Welcome Back Everybody!
We have officially reached the one-year anniversary of this story!
A Massive Thank You to everybody who stuck around this long and kept on reading! You're the lifeblood of the story!
A few shout-outs before we get started!
Donjusticia and Epsilontarantula! For helping in proofreading, polishing, and being all around great friends!
Lastly, a special shoutout to NeoWarKid! For leaving possibly the best comment I've ever received on any of my stories. It was so good that it gave me serious inspiration for how to write this chapter. In what way? There's only one way to find out!
Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Fallout
Mizar was a soldier, dutiful and dedicated to his cause, but he loathed his current assignment. Every journey to the world of humans was more exhausting and frustrating than the last. He was never the most social of individuals, always enjoying his solitude and always quick to irritate even when talking with others of his kind, but that paled in comparison to being forced to interact with these creatures, these humans.
It was baffling to him how they lived, delusional of their importance and blissfully unaware of anything beyond what was relevant to their short, meaningless lives. They would whine and complain over the smallest inconveniences while never having faced the fear of their world's imminent extinction. They were a violent race, divided into many nations, never truly united, always starting wars for one reason or another, or even flatout encouraging and supporting conflict when none of them had ever fought in a real war.
Most infuriating of all, most humans believed they were alone in the universe, that out of the millions of barren spheres in the infinite spans of space and time, theirs and only theirs was the single world that mattered, the only one full of life, when that couldn't be further from the truth.
"Ignorant vermin," Mizar muttered disdainfully to himself as he exited from the other side of the portal, allowing the radiant chaos in the magenta colored mist surrounding him to dance across his skin.
Mizar had never appreciated the chaotic beauty of his home until he had to leave for Earth. Each return home felt like he was seeing it for the first time. The sky resembled a wildfire. Golden clouds danced around shades of orange and red while swirling around a black sun, and down below lay a forest of rose colored spires, each one as tall and full of energy as the grandest of Earth trees.
"Ah…Barian World," Mizar whispered, the very acknowledgement of his world's name putting his mind at ease.
Out from the portal, the extraterrestrial ascended up a flight of stairs to the top of the tallest of the spires, entering a doorway to its hollowed out summit. It was in this secluded stone sanctuary the Seven Emperors of the Barian World would gather together to rule the Barian World as a united council, but those days were a thing of the past. The Barian World once prospered under the rule of the Seven, but now there were only four. Of the three that were missing, one simply could not be bothered to attend meetings or do any work unless it suited his whims.
As for the other two….
Mizar's eyes drifted upward towards the flight of stairs in front of him. Overlooking the six crystal chairs floating neatly in a circle was a much larger throne. For what seemed like an eternity, that throne, along with one of the six chairs, lay empty, and empty they would remain.
"There he is! Welcome back, Mizar. Did you enjoy your latest visit to Earth?" One of his colleagues, a red-cloaked Barian addressed him in a cocky, teasing tone of voice.
Mizar rolled his eyes. Even after countless cycles of working together, his colleagues never changed, never ceased to find new ways to annoy him. All it took was one second of hearing Alito's voice, and Mizar's mood grew sour once again.
"Of course not, Alito! Vector was the one who set up this alliance with the Tenjo family, but instead of committing to his own plan, he up and abandons us for who knows what reason, and now I have to do his job, day after day, after day! Have you found him?"
Alito shook his head. "Nope. If he returned to the Barian World, we'd have known about it."
A deep rumbling growl emanated from a shadowed corner of the room, and a Barian twice Mizar's height wearing a dark brown cloak emerged from the dark to take his own seat.
"That little gremlin is hiding out somewhere on Earth goofing off while our home slowly crumbles into dust with each passing cycle. Does he even care about Barian World? When I get my hands on Vector, I'll give him something to care about!"
"Much as I would like to join you in teaching Vector a lesson, Girag, we have more pressing matters to attend to," Mizar replied before turning his attention to the fourth Barian in the throne room.
He wore a clean white cloak with a jagged, golden circlet wrapped around the back of the hood. The fourth Barian stood motionless at the foot of the stairs, gazing at the empty throne at the top like an astronomer studying the stars.
"Durbe, have you finished manufacturing enough Barian Sphere Cubes for all of us?"
Mizar's question went ignored and unanswered, as if the fourth Barian, Durbe, believed he was the only person in the room.
"DURBE!" Mizar's shouting finally snapped the Barian out of his trance, and he turned to face his colleagues.
"I asked you a question."
"Hmmm? Ah. Yes. Apologies, Mizar. I was… lost in thought."
"That's the seventh meeting in a row he's been 'lost in thought,'" Alito complained.
"Oh for the love of….." Mizar grunted. "Durbe, you cannot keep doing this to yourself! Staring at that throne isn't going to magically make her return to us. She's not coming back! Merag is dead, and so is Nasch! They are lost to us forever!"
"Of course they are! I'm not blind! Am I not allowed to mourn?!" Durbe's echoed tirade shook the whole throne room like thunder, causing his colleagues to jump. The white cloaked Barian, remorseful from lashing out, unclenched his fists and relaxed.
"I apologize, Mizar. Please repeat the question. You were the one who called this meeting after all. When you messaged us that you were returning home, it sounded like an emergency."
"Yes, it is an emergency." Mizar confirmed. "Now, are the cubes ready or not?"
Durbe shook his head. "I'm afraid not. If our home wasn't in such a state of decay, I could work faster, but sadly, we do not have the luxury of a healthy planet. That being said, I must question your reasoning. Based on your last progress report, the Tenjo family appears to be making decent progress in collecting the Numbers. What has changed? Has the Doctor somehow lost all the Numbers he collected for you?"
"I'm afraid it is far worse than that. Our enemy has arrived on Earth. Astral has found a host. He is in the city and he has already collected several Numbers."
The entire throne room became silent as the grave, with each Barian contemplating the horrifying implications. They thought for sure they had more time before Astral found a host, more time to prepare for war when in reality they were already in the thick of it.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Alito shot up from his seat with fiery vigor. "Why are we sitting around when we can go to Earth right now and take him out for good?"
"No, Alito!" Durbe shot his comrade's eagerness down with firm authority.
"But…" Alito was about to complain when Mizar cut him off.
"Do you think we would even bother making an alliance with a group of humans if we could simply travel to Earth whenever we wanted with no repercussions? That planet barely has enough chaos energy to sustain us under normal circumstances, much less if we wish to duel at our full strength, which is why we need the cubes!"
Mizar glared at Durbe, directing the final part of his explanation at him. Durbe calmly nodded his head, shooting a look at Alito, who relented, sinking back into his chair.
"I will ensure the cubes are perfected. In the meantime, we must strike Astral and his host immediately before they have a chance to collect any more Numbers," Durbe affirmed.
"Did you discover the identity of the host?"
"The mayor of that city has detailed files on every duelist in the city, and after a little bit of digging, I discovered a name that matches the face of Astral's host, an adolescent male named Yuma Tsukumo."
"Then he is our primary target. Astral would never travel far away from his host, so if we find Yuma, then we shall find Astral," Durbe concluded. "Girag, I leave this mission to you."
The brown cloaked Barian shifted uncomfortably at the prospect of confronting their world's greatest foe. "Me? By myself? Are you sure?"
