Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal: Light and Ice

by FrozenLuinor14

Two childhood friends who were once super close have been separated by fate due to a tragic event. Now years later, they've reunited with one of them having no recollection of the other. Follow Yuma and Rio as they help out the alien named Astral in the Numbers War, while befriending and facing off against rivals and enemies alike.

4. Chapter 4

Hello guys, I'm back with another chapter. It has been like two months since I uploaded my last one. I'll just reply to some reviews first.

Dragonkeeper10: Yeah, I can't imagine how rough it must be if your best friend/totally not a crush didn't remember you after being separated for years by fate. We can only just wait and see how they piece their relationship back together again.

Yeah Yuma will most likely end up befriending all the Numbers because of his positivity alone. Bro is just that wholesome. Leviathan Dragon won't even bother to try and resist it lol. I always felt like Leviathan Dragon deserved a Chaos or Shining Form, because he was the first Number Monster to have ever been summoned, and not to mention Utopia's first foe. I guess he did get a new form in some way thanks to Levirtue Dragon being a thing, but I wouldn't honestly mind getting a retrain of Leviathan Dragon's base form.

Guest: I honestly don't see Yuma being that vengeful of a guy on purpose to be honest. We're talking about the same dude who forgave Vector of all people after all. Of course if IV keeps on being sadistic and evil about it by constantly mentioning how much he scarred Rio that night, then yeah he's basically inviting Yuma's wrath.

HunterHQ: I can only imagine the unbelievable, raw, earth-shattering bliss Yuma would experience when seeing a fan/retrain version of Utopia. Baseball Utopia is just way too cool, and it's nice to know he and Yuma's other monsters have a hobby together that doesn't involve them fighting. I might incorporate this in some way in this story.

I don't think any of the Number Club members are receiving Numbers I'm afraid. Shark wouldn't really approve of Rio hanging with Yuma, but he can't really stop since they're gonna be classmates.

If one got a blood sample from a barian like Alito or Girag then transfused with someone wonder if it would have compatibility or anything. Or studying the dna for anything. Also wonder if their past lives as humans they had an living modern day descendants in the present I wonder.

Numeron dragon created the universe before fading away but was this before the barian astral war I assume? Between ocg and anime effects which you plan to go for? Example numeron dragon has different effects.

Rio and Shark being barians I do wonder are they capable of having families with humans or if by chance Rio happened to be pregnant then went Barian battle morph would the baby also be half barian I wonder. Wonder if there are other alien life out there besides barians and astrals.

I take it maybe no galaxy monsters too? Imagine those facing Kite's galaxy eyes.

Wonder if like how Yusei lost his memory once, in the dub, a duel can sometimes help a duelist know their truth and the cards they choose guide them to whom they were meant to be.

I could also see Rio with dragon ice or penguin monsters too?

Egduardiazsluber: Thanks, and I'm glad you've been having fun reading my fic. As for your questions, yeah other Duelists will use Shining Numbers rather than just Yuma. S37 and S38 are now a thing too, so Shark and Kite are defintely gonna use those at some point during the story. Other Numbers from the Manga will receive Shining Forms, so a S21 form for Frozen Lady Justice is definitely in the plan.

As for your second question, I've decided to give her a Moon-themed Dragon as her Ace, seeing as she plays "Moon" cards in the manga like Moon Magician and Moon Gardna. Not to mention her Xyz Monster was Kachi Kochi Dragon, so a dragon as her ace seems to be ideal even though she describes me more like a Spellcaster User.

I honestly haven't thought of how to properly explain how Thunder Spark, Captain Corn, and Princess Cologne gained sentience in the first place, but I'll see what I can do. I like your idea about Faker experimenting with Astral energy.

Anyways with all out of the way, without any further ado, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

---

Chapter 4: Reunion of Light and Ice!

"You've got to be kidding me? You can't remember when you were five that you used to go on playdates with a boy your age all the time at Heartland Central Park?" Yuma tried to remind Rio of their past. They were friends when both of them were just five years old, and then got separated from each other some time after both of them turned seven.

"I'm afraid I don't..." Yuma couldn't deny it now, since he managed to easily discern how sincere Rio sounded this time. He didn't wanna believe it, but Rio truly had forgotten him. Maybe it was the shock of her losing her parents? Or was it something else? Another possibility popped up in Yuma's head.

"It can't be? Could Rio have amnesia?" Yuma really hoped that wasn't the case, but aside from this, nothing else was making any sense to him. He didn't wanna lose his friendship with Rio again all because she couldn't remember him. He hoped that fate wouldn't try to separate him from his friend again, but if so, he would be prepared to fight to keep their friendship intact this time.

"Miss Rio!" the female doctor who had been spectating their duel from the very start walked up to her while supporting her unconscious colleague. "It seems you did a Number on one of our best doctors, but don't worry, he should be recovering soon enough."

"Sorry, my bad, I didn't mean to go overboard. Make sure to tell him I said sorry." Rio knew she needed to stop getting too carried away in a Duel, but she can't help it since she always seems to be in the zone, and too focused on taking her opponent down.

"Overboard is an understatement!" Yuma muttered quietly, but Rio caught on to what he said, and glared at him.

"What was that?!" Rio was coated in a crimson red aura that scared the life out of Yuma. Even to this day, he couldn't understand how Rio could generate this red-colored aura.

"No ma'am!" Yuma knew that trying to argue with Rio, with amnesia or no amnesia was pointless, because either way he was guaranteed to lose. Not to mention her glares can be frightening. She gave him a playful smile.

"Relax, I was just messing with you." Rio said as Yuma managed to breathe out a sigh of relief. "So Doc? Am I allowed to go home now?"

"Well, you passed all your tests flawlessly, even your Duel Test, so we have no reason to force you to stay in this hospital anymore. We called your caretakers at the orphanage, and we've informed them of your recovery." the female Doctor told Rio that her caretakers were already informed of her waking up from her coma.

"That's great, I can finally go home and relax. I catch up with my friends, Kyoji, and even my brother again." Rio was happy, she can finally reunite with all of her favorite people. Unbeknownst to her, Yuma was deep in thought over what the doctor had just revealed.

"Orphanage?! That would explain where Rio was all this time after her parents passed away." Yuma mentally slapped himself for not realizing this sooner. "Dammit why didn't I think of visiting an orphanage? Oh wait, it's on the other side of town, that's why."

---

(10 minutes later, outside of the hospital)

Yuma, Astral, and Rio were finally able to leave the hospital. Rio needed to say her goodbyes and thanked everyone for looking after her this past year. The atmosphere between the trio was awkward, as they were now walking down the street, nobody had said anything. Astral was calmly floating after them, Yuma was lost in thought ever since that conversation at the rooftop. Rio felt like she needed to break the ice somehow even though it was ironic since she was known for freezing her opponents.

"Listen! I'm willing to overlook the fact you, a complete stranger, just hugged me, and is now giving me the silent treatment, if you can please just tell me who that guy floating behind you is?" Rio suggested as she pointed her finger in Astral's direction. It hurt to hear Rio refer to Yuma as a stranger, but the young boy wasn't able to think about it for very long once her words had completely sunk in. The young boy stopped in his tracks, and stared at her in disbelief.

"Hold on... YOU CAN SEE HIM?!" Yuma didn't know if it was a blessing or not that someone else could see Astral. He didn't imagine Rio of all people would be able to see him.

"Um yeah, he's kinda hard to miss you know." Rio stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "So, would you mind giving me an introduction?"

"How strange, it appears she can see me." Astral already figured out there was so much more to Yuma's friend than meets the eye, but this revelation by far surpassed all expectations. "My name is Astral."

"Hmm, Astral, is it? That's a cool name, what about you? Yuma Tsukumo was it?" Rio exclaimed as she locked eyes with Yuma.

"Ye-yeah, that's my name hehehe..." Yuma tried to hide his disappointment that Rio couldn't remember who he was with a weak laugh, but he was failing miserably.

"Look, I feel bad that I'm not the person you're looking for, and I can tell you're a good person, so I hope you can find your friend." Rio spoke in a sincere tone. She felt bad that she wasn't the person he was looking for, and even if she was, it would be impossible right? After all, she remembered for the most part everything from when she first developed awareness at the age of four to now.

"How am I supposed to find her when she's already standing right in front of me?! I don't care if this makes me selfish, but I got to befriend her again somehow." Yuma wanted to insist that she was the Rio he knew, but he felt like if he did that, then Rio would feel uneasy around him. "I have to make her remember, but I can't force whatever I say onto her, otherwise she will just drift further away from me. It just has to happen naturally somehow, right? I guess that's what I'm gonna do then."

Rio could tell that Yuma was deep in thought, and was contemplating whether or not he should believe what she said, but she then remembered something that sparked her curiosity. "By the way, you seemed quite knowledgeable concerning these Numbers, seeing as you wanted to warn me about what they could do earlier..." Rio began to say, bringing Yuma back from his thoughts. She pulled out Frozen Lady Justice from her Extra Deck, and held it out in front of them along with Diamond Crab King. She continued to speak. "From one Duelist to another, would you mind explaining why they're called Numbers, and what's so special about them?"

"Well Astral?" Yuma looked at Astral, wondering if he could explain it to her. Astral gave him a nod.

"To put it simply, Numbers are fragments of my memories, and they were scattered all across this planet. It's my mission to gather all 99 of them." Astral informed the girl.

"Fragments of your memories? And there are 99? That doesn't explain why Number 52 came to me?" Rio didn't have the slightest of clue why she was able to claim Number 52.

"When one Number Holder duels another, and they both have successfully summoned a Number each at any point in the Duel, then the victor can choose to claim the loser's Number." Astral explained the rules of a Duel that involves Number Holders and Numbers.

"I see... You need these Number Monsters to remember, am I correct?" Rio figured that's probably why he would even want to collect all these Number Monsters.

"That is indeed correct." Astral liked this girl, she was able to catch on to his explanations a lot quicker than Yuma. "You're a lot more attentive than Yuma."

"Do you have to take jabs at me even when it's not necessary?" Yuma complained, but his words fell on Astral's deaf ears.

"So you need my Numbers too? Frozen Lady Justice and Diamond Crab King?" Rio asked the otherworldly being. Astral nodded. Rio smiled because she had a proposition for them. "This quest seems like fun, how about adding me to your ranks? Let's work together!"

"Work together?" Yuma and Astral said in unison, looking at her with confused glances.

"Yeah, you can't really expect Yuma to collect all 99 Numbers for you by himself. In addition, if I were to help you out, it would help speed up the collection process." Rio informed.

"She does bring a valuable point. Compared to this girl, you're a total amateur Yuma." Astral pointed out the skill difference between Rio and Yuma.

"Alright, that's it! Do you want to help me to help you collect these Numbers or not?!" Yuma flailed his arms around, why did Astral have to be so obnoxious and constantly take digs at him? Rio giggled upon seeing these two bickering, she found it cute.

"Adding her Numbers to our own, we would have four. That would leave us with 95 more left to collect." Astral calculated how many Numbers were remaining.

"You have two Numbers as well?" Rio grew excited upon hearing that they had Numbers too. Well of course she expected them to have at least one Number, given that they knew what they were and were the ones explained to her why these cards even existed.

"Yup, I just won this other off of someone before I came to this hospital." Yuma beamed as he brought out Utopia and Leviathan Dragon from the Extra Deck. He was honestly glad that Rio decided to join them on their quest to hunt down Numbers, and this would be an easy way for him to befriend her again. "It was one awesome Duel, I will tell you that much."

"Wow these Numbers are so cool. Number 39: Utopia, and Number 17: Leviathan Dragon. Which of them was your first?" Rio wondered whether the knight in shining armor or the intense-looking dragon was the pair's first number.

"It's this one!" Yuma said as he held Utopia's card close to his heart. " I'll never forget the moment when Utopia gave me my first win ever today. I've never felt so in the zone in a Duel before until Utopia showed up. That doesn't mean Leviathan Dragon is any less special, he was the first opponent I ever beat, and the first Number Monster I collected." Yuma was then reminded of something as he looked at Leviathan Dragon's card. "I need to start interacting with Leviathan Dragon soon, it wouldn't surprise me if he felt some leftover anger from our Duel. I want to be friends with him too, and I don't wanna force him to help me either. I just hope he'll accept me and my other monsters too."

"You have never won a Duel before today?" Rio spoke with confusion hinted in her tone.

"Yeah, and my opponent was the toughest ever." Yuma smiled as he thought back to his Duel with Shark. He was already looking forward to their next Duel whenever that may be.

"I see, you did a great job then." Rio commended. "So Astral, it's settled then, right? I can help you and Yuma collect all 99 of these Number Monsters?"

"Affirmative. It seems we could really use your help." Astral figured with Rio helping them, they would at least be able to collect the Numbers a lot faster than just him and Yuma.

"Yeah you get no complaints from me here." Yuma agreed with Astral.

"Happy to help then! I guess we have to exchange contact info!" Rio suggested.

"Contact info?" Astral looked at Yuma, expecting him to explain what she meant by that. Yuma sighed.

"She wants to keep in touch basically. It will be easier for us to communicate." Yuma explained to the otherworldly being what Rio wanted to do. He walked up to Rio, and he allowed her to scan his Duel Gazer with her own. Yuma checked his Duel Gazer, and clicked on it, accepting her friend request. "Great, this is perfect. Now me and Rio can keep in touch. Luckily Duel Gazers nowadays are more advanced than when I was seven. Back then, they could only be used for Dueling, but now with these latest models, they can even help people call, and chat with one another."

"There we go! By the way Yuma." The thirteen-year-old boy could tell Rio wanted to ask her something, so he listened. "Do you go to Heartland Academy?"

"Yeah?" Yuma confirmed.

"That's great, expect to see me there in a couple of days because you know how long the enrollment process can take. Not to mention I really need a few off days as well after being comatosed for that long." Rio admitted to being in a coma to her new friends.

"You were in a coma?!" Yuma didn't think his best friend would be in a coma at any point during the time they were separated. "Could that be why, she doesn't remember me? It has to be, there is no other valid explanation."

"Yeah, I was in a coma for a year or so according to the doctors. They were extremely uncertain whether I would ever wake up or not." Rio was upset that she lost a year of her life all because of that man who scarred her. She hoped that she would never see him again.

"Yuma, what is a coma?" Astral asked, since he had no idea what coma was.

"It's when a person sleeps for a long time and doesn't wake up." Yuma simplified it, since he wasn't that great at going into details during these types of things. Astral. "How or when did you wake up from your coma?"

"I woke up a few hours before you came to the rooftop. Believe it or not, it was this Frozen Lady Justice who woke me up." Rio glanced at the said monster's card she was still holding in her right hand. She smiled at it. "She entered my hospital room somehow, and healed me. I just know it."

"Wow, can Number Monsters do that?" Yuma asked his partner.

"Numbers have various effects on people. It seems as though not all Numbers are out to hurt others or manipulate them. That would explain why you weren't controlled by your Lady Justice." Astral figured that should be the case indeed.

"Controlled? You mean Numbers can affect a person's behavior?" Yuma figured at this point every Number at this point has a special power of some kind.

"Yeah, earlier the guy I Dueled was going berserk because of Leviathan Dragon. He wanted to nothing, but hurt me in that Duel. If it wasn't for Utopia, I don't think we would've won that Duel, and he would continue his rampage against others with Leviathan." Yuma told his childhood friend.

"I see, but I know Frozen Lady Justice wouldn't do that to me." Rio reassured them that Frozen Lady Justice wouldn't do that. "These Numbers have minds of their own, even Frozen Lady Justice?"

"What I'm unable to comprehend is why Number 52 isn't able to control you the same way it was controlling the Doctor." Astral questioned, that was the thing that didn't make any sense to him.

"Guess you can call this a mystery we won't be solving anytime soon, because I don't have a clue at all." Rio didn't know why she wasn't being controlled by Number 52, maybe he liked her or something? The three of them continued to walk, well float in Astral's case, but they noticed that robots were acting up, and throwing people into trashcans, the traffic lights were jammed, and vending machines were blasting out free drinks. It was chaos everywhere, but the trio managed to ignore all that, because both Yuma and Rio just wanted to go home. They continued to walk until there was a crossroad in front of them.

"Guess, I'll be heading this way." Rio told him as she gestured that she was gonna take the path to the right.

"Are you sure, you'll be fine on your own? I can walk with you if you want?" Yuma offered.

"No, trust me I can take care of myself. I don't wanna bother you any further." Rio declined as she knew that Yuma needed to go home quickly because he's been outside for who knows how long. The sun was starting to set soon as well.

"Alright, if that's what you. See you later then Ice Princess!" Yuma called her by the nickname he gave her when they were both five. It still felt so natural to call her that. He began to walk away towards the left path, while Astral was floating after him.

"See you at school soon then Yuma! You too Astral!" Rio proceeded to head towards the right path. "He called me Ice Princess? Well the nickname does fit." She giggled to herself.

---

(Tsukumo Residence, 10 minutes later)

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kari screamed for the whole neighborhood to hear. Yuma and Astral were just outside of the house when they heard the outburst. They quickly ran inside the house, and entered Kari's office room.

"Big Sis! What's wrong?!" Yuma called out in worry. He and Astral caught her staring at several screens with the word "ERROR".

"My research! My transcript! MY BIG SCOOP!" Kari was baffled, how could this have happened to her? "Some kind of evil virus has infected my systems.

"Kari! Let's try to stay calm!" Yuma suggested, but his words fell on Kari's deaf ears.

"The deadline's tomorrow..." Kari held her head in frustration as she to breathe heavily.

"Oh crap, I need to head to my room before she's gonna blow!" Yuma exclaimed as he quickly made a break for it. Astral as usual could do nothing but hover after him.

"HEY YUMA! FIND ME A NEW SCOOP OR THERE WON'T BE ANY DINNER FOR YOU TODAY!" Kari yelled at her brother. Yuma managed to make it to his room, and let out a sigh of relief. Instead of entering through the door like a normal person, Astral phased through the wall. Yuma quickly locked the door, and Astral phased through the wall.

"Phew, we're safe now!" Yuma was glad that he wouldn't have to deal with Kari screaming at him any longer. Yuma proceeded to sit on his bed.

"So this is were you live..." Astral asked as he took in his new surroundings. He was practically intrigued by every little thing about Yuma's room.

"Yeah, this is my room! I hope you like it!" Yuma was fond of his room, but he preferred to see sleep in the attic because of personal reasons.

"Oh I like it!" a voice whispered cutely into Yuma's ear, causing him to flinch and fall from his bed. He groaned in pain, and as he slowly got up, he saw a girl sitting on his bed while smiling sweetly at him. The girl had golden eyes and red hair tied in pigtails. Her attire consisted of white coat over a blue blouse, grey skirt and white stockings. She also held her signature book of spells in her right. Yuma knew exactly who this girl was, she was one of his monsters after all, and one of the people closest to him.

"GWEN?! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Yuma complained as he then let out a sigh of relief upon seeing it was just Gagaga Clerk.

