Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL 1. Prologue

**Introduction:** One of the things I've found out about myself as a writer is that half the time I can only write what I feel like. And after I got finished with my last story, _The Scarlet Empress_ I felt like continuing on this series of ZEXAL stories for a little while longer. That said, I'm going to keep this introduction short. For those who don't know, this story takes place a little over two years after the end of the anime and picks up where my other stories, _Vampire Papillon_ and _The Scarlet Empress_ left off. I'd also like to thank K.I.T.T. RIDER for helping me develop this story. That said, on with the show.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

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><p>Prologue<p>

It was night as the psychic duelist, Brimstone, formally known as Clayton Forbes, sat alone in his cell at a very high security facility. All there was for Brimstone to do in that cell was to sit on his cot and look at his reflection in the mirror. It had been a long time since the redheaded psychic had taken a good look at his face. Normally a mask covered the upper half of his face, but that mask had been taken from him when he was taken into custody, as did his deck and duel disk. If he still had the latter two items, breaking out of his cell would be a simple matter for him. But without summoning a monster to focus his powers, all Brimstone could do was sit on his cot, look at his reflection and think about how a powerful mercenary like him had ended up imprisoned.

It had all began a few days ago when Brimstone and his younger brother, Clermont, now known as Splicer, had been hired by a young man named Dante Fairbanks to capture a young woman named Rio Kamishiro. The kidnapping was supposed to be an act of revenge against another young woman known as Cleo Atlas. Dante seemed to be under the delusion that he was some reincarnated prince, and that Cleo was the reincarnation of his archenemy. But the young Mr. Fairbanks had paid a large sum of cash for the job, so Brimstone didn't real care how crazy he was. When Dante's initial plan failed, however, he sent Brimstone and Splicer to destroy Cleo and Rio, and it was his and Splicer's defeat at the hands of the duo that had landed them both in jail.

Brimstone swore that he would get back at Cleo and Rio and everyone they cared about if he ever got out somehow, but at the moment that didn't seem very likely. As he continued to contemplate his fate, the psychic duelist suddenly heard the sounds of some kind of violent struggle from outside. Before Brimstone could rise to his feet, the door to his cell was suddenly torn away. Standing in the doorway seconds later was a mysterious figure wearing a black hooded cloak. All Brimstone could see under the hood was a pair of glowing green eyes and what looked like a featureless copper-colored mask.

"Are you the one called Brimstone?" the figure asked in a distorted but distinctly female voice.

"If I say yes, you gonna kill me?" Brimstone asked back as he stood up.

"I will take your response as confirmation." The figure replied before throwing a set of objects to the floor of the cell.

The objects in question were Brimstone's confiscated deck and duel disk, as well has his brown skull-like mask. Brimstone's lips curved into a smirk as he picked up the items, placing his mask where it rightly belonged on his face.

"Come with me." The hooded figure ordered before walking back into the hallway.

After a moment, Brimstone left his cell as he heard the sound of another heavy metal door being torn off its hinges. As soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw a slender pale young man with dark hair walking out of the cell the hooded figure was standing in front off. The young man was placing a visor over his eyes. Brimstone of course knew this young man as Splicer.

"Hey lady. I don't mean to complain, but who the hell are you?" Brimstone asked. "And why the hell are you busting us out?"

"I am called Anitak." The hooded figure answered. "And I have come here for the purposes of enlisting your services as mercenaries."

"So you want us for a job." Splicer deduced.

"Correct. But this is hardly the place to discuss such things." Anitak told them. "Please follow me."

Suddenly an anomaly that resembled a swirling galaxy appeared by Anitak. Brimstone couldn't help but think that the phenomenon looked like the kind of overlay network that appears when a duelist performs an Xyz Summon. Anitak walked into the anomaly and Brimstone and Splicer quickly went in after her. On the other side the three had ended up inside a dusty old abandoned warehouse with tin walls and high broken windows. The large structure appeared to be completely empty except for what appeared to be some kind of statue.

Splicer walked over to the statue to take a closer look. The statue appeared to be a bald almost monk-like male figure wearing grey robes. The right half of his body was painted back while the left half was painted white. As Splicer leaned in to take a closer look at the very realistic-looking statue, the object suddenly opened its eyes, causing him to jump back.

"Hello, Clermont." The statue greeted. "Oh, forgive me. I forgot you and your brother reinvented yourselves as Splicer and Brimstone. It's been a long time hasn't it?"

"Wait a sec." Brimstone spoke as he walked closer. "Is that you, Marcel?"

"Surprised to see me?" Marcel asked.

"You kidding? I thought you and the rest of our old gang bought it when I blew up that damn facility where we all trained." Brimstone replied. "What the hell did you do to yourself anyway?"

"Like the two of you, I also reinvented myself a little bit." Marcel answered. "My appearance allows me to fully express my art."

"I can't believe you actually managed to survive." Splicer declared.

"Many of us did." A high voice interrupted.

Brimstone and Splicer turned around, and standing behind them was a young man of about fourteen who stood at a minimal height of four feet. He had light-blue hair and iron-grey eyes. His outfit consisted of a blue sweater-vest with a white long sleeved shirt and red bowtie, along with a pair of tan slacks and black shoes.

"Hey there, Mortimer." Brimstone greeted. "So you're still alive and kicking too, huh?"

"No thanks to you." Mortimer coldly replied as he walked past them.

"Indeed. It was very rude of you to blow up the facility without taking our lives into account." A mellow female voice spoke.

Walking towards the duo was a young woman of about seventeen with long wavy white hair and very pale-blue eyes that seemed crazed. The kind of eyes that looked as though they had seen sights that no mortal being was ever meant to see. She had on an elegant grey dress that would've been fashionable back in the early 1900s.

"Hello, you two." The white-haired girl greeted with a large smile. "Lovely evening, isn't it?"

"Hi, Miriam." Splicer greeted back.

Miriam suddenly looked to her right. "Yul-chthot mriam sh'tal."

"What the hell did you just say to us?" Brimstone asked.

"I wasn't talking to you just now." Miriam informed them. "I was speaking with my gods."

"Oh jeez. I forgot about those freaky imaginary friends of hers." Splicer whispered to Brimstone.

Before Brimstone could reply, there was a small explosion of purple smoke in the corner of the warehouse. The smoke cleared to reveal a young man with short dark-brown hair and violet eyes wearing a sparkling red tuxedo with a white cape. Between his hands, the young man shuffled and played tricks with a deck of normal playing cards.

"Hey guys." The young man greeted. "Like my entrance?"

"So you're here too, huh Ayumu?" Brimstone observed. "This is like some kind of weird high school reunion."

"Um, excuse me." A soft female voice spoke, causing Brimstone and Splicer to turn.

Standing before them was a young woman of about five feet in height with long curly blonde hair and lavender eyes. She had on a long sleeved pink and white dress with a long skirt and a large pink bow adorned the back of her head.

"H-hello Clarmont, I mean Splicer." The girl greeted.

"Aw jeez! Hi Lucy." Splicer replied.

"Looks like your old girlfriend's here, little bro." Brimstone teased.

"Will you shut up?" Splicer responded.

"Hey, that's what you get for using dragons in your deck." Brimstone whispered. "You know Lucy is with dragon users."

At that moment, another person silently walked into the warehouse. It was another young woman with nearly shoulder-length plum-colored hair and copper-colored eyes. She had on a long sleeved black dress with a long skirt.

"Well, well. So you're here too, huh Kaede?" Brimstone spoke to the young woman.

The purple-haired girl glared back at him. "Don't talk to me, you wicked thing!"

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone's evil to you." Brimstone replied. "Looks like you haven't changed a bit. Well, looks like the whole gang's here."

"Not so fast, old buddy." A voice suddenly spoke. "Aren't you forgetting about little old me?"

Walking out from a dark corner of the old warehouse was a young man who looked to be about nineteen with wild black hair with a wide white streak down the middle. He had on a black muscle shirt with grey jeans and fingerless black gloves. On the buckle of his belt was a hexagonal symbol that was white on the right side and black on the left, and in the middle was a large letter A with a reversed color scheme. A black eyepatch covered the young man's right eyes, and on his face was a mad grin.

Splicer went even paler upon seeing the man. "Oh shit!"

Brimstone let out a heavy sigh. "Hello, Kaine."

"It's been a long time, huh guys?" Kaine spoke as he walked towards them. "Bet you never thought you'd see me again, did ya?"

"Well, a guy can dream, can't he?" Brimstone replied.

At this, Kaine chuckled. "I always did like that sense of humor of yours, Clay. Almost makes me forgive the fact that you left me for dead, and that I lost my eye because of that explosion you caused. …Almost."

"Aw, c'mon Kaine! I did all of us a favor when I blew up that hell hole we were all in!" Brimstone pointed out.

"Now, now. No need to get all excited, Clay." Kaine told him. "Hell, if I wanted you two dead, you would've become bloodstains on the wall as soon as you walked in here. But you do owe all of us big time for leaving us all high and dry back then. Which is why you're gonna help us out with this next job, and you're gonna do exactly as I say. Or I can just make that bloodstain thing happen right now."

"Well… I guess when you put it like that, how can I say no?" Brimstone replied.

"If you're all finished, I believe we should get down to business." Anitak interrupted.

"Right. Sorry 'bout that." Kaine told her. "So what's this job you want us to do?"

"I want you to use any means necessary to eliminate the targets I am about to show you." Anitak answered.

Suddenly seven holographic screens appeared in the air in front of Anitak, each one of them showing a picture of young people who looked to be high school students. The seven targets were six young men and one young woman, and it was the young woman that instantly caught Brimstone and Splicer's attention. The young woman had long blue hair and pinkish eyes. Both of them knew her very well as Rio Kamishiro.

"Well what do you know? Looks like we get a chance to settle the score with Fairbanks's ice princess." Brimstone grinned.

"You know the one girl we're supposed to take out?" Kaine asked.

"She's from our last job that went south." Brimstone explained.

"Ms. Anitak, why exactly do you want these seven targets eliminated?" Mortimer asked.

"All I will tell you is that they are a hindrance to my plans." Anitak answered. "That, and they are no ordinary humans."

"Um… is one of them a dragon user?" Lucy asked.

"The one called Mizael uses a dragon deck, yes." Anitak confirmed. "In addition to these seven, there are two secondary targets that I wish you to eliminate as well."

The seven floating screens vanished and were replaced by two new ones. One of the screens showed a young woman with blue hair with two small gold highlights and blue eyes. The second screen showed another young woman with long dark hair and violet eyes, who Brimstone and Splicer instantly recognized as Cleo Atlas.

"So we get to go after the Atlas bitch too?" Brimstone observed. "Looks like this'll be a good job after all."

"The other target is Hikari Fudo, the eldest daughter of Yusei Fudo and the one many of you may know as the Black Rose Witch." Anitak continued. "These two targets are the reason why I enlisted the added help of Mr. Brimstone and Mr. Splicer."

"Well, I guess it's pretty obvious why you want a bunch of psychic duelists like us to do this job." Kaine spoke. "But I am a businessman. So I gotta ask what you're gonna give us to do this job?"

"You will amply compensated financially for your services, of course." Anitak assured him. "But more importantly, you will be able to satisfy the desire for destruction that I'm sure most of you have. Plus I'm sure you will find no other targets that are more challenging."

"That's good enough for me." Kaine told her. "You just hired yourself some mercenaries, lady."

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'd once again like to thank K.I.T.T. RIDER for her help with this story. She helped me develop most of the OC that have appeared in this prologue. I like to think I do an okay job coming up with characters, but because of the large cast of antagonists I was dealing with, I felt like I needed some backup. Without KITT's help, this story would've taken a lot longer to get off the ground.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Cousins and Siblings

**Author's Note:** I do try and write a lot of these stories so that it's easy for people to read and understand what's going on without having to read the story that came before it. And sometimes I do a better job with that than others. In this case, those who have not yet read _Vampire Papillon_ may be a little confused about some of what's going on. Those who have yet to read _The Scarlet Empress_ will at the very least probably be surprised by how this chapter ends. But maybe that's a good thing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

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><p>Chapter 1: Cousins and Siblings<p>

Hikari Fudo sat at a computer in the lab at Heartland Tower working on a complex equation. For the past few days, Hikari had been a part of a new project that used Momentum reactor technology to open portals into other dimensions. It was an interesting project to say the least, though not without its hazards. When Hikari first started working on it, a portal had opened up and had unleashed a powerful and dangerous alien vampire upon the Earth, and it had taken Hikari and her new friends quite a bit of effort to stop the being turning the planet into a dead world. Hikari was so absorbed in her work at the computer that she hardly heard anything when the door opened and someone walked into the lab.

"Hi, sis." A cheerful and familiar voice greeted. "Hard at work again, I see."

Hikari immediately turned her chair around, and standing before her was a young woman of about sixteen with long burgundy hair tied into two long pigtails. She had gold eyes, and two small golden highlight in her hair not unlike the highlights in Hikari's own hair. The girl had on a pink jacket with a red shirt and short white skirt. Hikari instantly recognized the girl as her younger sister.

"Hana! What are you doing here?" Hikari asked with a smile.

"I'm on semester break for the next couple of weeks, so I thought it'd be fun if I came and visited you for awhile." Hana explained.

"Well, there's plenty of room for you at the house." Hikari assured her.

"I know. I was just there to drop off my bags." Hana revealed. "So, things going well between you and Ryoga?"

"So far." Hikari answered. "In fact we're supposed to be going on another date a little later."

Almost as if on cue, walking into the lab was a young man with purple-blue almost octopus-shaped hair and pinkish eyes. This of course was Hikari's new boyfriend, Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro.

"Hey Hikari." Shark greeted. "You ready to go?"

"Oh crap!" Hikari spoke as she turned back to the computer and looked at the small clock in the corner of the screen. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late. Give me just a second and I'll be ready to go."

"Hi, Ryoga." Hana greeted with a big grin.

"Oh! Hi, Hana." A surprised Shark greeted back. "Hikari didn't say anything about you coming to visit."

"That's 'cause she didn't know either." Hana explained. "This is just my little surprise. I'm going to be here for the next few weeks during my semester break."

"Hana's a psychology major at Neo Domino University." Hikari revealed as she typed at the computer.

"Wait, you're in college now?" a surprised Shark asked. "But aren't you only sixteen?"

"Oh, you know us Fudo girls. We're all geniuses." Hana replied. "Of course I didn't skip as many grades as Hikari did. So anyway, I know you guys have a date tonight, but why don't we all do something fun tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sounds good to me." Hikari agreed.

"Rio should be getting back from this trip she was on tomorrow." Shark revealed. "We could bring her along too."

"That'd be great!" Hana enthusiastically agreed. "The four of us together again. It'd be just like old times when we were kids."

"Okay, I'm all done now." Hikari spoke as she finally rose from her chair. "Ready to go, Ryoga?"

"Whenever you are." Shark replied.

"See you later at the house, Hana." Hikari told her sister as she walked to the door.

"Have fun, you two!" Hana told the couple as they left the lab.

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><p>The afternoon was growing late as Yuma Tsukumo headed back to his home. Less then half way to his house though, his D-Gazer began to ring. Looking at the device's Caller I.D., Yuma saw that it was Durbe. Upon putting on the device, an image of the silver-haired ex-Barian appeared before his eye.<p>

"Hi, Durbe. What's up?" Yuma asked.

_"There's been a small incident that we could use your help with."_ Durbe explained. _"Several minutes ago, Cathy was defeated in a duel by a very aggressive and powerful opponent. You can probably guess that Mizael is furious right now."_

"I'll bet." Yuma replied. "So how can I help?"

_"Right now, we're trying to locate the duelist that defeated Cathy."_ Durbe answered. _"I'd ask Nasch to help with the search, but he has plans this afternoon and I don't want to ruin them with something like this."_

"No problem." Yuma replied. "So who is this duelist?"

_"From what Cathy told us, this duelist is named Cleo and she uses a Synchro Monster in the form of a red dragon."_ Durbe answered. _"Hopefully a duelist like this won't be too hard to find."_

"Right! I'm on it!" Yuma assured him. "I'll let you know if I find her."

With that, Yuma shut off his D-Gazer and quickly headed off in a random direction. Yuma of course didn't have the slightest idea where to start looking for the one who went after Cathy, but as he ran it suddenly occurred to him that Synchro Monsters were not commonly used in Heartland City. Why this was, no one could really say. But one place where Synchro Monsters were commonly used was the city of Neo Domino, and Yuma personally knew a duelist who was from that glorious city. It was perhaps a long shot, but it seemed like there could be a chance that Hikari might know who it was that beat Cathy.

After running through a few of the city streets, Yuma finally found Hikari standing at a street corner as if waiting for something. He called her name as he ran up, getting the blue-haired duelist's attention.

"Hi, Yuma. What's up?" Hikari asked. "Anything wrong?"

"Kinda." Yuma answered as he caught his breath. "Cathy was just beaten by this really tough duelist earlier. We're trying to find her so Mizael can avenge her honor or something, I guess."

"Okay, so how can I help?" Hikari asked.

"Well, I think you might know her." Yuma explained. "Durbe said that the one who beat Cathy used a Synchro Monster. So I figured you might know her since she's probably from Neo Domino."

