloaded power cable. The lightning traveled down from the tail, through the creature's body, and into the creature's horn, changing the color of the lightning from white to green. Screeching furiously, Terror-Byte unleashed the emerald electrical storm all at once. The metal frame of the rose colored camera was no match for the electrical assault. Force Focus convulsed under the might of the lightning like a car in an accident, each of its four lenses exploding in synchronized sequence. Finally, the whole frame of the camera could take no further punishment, and Force Focus shattered like a broken mirror.

The storm traveled past what was left of Shuta's Number Monster and struck him, dissolving the mark on his cheek as the corrupted photographer screamed in agony from the electric shock. After enduring waves of pain from the storm, he fell unconscious and collapsed.

Shuta: 2900 - 2900 = 0 (LOSE)

Winner: YUMA!

Astral extended his hand to beckon the now free Number to his side and claim the memory within. Focusing on the card as he absorbed it into his being, his mind was bombarded with visions, visions of the calming blue of the Astral World, then the variety of colors he saw on Earth, and finally…. Something else? Redness, Destruction….

Chaos?

"Once again, an incomplete memory, only a small piece of the puzzle which only provides more questions and makes the knowledge I seek more difficult to decipher," he muttered. He wasn't exactly optimistic this would be the Number that would provide all the answers, but that didn't stop his sense of urgency to learn from rising to the surface of his troubled mind.

"Force Focus, a Number that gave its user the power to predict the future, seemed to give me a vision pertaining to the future," he pondered pensively. "The future of my home, the Astral world, lies in my hands, and it will depend entirely on the success of my mission here, as it appears Earth and Astral World are linked together. Any harm to one world will affect the health of the other, and not only that…."

His mind drifted back to the Red, to the strange yet familiar energy in the memory.

"There is a third world out there, linked to Earth just like the Astral World. Could its inhabitants have a role to play in my mission as well?"

"Akari!" Yuma's cry snapped Astral out of his reflection, and he stared up at the sky to see the smoking airship pass directly over their heads. Even though they defeated Shuta, the danger was far from over.

"Akari, please tell me everything's okay now!" Yuma practically screamed into his phone. "Listen, I defeated Shuta! It's over!"

He looked up as the airship sailed right over their heads, its massive frame passing the rooftop park and barely avoiding a collision with nearby skyscrapers as it continued to descend. Any minute, it could hit the ground and burst into flames.

"This isn't right!" Yuma exclaimed. "Everything should be back to normal! I beat him! I won!"

"Yuma…" a broken whisper that barely resembled his sister's voice finally replied. "I… I just…. I'm sorry…. For everything. I mean it. I didn't stop you from dueling because I thought you were a failure. I never hated you. I just didn't want to lose you like Mom and Dad, and now…. I'm sorry you're going to go through it all over again…. And…. great job… I know you tried to save me, so…. Congrats on winning the duel, little brother. Keep at it, and you'll be a dueling champion someday."

"Akari, don't you dare talk like that!" Yuma shouted, tears streaming down his face after hearing the sobbing from his sister. "You're going to survive this! You have to! AKARI!"

Yuma left the unconscious Shuta behind. He left the rooftop and raced down the stairs, chasing after the airship as fast as he could. Astral floated after him, stunned from what he heard. He'd seen Yuma upset before, but never like this. He wanted to comfort him, but he didn't know how. Even if he did, Yuma would be beyond the aid of comfort in just a few seconds, given the grim reality of his sister's impending fate.

"Observation Number Seven," he spoke to himself, surprised when he heard his own voice quiver with emotion. "Humans fear the loss of their friends and family far more than anything else."

"Wait, Yuma!" The two heard Akari's voice again. "The airship! It's slowing down!"

Yuma raced through the alleyways of downtown Heartland until he reached a clearing where he could see the visual evidence of the glimmer of hope his sister delivered. The formerly doomed aircraft was now enshrouded in a dark purple glow, and as he watched the airship slow its descent, he could hear a faint buzzing noise over the sound of the flaming engines.

"Oh thank God! I was right after all!" Yuma never felt more relieved in his life. His sister was going to live. "With Force Focus defeated, any power it has over the future is taken away."

"Are you sure that is the doing of Force Focus?" Astral inquired. As he stared at the aura surrounding the airship, a bad feeling entered his consciousness. It couldn't be Force Focus. The Number had already been absorbed into himself, so if the aura slowing the airship was being caused by Force Focus, Astral would have been able to sense it within himself.