"Oh come on, it was funny seeing you fall. I should've brought a camera with me." Gagaga Clerk whose name was now revealed to be Gwen snickered upon seeing Yuma's misfortune that was caused by her surprise greeting.

"What are you doing here? I didn't summon you!" Yuma wondered. Ok, maybe it was a stupid thing to ask, since his monsters generally appear of their own free will to check on him from time to time. They used to do it a lot more often when he was seven, but as time went by, they made fewer appearances because they felt that Yuma should be able to learn how to care for himself and not constantly need their emotional support. He was friends with all of his monsters, but Gemma and Gwen were the ones who spent the most time with him. They practically filled the void Rio left behind.

"Come on Yu, is it wrong for me to celebrate my beloved master's first victory in person?" Gagaga Clerk giggled as she called him by his nickname. She jumped off the bed as she flipped her right pigtail.

"Oh wait, that's why you're here?"

"Mainly that, and I wanted to meet this Astral fella who helped you win." the sorceress revealed as she waved at Astral who replied with a nod. "It's nice to meet you Astral."

"Greetings, you're Gagaga Clerk correct?" Astral had checked through Yuma's cards before, so he automatically knew what monsters Yuma had in his Deck.

"Gagaga Clerk is just my title. You can call me by my real name, Gwendolyn, or Gwen for short. I'm the Duel Spirit closest to Yuma if I were to say so myself." she happily bragged. "I admit that we've been raising this kid since he was seven, but I did most of the work."

Yuma sweatdropped because he knew that wasn't entirely the case, and that everyone had contributed in some way to his upbringing. There is no doubt he would agree that Gwen was his Duel Spirit best friend and the person whom he interacted with the most. Being the best genius in her academy, she also made it her mission to tutor him because, in her own words, "I can't have an imbecile for a master!" and to ensure that passed with sufficient grades. Learning from Gwen was genuinely enjoyable, in contrast to all of his teachers save Mr. Kay.

Gagaga Clerk then turned to stare at Yuma with a sorrowful expression as she continued. "I'm sorry for not being there for you during your first win Yuma!" Gagaga Clerk apologized to her master, she also wanted to help fend off the bully known as Shark after hearing about what he did to him. "Big brother Gate, and Gemma told me and the rest all about what that bully Shark did to you and your friends. I can't believe you forgave him just like that, Gemma threw a fit about it too, you know how she is when it comes to you."

"Yeah, I know Gemma can be as overprotective of me just as much as Kari at times. Good thing Kari can't see Duel Spirits, I don't want to see her and Gemma becoming best of friends while dominating over me for the rest of my life." Yuma knew Kari and Gagaga Girl would get along extremely well given that they both basically are similar in terms of personality, tough love and their shared desire to protect him. "For the record though, I don't think Shark likes Gemma either, especially after that punch she gave him just to throw him off his rhythm. He even kept on calling her a witch."

"Well, he wouldn't be entirely wrong for calling her a witch, considering the title of sorceress is only reserved for good-natured spellcasters like me. Gemma is anything but good-natured." Gwen stated as she thought Shark calling her a colleague a witch was entirely natural given her personality. While Gemma does have her moments of niceness, most of the times she could be completely harsh or a total downer.

"I agree, Gemma needs to work on her goddamn attitude." Yuma agreed. Sometimes, he did wish the Duel Spirit he considered an older sister-figure would be nicer towards him, like actually nicer instead of constantly showing tough love.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Yuma didn't need to turn around in order to find out that Gagaga Girl was standing right behind him with her arms folded while glaring daggers at him.

"Hi Gemma..." Yuma managed to get out as he could only mentally pray that Gemma wasn't going to put him through some extremely violent punishment, oh who was he kidding? This was Gemma they were talking about.

"Don't hi Gemma me mister! Also, look at me when I talk to you!" Gagaga Girl shouted at her younger brother-figure who instantly did what she said by turning around and meeting her eyes. "You better have a good explanation for what you just said, or you're going to regret thinking that today was your best day ever after what I do to you.

"Please don't hurt me! Kari's already mad, and I don't need you to hound me too." Yuma pleaded. "Come on, I won my first Duel today, you were there!" Gagaga Girl softened her gaze and proceeded to roll her eyes.

"I guess there is no harm in letting you off the hook this time, since you finally won a Duel." Gagaga Girl gave Yuma a sincere smile of approval before that smile quickly faded away. "Thank goodness that we didn't even end up in that rotten excuse for a human's hands. I don't think I could stand spending even a single second as his monster. You're too forgiving for your own good Yuma! Why would you forgive that creep?"

"He ain't all that bad Gemma. I can tell because I could sense that there was some good in him. He just wasn't in control of himself." Yuma tried to reassure her that forgiving Shark was worth it.

"You can't be sure about that, he wanted to hurt you badly, and with how dangerous Leviathan Dragon's attack was... I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I let something bad happen to you! None of us can..." Gagaga Girl kneeled so she could be at eye-level with Yuma and laced her right hand on his left cheek.

"Oh Gemma, it's nice to know you care, but don't worry. I promise that nothing bad will ever happen to me, with Utopia here, I feel invincible." Yuma gave her a reassuring smile, before she cruelly pinched his ear. "Owowowow! What was that for?"

"Idiot, don't make promises you might not be able to keep." Gagaga Girl chuckled as she let go of Yuma's ears. She then let out an evil grin, and Yuma could tell whatever she had in store won't be good for him. "One promise I can surely keep though is as long as I'm your monster, I will boss you around for eternity! You're gonna regret insinuating that I need an attitude adjustment!"

"On second thought, maybe losing to Shark wouldn't have been so bad." Yuma didn't really mean that, but anything to avoid whatever Gemma was planning on doing him to in the future. Gagaga Girl let out a light chuckle as she then turned to glare daggers at Gagaga Clerk.

"Anyways, what's this about you spreading misinformation by telling poor Astral over here that you're the closest Duel Spirit to Yuma?!" Gagaga Girl asked her fellow classmate from Gagaga Academy.

"Oh crap, whatever you do Astral, don't try to intervene in this conversation." the thirteen-year-old warned the ghost-like being.

"Why?" Astral asked, not realizing that he would get his answer in about a few moments.

"Wasn't it obvious Gemma, I've been Yuma's bestie since he first interacted with us. Heck, I was the first Duel Spirit he ever exchanged words with." Gagaga Clerk stated as a matter-of-factly, while resting her right hand on her right hip.

"It doesn't seem like you'll be his bestie for that much longer, considering you know who is back." Gagaga Girl taunted as she folded her arms.

"You're saying that as if Rio has any chance in being Yuma's best friend when I've been exactly that for six years. You're just jealous that you're not as close to him as I am. Not that I can blame him, because he called you out for your poor attitude just a few seconds earlier." Gagaga Clerk laughed as she could practically tell her fellow Spellcaster was grinding her teeth in anger. "Seeing as I'm not letting go of the title of Yuma's best friend any time soon, in my opinion, Rio should honestly settle for being our dear Yuma's girlfriend."

"Please speak for yourself..." Yuma began, but he was ignored by the female Spellcaster Duo.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that! And you can't just decide that Rio will be Yuma's girlfriend. What if he doesn't have feelings for her or the other way around. Not to mention this is Yuma we're talking about, he's not responsible enough to be in a relationship yet!" Gemma honestly couldn't have said it any better, it's hard to imagine Yuma ever being in a relationship with anyone. She let out an evil smirk as she just thought of something great. "On second thought, maybe instead of punishing Yuma, how about I punish you instead?"

"WHAT?!" Gwen couldn't believe what she was hearing, her classmate had the gall to think she could hurt her?

"You heard me! I oughta discipline you for trying to instigate Yuma against me." Gemma was definitely not gonna let that slide anytime soon, nobody is ever allowed to instigate Yuma against her.

"If you lay a finger on me, I'll tell on you to my big brother. I know all about your crush on him, and I won't hesitate to take advantage of it." Gagaga Clerk warned.

"I do not have a crush on Gate! Also, you don't have it in you to snitch!" Gemma knew she wasn't telling the truth, she actually did have a crush on Gate, but there was no way she would ever allow herself to admit that in the open.

"Yes I do, and it's obvious that you're in love with my big brother, everyone knows it, even Yuma who is usually oblivious to love."

"I can't lie Gemma, Gwen ha-" Yuma tried to throw his two cents in, but was quickly silenced by the cold glare Gagaga Girl was giving him.

"Yuma if you open your mouth for even one more second, I'm going to put you through pain beyond imagineable!"

"Ok, I'll be quiet now." Yuma covered his mouth with both of his hands, while Astral was spectating with total confusion.

"If you want to snitch, fine go ahead. But don't blame me if Gate goes bonkers if I tell him about that incident." Yuma and Astral were confused, what incident was she talking about?

Gagaga Clerk instantly knew which incident she was referring to. "You wouldn't!"

Gemma gazed her at coldly as she put rested a hand on her hip. "You know I would."

"Gemma, sorry for opening my mouth, but what are you talking about? What incident!" Yuma was curious, what was this secret that was causing Gwen of all people to sweat heavy bullets.

"The time when little Gwen here fumbled a spell that caused Gate to walk around in school with all pink." Gemma informed her little brother-figure.

"WHAT!?" Gagaga Magician boomed uncharacteristically as he revealed that he was also here in Yuma's room in his Spirit Form.

"Oh crap!" Yuma, Gemma, and Gwen thought in unison. This wasn't good, they all knew Gate was about to lose his mind big time.

"THAT WAS YOU?!" Gagaga Magician was absolutely livid, he may be considered one of the calmest Duel Monster Spirits alive, but even he had his limits. No one messes with his trademark robe.

"Brother I can explain!" Gwen knew it would be to no avail, but she wanted to at least try.

"Explain what?! Do you have any idea what kind of humiliation I had to go through during those horrifying three days?! It took me three days to rectify what you did to my signature robe!" Gagaga Magician covered the left side of his face as he didn't want to think about that time.

"I didn't mean to try it out on your garment, my spell sorta bounced off the mirror and your robe had to pay for it. I'm surprised you didn't know a Spell that could reverse the color right away."

"You couldn't have seriously expected me to bother learning a spell that can reverse colors before the pink robe incident! Not even the great Dark Magician would bother learning that." Gagaga Magician really didn't know if his predecessor could do that or not, but he was too furious at his sister for the moment. "Listen Gwen! When we get back home, you're grounded!"

"You can't ground me, you're not my parent!" Gwen complained, but her brother gave her a stern look that basically told her that there was no room left for argument. Gagaga Girl laughed at Clerk's misfortune. "Ugh fine, I'm only doing this because I respect you a lot brother."

"Looks like it's Gemma one, and Gwen zero!" Gemma was really enjoying this.

"I'll get you back for this, just you watch you witch!" Gagaga Clerk promised as she blew her a raspberry, causing Gagaga Girl to laugh even more.

"Enough you two, we've embarrassed ourselves in front of Yuma and Astral long enough." Gagaga Magician told them off while he went back to being the calm one following his outburst. Yuma was just happy that Gate wasn't mad anymore, because he can be way too terrifying whenever he's upset.

"Ok brother/Fine!" Gwen and Gemma said in unison as they huffed and looked away from each other.

"We apologize for our behavior in your presence Astral. I hope you didn't get the wrong opinion of us." Gate apologized to the person who helped Yuma win his first Duel. Astral gave him a nod of understanding.

"It's cool Gate, it was no big deal, we wouldn't be a family if we didn't have our fair share of arguments, right?" Yuma understood

"I guess so, you've really grown Yuma. Your hardwork is finally paying off after all this time." Gagaga Magician's expression softened as those words left his mouth.

"Thanks Gate, I really appreciate it." Yuma beamed as he expressed his gratitude.

"Do you plan on telling your sister and grandmother about Rio? They deserve to know as well." Gagaga Magician wondered.

"I will tell them eventually, I just don't want Rio to feel overwhelmed right now. It's a miracle that she's even willing to work together with us in collecting these Number Cards. If it weren't for that, I don't think she would've kept in touch with me. She didn't seem to be as comfortable around me as she used to." Yuma frowned.

"Oh Yuma..." Gagaga Clerk rested her hand on his shoulder in order to comfort.

"Don't worry, I will regain our friendship eventually, and things will go back to how they used to be." Yuma promised.

"That's good. What about Leviathan? How do you feel about him." Gate asked.

"I sense that he's just like Shark, he's just fueled by hatred. I just feel like helping him you know, and I really hope he's willing to fight alongside us." Yuma desired to make Leviathan Dragon an ally and a friend as well.

Astral figured now was a good time for him to cut into their discussion. "There is no need for you to concern yourself with that Yuma! If we require his assistance, Leviathan Dragon will have to fight for us whether he wants to or not. You're his rightful Master now."

"Really?" Yuma wondered, causing Astral to reply with a nod. Yuma continued. "Still though, that doesn't sit right with me. I don't want Leviathan to feel that he's being forced to fight for me. I just want for us to become friends."

"Become friends?" Astral couldn't find any logic in what Yuma had just said. It felt so foreign to him.

"Yeah, I want to become friends with Leviathan." Yuma insisted. Astral gave him a look of uncertainty, but didn't say anything.

"Classic Yuma, when he puts his mind to something, nothing can stop him." Gagaga Girl was amused by Yuma's determination to make a former foe like Leviathan Dragon his friend.

---

(In an unidentified realm)

Elsewhere, someone had been spectating the events of what was going on in the Tsukumo Household because of some visual projection it had conjured up that was floating in the air. The being's surroundings featured a lush green grassy field near the edge of a calm river. The bottom of the individual's long and slender body was immersed in water from the said river. It was a peaceful atmosphere, just the way the creature preferred it. It was watching Yuma Tsukumo with interest, but was unable to comprehend what the thirteen-year-old had just said.

"Become friends?" Leviathan Dragon wanted to make a double-take to make sure whether or not he was hearing things correctly. Maybe he was just hallucinating, because there is no one ever would want to be friends with a beast like him. "Why would he want that... Why would he seek my friendship?

"So this is where you've been?" a calm voice interrupted Leviathan, and the dragon didn't need to turn around in order to figure out who it was. He disliked the newcomer and hearing his voice made him dislike him even more.

"What do you want? Have you come to gloat about your victory?" Leviathan Dragon figured that would most likely be the case, after all he would've done it if his and Utopia's roles were reversed.

"Afraid not, I don't have it in me to gloat at someone else's expense." Utopia stated as he stood on the grassy field close to the river, while staring at the dragon who seemingly wouldn't be turning around any time soon.

"That still doesn't answer the question as to why you're here?!" Leviathan growled.

"It's not that I want to keep you company or anything, I was just wondering how you feel about Yuma? I know you've been watching him." Utopia had noticed the visual projection of Yuma happily conversing with his monsters while Astral was a mute spectator.

"Ugh, I don't get why that kid insists on wanting to be friends with someone who wanted to erase him from existence!" Leviathan had a hard time understanding this kid's logic.

"That just goes to show how forgiving he is, whether or not that's the right thing to do during every instance remains to be seen, but I'm willing to trust his judgment." Utopia declared his faith in Yuma.

"How can you trust him so easily?" From what little Leviathan knew, it hasn't even been half a day since Utopia and Yuma became partners, and they already trusted each other this much.

"It's simple, I can tell how sincere he is, and not to mention, his aura is too pure." Utopia hoped that nothing could ever taint his young master's pure soul. A soul like his is hard to come across. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he ever sensed an aura this pure.

"What's even the point of trying to befriend me, I'm already at his mercy as another Number in his possession. He can Summon me forth in a Duel any time and I will already be forced to obey him. What more could he possibly want?"

"Well, from what I'm sensing, he definitely wants to be your friend, and he wants you to willingly fight alongside him." Utopia informed his fellow Number.

"It feels like he's taking pity on me after I lost to you. I don't get how a dragon of my status could lose like this?!" Leviathan knew he lost his battle against Utopia fair and square, and the fact that he dealt with him so easily was a huge blow to his ego.

"Well you wouldn't be the first dragon to find yourself completely invincible, I should know since I've encountered many such dragons." Even to this day, Utopia couldn't understand why almost every dragon he encountered were always so self-centered.

"You're a dragon slayer or something?" Leviathan mentally slapped himself, of course a knight like him would find it thrilling to fight dragons.

"That would be somewhat accurate, but still not quite." Utopia really didn't fancy himself a dragon slayer, he rarely ever had to deal the killing blow against any species really. It's just that dragons happen to be his most common opponents.

"Secretive now are we?" Leviathan chuckled as he proceeded to turn around and face the monster that beat him. "How many dragons have given you more trouble than I have?"

"If I were to be honest with you, well, there are a few I've had a hard time defeating, I would estimate around 50. There is one in particular whom I've never managed to beat, and I don't feel like facing her anytime soon, because her power far exceeds mine." If there was one dragon Utopia himself didn't feel confident in beating at all, it would definitely be her.

"If she has you this scared, then she must be quite powerful." Leviathan Dragon was curious, and he wanted to find out who this dragon was.

Utopia folded his arms as he stared at the blue sky and sighed heavily. "I honestly hope we never encounter her, I know she's somewhere on Yuma's planet. We're not enemies, at least last time I checked, we're not, but fighting her can get extremely rough at times."

"So it would seem." Leviathan didn't know what to make of this information, but fighting someone that strong could be exhilarating.

Utopia had stopped staring at the sky and stared at his fellow Number again. "So Leviathan, have you decided yet? Are you going to give Yuma a chance or not?"

"We'll see, I'll have my chat with him soon enough." Leviathan started to laugh maniacally. Utopia wasn't fazed by this, and was rather amused. He knew he was in for a wild ride and adventures with a master like Yuma. He was quite eager to see where these adventures with Yuma would lead him.

---

(Heartland City West Orphanage)

Meanwhile, Rio caught the sight of the orphanage she had lived in since she was seven as she continued walking. She was feeling a bit nervous over meeting her caretakers, and fellow orphans, after being in a state of coma for so long. She hoped that her brother didn't suffer much because of her, but she knew even though he tries to hide it, she could easily tell that he did truly care for her. This would be quite the homecoming.

The warm afternoon sun bathed the orphanage in a golden glow as she stepped through the familiar iron gates. The scent of fresh-cut grass and the distant laughter of children filled the air, but everything felt surreal, like stepping into a dream she had once forgotten.

She had woken up only a few hours ago, her body perfectly healthy, her mind completely functional, and another thing that had remained clear to her right now was that this place, this home, had been waiting for her. She took a hesitant step forward, a chorus of excited voices rang through the yard.

"Rio's back!" a couple of children who were playing with each other called out as soon as they found her entering through the gates. These children, fellow orphans like her, were people she knew quite well.

The same group of children that had called her name, their eyes wide with joy, came sprinting toward her. Tiny hands grabbed at her arms, clinging to her like they feared she would disappear again.