"Did I stutter, Girag?" The white cloaked Barian asked with a sharp glare. "You know what to do. Test the waters. We do not know how many Numbers Astral has in his possession or how powerful he and his host truly are as a coordinated unit. Find the right humans to serve as our assassins, and set them upon our enemy. You can do this, Girag. You're a warrior. You are one of the Seven Emperors for a reason, so act like one and teach Astral to fear us before crushing him while he's still weakened."
Girag finally stood up, invigorated by Durbe's encouragement, his massive frame towering over the other Barians. "You're right. I am a warrior, and so I shall answer your call to arms. I'll get every single Number, Durbe. You have my word!"
A spiraling vortex appeared at the Barian's back, summoned by his affirmation, and the giant disappeared into the portal, departing for Earth. While Mizar and Alito continued to bicker amongst themselves regarding their duties and the cause, Durbe turned his attention back to the empty throne. Muffled underneath the arguments of his colleagues, Durbe lowered his head and closed his eyes, imagining the owner of the throne was there to listen to his mournful vow.
"Merag, Nasch, our victory is close at hand. Our dream is about to become reality."
"If it's the last thing I do, Barian World will return to its former glory, and Astral World will be destroyed."
The subjects of the Barians' incoming wrath remained completely unaware of the new threat soon to arrive at their world, but they could hardly think of future threats when they had yet to recover from their most recent defeat.
Yuma lay hunched over a foot locker in his bedroom, his entire collection of cards sprawled out in front of him. He was far too rattled from his duel with the Number Hunter to relax, let alone sleep, so he turned his mind to what was always on his mind, dueling. Every time Yuma suffered a defeat, he would follow what his father taught him and get right back up to try again, but in all of his past defeats, the only stakes Yuma had to face was the embarrassment of losing. His life had never been on the line before, and it was only by pure chance that he avoided such consequences. He briefly glanced over at Astral, who was hovering above him, staring blankly at the wall.
The spirit had been silent ever since they returned home, and a part of Yuma couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk. He almost got Astral killed with his performance tonight. Yuma realized he never truly put the stakes of dueling with Numbers into perspective until his own life was on the line, when Astral had to deal with such risks every time they dueled. Was that the problem? Was he not taking the quest for the Numbers seriously enough? In the process of gaining confidence through his victories in some of the most challenging duels of his life, had he forgotten that they only had to lose once?
The corpse-like face of the duelist from the mall flashed in his mind as he placed more cards in front of him. They had been given something Kaito's previous victims were never blessed with, a second chance. Yuma couldn't afford to waste it. There would be no more mistakes this time, not a single margin of error. He couldn't let Astral down again. Fearful as Yuma was to face Kaito again, he would be foolish to believe the hunter would leave them alone. He would come for them again, maybe even tomorrow, and they needed to be ready if they wanted a chance of winning during their rematch.
BOOM!
An explosion from the storm outside snapped Astral out of his trance. The spirit jumped, letting out a cry of alarm as he saw the window light up from the flash in the distance. Yuma noticed just the spirit was visibly trembling, staring at the window like a deer about to be hit by a truck.
"Astral, it's okay. It's just a little thunder and lightning."
Hearing Yuma's voice brought the spirit back to reality, and the shaking stopped.
"My apologies Yuma. When I saw that flash of light outside, I thought I saw….. I saw….."
"The dragon?" Yuma finished his partner's sentence, and Astral replied with a silent nod.
"I don't blame you, Astral. That dragon was scarier than anything we faced before, and that hunter was in a completely different league. That's why we can't afford to rest. We need a plan, and you're the brains of this team, so come over here and help me."
Astral reluctantly floated over and studied what Yuma was doing. All of Yuma's cards were neatly organized into different piles with their collection of Number Monsters front and center. To say Astral was surprised was an understatement. He had never seen Yuma organize or plan anything, especially something related to dueling despite the boy's obsession with the game.
"We can't just sit around feeling sorry for ourselves," Yuma began. "We have to come up with a plan in case he shows up again. Sure, he overpowered two of our best Numbers, but we have a bunch of other cards he hasn't seen before, so what do you think? We almost had him at one point, so if you can help me figure out how to tweak my deck a little bit and maybe come up with a better strategy, we can do fine in the rematch. Look, I even managed to scrounge up some spare cards that weren't in my deck before! Maybe if we mix and match them, we could come up with something we didn't think of before. Come on, Astral. Help me out here! Work that magic brain of yours!"
Astral noticed Yuma sounded more desperate than confident, as if he was expecting Kaito to barge into their house any minute now and challenge them without giving them even a day to recover.
He reluctantly took a closer look, but each passing second of staring at Yuma's cards only made the despair he felt grow worse.
"Well? Come on! Gimme an answer! There must be something here we've overlooked!"
"I do not know."
"What do you mean you don't know?!"
"Just as I said. I do not know," Astral felt ashamed to give Yuma such an answer, but it was the truth.
"But….. what….. You…." Yuma suddenly felt the same panic he felt during his duel with the hunter return to him at full force. "You're supposed to have all the answers! Look, I know I screwed up big time, but you can fix that, can't you? I'll listen more closely next time! I promise!"
"Yuma, stop! It was not your fault that we lost!" Astral replied, his stoic voice elevating enough to catch the teenage boy's full attention. "Listen to me, Yuma. You did everything right in that duel. You followed my every instruction to the letter, and you even managed to execute several moves without requiring my instructions. The hunter was simply too powerful and skilled. For every strategy we invented, he already had the perfect counter strategy in reserve. For every Number we summoned, he possessed a way to neutralize them. There was nothing either of us could have done."
"How can you say that?!" Yuma shouted. "And, what? You're saying there's nothing we can do the next time he shows up? Are you saying we have no choice but to just roll over and give up?"
"I am only saying that even when we duel at our absolute best, it is possible to fail anyway."
Astral floated away from the pile of cards, returning to his spot where he could stare at the wall.
"Yuma, I was under the impression that the Number cards were the key to the ultimate source of power, and yet this duelist came along and rendered them completely obsolete. The Numbers are all we have, Yuma. You possess no other cards with that kind of power. If we cannot win with our Numbers, then how can we win at all?"
"But…. Astral you can't be serious!" Yuma wailed, his panic evolving into true terror. For a brief moment, he imagined himself in the same catatonic state as the duelist from the mall, soul stolen, eyes devoid of life. "You've always had all the answers! You've always known what to do! This is the one time where I'm begging you to tell me what to do, and you're just leaving me out to dry? You're the expert here, Astral, so give me a strategy! Give me something! Give me anything!"
But Astral had nothing to give. He gave one final sigh and disappeared back into the Emperor's Key.
"What? That's it?! You're just going to run away? After all we've done together, you're just going to give up?! Astral, come on! Come back! I can't fight this guy by myself! I'm not good enough!"
Yuma stopped his rant, realizing what he just said, as if he just stabbed himself in the heart with the ugly truth. He waited a few more seconds, clinging to the last glimmer of hope that Astral would come back with some form of comfort, some form of reassurance.
"Astral, please come back…." he whispered one last time, but Astral never came.
Falling back onto his bed hammock, Yuma rolled over and quietly cried.
"I'm not good enough…."