Something else was at work here, and Astral wasn't sure he could trust that the person saving the airship from crashing was entirely benevolent. Yuma, on the other hand, was far too focused on the safety of his sister to worry about any future threats. He raced closer, continuing to chase the airship as it fell, but while the airship was reaching a speed where it could land safely, there was still no runway or landing platform for aircrafts in sight. Instead, whoever was controlling the airship now was aiming for an empty stretch of highway. As Yuma approached the road, he saw several police vehicles surrounding the highway. It seems they had already been alerted of the disaster. Traffic was diverted far away from the stretch of road to give the airship plenty of space. With a violent slam into the ground, the airship skidded across the highway, tearing the asphalt as it decelerated before finally coming to a complete stop.

The disaster was finally over, and as Yuma waited with baited breath, he soon found he was even luckier than that. Nobody appeared to have been hurt in the crash landing, and as the passengers filed out one by one, they soon formed a crowd of cheering worshippers as a single male passenger descended the airship stairs with an almost messianic level of pride.

Yuma recognized him as none other than the mayor, Mr. Heartland himself, and as he approached the airship to see if he could spot his sister, he could hardly believe what he was hearing. Over the chorus of praise from the passengers and the flashing of cameras from the paparazzi that followed him, Yuma could barely make out the details of how the airship landed safely. Somehow Mr. Heartland managed to land the airship entirely on his own, even though both of the engines were completely dead and burning.

"He saved us! The mayor saved us all!"

"He's a hero! Mister Heartland's a hero!"

"Mister Heartland! How did you stabilize the engines?"

"Did you have experience in piloting aircrafts before running for office?!"

"Now, Now! Everybody calm down!" The green haired politician adjusted his orange rimmed spectacles and gazed at the adoring public with a warm, fatherly smile. "One question at a time please. I think we should all consider ourselves very lucky we only damaged the road we landed on and not any of our fragile human bodies. The important thing is that I made a promise to the citizens I value more than anything. I promised I would land this aircraft safely, and I have. After all, the people of Heartland City will always be safe while I am their mayor, and make no mistake. I will not let this little accident get in the way of my plans for Heartland City's greatest event of the year. The World Duel Carnival will proceed right on schedule!"

Yuma continued to scan the crowd for any sign of his sister. He still couldn't see her, and the iron grip of fear began to squeeze his heart again. What if Akari got hurt after all?

Then he saw it, the flicker of claret red darting into view, his sister's ponytail, and his heart caught fire from the happiness he felt.

As Akari descended the stairs of the airship and exited the craft, she barely had time to think before she saw her brother calling out to her.

"AKARI!"

"Yuma? YUMA!" Nothing else was important. Not the airship, not her scoop, not the mayor. She didn't care about any of it. She just wanted to see her little brother. She rushed across the highway and onto the sidewalk where she caught her brother in a hug.

"Akari, you're okay!" Tears of joy cascaded down his face. "But how did the airship slow down? They're saying Mr. Heartland saved everybody."

"Yeah, about that…." Akari suddenly felt it was unsafe to talk about this, and she escorted Yuma far away from the airship and the crowd singing their praises to the mayor. As they walked away from the wreckage, Akari told Yuma what happened.

"Everything happened so fast." she began, clearly still shaken from the ordeal. "We were all screaming and panicking, but the mayor…. He…. He just stood there, staring at the wing as if everything was normal. Then when we got closer to the ground, he told us all to remain calm and said he was going to land the airship himself. He went into the cockpit and shut the door behind him. The next thing we know, we're slowing down."

"Did you see the glow surrounding the airship?" Yuma inquired.

"I did," Akari answered, clearly weirded out from it. "I have…. No explanation for that…"

"I think it was Shuta's Number card," Yuma said. "With it gone, and Shuta back to normal, the power it had over the airship disappeared."

"Yuma, what are you talking about?" Akari asked, and Yuma suddenly regretted bringing up the Number cards. He already went through enough trouble convincing Kotori and Tetsuo that magic duel monster cards that take over people's minds were real. He could only imagine how much of a nightmare it would be to convince his duel monster hating sister whose mind was driven by logic and facts.

However, in his heart, he knew he couldn't bring himself to lie to his sister anymore. Even though he tried to keep his sister out of his hunt for the Numbers, she ended up roped into it anyway, almost at the cost of her own life.

"Akari, I wasn't kidding when I said Shuta was possessed. Those glowing marks you heard about? They're caused by these Number cards. Look, I'll show you."