"We missed you so much!" a little girl with green pigtails cried, wrapping herself around Rio's waist.

"You were asleep for so long! We kept asking when you'd wake up!" a boy with black spiky hair added, his grin bright and hopeful.

Rio knelt, her heart swelling with warmth as she met their eager faces. She had been gone for too long, lost in the void of unconsciousness, but these children, her family, had been waiting.

"I'm here now, Julie, Axel." she whispered, smiling as she ruffled their hair. "And I'm not going anywhere."

The children cheered, tugging her toward the play area, eager to show her everything that had changed. But before she followed, Rio hesitated, glancing toward the orphanage doors.

"Where's Reginald?" she asked, her voice tinged with hope. Her brother had always looked after her, always been there. Surely, he knew she was awake.

Julie looked up at her, rocking on her heels. "He told us he had to Duel someone earlier hasn't come back yet today."

Rio's heart clenched slightly. He hasn't come back?

She straightened, exhaling slowly. Reginald always returned, always made sure she was safe. He had to know she was awake by now… right?

Pushing aside her unease, she let the children guide her forward, filling the air with excited chatter. But as she stepped deeper into the orphanage grounds, a lingering question remained in her mind.

"Where are you, Reginald?"

As Rio stepped into the orphanage, the familiar scent of aged wood and fresh linens washed over her. The halls looked just as she remembered. The walls were lined with framed drawings from the children, doors slightly ajar revealing glimpses of cozy rooms filled with soft lighting. Yet, despite how much it seemed the same, she couldn't shake the feeling that time had moved without her.

She made her way up the stairs, her fingers lightly grazing the wooden railing. Each step felt surreal, like walking through a memory that had been frozen in time. When she reached her room, she hesitated before pushing the door open.

The sight before her sent a wave of emotions crashing through her. Everything was exactly as she had left it. The neatly made bed with soft blue sheets, the small desk near the window with a few books stacked on the side, the framed photo of her, Reginald and their friend Kyoji standing together, smiling, sitting untouched on the nightstand. It was as if the room had been waiting for her return.

Her chest tightened. A whole year. She had been asleep for a full year. The world had moved forward, but she had been trapped in a void of nothingness.

She stepped inside, trailing her fingers over the surface of the desk. Dust had barely settled, meaning someone, perhaps the younger kids or even Reginald had been keeping it clean for her. The thought warmed her, but at the same time, a deeper ache settled in. Reginald wasn't here.

She had hoped, well expected that he'd be waiting for her. That she would walk into this room and find him sitting on the edge of her bed, arms crossed, ready to tease her for sleeping so long. But it was empty.

Rio sighed, sitting down on the bed. The mattress felt firmer than she remembered, or maybe it was just her body still adjusting after so long. She gripped the bedsheets, grounding herself, trying to shake the strange sense of disconnection she felt from her own life. She was back. Awake. Alive. But part of her still felt lost, like she was reaching for something just out of grasp. She glanced at the framed photo beside her bed, her fingertips brushing over the glass. She felt like she should be happy that she's conscious in the real world again, but still she couldn't help but ask herself why it felt like something was wrong?

---

(Next day, Heartland Academy)

In his homeroom. Yuma could be found sitting next to Tori at their shared table in the corner. Yuma was deep in thought as he held his face in wonder while staring outside the window. He recalled the events from yesterday, it always felt nice to know that his monsters always did their best to check up on him whenever they had the time. Once they had said their goodbyes, Yuma went to go eat dinner with his family. It was an awkward family dinner, seeing as he who usually kept the dinner conversations going barely said a word, Kari was still mad that somebody ruined her plans, and his grandma was annoyed that a litterbot threw her inside a trash can. Then there was Astral who had strangely gone missing, but Yuma knew he'll come back at some point. He felt strangely lost now that Rio was back in his life, and hopefully here to stay this time. He couldn't afford to lose her friendship. Tori in the meantime called out Yuma's name a few times, but the latter had tuned her out. Two of his classmates, namely two girls, walked up to his table, but Yuma didn't pay any attention and was lost in his own world. One of the girls slammed the said table with extreme force, causing everyone in the classroom, who were happily chatting with one another, to look in their direction.

"IS IT TRUE YUMA?!" the girl who slammed the table yelled, easily breaking Yuma out of his thoughts. Tori on the other hand was annoyed that she had to cover her ears because of her classmate's sudden outburst.

"Geez Maria, could you possibly yell any louder?!" Tori could almost swear that her ears were about to burst if she had let this continue.

"Oh sorry about that Tori, but I'm here to confirm something with Yuma." The girl whose name was now revealed to be Maria turned to stare at Yuma again after apologizing to Tori. She had soft pink hair that was cut into a short, straight style with neatly trimmed bangs that frame her large, expressive deep blue eyes. Two small, round, white ornaments resembling buns rested on either side of her head, secured by pink ribbons.

"Oh, hi Maria... What's up?" Yuma struggled to find the right words for a bit, and when he couldn't think of any, he just settled for something simple to say. Maria Bianchi was his friend, even though she likes to brag how she's one of the best Duelists in school, which could get annoying at times, but Yuma knew her skills were nothing to laugh at, that's for sure.

"Don't what's up me mister, and answer the question!" Maria made it clear that she wanted to get straight to the point and nothing more.

"What happened?" Tori asked.

"Did Yuma actually beat Shark? Like, did he really do it?" Maria wanted to know whether that truly happened or not, since a guy who had never won before, suddenly beating a National Level Duelist from was certainly not an everyday occurrence.

"We heard a few rumors flying around in school that you managed to pull off a sweet victory against one of the Big Five Duel Titans of Heartland Academy, and even Xyz Summoned!" the other girl that had walked up to them exclaimed in excitement. She had short, deep navy-blue hair styled into a sleek bob with bangs that slightly parted at the center. A gold headband with a heart-shaped pink gemstone sat on her head, which helped add to her charm. Her eyes were large, round with a soft brown tint. This was Doris Hunter, Maria's best friend.

"I guess I did Doris..." Yuma wanted to sound more positive about his recent achievement, but he didn't because he still had lingering thoughts from yesterday's events, especially the ones about Rio.

"Is something wrong Yuma?" Doris wondered why her friend wasn't acting like his usual cheerful self.

"No, it's nothing." Yuma lied since he figured they most likely wouldn't understand what he went through.

"If you say so." Doris decided to drop the subject, but she knew Yuma wasn't being honest with himself.

Maria would never have believed it until Yuma confirmed it himself, since she knew he was never one to lie. "Unbelievable, you couldn't beat me, Bronk, or even the Class Rep before this, and now you from out of nowhere just so happened to beat one of the top dogs. If I were to be honest with you, I half-expected that Tori would beat you whenever she decided to Duel for the first time. It's already bad enough that the Class Rep has your number, but if Tori of all people beats you, then all hope is lost for you my friend."

"HEY!" Tori, and a guy with blue hair who sat in front of them shouted in unison, both of them felt offended by her words. The guy turned around and glared at all four of them.

"I HEARD THAT!" the blue-haired guy didn't take to kindly about people talking about him behind his back. Besides, the Class Representative couldn't afford to be disrespected like this.

"Whatever Caswell! It doesn't change the fact that your Dueling skills are not up-to-par with most students in our year. I'm pretty sure you're not that much better than Yuma himself and maybe Tori too. I'm just assuming you're stronger than Tori right now, because she has never Dueled before, so lucky you then." Tori once again felt annoyed by Maria bringing up the fact that she had never Dueled before. It's not that she doesn't want to, she just didn't feel confident in herself. What she would give just to have a little bit of Yuma's usual never-ending enthusiasm.

"Wouldn't he be the weakest Duelist in this school right now, since Yuma beat Shark. We gotta factor that in as well." Doris wasn't one for powerscaling people, but she wanted to at least make it known that Yuma couldn't really be called the weakest after his victory against Shark.

"Hmm, you do have a point with that one, Caswell would be the weakest for sure now since Yuma beating Shark is a huge, huge feat." Maria agreed with her friend.

"Don't go deciding I'm the weakest in our year right now! What I would give to humble you both..." Caswell muttered under his breath. He then looked at Yuma who was quietly staring down at his table. "I need to prove that Yuma's win against Shark was a fluke, there is no way those rumors could be true even though some of our classmates saw it with their own eyes."

"Hey Yuma!" Caswell called out to his classmate.

"Yes?" Yuma was wondering what business could the Class Rep possibly have with him this time?

"I challenge you to a Duel! I will prove to everyone that your victory against Shark was just a fluke." Caswell was one hundred percent certain that it had to be the case.

"You have to accept the challenge Yuma. Knock him down for us like you did against Shark." Maria encouraged, causing Doris to nod in agreement.

"Well Yuma?" Tori looked at her friend, she was surprised he didn't say yes straight away because nobody loved to Duel more than him.

"Sorry guys... I really don't feel like Dueling today." Yuma knew he wasn't in the right mind to be Dueling right now, and he was not going to force himself to.

"WHAT!" Maria began.

"DID!" Doris continued.

"HE JUST!" Caswell continued.

"SAY!" Every other student in their class including Bronk who had been sitting in one of the front tables, finished in unison.

"Yuma Tsukumo turning down a chance to Duel?! That's unheard of!" Maria couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was the same Yuma who kept on challenging her over and over again, the same Yuma who never backed down from a challenge. Was this opposite day or something?

"Are you sure you're not sick or something Yuma?" Tori applied her hand to Yuma's forehead, checking to see if it was warm or not. Yuma gently grabbed her hand and pushed it off of him.

"I'm not!" Yuma was getting tired of this, why does everyone think he's straight-up unwell just because he turned down one opportunity to Duel.

"Hahaha, I knew it." Caswell cackled. "You're just too afraid to Duel me, because you know your victory against the school bully was nothing but a fluke."

"Believe what you want then." Yuma's eyes were shadowed, and everyone in the class felt some strange scary aura exuding from the crab-haired boy. He stood up, and silently walked away from the classroom. Everyone was shocked at seeing this side of Yuma as he had exited the classroom just as the teacher finally waltzed in after having finished printing and collecting papers. The teacher turned to stare at Yuma's retreating form in confusion and wonder.

Yuma was now sitting in a random corridor with his back leaning against the wall. He held the right side of his face in frustration. "What a headache! This is just too much!"

"What's too much?" a voice called out in concern. Yuma looked up to see his teacher standing in from of him.

"Mr. Kay?" Apparently Yuma had failed to notice that he left the classroom just as his favorite teacher came back. He didn't expect to see him abandon the rest of the class like that just to chat with him.

"Is something the matter Yuma? Perhaps something you want to talk about?" Mr. Kay offered.

Yuma averted his gaze to the wall opposite to him. "I...I'm not sure."

"It's okay if you're not feeling comfortable enough to speak with me, but I promise that I'm always willing to listen to any of my students.

"Ah man, Mr. Kay is awesome as ever. I guess it couldn't hurt to tell him a few things." Yuma thought to himself. "Well, I had to experience a huge blast from the past yesterday to start."

Mr. Kay grew curious. "A blast from the past? Was it something bad?"

"I want to say it was good, but it really doesn't feel like it. You see, I just reunited with a close friend of mine whom I haven't seen in almost six years.

"I see." Mr. Kay gave him a look of understanding. That was the cue for Yuma to tell him the bad part.

"The problem is I think she has amnesia or something. She doesn't remember me at all, and I know for a fact that the girl I met yesterday is the same one from my childhood."

"This is certainly a quite difficult situation to be put in." Mr. Kay pondered to himself.

"I just don't get why the world is so cruel at times. I mean everyone has bad experiences, but I just don't get why I had to go through what I did. I lost both of my parents, lost my best friend's friendship for practically half of my life right now, only for the world to laugh at me even more as she was brought back into my life with no memory of me. Sometimes, I feel like a burden to my granny and sister because all I seem to do is ever cause trouble for them." Yuma informed as he somberly reflected on his past. It just hurt to think he spent six whole years without his best friend and the fact that his parents were presumed dead. Initially, Yuma believed with all his heart that his parents weren't dead, and they were just taking longer than expected, but over time he stopped convincing himself and just accepted that they were truly gone. He wished he could make up for lost time, and tell them how much he loved and cared about them. He was grateful that fate had still yet to try snatching his granny and Kari away from him in some shape or form.

"I like to believe there is always a reason as to why destiny wants to make us go through hardships. Sometimes it's to help shape us into people we're going to become one day, and whether or not it turns out good or bad for us depends on how we choose to deal with our hardships. What truly matters to me though is that I have hope."

"Hope?" It's not that the word was confusing, Yuma knew what it meant to hope for something because that's what he usually does. Yuma just didn't think that having hope alone was enough anymore.

"Yeah Yuma! My hopes and dreams keep me going. Whenever I feel down, I always tend to look at this card with a smile." Mr. Kay grabbed a card he brought out from his pocket. It was Crashbug X. "This card here represents my hopes and dreams."

"Crashbug represents your hopes and dreams..." Yuma wondered if he felt that connected to any of his cards. He thought of Utopia, the monster that granted him his first ever win, the same monster who believed in him with all his heart right away and didn't even think to question him even once. Maybe Utopia could symbolize his hopes and dreams?

"Indeed, Crashbug is the one thing that can make me smile every time." Yuma couldn't sense any lie coming from him, and he was good at detecting lies most of the times.

"I see Mr. Kay. Thanks for listening to me, and I'm sorry for wasting your time." Yuma apologized as he got up from the floor, meeting his teacher's eyes with a melancholic smile.

"It's alright, I can't let a student of mine give into sadness. Now what do you say about going back to class, I'm still a teacher, which means I have to teach my students which includes you." Mr. Kay laughed, causing Yuma to laugh too.

"Sure thing." Yuma finished as they both proceeded to walk back to the homeroom.

---

Yuma quickly left the school grounds as soon as he had finished his final lesson. He didn't want anyone bothering him, including Bronk and Tori. He just wanted to take a nice and easy stroll back home all by himself, but too bad that was too much to ask for as the ever so precious Gagaga Clerk materialized right beside him, and instantly kept pace with him. "Gwen? Why are you here?"

"Come on Yuma, we've done this tons of times before. You are aware that I enjoy taking walks with you, especially when I have all your attention to myself." Gwen smiled radiantly at him as she phased through an elderly woman who walked through her intangible form.

"Fine, you're one of the few who can never annoy me anyways." Yuma stated, he figured if he could tolerate anyone walking with him right now, it would be his Duel Spirit best friend.

"Happy to hear it!" Gwen giggled as they continued walking. "So how was school today?"

Yuma rubbed his forehead with the back of his right hand. "This day was just painful for my brain and ears."

She stared at him with curiosity evident in her eyes. "It couldn't be that bad, could it?"

Yuma nodded. "You have no idea. Try listening to Caswell constant yapping as he solves every equation question for the thousandth time."

Gwen knew Caswell could be a total pain in the neck given how Yuma always described him as such outside of their Duels. "Believe me Yuma, if I were his classmate, he wouldn't even get a chance to solve anything. It also sounds to me like you're kinda jealous."

Yuma scoffed. "Am not, why would I be jealous of him?"

"Because he has brains?" Gagaga Clerk suggested.

"Correction, he has a brain. And are you trying to tell me that I don't have any you wannabe brainiac?!" Yuma felt offended by this claim. He always figured he could be smart when he needed to be.

"How can I be a wannabe at something that even Gemma has admitted I excel the most at between any of your monsters?" Gwen countered, as harsh as Gagaga Girl could be at times, but even the latter once admitted that Gwen was the brains of Yuma's squad, Yuma really didn't have an argument for that one, and their conversation was cut short as a car that Yuma immediately recognized had stopped before them. It was formerly his father's car, but now it belonged to Kari. The driver's window slid down as Kari allowed herself to be seen.

"Hey doofus, what's up?" Kari greeted her brother.

Yuma automatically knew Kari was up to something. "What do you want sis?"

"Hop in the car, let's go for a drive, and I'm not taking no for an answer." Kari spoke in a way that meant Yuma had to do it or else.

"Well, see you later then Yuma. Your sister just had to cut in our quality time together." Gagaga Clerk's expression was sour, but she understood the situation. Yuma gave her a slight nod as she then proceeded to fade away into particles, which meant that she went back to her world.

Later, Yuma was in the car sitting next to Kari who was driving them around town. "It's a good thing that yesterday's virus attack only spread to a few remote servers."

Yuma looked at her sister in confusion. "Why? What would've happened if it had spread to more of these remote control serving thingies." Because she was his older sister and he was well acquainted with her antics, Yuma could easily tell that she was being serious even if her eyes were covered by her sunglasses obscured her eyes.

"I'm afraid our dear city would've been thrown into chaos. Forget about traffic lights and litterbots, bank data would've vanished, people would've lost their money, hospital records would've lost medical records and the ability to help people! It would've been a disaster!" Kari replied in a furious tone. She couldn't believe someone could do something like this, and she wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Yuma was genuinely baffled by what his sister had revealed. "Are you serious?! Who would pull a stunt like this?!"

"I have no idea, but I do know that the virus was transmitted from your school library." Kari revealed, which only served to further increase Yuma's shock. "So here's what we're gonna do, I'm going to chase a few more leads, meanwhile, you my dear brother, are going to stakeout the library." Kari had just about finished telling him what their next course of action was. She dropped him off at his school again.

"But big sis, I'm hungry!" Yuma complained.

Kari was a bit ticked that Yuma was thinking about food at a time like this. "You're always hungry Yuma, but don't let your appetite distract you! I wanna track this tracker down and make him pay for my big scoop."

"Do I even get paid for this?" Yuma groaned.

"When you're 18 mister! Besides, I'm the one providing for you right now, so do as I say!" Kari commanded as she made him feel obligated to do it. Yuma knew he couldn't win this one, and went along with it.

It had been hours since Yuma was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the library, Yuma noted that the sun was starting to set as well. He figured he could've called upon any of his monsters to keep him company, but he didn't feel like bothering them at the moment. During this time, he looked through his Deck, and realized both Utopia and Leviathan were nowhere to be found. Could they have vanished along with Astral somehow? He knew that Astral would be back sooner or later, and he wanted to confirm how their Numbers worked, he wasn't getting rid of him any time soon. He was just about to call it quits, and go home until he saw Caswell walking around in the library, looking quite suspicious in his opinion. Yuma ran up to Caswell as soon as the latter had finished inserting a flash drive into the computer. He noticed the Class Rep panicking as his computer was full of Crashbug images, but he could've cared less, and proceeded to grab him by the collar of his shirt. "I caught you red-handed buddy, what do you have to say for yourself you criminal lowlife?"

Caswell was frightened by how forceful Yuma was being, he never could've imagined that Yuma could be this serious of a person. He tried to shrug Yuma's grip on his collar off of him, but to no avail, his grip was too firm. "Unhand me, I'm no lowlife!"

"Yeah right, that's what they all say. Now start talking or else!" Yuma was honestly enjoying the experience of actually being able to interrogate someone. Even better that the one he was interrogating was the ever so annoying Class Rep.