"Okay, first of all, Neo Domino's a pretty big city." Hikari told him. "Second, not everyone who uses a Synchro Monster is from there. I know Synchro Monsters haven't been real big in Heartland, but there are a lot of places where they are other than my hometown."

"Durbe said that the Synchro Monster was some kind of red dragon." Yuma continued. "Oh, and her name's Cleo."

As soon as Hikari heard the name, Cleo, her left eye twitched and suddenly an explosive and invisible force shattered the glass of every street light and parked car window in the area, causing Yuma to jump. The area became filled with the incessant sound of car alarms.

"Cleo's here?" Hikari asked through gritted teeth.

"Uh, Hikari?" Yuma responded.

Silently, Hikari pulled out and clicked a small remote, and a second later a blue and white motorcycle zoomed up from around the corner by itself and parked in front of Hikari. The stardust heiress quickly mounted the waiting vehicle and put on her helmet.

"Computer! Locate Cleo Atlas!" Hikari spoke, and with that she drove off, leaving Yuma in the dust.

"Hey, Yuma!" Shark called as he quickly approached, causing Yuma to turn.

"Oh, hi Shark." Yuma greeted. "Durbe said you had plans."

"Yeah, with Hikari." Shark told him. "What the hell did you just say to her to make her drive off like that?"

"Well, I told her that Cathy was attacked by a duelist with a Synchro Monster. And the next thing I know she's driving off after someone named Cleo Atlas."

"Cleo?" a surprised Shark responded. "You mean that bitch is seriously back in town?"

"You know her too?" Yuma asked.

"Yeah. She's the daughter of Jack Atlas, a real powerful duelist from Neo Domino." Shark explained. "I met her a couple of years ago before Rio ended up in the hospital from her duel with Thomas. Cleo and I didn't get along that well, but for some weird reason Rio really liked her."

"But how does Hikari know her?" Yuma wondered.

"Dunno." Shark shrugged. "But Jack Atlas was a big rival of Hikari's dad years ago. Maybe that rivalry's been passed down."

Before the boys could speculate any further, Hana arrived and quickly walked up to them. "Hey Ryoga. What's with all the noise? And where's Hikari?"

"Hikari just drove off after someone." Ryoga explained. "Hey, do you and Hikari know the daughter of Jack Atlas?"

"Oh god! Is Cleo here?" Hana asked.

"So you and Hikari do know her." Shark observed.

"Of course we do. Cleo's our cousin." Hana revealed.

"Wait, what?" Shark exclaimed. "How the hell are you guys related?"

"Well, our dad and our Uncle Jack grew up together in the same orphanage. So they're technically brothers." Hana explained. "You said Hikari went after Cleo?"

"Yeah, my idiot friend Yuma told Hikari Cleo was in the city somewhere." Shark answered.

"We should probably go find them, then." Hana decided. "Hopefully they're not too far away. Things between my sister and Cleo can get pretty intense sometimes."

"Then let's go!" Yuma told them, and with that the three of them dashed off.

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><p>After a short and quick drive, Hikari arrived at a nearby park where her D-Wheel's computer had located Cleo. She quickly parked and dismounted her vehicle to head into the park. Along the way she passed her new friend and colleague, Kaito Tenjo, who was there at the park with his girlfriend Droite and younger bother Haruto. The three of them attempted to say hello, but Hikari completely ignored them. Picking up that something might be wrong, the trio decided to follow from a distance.<p>

Hikari meanwhile single-mindedly continued toward her objective, unaware she was being followed. At last she saw her dark-haired cousin lounging on a park bench. Cleo noticed Hikari right away and smirked.

"Hello, cousin." Cleo greeted. "I heard I might run into you here in this city. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"I heard you were pretty rough on a friend of mine earlier today." Hikari told her. "A girl with grey hair and glasses named Cathy. Ring any bells?"

"That annoying wench?" Cleo replied. "Yes, I dueled her. You certainly do have a way of befriending weaklings."

"I don't know what the hell happened between you and Cathy, but there was no reason to be so rough with her!" Hikari told her. "Cathy's just an amateur duelist, not to mention a pretty nice person."

"How many times do I have to tell you, cousin? In a duel you must crush your opponents and see them driven before you! Anything else is unacceptable." Cleo told her. "Besides, that girl had it coming."

"I swear to god, I don't know how you got to be such a psycho!" Hikari shot back. "Just what did Cathy do that caused you to want to grind her under your thumb?"

"That's none of your concern!" Cleo told her as she rose to her feet. "But if you wish to try and avenge your friend, that can easily be arranged right here and now!"

"Totally fine with me!" Hikari agreed. "This duel's been a long time coming anyway!"

With that, Hikari and Cleo activated their duel disks and D-Gazers and prepared her to face off. The silently watching Kaito, Droite and Haruto activated their own D-Gazers to watch. In seconds, the color of the surrounding area took on a slight change and both duelists drew their opening hands.

"I'll start things off!" Cleo decided as she drew her first card. "I summon Archfiend Priest of Red in Defense Mode and end my turn!"

Appearing on Cleo's side of the battlefield was a figure in a red hooded cloak that had gold trim. On both halves of the closed red cloak was a large golden design in the form of a pair of wings. The only parts of the figure's face that were visible were two glowing red eyes and a mouth full of fangs.

Hikari drew her first card. "Since you have a monster on the field, I special summon Junk Forward!"

A humanoid figure in red futuristic armor appeared on the battlefield. On his back were two long silver exhaust pipes like the kind one might find on a motorcycle.

"Next I summon the Tuner monster, Krebons!" Hikari announced.

Appearing next to Junk Forward was a slender humanoid figure wearing a blue and white costume similar to that of a court jester. Its head appeared to be detached from its body and it had a mouth of yellow zipper-like teeth. Over its eyes was a black visor that displayed green digital lines in place of eyes.

"I tune the level two Krebons into the level three Junk Forward for a level five Synchro Summon!" Hikari announced.

Krebons flashed orange and changed into two rings made of green light. The rings encircled Junk Forward and changed the warrior into three white stars.

"Clustering stars come together to signal the coming of an unstoppable fighter! Create the path its light shines upon!" Hikari chanted. "Synchro Summon! Rise up! Scarred Warrior!"

The stars flashed and became a pillar of white light that shot up into the air. After a moment the light faded to reveal a muscular warrior with tan skin covered in X-shaped scars. He had a cybernetic right eye and the top of his head was covered in bandages. Bits of armor covered the warrior's chest and left shoulder and his right leg was completely mechanical. His entire right arm was completely wrapped in bandages with a single metal blade protruding from the forearm.

"Scarred Warrior, attack Archfiend Priest of Red!" Hikari commanded. "Brave Dagger!"

The bandaged warrior charge forth and sliced the demon priest in half with the blade on his arm. The two halves of the demon shattered into bits of light and vanished.

"I activate Archfiend Priest of Red's effect!" Cleo announced. "Since he was destroyed in battle, I can summon a Fiend-type Tuner from my deck. So I summon Dark Resonator in Defense Mode!"

Appearing where the Archfiend Priest once stood was a small demon in black robe and a head covered almost completely by a grey horned helmet. Only the creature's red eyes and sharp-toothed mouth could be seen from within his headgear. On his back were several objects that looked like symbols. In his hands the demon held a metal rod and a tuning fork.

"Guess I'll end my turn." Hikari decided.

As Cleo drew her next card, Yuma finally arrived with Hana and Shark. Kaito noticed as the three ran up to watch the unfolding duel.

"You guys are just in time." Kaito told them. "Whatever's going on looks like it's just getting started."

"You have no idea." Hana told him.

"So who's the girl dueling Hikari?" Droite asked.

"That's her cousin, Cleo Atlas." Shark answered.

"Wait, as in Jack Atlas?" a surprised Kaito asked.

"Yeah." Shark confirmed. "This duel could turn out to be one hell of a brawl."

"I summon Mist Archfiend in Attack Mode!" Cleo announced.

A red mist appeared on the field and took the form of a demon with large black ribs covering its chest like armor and a black skull-like face with horns. On its head it had long wild white hair, and on its back was a pair of large black bat-like wings.

"I tune the level three Dark Resonator into the level five Mist Archfiend for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Cleo announced.

Dark Resonator clinked his tuning fork and changed into three green rings of light. The rings encircled Mist Archfiend and transformed the demon into five white stars.

"The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power!" Cleo chanted. "Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

The stars flashed and became a pillar of light that shot high into the air, quickly fading to reveal a muscular black and red dragon with three tan horns on its head. The two horns on the sides of its head curved forward, while the third horn went straight back.

"Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Scarred Warrior!" Cleo commanded. "Absolute Power Force!"

The dragon roared and a large ball of flames formed in the palm of his right hand. Red Dragon Archfiend flew in and punched Scarred Warrior in the chest using his ball of flames. Scarred Warrior survived the attack, but Hikari's life points had fallen to 3100.

"You do remember that Scarred Warrior can survive up to two attacks, right?" Hikari asked.

"Of course I do, and I don't care." Cleo told her. "What matters is that I was able to take a bit off your life points. I'll just set one card on the field and end my turn."

Hikari drew her next card. "I discard Quillbolt Hedgehog to special summon the Tuner monster, Jackie Jumper!"

Appearing on the battlefield was a small robot-like figure with skies for feet and ski poles in place of arms. Covering its body was a garment that looked like a blue poncho.

"Next I summon Mono Synchron in Attack Mode!" Hikari announced.

A small green and yellow robot appeared on the battlefield next to Jackie Jumper. On the end of each of its arms was a large red stamp in the form of a number 1.

"Because I have a Tuner on the field, I special summon Quillbolt Hedgehog from the Graveyard!" Hikari announced.

Materializing next to the two tuners was a light-brown rodent-like creature that looked similar to a hamster. Its back was covered by a mass of large metal bolts.

"I tune the level three Jackie Jumper into the level five Scarred Warrior for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Hikari announced.

Jackie Jumper flashed orange and changed into three green rings of light. After being encircled by the rings, Scarred Warrior changed into five white stars.

"Clustering hopes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon!" Hikari chanted. "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

The stars flashed and became a pillar of light that shot into the sky. The light quickly faded to reveal a magnificent silvery-white dragon with magnificent wings and well-developed arms and legs. Its head ended in a three-pointed crest and at the end of its snout was a long horn. As Stardust Dragon flapped his great wings, bits of green light showered down onto the field. Both Red Dragon Archfiend and Stardust Dragon roared at one another. Those watching the duel swore they could see a fire burning in the eyes of both dragons.

"Any monster used with Mono Synchron for a Synchro Summon become level one!" Hikari continued. "So I tune the level one Mono Synchron into the now level one Quillbolt Hedgehog for a level two Synchro Summon!"

Mono Synchron fired a red beam from the stamp on its right arm that struck Quillbolt Hedgehog on the cheek. A large red number 1 had appeared in the spot where the beam hit. Soon after, Mono Synchron changed into a single ring of light than encircled Quillbolt Hedgehog and changed him into a single white star.

"Clustering wishes will call out a new speed's horizon! Become the path its light shines upon!" Hikari chanted. "Synchro Summon! The power of hope, Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!"

The star flashed and became a horizontal ray of light that quickly faded to reveal a small robot that resembled a green, white and red racecar. It had blue and white arms with black hands extending from its back wheels, and a pair of blue and white legs on its underside. The head inside the car's cockpit wore a blue helmet.

"Since I summoned Formula Synchron, I get to draw a card." Hikari announced. "I set one card on the field and end my turn."

"So, preparing for an Accel Synchro Summon, eh?" Cleo observed.

"What's the matter, Cleo? Scared?" Hikari asked.

"Not at all." Cleo assured her. "Your dragon's evolved form is nothing compared to the power that I've recently obtained."

"Then bring it!" Hikari dared.

Cleo drew her next card. "I summon Barrier Resonator in Attack Mode!"

Appearing on the field was a small demon that looked very similar to Dark Resonator. A key difference in this demon's appearance was that it had a large batter pack mounted on his back. Adorning the banner on the front of Barrier Resonator's chest was the large symbol of a yellow lightning bolt.

"Next, because I have a Synchro Monster on the field, I can special summon Creation Resonator!" Cleo announced.

Yet another demon similar to Dark Resonator materialized on the battlefield. The key difference with this demon was that he had a large blue fan mounted on his back.

"I tune the level three Creation Resonator and the level one Barrier Resonator into the level eight Red Dragon Archfiend for a level twelve Synchro Summon!" Cleo announced.

Both demons clinked their tuning forks and became four rings made of red flames. The rings encircled Red Dragon Archfiend and formed into a spherical cocoon that looked similar to a star. At the same time, Hikari closed her eyes and a swirling wind formed at her feet.

"Clustering crystal dreams open the door to a new evolution!" Hikari began to chant.

"The Empress and the Devil shall here and now be as one! A Raging Spirit! Lift up the very cries of Creation itself!" Cleo began to chant at the same time.

"Become the path its light shines upon!" Hikari continued.

"Synchro Summon!" Cleo called out.

"Accel Synchro!" Hikari called out.

In an instant, Stardust Dragon and Formula Synchro took off in a streak of pinkish-red light and vanished. At the same time, the spherical cocoon around Red Dragon Archfiend became a pillar of flames. A split second later, another streak of light appeared behind Hikari and a new dragon zoomed out of it. The creature was a slightly larger and more muscular version of Stardust Dragon with a sleeker head and shorter horns. The dragon's wings had become more like fins, and had gained a second pair that jutted upright out of its back.

"Be born, Shooting Star Dragon!" Hikari called out.

As soon at Shooting Star Dragon appeared, the flames that had enveloped Red Dragon Archfiend subsided to reveal its new form. His new appearance was larger and colored bright red and black. He had four very large blade-like wings on his back. Blade-like spikes ran down the length of his back, and the end of its tail resembled a large axe. On the back of the dragon's head was a large horn that went straight back, while on the sides of his head were two smaller horns that curved forward. On the front of the dragon's chest was a small blue diamond.

"The power to smite the gods, Red Nova Dragon!" Cleo called out.

"No… no way!" a shocked Hana exclaimed. "Since when did Cleo get Red Nova Dragon?"

"You know about that card?" Yuma asked.

Hana nodded. "My dad once told me and Hikari about this card our Uncle Jack once had that was powerful enough to stand against the Egyptian God cards used by Yugi Muto. But I never imagined that Cleo would ever have it."

"Red Nova gains 500 ATK for each Tuner in my Graveyard." Cleo informed Hikari. "Right now I have three, which means his ATK rises from 3500 to 5000. Shooting Star Dragon is no match for him."

"If you're so sure you can take down Shooting Star, then go ahead and attack me!" Hikari dared.

"Fine then! Red Nova, attack Shooting Star Dragon!" Cleo commanded. "Burning Soul!"

"I activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect!" Hikari announced. "By banishing Shooting Star Dragon from the field until the end of the turn, I can negate Red Nova's attack!"

Red Nova Roared and his body became covered in red flames. But as the red dragon flew at his rival, Shooting Star Dragon vanished with a flash of green light and left a twister of wind in his place. Red Nova was pushed back and his flames subsided. Soon after, the twister left by Shooting Star Dragon subsided.

A grin formed on Cleo's face. "Did you really think I wouldn't see that coming? I activate my face-down card, Double or Nothing!"

"Say what?" Yuma exclaimed.

"Since you negated my dragon's attack, Double or Nothing allows Red Nova to attack a second time with twice the ATK points!" Cleo continued. "Red Nova, attack Hikari directly! Burning Soul!"

Red Nova let out another roar and became covered once more in red flames that burned even brighter than before. Hana closed her eyes as the burning dragon moved in for the kill.

"I activate a Trap, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Hikari announced.

Just as Red Nova moved in for the kill, a scarecrow made of junk appeared before her and created an invisible barrier that force the dragon back. The burning flames covering Red Nova's body died out.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your touch." Cleo told Hikari.

"Wow! I don't think I've ever seen a duel like this." An amazed Yuma declared.

"No kidding. They both duel at such a high level." Shark agreed.

"It's not really surprising when you consider who their father's are." Kaito pointed out.

"Still, the rivalry between Hikari and her cousin seems pretty intense even for duelists." Droite observed.

"Hikari and Cleo usually get along pretty well most of the time, but sometimes they just rub each other the wrong way." Hana revealed. "Actually, I've always thought Cleo will mellow out if I could just set her up with the right guy."

"So are you done?" Hikari asked her opponent.

"Yes. I end my turn." Cleo announced. In that moment, Shooting Star Dragon reappeared in another flash of green light.

Hikari drew her next card. "I set one card on the field and end my turn!"

Cleo drew her next card. "Red Nova, attack Shooting Star Dragon again! Burning Soul!"

"This time I'll take you on!" Hikari announced. "But I'm also going to activate a Trap called A Warrior's Spirit! By banishing Scarred Warrior from the Graveyard, A Warrior's Spirit gives Shooting Star Dragon Scarred Warrior's ATK until the end of the turn! Which means Shooting Star's ATK jumps from 3300 to 5400!"