Yuma spent the entire night haunted by his failures, crippled with anxiety, and he awoke the next morning completely deprived of sleep. He ended up poaching some of his sister's coffee just to summon the energy to get to school on time.
While even on a good day, he had trouble paying attention in class, his exhaustion and elevated stress levels made focusing impossible. He found himself staring off into space in the middle of class, nodding off every so often, something that did not go unnoticed by his closest friend.
Kotori was a mother hen by nature. She couldn't help it. She cared too much about her friends to simply mind her own business when she suspected something was wrong. As such, there was no way she was letting what happened last night go. Everything about yesterday was perfect until the last possible second, when Yuma randomly fell to his knees and started crying. Even worse, he spent the rest of the night avoiding her questions, constantly brushing off her attempts to ask him what was wrong, that it was nothing.
"I'm not good enough."
Even over the sound of last night's storm, she heard him say that. It was all the proof she needed to know it wasn't nothing. Was he simply upset from losing in yesterday's tournament at Sol City? Did Astral say something to him that upset him that much?
Whatever it was, Yuma seemed to be back to his normal self during class. There he was, staring off into space as usual, likely dreaming about dueling instead of focusing on the lesson.
"Yep, same old Yuma." she thought to herself, although she still had every intention of checking on him the moment classes were done for the day. Finally, when the final period ended, she got her chance, catching Yuma wandering off the school grounds.
"Yuma, you're not going to pass any of your classes if you have dueling on your brain 24/7!" She scolded him playfully. "You gotta focus! I'd hate to see you get held back a year because you forget to turn off your dueling brain during school hours."
"Huh?"
Yuma's face jerked up, and when he turned around to face her, Kotori finally got a good look at her friend for the first time all day. Yuma's eyes were completely bloodshot, and that spark of energy and confidence Kotori loved to see just wasn't there.
"Sorry… Did you say something?" he mumbled.
Kotori's fears were now realized. Normally Yuma would instantly get defensive, which would lead to a teasing match that would go on until they met Rio for dueling practice.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong, Yuma? You still don't want to talk about last night?"
"Last night? Uh, No! No! I'm fine!" Yuma quickly said with a slurred tone. "Sorry, I just didn't get any sleep last night. The gas tank is running on empty, but don't worry. I'll feel better tomorrow."
"Well I'm not content to wait until tomorrow!" Kotori argued. "Now come on. Rio and the others are already waiting for us. Let's head over to dueling practice. Maybe a duel can get those cobwebs out of your brain and brighten up your mood."
"No thanks, Kotori."
"Wha… What?! What do you mean 'no?!'" Kotori immediately questioned if she heard correctly. If there was one thing Yuma would never do, it was turn down a chance to duel.
"Well….. Uh…. I just need a day off, that's all…." Yuma gave an incredibly weak excuse.
"Yuma, you're not sick are you? We were out in a pretty bad rainstorm last night, weren't we? I think you might have caught a cold from being out in that typhoon for so long."
"No, I'm not sick, I just…."
"Then what?! What is it? Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" She asked, growing more frantic. "I'm your friend, Yuma! Why won't you let me help you?"
Yuma's eyes darted away from her, a conflicted look forming on his face. "Kotori…. I don't think you can help me on this one. I don't even know how to explain it to you… Just…. Just let this one go, okay?"
"No! I will not let it go! Whatever happened last night has turned you into a complete wreck! This is not normal! Is it about Astral? Did something happen to him? Are there Numbers involved?"
"Can't you take a hint that I don't want to talk about it?!" Yuma snapped, his voice elevating from the stress. "If you want to help me, then you can help me by leaving me alone!"
Yuma forced out his final sentence much louder than he intended, causing Kotori to jump back in surprise. His face softened again when he saw just how hurt she looked.
"Kotori…. I didn't mean to yell at you, I just…." He paused, and for a brief second, Kotori grew hopeful he would tell her the truth. "I'm just tired. I'm going to go home and take a nap."
"But…. Yuma! Wait!" Kotori gave one final whimpering plea, but Yuma ignored her.
Defeated, Kotori finally let Yuma go. Her eyes began to water as she watched Yuma depart the school grounds. Sure, they had argued before, but Yuma had never shouted at her like that. Something was definitely wrong with him, and there had to be Numbers involved. Why else would Yuma get so defensive the moment she brought them up?
"But that makes no sense…" Kotori whispered to herself. "Nothing happened last night. It's not like somebody showed up and crushed him in just one second, he….."
She paused, a memory stopping her train of thought.
"Just one second…." she repeated, her eyes growing wide from the realization.
"The mall! But…. that means….." Another, much darker thought crossed her mind.
Clenching her fist, she quickened her pace, making a beeline to the park outside the school grounds. She needed answers, and she had the sinking feeling that somebody was keeping them from her.
Over at the dueling park, Tetsuo and Cathy had already arrived to meet Rio, and the Ice Queen was attempting to get Cathy more accustomed to being part of a group of friends, helping the cat girl shake off her anxiety problems regarding dueling in front of an audience.
Her trembling body and reddened face of course, were betraying her nervousness.
"Alright, Cathy. You should get the first duel since this is your first day of dueling practice with us."
"But…. well…. I don't know, Rio…" Cathy stuttered. "If I'm here, then that makes five duelists. Maybe if I sat out, then the four of you can pair up with somebody."
"Nonsense!" Rio insisted. "You've got friends now, Cathy, and as the newest member of our little dueling club, you should get the first game."
"Yeah, you're one of us, now," Tetsuo agreed. "Come on. When Kotori and Yuma get here, you can show them what you're really capable of."
"Rio!"
Just as Cathy seemed to come around to the idea of dueling in front of Yuma, the sound of Kotori's voice alerted the trio to their approach. She did not look happy at all, and even stranger, Yuma wasn't with her.
"Hey, Kotori!" Rio greeted the greenette. "Where's Yuma?"
"Yuma went home!" Kotori answered, her hostile tone of voice setting the whole group on edge.
"Guys, Yuma was out of it today, and I mean completely out. Something has Yuma so depressed that he's not interested in dueling, and he won't tell me why."
"Oh no…." Cathy squeaked.
"So the Sol City tournament went that bad, huh?" Tetsuo sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Did he lose in the first round?"
"No, he made it to the quarterfinals. That's not what I'm talking about!" Kotori continued. "One minute we were trying to get out of the rain, and the next thing I knew, he was on his knees crying his eyes out, and now today it looks like whatever happened to him has gotten worse!"
Kotori then turned her full attention to the Ice Queen, glaring at her.
"Rio, would you care to tell us what actually happened at the mall yesterday?"
Rio went pale. "What…. What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean! We were out shopping, not a care in the world. You get a call from Yuma claiming there's a Number in the mall. There's a flash of light, and the next thing Cathy and I knew, you were on the other side of the mall! Poof! Just like that, like you teleported! After that, you practically forced us out of the mall, and when we tried to ask you about the Number, you got all cagey and told us not to worry about it. What are you not telling us, Rio?"
"Kotori, where is this coming from?" Rio asked, more confused than ever. "What does the incident at the mall have to do with….. Oh no…" Realizing the horrible truth, the Ice Queen covered her face with her hands and groaned in anguish. "Ohhhh Nooooo!"