"Please Yuma, you have to believe me. I'm being used!" Caswell made an effort to defend himself.

"Being used?" Yuma proceeded to let go of him, because he sounded sincere enough. However, this just further complicated things. He watched as Caswell sat down and began to type things into his computer again. "What do you mean being used?

Caswell sighed heavily, clutching his head in frustration. "Exactly what it sounds like. I'm not the culprit. I'm the one who was trying to intercept the perpetrator, and you owe me an apology for your flawed accusation."

"I owe you nothing! So who is the true perpetrator then?" Yuma inquired, if it wasn't Caswell, then who else could it be? Caswell was the only Duelist he knew that loved Crashbug monsters, well besides Mr. Kay. Mr. Kay would never do something bad like this though, so it had to be someone else, right?

Caswell had tears in his eyes, he didn't wanna get blamed for something he didn't do. "I don't know, but I'm tracking the source of it all. If I can just pinpoint the location this machine was just accessed from, then we'll know where the criminal is hiding! Oh no! This is not good, not good at all. I just found an encrypted data packet that led me to believe I could access a file on this computer to learn who the criminal is, but it turns out the file was a detonator for some sort of computer virus. Wait, I found it! There's our location." Yuma and Caswell looked, and recognized the place. They both nodded at each other, and proceeded to run.

---

(Heartland City West Orphanage, a couple of minutes earlier)

At the dinner table, Rio was currently enjoying herself a delightful strawberry sundae that one of the caretakers made for her. She had been relaxing the entire day. "To think, I went an entire year without eating any of this. Now I really never wanna end up in a coma again." She could never go without eating ice cream for more than three days. Fitting how an ice-themed Duelist like herself is fond of eating ice cream to this extent. However, one thing that continued to bother her was that her brother had not returned to the orphanage yesterday and was still missing today as well. "It's not like Reginald to suddenly disappear like this, is he even aware that I'm awake yet?"

"HELP!" Julie's voice cried out from the living room.

"Is that Julie?" Rio had just finished eating whatever was left of her sundae, and eagerly ran over to see why the young girl was screaming for help. She soon found her answer as Julie was helping an injured Axel. "Axel?! How did you get hurt?!"

"I think he broke an elbow." Julie didn't want to recall how the bully's last attack caused her friend to hit the pavement hard, with his left arm making a cracking sound.

Rio studied Axel, he had scrapes all over his face and arms. He was also still groaning in pain. "How did he manage to do that?"

"It wasn't his fault, there was this one mean guy at the park when we were Dueling at the park, who barged in out of nowhere and forced Axel to Duel him." the younger girl informed.

"What a jerk!" Rio wouldn't let that slide, hurting an innocent little kid like Axel was completely unforgiveable. There was an unspoken rule in this orphanage, everyone here always looked out for each other, and this situation was no different. "Is he still at the park?"

Julie looked down at the wooden floor. "I think so, he's been forcing everyone over there to Duel him."

"I'll deal with him. Meanwhile, you need to go find an adult or someone that can tend to his wounds right now." Rio placed her hand on. She promised herself that she would punish the guy who did this to him.

"But Rio, last time you went to Duel a mean bully similar to this guy, it didn't end so well." she reminded the older girl of her previous Duel.

"Julie, do you trust me?" Rio asked.

"Of course I do." Julie stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then I want you to have faith that I can deal with this bozo. I won't let what happened last time, happen to me again. I promise!" Rio spoke with conviction to have faith in her.

"Big sis Rio..." Julie was in awe that Rio was still determined to put people in their place even after being in a coma for so long.

"Don't worry, I got this one." Rio didn't feel discouraged at all for the lack of faith that Julie had for her, she couldn't blame the kid really, especially for what happened during that incident. Back then, Rio figured it would be just your every day average Duel, but it had soon escalated into a literal murder attempt. She promised herself that it would be different this time around.

---

(Back with Yuma and Caswell)

The two first-year middle school students were dashing towards the location where the culprit was hiding. Yuma had called Kari while they were been running thanks to his Duel Gazer. He had already finished informing her of what's been going on. "So your friend triggered a literal virus bomb!"

"That would be the easiest way to put it, and for the record he's not my friend! I'm having him tag along since he's guilty until proven otherwise!" Yuma answered.

"HEY! I thought I had already proved that I was innocent." Caswell was annoyed that Yuma still thought of him as the culprit.

Yuma ignored him and continued communicating with his sister. "I sent you the access stuff, you need to try and stop it! I'm on my way to take the bad guy down for messing up my entire afternoon routine today! Also, can you please tell grandma to take some dumplings or something, I feel like this might take a while."

"Yuma, in what world do you think we're living in that I would ever let you go into some evil mastermind's secret lair?! I already gave you the permission to Duel to your heart's content because Dueling made you happy, but that doesn't mean I will actively let you put yourself in danger." Kari warned that she wouldn't let Yuma do something this stupid. She also thought back to the day she gave him permission to Duel, her conversation with Mrs. Kastle helped her realize that she shouldn't prevent Yuma from achieving his dreams, and thus she decided to support him instead.

"No can do sis, you know I can be just as stubborn as you. I'll be fine." Yuma smiled

"Yuma you lit-" Before she could finish, Yuma had already ended the call.

"Wow, some overprotective sister you've got there." Caswell never knew Yuma had a sister before this, and he was familiar with most of his peers' backgrounds.

Yuma chuckled. "Tell me about it. I wouldn't trade my sis for the world though."

The sky had already blackened by the time they had arrived at the location. A full moon was visible in the sky. Yuma and Caswell entered the tall tower, and made their way up the stairs. "I hope you don't cower and run away when things go south. Actually no it would be better if you did that!"

"Are you always going to give me a hard time?" Caswell didn't know what he did to deserve this treatment from Yuma.

Yuma scoffed. "Says the one who's always been giving me a hard time! And besides, I'm helping you build up your tolerance level in case you ever have to deal with someone who's more rambunctious and stubborn than me!"

"Did you just say rambunctious? Since when do you use words like that?" Caswell was used to Yuma speaking like, well, like a moron was the nicest way he could think of putting it.

"When you have sisters who care about your well-being and future way too much, they tend to drill stuff like that into your head." Yuma was speaking from experience. Kari, Gemma, and Gwen were always forcing him to focus on studying, well, Gemma less so than the other two.

"Sisters?! I thought you only had one?" It soon dawned on Yuma that he had just let it slip that he said sisters instead of sister too.

"Well, Kari's friends like to think of me as their little brother too, and they always love to help me out." Yuma figured that should be a good enough excuse.

"I see. From what I'm gathering, the culprit should be at the top floor." Caswell reminded Yuma.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Yuma dashed again, making Caswell follow suit. They entered the door that to the inside of the top floor, and opened it, only for them to receive the shock of their lives as they instantly saw who the culprit was from the other side of the room. It was their teacher, their beloved Mr. Kay.

"MR. KAY?!" Yuma and Caswell shouted in unison.

Mr. Kay replied with an evil grin. "Surprise, you two managed to find me despite me putting all the barriers on."

"The culprit the entire time was Mr. Kay?!" Yuma was in disbelief, earlier he had denied the possibility of Mr. Kay possibly being the perpetrator despite his fondness for Crashbug monsters. Maybe, this was a sign that he should be careful of who he chooses to trust.

"I told you it wasn't me! Mr. Kay is the criminal mastermind behind the malicious virus!" Caswell grit his teeth in frustration as he too felt disappointed by his favorite teacher's actions.

Yuma needed to know why he was doing this. "What gives teach?! Why would you ever wanna put our city in jeopardy?!"

"Isn't it obvious my dear boy. I'm aiming to finish my masterpiece!" the math teacher laughed like a madman, not caring in the slightest that he had disappointed his students.

Yuma didn't take to kindly to that one. "Screw your masterpiece, playing around with lives of others is never okay! What happened to the lecture you were giving me about having hope?!"

Mr. Kay folded his arms, and gave his most arrogant student a look that expressed total disappointment. "I wasn't lying about having hope, Yuma. My hope is still here with me, and nothing will stop me from ever hoping to my heart's content. I'm not as weak-willed like you."

"And to think I thought you were an ideal role model..." Yuma was having second thoughts about calling Mr. Kay his favorite teacher.

Mr. Kay turned to look at Caswell directly in the eye. "I must say Caswell, it was nice of you to pick up on my clues, almost made me proud even. The virus bomb you uploaded is expected to go off in 30 minutes, which means you helped me in completing my masterpiece."

"Say what?! You lead us here on purpose?! That would mean I'm an accomplice... Oh no!" Caswell realized that if they didn't stop their math teacher in time, then he would be in trouble.

"Oh yes, now witness what you've helped me create." Mr. Kay took his glasses off, and almost instantaneously, he was enveloped in a dark violet aura that only Yuma could see. Yuma recognized this atmosphere, and his thoughts were confirmed when the Number 34 proceeded to glow on Mr. Kay's neck.

"That's the mark of a Number!" Yuma managed to piece it together, his teacher's actions were caused by him falling under his Number Monster's influence. Now things were getting even more complicated.

---

(Meanwhile, inside the Emperor's Key)

Astral had no idea that by coming into contact with Yuma's Key would lead him into a strange dimension like this. When Yuma was sleeping, he had wondered why his partner was so fixated on this key, and he felt like studying it for himself, however, he had been teleported here instead. The scenery around him was bathed in a deep blue glow, and the ground appeared to be made of a soft, energy-infused material with gentle waves forming along the surface. What had intrigued him the most though was the massive spiral-shaped mechanical structure in the sky. It looked quite advanced, and resembled a giant drill of some kind. He had entered the structured, and observed everything that was inside of it.

"Observation #4: This world like Yuma, is a complex machine, but not as annoying. It is complicated in design, like a puzzle." Astral began his observation, only for him to be interrupted by a blinking red light above him. "What is that? Could it be a Number?"

---

(Back with Yuma)

"Yuma! We have to do something, otherwise we're toast. Well mainly me, but please don't let me take the fall

"As much as I would love to see the ever so grand Class Rep being punished, I have better things to do, like saving Mr. Kay. Hand over your Number!"

"Number?!" Caswell was confused, why would Yuma be asking for his teacher's phone number at a time like this?

"So you know about Numbers do you? Interesting. This doesn't change anything, you can't stop me." Mr. Kay arrogantly proclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" Yuma wasn't sure if he could beat his teacher without his Numbers, but he had to give it a shot anyway.

As luck would have it though, Yuma's key started reacting, and thus, Astral manifested and floated next to him with his arms folded. "That humans bears the mark of a Number, you know what we must do Yuma!"

Yuma was visibly perplexed by what had just happened, but chose to ignore it. "Save it, I've got it all handled. Also, mind telling me where you've been all this time?"

Caswell looked at Yuma weirdly, he wasn't sure if he was seeing things correctly, but was Yuma speaking to thin air? "Is Yuma okay? Why he's talking to himself?"

"We can discuss that later, we need to hurry and extract that Number!" Astral felt that this was neither the time or place to inform that his key harbored an entire dimension.

"Fine, I was planning on doing that before you showed up anyways. Just leave it to me, I'll take him down in one go. Listen up Mr. Kay!" Yuma yelled, successfully catching his teacher's attention again. "You may be acting all high and mighty now, but mark my words, I'm going to take that Number away from you whether you like it or not teach!" Yuma pointed his right fist at the older man, which was a sign that he was going to give it everything he had to fulfill his promise.

"By all means, let's do this!" Mr. Kay activated his Duel Disk, prompting Yuma to do the same as the latter brought out his D-Pad and threw it into the air.

"Duel Disk go!" The D-Pad attached itself to Yuma's Duel Disk, activating it. "Duel Gazer, let's roll!" Yuma exclaimed as he put on his Duel Gazer over his left eye.

"Augmented Reality Vision Link Established." The duel pads called out as the AR Vision Link was set in motion.

"DUEL!" both teacher and student yelled out in unison.

---

Yuma Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5

---

Mr. Kay 1st Turn:

"By the way Astral, with you here again, does that mean I have access to Utopia and Leviathan Dragon?" Yuma simply wanted to confirm why the Numbers were suddenly nowhere to be found as soon as Astral had vanished.

Astral forgot to inform him about that earlier that he only had access to Number Monsters if he was present. "That should indeed be the case."

"Great, now my chances of winning are better already." Yuma was stoked, he could count on Utopia or Leviathan to bail him out if he really needed it.

Astral could sense that having Numbers in his possession made Yuma feel a sense of invincibility. He figured it would be in his best interest to not make his partner so over reliant on his Numbers. "Just having strong cards can only get you so far, it's how you use them that matters."

Yuma couldn't disagree with the logic, but he didn't want to verbally agree with Astral either, and decided to keep quiet.

"Are you ready, Yuma? Because I sure am! I'll gladly start us off by drawing a card!" Mr. Kay initiated his Draw Phase, and drew the top card from his Deck. "I set a monster face-down, and end my turn."

---

Yuma Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5

---

Yuma 1st Turn:

"That's it? Just a face-down monster?" Yuma could tell that this was way too simple of a move for even Mr. Kay to make.

"Be cautious, Yuma, your teacher is clearly waiting for something to happen!" Astral warned his partner.

Yuma gave Astral a look that expressed defiance. "Pipe down! I know what I'm up against, I won't lose to someone who puts other people in harm's way."

"Is that so? Then what are you waiting for, a written invitation?"

"Oh you're asking for it. It's my turn, I Draw!" Yuma dramatically drew the top card of his Deck. He looked at his hand, and decided the best course of action was to summon the following monster. "I summon my Gogogo Golem in ATK Mode!" One of Yuma's most loyal monsters appeared on the field.

Gogogo Golem: ATK: 1800/ Level 4

"Let's show them what we got Yuma!" Gogogo Golem exclaimed, feeling determined to spring himself into action. He was always one of. Yuma's most eager fighters, which was likely why Golem happened to be one of the monsters Yuma got along with the best.

"You got it Golem, strike that monster down for me!" Yuma ordered, allowing Gogogo Golem to approach Mr Kay's side of the field, forcing the latter's face-down Monster to reveal itself.

Crashbug X: DEF: 2000/ Level 3

"Wait Crashbug X?!" Yuma was shocked because he had hoped that it would've been Crashbug Y or Crashbug Z instead of Crasubug X. If it had been either of the aforementioned two, then Golem's ATK would've been enough to deal with them. The newly revealed Crashbug X surrounded itself inside a cage, causing Gogogo Golem to crash into it, and then was sent staggering backwards to Yuma's field. (2000 - 1800 = 200)

Yuma Life Points: 4000 - 200 = 3800

Mr. Kay laughed at Yuma's foolish mistake. "What's wrong Yuma? I thought you said you were gonna make me pay?"

"Just wait for it! I set one card face-down, and I'll call it a turn." Yuma declared as he slotted a face-down card into one of his Spell/Trap Zones.

---

Yuma Life Points: 3800/Number of cards in hand: 4

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5

---

Mr. Kay 2nd Turn:

"You need to control your temper, Yuma. It is very unbecoming of someone who yearns to be a Duel Champion or even the new Duel King of Heartland." Mr. Kay teased."

Yuma was getting more annoyed by the second, he didn't think his teacher would love to hear the sound of his voice to this extent. Could this be a side-effect of being possessed by a Number? "Just get on with your turn dammit! We don't have all day, well all night actually!"

"Geez, is this what I get for trying to have fun Dueling against a student of mine, how dull! I Draw! Perfect! This time I'll summon Crashbug Y in Attack Position." Mr. Kay called out as he brought forth his other Crashbug Monster onto the field.

Crashbug Y: ATK: 1400/ Level: 3

Mr. Kay then inserted a card into one of his Spell/Trap Card zones. "And with that done, I activate the Crashbug Road Spell card from my Hand! Now, we can each choose Special Summon a monster from our hands with the same Level as 1 face-up Level 4 or below monster we control! Welcome to the party Crashbug Z!"

Crashbug Z: DEF: 1500/ Level: 3

Yuma didn't know which of his cards he should pick. "I have two Monsters with the same level as Gogogo Golem, Gagaga Magician, and Ganbara Knight. "

Astral had already thought of something and hoped that Yuma was willing to listen to him. "I would advise you to save Gagaga Magician for later, and summon Ganbara Knight in Defense Mode instead."

Yuma gave him an irritated albeit somewhat curious look. "Didn't I tell you to leave this Duel to me, didn't I?! And why should I do that?"

"He's going to Summon his Number, I'm certain of it, so it would be in our best interest to build up a good enough defense and save Gagaga Magician's Level Manipulating effect for later." Astral suggested.

Yuma gave Astral's suggestion some thought, it did sound like the better course of action to take, but he didn't want to give Astral the satisfaction of being right either. He eventually made his decision. "Fine, I will listen to you just this one time! I summon Ganbara Knight in DEF Mode!" The said monster had arrived on the battlefield. His body was clad in deep red and gold bulky armor with silver and gray mechanical components that could be seen at the joints and midsection. The monster wielded two massive shields with teal-colored surfaces, one on each arm.

Ganbara Knight: DEF: 1800/ Level: 4

Yuma smirked proudly at his teacher. "How do you like that? Thanks to my knight's 1800 DEF Points, he won't be going down easy."

His teacher didn't look bothered in the slightest though, rather he appeared to find this development amusing. "So what, you just made one good move, and think you can win because of that alone? I'm afraid this is why the student always fails to surpass the teacher. It's time! I Overlay Crashbug X, Y, and Z to perfect the Overlay Network!" The three Crashbug monsters turned into violet orbs, and entered the galaxy portal that had soon exploded. "Prepare to meet your defeat Yuma! Here comes Number 34: Terror-byte!" The sealed form of the said Number Monster quickly dissolved itself as soon as it had appeared. Its limbs were composed of sharp, geometric shapes that made it look like a fusion of a robot and a reptilian beast. Its body was mainly navy blue and bright yellow, and on the side of its large armor plate, there was a pink "34" marking.

Number 34: Terror-byte: DEF: 2900/ Rank: 3/ OVU: 3

Caswell was in awe of his teacher's monster. "It appears to be a rhino merged with data chips from what it seems like. What's the significance of a Number?!"

"As to be expected, Numbers are seemingly always eager to get on the field as soon as possible." Astral commented.

"At least it's in DEF Mode." Yuma noticed that Terror-byte wasn't in DEF Mode, and figured that he was safe for now.

"Don't worry about that, my Terror-byte's special effect allows me to detach one Overlay Unit from it, and gain control of a Level 4 or below monster on your Field until the end of this turn. So now hand over your Gogogo Golem to me!" Terror-byte proceeded to swallow one of the three orbs that were circling it. Terror-byte fired a rope of blue lightning that ensnared Gogogo Golem, and forcefully dematerialized him. Then Gogogo Golem had appeared on Mr. Kay's field.