Both dragons flew at one another at full speed. Red Nova's body became covered in red flames, and at the same time a blue fireball entered Shooting Star Dragon's back. Hikari's dragon became shrouded in light-blue flames. The wings of both dragons collided as they passed by one another. They froze, and after a moment Red Nova fell to the ground and shattered into bits of light. Cleo's life points took a slight drop to 3600, but a split second later a large red fireball appeared on the battlefield and exploded to reveal a revived Red Dragon Archfiend.

"What the… how did you bring back Red Dragon Archfiend?" Hikari asked.

"I activate the second effect of Archfiend Priest of Red from the Graveyard." Cleo explained. "Since a Dragon-type Synchro Monster I had fell in battle, I was able to banish Archfiend Priest to summon Red Dragon Archfiend back to the field with 3800 ATK. But since Shooting Star Dragon's ATK boost lasts until the end of the turn, I'll just end things here." With that, the blue flames covering Shooting Star Dragon subsided.

"I guess things aren't too bad for Hikari." Yuma remarked. "Sure Red Dragon Archfiend has more ATK points, but Hikari can block most of Cleo's attacks."

"Yeah, but Hikari can't keep that up forever." Shark pointed out. "If she doesn't end things soon, she could lose."

"This ends now!" Hikari declared as she drew her next card. "I activate the Spell, Blustering Winds! This card boosts Shooting Star Dragon's ATK by 1000 until the end of the turn!"

The sky darkened and a massive twister of wind formed around Shooting Star Dragon. In seconds the dragon began to glow with a green aura.

"I activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect!" Hikari announced. "I pick up the top five cards of my deck, and for each Tuner I pick up, Shooting Star Dragon gains an attack!" Hikari drew and looked at her top five cards. "Two of the cards I picked up are the Tuners, Debris Dragon and Psychic Commander! Which means Shooting Star Dragon can attack twice!"

Shooting Star Dragon divided into two different colored clones. One of the dragons was red while the remaining one was blue.

"Shooting Star Dragon, attack Red Dragon Archfiend and Cleo!" Hikari ordered. "Stardust Mirage!"

Both dragons took off towards Cleo and her dragon like rockets. The red dragon clone collided with Red Dragon Archfiend and destroyed him in a fiery explosion, while the remaining clone continued onward and struck Cleo. Both attacks reduced Cleo's life points to zero. With the duel at an end, Shooting Star Dragon vanished and the surrounding area returned to normal. Before Hikari or any of the others could say anything, a familiar blue-haired young lady with pinkish eyes suddenly ran over to Cleo's side.

"Cleo! I saw the whole duel." Rio told her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Snowflake." Cleo assured her. "I'll just have to pay my cousin back double the next time we face one another."

"Snowflake?" Hana quietly repeated to herself with a raised eyebrow.

"There you are, Rio!" Shark interrupted. "I've been trying to get ahold of you all day. Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh, sorry Ryoga. I guess I forgot to turn my D-Gazer back on when I got off the plane." Rio answered. "But since you asked, I've sort of been on a date with Cleo all afternoon."

"A… a date?" Shark asked as a sudden feeling of uneasiness came over him. "What do you mean?"

"She means this." Cleo answered before dipping Rio back and planting a firm passionate kiss on her lips.

Hikari and the others were stunned to see such a display of public affection, though the most surprised and animated reactions came from Yuma, Hana and Shark. Yuma's jaw dropped and blood was dripping from his nose. Hana's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of their sockets and her mouth seemed wide enough to let a train through. Shark meanwhile stood almost completely frozen except for his twitching left eye. He looked as though he was on the verge of a massive coronary event that no young man of his young age would normally experience. But then most young men would probably have similar actions if they saw their younger sisters being kissed passionately by someone they utterly despised.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry that this first chapter ended up being a little long. It was kind of unavoidable because of the duel. Ordinarily I would've split a duel like that into two chapters, but I couldn't really do that in this case. I hope that I at least ended this chapter on an interesting note.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Dinner at Barian House

**Author's Note:** Since today is Halloween, I probably should've spent part of today writing something more festive like a horror story. But these past couple of years I've just never been able to get into the Halloween spirit. Plus I write horror stories half the time anyway. If it makes anyone feel better though, there will be some horror elements popping up later in this story. And if anyone wishes to read an actual ZEXAL horror story of mine, they could read _Vampire Papillon_.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Dinner at Barian House<p>

Hikari stood there watching as Cleo and Rio continued to kiss, trying to articulate some kind of response to what she was seeing. Though it didn't seem like the couple would hear her, as they were obviously lost in their own little world. Shark meanwhile was still frozen like a statue, his face twisted in an expression that could be described as shock and horror. After a few more moments, Cleo and Rio finally broke their kiss. Rio stood there with her cheeks flushed and a goofy smile on her face.

"Wow! Cleo, I had no idea." Hikari finally spoke.

"Is this going to be a problem for you?" Cleo asked. "Because if it is, you can go to hell."

"No, no. I've got no problem with this kind of thing." Hikari assured her.

"Looks like Shark might." Kaito pointed out.

Hikari looked and saw that both Shark and Hana were still frozen in shock at what they had just seen. Yuma seemed to have recovered though, as he was currently busy wiping the blood from his nose.

"Hana, for god's sake, close your mouth!" Hikari ordered. "You'll let a bug in or something."

"Sorry." Hana told her upon finally snapping to her senses.

"Ryoga?" Hikari spoke as she shook him by the shoulder. "Ryoga, you okay?"

After a moment, Shark finally snapped out of his frozen state. "Oh, Hikari. I think I just had the worst nightmare."

"One where you saw Cleo tonguing your sister?" Hikari asked. "That wasn't a dream."

"So Rio, how exactly do you and Cleo know each other?" Hana asked.

"…Wha?" Rio dreamily responded. "Oh! Um, we met a few years ago before this little accident I had."

Before anyone could respond, a grey van pulled up close to the park and Mizael stormed out of the vehicle's side door. His girlfriend, Cathy exited the vehicle closely behind the blonde former Barian. Durbe emerged from the van only moments after with Alit and Gilag.

"Where is the swine who attacked my darling Cathy?" Mizael loudly demanded to know as he approached.

"Who the hell are you?" Cleo asked.

"That's her, Mizael!" Cathy told him with an accusing finger pointed at Cleo.

"Oh, I see. So you're that girl's boyfriend, is that it?" Cleo deduced.

"Whoever you are, you shall pay for what you have done!" Mizael declared.

"Okay, everyone just calm down!" Hikari told them. "Cleo, what the hell is all this about, anyway?"

"Rio and I were trying to relax in this park when that girl showed up with a hoard of cats." Cleo began. "As it turns, Rio's very afraid of cats. So I tried to ask that girl, Cathy to leave and take her little friends with her. When she said no, I had to apply a bit of force."

"Oh… so, you were just trying to protect Rio." Hikari realized.

"From a bunch of cute kitties?" Hana added with a raised eyebrow.

"Mizael?" Rio spoke, finally getting the dragon tamer's attention.

"Oh! Merag." Mizael responded. "I didn't know you had returned."

"I just got back today." Rio told him. "Did I just hear that Cathy is your girlfriend?"

"Um, yes you did." Mizael answered.

"Okay, well it's not my place to say who you can and can't date. But if I see even one of Cathy's little friends around the house, I'm going to make your life a living hell." Rio warned. "Understand?"

"Clearly." Mizael answered as his face turned a bit pale.

"Looks like you really walked into it this time, Mizael." Kaito remarked with a cocky smirk.

"Shut up, Tenjo!" Mizael snapped back.

By this time the other three former Barians had joined the rest of the group. All of them were quite confused about what was going on.

"So, is Mizael not going to avenge his girlfriend?" Alit asked as he scratched his head.

"Yeah, what the heck's going on?" Gilag asked.

"I guess you could call it family drama." Droite answered.

"Ryoga, could I have a word with you for moment?" Rio requested.

Shark nodded and the two of them walked to a spot a few feet away from the rest of the group. As soon as Shark opened his mouth to ask what Rio wanted to talk about, his sister stomped down hard on his right foot. Shark hopped on one leg for a few moments grumbling several words of profanity under his breath.

"What the hell was that for?" Shark demanded to know.

"For not letting Cleo see me when I ended up in the hospital after my duel with Thomas." Rio told him. "Do you have any idea how hurt she was by that?"

"Are you kidding me?" Shark exclaimed. "If she hadn't opened her damn mouth and argued with you like that, you probably wouldn't have gone to that duel! It's partly her fault that you got…"

Rio stopped on her brother's other foot before he could finish. This time he wasn't trying quite as hard to keep his profanity from spewing out.

"I don't want to hear anymore of that talk!" Rio told him. "Now the fact is that Cleo and I are seeing each other now, so you're just going to have to get used to it. Is that clear?"

Shark didn't answer with words, but rather with a string of incoherent grumbling. But while he didn't give Rio any sort of blessing on the matter, it seemed like he was going to put up any sort of major opposition to her seeing Cleo either. With the matter seeming settles, Rio and Shark rejoined the rest of the group.

"Durbe, it's my turn to cook tonight, right?" Rio asked.

"Uh, yeah. That's right." Durbe confirmed as he adjusted his glasses.

"Cleo, how do you feel about onions?" Rio asked, causing Shark to cringe.

"I don't hate them." Cleo answered.

"Good. Then I think I'll try making an onion soup for dinner tonight." Rio decided. "You're invited to come, of course."

"I'd be delighted to come." Cleo told her.

"Hikari, you and Hana are invited too." Rio told them. "And Ryoga, I expect you to eat every bite of what's put in front of you, got it?"

"…Yeah, I got it." A very displeased Shark answered.

"Well, looks like we've stumbled into a little party." A voice interrupted.

Hikari and the others looked and saw two men approaching them. One of them was a bearded man who resembled Yuma and was dressed like and archeologist from an adventure movie. The other was an older-looking man with receding orange hair dressed in mostly black. Most of the group knew these two as Yuma and Kaito's fathers Kazuma Tsukumo and Dr. Faker.

"Hey, dad!" Yuma enthusiastically greeted as he quickly walked over.

Haruto meanwhile quickly ran over to Dr. Faker. The reformed mad scientist bent down a bit to greet his youngest son.

"Hello, Haruto." Faker greeted as he patted his son on the head. "Have you been behaving yourself while I've been gone?"

"Sure have!" Haruto told him. "Oh, guess what? While you were gone, Kaito and Droite became vampires and took over the city."

"What a remarkable imagination you have." Faker chuckled.

"He didn't imagine that, Dr. Faker." Droite sheepishly admitted. "It turns out my mother was actually an alien vampire who went around draining the life from countless worlds. While you were gone, she caused me to awaken as a vampire, and I started to feed on everyone in the city."

"Droite turned me into a vampire too, and together we took over the city." Kaito added. "If Astral hadn't returned with the Numeron Code, the city would probably be dead right now. Also, you might as well know now that Droite and I are seeing each other."

"…Oh." Faker replied, trying to process what he had just heard.

"Well, looks like all of you had a pretty eventful time while we were gone." Kazuma observed. "We had a pretty big adventure on our trip too. Why don't we all go back to Faker's place and we can tell you about it?"

The others agreed to this idea, and within a few minutes they had all gone to Heartland Tower. Once there, Kazuma told everyone about what happened on the trip where Rio was reunited with Cleo. Including the parts about the mad Dante Fairbanks and his evil version of Cleo's Red Dragon Archfiend, and of the revelation that Cleo was the reincarnation of an ancient warrior ruler known as Sonja the Scarlet Empress. Kazuma even showed everyone the pictures he had taken of the statue of Sonja and various parts of her ruined castle.

"This doesn't shock me at all." Hikari spoke after hearing about Cleo's past life.

"I wouldn't expect that it would." Cleo responded. "After all, I do have all the natural aspects of a great ruler."

"If by ruler, you mean megalomaniac psycho, then yeah." Hikari replied.

"Oh c'mon, sis. I'm sure Cleo was a very kind and benevolent empress in her past life." Hana assumed.

"And here's an inscription that tells of how Sonja mercilessly ordered the beheadings of a hundred soldiers who would not obey her when she came to power." Kazuma continued, completely oblivious to the conversation. "It's said that the streets of the kingdom became a river of blood during that time."

"Again, not shocked at all." Hikari declared.

"Oh please, those soldiers were the loyal servants of that filthy old man who ruled that island before I rose to power." Cleo told her. "I had to make an example of them."

"Hana's actually right, Hikari." Rio interjected. "While she was ruthless at times, Cleo was actually well loved by her people."

"How the heck would you know that?" Shark asked.

"Oh dear." Durbe spoke with a look of realization. "Nasch, I think I just remembered something from my past life. Do you recall that time Merag was captured by the ruler of a small empire to try to get you to negotiate with them?"

"…Now that you mention it, yeah. Rio was on her way to help with negotiations with this other kingdom when…" Shark began to recall when the same realization that Durbe just had hit him like a meteor. "Wait a minute…." he turned to glare at Cleo. "That psycho empress was you?"

"You should be thanking me, Ryoga." Cleo told him. "If I hadn't intervened, Rio would've been forced to marry Zahn the Black Diamond. And Rio was hardly my prisoner."

"It's true, Ryoga. Cleo treated me very well while I was there." Rio assured him.

"Oh she did, did she?" Shark responded. "Do the words, 'Stockholm Syndrome' mean anything to you?"

"It was not like that at all!" Rio told him.

"Sonja was quite willing to release Merag, in the end." Durbe recalled. "And her terms for releasing her weren't that outrageous."

"Uh, thanks for showing all this, Mr. Tsukumo." Hana chimed in. "But most of us should probably be going now. We do have a pretty big dinner to get ready for tonight."

With that, the others said their goodbyes and most of the large group left Heartland Tower. Since dinner was still a few hours off, the group decided to split up and meet again at the Kamishiro mansion later. Shark and Hikari went off alone to a little café to have a quick drink and a snack. They sat at a table by the window and a waitress promptly came and took their order. Once the couple told their attendant what they wanted, they were quickly left alone again.

"So… some day, huh?" Hikari declared.

"Tell me about it." Shark agreed.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you bugged the fact that Rio is seeing another girl, or the fact that she's seeing Cleo?" Hikari asked.

"…I guess I don't have a problem with Rio dating other girls." Shark decided. "But of all the girls for her to be interested in, why'd it have to be that cousin of yours?"

"Past life stuff aside, just what is your big problem with Cleo?" Hikari inquired.

Shark let out a heavy sigh. "Rio and I met Cleo a couple of years ago before Rio had that duel that put her in the hospital. For some reason, Cleo and my sister ended up becoming really good friends. But I couldn't stand her. I mean she has that giant ego, for one thing."

"Now that I understand." Hikari spoke before Shark could say anything more. "Cleo does have a knack for rubbing people the wrong way."

"…Just before Rio dueled Thomas, Cleo ended up getting into an argument with her." Shark continued. "I overheard most of what they were arguing about. It sounded like Cleo was trying to keep Rio from going, but all she did was push her into facing Thomas."

"So you partly blame Cleo for what happened to Rio back then?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah… I guess I do." Shark confirmed. "I guess it is kinda stupid, huh?"

"Look, Cleo can be a little… difficult sometimes." Hikari told him. "But she really is a kind person. Your sister probably couldn't ask for a better girlfriend."

"If you say so." Shark responded.

"There's one other thing you should remember too." Hikari continued. "Rio and Cleo are obviously crazy about each other, and there's nothing you can do to change that. If you're not careful, you may end just driving a wedge between you and Rio, and I know you don't want that."

"So you're saying I need to learn to get used to them seeing each other?" Shark asked.

"I'm sure it's not going to be easy, but that's exactly what I'm saying." Hikari answered. "I'll be here to help you in any way I can."

"Thanks. I'm sure I'll need all the help I can get." Shark replied.

* * *

><p>Evening descended upon the city of Heartland, and Shark and the others had arrived back at the front door of the Kamishiro mansion. Even Cathy had come to have dinner with Mizael and the rest of the ex-Barians. The residents of the mansion and their four guests went in, and as soon as they got to the living room they saw a familiar orange-haired young man in a brown jacket lounging on the couch.<p>

"Hey guys! Mind if I join you for dinner?" the young man asked.

"Vector!" Rio identified.

"He broke in again!" Alit added.

Cleo glared at the mad former Barian and walked over to him. "So… you're the called Vector that I've heard about?"

"That's right." Vector confirmed as he got to his feet. "And you are?"

In place of an introduction, Cleo gave the redhead a hard punch in the abdomen. Vector fell to his knees coughing and holding his sides.

"Cleo, what the hell?" Hikari exclaimed.

"She's just mad about how Vector ended up killing me in our past lives." Rio explained.

"Guess I can't blame her for that." Shark admitted.

Cleo grabbed Vector by the shirt and pulled to his feet. "If I ever hear of you harming even a single hair on Rio's head, I will hunt you down and slit your throat! Am I making myself clear?"

"Yeah, got it." Vector replied.

With that, Cleo let go of Vector's shirt and went back over to Rio's side. Vector collapsed backward onto the couch and attempted to catch his breath.

"So… can I still come to dinner?" Vector asked.

"Durbe…" Shark spoke.