He reached into his deck box and pulled out his collection of Numbers, and among them was the newest member of his collection, Force Focus.

"You were right all along," Yuma confessed. "I have been dueling behind your back, but look. I've been getting better. I've found other people who were possessed by these cards, and if I beat them, I can set them free and take them."

Yuma looked up at his sister. Her face was expressionless, and she was simply nodding. Yuma was nervous at first, but then she realized his sister was actually paying attention. She was listening to him.

"The guy who was responsible for that computer virus was my teacher, Professor Ukyo," he continued. "That's why I didn't want to tell you about him. I was afraid you would report him to the police and he would get arrested, but he wasn't in control of his actions. He was possessed by a Number just like Shuta was."

"And if you beat them, they snap out of it," Akari answered to indicate she was following along. She stared at the cards with distrust in her eyes, not quite ready to accept this just yet.

"How come you're not crazy?" she asked. "You've got multiple Numbers now, so if they're cursed, or magic, or whatever, then why aren't they affecting you?"

Yuma pulled out the Emperor's Key from around his neck. "The long answer is a lot more complicated, but the short answer, I think it's because of this."

Akari stared at the key in disbelief. "But… that's…."

"I know. Dad gave it to me right before he and mom went missing. He told me I would need it someday. He told me that one day it would unlock my potential as a duelist. I thought he was just encouraging me, and the key was just symbolic, but now…. Well…. It's really happening right now. The key is protecting me from the Numbers, and now I'm getting stronger as a duelist. That's why I need to keep dueling, not just because it's my passion but because Rio and I are the only ones that can use these Numbers without getting possessed."

As he saw Akari's face grow stern, he pleaded even further.

"I know you want to keep me out of trouble, but trouble is going to find me whether I like it or not because of these Numbers. That's why I need to get stronger, so I can handle myself when they come after me, but I can't do this without your support. I know you don't like me dueling, but I need you to trust me on this. Just let me keep dueling…. So I…." he struggled to find the right words.

"So… So I can keep YOU safe, Akari. Please…"

Akari looked away from her brother, apprehension painted on her face. She still didn't like this. She wasn't sure if she could ever get used to the idea of her brother risking his neck for these cards, and she still found Yuma's story hard to believe, but whether or not she believed in the story of the Numbers, she finally made the choice to believe in her brother.

"Alright, Yuma," she sighed, closing her eyes. "You can duel all you want. I won't stop you anymore."

"Really?" Yuma's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. After all these years of fighting with his sister and living in fear of getting caught dueling behind her back, was it finally over?

Akari smiled.

"Yes, really. I haven't been fair to you, but that's going to change. Just promise me that whenever you have to duel for one of these Number things, you come back in one piece, alright?"

Yuma responded by hugging his sister again. Both surprised and touched by her brother being more affectionate with her than he had ever been in his life, Akari returned the hug. The two siblings continued their embrace, grateful for their newfound sense of trust in each other, when the flash of a camera brought them back to reality.

"Shuta?" Yuma was surprised to see the blue haired photographer again, only he looked quite different from before. Gone was the psychotic grin, and a confused and shaken frown replaced it.

"Yuma…. I…. Did I do something bad?"

The photographer pulled the photos of their duel from his pocket and showed them to Yuma. The younger Tsukumo could only imagine how Shuta must have felt when he woke up

"Wait, you really don't remember anything?" Akari asked. She was halfway tempted to give Shuta a piece of her mind after almost dying in that airship, but seeing him in such a vulnerable state prompted her to hear him out. This was a completely different Shuta from the one she spoke with a few hours ago.

"No, I don't!" said Shuta, his voice weak and fearful. "I had this awful dream, and then when I woke up, I was on the ground, and these photos were in my pocket. Everything is still fuzzy. I can barely remember what happened for the past couple of days, but these photos…. It wasn't a dream, was it?"

"You weren't yourself, Shuta," Yuma reassured the photographer. "But I took care of it, and everybody made it out of that airship in one piece, so no harm done."

Unfortunately, Shuta didn't appear to feel any better. "That doesn't really stop me from feeling bad about what could have happened," and as he finished his sentence, his photographed finished developing. With a sad smile, he handed the picture of the two Tsukumo siblings hugging to Akari.

The elder Tsukumo tried not to tear up in front of her brother.

The picture was beautiful.

"Look, Akari, I'm sorry," Shuta continued. "I won't bother the two of you ever again, and I never meant to hurt your feelings with my scoop idea last year. I just…. I just wanted to help."