Number 34: Terror-byte: OVU 3 - 1 = 2

Yuma felt feelings of exasperation kicking in. "Well that's just great. Now he's gonna hurt me with my own Golem! Still, you can't do anything to Ganbara Knight since he has the same amount of DEF Points as Gogogo Golem's ATK Points."

Mr. Kay adjusted his glasses as he let out a smirk. "Allow me to circumvent that! I activate the Spell Card, Shield Crush! With this I can get rid of one monster on your field in DEF Position!" The virtual version of the Shield Crush card revealed itself on the field and fired a green laser that pierced through Ganbara Knight's chest, destroying him in the process.

"That leaves me open for a Direct Attack!" Yuma panicked, this wasn't looking good at all.

"It's high-time you attacked your master Gogogo Golem!" the teacher commanded.

Even though Gogogo Golem was unwilling to strike Yuma, he had to obey the laws of the game. "Forgive me Yuma!" the boy in question quickly tried to block the incoming punch with both of his arms. Gogogo Golem did his best to avoid punching Yuma way too hard, so the latter was only sent staggering a few steps backwards. Yuma breathed out a sigh of relief, but that didn't stop his LP Meter from going down.

Yuma Life Points: 3800 - 1800 = 2000

---

(At the Tsukumo Household)

Kari was currently typing away on her keyboard as she had finally managed to access the program hosting the virus bomb thanks to the files her little brother had sent, but she sadly hadn't been able to find the activation switch yet. "This is such a drag, where is the deactivation code hiding at?" She had accidentally entered a digital dungeon maze that she quickly figured out was safeguarding the activation switch, and she only had twenty-five minutes to find it. "I don't care, I will find it, Yuma did his best to deliver this to me, and now I have to do my part!" Kari quickly got back to work, no way was she letting her brother's efforts go to waste.

---

"Ouch, Golem can sure pack a punch!" Yuma quickly dusted himself up before walking forward to stand where he stood earlier.

"Hmph, I set one card face-down, that'll be all she wrote for now." Mr. Kay concluded his turn. "Now Gogogo Golem goes back to your field." True to his words, Gogogo Golem phased out from Mr. Kay's field, and phased in at Yuma's instead.

---

Yuma Life Points: 2000/Number of cards in hand: 4

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 1

---

Yuma 2nd Turn:

Gogogo Golem turned to look at Yuma apologetically. "I'm sorry for hurting you Yuma... I didn't mean to fail you like that..."

Yuma gave him a look of reassurance. "It's okay, we'll get him back for that, don't worry."

"Your Dueling is too imperfect, you best would quit while you're ahead!" the teacher suggested to his student mockingly.

"You wanna know something Mr. Kay?" Yuma asked.

"Not really." Mr. Kay didn't have the time for this.

"Good, because you're gonna hear it anyway! My father always told me that our imperfections are what make us awesome." Yuma spoke with conviction.

"Too bad he's wrong then, perfection is everything, I teach math because it is the pursuit of absolute perfection." Mr. Kay revealed his reasoning for becoming a math teacher. "The only reason you were told that drivel by your father is so you wouldn't feel bad about being a failure!"

"Ouch, you really think that way about me, that hurts..." Yuma pretended to feel wounded by what his teacher had just told him by clutching his chest.

"Tell me where it hurts?" Astral wondered.

"It hurts in my heart dammit? Can't you ever stop asking questions?" Yuma groaned, how did he not catch his drift, he knew Astral had low understanding of human emotions, but he didn't think it would turn out to be this bad.

Astral mentally noted what Yuma had just told him into his head by cementing it with an observation. "Observation #5, words can hurt a human's heart, I shall remember that."

Yuma had sensed a disturbance in the air, and was able to automatically tell that Terror-byte was glaring at him with nothing but utter contempt for reasons he didn't even know. "Must destroy everything! Must destroy everything! Yuma Tsukumo, you shall be destroyed!"

Yuma was visibly uncomfortable by this monster's desire to destroy everything, and him especially. Would this be the case too with every Number they come across in the future? "Sheesh, and Mr. Kay calls me temperamental. That thing is a ticking time bomb!"

"From the short time I've known you, I've learned that you are considerably easy and quick to anger." Astral stated as a matter-of-fact.

Yuma was feeling ticked off again by Astral always putting him down. "Must you always be like this?!"

Astral didn't even turn to face his partner as he focused on the Number Monster in front of them with interest. "I'm merely stating the truth. I see no reason to lie to myself and you as well for that matter."

"Then keep your truth to yourself. I Draw!" Yuma dramatically drew his next card, and saw that it was Achacha Archer. It was perfect for him.

"Wait Yu-" Astral began before he got rudely cut off by Yuma summoning Achacha Archer.

"I summon Achacha Archer in ATK Mode, and with his effect, I can deal you 500 Points of Damage! So much for being the perfect human!" The monster Yuma summoned this time was a medieval archer clad in metallic silver armor that covered his arms, legs, and parts of his torso. The golden tunic-like chest armor contrasted nicely with the silver metal, and red-flame-like patterns were featured on his leg armor and helmet. The monster wielded a long, elegantly curved bow and held up an arrow with an orange-flamed tip. He quickly fired the flaming arrow he was holding with his bow, successfully striking the teacher.

Achacha Archer: ATK: 1200/ Level 3

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000 - 500 = 3500

"That was a bad move..." Astral commented as he remained indifferent.

"What was that?" Yuma didn't understand what Astral meant by that.

"Your eagerness to win has blinded you, if you had summoned Gagaga Magician instead, you would've been able to Xyz Summon Utopia using Gagaga Magician and Gogogo Golem as your components." Astral informed his partner.

"Oh crap, he's right! How did I not see it!?" Yuma mentally facepalmed, he felt embarrassed that he missed out on a golden opportunity to bring out Utopia. "I didn't think properly..."

"Exactly! You didn't bother to think, and now we're in quite the predicament because of your irrational behavior. You need to listen to me from now on, it's clear you're not good enough to Duel on your own yet.

"Even he thinks I'm not good enough... Imagine getting told off by an alien spirit!" Yuma felt even more frustrated than before. He clenched his fists tightly, he couldn't comprehend why people tried to put him down. Would he ever be good enough to help shut his haters up?

"Listen to me, this situation is still salvageable as long as you do what I say. I need to acquire that Number Card, and you want to free that man from the Number's hold, right? If we don't get that Number, I may fade away..." Astral reminded.

"Just please let me Duel my Duel!" Yuma begged.

"Are you going to disregard my valuable advice?" Astral was baffled by how immature his partner was being.

"I'm telling, I'm not gonna let you backseat Duel anymore! I'm still my own Duelist! If you tell me that I should go to the right, then I'm gonna break to the left." Yuma claimed, shocking Astral.

Mr. Kay had just about enough of seeing Yuma talking to thin air like a lunatic. "How dare you mess with my perfection Yuma! Fortunately for me, I activate my Trap Damage Vaccine Ω MAX, which allows me to recover the Life Points I just lost.

Mr. Kay Life Points: 3500 plus 500 = 4000

"All that effort for nothing!" Yuma never realized that his teacher could be this obstinate just so he could achieve perfection.

"This Duel has proven to be fruitless so far. I will finish this Duel with all of my Life Points intact." Mr. Kay vowed. "I take it your Turn is over now?" Yuma nodded at him.

---

Yuma Life Points: 2000/Number of cards in hand: 4

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 1

---

Mr. Kay 3rd Turn:

Caswell began to panic and comically held his head in frustration. "Yup, I can see my future now... I'm going to jail for life because they're gonna think I was a part of this! Yuma won't be able to win this one, because the teacher is making it impossible and he only has 17 minutes left before the countdown ends."

"It's high-time you realize you've accomplished nothing!" Mr. Kay drew the top card of his Deck, but didn't even bother to look at it. "Once again, I'll be using Terror-byte's effect to snatch your Gogogo Golem!" Terror-byte absorbed its next Overlay Unit, and made Gogogo Golem go through the same process again.

Number 34: Terror-byte: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1

"If you had only summoned Utopia, then your teacher wouldn't have anything to steal." Astral stated with his usual tone of indifference.

"How?" Yuma couldn't figure out what Astral was trying to hint.

"Simple, unlike other monsters, Xyz Monsters like Utopia and Leviathan Dragon are a special breed of Monster that don't have Levels, they have Ranks instead. His Number Monster's effect states that it can only steal a Level 4 or below from us, so taking Utopia is out of the question for them, understand?" Yuma was in awe by what he had just learned from Astral. "You're clearly inexperienced, and you should just listen to me."

Yuma looked down at the ground with his eyes shadowed. He didn't even try to bother at coming up with an excuse or an insult, he knew Astral was right.

"If you're expecting me to use the same exact strategy twice in a row, then you're sorely mistaken!" the math teacher called out. "I activate both of my Continuous Spells, Infected Mail and Cracking! First let's go over, Infected Mail. With this card I can choose a Level 4 or lower monster and attack my opponent directly with it! But after it attacks, it's destroyed!"

"Oh no." Astral grew increasingly worried, if this attack hits, they would be sitting at 200 Life Points.

"Go ahead, Gogogo Golem give him a demonstration." Mr. Kay ordered, forcing Golem to attack his dear master again.

"Now would be a great time to remember what card you had just set on your first turn." Astral already knew what it was, and hoped that Yuma was smart enough to pick up on it.

"What I set down?" Yuma then remembered as he mentally scolded himself for forgetting the card he set down on his first turn. "Oh yeah, here goes, Draining Shield!" Yuma and Astral were quickly protected by an aqua-green forcefield that surrounded them, and prevented Gogogo Golem's fist from piercing through. "Thanks to this card, the damage I would've taken, gets added to my Life Points again."

Yuma Life Points: 2000 plus 1800 = 3800

Mr. Kay grit his teeth at the sight of his student avoiding his onslaught. "You're not off the hook yet, Gogogo Golem now goes to the Graveyard thanks to Infected Mail's effect. " Gogogo Golem disappeared from the field. "But still this is where you should be wary of my other Continuous Spell, Cracking! When a Monster is destroyed and sent to my opponent's Graveyard, they suffer 800 points of Damage!" The Continuous Spell released a lightning stream towards Yuma, successfully shocking the poor youngster.

Yuma Life Points: 3800 - 800 = 3000

Yuma looked over to see Astral fading a bit, just like he had during his Duel against Shark. "What's going on? Why are you more see-through than before?"

Astral decided to break it down for the kid nicely this time. "Every time you lose Life Points, I can feel my life force fading. As I told you before failure's not an option for me." Yuma looked down, he didn't know that Astral's existence would be resting on his hands in every Duel that involved Numbers.

"Yuma!" Caswell shouted from the sidelines, causing Yuma to turn towards him. Caswell was making an awkward, but still dramatic pose that made Yuma sweatdrop. The Class Representative couldn't believe that he was actually making an effort to cheer up Yuma, but here goes. "Stop feeling down, and be like the phoenix! You need to rise from the ashes, you know what, forget the phoenix! There's a giant dragon dwelling within your heart Yuma, a giant sleeping dragon of hope! In the end, what I'm trying to say is that you're unrecognized genius who's sure to win if you could simply just tap into your true potential! Just please hurry up though, this is already embarassing enough as it is."

"Me a genius?" Yuma chuckled. "Ok, I'll take your words to heart Caswell, but I still haven't forgiven you for all the times you tried to put me down, but with all that said, now I feel motivated again."

"Observation #6, humans work their hardest when they are praised." Astral figured he could try doing it himself as he floated closer to Yuma. "I have something to say to you Yuma."

"What Astral?" Yuma wanted to know what Astral had to say to him.

"You are illogical, and you anger too easily. You are clumsy and incredibly lacking in athletic abilities, you are stubborn too, and odd. But these are all excellent traits, so earlier when I said you were inexperienced, I meant to say you were incredible." Astral tried to encourage, but to no avail as he noticed that Yuma's eyebrows were twitching with his arms folded. The thirteen-year-old then proceeded to burst out his frustrations.

"YEAH RIGHT! DON'T YOU EVER GIVE ME A PEP TALK EVER AGAIN!" Yuma was angered that instead of saying actual good things about him, Astral brought up his flaws. What also further pissed him off was that Astral insinuated he was a weak athlete, when he couldn't have been more wrong. Granted, he's not as great as Rio when it came to sports, but he was still above average in most sports he played. At that moment, the room they were in started to shake and started moving upwards. "What's that? Why is the room moving?"

---

(At the Tsukumo Household)

Meanwhile, Kari had finally found the final door where the switch was in this digital maze. "Bingo, there is no stopping me now!" She entered the door in order to stop the virus bomb, but found a Crashbug Avatar inside. Kari having already figured out what she needed to do next, cracked her knuckles as an evil grin form on her lips. "You want a piece of me do you? Bring it on!" She sent her digital avatar who donned a karate gi to combat the Crashbug Avatar. "You're about to learn a valuable lesson, never underestimate a black belt in code-breaking!"

---

(Back with Yuma and Astral)

The floor they were on had finally been elevated to the top of the tower, granting them an outside view. "Now we have front rows to in the city to witness the results of the viral bug, isn't this wonderful?" He received no response, and sighed heavily. "You're no fun, it's your turn now. I have nothing left to play."

---

Yuma Life Points: 3000/Number of cards in hand: 4

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 0

---

Yuma 3rd Turn:

Astral thought to himself. "If Yuma loses this Duel, I will fade away, how can I get him to listen to me?" He then recalled what Yuma said about doing the opposite of what he wanted, realizing he could somehow use his defiant acts to his advantage. He watched as Yuma drew his next card, it was Goblindbergh.

"I summon Goblindbergh!" Yuma called out as the green goblin with a red helmet adorned with two curved horns appeared on the field as he drove a sleek, red and cartoonish biplane.

Goblindbergh: ATK: 1400/ Level: 4

"Now this is what I call a promising development, with Goblindbergh out on the field, Yuma can bring another monster with it." Caswell turned hopeful upon seeing his classmate having a sliver of a fighting chance again.

"Yuma use this opportunity to not summon Gagaga Magician, you are not skilled enough to wield two Level 4s on the field."

Yuma stared at him incredulously. "Two Level 4s... Hmph, I was planning on bringing out Gagaga Magician anyway." Yuma wasn't lying, he actually was gonna bring Gate out anyway, since the only other monster in his hand was Ral Rider, and he wasn't going to do much of anything. "You know what to do, Bergh!"

"Here's your present Yuma!" Goblindbergh was in a cheerful mood, seeing as this is one of the few occasions his master ever gets a chance to summon him. He retracted the rope holding the metal box from his biplane. The box landed roughly on the ground, and quickly opened up, successfully releasing Yuma's desired monster.

Gagaga Magician: ATK: 1500/ Level 4

"You always have my back, don't you, Gate?" Yuma smiled upon seeing the monster he had the most faith in ever since he was seven.

"I've made it my sacred duty to safeguard you ever since your father left us in your care!" Gagaga Magician fondly remembered the times when Yuma had successfully befriended every single monster in his Deck one after another. Those were some good times indeed, even though Yuma had been afraid of being able to see them at first.

"I'm glad! Now let's bring out Utopia for the finish! I Overlay my Level 4 Gagaga Magician and Goblindbergh to build the Overlay Network!" The spellcaster and the green goblin had both turned into orbs of light, Magician's was purple, and Goblindbergh's was orange. They entered the field that turned into a spectacular, rotating galaxy of lights that spiraled from turquoise to navy blue as it then bursted out in an explosion.

"When hope is lost and darkness looms, a radiant warrior descends to turn the tide! Blades of light, shield of justice, arise and guide the way! Xyz Summon! Soar forth, Number 39: Utopia!" Yuma and Astral chanted in unison. The sealed form of their Main Number monster rose out of the vortex. The seal began to unfurl itself, allowing the ultimate knight in shining armor to truly take form.

Number 39: Utopia: ATK: 2500/ Rank: 4/ OVU: 2

"Woah Utopia!" the math teacher didn't expect to see his student having a number as well.

"The rumors are true, Yuma can Xyz Summon now?!" Caswell now knew everyone was telling the truth about Yuma beating Shark. Who wouldn't believe it when they saw a monster as awesome-looking as Utopia.

"Utopia!" Yuma was delighted to see the first Xyz Monster he had ever acquired again.

Utopia turned around to meet Yuma in the eye. "Hello Yuma. It seems you require my assistance again."

"Oh boy, do I? You're the only one who is capable of bringing that thing down." Yuma beamed.

"I'm glad to know you have that much faith in me, but I believe there is another monster of yours that can do it too." Utopia mentioned.

Yuma tried to think of possible candidates that Utopia could've been referring to until it eventually hit him. "You don't mean Leviathan, do you?"

"Indeed, he eagerly wants to exchange words with you after overhearing your conversation yesterday. I suggest you go and make an effort talk to him. I've been made aware that you've been granted permission for sacred entry to our world." Utopia disclosed another of Yuma's special abilities that he had been keeping a secret from everyone. He couldn't just see Duel Spirits, he could also visit their world whenever he wanted to.

"Yuma! You can enter the world of the Duel Spirits? A world where only very few beings in the cosmos can ever have the privilege of visiting?" Astral was already surprised that Yuma could converse with Duel Spirits, but having the permission to actually visit their world was a feat beyond anything else.

"Crud, I didn't mean for you to find out this way." Yuma did figure he should've told him that yesterday, but decided against it because of Astral constantly demeaning him.

"Why didn't you inform me of this previously?" Astral couldn't believe Yuma would withhold an important detail such as this one from him. He couldn't that this kid earned his monsters' trust to this extent.

"Do I have to tell you every little thing about me?! I deserve some privacy, you know!" Yuma complained.

"If we're fated to be partners, I need to know what I'm dealing with." Astral argued.

"Then maybe if you were nicer towards me, I might have considered it!" Yuma huffed as he folded his arms. Utopia was staring at both of them incredulously, seeing his masters bickering like immature children made this incredibly awkward even for someone who's usually next-level composed like him.

"Can both of you set aside your differences for now, and please focus on the Duel!" Utopia encouraged.

"Fine, and don't get the wrong idea Astral. It's only because Utopia asked nicely." Yuma blew a raspberry at Astral, who was a bit taken aback by this scene of vulgarity.

"Kids these days..." Although Yuma's immaturity amused Utopia a little, he believed Yuma needed to improve on it.

"So Leviathan Dragon wants to talk to me? Ok, I'll talk to him once I get an opportunity to summon him onto the field." Yuma assured Utopia.

Utopia turned to face Number 34 again. "That's admirable of you! Now let's get to work Yuma!"

"I'm way ahead of you!" Yuma gave his Number a thumbs up. "With that I end my turn!"

---

(Back with Kari)

Kari was having the time of her life hammering blow after blow against the Crashbug Avatar. "You deleted my entire hard drive, and erased my scoop! This is what I call sweet justice baby!" Kari's avatar knocked her foe down to the ground with 50 LP, whereas she had 1000 left. She also noted that there was exactly nine minutes left before the virus bomb would be activated. The crashbug stood up again, only for Kari to comically continue whaling on him.