"I'll go set another place at the table." Durbe announced as he walked out of the room.

The dinner that followed that evening was for the most part very calm and pleasant. Yet there was a very heavy tension hanging in the air. Hana, Alit, Gilag, Durbe and Vector made most of the conversation during the meal. But the whole time there was a lot of glaring going on. Every so often, Shark would glare at Cleo. Cleo would glare back at Shark, Vector and Mizael. Mizael and Cathy would glare at Cleo. Rio would glare at Cathy, prompting the catgirl to glare back and hiss quietly in a feline manner. All the while, Rio's young doppelganger, Iris, who had been sitting very quietly the whole time, was more than half certain that some kind of massive brawl was about to break out from the way many of them were acting.

After dinner, the four guests at the mansion plus Vector left and the rest of the former Barians retired for the evening. Shark sat out in the living room trying to find something on T.V. as he drank a bottle of soda trying to wash the taste of onion soup out of his mouth. It was a miracle that he had been able to choke down the two bowls that had been put in front of him, not that Rio had given him much of a choice.

By the time Shark finally found a T.V. show that seemed interesting, Durbe walked into the room. "Quite an eventful day, huh?"

"You're the second person I've heard say that." Shark replied. "I still can't believe my sister is dating Cleo."

"You know, I remember that Merag seemed very sad when we witnessed Sonja's untimely death." Durbe recalled. "Of course she said she was fine when I asked her, but I could tell she was very distraught. I guess there was something going on between the two of them even back then."

Shark also recalled that Rio seemed very sad about something when she had returned home from that incident in their past lives as the rulers of the Poseidon Ocean. She had even shut herself in her room for a week seeing no one and eating very little. Rio had obviously fallen hard for Cleo back then, and he realized that Hikari was right. He was going to have to try and learn to live with Cleo or else he'd end up pushing his only sister away.

"You know, Durbe… being an older brother is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world." Shark remarked.

"Well, I think I should turn in now." Durbe decided. "Goodnight, Nasch."

"Goodnight." Shark replied.

* * *

><p>Kaine looked out at the Kamishiro mansion from the roof of the house across the street, along with Anitak and the rest of his band of psychic duelists. Mortimer had a pair of binoculars and a parabolic microphone aimed at the mansion.<p>

"Well Mort, what do you think?" Kaine asked.

"Taking into account all the information Ms. Anitak has given us, I believe we shouldn't have that hard of a time defeating these targets." Mortimer answered as he put down his equipment. "There are two things about this job that troubles me though. The first is that two of our targets are the daughters of Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas. From all accounts, they seem to be as powerful as their fathers were."

"Well don't worry about that. Clay and his kid brother will take on those two." Kaine told him.

"Sure, give us the hard job." Splicer responded.

"Don't be like that, bro." Brimstone told him. "This way we can get some payback and prove ourselves against the daughter of the Black Rose Witch."

"The other potential difficulty we face is the Number cards used by most of our targets." Mortimer continued. "From what Clayton and Clermont have told use about the Number card used by Ms. Kamishiro, they are not going to be easy cards to defeat in a duel."

"Do not fear the 10X Numbers." Anitak told them. "I have already prepared a countermeasure for you to use against them."

From beneath her cloak, Anitak held out a copper-colored hand with sharp silver fingernails. Kaine and his fellow psychics could not be sure if the hand was covered by some kind of glove or not. A crackling ball of red electricity appeared above the hooded woman's open palm, exploding and splitting into seven sparks that went to the hands of Kaine and his six original team members. Kaine and his minions looked and saw that they were now holding copies of a Duel Monsters card they had never seen before.

"Field Spells?" Ayumu observed.

"10X Disruption Zone." Mortimer read as he looked at the card. "Interesting that you would possess cards designed for the specific purposes of defeating these Number cards."

"These cards should more than even the odds for you." Anitak told them. "The rest is up to you."

"Well okay then." Kaine replied. "Mortimer, have you figured out who our specific targets are?"

"I'm still reviewing the data, but I believe that Marcel has the best chance of defeating the one called Gilag." Mortimer answered.

"Ya hear that, Marcel? You're up first." Kaine told the painted member of his team.

"I shall not disappoint you." Marcel assured him.

"I get the feeling this is gonna be a fun job." Kaine grinned. "Let's show these guys what Team Arcadia's made of!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I guess I could've listed this story as being under the family genre, as it deals in part with some family relationships. But it just seemed weird to me to have a family story with an M rating. The radon for the M rating, by the way, is due to the very dark nature of most of this story's antagonists.

Pleas review and let me know what you think.


	4. Arcadia Strikes

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Arcadia Strikes<p>

It was lunchtime as Rio made her way through Heartland Academy's cafeteria with her tray. As she looked for a place to sit, she saw Yuma sitting by himself at a table in the corner. This was quite odd, as the young duelist normally had several friends with him at lunch, one of those friends usually being his girlfriend, Kotori Mizuku. Rio also noticed that Yuma seemed to be a little depressed, something else that was far from normal. Deciding to go see what was troubling him, Rio went over to go sit at Yuma's table.

"Hi, Yuma." Rio greeted as she came near, getting his attention. "Mind if I join you?"

"Oh, hi Rio." Yuma greeted back. "Go right ahead."

"I don't think I've ever seen you sitting alone by yourself like this." Rio remarked as she sat down.

"Well most of the guys are busy with club stuff right now." Yuma explained. "Plus Anna's out of town and I guess Cathy's somewhere with Mizael."

"And Kotori?" Rio asked.

"Oh… well, Kotori hasn't been talking to me for the last couple of days." Yuma revealed.

"Is this about that whole vampire thing that happened while I was gone?" Rio asked. "Alit mentioned to me that Kotori had gone up a bra size when Astral brought her and everyone else in the city back with the Numeron Code."

"Yeah, she still doesn't really believe that it was kind of an accident." Yuma replied. "I never cared about how big her chest size was."

"Have you told her that?" Rio asked.

"Of course! But she doesn't buy it." Yuma answered as he slumped onto the table. "I have no idea what to do."

"Well, I'm sure Kotori realize that you didn't have anything to do with her new chest." Rio assured him.

"Excuse me." A female voice interrupted, causing the two to look.

Standing before them was a girl in a Heartland Academy uniform who looked to be about seventeen. She had green eyes behind a pair of glasses with ovular red frames and straight black hair tied in a braided ponytail that went half way down her back. In her hands the girl held a full lunch tray.

"Forgive my interruption, but I was wondering if I could join the two of you." The girl continued. "I'm Chitose Amamiya. I just transferred to this academy today, so I hardly know anybody here."

"Well feel free to join us." Rio told her. "I'm Rio Kamishiro."

"And I'm Yuma." The young duelist greeted. "Yuma Tsukumo."

"It is nice to meet you both." Chitose replied as she sat down. "Forgive my curiosity, but are the two of you romantically involved?"

Rio nearly choked on the bit of food she had just slipped into her mouth upon hearing the dark-haired girl's question. The idea of her and Yuma dating was just positively absurd.

"Uh, no. I'm seeing someone else." Rio informed Chitose. "So's Yuma."

"Oh! I see." An embarrassed Chitose replied. "Forgive my presumption."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Yuma grinned. "It's nice to meet you, Chitose. I hope we can become good friends."

"Yes. As do I." Chitose smiled.

Rio simply watched and ate as Yuma and Chitose began to talk. The whole time they spoke though, Rio couldn't help but think that there was something very insincere about Chitose's smile.

* * *

><p>Hikari sat working at the computer at the Heartland Tower lab. As she typed, she was unaware that someone else had walked into the room.<p>

"So this is where you've been working." A familiar voice spoke. Hikari turned her chair and saw Cleo standing behind her. "I have to say, I think I like Uncle Yusei's lab better. The lights in this place are too dim. I'm starting to see why your friend, Tenjo is so pale."

"What do you want, Cleo?" Hikari asked.

"Can't I just drop by and say hello to a member of my family?" Cleo responded. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Well, I'm fine." Hikari told her as she turned back to the screen. "So how long are you going to be in Heartland, anyway?"

"For as long as Rio's in high school." Cleo answered. "We haven't talked about our plans for afterward yet, but I intend to be here for as long as she is."

"In that case, just do me a favor and go easy on Ryoga." Hikari requested.

"Don't worry, I have no desire to start anything with your new boyfriend." Cleo assured her. "If you don't mind me saying so, you're taste in men certainly seems to have improved these last two years. Ryoga's certainly better than your last boyfriend."

"There you go again!" Hikari shot back as she rose from her chair. "How many times are you going to rub my face that you were right about Colton? You were right, okay? He was bad news! But now he's gone, so let's just get on with our lives!"

"I wasn't going to say anything more about that piece of scum." Cleo told her. "I was just going to say that I'm happy you've finally found someone else after these two years. Now that I've said that, I'll leave you to your work."

With that, Cleo turned and calmly walked out of the room. Hikari let out a heavy sigh and sat back down, rubbing her temples at the keyboard. She couldn't believe that she had lashed out at Cleo like that. All her cousin had done was come to see how she was doing and to say something nice, and she went and bit her head off.

Kaito entered the lab and saw that Hikari was stressed. "Hey, Hikari. Everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Hikari answered. "Cleo was just here. Family stuff."

"You don't have to explain that kind of thing to me." Kaito told her. "Why don't you take a break?"

"Yeah, I was planning to go have a late lunch with Hana anyway." Hikari replied as she rose to her feet. "I'll see you later."

* * *

><p>It was late in the afternoon as Gilag walked alone to the Kamishiro mansion with two bags of groceries in his arms. It was his turn to do the grocery shopping for the mansion that afternoon. As Gilag came near the street corner he saw what looked to be a statue of a man in green robes who was painted white on one side and black on the other. His hands were positioned almost as if he was in prayer. It seemed that the object was a statue, as there was even a pigeon resting atop its head. Yet at the same time, the object seemed to be very lifelike.<p>

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Gilag decided to move in for a closer look. He walked up and got his face very close to the statue and jumped back when the object suddenly opened its eyes. The muscular ex-Barian nearly dropped the bags he was carrying.

"Good afternoon, sir." Marcel greeted. "I couldn't help but notice you admiring my art."

"Your, uh… your art?" Gilag asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, the art of stillness." Marcel replied. "It is a much more difficult form of art than most people think. Tell me, good sir, what do you think of my work?"

"Well, I guess it's sorta interesting." Gilag replied. He then noticed a white spot on Marcel's robes. "Hey, I think you've got bird crap on your shoulder."

"An occupational hazard, I'm afraid." Marcel told him.

"Yeah, well… I gotta get going." Gilag told him before turning to leave. "See ya around, I guess."

As Gilage started to walk off, Marcel swiftly moved his arms and put on his duel disk, causing the bird on his head to fly off. The living statue placed a card in his duel disk, and suddenly a giant statue of a head made of green brick fell from the sky to block Gilag's path. The giant stone object hit the ground with a huge thud, causing Gilag to fall on his butt and drop his bags.

"Hey!" Gilag protested. "What's the big idea?"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave, Mr. Gilag." Marcel told him. "In addition to being an artist, I am also a powerful psychic duelist. And I have come here today to destroy you."

"So you wanna duel me, is that it?" Gilag replied as he got back to his feet.

"Yes, and I am afraid you're not free to decline." Marcel told him.

"Fine then! But you're asking for a beating!" Gilag responded.

The stone head that Marcel had brought forth had vanished as Gilag put on his duel disk and D-Gazer. Marcel put on his own D-Gazer and the color of the surrounding area changed.

"I shall make the first move." Marcel announced as he drew his first card. "I set one card on the field. Then I summon Giant Soldier of Stone in Defense Mode."

Appearing on Marcel's side of the battlefield was a large grey statue sitting with its arms and legs crossed. Its head was small compared to the rest of its large body, and mounted on each shoulder was a small stone sword.

"That ends my turn." Marcel announced.

Gilag drew his first card. "I summon Boxing Hand in Attack Mode!"

A large green box-like device appeared on Gilag's side of the field. Attached to the front of the machine by an extendable arm was a large red boxing glove.

"Your hand monster only has 1600 ATK, not quite enough to overcome my Stone Soldier's 2000 DEF." Marcel remarked.

"Yeah? Well when Boxing Hand attacks a monster in Defense Mode, it gains 1000 ATK during the battle!" Gilag announced. "Boxing Hand, attack that Stone Soldier! Knockout Punch!"

The large red boxing glove sprang forward and struck Marcel's statue in the chest. In an instant, the stone warrior shattered apart into shards of grey rock.

"I activate my Trap, Broken Blocker!" Marcel announced. "Because my Stone Soldier was destroyed, I can summon two more Stone Soldiers from my deck in Defense Mode!" Two more giant stone warriors materialized on the field.

"Well I activate the other effect of Boxing Hand!" Gilag announced. "When Boxing Hand destroys a monster in battle, I can summon another Hand monster from my hand. So I summon Steam Hand in Defense Mode!"

Appearing on the field next to Boxing Hand was a large grey mechanical hand and forearm. A large copper-colored tank was mounted on the top of the machine's wrist.

"When Steam Hand is special summoned to the field, I gain 1000 life points." Gilag announced.

A cloud of steam sprayed from the back of the tank on the mechanical hand's attached wrist. The steam cloud washed over Gilag and increased his life points to 5000.

"I end my turn." Gilag announced.

Marcel drew his next card. "For my first move, I overlay both my level three Stone Soldiers to summon Giant Soldier of Steel in Defense Mode!"

A large vortex appeared in the center of the battlefield and pulled in Marcel's two statues as balls of white light. A metallic version of the two soldiers rose out of the center of the vortex a moment later in a sitting position. Orbiting around the statue were two balls made of white light.

"Next I summon Stone Statue of the Aztecs in Defense Mode!" Marcel announced. The same head of green stone that had blocked Gilag's path earlier appeared on the field. "Now I play the Continuous Spell card, United Stone Army! This card raises the ATK of every monster I control for each Defense Mode monster on my field. Meaning that the ATK of my Stone Statue and Steel Soldier rises by 1000."

"But your monsters are in Defense Mode." A confused Gilag pointed out. "What good's boosting their ATK gonna do?"

"Clearly you do not understand my art of stillness." Marcel told him. "I shall set one card on the field and end my turn."

"I've got no clue what you're trying to pull, but I'm gonna end this!" Gilag declared as he drew his next card. "Using my level four Boxing and Steam Hand, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon Number 106: Giant Hand!"

A swirling vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared in the center of the battlefield, pulling both of Gilag's hand monsters as balls of yellow energy. Rising out a moment later was a large hand made of grey stone. A green orb with a yellow eye was embedded in the creature's palm, and five more similar orbs were at the end of its fingers. Two balls of yellow light orbited around the giant hand. On its wrist was the number 106 in green alien writing.

"I activate my face-down Spell, Demise of the Land!" Marcel announced. "Because you special summoned a monster, Demise of the Land lets me play a Field Spell from my deck. And the card I play is 10X Disruption Zone!"

In an instant, the color of the surrounding area became grey like a black and white photo. Bolts of blue lightning came up from the ground and began to shock Giant Hand. All the color there was seemed to drain from the hand and the balls of light orbiting around it turned white.

"Hey! What gives?" Gilag demanded to know.

"10X Disruption Zone is a card specifically designed to combat Number 10X monsters like the one you possess." Marcel explained. "As long as it's on the field, the effects of your Number are negated and it loses 400 ATK points for each of its overlay units."

"Wait a sec, you've got a card designed to take down 10X Numbers? Just who the hell are you?" Gilag asked.

"Merely an artist trying to make a living in this cruel world." Marcel answered. "And to make that living, my current patron has asked that I destroy you. Now then, are you done with your turn?"

"…Yeah, I'm done." Gilag answered. "Make your move, statue boy."

Marcel drew his next card. "I summon Moai Interceptor Cannons in Defense Mode!"

Four large Easter Island Head statues appeared on Marcel's side of the battlefield. Each of the had two large gear-like wheels at the base, and their eyes glowed with a yellow light.

"Thanks to United Stone Army, all of my monsters gain 500 more ATK points." Marcel announced. "I now play another Continuous Spell card, Armed Statues! This card allows all of my Rock monsters in Defense Mode to attack my opponent directly, though the damage they inflict is halved."

"Say what?" a surprised Gilag exclaimed.

"Now you shall understand the art of stillness." Marcel told him. "Attack him directly, my army of statues! Show him on mercy!"

Marcel's four Moai heads opened their mouths and fired beams of yellow light at Gilag. At the same time, the Stone Aztec Statue fired two beams of yellow light from its eyes. Both attacks struck Gilag and knocked him onto his back. Before he could get back up, the Steel Soldier moved his arm and struck the ground with his large metal fist. The resulting tremor knocked Gilag back to the ground. When the dust settled, the ex-Barian's life points had fallen to 1700.

"I shall end my turn here." Marcel announced. "The next move shall be your last. If you want my advice, you should try and make it as gracefully as possible."

"You're right about one thing, it is gonna be my last move. But that's because I'm about to win!" Gilag declared as he drew his next card. "I play the Spell card, Talk to the Hand! Because I have a Hand monster on the field, this card lets me cancel the effects of one of your cards until the end of the turn. And the card I choose is 10X Disruption Zone!"