With that, Shuta turned to leave, but Akari, feeling a shard of guilt enter her heart, called him back.

"Shuta, wait!"

The photographer stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm the one who needs to apologize. I shouldn't have been so closed minded about your photos. In fact, I think you might have been right about Mr. Heartland."

Shuta was floored by her statement, almost questioning if he was talking to the same person.

"Really?"

"Look, I'm still not sure if everything you told me last year was correct. I don't think we have enough evidence to say that's exactly what happened, but I was on that airship with the man himself. The way he talked, the way he behaved, the way he answered my questions, everything was off. I've never had such a bad feeling about anybody in my life. He's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what."

Shuta looked down at the ground. Akari could tell he was still bitter over what happened a year ago.

"Actually, Shuta…. WE could get the scoop on the mayor together if you want. In fact, I could talk to my boss and convince him to hire you, and not just an internship this time. I mean a real job."

That was the last thing Shuta expected Akari to say.

"Really? You're seriously not joking? You'd actually do that after everything that's happened between us?"

"I've been wrong about a lot of things, Shuta," Akari confessed. "And I haven't been fair to a lot of people in my life. I want to change that, if you'll let me."

Shocked by Akari's words, a small smile crept across Shuta's face. "Alright. Thanks, Akari. Here, let me make it up to you. I want to take another photo. Look, the lighting is just perfect in this exact spot for a great family photo."

Liking the sound of that, and wanting to put the darker moments of the day behind them, the two Tsukumo siblings got together side by side.

"Smile… and, one, two, three! Cheese!"

Astral, having remained quiet throughout the entire exchange due to wanting to give the two Tsukumos the privacy they needed to work out their issues with each other, gave a satisfied smile of his own as he watched his partner have his picture taken with his sister.

"Observation Number Eight: The social bonds between humans can be broken like through conflict, but they can also be repaired through forgiveness, and when that happens, the bond becomes stronger than before."

However, underneath Astral's positive musings, the spirit was still disturbed, not only by the prospect of future Number holders, but the conversation Akari had about the man who supposedly stopped the airship from crashing.

Mr. Heartland.

"That man…." Astral muttered to himself, noting a detail that had missed Yuma's eyes, but not Astral's. "When Yuma and Akari walked away from the airship, I could have sworn that he was looking right at me. Is it possible…. Could he actually see me?"

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Author Made Cards

Kanga Switcheroo: Level 2/DARK/Beast/800 ATK/800 DEF

Effect: If you control 2 or more monsters with the same level, you can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, you can make this card's level become the same as that of 1 monster you control. If this card is used as Xyz Material for an Xyz Summon, you can switch the ATK and DEF of one monster on the field.

Camera-Magician: Level 4/LIGHT/Spellcaster/1600 ATK/1400 DEF

Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned or Special Summoned, you can add 1 "Night Beam" from your Deck to your hand. Each time a Spell/Trap your opponent controls is sent to the Graveyard, you can activate this effect; Inflict 400 damage to the opponent, and if you do, this card gains 400 ATK until the End Phase.

Camera-Chimera: Level 6/LIGHT/Beast-Warrior/2400 ATK/1400 DEF

Effect: If your opponent controls a monster with 2000 or more ATK, you can Normal Summon this card without tributing. If this card as Xyz Material is detached from an Xyz Monster you control, you can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; halve that monster's ATK.

Camera-Commando: Level 6/LIGHT/Warrior/2000 ATK/1400 DEF

Effect: If you control a Level 4 or lower LIGHT Monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can target 1 LIGHT Monster you control; that monster gains 600 ATK and its level increases by 2, until the End Phase.

Spy Camera: Continuous Spell Card

Effect: When you activate this card, Flip all face-down monsters your opponent controls into face-up Attack Position (Flip Effects are not activated.) If your opponent sets a monster (Quick Effect) you can flip that monster into face-up Attack Position. (Flip Effects are not activated)

Blinding Flash: Normal Trap Card

Effect: Target 1 LIGHT Monster on the field; destroy it. LIGHT Monsters you control cannot be targeted for attacks during the turn you activate this effect. You can only activate 1 "Blinding Flash" per turn

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A/N:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND DONE!

After months of brain fog, writer's block, scrapped drafts, rewritten paragraphs, and headaches, Chapter 4 is finally done!

So what did you think of the chapter? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Whatever your opinion is, I would love to stock up on my dopamine reserves for next year, so feel free to leave a review and let me know!

Until Next Time! This is NOX, Signing Out!