---

(Back with Yuma and Astral)

---

Yuma Life Points: 3000/Number of cards in hand: 3

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 0

---

Mr. Kay 4th Turn:

Mr. Kay began his turn by dramatically drawing his next card. "It's my turn now! I Draw! I use my Number Monster's last Overlay Unit to take control of your Achacha Archer!" Yuma's archer was forced over to his teacher's side of the field. "And then thanks to my Infected Mail Continuous Spell, I can attack you directly again, but I have to send it to the Graveyard once the Battle Phase is over. However, it's time I summon my true trump card! I'm going to change my Terror-byte's Battle Position."

Terror-byte: ATK: 0

"Your trump card?" Yuma was confused, wasn't Terror-byte his Ace?

"As you can see Yuma, since Crashbug X, Y, and Z are all present in my Graveyard, thanks to you constantly forcing my Number to use its Overlay Units, I'm allowed to summon this card in DEF Mode by banishing them. Meet my Super Crashbug!" A giant black-green and a very ominous-looking Crashbug had appeared on the field.

Super Crashbug: DEF: 3000/ Level 4

"With Super Crashbug on the field, all monsters in Face-Up Attack Position have their ATK and DEF Points switched." the teacher informed his student.

"SAY WHAT?!" This wasn't good for Yuma, because that effect would make Utopia weaker.

Number 39: Utopia: ATK: 2500 - 500 = 2000

Achacha Archer: ATK: 1200 - 600 = 600

Number 34: Terror-byte: ATK: 0 plus 2900 = 2900

"This ain't looking good." Yuma noted that Utopia now had less ATK Points than Terror-byte.

"You're right son, this isn't looking good, for you that is! Achacha Archer strike your master now." Achacha Archer like Gogogo Golem before was unwilling to strike his Master, but he had no choice.

"Don't take the hit Yuma, you aren't strong enough to handle mere 600 Points of damage." Astral challenged.

"Shut up! don't ever say that again. I'll gladly take the hit." The flaming arrow pierced Yuma's left shoulder, forcing him to kneel down to catch his breath again from such a powerful hit.

Yuma Life Points: 3000 - 600 = 2400

"Ugh, if I do make it out of this place in one piece, then I'm so gonna sleep in tomorrow." Yuma vowed.

Mr. Kay held out his right hand in front of him. "Who said it was break time yet?! Your turn Terror-byte, show Utopia no mercy!"

"Destroy Utopia! Destroy Yuma!" Number 34 promised destruction upon its foes.

Yuma who had just standing up again began to panic. "Oh no, Terror-byte's a Number Monster, what should I do?!"

"Too bad Utopia is so useless. If only it had some ability." Astral tried reminding Yuma of Utopia's effect in his subtle way. However, despite knowing that Astral was just using reverse psychology on Yuma, Utopia felt slightly offended by the comment. Also, how could Yuma forget his Special Ability? They really needed to work on that weak memory of his as well.

"Wait a sec, Utopia can negate attacks! I activate Utopia's effect!" Yuma picked up Gagaga Magician's card that was stacked below Utopia's, and slotted it into the Graveyard. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, he can negate one Attack! Light Wing Shield!" Utopia instantly heeded his master's command as he absorbed one of his Overlay Units while Terror-bye fired blue lightning from the tip of its tail, but Utopia's extended wing glowed silver and successfully absorbed the incoming attack. It didn't take much effort for the attack to be dispersed, and thus Utopia retracted his wing.

Number 39: Utopia: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1

"NO!" Mr. Kay shouted. "Ugh, this changes things, it doesn't mean you're off the hook yet though! My Battle Phase may be over, but you'll still be taking damage. Infected Mail forces me to send Achacha Archer to the Graveyard, and just like the previous time, my other Continuous Spell Cracking, will deal you another 800 Points of hurt." Achacha Archer dispersed into particles, while Yuma ended up getting zapped again.

Yuma Life Points: 2400 - 800 = 1600

"And with that my Turn is over!" Mr. Kay concluded his turn.

---

Yuma Life Points: 1600/Number of cards in hand: 3

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 0

---

Yuma 4th Turn:

"I hope we can finish it this turn." Yuma drew the top card of his Deck, and saw it was Monster Reborn. "I just need to bring out two Level 3s, and I have just the cards. Hey Astral?"

"Yes Yuma?" Astral looked him in the eye.

"Don't think I haven't noticed you trying to give me bad advice on purpose, I may not be the smartest kid in my class, but I'm not that stupid to not notice that you were trying to use reverse psychology on me. So... Thanks for that I guess." Yuma begrudgingly thanked Astral, he knew if it weren't for the latter's help, he might've actually lost the Duel a lot earlier. Once again, Astral saved him from losing even though Yuma explicitly told him he didn't want his help.

"I'm just doing whatever I can to ensure that we acquire that Number. Nothing more, nothing less." Astral stated coolly.

"Yeah yeah whatever, it's time to close the curtains on this guy. I summon Rai Rider in ATK Mode." Yuma's new monster was a masked motorcyclist with long, red hair with a blue helmet to match his equally blue motorcycle.

Rai Rider: ATK: 1200/ Level 3

"Next I activate Monster Reborn to revive Achacha Archer to the Field." Yuma's Achacha Archer appeared on his field again, happy to be fighting for his master again.

"Two Level 3 monsters." Mr. Kay and Caswell said in unison.

"Utopia, it's time!" Yuma called out to his monster as he held Leviathan Dragon's card.

Utopia nodded at him, he knew where Yuma was headed, and hoped for the best. "I wish you luck then Yuma, I know you can do it."

"What's going on? What are you planning on doing? Don't tell me you're gonna visit him in the middle of the Duel?!2

Don't worry, you'll see soon enough." Yuma focused his eyes on Leviathan Dragon's card. He was enveloped in a blue light that blinded everything in sight.

"What the?" Mr. Kay had to shield his eyes to not be blinded. He couldn't understand what this phenomenon was? Where was this light coming from?

"What is that light?" Caswell used both of his arms to shield his eyes as well.

Astral didn't need to close his eyes because he wasn't affected by the light that Yuma had managed to create from seemingly out of nowhere. He could barely make out Yuma's figure.

"Lead me to Leviathan Dragon! Open the Nexus!" Yuma's eyes glowed blue as the light around him shone brighter than before, making it so not even Astral could see his figure anymore.

---

(Duel Spirit World, Grasslands)

The next thing Yuma knew, he had ended up at the same grassy field where Utopia and Leviathan Dragon had their meaningful conversation the day before. He was mesmerized by his surroundings.

"Woah, this is beautiful." Yuma walked closer to the river, and saw his reflection. Even the water looked so natural and majestic.

Yuma could suddenly hear evil laughter nearby. "Hehehe, welcome to my domain Young Master." a gruff voice said as caught his attention. He soon saw the being that he came here to meet, rising from the water. It was Leviathan Dragon. Leviathan stared at Yuma with his menacing eyes. He was analyzing him, but the thirteen-year-old didn't mind.

"Hi Leviathan, Utopia told me you wanted to chat with me." Yuma began.

"That would be correct." Leviathan Dragon confirmed.

"I just want you to know that I did plan on meeting you even before Utopia told me to." Yuma wanted to clear that out with his second Number Monster unaware that the latter was already aware of that.

"I'm aware, I was watching everything after all." Leviathan revealed to the crab-haired boy.

"You were watching me?" Yuma was amazed, he figured Leviathan would've despised him or something.

"I was simply bored." Leviathan stated bluntly, it wasn't exactly true, but he figured that should be a sufficient enough answer for now.

"Oh..." Yuma didn't exactly buy that answer, but he knew he couldn't get more out of Leviathan for now at least.

Leviathan wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. "Let's cut to the chase. We both know that I have to fight for you regardless of whether I want to or not, yet you still seek to become friends with a vile monster who wouldn't have thought twice about hurting you previously. Why is that?" Leviathan Dragon asked his new master.

"It's simple, I don't want to force you to fight for me against your wishes. I know we got off on the wrong foot."

"Getting off on the wrong foot would be an understatement, seeing as all my former Master and I wanted to do is to make you scream in pain." Leviathan thought back to their clash, he recalled how cruel he was towards the thirteen-year-old, and how he still felt sore about losing to him. But then for some strange reason, losing to Yuma didn't feel as bad as he figured it should've been. He couldn't pinpoint why, and he probably never will.

"I don't mind that anymore, I've already forgiven you for that." Yuma let out a heavy sigh as he happily stared at his reflection.

"You forgive me?" Leviathan was confused, how could Yuma forgive him for his actions just like that?

"Well I wouldn't have forgiven you if you were a mindless beast or something, but to me it just seemed like you were lost. Like you weren't in control of your actions." Yuma explained his reasoning for forgiving Number 17's cruel actions.

Leviathan didn't like how Yuma was insinuating that he wasn't self-aware enough of his own actions. "I'm lost... What do you mean by that? I'm a being fueled by hatred and contempt, I already know what I want, how could I possibly be lost?"

"But was that by choice or something that was forced upon you?" Yuma asked with sincerity in his voice.

Leviathan was at a loss for words, Yuma did make a great point. He didn't exactly choose to be evil, rather Shark's contempt for how unfair the world was against him is what fueled him too. "I-"

"I can tell you're not as heartless as you think you are. I can see the good in you, and I know that you don't have to constantly fight with resentment in your heart. I just want you to give me a chance to prove it." Yuma had turned away from his reflection, and gazed at Leviathan Dragon with hopeful eyes. "We don't have to be friends if that's what you want, but all I want is a chance to prove that I care about you."

"Give you a chance to prove that you care about me..." Leviathan Dragon gave it some thought. He really didn't know what to make of this situation, but there was something about Yuma's eyes that was convincing him to take him up on his offer. He might regret this in the future, but he wanted to see where this path would end up leading him as he told Yuma about his decision. "Ok, I accept your offer, and will give you your chance. There is something about you that intrigues me, and I can't seem to figure it out. I wanna find out what that thing is."

"Thanks Levice!" Yuma thanked, not realizing that he had just given him a nickname.

"Levice?" Leviathan Dragon was baffled that Yuma gave him a random nickname.

Yuma began apologizing to Leviathan for his blunder. "Sorry! My bad, it's just that I know I'm going to struggle calling you Leviathan all the time. I can try if you don't like being called anything else, but it's gonna be tough."

"Hmm, Levice... It doesn't sound like a bad name... I like it, but I can never let him know that." Leviathan Dragon thought to himself as he then proceeded to laugh evilly. "You can call me Levice if that's what you want, but know this Yuma Tsukumo, I'm willing to fight by your side now. I really do, but if you do something that breaks my belief in you..."

"Yeah I know, that's why I promise to never break your faith in me anyway. You're my friend too, and I know you can be a part of our family." Yuma truly meant what he said, and it was up to Leviathan decide whether he was trust-worthy or not.

"We'll see. Now, don't you have a Duel to get back to?" Leviathan reminded.

"Yeah I do, so I can Summon you to the field now?" Yuma asked for his permission.

"As long as you let me deal the finishing blow for this one." Leviathan Dragon gave him an evil grin.

"Sweet!" Yuma beamed. He then closed his eyes as he once again was enveloped in a majestic blue light. "Resign from Nexus!" Yuma successfully teleported himself away from the grasslands.

"I hope I know what I'm getting myself into." If Leviathan Dragon only knew how special Yuma was.

---

(Back to the Duel)

While it had been several minutes for Yuma in the Duel Spirit World, but back on Barth, only a couple of seconds had passed since Yuma's little lightshow began. The light swiftly faded away just as Yuma returned, and Astral looked amazed by what had just happened. Caswell, and Mr. Kay had stopped shielding their arms as well, and were still just as confused. Yuma ignored their curious glances, and looked towards Utopia instead. Yuma beamed at him. "I did it, Utopia! I managed to get him to willingly fight alongside us!"

"Great work Yuma!" Utopia let out a light laugh, he knew Yuma could pull it off.

"How did Yuma convince Leviathan Dragon to fight for him in just 20 seconds? Does time work differently in the Duel Spirit Realm?" Astral wondered to himself.

"Ok, Mr. Kay, like I said before, it's time to close the curtains." Yuma held his right hand out as it was time for his next Xyz Summon. "I Overlay my Level 3 Rai Rider and Achacha Archer to build the Overlay Network." The biker and archer duo converted into energy streams of light, the biker's was yellow, and the archer's was red. The usual portal for Number Monsters appeared on the field, consuming both orbs. The portal shattered, allowing Yuma to bring forth his newest addition to the team.

"From the darkest depths, where titans slumbe, a dragon of devastation awakens, its hunger unending! Rise from the abyss and consume all in your path! Xyz Summon! Emerge, Number 17: Leviathan Dragon!" Yuma chanted as Leviathan Dragon's sealed form appeared on the field. The seal began to unfurl itself as the aforementioned dragon of devastation's real form was revealed for all eyes to see. Leviathan Dragon roared proudly.

Leviathan Dragon: ATK: 2000/ Rank: 3/ OVU: 2

"Welcome to the team Levice!" Yuma smiled at the sight of Leviathan Dragon.

"It's not like I'm purely doing this for your sake, I'm just eager to fight again." Leviathan was staring intensely at Number 34.

"Sure, whatever you say." Yuma rolled his eyes.

Utopia and Astral both turned to look at Yuma in a perplexed manner. Utopia then stared at his fellow Number with wonder in his eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did our young master just call you Levice?"

Leviathan Dragon scoffed at his former foe-turned-ally. "Yes he did, what about it?!"

"I didn't think you were the type to let anyone give you a nickname." Utopia laughed softly.

"Stop laughing, it just happened to be more convenient for him, so I just went along with it." Leviathan defended himself. "Are you jealous that Yuma didn't bother to give you a nickname or something?!"

"What would I have to feel jealous about?!"

"You can't fool me, I know for a fact that Utopia is just your title and nothing more!" Leviathan claimed, because in all honesty, who would name someone Utopia?

"I guess you caught me red-handed then. I'm amazed that you actually have a brain. Yes, Utopia is my title, and my real name is something else. It's something I don't feel like sharing right now." It's not that Utopia didn't want to disclose his real name to Yuma and the others, it's just that his name reminded him of his bad times.

Leviathan decided to let the minor insult towards his intelligence slide for now, they have more important things to care about. "Whatever, let's pummel this sorry excuse for a Number into the ground."

"That's easier said than done, thanks to that Super Crashbug's effect." Utopia pointed out.

It was almost as if Mr. Kay knew what they were talking about when he decided to remind Yuma of Super Crashbug's effect."You may have two Numbers Yuma, but even they are powerless as long as Super Crashbug is still on the field. Leviathan Dragon's stats are exchanged."

Leviathan Dragon: ATK: 2000 - 2000 = 0

"Why that little good for nothi-" Leviathan was about to relentlessly yell out a couple of curses before his master beat him to it.

"Don't worry Levice, I'll let you sink your fangs into him after I play my final two cards." Yuma reassured his new ally. "I activate the last two card in my hand, the Equip Spell, United We Stand onto Utopia!"

Number 39: Utopia: ATK: 2000 plus 800 x 2 = 3600

"Great move!" Astral genuinely complimented Yuma. "Now I trust that you'll have Utopia negate his Attack again, and then you're gonna follow that up with your Double or Nothing combo?" Astral figured out if Yuma made that combo again, Utopia would have 7200 ATK Points, which would be more than enough to finish off Number 34 and Mr. Kay altogether.

"Not quite Astral, I made a promise to a friend that I intend to keep. Levice, use your Overlay Unit!" Yuma told his monster who instantly heeded his command. "With this, he gets 500 more Attack Points."

Number 17: Leviathan Dragon: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1

Number 17: Leviathan Dragon: ATK: 0 plus 500 = 500

Yuma wanted to make sure of something with Astral first. "Hey Astral, if I get rid of Super Crashbug, Levice will have 2500 ATK Points, right?"

"That would indeed be the case." Astral confirmed.

"That's perfect, Utopia attack Super Crashbug! Rising Sun Slash!" Yuma commanded, allowing Utopia to clutch one of the swords attached to his hips, and throw it into the air. Utopia quickly followed suit and caught the golden sword mid-air. He then dramatically swung the sword downwards and proceeded to slice Super Crashbug in half, causing an explosion that forced Mr. Kay to cover his eyes.

Even though he didn't take any damage from the attack, the math teacher knew it was over for him. "NO! With Super Crashbug gone, Terror-byte ATK Points wil-"

Number 34: Terror-byte: ATK: 2900 - 2900 = 0

Number 39: Utopia: ATK: 3600 plus 500 = 4100

Number 17: Leviathan Dragon: ATK: 500 plus 2000 = 2500

"Now you're defenseless Mr. Kay! Leviathan Dragon, strike'em down!" Leviathan Dragon was just about ready to fire his signature move at his foe. "I activate Utopia's effect, by detaching one Overlay Unit, I can negate Leviathan Dragon's Attack. Light Wing Shield!" Utopia consumed his final Overlay Unit, causing Leviathan Dragon to stop charging his attack.

Number 39: Utopia: OVU: 1 - 1 = 0

"Why would you do that Yuma?" Caswell shouted.

"Because I can then play this, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Double or Nothing. Since my Leviathan Dragon's Attack was negated, he can Attack again with twice the power." Yuma slotted in the final card in his hand into the middle Spell/Trap Zone. "Adios!"

Leviathan Dragon: ATK: 2500 x 2 = 5000

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this!" Leviathan Dragon was enveloped in a majestic golden aura, to him it felt very empowering. He could tell the blast he was about to unleash would be his strongest blast yet.

"Shock Stream Blast!" Yuma and Leviathan Dragon called out in union. Leviathan Dragon fired a decisive blast of dark blue lightning towards his fellow Number, completely incinerating it. The shockwaves from the attack caused, Mr. Kay to slide across the ground hard.

Mr. Kay Life Points: 4000 - 5000 = 0

Winner: Yuma (LP: 1600)

"And that's all she wrote!" Yuma pumped his fist into the air. Astral didn't say anything yet as he held his right hand out, forcing Number 34 out of Mr. Kay's soul. He collected the card, and added it to their ranks. This was their third Number Monster.

"Like all the other Numbers, this one was once a part of my memories. I remember the place where I came from. A different galaxy.. Astral World!" Astral saw a galaxy with blue and pink colors inside his mind. "That is sadly all I can remember from this one."

"Well played at the end, but try not to let your personal feelings get in the way of certain victory too much now, Yuma." Astral remarked.

"Hey, we managed to win either way, and I had to keep my promise to Levice." Yuma flailed his arms around in defiance.

"I can't believe, Yuma just won a Duel in my presence." Caswell figured he had to be dreaming, but he pinched his face to see if this whether or not this was a dream. "Ouch! It's official, Yuma won the Duel fair and square."

"Utopia, Levice, thanks for helping me out." Yuma thanked his Number Duo.