"What?" Marcel exclaimed.

A beam of light shot from the eye in Giant Hand's palm and hit the ground, and the color of the surrounding area returned to what it was when the duel began. Giant Hand's normal color returned to normal as well.

"Now I activate Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force!" Gilag announced. "I use Giant Hand to rebuild the overlay network and Xyz Summon Number C106: Giant Red Hand!"

Another vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared in the middle of the field and pulled in Giant Hand. Rising out of the phenomenon a moment later was a large monstrous arm with skin glowing like red lava. On its wrist were two large black curved spikes almost like horns. The number 106 glowed on one of the horns in red. A beam of red light shot from the hand and struck the Giant Soldier of Steel. Both of the balls of light orbiting the metal statue turned red and were pulled in. Soon after, five red diamond-shaped gems with gold plates appeared on the ground around the hand.

"I equip Giant Red Hand with the Spell, Yo-yo Wrecking Ball!" Gilag announced. A large black metal ball appeared in the palm of the giant hand. "A Hand monster equipped with Yo-yo Wrecking Ball can attack each Defense Mode monster my opponent controls once. And when it destroys one of those monsters, my opponent takes damage equal to its DEF."

"But… my art!" a shocked Marcel uttered.

"Giant Red Hand, take out Giant Soldier of Steel and Stone Statue of the Aztecs!" Gilag commanded. "Hand Demolition!"

Giant Red Hand threw out the metal ball that was attached to its finger by a chain and swung it at the Steel Soldier and Aztec Statue. Both monsters were reduced to fragments that struck Marcel and reduced his life points to zero. With the duel over, Giant Red Hand and the Moai Cannons vanished. Soon after though, a beam of blue light shot up from the ground around Marcel, causing the statue imitator to cry out. After a moment the beam of light faded and Marcel collapsed.

Gilag went over to check on the fallen duelist. He was still breathing but was out cold. The muscular former Barian quickly called the others for help.

* * *

><p>Hikari and Hana arrived with Cleo and most of the ex-Barians at Heartland Hospital. They found Gilag in Marcel's hospital room along with Yuma, Kaito and Droite.<p>

"We came as soon as we could." Shark told Gilag. "What the heck happened?"

"This weirdo just showed up out of nowhere and challenged me to a duel." Gilag explained. "He was a psychic duelist."

"Seriously?" a shocked Hana asked.

"Yeah, and he had a card designed to take down 10X Numbers." Gilag replied.

"I searched this Marcel guy's deck for the card Gilag was talking about." Kaito reported. "It wasn't on him."

"Where did this guy come from?" Yuma wondered.

"Whoever he is, if he had a card designed to take down our Numbers, then someone's definitely out to get us." Shark realized.

* * *

><p>Kaine paced around the warehouse hideout while the rest of his team watched them. The night had fallen and the group was waiting for Anitak to show up. The hooded woman finally arrived through a portal, prompting Kaine to throw an empty wooden crate on the floor at her.<p>

Anitak quickly tilted her head to avoid the projectile. "Am I to take it that you are displeased?"

"You bitch! What the hell happened to Marcel?" Kaine demanded to know. "He's at the hospital unconscious, and Mortimer thinks it's because of that card you gave out to us!"

"You are correct." Anitak confirmed. "Your underling is now in a coma because he lost using 10X Disruption Zone."

"Why the hell didn't you warn us about this?" Kaine demanded to know.

"I did not believe you would use the cards if you knew the consequences of losing." Anitak coldly replied. "In the end, it is Mr. Marcel's own fault for losing."

"None of us signed up for this, lady!" Ayumu told the hooded woman.

"You are free to resign from this job if you wish, though you will not be compensated if you do." Anitak told them. "The choice is yours."

Kaine took a deep breath and calmed down. "Okay. I hear what you're saying. So what do all of you guys think about this, huh?"

"Splicer and I don't have a problem, since we didn't get those cards." Brimstone answered.

"I don't fear using this odd card." Miriam told them. "The power of my gods will protect me from it."

"It makes no difference to me." Kaede responded. "If I end up in a coma because of this card, so be it. It's what we all deserve."

"The risk is high, but I'm confident in my abilities to win." Mortimer spoke. "I do not fear the consequences of losing using this card."

"Um, I think I can handle it." Lucy told them.

"Well, I don't foresee myself losing with this card, so I'm game." Ayumu told them.

"Well okay then." Kaine replied. "If any of you lose from this point on, then you weren't good enough for the job in the first place! From now on, it's all or nothing!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Gilag's opponent for this story was one of the harder characters to come up with because he was kind of a throwaway character. I guess I wanted Gilag to face an oddball opponent because he has such a weird deck. On that note, I ended up creating almost all of the cards that Gilag used in this chapter.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. The Duelist of the Dark

**Author's Note:** I was so excited to start on this next chapter that I began work on it late last night. It's kind of a good thing I did, since it turned out to be super long. Incidentally, this will probably be the last update I'll be able to make to this story this week. I've got a pretty hefty assignment for my current online class I have to do, and it'll probably take me two or three days to write the next chapter. Until then, please enjoy this next epic (and steamy) installment.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL. If I did, Rio would've been in a lot more duels.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: The Duelist of the Dark<p>

It was a fairly typical morning at Heartland Academy as Shark and Rio walked through the hallway. Shark of course was concerned that some unknown group out there was trying to kill him, Rio and the rest of the former Barian Emperors, but there wasn't really anything he or the others could do about it. There was no sign that Marcel was going to wake up anytime soon and no clues as to who he was working for. All they knew for sure was that he was a psychic duelist who fancied himself as a strange performance artist. Until they could find any leads, all Shark and the others could do was go about their daily lives.

"So…" Shark began in an attempt to make conversation with his sister. "You have any plans with Cleo tonight?"

"We might go out later." Rio answered. "It kind of depends one when I get done studying in the library. Why, do have a problem with that?"

"…Not my business." Shark replied after a moment. He actually objected strongly to whom Rio was going out with, but decided to keep his mouth shut. "Have a good time."

"I will." Rio told him. "Seems like you and Hikari had a good time last night. I noticed that she spent the night at our place."

Shark froze in his steps and blushed at this observation. "Well… she came over to talk about the guy who attacked Gilag, and… stuff happened."

"Uh-huh." Rio replied with a wry smirk.

Shark began desperately to try and find some way to change the conversation. Suddenly he spied just the thing that might do the trick when he noticed a familiar green-haired girl standing at the corner of the hallway as if she were sneaking around.

"Hey, what the heck's Kotori doing?" Shark asked, causing Rio to look.

"I don't know." Rio answered. "Looks like she's spying on someone."

Curious, the two of them quietly went over to see what Kotori was doing. Rio tapped Kotori on the shoulder, causing her to jump and turn around.

"Oh! Hi guys." Kotori greeted. "What, uh… what're you doing?"

"We were gonna ask you the same thing." Shark replied.

Rio peeked around the corner and saw Chitose standing against the wall reading a book. "Were you spying on Chitose?"

"You know her?" Kotori asked.

"Kinda. Yuma and I meet her yesterday at lunch." Rio explained. "She's this new transfer student that started coming here yesterday."

"Why the heck are you spying on that girl?" Ryoga asked.

"Well… I noticed how friendly Yuma was with her yesterday, and well… I'm wondering if Yuma's going to start going out with her instead of me."

"Are you serious?" Rio asked.

"Well I haven't exactly been all that nice to Yuma recently because of… you know." Kotori replied, indicating her chest.

"Jeez, is this still about the boob thing?" Shark asked. "Look, that wasn't either Yuma or Astral's idea. If you want to blame someone, blame Kaito and Droite for turning you into a vampire during the whole Morphia thing."

"Kotori, Yuma even told me himself that he never cared about how big your chest was or anything like that." Rio told her. "He loves you for you."

"…He really said that?" Kotori asked.

"Yes, and he seems depressed about you not speaking to him." Rio added.

"Tell me about it. He's been calling both me and Kaito to whine about how you've been giving him the cold shoulder." Shark revealed. "It's been driving the both of us nuts. I've even thought about changing my number and not telling him."

"Excuse me." A voice interrupted. Kotori and the others looked and saw that Chitose was now standing near them. "Forgive my intrusion, but I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I should be the one apologizing to you." Kotori told her.

"Think nothing of it." Chitose replied. "Ms. Kotori, was it? I want to assure you that I am in no way romantically interested in Yuma. How shall I put this? He's too… unsophisticated for my taste."

"You mean he's a moron." Shark responded. "You can say it. We all know."

"In all honesty, I could never be romantically interested in some who is not my intellectual equal." Chitose continued. "Besides, Yuma talked about only you for most of our conversations yesterday. He seems to care about you a great deal."

"Really?" Kotori replied.

"I apologize for causing any sort of romantic misunderstanding." Chitose told her. "I also hope that we can become friends."

"I'd like that." Kotori told her. "Right now though, I'm gonna go find Yuma. See you guys later." With that, Kotori trotted down the hall.

"I should be going as well." Chitose told Shark and Rio. "See you later, Rio."

"She seems nice." Shark remarked as Chitose walked off.

"She does but… I don't know." Rio replied. "Something seems off about her."

"What do you mean?" Shark asked.

"I'm not really sure." Rio answered. "It's like she acts friendly, but there's something about her eyes. They just seem cold for some reason. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

"Maybe. But then, considering that someone's trying to kill us, it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on this Chitose." Shark replied.

* * *

><p>It was mid afternoon as Miriam sat in the corner of the warehouse reading a book. As the white-haired girl flipped a page, a shadow was cast over her. She looked up and saw Kaine and Mortimer standing next to her.<p>

"The two of you are in my light." Miriam told them.

"You can catch up on your reading later." Kaine told her. "Right now, you've got a job to do. Mort's determined your opponent."

"I've determined that you would be the best opponent to go after Rio Kamishiro, a.k.a. Merag." Mortimer informed her. "Like her brother, she only uses Water monsters. You possess one card that is invincible to all but one monster attribute. That combined with how your skill level compares to hers make you the most ideal opponent to eliminate her."

"Hmm… I don't quite feel like having a duel." Miriam told them. "Send one of the others."

"Look, you! We've been over this a thousand times now! I'm the one in charge of this little team of ours!" Kaine reminded her. "I tell you to jump and you say how high! Otherwise I might be forced to tear you to so many pieces they'd need to scrape you off the sidewalk!"

"Silly Kaine. You know you've never scared me." Miriam chuckled. "You may be a powerful psychic, but you'll never be a match for the power of my gods. I only ever joined this little mercenary group because I thought it might amuse me."

"I've almost had it up to here with you and those freaking 'gods' of yours!" Kaine told her.

"Kaine, please!" Mortimer interrupted. "Look, Miriam. This is a big job we've been given, and we need to do the best we can at it. You wouldn't want to let the rest of us down, would you?"

Miriam looked away from Mortimer and Kaine to look at an empty spot directly in front of her. "…Yth'el ni shltha moi'ill. …Mrn'll kai-li chthok."

"There she goes with that weird babbling of hers." Kaine grumbled.

"Very well." Miriam finally agreed. "I shall duel this Rio Kamishiro for you. For some reason, my gods wish for me to face her."

"Well praise your freaking gods then!" Kaine spoke, raising his arms in the air. "Now get the hell out there and kill that bitch!"

"Not until it is dark out." Miriam told them.

"What the… are you freaking kidding me?" Kaine exclaimed.

"The key card Mortimer wishes me to use only works at its best in the dark." Miriam reminded. "If you wish for me to do the job properly, you'll simply have to wait."

"I'm afraid she's correct, Kaine." Mortimer told him. "I forgot that the key card she'll need requires the cover of darkness to be totally effective."

"Okay, fine! As soon as it gets dark, you're going out there to do the job I told you to do!" Kaine ordered. "And I'm sending Clay and Clermont to keep an eye on you."

"What's the matter, Kaine? Don't you trust me?" Miriam asked.

"About as much as I'd trust an angry dog not to bite me in the ass when my back was turned!" Kaine replied. "Besides, this is kind of a treat for Clay and Clermont. They got burned by the Kamishiro girl on their last job, so they'd both love to see her fried."

"Well then, I'll try to not disappoint them." Miriam told him as she shut her book.

* * *

><p>Evening had started to fall upon the city as Rio finally left Heartland Academy. She had not intended to stay so late at the library, but there was much she had to study for some of her homework assignments. It had gotten to be a little too late to go out with Cleo on an actual date, but they could still get a bite to eat somewhere. Rio had called Cleo to meet up with her before leaving the academy grounds. A cold wind whipped up around Rio as she headed down the sidewalk. She wished that she had brought a jacket with her to ware in such brisk weather. Her normal school uniform was not designed for such conditions.<p>

As Rio walked, she thought she heard the feint sound of someone behind her talking in a strange language. She stopped and looked back to see if anyone was there, only to find nothing. Thinking she might've just been hearing things, Rio continued to walk. She hadn't gotten more than five steps away though when she heard the strange voice again. She turned and again saw that nobody was there.

"If someone's there, show yourself!" Rio ordered. "If you're trying to play some kind of trick, it's not funny!"

The bluenett was answered only by the sound of the wind. Rio resumed walking at a slightly faster pace, wishing that she was with Cleo. She was going to feel safer when they finally met up. After a few more moments of silence, Rio heard the strange whispering voice again. She turned around and once again saw nothing, but when she turned back she saw Miriam standing directly in front of her, causing her to let out a startled cry.

"Good evening, Ms. Kamishiro." Miriam greeted. "My name is Miriam Wilmarth. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Hi there." An uneasy Rio replied. "Was that you I was hearing talking before?"

"Yes it was. I apologize if I made you nervous." Miriam told her.

"Yeah, well… I need to be going." Rio told her as she walked past. "It was nice meeting you."

"I'm afraid you can't leave yet." Miriam told her. "I've come here to do the same job that my associate, Marcel attempted to complete yesterday."

Rio froze upon hearing the white-haired girl mention Marcel. "So… you work with him?"

"That's correct. And you've been assigned as my target." Miriam told her. "You could try to flee, of course. But I would be required to use force to stop you."

"Then I guess I've got no choice but to take you on." Rio observed.

With that, Rio and Miriam activated their D-Gazers and duel disks. In moments the color of the surrounding area changed slightly, though it was still very dark out besides the light of the streetlights.

"I'm going first!" Rio announced as she drew her next card. "I summon Aurora Wing in Defense Mode and end my turn!"

Materializing on Rio's side of the field was a large white bird with a long neck. It had wavy blue and green wings and tail feathers like an aurora, and a large similar crest adorning its head.

Miriam drew her first card. "To begin, I shall activate the Spell card, Terraforming to add a Field Spell to my hand. Next as a precaution I play Field Spell I just acquired, 10X Disruption Zone."

The moment Miriam activated her Field Spell the color of the surrounding area became totally grey. The faded colors somehow seemed to make the surrounding darkness more prominent and oppressive.

"This will eliminate the threat of that Number monster you posses." Miriam continued. "Now then, for my next move I summon the Headless Knight in Attack Mode."

From the darkness behind Miriam, Rio could hear the sound of metal footsteps coming towards them. Stepping into the light from the streetlight above was a living suite of armor lacking a head. On its back was a red cape, and it carried a sword and shield in its hands.

"With the summoning of my knight, I also special summon Kagetokage from my hand." Miriam announced.

Emerging from the darkness was a flat black shadow in the form of a lizard. Floating above its head were to red balls that seemed to serve as the creature's eyes. Rio has seen Yuma play the very same shadow lizard more than once and knew what move was coming next.

"So, I guess this means you're going to perform an Xyz Summon." Rio deduced.

"Indeed. And the monster I'm about to summon is a being far beyond anything you've encountered before." Miriam told her. "Using the Headless Knight and Kagetokage, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon the great faceless god! Appear before us, o Crawling Chaos! Outer God Nyarla!"

A large vortex in the form of a green swirling galaxy appeared behind Miriam and pulled in the Headless Knight and Kagetokage as balls of yellow energy. Emerging from the phenomenon a second later was one of the most hideous monsters Rio had ever seen. It was some sort of mass of thick greenish-brown tentacles with several mouths all over its body. Each of the mouths was filled with a set of small sharp teeth. On the side of the main tentacle were two relatively small yet well-developed arms ending in hands with sharp claws. Orbiting around the abomination were two balls of green light.

"What… what is that thing?" a horrified Rio asked.

"This is one of my gods." Miriam answered. "Now then, since I've Xyz Summoned Nyarla, I discard one card from my hand to increase his rank from four to five."

Just then, Nyarla suddenly spoke in a hideous voice beyond human description, speaking in a strange and utterly alien language. Miriam spoke back to the entity in the same strange language in as best a manner that a human voice was capable of.

"That thing can talk?" Rio asked. "And you can understand it?"

"But of course. I've always been able to communicate with my gods." Miriam told her with an almost crazed smile. "I have been ever since I was eight."

"Where… where on earth did you get that thing?" Rio asked.