"What does, "oh no" mean, Rio?" Kotori asked, a cold fury building within her.
"So, I told you why I got from one side of the mall to the next in the span of a second, right?" Rio began, and Kotori nodded, with Tetsuo and Cathy listening intently. "It was like the entire mall was frozen in time, except for me, yeah? The Number holder at the mall wasn't responsible for that. There was another guy. He got to the Number first. Somebody other than us is hunting Numbers, and….. Well…."
Her voice trailed off as she took out her phone, looking quite guilty.
"Alright, look. I didn't show you this because I didn't want any of you to freak out, but this is what the hunter did to that guy at the mall after he took his Number. Look."
She put the picture of the soulless Number holder on display for her friends to see, and looks of horror formed on all three. Tetsuo's jaw gaped open, while Cathy screamed and jumped back.
"What….. What….. What happened to him?" Kotori stuttered. Her body shivered from the horrible implications. For a brief moment, she saw Yuma's face in the photo. "He's not dead, is he?"
"No, just catatonic," Rio answered. "But when I went to the hospital last night to check on my brother, I found out he wasn't the only one. There's about a dozen patients at the hospital just like him with the same symptoms, gray skin, white hair, dull eyes, non-responsive. Whoever he is, he's collected over a dozen Numbers already, and I don't think they have any chance of returning to normal unless we stop him."
Each new piece of information disturbed the group even further. They had seen both Yuma and Rio face several dangerous opponents ever since the Number Crisis began, but none were more serious than this and nobody was taking it worse than Kotori.
"So you're telling me, Yuma could have ended up just like these people last night?!" She shrieked, but then a new horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Wait…. Did Astral die?"
"What do you mean?" asked Cathy. Being the newest member of the group, she only vaguely knew about Astral.
"Well, if Yuma dueled against this hunter guy, there's no way he'd be depressed if he won, and according to him, if he loses a duel and his opponent takes all his Numbers, then Astral dies."
"Actually, Kotori, no," Tetsuo shook his head. "I think Astral's still alive. If we lost Astral like you said, then Yuma wouldn't have his Number cards with him. I saw him shuffling through them at his locker right before gym class. At first I thought it was just Yuma being Yuma, but that's definitely not the case now that I know what happened last night."
"Okay, so Astral's still alive. Thank God," Rio breathed a sigh of relief. "And obviously Yuma's okay."
Kotori gave her a look, and the Ice Queen quickly corrected herself. "I mean he's physically okay. Obviously, whatever happened during his duel with the hunter messed him up pretty bad. For the record, Kotori, I told him not to duel him without me. I just never expected he would find us so quickly."
"I don't think a duelist who does such horrible things to his opponents would give Yuma a choice." Cathy hissed quietly, loathing the idea of this hunter trying to hurt Yuma.
"But wait, Yuma wasn't alone. You were with him," Tetsuo pointed at Kotori. "Let's say this crazy theory about stopping time is true. If this hunter stopped time so he could corner Yuma and force him to duel, then how come he was able to duel this guy, but Kotori wasn't? If she had been able to move, then she and Yuma could have dueled this guy together."
"I think the answer is pretty obvious." Kotori answered bitterly, giving Rio another glare.
"What?" Rio asked, puzzled at Kotori's hostility. It was as if the green haired teen thought Yuma's near death experience was somehow her fault.
"Obviously, he's not going to freeze anybody who has a Number card because he needs to duel them in order to take their Numbers for himself. That's why I couldn't move! I didn't have a Number, so he wasn't interested in dueling me, so he froze me! Yuma almost died last night because I couldn't help him!"
"Kotori, please calm down! Yuma wasn't going to die!" Rio tried her best to soothe her friend's sudden panic attack, although her efforts were clearly in vain. "Yuma managed to get out of there unscathed. All we need to do is keep an eye out for the hunter and make sure he doesn't get the drop on him again. We're going to take this guy down, Kotori! I promise!"
"What do you mean, we?!" Kotori exclaimed, sounding offended. "In case you forgot, only two out of five duelists in our little Number Hunting Club can actually fight this guy because only two of us have Numbers! That needs to change! We should all be using Numbers at this point! That way none of us will be out of the action if the hunter shows up again."
Tetsuo and Cathy exchanged nervous glances with each other, something Kotori immediately noticed.
"What? You guys don't agree with me? Are you serious? Yuma needs us! Rio can't be there all the time. We all need Numbers so we can fight this guy as a team!"
"Uh…. No offense Kotori, but even if Yuma or Rio agreed to loan me a Number, I think I'll pass," Tetsuo confessed. "Those cards may be safe for Yuma and Rio to use, but it seems like they're bad news for everybody else. I don't want to touch those things."
"And I actually did get possessed," Cathy spoke up, reminding the group of what she was capable of when she had a Number of her own. "I think it's safe to say I'll likely get possessed again no matter which Number I have."
Kotori's eyes darted to Rio, then to Tetsuo and Cathy, then back to the Ice Queen. She began to grow even more desperate. "Come on, Rio! Please! What if I can resist it like you? I let this go last time, but now the dangers we're facing are getting worse! How can we work as a team if most of the team can't even help?"
"Well…. Kotori… I…." Rio began, but Kotori interrupted her and continued her frantic ranting.
"Look, If you give me a Number and I get possessed, you can just duel me again and take it back. You could even get Tetsuo and Cathy to gang up on me, three against one, but I have to know! I can't stand the idea of what happened last night happening again! I can't stand the thought of Yuma, or any of my friends in that kind of danger. What about you, Rio? Do you really want to take the risk of dueling this guy alone?"
Rio stood her ground, her voice turning firm and her eyes hardening into an icy stare.
"I will if I have to, but I'm hoping the next time this hunter shows up, Yuma and I can take him together! Look, I'm sorry about not telling you about what this new threat is capable of. I didn't want you to freak out like you're doing right now, and I'm sorry about last night. I didn't think the hunter would find Yuma. I shouldn't have let him out of my sight knowing there was a threat he couldn't face by himself out there."
"What if it happens again!?" Kotori inquired. "You two can't be together every second. What if he waits until one of you is alone? What then?"
"We'll just have to be careful," Rio answered.
"That's not good enough!" Kotori shouted. "We can't leave anything to chance! If all of us have Numbers, then we can watch each other's backs. Just give me a Number so I can protect my friends!"
Rio was unfazed, her icy glare hardening further. "No! My answer is the same as last time, Kotori. I don't want you messing around with the Numbers. I don't want to risk you getting possessed. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Kotori," Tetsuo tried to comfort her friend. "Rio and Yuma are unstoppable when they work as a team. They're going to beat this guy no problem next time he shows up. You worry too much."
"I worry too much?"
Tetso now realized he only made things worse. Kotori stared at all three of her friends with a look of betrayal in her eyes. Clenching her fists in frustration, she spoke to the Ice Queen in a dark whisper.
"Rio… I'm not asking you to give me a Number anymore….. I'm telling you…"
The entire park seemed to go completely silent, and the other three teenagers stared at Kotori.
"What?" Rio's voice was equally quiet, the tension in the air growing thick as a dense cloud of fog.
"I'm dead serious, Rio." Kotori snapped. "Give me a Number, now!"