"Anytime, Yuma!" Utopia said as he vanished back into the Duel Spirit Realm.

"You know pipsqueak, maybe teaming up with you won't be so bad after all." Leviathan Dragon snickered before he followed suit, and returned to his home realm.

Yuma let a smile grace his lips for a few seconds before walking over to Mr. Kay in order to wake him up. After shoving him around for a bit, the math teacher groaned, and got up. "You need to hurry up, and stop the virus Mr. Kay!"

Mr. Kay was confused as to why two of his students were here with him. He didn't remember the events of his Duel with Yuma at all. "What are you guys doing here? As for the viral countdown, it's way beyond my control now. I can't stop it." Yuma and Caswell panicked, there only one minute left, and now they hoped that Kari could bail them out.

---

(At the Tsukumo Household)

Speaking of Kari, she had finally managed to defeat the Crashbug Avatar with only ten seconds left to spare. "Take that! I did it, I finally took that thing down, but yet why is the timer still not stopping." It was too late for her to figure that out as the timer had reached 0.

---

(With Yuma and Astral)

"WE'RE DOOMED!" Caswell yelled out in fear. "It's all over!"

Mr. Kay couldn't understand why they freaking out so much. "What are you worrying about over here, Caswell? Nothing bad is gonna happen!"

Yuma looked around, and saw every building still had lights on. "He's right, everything seems pretty normal to me! Here I thought it was gonna cause trouble around the city!"

Mr. Kay frowned. "I'll admit during my preparations, I accidentally caused some trouble, bu-" During that one particular moment, a building with it lights off got turned on. "There we are, you two wanna know what I did, just put on your Duel Gazers, and look up at the sky."

"Honestly, this is just getting weirder and weirder." Yuma put his Duel Gazer on as did Caswell, and what they saw in the sky shocked them. "What is that?"

"There's a giant Crashbug in the sky!" Yuma and Caswell yelled in unison.

Mr. Kay put a hand on Yuma's shoulder and smiled. "I was looking at the patterns in the city's nightlights, and I noticed that they seemed to be forming an incredibly complex matrix code. With my Duel Gazer I scanned the pattern and realized it was just one optimal fragment away from being an exact replica of the Crashbug q code, and I realized the museum's dome isn't normally lit up at night."

"So are you telling us that all of this was just you trying to turn on those lights and make one overgrown Crashbug appear in the sky?!" Yuma received a nod to his question. He sweatdropped.

Astral was about to make another observation until he experienced strange sensations again just like the other day with Rio and the hospital. He knew it meant that there was a Number Card nearby, and due to him most likely only focusing on the Duel, he wasn't able to sense it earlier. "Yuma, I'm sensing another Number Card not far from here."

"You are? Do we have to collect it now?" Yuma didn't know if he had the energy for one more Duel, he was beginning to grow tired for the night.

"We have to, we can't let this opportunity to go to waste." Astral insisted, causing Yuma to yawn and nod his head.

"Mr. Kay, Caswell, I gotta go! See you at school tomorrow!" Yuma waved as he quickly ran with Astral floating after him.

"Take care Yuma!" Mr. Kay waved, and Caswell was too focused on the Giant Crashbug to even notice that his classmate had just left him.

---

(Heartland Central Park)

At the same time, a Duel that was taking place in the Central Park had just reached its conclusion. The brutal landed a brutal strike on his opponent who was several years younger than him. The loser of the Duel was sent harshly sliding across the ground.

Winner: Oliver

"Scram, you're too weak kid!" The guy who had just won the Duel told his fallen 10-year-old opponent. His name was Oliver, and he had large, bright blue eyes, and his hair was wild, spiky and brown with sharp defined points that fanned out in all directions. The spikes were asymmetrical too. He wore the same school uniform as Yuma, the first-year model of Heartland Central Academy. He clenched his fists, and stared at his opponent coldly. The 10-year-old he defeated ran away with tears falling in his eyes, causing him to scoff. "I've been winning all night yet there wasn't a single decent challenge to be had."

"So you're the punk who has been going around hurting people in this park, including an 8-year-old kid!" a female voice could be heard from behind him. He turned around and saw a blue-haired girl staring at him coldly with her arms folded. .

"Now what do I owe the pleasure of meeting a cute girl like you here?" Oliver asked, while mentioning how cute she was at the same time.

"If you're gonna flirt with somebody, at least be more original about it. Judging by your school uniform, you're from Heartland Academy right? The Central Academy, I take it." Rio recognized it, because that was the same school uniform she remembered her brother wearing before her accident.

He pointed his right thumb towards himself, and spoke in a cheerful tone. "Yup, I'm a proud first-year Heartland Central Academy Student alright. I'm currently ranked as the 88th most powerful Duelist at school, but thanks to this new card I have, I'm going to become one of 20 Duel Titans in record time!"

Rio could care less about what his goals were, a kid from her orphanage, and that was all she needed to know. "I don't care about what you wanna become, and it's cool that you've learned that one card can make all the difference, but what's not cool thought is that I've been told you have been going around injuring others for several hours in this park."

"It's not my fault they're too weak. If they had been better Duelists, then they wouldn't have gotten themselves injured! It's as simple as that." Oliver couldn't see any problems with his style of Dueling.

Rio's eyes twitched. "Too weak?! You broke an eight-year-old's elbow, have some shame."

"If he's injured, he's injured. Nothing I can help him with." Oliver told her bluntly.

"You're really asking for a beatdown, aren't you?" Rio couldn't believe this guy, he was a total jerk.

"Is that a challenge I hear? Do you want to be my next victim?" Oliver asked and hoped that she would say yes.

"Oh, I'm not gonna be your victim, rather you're gonna wish you've never crossed paths with me once I'm done with you." Rio let a confident smirk grace her lips.

"Big words coming from someone who can't recognize someone else's superiority, what school do you even go to?" Oliver wondered, he could tell that she was his age, and had never seen her around at his Academy.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out. If I win this Duel, you're gonna come with me, and apologize to the boy you hurt today!" Rio told him what his consequence was if she were to win the Duel.

"You're gonna make me, an aspiring Duel Titan of my school apologize to some kid who couldn't pull his own weight?" Oliver stared at her incredulously.

"I told you, I could care less about who you are. It's even worse that you're from the same Heartland Academy my brother goes to! What you did to that kid wasn't cool and you know it!" Rio had just about enough of this guy, he was already making things more difficult than they were.

"I don't see what the problem is. He just simply needs to man up, otherwise he will just continue crying to others when things don't go his way, like how he just did with you. I used to be pushed around by others too, but now I've become stronger." Oliver laughed like a madman.

Sensing that she would have to Duel this guy, Rio brought out her Deck of cards, and clenched them tightly with her right hand. "You're unbelievable!"

"I am unbelievable alright! Unbelievably strong that is! Thanks to this one card, I can finally call myself the Number 1 Duelist of my school!" Oliver proclaimed with an evil grin.

"I believe you're mistaken. The Number 1 Duelist in your school should be Reginald Kastle or Shark as he likes to go by nowadays." Rio took pride in her brother being the Number 1 at his school before the end of the first semester at the academy.

"That washed-up has-been? Hahahaha!" Oliver insulted as he proceeded to laugh like a madman again.

"Did I say something funny to you?" She was confused as to why he would be laughing at just the mention of her brother's name, and why was he calling him a washed-up has-been?

Oliver decided to tell her what the deal was with the so-called top dog of the Central Academy right now. "He has no right to call himself top-dog anymore since he lost to the school clown who never won before! Which is funny since the clown happens to be my classmate! I was right there in the audience when it happened, and by now everybody in our school knows about his embarrassing defeat."

"That's impossible... Reginald can't lose to a complete novice!" Rio yelled in disbelief. She refused to believe that her brother could sink low like this. Losing to someone that has never won before, while Reginald has always placed high in tournaments. It was inconceivable!

Oliver had stopped laughing, and looked serious a for a moment. "Trust me, princess! It happened. Looks like the rumors about him beating the former Number 1 Duel Titan may have been nothing but a fluke too. There is no way Andrew Green could ever lose to him. Shark must have cheated somehow just like how he did during Nationals. He couldn't take the pressure, hahaha!"

Rio was furious, what was he trying to pull calling her brother is a cheater? Unbelievable. "Be quiet! I don't want to hear anymore of these lies spewing from your mouth! My brother would never cheat in a Duel! You've really done it now! Now, put your disk on and let's go already!" She activated her Duel Disk right away.

Oliver did the same. "Your brother? That explains why you're getting angry." Oliver was able to quickly piece together the fact Rio was Shark's sister. "Sure thing princess! In fact I will give you a demonstration of what the true strongest Duelist at Heartland Academy can do!"

"Augmented Reality Vision Link Established!" The duel pads called out as the AR Vision Link was set in motion.

"DUEL!" Rio and Oliver yelled out in unison and drew their first five cards.

---

Rio Life Points: 4000/ Number of cards in hand: 5

Oliver Life Points: 4000/ Number of cards in hand: 5

---

Rio 1st Turn:

"I'll go first, I won't let you get away with what you said about my brother. I DRAW!" Rio drew her card with a lot of force. "I summon Aurora Phoenix!" Rio's purplish-blue aurora-themed Phoenix appeared on the field with her wings stretched out.

Aurora Phoenix: ATK: 1600/ Level 4

"When Aurora Phoenix is Normal, Special, or Flip Summoned, and there are no other monsters on my field, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I choose Aurora Wing!" This time Rio's bluish-green aurora-themed bird monster materialized on the field.

Aurora Wing: ATK: 1200/ Level 4

"Now let's try this baby out! I Overlay my Level 4 Aurora Phoenix, and Aurora Wing! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network!" Rio commanded as the Aurora Duo instantly followed through with their mistress' orders as they both turned into blue orbs of energy that soon entered the galaxy portal that was spiraling on the ground. Once the portal had exploded, Rio proceeded to chant. "The indomitable ruler from the deepest trenches, become an unyielding fortress of might, and rid yourself of any foes with your crushing claws! I Xyz Summon! Emerge, Number 52: Diamond Crab King!" Rio finished chanting as the ground opened up, allowing the sealed form of her newest ally to rise from the opening. The sealed monster unveiled his true form as the familiar dark blue crab with diamonds protruding from his back who fought against Rio at the hospital rooftop.

Number 52: Diamond Crab King: DEF: 3000/ Rank 4/ OVU: 2

"A Number Monster?" Oliver stared at Diamond Crab King in awe.

"Heads up, once this guy gets a hold of you with his claws, it will be hard for him to let go." Rio warned. Diamond Crab King tightened his claws to emphasize his mistress' statement.

"Please do! I'm not scared in the slightest! I've seen tougher monsters than this dude!" Oliver didn't feel intimidated at all by Rio's monster. He couldn't wait to reveal what he had in store for her.

"Don't be so sure about that, Diamond Crab King sure packs a punch, and I'm speaking from experience. I place one card face-down, and end my turn! You're up!" Rio set her card face-down as she passed the turn over to Oliver.

---

Rio Life Points: 4000/ Number of cards in hand: 3

Oliver Life Points: 4000/ Number of cards in hand: 5

---

Oliver 1st Turn:

"My turn eh? I Draw!" Oliver turned to glance at the card he just drew, and proceeded to laugh, because it was the one he eagerly wanted to play. "Hahaha, this is perfect. I play the Field Spell, Savage Colosseum!" Oliver said as now both he and his opponent found themselves in a classic colosseum. Rio didn't even react to the scenery change. "What's wrong? I was hoping to see you be amazed by my Field Spell... Oh well, I will just activate my Graceful Charity, which allows me to Draw three cards, but then I have to discard two cards from my hand." Oliver informed as he drew the top three cards from his Deck, adding them to his hand. He then looked through the cards he held firm, and picked two of them he wanted to get rid of. He then slotted the two cards into the Graveyard.

"I summon Rescue Rabbit!" A small rescue-helmet-wearing white and grey rabbit appeared on the field with a smile on it's face.

Rescue Rabbit: ATK: 300/ Level 4

"Now I'll use this awesome rabbit's effect to Special Summon two Normal Monsters with the same name from my Deck. I Special Summon two Dragon Zombies!" Oliver smirked as two decaying purple zombie-like dragons joined his side of the field.

Dragon Zombie x2: ATK: 1600/ Level 3

"Since you brought out your Number, then it's only fair I do the same." Oliver revealed that he possessed a Number monster too, surprising Rio.

"You have a Number too?!" Rio knew she would have to alter her plans a bit if the Number Monster he was about to summon was as tough if not tougher than Diamond Crab King.

"Indeed! I Overlay my two Level 3 Dragon Zombies, and with these monsters I build the Overlay Network!" The two Dragon Zombies turned into purple streams of light that entered an identical space-like portal to the one that Rio brought out her Number from moments earlier. He proceeded to laugh like a maniac again as the Number 26 proceeded to glow on his right cheek. "I Xyz Summon! Appear, Number 26: Spaceway Octobypass!"

Number 26: Spaceway Octobypass: DEF: 2400/ Rank: 3/ OVU: 2

"Ugh, Reginald would probably love this, but I sure don't!" Rio knew her brother always had a thing for water animals. She was mostly sure he would like this octopus too even though it looked more alien-like.

"Oh come on, just because Octobypass is your enemy right now, doesn't mean you can't appreciate his aesthetics." Oliver pouted, he didn't like that Rio was dissing his Number.

"Can you just get on with your turn already instead of fooling around?" Rio urged him to continue his turn.

"Sheesh, I'll just throw down two face-downs if that makes you happier!" Oliver finished his turn as the two face-downs materialized on the field.

---

Rio Life Points: 4000/ Number of cards in hand: 3

Oliver Life Points: 4000/ Number of cards in hand: 2

---

Rio 2nd Turn:

"It's time to get this show on the road again! I Draw! I summon my second Aurora Wing!" Another one of Rio's aurora-themed appeared on the field. This one took to the skies instantly, preferring to keep herself in the air.

Aurora Wing: ATK: 1200/ Level 4

"I'm not done yet, I switch Diamond Crab King into ATK Mode, and activate his effect!" Hearing Rio give him the signal to absorb his Overlay Unit, he proceeded to do just that.

Diamond Crab King: ATK: 0/ Rank 4: OVU: 2

Diamond Crab King: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1

"By detaching one Overlay Unit, Diamond Crab King loses all of his DEF Points, but the points he lost won't be in vain, because they will be added to his ATK instead. Brilliant Value!" Rio explained what her Number Monster could do to her opponent.

Diamond Crab King: ATK: 3000/ DEF: 0

"3000 ATK Points?!" Oliver was amazed that a Monster could conjure up an Attack Power of 3000 just like that.

"Indeed, now you know it's gonna hurt." Rio promised.

"Wait before you start attacking, I'll be using my own Number Monster's effect. Wormhole Access!" Oliver declared as he held his hand out, allowing his monster to absorb one of the Overlay Units circling him into his body. His monster proceeded to shine a silver glow.

Number 26: Spaceway Octobypass: OVU: 2 - 1

"Ugh, it's too bright!" Rio complained as she covered her eyes.

"Not bright enough if I were to say so myself, but still though, now you can only declare an ATK with only one monster this turn. A direct attack at that as well."

"I see. It's clear that you want me to attack for one reason or another, I'm not taking the bait." Rio was no fool, she could easily tell that he had something planned.

"Well too bad, because now it's time for me to explain what Savage Colosseum does. Monsters that can attack, must attack, but you can only declare one Direct Attack against me this turn. So hurry up, and pick!" Oliver demanded.

"I have no choice, do I? I have to attack with Diamond Crab King in order to get him back into Defense Position." Rio reminded herself that Number 52 can't switch Battle Position unless he attacks. Not to mention his ATK Points will be exchanged with his DEF Points again by the end of this turn. "Let him feel the hurt Diamond Crab King! Diamond Claw Crush!" Diamond Crab King quickly made his way towards Oliver again.

"Too bad for you, because I now activate both of my Trap Cards." Oliver declared as both of his face-downs revealed themselves. "First, I'll use Just Desserts' effect to deal you 500 damage for each monster you control. You have two, so take 1000 Points of damage." The card he had just mentioned proceeded to fire a red beam towards Rio, striking her left shoulder. (500 x 2 = 1000)

Rio Life Points: 4000 - 1000 = 3000

"Ugh, Lucky shot!" Rio was annoyed as she clutched her grazed shoulder with her right hand.

"If you say so, now for my other Trap, Half Unbreak!" Oliver activated as bubbles started appearing out of the said card.

"Don't tell me you're planning to use it on my Diamond Crab King?!" Rio had faced this card countless times before, she can guarantee that this is one of the most recurring cards in her career as a Duelist.

"I see you're already familiar with this card. Yes this card targets any monster on the Field and any Battle Damage I take involving that monster is cut in half. So I will target your Number to lessen the hurt you promised." A wall of bubbles formed in front of Oliver as an effort to soften the damage he would take from the incoming right claw from Diamond Crab King. The claw made contact with the bubble wall, and the shockwaves from the said contact, caused Oliver to be sent skidding across the ground. (3000/2 = 1500)

Oliver Life Points: 4000 - 1500 = 2500

"Ugh, that monster can sure pack a wallop! Before I forget, you gain 300 Life Points at the end of damage step!" Oliver got up from the ground and stared at Rio who was covered in a beautiful light green aura that lasted for a few seconds.

Rio Life Points: 3000 plus 300 = 3300

"Well isn't that rewarding, but there is more from where that came from." Rio promised

"It's too bad for you though, because now it belongs to me!" Oliver laughed.

"What are you on about now?" Rio stared at him in confusion.

"Thanks to Spaceway Octobypass' effect, now that you've dealt me Battle Damage, I can take control of the monster who damaged my Life Points. Welcome to the winning team Number 52." Oliver greeted his new ally as Rio was forced to give up her control over her Number. Diamond Crab King was now on Oliver's field.

Number: 52: Diamond Crab King: ATK: 0/ Rank 4/ OVU: 1

"Looks like Diamond Crab King is my opponent again! Just great!" Rio felt irritated upon having to deal with Diamond Crab King again this soon after acquiring his card a day ago.

Oliver let out a light chuckle. "It's only natural for a monster to side with the stronger Duelist. Now isn't it high time for you to end your turn?"

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." Rio slotted her face-down into one of the Spell/Trap zones on her Duel Disk.

"And more one thing princess." He looked at her with serious eyes.

"Hmmm, wait what th-" Rio began as she noticed that Aurora Wing was enveloped in a shrouding black aura, which caused her bird to cry out in agony.

"I forgot to tell you one more thing about what my Field Spell does. During the End Phase, it destroys face-up ATK Position Monsters that haven't attacked yet." He revealed as Aurora Wing proceeded to burst, disintegrating into particles.

---

Rio Life Points: 3300/ Number of cards in hand: 2

Oliver Life Points: 2500/ Number of cards in hand: 2

---

Oliver 2nd Turn:

"So princess, your field is wide open! How does it feel, knowing that you'll be on the receiving end of my Numbers' attacks?" Oliver stared at Rio with a smug expression.