"I received Nyarla and my other gods from my father long ago." Miriam revealed. "He had gotten the cards on a business trip to Boston. The man who gave them to him said that they were designed based on stone tablets that were said to have come from the farthest reaches of space. They began to speak with me and we quickly became friends. You couldn't possibly imagine the secrets that they've shared with me. Of course my father thought I had gone mad, so he sent me to an institution. But that is quite another story."

Rio was very unsettled by the fact that Miriam's horrid monster actually seemed to be alive and the fact that Miriam communicated with it regularly. She was not at all surprised when Miriam said that her father had thought her to be insane.

"Now then, back to our duel." Miriam continued. "I activate Nyarla's effect and detach both his overlay units to attach a monster in the Graveyard to it as a new overlay unit. And the monster I attach to Nyarla is the one I just discarded, Doma the Angel of Silence."

The two balls of light entered a couple of the mouths on Nyala's body. The sight of the thing seeming to eat the two overlay units made Rio's skin crawl. Suddenly another ball of green light began to orbit around the alien god. Nyarla's whole body began to twist and distort in a way so disgusting that it made Rio turn away. In moments the creature seemed to finish changing and took the form of a demonic-looking angel clad in strange brown armor. On its shoulders was a pair of what looked like living bloodshot eyes, and in its hands in carried a staff with a blade on top.

"Nyarla's form has now completely changed into a Dark rank five Fairy Xyz Monster." Miriam continued. "Using this new form, I rebuild the overlay network to Xyz Summon one of Nyarla's avatars that is one rank higher. Come forth, Dark Haunter!"

Another large green vortex appeared behind Miriam and pulled her transformed alien god in. After a moment though, the vortex disappeared and there was only darkness behind the mad white-haired psychic.

"What's going on?" a frightened Rio asked. "Where's your monster?"

"Oh he's here. In the dark." Miriam told her. "I activate Dark Haunter's effect. By detaching an overlay unit, Dark Haunter can attack my opponent directly during this turn. Now, o great avatar of darkness! I call upon thee and ask that you attack Rio directly! Wrath of Darkness!"

In the darkness, Rio could hear a loud flapping noise coming towards her. Suddenly from behind came a large blob of a strange yellow liquid. Rio jumped to the side to avoid getting hit, though her life points still fell to 1500. The liquid projectile melted a hole into the pavement, leaving strange yellow burn marks around the rim.

"Oh good. I was hoping you would avoid getting hit by the actual attack." Miriam spoke. "Otherwise the duel would've ended because you would've been dead. This way I get to have a little more fun for at least one more turn."

"You're completely out of your mind!" Rio declared.

"I'll end my turn there." Miriam announced. "I should tell you that there is very little you can do to get rid of my Dark Haunter. Only monsters of Light can attack him, and as you have only monsters of Water in your deck, there's nothing you can do to fight back. I suggest that you make peace with whatever god you pray to now, because very soon your life will come to an end."

"That's not going to happen!" Rio declared as she drew her next card. "I summon Blizzard Falcon in Attack Mode!"

Appearing on the field next to Aurora Wing was a large falcon with blue armor in place of feathers. It had a yellow beak, and two white snowflake markings decorated its wings.

"I overlay my level four Blizzard Falcon and Aurora Wing to Xyz Summon Aurora Priestess Zerey!" Rio announced.

A swirling multicolored vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in the two ice birds as balls of blue energy. Rising out of the vortex was a woman with long white hair that grew halfway down her back and ice blue skin. She had on a shimmering dress with a long flowing skirt and fingerless elbow-high gloves that gave of a dazzling multicolored glow that seemed to change every second. On her head was a silver crown adorned with a large snowflake encrusted with blue gems on the front. She had two large wavy multicolored wings on her back, and orbiting around her were two balls of blue light.

Rio's new monster gave off a brilliant glow that cast away the darkness in the surrounding area. With the darkness gone, Miriam's monster was revealed. It was some sort of odd black mist with a shape that resembled no creature of earth. It seemed to have wings, arms and some kind of head, but beyond that no distinguishing features could be made out even in the new light. Orbiting around the thing was a small ball of black mist that Rio deduced was its remaining overlay unit. The creature seemed to shriek in pain from having the light cast on it.

"What's going on?" a surprised Miriam asked. "This should only be happening when you've summoned a creature of Light, but that Xyz Monster you summoned is clearly another Water monster!"

"Aurora Priestess Zerey is one of those rare monsters out there with two attributes." Rio explained. "She may be a Water monster, but she's also a Light monster! One with 2600 ATK, the perfect card to take out your precious god!"

"Impossible!" Miriam exclaimed.

"I activate Zerey's effect!" Rio announced. "By detaching one overlay unit, Zerey can reduce the ATK of one of my opponent's monsters by 400 points for each card in my hand until the end of my turn! Right now I have five cards in my hand, which means your Dark Haunter loses 2000 ATK!"

One of the balls of light orbiting Zerey entered the jeweled snowflake on her crown. Zerey raised her hands into the air and shot a beam of multicolored light into the sky. The end of the beam exploded and several sparks of light rained down onto the field. The Dark Haunter shrieked in pain as the drops of light struck him from above.

"Zerey, attack the Dark Haunter!" Rio commanded. "Aurora Purification!"

Zerey aimed her hands at the Dark Haunter and fired a powerful blast of multicolored light at the creature. The Dark Haunter let out a final shriek as its mist-like body faded away to nothing. Miriam's life points took a heavy drop to 1900.

"Great… Outer God Nyarla…" a shocked Miriam spoke.

"I'm not done yet!" Rio continued. "Since Zerey just destroyed a Dark monster, she can make a second attack this turn! Zerey, attack Miriam directly and end this! Aurora Purification!"

Zerey fired another blast of light from her hands and struck Miriam. The white-haired psychic's life points dropped to zero. With the duel over, Zerey vanished and the color of the surrounding area returned to normal. A beam of light shot up from the ground around Miriam, only to fade moments later. Miriam collapsed to the ground unconscious. Rio nearly fell to her knees and let out a sigh of relief. The duel had been a very close one, and against such a frightening monster too.

Suddenly Rio heard footsteps coming towards her, causing her to tense up out of fear that it was another enemy. When the person running towards her came into the light from the streetlamp, she saw that it was Cleo. The taller girl ran over and pulled Rio into an embrace.

"Are you okay?" Cleo asked.

"Yeah… I think so." Rio replied as she let herself relax a bit.

"You were taking so long to meet with me, I got worried." Cleo told her. "When I came to find you, I saw that beam shooting into the sky and feared the worst. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Rio assured her.

Rio glanced at the ground and saw the hole that had been burnt into the ground by the Dark Haunter was still there despite the duel being over. Realizing just how close she had come to death, Rio held onto Cleo tighter to keep herself from collapsing.

"Well damn. Looks like loony Miriam wasn't able to get the job done." A familiar voice spoke. The couple looked and saw Brimstone standing a few feet away with Splicer. "And here I was looking forward to seeing Fairbanks's ice princess get slaughtered."

"You apes are involved in all this?" Cleo asked with fury rising in her voice.

"Yeah, someone else who wants to kill you broke me and Splicer out of jail and hired us." Brimstone revealed. "Of course we have to work with some other guys we don't really like, but it's kinda worth it to get some payback for what you two did to us on that island."

"This is only just the beginning." Splicer added. "They'll be more of us coming for you, and we're not gonna stop until you're all dead or if you somehow manage to wipe us all out."

"Then let's end this now!" Cleo told them. "This time I'll make sure you two never bother us again!"

"Love to take you up on that, Atlas, but it'll have to wait." Brimstone told her. "Who Splicer and I get to take on isn't really our call right now. Besides, there's someone else I want to take on before I settle things with you. Catch you later."

With that, Brimstone placed a Spell card in his duel disk and several fireballs rained down from the sky, exploding as they hit the pavement. When the smoke from the attack cleared, Brimstone and Splicer were long gone. With nothing else to do, Cleo got out her D-Gazer and contacted Hikari.

* * *

><p>Rio sat in a chair in Miriam's hospital room with Cleo standing behind her. Hikari had arrived with Kaito, and Rio and Cleo told them about everything that happened with Miriam, Brimstone and Splicer. Rio even mentioned Miriam's troubling ability to communicate with Outer God Nyarla.<p>

"Well, from the sound of it, this Miriam is probably one of those people who can communicate with Duel Monster spirits." Hikari theorized after Rio finished her tale. "I've got a couple of people like that in my own family, including Cleo's mom. Of course this is the first time I've heard of anyone able to communicate with such weird cards, and in another language no less."

"One thing's for sure though. Someone really is gunning for Shark and the rest of the former Barians." Kaito noted.

"But who could it be?" Rio wondered.

"The only thing I can think of is that it's someone with an axe to grind for the stuff that happened during the war between Astral and Barian World." Kaito answered. "But I've got no clue who that might be."

Before anyone could propose another theory, Shark stormed into the room. "What the hell just happened?"

"I'm fine, Ryoga." Rio assured him. "Another psychic duelist came after me, but I managed to beat her."

"And where the hell were you, Atlas?" Shark demanded to know.

"I didn't know that someone had come after Rio until it was too late!" Cleo told him.

"Dammit, I knew something like this was bound to happen when you came back into our lives!" Shark shot back.

"Ryoga, calm down!" Hikari told her.

"No! Its Atlas's fault that my sister got hurt two years ago, and it was almost her fault that she got hurt again!" Shark ranted. "I've said it before and I'll say it again! She's the worst thing to ever happen to Rio!"

Rio suddenly stood from her chair and slapped Shark in the face. The water duelist was completely stunned by what just happened.

"How dare you?" an enraged Rio told him. "I don't care what you think about Cleo, Ryoga! I won't have you talking to her like that!"

"But… Rio." Shark spoke.

"Cleo, can I stay at your place tonight?" Rio requested.

"Uh, yes. Of course." Cleo agreed.

"Good. Let's go." Rio told her before leading her out of the room by the hand.

"…You really can be an idiot sometimes." Kaito told Shark before leaving the room himself.

After a moment, Shark let out a heavy sigh and moved to sit in the chair that Rio was just in. The full magnitude of what he had just said had sunk in.

"I tried to warn you about this." Hikari reminded him.

"I don't know what the hell happened." Shark spoke. "I just got so worked up that Rio might've been hurt and just lost it when I saw your cousin."

"You do realize that Cleo didn't have anything to do with what happened tonight or with Rio ending up in the hospital over two years ago, right?" Hikari asked.

"…Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right." Shark agreed as he stood back up. "I need some air."

* * *

><p>Rio arrived with Cleo at the apartment she had just started to move into. It was a good-sized apartment, though there was very little furnishing. The two of them went to a large round wooden table that was just outside of the kitchen. Cleo took off her black leather jacket and draped over the back of the chair before she sat down.<p>

"I'm sorry I can't really offer you too much." Cleo told the bluenette. "My parents are still sending my things from Neo Domino."

"Don't worry about it." Rio told her. She then noticed Cleo's hands were trembling, prompting her to take the right one. "You okay?"

"I… I almost lost you again tonight." Cleo spoke, looking as though was on the verge of tears. "Your brother was right, I should've been there to protect you."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Everything turned out all right." Rio told her.

"This is probably the third time you've been in danger and I was powerless to do anything." Cleo pointed out.

Rio got up from her chair and went to pull Cleo into a hug. "I know you would've protected me if you could of, love. And you're never going to lose me again, I promise."

Cleo looked at the bluenette with tears in her eyes. Before either of them knew it, they had become locked in a deep open mouthed kiss. When the broke for air after a few moments, Rio stood back up and pulled off the shirt of her uniform, throwing carelessly to the floor. When Rio went back in for another kiss, Cleo's hands reached around and undid the white bra she was wearing, letting the garment drop to the ground. Eventually the two of them broke for air again and Rio helped Cleo removed her red t-shirt.

As Rio began to suck on the older girl's neck, she reached around and undid Cleo's bra, removing it and tossing it away to another corner of the room. They became locked in another passionate embrace, moaning at the contact of each other's bare skin. After a few moments, Rio stood back up again and removed her short Heartland Academy skirt and panties, tossing them away to land on the shade of the one lamp that was in the room. She then helped Cleo remove her jeans and panties without her getting out of the wooden chair she was in. After getting back on her knees, Rio began to suck on Cleo's right left breast, causing her to moan and throw her head back.

At the same time, Rio moved her right hand and inserted two fingers into Cleo's moist womanhood. Cleo moaned louder and arched her back, her hands clenching onto the arms of the chair she was in. Rio went at a very slow pace at first, trying to draw out her lover's passion for as long as possible. At Cleo's urging though, she pumped into her harder and deeper. Cleo's toes curled and her knuckles became white, as she held onto the chair even tighter. Then at last, Cleo came to her climax, shouting Rio's name at the top of her lungs.

Rio looked and saw that Cleo was much more relaxed than she was a few minutes ago. All the fear over losing her that had been in her eyes had vanished. Smiling, the bluenette planted another firm kiss on Cleo's lips before moving towards her ear.

"Get on the table." Rio whispered.

Smirking a little, Cleo stood up and got onto the table on her back. Taking hold of Cleo's left leg, Rio got onto the table and positioned herself so that their openings were pressed against one another. Slowly she began to buck her hips into Cleo, causing the legs of the wooden table to creek and grind against the tile floor. Cleo became fixated on the bouncing of Rio's breasts as she moved. Over time their bodies became covered in sweat. Cleo urged Rio to go faster, indicating that she was coming close to the edge. Rio could feel herself coming close too, and with one last hard thrust from her hips they managed to reach their climax in the same blissful moment.

Coming down from her high, Rio collapsed onto Cleo on the table. Cleo wrapped her arms around the younger girl and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"You know… this is one really well-made table." Rio remarked, prompting Cleo to chuckle.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's been dusted in awhile." Cleo replied. "It was here when I move in."

"Well I'd say it's been dusted off now." Rio chuckled. "Wanna go clean off in the shower?"

"I'm game." Cleo agreed.

* * *

><p>It was a little past 1:00 AM as a security guard at Heartland Hospital sat in the surveillance room with his feet resting on the desk while he sip from a plastic glass of soda from the nearby convenience store. The guard's superiors had informed him that he was to keep a close eye on the cameras monitoring Marcel and Miriam's rooms. He was told that there wasn't a huge risk that the occupants of those rooms were going to go anywhere, as they were in comas. But he was also told that the two psychics were potentially dangerous and needed to be kept under close watch. Despite the fact that there were two patients that he needed to keep a close eye on though, it was turning out to be another ordinary monotonous evening for the guard.<p>

As the guard stretched and yawned, he suddenly noticed that the camera keeping an eye on Miriam suddenly went to static. He assumed that it was nothing more than a simple malfunction of some kind, but knowing that his bosses would probably tear him a new one if the unlikely did happen, the guard got up to go and check it out. When he got to the door of Miriam's room, he saw that the two officers outside were sitting in chairs asleep. The guard couldn't blame the two officers. The hospital was a very dull place, especially at night.

When the guard entered the hospital room though, he saw that Miriam was gone. The handcuffs that had secured her wrist to the railing of her hospital bed were still there, but there was no trace of her. Somehow she had woken up, unlocked her cuffs and slipped out past the two slumbering officers. With nothing else he could do, the guard went back out of the room to wake the two officers outside and tell them of what happened. However Miriam had gotten away, the guard was certain that he was probably going to have to look for a new job in the morning.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> While Aurora Priestess Zerey and The Dark Haunter are cards that I made up for this story, Miriam's Outer God Nyarla is actually a real _Duel Monsters_ card that so far has only been released in Korea. Nyarla is based on the Cthulhu Mythos deity, Nyarlathotep created by horror author, H.P. Lovecraft. So far there haven't been any cards that really take advantage of Nyarla's ability to change its rank, type and attribute. So at the moment the card is best used as support for decks that use Rank-Up-Magic cards along with CXyz and Number C monsters.

Nyarla's "other form" in this chapter, The Dark Haunter is based heavily on the Lovecraft story, _The Haunter of the Dark_. I actually just read that story again this past Halloween. I obviously made the Xyz Monster that Rio used in this chapter, Aurora Priestess Zerey as the perfect counter to Dark Haunter, but I also created the card simply because never got enough of her own Xyz Monsters in the anime. I made Zerey's effect to also work with the effects of Number 103 and Number C103. It's too bad I can't make it into a real card.

Please review and let me know what you think. Oh, and if you want more yuri content a little like the stuff near the end of this chapter, feel free to check out K.I.T.T. RIDER's new story, magnet. It's only just started at the time of me writing this, but so far it's pretty good.


	6. A Time To Unwind

**Author's Note:** I know I said that I probably wouldn't be able to do another update this week, but that assignment I had to do for my class didn't take me as long as I thought it would. Plus I took a little time to rethink this next chapter and decided to do it a tad differently.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: A Time To Unwind<p>

It was the end of another school day at Heartland Academy, and Yuma was sitting out on the front steps of the school with Kotori and Durbe. The good news was that Yuma and Kotori had finally patched things up. Yet there was still trouble existing in Yuma's wide circle of friends. Since Rio's duel with Miriam only two days ago, Rio and Shark had not been speaking to each other. Needless to say it was causing tension both at school and at the Kamishiro mansion, and there was no sign that Shark and Rio were going to patch things up anytime soon. So for the last twenty minutes and the whole lunch period just hours before, Yuma had been trying to figure out some kind of solution with Kotori and Durbe's help.