"Kotori, no! Please don't fight!" Cathy pleaded.
"Yeah, this is getting out of hand." Tetsuo agreed.
"We're all friends here! We can't help Yuma if we turn on each other!"
"NO!" Kotori shrieked, her face turning red. "I can't do this anymore! I'm not just going to sit by and do nothing while my friends are in danger! I won't be forced to the sidelines when my friends need me! I won't be…. I won't be…. useless!"
"Kotori, you're not useless," Rio insisted.
"I WAS LAST NIGHT!"
The green haired teen burst into tears, sobbing profusely, her eyes boiling with anger towards Rio and herself. "By some miracle, Yuma didn't end up like those people, but what if he did? It would have killed me if that happened to him! I could have helped him! I could have been there for him like a proper friend if I just had a Number!"
Feeling her friend's pain, Rio's icy visage melted away into one of warm sympathy.
"Alright, Kotori. How about I make you a deal?" She asked, causing Kotori to perk up. "Duel me! I will give you one of my Numbers if you win, but only if you win. If you lose, you get nothing, and you put this whole thing to rest."
"Uh, Rio, are you sure this is a good idea?" Tetsuo inquired, growing even more nervous.
"I don't think there's any other way to put this to rest," Rio admitted, readying her duel disk. "She's clearly not going to let this go. If Kotori wants a Number, she's going to have to earn it."
"Oh, I'll earn it alright!" Kotori growled, activating her own duel disk. "You're right, Rio. I will never let it go. I'm not leaving without a Number, and if this is how you're going to act, then I'll just take them from you! LET'S DUEL!"
Duel Gazer Set
Augmented Reality Vision Online
Kotori Mizuki: 4000 LP
Rio Kamishiro: 4000 LP
DUEL!
"Alright, Kotori," Rio goaded the green haired girl on, silently praying that this duel would help her calm down and listen to her. "If you're so eager to take my Numbers, you can go first."
"Fine! I will! Since I have no monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Madolche Petingcessour from my hand, and when I do, I can special summon a second Madolche Monster from my deck, like my Madolche Puddingcess!"
In the blink of an eye, the two princesses of the kingdom of sweets appeared on Kotori's field, their blond hairdos cascading in the wind. They gave Rio a courtesy as they rested on two puzzle piece blocks on the ground.
Madolche Puddingcess: Level 5/EARTH/Fairy/1000 ATK/1000 DEF
Madolche Petingcessour: Level 4/EARTH/Fairy/1400 ATK/1400 DEF
"Next, I'll summon Madolche Butlerusk! Now I can add Madolche Chateau from my hand thanks to Butlerusk's effect."
A young man in a butler's uniform appeared in between the two princesses, calmly pouring tea from the kettle in his hand.
Madolche Butlerusk: Level 4/EARTH/Spellcaster/1500 ATK/800 DEF
"I overlay my Petingcessour and my Butlerusk! With these 2 Level 4 Monsters, I build the overlay network!"
"XYZ SUMMON! APPEAR, MADOLCHE TEACHER GLASSOUFFLE!"
Transforming into balls of light, the two Madolche monsters disappeared into the portal, conjuring a Madolche monster Rio had never seen before, a middle aged woman with emerald green hair, and a moss green royal dress resembling the layers of a cake. Adjusting her spectacles, the woman pulled a baton from her sleeve and slapped it against the black chalkboard behind her, as if demanding Rio's attention.
Madolche Teacher Glassouffle: Rank 4/EARTH/Fairy/Xyz/1800 ATK/2500 DEF
"I'll put my teacher in defense mode to protect my life points, and finally I'll activate my Madolche Chateau field spell! This gives all my Madolche Monsters five hundred extra attack and defense points, plus my Puddingcess gains an extra eight hundred points since there are no monsters in my Graveyard. I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."
A beautiful palace made of sweets, pastries, and candy appeared behind Kotori, the baked walkways of the castle grounds blending in perfectly with the puzzle piece the two Madolche monsters stood on.
Glassouffle: 2300 ATK/3000 DEF
Puddingcess: 2300 ATK/2300 DEF
"Well, that one's new…" Rio acknowledged with mild surprise. She now understood just how serious Kotori was if she was willing to summon something like that on her very first turn.
"I draw, and I'll start by activating the spell, Blizzard Mirror! I reveal two copies of Ice Knight in my hand. Now I can add a third one to my hand, as long as I discard a card afterwards. I'll discard my Blizzard Thunderbird. Next, I'll summon one of my Ice Knights."
A mirror of pure solid ice appeared in front of Rio, and a medieval knight clad in blue frozen armor walked through it and onto the field, standing at attention like the disciplined soldier it was. A red cape draped behind the knight, billowing in the icy wind's breeze.
Ice Knight: Level 4/WATER/Aqua/1300 ATK/1200 DEF
Ice Knight: 1300 + 400 = 1700 ATK
"My Ice Knight has an effect that gives me an extra summon this turn, and I'll use it to summon the second Ice Knight from my hand, and the effect of the second Ice Knight lets me summon the third. Now that I have a trio of ice knights, that four hundred points boost now stacks, giving all of my ice knights twelve hundred extra attack points."
Two more mirrors appeared on the field, which conjured two identical clones of the first knight. The three frozen soldiers drew their weapons, three silver double-edged lances and touched them together in unity as they felt their strength increase.
Ice Knight: 1300 + (400 x 3) = 2500 ATK
"But why should I stop at three monsters? My third Ice Knight's effect gives me a fourth normal summon this turn, and I'll use it to summon Blizzard Vulture, and his effect will give me a fifth monster! Blizzard Vulture lets me resurrect an ice bird from the grave, so I'll resurrect the Blizzard Thunderbird I discarded!"
Above the knights, one of Rio's ice birds descended from the sky, a blue feathered vulture with a frozen crest on its pale bald head. The vulture let out a loud squawk, summoning Rio's second ice bird, which rose out of the ground like a ghost. Rio's thunderbird flapped its lightning bolt shaped wings, and positioned itself above the knights, side by side with the vulture who revived it.
Blizzard Vulture: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1200 ATK/2000 DEF
Blizzard Vulture: 1200 + (400 x 3) = 2400 ATK
Blizzard Thunderbird: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1600 ATK/1400 DEF
Blizzard Thunderbird: 1600 + (400 x 3) = 2800 ATK
"I now overlay Blizzard Vulture and Blizzard Thunderbird! With these 2 Level 4 Monsters, I build the overlay network! XYZ SUMMON! APPEAR! ICE BEAST, ZEROFYNE!"
The overlay network appeared again, and the two birds dove inside, heralding the arrival of one of Rio's signature xyz monsters. The armored ice fairy soared out of the portal like a jet plane before touching down on the ground with the grace and poise of a ballet dancer.
Ice Beast Zerofyne: Rank 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/Xyz/2000 ATK/2200 DEF
"Zerofyne? I was expecting you to summon one of your Numbers," Kotori admitted.
"You should never make assumptions on what moves your opponent is going to make. Ice Beast Zerofyne's effect activates! I detach one overlay unit to negate the effects of all face-up cards you control, and then she gains three hundred attack points for each face-up card currently on the field. There are seven cards, so that's a twenty-one hundred boost from her own effect on top of the twelve hundred she gets from my three Ice Knights."