"Correction, Diamond Crab King is my number." Rio rolled her eyes and put her right hand on her hip. "It's not like it matters anyway, this will be your last turn anyway."

"You sound awfully confident for someone who's about to take huge doses of damage. What's driving you?" Oliver wondered.

"Why don't you attack and find out then!" Rio challenged.

"If you want it to make your funeral this early, you should've just asked. My turn, I Draw. First I'll use Diamond Crab King's effect, I don't need to explain what he does now right?" Diamond Crab King consumed its Overlay Unit, and successfully gained ATK Points again.

Diamond Crab King: OVU: 1 - 1 = 0

Diamond Crab King: ATK: 3000/ DEF: 0

"It's over for you, just wait and watch! I summon Fire Princess!" He summoned forth a female pale-skinned human-like monster whose face was intense and captivating. She had long, flowing silver-white hard that cascaded down in waves with tips that turned into flames. She wore a flowing red and orange robe, that complimented her affinity for fire, and she wielded a long, twisted staff that appeared to be made of charred wood. "This princess here has quite the temper I will say, you'll see what I mean right now. Diamond Crab King, attack her directly with Diamond Claw Crush." Being forced to follow the rules of the game, Diamond Crab King had to rush towards Rio's field and strike her.

"As if I'll let you land an attack on me with my Monster! Go, Defense Draw!" A force field surrounded Rio, successfully deflecting Diamond Crab King away from her.

"Whatever, I still gain 300 Life Points, because I declared an attack." Thanks to Oliver's Field Spell, he was covered in a light green aura.

Oliver Life Points: 2500 plus 300 = 2800

"Now this is where Fire Princess' true powers come into play, since I gained Life Points she can strike you with 500 Points of Effect Damage, take it!" True to his words, Flame Princess fired a somewhat large fireball from her left palm towards Rio, and the latter couldn't do anything but take the incoming attack.

Rio Life Points: 3300 - 500 = 2800

"I see, he planned to finish me with Diamond Crab King's attack and then wipe the rest of my Life Points away with Flame Princess' effect. Too bad for you, you can kiss your hope of beating me this turn goodbye."

"Still though, looks like we have the same amount of life points right now. Isn't that cute?" he noted that both of them were sitting at 2800 LP each.

Rio flipped her hair, and gave him a condescending smile. "If you're calling yourself cute, then you might need to take a look in the mirror."

"What was that? Fire Princess, don't let her get away with that insult." Oliver ordered his monster.

Rio swiped her right hand to the side, and activated her Trap Card. "I activate one of my favorite traps, Attack Guidance Armor!" Rio folded her arms with confidence. An armor of darkness manifested on the field, and forced itself upon Fire Princess. "This armor has two different effects, but I choose to use the first one, which allows me to destroy the attacking monster."

"Impossible!" He watched as Fire Princess was consumed by the darkness the armor brought forth, and she yelled in pain as she was dragged away into the abyss beneath her. Due to his Battle Phase being over now, Diamond Crab King had to switch Battle Position.

Diamond Crab King: DEF: 0

"Hurry up and end your Turn!" Rio yelled impatiently. As much as she would love to savor moments like these, she didn't have all night.

"My Turn is over." Oliver passed over the Turn to Rio, causing Diamond Crab King's stats to return to normal.

Diamond Crab King: ATK: 0/ DEF: 3000

---

Rio Life Points: 2800/ Number of cards in hand: 3

Oliver Life Points: 2800/ Number of cards in hand: 2

---

Rio 3rd Turn:

At that moment, Yuma and Astral had arrived at the park. The crab-haired youngster was panting heavily, but he saw Rio not that far away from him. It looked like she was Dueling someone. He called out to her. "Hey Rio!"

"That voice." Rio turned to the sidelines, and saw Yuma and Astral. "What are you doing here? Yuma?"

"I should be asking you that, we're here to collect a Number." Yuma told her.

"You're too late, because I'm already working on it." She smiled as she pointed at the person in front of the other on the other side. Yuma instantly recognized who she had been Dueling.

"No way! Why are you Dueling Oliver?" Yuma was confused as to how Rio ended up Dueling Oliver.

"You know this bozo?" Rio should've honestly expected as much, they went to the same school after all. Yuma wearing the exact same school uniform as Oliver made it all the more obvious.

"Yeah, he's in my class." Yuma told her.

"It seems your classmate has a Number at his disposal." Astral informed the thirteen-year-old boy as they both were in awe by Oliver's Number.

"Oh man, that's one huge octopus!" Yuma had never seen a octopus this big.

Oliver decided it was his turn to greet. "Oh well, if it isn't my good old chum Yuma. Howdy!"

"Wait, we're friends?" Yuma had barely ever interacted with Oliver. They've Dueled here and there a few times, but their interactions were pretty limited.

Oliver cringed at the idea of being friends with Yuma. "Please, as if I would ever be friends with a novice like you."

"You want to come here and say that!?" Yuma yelled.

"Gladly!" Oliver would be glad to put Yuma in his place anytime.

"Ah Yuma, can you wait for a bit? You're interrupting my Duel!" She wondered if this was always gonna be the case whenever Yuma would show up to any of her Duel?

"Yeah Yuma, listen to her. Just because you beat that fraud Shark, doesn't mean you have what it takes to beat everybody else!" Oliver figured that he would have to set Yuma straight somehow. Rio however, stared at Oliver in shock over what he had just revealed.

"Wait a second, the novice he was talking about earlier, the one who beat my brother is..." Rio looked at Yuma with a gaze that expressed frustration while Yuma was taken aback. "I just can't believe it, my brother always said he has never lost to anyone besides Kyoji and that detestable man who burned me during any of the tournaments he participated in. I've never been able to beat him once, but now he just goes ahead and loses to a guy who has never won before! How could you, Reginald..."

Oliver remembered that Rio was Shark's sister, and now that Yuma was here, things would be even more fun. "Oh before I forget Rio, allow me to properly introduce you to the school clown of Heartland Academy. This is the guy who beat your brother Shark! Yuma Tsukumo in the flesh hahaha."

"What?! Shark is Rio's... Brother?" Yuma's mind couldn't process this revelation properly. He never could've imagined that the brother Rio was always referring to back in the days was the first person he had ever managed to beat in a Duel. "I can't believe it! The brother I promised to beat was Shark all this time? Hehehe, I actually kept my promise, but I didn't think he would be the first person I would ever defeat. Oh crud, Rio doesn't remember the promise, and judging by her expression, she's not taking it too well. Darn you Oliver!"

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking princess. How could your brother lose to someone as insignificant as Yuma. It turns out your brother wasn't all he made himself out to be." Oliver was enjoying this, he thanked whatever force it was that brought Yuma here to spectate their Duel.

"Rio, I jus-" Yuma started to say, but Rio beat him to it.

"Save it, we'll talk later after I deal with this goon." Rio put their conversation on hold, she couldn't let the information she had been given overwhelm her.

"Rio..." Yuma spoke in a somber tone.

"You should let Rio finish her Duel first Yuma. It will be easier for you two to converse by yourselves." Astral advised. Yuma nodded in agreement although he still felt sad about it. He knew if Rio had her memories, she would've been congratulating him right away, but now this served as a moment that simply reminded he was dealing with an amnesiac Rio, and not his childhood friend.

"As for you loser, you've annoyed me to no end today." Rio turned to glare at Oliver. It was time for her to finish this Duel. "I'll end this stupid charade now! This will be the final turn! I Draw! I Special Summon my Icefeather Raven!" Rio summoned her Level 6 bird of ice.

Icefeather Raven: ATK: 1900/ Level: 6

"Icefeather Raven can be Special Summoned to my field from my hand as long as I either control no monsters, or all the monsters I do control are WATER Winged Beasts." Rio then placed another card onto one of her Monster Zones. "Next I summon, this savage of mine called Frostwing Harpy!" Rio's next monster was a true frigid, crystalline beauty of ice. Frostwing Harpy had an athletic, toned figured, and her skin was a soft, icy blue, resembling the frost-kissed surface of a frozen lake. Her arms were partially covered in shimmering, frost-covered feathers that gradually transition into her massive wings. She had long, flowing hair that cascaded down her back, with streaks of icy blue that resembled frozen waterfalls. She was even adorned with a tiara-like structure made of intricate ice crystals on her forehead, shaped like, delicate, interlocking snowflakes. She wore elegant, ice-like gauntlets on her forearms, and her legs were covered in sleek, silver-blue feathers that transition into ice-like armored plating near her knees.

Frostwing Harpy: ATK: 1300/ DEF: 1200/ Level 4/ Attribute: WATER/ Winged Beast/ Effect

Effect: If this card is used for an Xyz Summon of a WATER Monster, you can treat it as a Level 5 or 6 monster. A WATER Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card as an Xyz Material gains this effect.

If it is Xyz Summoned: Add 1 "Blizzard" card from your Deck to your hand.

"Looks like Rio added another new ice creature to her Deck..." Yuma had never seen her summon Frostwing Harpy before back when they were kids, so he figured this must be one of her new additions.

"'Both Numbers on your field are going to be destroyed now." Rio informed her opponent of what was about to happen next.

"Impossible, there is nothing you have that can deal with them at the same time. You can't even Xyz Summon because the monsters on your field have different levels." He gave her a smug grin, he seriously doubted that she had something planned for him, but oh boy was he about to receive a reality check of a lifetime.

Rio shook her head at the sight of his stupidity, what was it with people assuming that their opponent had nothing planned all the time? She smiled at him as she revealed Frostwing Harpy's effect. "You'd think that would be the case at first glance, but Frostwing Harpy over here is about to prove you wrong. You see, for an Xyz Summon of a WATER Monster, she can be treated as a Level 5 or 6 Monster."

"That would mea-" Oliver finally figured out the implications of Frostwing Harpy's effect.

"Yup, I can bring out a Rank 6 Monster. I Overlay my Level 6 Icefeather Raven and Frostwing Harpy to build the Overlay Network!" Rio's two monsters turned into blue orbs of light that entered the space-like vortex on the field that was meant to bring out Number Monsters. "The swordswoman of ice, in the depths of icy judgment, where truth is frozen in time, I call upon the enforcer of absolute law! I Xyz Summon! Let everything take a cold turn, Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice!" Rui finished chanting as the ice sword with a yellow center appeared on the field, allowing its beautiful wielder to manifest next to it. Lady Justice glared at Diamond Crab King, and Octobypass, causing the former to become afraid upon seeing her. Both Crab King and Lady Justice were feeling a similar case of déjà vu.

Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice: ATK: 500/ Rank 6/ OVU: 2

"Another Number?" Oliver already figured this wasn't looking good for him anymore.

"Oh yeah! Lady Justice is here to seal the deal!" Yuma cheered.

"First, I activate the effect that Frozen Lady Justice inherited from my harpy! When Frostwing Harpy is used as material for a WATER Xyz Monster, I can add a Blizzard card from my Deck to my hand. I choose Blizzard Swallow!" Rio showed him the card that she searched out from her Deck. "Next my Frozen Lady Justice gains 1000 ATK for each Overlay Unit she has, giving her a total of 2500!"

Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice: ATK: 500 plus 1000 x 2 = 2500

"Before I forget, I activate Lady Justice's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, she can destroy all monsters in DEF mode on my opponent's side of the field! Both Numbers on your field are in DEF Mode! It's lights out for you! Absolute Judgment!" The blue Overlay Unit that was circling around Frozen Lady Justice was quickly absorbed into her sword, allowing her to hold her to raise her sword high. She summoned forth a wide blizzard storm that she directed towards her adversaries. The attack made contact with both Diamond Crab King and Octobypass, causing them both to quickly be encased in ice. A couple of seconds later, the frozen forms of Diamond Crab King and Octobypass shattered.

Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1

Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice: ATK: 2500 - 1000 = 1500

Oliver was shocked that Rio ended up doing what she told him she was gonna do earlier. Both Numbers on his field were gone. "It's over for me..."

Yuma, who witnessed what had just taken place, admired his childhood friend even more now. "Woah, she destroyed both Numbers in one go!"

"Your friend truly is truly talented Yuma, letting her join our mission was indeed the correct choice." Astral was clearly impressed with Rio's skills.

"It's fitting how the monster I'm about to Special Summon next has exactly enough ATK Points to wipe out the rest of your life points. Because I have a WATER Xyz Monster on my field, I can Special Summon this Level 4 Monster! Meet Blizzard Swallow!" Rio's next monster's body was covered in sleek, icy-blue feathers that shimmered with frost. Each feather appeared to be razor-sharp. Its were were long and narrow, the feathers transitioned from a frosty blue at the base to a nearly transparent, ice-like white at the tips. Its were intense, sharp, and icy blue, and its beak was sleek, and curved, appearing as if it were carved from pure ice. Its tail was long and forked, resembling the signature shape of a swallow's tail, but with sharp, icicle-like extensions at the ends.

Blizzard Swallow: ATK: 1300/ DEF: 700/ Level 4/ Attribute: WATER/ Winged Beast/ Effect

Effect: If a face-up WATER Xyz Monster is on the field, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) in face-up Attack Position.

"With both Number 21, and Blizzard Swallow on her field, she can deal 2800 Points of damage, which is the exact amount of Life Points he has!" Astral calculated.

Yuma continued cheering for his friend. "Go Rio! Knock him down!"

"Here goes, Blizzard Swallow!" Rio's ice bird repeatedly flapped her wings, creating gusts of icy winds that she directed at Oliver's direction. Oliver was sent flying by the power of Blizzard Swallow's Attack, causing him to land harshly on the ground. Rio also gained 300 more Life Points in the process thanks to Savage Colosseum's effect.

"Guaghhh!" Oliver grunted in pain.

Oliver Life Points: 2800 - 1300 = 1500

Rio Life Points: 2800 plus 300 = 3100

"Let's end this! Frozen Lady Justice, strike him down with Frostbite Slash!" Rio shouted. Lady Justice grinned upon hearing her mistress' order as she coated herself in an icy blue aura while raising her sword into the air. She quickly dashed through the air over to the other side in just a few seconds before delivering a powerful sideways slash that phased through across his body. The shockwaves from her attack sent Oliver sliding harshly across the ground several meters away.

Oliver Life Points: 1500 - 1500 = 0

Winner: Rio (LP: 3100)

"Game, set and match!" Rio giggled lightly as she took off her Duel Gazer, causing the holograms of her monsters, the colosseum, and the augmented reality as a whole to vanish. Rio looked at her opponent's unconscious form, and held her right hand out in front of her. She extracted Number 26 from his soul, and grabbed it with her outstretched hand. She huffed. "Hmph, serves him right!"

Yuma ran up to her eagerly, with Astral following suit. Yuma congratulated her for winning her Duel. "Way to go, Rio! I was only here for the last turn, but judging by how you had 3100 LP by the end of the Duel, this must have been a walk in the park for you."

Astral joined in congratulating her as well "You did admirably. With this victory, I assume you have three Numbers just like us? That would leave us with only 93 more left to collect."

Rio let a small smile grace her lips. "Thanks... I really appreciate it, you guys." Rio then held her left elbow with her right hand while looking at Yuma with a somber expression on her face. She didn't look too sure whether she wanted Yuma to explain what happened between him and her brother. However, Reginald's absence from the orphanage yesterday, and today as well made her want to get to the bottom of this. Could losing to Yuma have hurt her brother's ego to this extent? "Tell me Yuma, I need to know... What happened between you and my brother?"

Yuma wished he bothered to ask her what her brother's name was when they were younger in case he had to prepare himself for a situation like this. Imagine to his surprise, finding out his childhood friend's older brother happened to be the first Duelist he had ever manage to get a win off of. "Rio, I ju-" was all he could get out before everything faded to black.

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And that's that for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. So yeah, I've introduced some characters from the WDC DS Game like Doris Hunter and Maria Bianchi, not to mention Oliver from Duel Links made an appearance as well as Rio's opponent for this chapter.

As you can see as well, in addition to already being able to see Duel Spirits, Yuma has the ability to travel to the Duel Spirit World whenever he wants to. His monsters gave him permission and the power to do that because of how much they trust and love him.

I've been happy to see some of my favorite archetypes to receive support lately, like the Monarchs, Super Quants, and it's been speculated that Lunalights are receiving some too, which I'm incredibly hopeful about. Also, I love that they finally retrained some of Yuma's OG Monsters, Gagaga Girl finally received her Xyz Form like her other half Magician, Gogogo Golem letting Goblindbergh join the Gogogo Squad, same case with the Gagaga Crew letting Ganbara join them as well. Zubababa Knight looks cooler than ever too.

I find it strange how the new Utopic Future's design is themed after Zexal III, when it's usually Number 39's evolutions that take after the Zexal Forms, but it is what it is.

Now I just hope Vector can receive Support this year, since he should be arriving in Duel Links soon enough. Umbral Horrors really need a make-over ASAP. His Aces Chaos Chimera and Masquerade were always so damn cool, it's just a shame that Vector's Deck can't really utilize them to the fullest capacity.

I'm just glad that other characters than the Main Trio of Zexal are finally receiving more acknowledgement. I'm extremely happy for my boy Mizar, now that he made Tachyon Transmigration searchable, got himself a new variant of Dragluon in the form of Dragluxion. I wish they made a new Xyz Form for Tachyon too, but I guess that'll just have to wait for now. Strangely enough, the guy has an honorary Fusion Monster now in the form of Khaos Starsource Dragon, like it's literally made for him. So expect to see, Mizar have that card as his secondary ace in the future.

Also, for those of you who don't know Gagaga Magician's comical outburst was a Ninjago reference, where Zane was the Pink Ninja for an episode because Lloyd messed with his laundry.

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Card Catalog/OC Cards used in this Chapter:

Rio's Cards:

(From Previous Chapters)

Aurora Phoenix: ATK: 1600/ DEF: 1400/ Attribute: WATER/ Level 4/ Winged Beast/ Effect

Effect: When it is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned, if there are no other monsters on your side of the field, Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower WATER Winged Beast monster from your hand.

Icefeather Raven: ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1400/Attribute: WATER/ Level 6/ Winged Beast/ Effect

Effect: If you control no monsters, or all monsters you control are WATER Winged Beast monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.

(Debuted in this Chapter)

Frostwing Harpy: ATK: 1300/ DEF: 1200/ Level 4/ Attribute: WATER/ Winged Beast/ Effect

Effect: If this card is used for an Xyz Summon of a WATER Monster, you can treat it as a Level 5 or 6 monster. An Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card as an Xyz Material gains this effect.

If it is Xyz Summoned: Add 1 "Blizzard" card from your Deck to your hand.

Blizzard Swallow: ATK: 1300/ DEF: 700/ Level 4/ Attribute: WATER/ Winged Beast/ Effect

Effect: If a face-up WATER Xyz Monster is on the field, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) in face-up Attack Position.