"Oh man! This is just hopeless." Yuma sighed.

"There has to be some way to get Rio and Shark to start talking to each other again." Kotori spoke.

"I'm not so sure there is at this point." Durbe responded. "It could be that this is something that is just out of our hands."

"Hey guys." A cheerful and familiar voice spoke. Yuma and the others looked and saw Hana walking towards them. "What're all doing?"

"Hi Hana." Yuma greeted back. "We've been frying our brains trying to figure out some way to get Shark and Rio to start talking to one another again."

"Oh, yeah. Hikari and I have been having kind of the same problem." Hana revealed.

"Durbe thinks that there's probably nothing we can do." Kotori told her.

"Well, I think he might be right about that." Hana admitted. "In the end, only Ryoga and Rio can work this out. But, I've been thinking lately that we all need to do something to unwind. It has been a pretty stressful few days, what with Cleo suddenly showing up as Rio's girlfriend and those psychic duelists showing up to kill us."

"That sounds like a pretty good idea to me." Durbe agreed as he adjusted his glasses. "Just what do you have in mind?

"Well… hmm." Hana replied as she sat on the stone steps. "You know, I guess I didn't think that far ahead."

"Excuse me." Another familiar voice spoke. Yuma and the others looked and saw Chitose standing behind them.

"Oh, hi Chitose." Yuma greeted.

"I do not think we've been formerly introduced." Chitose told Hana. "I am Chitose Amamiya."

"Hana Fudo. It's nice to meet you." The redhead replied as she shook Chitose's hand.

"Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear part of your conversation." Chitose continued. "It occurred to me that since the weekend is approaching, you could all take a trip out to the beach outside of the city for the day."

"Hey! That's a real good idea." Kotori told them.

"Yeah!" Yuma enthusiastically agreed. "And this Sunday would be the perfect day for a beach trip!"

"I will require a fair bit of planning, but I think a day at the beach might be just the thing to help us relax." Durbe agreed.

"Okay! Then let's start getting the plan for this trip together!" Yuma decided as he jumped to his feet. "I'll call Kaito tonight and see if he can come with too. Durbe, you tell Shark and the others."

"I'll let Hikari and Cleo know about the trip too." Hana told them.

"And Chitose, you're coming too." Yuma told the dark-haired girl.

"Me? How come?" Chitose asked.

"Because you're our friend now, and you deserve to have a good time too." Yuma answered.

"If you've already got plans for that day, Chitose we understand." Kotori told her.

"No… no, I believe I will be able to join you." Chitose told them. "I look forward to it."

* * *

><p>Word of Yuma's beach trip idea quickly spread, and in the end most of Yuma's large group of friends agreed to go on the trip. The only ones who weren't coming were the Arclight brothers and Vector. After a lot of meeting and discussion over the phone, they quickly finalized their plans to head for the beach out of town. The trip was going to require them to come in separate vehicles. The morning of the trip, Kotori traveled with Rio, Chitose and a newly licensed to drive Cathy in a new pink sports car that the catgirl's parents had gotten for her.<p>

The four girls hit the beach in new swimsuits they had purchased the day before. Rio was wearing a skintight white one-piece swimsuit with an oval-shaped hole on the front to show her bellybutton. Kotori was wearing a pink one-piece suit with two frilly white straps over the shoulders. Chitose meanwhile was wearing yet another one-piece suite with a light blue upper half and a dark blue lower half, with a triangular hole up top to show off her ample cleavage a bit. Cathy one the other hand had on a black two-piece suit with pink cat paw prints strategically placed on the top half. The beach fortunately wasn't overly crowded, and after finding a suitable spot the four of them dropped their gear and began to set things up.

"So how long do you think it'll be before the others get here?" Kotori wondered.

"I imagine that they'll be here any minute." Rio assumed as she spread out a blanket. "And we shouldn't be that hard to find, I wouldn't think."

As soon as Rio finished spreading out the blanket, someone turned her around and planted a firm kiss on her lips. She instantly recognized the sensation of those lips, as she had become very familiar with them. The kiss broke and she saw Cleo standing before her.

"Hi there, Snowflake." Cleo greeted. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Uh, no. We just got here." A blushing Rio told her.

"Good." Cleo replied as she stepped back. "So, like my new outfit?"

Rio took a good look at what her lover was wearing. Cleo had on a red string bikini that perfectly showed off her stunning athletic figure.

"Wow…" Rio spoke, her face turning even redder. "You look… you look gorgeous. Uh, what do you think of my new swimsuit?"

"You look ravishing." Cleo told her as she pulled her into another embrace.

In moments the two of them became locked in another kiss that made Kotori and the other stare. At that moment, Shark showed up wearing a pair of blue swim trunks and cleared his throat. Cleo and his sister completely ignored him and continued kissing, causing the water duelist to cross his arms and glare at them. After a few moments the two of them finally broke for air.

"Uh, hi Shark." Kotori greeted in an attempt to break the heavy tension hanging in the air.

"Hey." Shark replied. "Are Yuma and the others here yet?"

"Don't know. We only just got here." Kotori answered.

"I'd have thought you'd be more interested in where I was, Ryoga." A familiar voice spoke.

Shark turned and saw Hikari walking towards him in a black one-piece swimsuit with a diamond-shaped hole on the front showing her bellybutton and several diamond slits down the sides. Hana followed her with some of their bags, wearing a pink bikini with an unbuttoned white short-sleeved shirt.

"Wow. You look great, Hikari." Shark told her with a slight blush.

"Thanks." Hikari replied.

"Hey guys!" another familiar voice called.

The others looked and saw Yuma running towards them. Durbe and Mizel followed a few steps behind along with Gilag, Alit and Iris.

Yuma stopped in his tracks and blushed as soon as he saw Kotori. "Whoa! That new swimsuit looks great on you Kotori."

"Thanks." Kotori replied.

"What do you think of my new outfit, Mizael?" Cathy asked.

"It looks lovely on you, kitten." Mizael told her.

"Looks like the gang's all here." Yet another familiar voice spoke.

The rest of the group looked and saw Kaito standing before them in a pair of black swim trunks. Droite was with him wearing a large sunhat and a pair of sunglasses along with a grey t-shirt with a purple butterfly on the front over some kind of lavender swimsuit. Haruto was with the couple, as was Kaito's robotic minion Orbital 7, who had ended up with the unfortunate duty of carrying all of the trio's bags.

"Okay then." Yuma grinned. "Now we can have some fun."

* * *

><p>Mortimer stood atop a hill overlooking the beach with a pair of binoculars over his eyes. He had originally gone up there to get a good look at the former Barians down on the beach, but for the last hour or so all he had been doing was ogling the young ladies on the beach in their swimsuits. Kaine was out on the porch of an old abandoned shack on the hill with Brimstone and Splicer.<p>

"What the hell are you looking at there, Mortimer?" Brimstone asked.

"I'm simply trying to get the breast possible, err I mean best possible view of our targets." Mortimer told them.

"Yeah right! You're just trying to get the best view of all the babes in bikini's down there." Splicer deduced. "You're the same nerdy little perv you've always been."

"Relax, you guys." Kaine told them. "We're just here for a little R&R. Just what we need after all the little setbacks we've had. We lost Marcel and Miriam's AWOL, not that I'm really complaining. Besides, we've got nothing to do until Ayumu finishes setting up for his show."

"So in the meantime we just sit around doing nothing?" Brimstone asked.

"Well not all of us." Kaine answered. "Right now our little dragon hunter's prowl. In fact she's probably introducing herself to her new prey."

* * *

><p>Things had been going well on the beach with Yuma and his friends for the last three hours. At that moment, Yuma, Kotori and Alit were engaged in a game of volleyball against Shark and the Fudo sisters. Iris and Haruto had started building a sandcastle after burying a napping Gilag under a pile of sand, while Durbe was sitting under an umbrella reading a book. Cathy had gone out for a swim with Kaito, Droite and Chitose, leaving Mizael to sit on a blanked and look out at the open ocean. As the blonde dragon tamer looked out over the waves, an object suddenly moved over him to block the light of the sun. He looked to his right and saw a young woman of about sixteen with blonde hair and lavender eyes. She had a large pink bow in her hair and wore a pink bikini.<p>

"Uh, excuse me." The girl spoke. "A-aren't you Mizael, the dragon duelist of Heartland?"

"Oh, another fan of mine I see." Mizael indifferently replied. He had gained quite the reputation as a duelist in the city. "What do you want?"

"M-my name is Lucy. And well… if it's not too much trouble… I was hoping you could… give me your autograph?" the girl requested as she produced an autograph board from behind her back.

Mizael indifferently took the board and wrote his name down on it before handing it back to her. "There. Anything else?"

"Uh, n-no. Th-thank you." Lucy told him before quickly darting off.

"Who was that?" a familiar voice spoke. Mizael looked and saw that Kaito had returned.

"Just another one of my adoring fans." Mizael answered.

"Hey Kaito." Droite called as she walked up clad in a lavender bikini. "I'm gonna go shower off. Care to join me?" The butterfly duelist's question was asked with a rather seductive wink.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." A blushing Kaito agreed before quickly following her.

"Oh Mizael?" Cathy called as she ran up. "Wanna go swimming with me?"

"I might as well." Mizael agreed as he stood up. "There's not much else for me to do on this beach."

Meanwhile, Cleo and Rio had ended having a make-out session on the beach. But as they were lost in a passionate openmouthed kiss, the volleyball from Shark and Yuma's came crashed into the sand just inches from their heads, causing them to stop and look up.

"Oops. Sorry." Shark flatly told them.

"Dammit, Ryoga!" Rio cursed as she stood up. "You did that on purpose!"

"I did not!" Shark told her. "Who the hell do you think I am, anyway? You'd think I'd bean my own sister with a volleyball?"

"No, but you would do something to try and screw up my time with Cleo!" Rio shot back.

"Just chill out, Rio!" Hikari cut in. "What happened was an accident."

"Why don't you stay out of it, Hikari?" Cleo shot back as she stood up. "And while you're at it, do a better job of keeping that boyfriend of yours on a leash!"

"What did you just say?" Hikari fired back. "You're saying this is my fault?"

"Uh, guys?" an uneasy Yuma asked.

"Hey Yuma! You and the others get off the field." Shark ordered. "Right now there's only one way for the four of us to settle this."

"Uh, Hikari? Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hana asked.

"Sis, just stay back and keep quiet." Hikari told her.

Yuma and the others quickly got off the volleyball field as Shark and the other three took positions to start a new game. In moments the two couples began to face off in what the others would remember as the most aggressive volleyball match that they had ever seen. The white orb was shot back and forth like a cannonball, with neither side letting it collide into the sand-covered ground. Eventually Rio ended up with the ball and spiked it so hard that it vanished into the deep blue sky.

"Great! Now what?" Shark asked.

"Guess this means the game's over." Hikari sighed. "Why don't you and I go for a swim to cool down?"

"Why not?" Shark agreed.

"Hey. I wonder where that ball's gonna end up?" Hana wondered as her sister and Shark walked off.

* * *

><p>Mortimer continued to stare at a bikini-clad woman with a large chest getting a tan on the beach when the volleyball of Shark and the others came down and struck him on the top of the head. The short nerdy psychic fell backward and was out like a light.<p>

"What the hell was that?" Brimstone asked.

"God punishing him for being a perv?" Splicer shrugged.

"Let's get him inside." Kaine sighed.

* * *

><p>Things had calmed down very much on the beach after the heated volleyball game. The afternoon was growing late, and the gang decided that it was time for them to head home. Everyone began to head back for whatever mode of transportation they had taken to get to the beach, with Cleo walking back to her red D-Wheel.<p>

"Hey Atlas." Shark called, causing her to stop and turn. "Got a minute?"

"What do you want?" Cleo asked.

"I… well, I'm sorry for snapping at you after Rio's duel with that psycho." Shark told her. "What I said to you was out of line. For some reason, Rio's been happier than she's ever been since you've come back."

"Is that all?" Cleo asked.

Shark sighed. "Look, I'm still not crazy with the idea of you dating my sister, but I'm not going to try and get between you to or anything. Just remember, if you do anything to hurt my sister, I'll kill you."

"You don't have to worry about that." Cleo told him as she turned on her heel and left.

* * *

><p>Evening had fallen, and Shark made his way up to Rio's room and knocked on the door. Rio answered from the other side and allowed him to come in. Rio was sitting at her dresser brushing her hair<p>

"Hey…" Shark spoke as he walked in. "Got a minute?"

"What do you want, Ryoga?" Rio asked, not once turning away from her mirror.

"Look, I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting towards you and Atlas." Shark told her. "The other night when I heard about what happened with you and that psycho duelist, I was terrified that I almost lost you again. I was ticked off, and when I saw Atlas there I just lost it. Look, I'm not crazy about you and Atlas seeing one another, but I know that it's not any of my business who you go out with."

"So does that mean you'll keep your mouth shut and be nicer to Cleo?" Rio asked.

Shark sighed. "It's not gonna be easy, but I'll try."

Rio finally turned to face Shark. "That's all I ask."

"Well… goodnight." Shark told her before leaving the room.

Shark shut the door behind him and headed down the hall to his own room, thinking about what he just said. It seemed like he had a hard road ahead of him, learning to accept his sister's relationship with Cleo. But he had figured out that doing otherwise would only push him and his sister apart, and he never wanted to lose her again.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry if this chapter was kind of dull. In my original outline there was going to be another duel, but for the sake of simplicity I decided to postpone it until the next chapter and focus a little more on the characters. I can't help but think that I could've done a couple parts of this chapter a little better though.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	7. Night at the Magic Show

**Author's Note:** It's been a little hard for me to focus on this story over the past couple days because of some little stuff in my personal life that's been stressing me out a bit. So progress may slow down a tiny bit, but will not stop completely.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Night at the Magic Show<p>

It was the start of another day as Rio made her way to Heartland Academy. She was in a much better mood than she had been for the past few days, due to the tension that existed between her and her brother. That trip to the beach the day before had been just the thing to help her relax, and it helped that Shark had told her that he wasn't going to be making any more trouble for her and Cleo. Only half way towards the school, Rio encountered Hana walking in the opposite direction. The two of them exchanged greetings and began to walk together.

"So, are things any better between you and Ryoga?" Hana asked.

"I think so." Rio answered. "Though he still has a problem with Cleo. But he's just going to have to learn to get over it."

"You know, you and Cleo make a pretty good couple." Hana told her. "Makes me realize that all my attempts in the past to set Cleo up with guys was a big fat waste of time, just like Hikari said it was. But Cleo seems different than she used to be not that the two of you are together. She seems, I don't know… easier to get along with somehow. If you ask me, I think you're the greatest things to happen to Cleo in a long time."

"Thanks." Rio replied.

Within moments, the two of them had arrived at the front of the school. Right away, Rio saw what had become a fairly familiar sight on the front steps of Heartland Academy, Alit flirting with a small group of girls. The former gladiator had become somewhat popular among the ladies due in large part to his athletic ability and his skills as a duelist. Plus Alit had a knack for laying on the charm. Rio simply shook her head at the sight, just as she did just about every morning. Just as Rio and Hana were about to say their goodbyes though, there was a large explosion of purple smoke in the area that caught everyone's attention. The smoke cleared in moments to reveal Ayumu wearing a white tuxedo with a sparkling red cape and sequined gloves.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" Ayumu greeted. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ayumu, master of the amazing and astounding."

In a flash, the flock of girls that had gathered around Alit quickly gathered around the magician, much to the ex-Barian's astonishment. Rio and Hana walked over to where Ayumu was standing too, mainly out of curiosity.

"My, what a lovely assortment of young ladies I see before me today." Ayumu observed with a charming smile, causing many of the girls around him to squeal. "Let me give you all a little something for coming over to see me."

There were a few more puffs of smoke, and soon every one of the girls found that she was holding a red rose, even Rio and Hana. Alit meanwhile began to grin his teeth.

"Not that I have your attention, I'd like to invite each and every one of you to a special show I'm having at the reopened Heartland Magic Hut later this evening." Ayumu announced. "You're all invited to come, and tell your friends. I hope to see all of you there again soon."

With that, Ayumu vanished in another large puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared, several gold flyers advertising the young magician's show rained down from above. Most of the girls that had flocked around took one and quickly dispersed.

"Wow, a magic show. That could be kind of fun." Hana remarked.

"Yeah. Maybe Cleo and I should go see that." Rio replied.

"Who the hell does that flashy jerk think he is?" Alit protested as he stormed over. "Stealing my thunder like that! If I had five minutes with that jerk, I'd…." He stopped when he glanced and saw Chitose walk into the school holding one of the many flyers that had littered the ground. "Oh great! And now it looks like that magic jerk is going to sweep Chitose off her feet next!"

"You're interested in Chitose?" Rio asked.

"Well yeah! She's pretty cute, not to mention smart." Alit replied. "She's got that whole sexy librarian thing going. But now it looks like that hack magician is going to put the moves on her!"