Ice Beast Zerofyne: 2000 + 1200 + 2100 = 5300 ATK
"Trying to take me out in one turn?" Kotori scoffed indignantly. "Trying to put me in my place, back on the sidelines where I belong?"
"Kotori, no! That's not it at all!" Rio shouted. "Honestly, where is this attitude of yours coming from? I'm just trying to stop this before it gets out of hand. Lashing out at me isn't going to help Yuma."
"You're right," the green haired girl replied. "It won't, but getting my hands on one of your Numbers will! Besides, I'm not done yet! I activate Glassouffle's effect! I detach one overlay unit, and when I do, one Madolche Monster is protected from monster effects for the rest of the turn! I'll protect Madolche Puddingcess! Even better, I can make sure there's still no monsters in my Graveyard since my teacher lets me shuffle the Madolche monster I detached from her back into my deck. Although, my field spell is still negated."
Glassouffle: 1800 ATK/2500 DEF
Puddingcess: 1800 ATK/1800 DEF
"Battle!" Rio commanded. "Ice Beast Zerofyne, attack Madolche Puddingcess now! ICICLE STORM!"
"Trap card activate, Madolche Dessert! In order to activate this card, I have to return my Teacher to my Extra Deck, but now, your Ice Beast returns to the Extra Deck as well!"
"WHAT?!"
Zerofyne extended her arm, aiming it at the princess and fired a barrage of icicles from her palm, only for the very ground underneath her to impede her path. Several pastry puzzle pieces from the castle grounds rose into the air and surrounded the fairy to form a cubic cage. The confectionary walls began to compress, closing in on the fairy and crushing her body, shattering everything in the process.
Puddingcess: 1000 ATK/1000 DEF
"This also sends my Teacher's second overlay unit to the Graveyard in the process, so the attack power of my Puddingcess drops again, but I don't care about that. What I do care about is the little bonus my trap gives me. It lets me Special Summon another Madolche Monster straight from my Extra Deck to my field without needing to Xyz Summon it properly. The only condition is that its attack points need to be lower than the combined attack points of the two monsters returned, but considering how strong your Ice Beast was, that's not a problem for me."
The same confectionery cube surrounded the teacher. Walls rose up on each side of her puzzle platform, boxing her in and obscuring her from Rio's view.
"Now come on out, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"
Instead of crushing the teacher, the walls began to shine in a bright pink glow. Then, like a magician's act, the walls came down, revealing Kotori's ace monster had taken the teacher's place. The queen sat regally on her throne, as if expecting an applause from her entrance.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: Rank 4/EARTH/Fairy/Xyz/2200 ATK/2100 DEF
"So you brought out your strongest monster," Rio noted. "Not bad, but while I count two Madolche Monsters, I count three Ice Knights, and all three of them are strong enough to wipe out both your monsters and most of your life points."
"Then why don't you attack me with one of them?" Kotori goaded, putting Rio on edge. The Ice Queen's eyes drifted to Kotori's second face-down card. Rio already lost her Xyz Monster to one of Kotori's traps, and Kotori didn't seem worried about the Ice Knights at all.
"Yeah, I'm not falling for that. I end my turn."
"Really?" Kotori questioned suspiciously. "Not attacking? Don't tell me you're holding back."
"Kotori, come on! Stop this!" Cathy pleaded. "We shouldn't be fighting."
"Yeah, Kotori. Call off the duel!" Tetsuo agreed. "We can't help Yuma unless we work as a team!"
"We can't help Yuma at all without Numbers of our own!" Kotori insisted. "As long as that guy is out there, as long as he can isolate Yuma no matter how close we are to him, I can't rest easy. I'm not just going to sit by and do nothing while somebody plans to hurt Yuma, and you too, Rio! Have you considered you might be next?"
"Of course! That's why I told Yuma not to duel him unless I was there to back him up. What happened last night was my mistake. I made such a big deal about the danger of the hunter, and yet I;et the two of you go to Sol City without me. I completely overlooked how you were frozen back at the mall. I thought since you were with Yuma, you could back him up if the hunter found him."
"But I wasn't able to back him up!" Kotori hissed, self-loathing oozing from her venomous tone of voice. "I was frozen in time yet again, while Yuma was fighting for his life, and why was I frozen in time instead of helping Yuma?"
Rio sighed and rolled her eyes. "Because he freezes people who don't have Numbers."
"Exactly!" Kotori exclaimed. "So why won't you give me one? Why won't you let me help him?"
"Kotori, just because you can't help Yuma against this specific Number hunter, doesn't mean you can't pull your weight. You already defeated a Number holder entirely on your own, without using a Number of your own. Look, she's right here! She can testify to that."
She pointed to Cathy who nodded in agreement.
"Rio's right!" the cat girl spoke up, a rare moment where her voice was loud and elevated. "You beat me fair and square and freed me from that Number. You should be proud of yourself."
"And…." added Tetsuo. "There's still dozens of other Numbers out there. Even if we can't help Yuma against that Number Hunter, we'll still get plenty of opportunities to help out in the future."
"Cathy didn't threaten Yuma's life the way this guy did!" Kotori argued back. "And this isn't about the future. This hunter is threatening two of my closest friends right here and right now. I'm not just going to resign myself to the fact that I can't do anything about it."
Rio sighed in defeat. "Just make your move, Kotori. Sometimes you can be as stubborn as Yuma."
"Alright, I will!" Kotori retorted. "I summon Madolche Cruffsant! His effect lets me return the Madolche Chateau you negated back to my hand in order to increase its level by one and its attack points by three hundred, and now that it's back in my hand, good as new, I can activate it again and give my Madolche monsters a boost!"
A cavalier king charles spaniel appeared on the field, barking playfully. Meanwhile, the confectionary castle vanished, only to reappear a second later, the dog's puzzle piece platform blending in perfectly. The dog let out a joyful howl as it felt its strength increase.
Madolche Cruffsant: Level 3/EARTH/Beast/1500 ATK/1200 DEF
Queen Tiaramisu: 2700 ATK/2600 DEF
Puddingcess: 1500 ATK/1500 DEF
Cruffsant: 2300 ATK/1700 DEF
"Next, I activate my trap, Madolche Lesson! By returning one Madolche Monster from my graveyard to my deck, all monsters I control gain eight hundred more attack and defense points, and since my graveyard is now free of monsters, my Puddingcess gets even stronger."
Queen Tiaramisu: 3500 ATK/3400 DEF
Puddingcess: 3100 ATK/3100 DEF
Cruffsant: 3100 ATK/2500 DEF
"Battle! Madolche Puddingcess, attack her Ice Knight! Sweet Blast!"
The princess tossed one of the cakes on her platform at the middle knight, which exploded on contact and shattered the knight's armor like glass, but the princess wasn't done. Without warning, she tossed a second cake, destroying another of the knights.
Rio: 4000 - 600 = 3400
"At the end of the damage step, since my Puddingcess battled a monster, I can destroy one card on the field, so I'll destroy your second Ice Knight, and with two Ice Knights off the field, your third one gets weaker."
Ice Knight: 2500 - 400 - 400 = 1700 ATK
"Madolche Queen Tiaramisu, attack her Ice Knight! Sweet Storm!"
The queen raised her scepter into the air, sending a rose colored twister thundering towards the final knight. The knight stood no chance, shattering into dust upon contact, while Rio shielded her arms as the storm came for her, grunting in pain as her body was battered by the wind.
Rio: 3400 - 1800 = 1600
"And now, Cruffsant, attack Rio directly and end this duel!"
As the dog charged into battle, both Tetsuo and Cathy stared at the field in shock, neither believing what they were seeing. In just one move, Kotori successfully cleared Rio's field and was now one attack away from winning.
"Check it out," Tetsuo whispered in awe. "Kotori's actually going to beat Rio!"
"Not quite!" Rio shouted. "I activate Blizzard Vulture's effect in the Graveyard. If you were to attack me directly, I can banish him from my Graveyard to Special Summon Blizzard Thunderbird from my Graveyard in attack mode, and when I do, you take damage equal to Blizzard Thunderbird's attack points."
Cruffsant stopped its assault as Rio's thunderbird rose from the grave once again, blocking its path. Its jagged yellow wings crackling with electricity, the avian fairy let loose a violent discharge towards Kotori, which struck her in the chest.
Blizzard Thunderbird: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1600 ATK/1400 DEF
Kotori: 4000 - 1600 = 2400
"Fine!" Kotori snapped, frustrated from seeing her impending victory slip away. "Your thunderbird might stop me from winning the duel this turn, but you're still going to take a massive hit. Cruffsant, send her Blizzard Thunderbird back where it came from!"
The puppy pounced on top of Rio's monster, sending it crashing to the ground, where its body shattered into a million pieces.
Rio: 1600 - 1500 = 100
"I set one final card face-down and end my turn."
As Rio drew her card to begin her next turn, Kotori immediately activated the card she set, not even giving Rio a chance to think of what to do.
"On your draw phase, I activate the continuous trap, Madolche Waltz! Now as long as this card is on the field, you take three hundred points of damage each time a Madolche monster declares an attack, or if one of my Madolche monsters gets attacked!"
"But that means…." Cathy whispered, her eyes growing wide from the implication. "Rio can't attack at all! She only has a hundred life points. It doesn't matter if she summons a strong enough monster. She'll take the damage before the attack connects!"
"And if she doesn't attack…." Tetsuo continued. "Kotori can just win the duel immediately on her next turn by attacking with any of her Madolche monsters."
Despite the deadliness of Kotori's trap, Rio remained calm and collected. She studied her hand carefully before addressing her opponent. "Kotori, you do realize what they're saying about you, right? They're acknowledging how strong you are. You're about to become the first person in a long time to beat me in a duel. If that doesn't convince you that you don't need a Number to be strong enough to protect Yuma, I don't know what will."
"Rio, it's not about being strong!" Kotori argued. "I could be the strongest duelist in the world, but thanks to that time stopping trick, any skill I have no longer matters. If I had a Number, I could have done something, anything! Yuma could have won the duel and stopped that guy for good!"
"Or, he could have lost the duel even with your help, and then both of you would have ended up just like that guy from the mall. It's not good for you to beat yourself up over what if situations. The facts are there. This guy was simply too strong. Even if you had helped him, or even if I was there to help him, there's a good chance Yuma still would have lost."
"You don't know that!" Kotori shouted. "You aren't getting it, Rio! None of you are! You weren't there! You didn't see how broken Yuma was, how much that guy hurt him! Do you have any idea what that feels like, to find out somebody you cared about got hurt and almost died because you weren't there to help them?"
"OF COURSE I DO! MY BROTHER'S IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE I WASN'T THERE!"
Kotori instantly regretted her words as Rio released every ounce of ice cold rage within her, every sleepless night, every hospital visit, she unleashed all of it within a single verbal explosion.
"Rio…. I…. I didn't mean…."
"No, you didn't….." Rio's voice returned to normal as she rubbed her temples, desperate to calm down. "But I do know how you feel, Kotori. How many times do you think I regretted not stopping my brother from going to that warehouse, or at least making sure he didn't go by himself?"
Kotori's eyes drifted to the ground.
"I just… I can't take it…. I want to help my friends…. I can't stand it when they're in danger…. I can't stand feeling so…. So…. useless!"
"I know…" Rio soothed. "But sometimes people we care about have to fight their own battles. Sometimes they wind up in fights they have no choice but to face alone, and even though we can't help them directly, we can still support them. Sometimes even that goes a long way. Yuma's just going to have to get stronger if he wants to face that hunter again. If you can't duel alongside him, then you can at least help him do that."
Rio saw the tears forming in her friends eyes, and decided not to push any further. Whether Kotori was convinced or not, they had a duel to finish.
"Regardless, a deal is a deal, Kotori. If you win, I will give you one of my Numbers."
With that, the Ice Queen made her move.
"I activate Monster Reborn to resurrect Blizzard Thunderbird one more time. Next, I tribute my thunderbird in order to tribute summon the king of cold, Mobius the Frost Monarch!"
Rio's thunderbird appeared once again, only to disappear as soon as it arrived. A raging blizzard thundered across the field, heralding the arrival of the general of the ice knights, the pale white armored king, Mobius. His blue cape flailing behind him, the ice king slammed his fists together in a show of strength, and the blizzard stopped at his command.
Mobius the Frost Monarch: Level 6/WATER/Aqua/2400 ATK/1000 DEF
"When Mobius is tribute summoned, I can destroy up to two spell or trap cards on the field. I'll destroy Madolche Chateau and Madolche Waltz, which will weaken your monsters and take away your ability to damage my life points. GO, IMPERIAL BLIZZARD!"
His gauntlets glowing blue, Mobius unleashed the blizzard once again. While the Madolche monsters shielded themselves from the raging storm, their precious castle froze over in a matter of seconds, reduced to a pile of icy rubble.
Tiaramisu: 3500 - 500 = 3000 ATK
Puddingcess: 3100 - 500 = 2600 ATK
Cruffsant: 3100 - 500 = 2600 ATK
"Damn it…" Kotori hissed. "There goes my win condition… Alright, Rio. Not bad, but Mobius is still too weak to attack any of my monsters."
"You're right, and that's why I'm activating the effect of the Blizzard Mirror in my Graveyard. By banishing it and three water monsters with the same name from my Graveyard, Mobius gains five hundred attack points for each monster banished, and then your Madolche Queen Tiaramisu loses the same amount of attack points."
"WHAT?! NO!" Kotori cried, but there was nothing she could do. She could only watch as the frozen mirror appeared behind Mobius, bathing it in a glow of white light. The monarch flexed his muscular armored arms, bellowing with triumph as its strength increased.
Mobius the Frost Monarch: 2400 + 1500 = 3900 ATK
Queen Tiaramisu: 3000 - 1500 = 1500 ATK
"Battle! Mobius, attack her Madolche Queen and end this duel! ICE LANCE!"
Raising its right arm in the air, Mobius commanded the snow around him to gather around his hand and mold into a weapon suitable for his needs, a massive spear of solid ice. Throwing it with all his might, the spear sailed through the air with perfect accuracy, striking Tiaramisu in the chest and shattering her instantly. The resulting shockwave sent Kotori tumbling to the ground, defeated.
Kotori: 2400 - 2400 = 0 (LOSE)
Winner: RIO
Rio breathed a sigh of relief and deactivated her duel disk. While Tetsuo and Cathy rushed to Kotori's side, checking if she was okay, Rio casually walked to address her opponent, extending her hand to help her up.
Kotori gave Rio a sad, defeated smile, and the Ice Queen could tell she was trying not to cry, to keep her composure and accept her defeat gracefully. "So…. I guess that's it then…."
"Yes, that's it," said Rio bluntly. "No victory, no Number."
She knelt down, waiting for Kotori to take her hand. "Still, I hope there's no hard feelings about this. We're still friends, right?"
The Ice Queen immediately noticed her friend's hesitation.
"Kotori, I'm sorry…. I…."
"No, don't apologize, Rio. You did nothing wrong…." Kotori interrupted her. "I shouldn't have tried to take your Numbers, I just….. I guess I just…. Well…. When you told me about the hunter, I…. I panicked. It finally set in just how much danger we're all in, and…. I don't want to lose him, Rio. I don't want to lose any of you!"
"I know, Kotori….." the Ice Queen replied as her friend finally took her hand and stood up. "I know…"
"Kotori, I don't like it either," Tetsuo confessed. "But I think Yuma's going to be in danger regardless of how much we try to keep him out of trouble. Same with Rio. As long as they have Numbers, they're going to have targets on their back, and even if this Number Hunter guy is defeated, then there's a chance somebody worse is going to show up."
"How….. how can you be okay with that?"
"I'm not," the heavy set teen continued. "But I also have to accept that there's probably no way out of this conflict for either of them. We may have to take this as a sign that there's going to be times where we can't help Yuma directly, but that doesn't mean we can't support him as his friends."
"And…." Cathy chimed in. "If Yuma does have to duel against this hunter alone, then what we can do is help him get stronger. If we do that, then the next time he faces the hunter, he'll win for sure!"
Rio responded to Cathy's comment with a pessimistic frown.
"Unfortunately, I don't think practicing after school is going to cut it anymore. I've been teaching Yuma as best I can, and of course, Astral is always there to give advice when Yuma duels, but even with all the tutoring we gave him, Yuma lost that duel anyway. We may need to find somebody else who can give Yuma the training he needs, a proper master to turn him into the duelist he needs to be."
"Not to mention better cards," Tetsuo muttered under his breath, causing the other three teens to look at him as if he just insulted Yuma. "What? No offense towards Yuma, but this hunter guy seems to have the perfect cards to render Yuma's Numbers useless. In my opinion, he's been relying on those things to win duels for way too long. If he wants to get stronger, he's going to need to learn how to win duels without relying on his Numbers to bail him out of trouble every time."
"Well, the first thing we need to do is get Yuma's head back in the game," Cathy changed the subject. "The poor guy is so rattled he actually said no to dueling practice."
Kotori shook her head, bitter from the last time she tried talking to Yuma. "Good luck with that. Yuma's actively avoiding us. I tried everything to get the truth out of him, but he avoided every question I asked, and now he's avoiding us altogether."
"I'll try talking to him!" Tetsuo insisted. "Trust me. This is a guy thing, and he needs some proper guy talk to get his head back in the game."
The girls gave Tetsuo several inquisitive looks. "Are you sure?" asked Rio.
"I've been friends with Yuma the longest, and I think if I talk with him alone, I can make some progress."
"Well, hopefully you're right. The Number Hunter isn't going to care if Yuma's too shaken from their previous encounter to duel at his best." Rio replied, before turning back to face Kotori, who was clearly still upset.
"See, Kotori? One way or another, we're going to support our friend. Just because you couldn't help Yuma last night doesn't mean he thinks any less of you. In fact…."
The Ice Queen's lips curled into a smile. "I think you mean more to Yuma than he even realizes. I even think… Ow…. AH! AAAAAAAAAH!"
"Rio, what's wrong?!"
Before Rio could say anymore, it happened.
There was no warning, no gradual buildup to the sudden agony in her skull, the invisible knife striking her temple, the phantom viper squeezing her brain, the wave after wave of excruciating pain. Time and space seemed to distort around her as she could no longer focus on anything but the chaos in her mind. Everything around her happened in sudden flashes, her friends screaming her name and rushing to her aid.
"Look at her eyes!" Cathy pointed to Rio's eyes, which had changed to a bright shade of red and began to glow like spotlights. "That is not normal!"
Falling into a trance, the pain in Rio's skull finally began to fade, and she managed to force two ominous words out of her mouth before passing out onto the ground.
"They're here….."
Her friends had no idea what she was talking about, but had they been able to reach the other side of the city, they would have seen a warping red vortex appear in the sky above the ocean, a blooming rose of chaotic energy manifesting over the docks and dropping a visitor into the ocean. The water boiled upon contact with the foreign object, the waves growing large and aggressive, smashing several boats and forcing them to run aground. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the vortex vanished, restoring calm to the waters, except for one single disturbance. A few yards away from the pier, a giant emerged from the ocean, planting a massive foot onto the beach and surveying his surroundings. Drying himself off, the thick lips of the Barian's human disguise curved into a sinister, excited smile as he observed the Heartland City Skyline.
"So this is the city where Astral chose to rear his ugly head? What a dump, but I suppose it's the perfect place for a cockroach to hide. Now all I gotta do is find that cockroach and squash him."
Girag stomped his foot into the sand, shaking the ground around him. Cracking his knuckles and flexing his massive muscular arms, the Barian stomped across the beach and into the city streets, eager to begin his mission.
"I hope you sensed my arrival, Astral. I hope you know I'm here. I'm coming for you, and when I find you, every single Number will belong to Barian World!"
Author Made Cards:
Blizzard Vulture: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1400 ATK/1600 DEF
Effect: If this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can target 1 WATER Winged-Beast Monster in your GY; Special Summon it in face-up Defense Position. If your opponent declares a direct attack, you can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 WATER Winged-Beast Monster with 2000 or less ATK from your GY to your field in Attack Position, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to its original ATK. You can only use each effect of "Blizzard Vulture" once per turn.
Blizzard Mirror: Normal Spell Card
Effect: Reveal 1 WATER Monster in your hand; add 1 WATER Monster with the same name as that monster, then discard 1 card. If this card is in your GY, you can banish it and 2 or more WATER Monsters in your GY with the same name, then target 1 face-up WATER Monster you control; it gains 500 ATK for each monster banished by this effect, and if it does, one monster your opponent controls loses the same amount of ATK. You can only use each effect of "Blizzard Mirror" once per turn.
AAAAAAAAAAAAND DONE!
Full Disclosure, I was originally going to jump straight into the Barian Plot by having Girag immediately show up and get started with his plans, but then a very insightful reader named NeoWarKid made me realize that I still had quite a lot to focus on regarding the aftermath of Yuma's loss against Kaito, how it affected him, and more importantly, how it affected Kotori, who was right there the whole time, but sadly powerless to stop the Number Hunter.
With that being said, what did you think of the chapter? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Whatever your opinion may be, I always love hearing it, so feel free to leave a review and let me know!
Until Next Time! THIS IS NOX! SIGNING OUT!