"If you're that worried about it, why don't you ask Chitose to go with you to that magic show?" Hana suggested. "That way you can, uh… keep Chitose from being seduced by that shady magician."

"Hey! Good idea!" Alit agreed before shaking Hana's hand. "Thanks, Hikari's sister!" With that, he ran off into the school after Chitose.

"Did I do the right thing?" Hana asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Rio told her. "Chitose will probably shoot him down in about five seconds."

* * *

><p>It was the early afternoon as Hikari tapped away at the computer in the lab. As she worked, the door to the lab opened and Shark walked in.<p>

"Hey." Shark spoke, getting her attention. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"Not at all." Hikari smirked. "Computer, lock doors."

Shark heard the sound of all the electric doors in the lab locking automatically. Before the water duelist could figure out what was going on, Hikari went over to him and pinned him against the wall. They became locked in a deep kiss, at which point Hikari jammed her tongue into his mouth. After a few moments they broke apart when their lungs began to cry out for air.

"I have been thinking about you all afternoon." Hikari told him.

"I actually don't have that much time. I'm supposed to meet Yuma" Shark told her with a cocky smirk. "But I guess I could spare a few minutes."

Grinning, the stardust heiress took Shark by the hand and led her over to the chair she normally used. As they met in another kiss, Hikari's hands quickly went to work undoing the buckle of his belt. She then pulled away and undid her own belt before pulling down her jeans and panties and turning around to hold the back of the chair. Shark pulled down his own pants and took hold of Hikari's waist before inserting his hardened rod into her from behind. Hikari moaned and held tightly onto the back of the chair as the water duelist slowly began to pump into her.

Gradually, Shark began to pick up the pace, every now and then slapping Hikari's right hip, much to the bluenette's delight. Before long he could feel that Hikari was coming close, as her inner walls were tightening around him. Then in one sweet moment they both came to a climax. After taking a moment, Shark withdrew himself and the two of them redressed.

"So… did you come over for something other than a booty call?" Hikari asked.

"The booty call was your idea, not that I didn't mind." Shark pointed out.

"Okay, I'll give you that one." Hikari replied. "So why did you come over?"

"There's this magic show that everyone at my school seems to be talking about being held tonight." Shark answered. "I thought maybe we could go see it together."

"Sounds like fun." Hikari agreed. "Then maybe after the show, you can come over tonight and we can continue more of what we were just doing."

"Sounds good." Shark replied before giving her a peck on the lips. "I'll be by to pick you up later."

* * *

><p>At a recently refurbished restaurant, Ayumu was sitting on the floor of the stage looking at a simple deck of playing cards. Kaine and the rest of his gang were busy getting the place together.<p>

Mortimer walked up onto the stage and approached the magician. "Ayumu, I…"

Ayumu held up his hand to silence Mortimer while he continued to look at the deck. "Ace of Spades, King of Diamonds, Two of Hearts, Five of Diamonds, Seven of Clubs."

The magician then turned over the first fives cards of the deck. Each of them was one of the cards he had just named.

"Now then Mort, you came to tell me that you used your special talents to get me cooking and wait staff for this evening, right?" Ayumu asked.

"I hate it when you do that." Mortimer told him. "But, yes. Everything has been prepared."

"Good." Ayumu replied as he stood up. "Now then, in a few seconds I believe that our mysterious Ms. Anitak is going to show up to give me a little something."

As if on cue, a galaxy-like portal opened up on the stage. Anitak walked through and the portal closed behind her.

"Well hello, Ms. Anitak. Come to give me something?" Ayumu asked.

The hooded woman's eyes widened slightly. "How did you know?"

"Just my natural little talent." Ayumu smugly replied. "And I can tell you that your little present is going to seal the fate the of boxer boy."

"I see." Anitak replied. "Then I had best give you what I came to give."

With that, Anitak outstretched her copper hand and a card from Ayumu's deck glowed with a crimson light and flew to her. As soon as the card came to her hand, it began to glow brighter and give off red sparks. After a moment the card stopped glowing and Anitak threw it back to Ayumu.

"Awesome! Just as good a card as I foresaw it would be." Ayumu spoke as he put the card back into his deck.

"That modified version of 10X Disruption Zone should be more compatible with your deck." Anitak told him.

"Strange. I did not know it was within your power to modify those cards." Mortimer cut in. "Why have you not done that for the rest of us?"

"I will only when it seems necessary." Anitak told them. "In the meantime, I want the former Barian, Alit to be completely destroyed."

"You don't seem to be too crazy of Ayumu's target." Kaine noted. "Care to share why?"

"Just do your jobs." Anitak coldly ordered before vanishing through a portal.

* * *

><p>Evening fell upon the city, and Shark arrived with Hikari at the newly reopened restaurant in Heartland known as the Heartland Magic Hut. Before the place had closed over six years ago due to financial issues, it was known throughout the city as a place where one could enjoy dinner with a magic show. And it seemed that a lot of people had come for the Hut's grand reopening. By the time Shark and Hikari got to the front door, they bumped into Cleo and Rio, causing both couples to freeze.<p>

"…Oh!" a surprised Rio spoke.

"Oh." Shark responded. "I knew you and Cleo were going out tonight, but I didn't know you were coming here."

"The show seemed like it might be interesting." Rio replied.

"Are we going in, or are we just going to stand here?" Cleo asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Hikari agreed. "It's kinda cold out."

With that the two couples entered the building and the hostess at the front seated them at the same table. What was originally going to be a fun and romantic evening had turned into a fairly awkward double date. Despite the awkwardness though, the four of them decided to try and make the most of the evening. Upon looking around, Rio and Shark found that most of the people at the restaurant were fellow students at their school. They even saw Yuma and Kotori sitting at a corner table near the back. Yuma spotted them and began to wave, causing Shark to groan and cover his face.

"Ryoga, look." Rio spoke, pointing towards the front of the restaurant.

Shark peeked through his fingers and saw Alit heading to a table by the stage with Chitose. The boxer duelist had on a grey sport coat and slacks with a red shirt, while Chitose had on a white dress with a pink wool jacket. Shark noticed the look of displeasure that was on the dark-haired girl's face. Alit pulled out a chair for Chitose, allowing her to sit down.

"I can't believe it! Chitose actually went out on a date with Alit." Rio spoke, trying to hold back a laugh.

"She looks kinda pissed about it." Hikari noted.

"Maybe she lost a bet." Shark joked.

"Or she's on some kind of dare." Cleo responded.

Almost as soon as Alit and Chitose were seated, there was a flash of pink smoke and Ayumu appeared up on stage. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming out tonight. As some of you may know, I am Ayumu, master of the amazing and astonishing. I hope you're all ready, because I am about to take you on a journey into the realm of the mystic. Now then, prepare to be dazzled!"

With that, Ayumu began to perform a series of magical illusions for his audience. Some were old standards like the old trick of sawing a woman in half, while others seemed to be tricks of Ayumu's own design, as far as the audience knew. As the evening grew late, most of the audience had finished eating and two of Ayumu's assistance wheeled a golden box resembling an iron maiden onto the stage.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for my final trick tonight I will require a volunteer from the audience." Ayumu announced. He then looked down at Alit. "You sir! Please step right up!"

A spotlight then began to shine down on Alit, catching him by surprise. The rest of the audience began to clap, and seeing no other choice he stepped up onto the stage.

"Now then sir, if you would please be so kind as to step into the golden box of the ancients." Ayumu requested.

As he waved to the audience, Alit walked into the golden iron maiden and was locked in by Ayumu's assistants. The assistants then placed a large black sheet over the box.

"And now…" Ayumu began as he took a pose. "Vamoosh!"

With that word, the mass under the sheet collapsed and several white doves flew out from beneath. The audience applauded and Ayumu took a bow.

"Thank you all very much for coming, and goodnight." Ayumu told them, and with that the curtain fell on the stage.

As most of the other audience members began to leave, Shark noticed that something was amiss. "Hey, where the heck's Alit? Shouldn't that magician have brought him back or something?"

"That is usually how these kinds of tricks work." Hikari agreed. "Something's not right."

At that point, Chitose came over to their table. "Do any of your know where Alit is?"

"We were just wondering the same thing." Rio answered.

"Damn! Looks like this show might've been a trap." Shark realized.

* * *

><p>Alit awoke in a dark wooden room with the two halves of the golden box he was in on the floor at his sides. Getting to his feet, he saw a wooden door a few feet away from him down some kind of hall. Light was coming in through the crack at the bottom of the door. Seeing no other way out, Alit headed for the door. Finding it unlocked, he opened the door and on the other side found a large room with yellow brick walls decorated with various occult and torture paraphernalia. In the center of the room he saw a large circular indentation in the floor.<p>

As soon as Alit walked into the room, Ayumu appeared in the center of the indentation in a puff of purple smoke. "Welcome, Mr. Alit. Now that you're here, we can begin our own private magic show."

"I get it. This whole magic show of yours was a trap!" Alit realized as he walked into the center of the room. "You're with the guys who attacked Gilag and Merag, aren't you?"

"Right you are." Ayumu confirmed. "I hope you appreciate all the trouble I went to setting up this stage for us to duel on. It's a replica of a stage that's very well known in the dueling underworld. Legend has it that the great Yugi Muto himself once dueled an insane masked magician in a room very much like this one. Of course my recreation doesn't have the saw blades that cut our legs off if your life points reach zero. I don't do that blood and gore stuff in my acts."

"If you wanted to duel me, you should've just called me out instead of doing all this crap." Alit told him.

"Please. I'm a showman." Ayumu told him. "Now let's begin, shall we?"

With that, Alit and Ayumu activated their duel disks and D-Gazers. In seconds, the color of the underground room changed slightly.

"My stage, my move." Ayumu announced as he drew his first card. "For my first trick, I set two cards on the field. Then I summon Charioteer of Prophecy in Attack Mode!"

Appearing on Ayumu's side of the battlefield was a young man riding the back of a white horse. He had blonde hair and wore a green shirt with long white pants and a dark-green cape. In his right hand he carried an ornate silver sword.

"That ends my turn." Ayumu announced.

"Then it's my move!" Alit declared as he prepared to draw a card.

"The card you're about to draw is Battlin' Boxer Glassjaw." Ayumu predicted.

"As if you would know what…" Alit began, but when he saw the card he drew, he froze. He had indeed pulled the card that the young magician said that he would. "How… how did you…?"

"In addition to being able to cause real damage in a duel, some of us psychic duelists have certain special talents." Ayumu explain. "My talent is that I can see about thirty-six hours into the future. That countdown started only six or seven hours ago, and I know every move that's going to be made in this duel and every card that's going to be drawn."

"So… does that mean you know how this duel's going to end?" Alit asked.

"Sure do." Ayumu answered. "You're going to lose."

At that, Alit shook his head. "As if I'd buy that phony prediction! I summon Battlin' Boxer Headgeared in Attack Mode!"

Appearing on Alit's side of the battlefield was a dark-grey humanoid figure with glowing red eyes and almost rock-like skin. His hands were covered in red boxing gloves, and adorning his head was a piece of red boxing headgear.

"Next I play the Spell, Ring Announcer and summon Battlin' Boxer Glassjaw!" Alit announced.

Materializing next to Headgeared was a very muscular humanoid figure with green skin with red glowing eyes wearing strange white and black shorts. He had black boxing gloves on his hands and black headgear covering his head.

"I overlay my level four Glassjaw and Headgeared to Xyz Summon Battlin' Boxer Lead Yoke!" Alit announced.

A swirling red vortex appeared in the middle of the field and pulled in the two boxers as balls of orange energy. Rising out of the center a moment later was a large muscular warrior with dark-grey skin dressed like a Roman gladiator. He had a silver mask and helmet covering his head. His arms and neck were bound by a massive metal restrain with wood and chains. Orbiting around the warrior were two balls made of red light.

"I activate one my set cards, Demise of the Land!" Ayumu announced. "Because you special summoned a monster, from my deck I now activate the Field Spell, Anti-10X Magic Seal!"

A strange magical circle of blue light appeared on the floor of the duel stage. Suddenly the inside of the room became covered in a starry purple mist. Bolt of blue electricity suddenly rose up from the magic circle on the ground and bombarded the Charioteer, causing his eyes to glow red.

"Hey! This isn't the same Field Spell those friends of yours used!" Alit realized.

"Quite right. This is an upgraded version of 10X Disruption Zone designed for my deck." Ayumu revealed. "In addition to the same old effects that cripple that Number monster of yours, Magic Seal boosts the ATK of all Spellcasters on the field by 300. Meaning my Charioteer's ATK is not 2100."

"Yeah? Well I detach one overlay unit from Lead Yoke to special summon Battlin' Boxer Shadow from my hand!" Alit announced.

One of the orbiting balls of light around Lead Yoke broke away and went into the ground. Rising out of the spot where the ball hit was a dark-grey lean yet muscular figure wearing black boxing gloves and headgear. Soon after, Lead Yoke flexed his left arm and broke part of the massive restraint that bound him.

"Each time Lead Yoke loses an overlay unit, his ATK goes up by 800 points." Alit announced. "Which means right now his ATK is 3000."

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Ayumu asked.

"Lead Yoke, take down Charioteer!" Alit commanded.

"I activate my Trap, Trick Box of Doom!" Ayumu announced.

As Lead Yoke charged in, a purple and gold rectangular box appeared around Charioteer. The behemoth gladiator punched the box and knocked the pieces to the ground as four separate cubes. The front of each cube opened up to reveal pieces of Battlin' Boxer Shadow. Suddenly Alit's life points dropped to 2800.

"What the hell just happened?" a stunned Alit asked.

"When one of my Spellcasters is attacked, Trick Box of Doom switches it with a monster you control, making you take the attack and the damage." Ayumu explained. "But that's not even the best part. Look at your own side of the field."

Alit looked and noticed that a second box had appeared in the spot where his other monster had been. The box opened up and Charioteer charged out on the back of his horse. The rider swung his sword and shot Lead Yoke in the back with a beam of red light from his sword. The giant warrior shattered into bits of red light upon being hit.

"In addition to redirecting your attack, Trick Box of Doom destroys the monster you attacked with." Ayumu announced. "The only thing you can do now is set that Phantom Block Trap in your hand and end your turn."

Alit scowled. "I set one card on the field and end my turn!"

"Hey, don't get mad at me. All you and I are doing is following the path that destiny had laid out for us." Ayumu told him. "The only difference is that I know where that path is going. Too bad for you that path leads to a dead end."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Big thanks to K.I.T.T. RIDER for helping me come up with Ayumu's name. Sometimes coming up with character names can be pretty hard for me. Anyway, the duel started in this chapter was kind of hard for me to write because I'm not really experienced with either the Battlin' Boxer or Prophecy archetypes. Though I do have a lot of Battlin' Boxer cards in my own collection. I even have two copies each of Star Cestus and Comet Cestus. Not sure I can build a very good Battlin' Boxer deck though, since I think I'm missing a few key cards for it.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. A Duelist's Destiny

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: A Duelist's Destiny<p>

Shark and the others were up on the restaurant stage trying to figure out what had happened to Alit. Hikari had quickly determined that the boxer duelist had not actually disappeared, but had fallen through some kind of elaborate trapdoor built into the stage floor. No one on the staff tried to stop the group as they investigated the stage floor for the seam of the hidden door they were looking for. The restaurant had long become vacant, and after only a few minutes of searching they found the door they had been searching for. Shark and Yuma tried to force the door open but were having no luck.

"It's no use." Yuma declared. "We can't get it open."

"What do we do now?" Kotori wondered.

"I guess I could use my powers to summon Stardust Dragon to blow the door open." Hikari suggested. "But then we'd probably catch hell from whoever owns this place."

"Powers?" Chitose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, never mind. It'd take too long to explain." Hikari told her.

"I see." Chitose replied. "Well if Alit is beneath the stage, then perhaps he has ended up in the basement. There might be an entrance outside that will allow us to get there."

"Good thinking, Chitose!" Yuma told her. "Let's go guys!" And with that, they hurried out of the building.

* * *

><p>Ayumu drew his next card. "For my first trick this turn, I activate another one of my Magic Seal's effects and return one card in my hand to the deck to pull out two Spellbook Cards. Next I reveal three Spellbook cards in my hand to summon the High Priestess of Prophecy!"<p>

Appearing on Ayumu's side of the battlefield was a woman with long bright-red hair dressed in white. On her head she wore an elaborate headdress with a short curved conical center and two long white banners with black runes written on them. Two similar banners hung from the sides of the young woman's short skirt. Bolts from the seal shot up and bombarded her, causing her eyes to grow red.

"Thanks to my Magic Seal, High Priestess's ATK jumps up to 2800." Ayumu announced. "But now I activate the Spell known as Spellbook of Power! This card gives my High Priestess a 1000 ATK point boost until the end of the turn!"

A large glowing orange book with a purple orb in the center appeared in the High Priestess's hands. She looked at some of the pages for a few moments before the book shattered and she began to glow with a brilliant orange aura.

"High Priestess, attack Alit directly!" Ayumu commanded. "Mystic Prophecy Blast!"

"I activate my Trap, Phantom Block!" Alit quickly announced. "By banishing Lead Yoke from the Graveyard, Phantom Block reduces the damage from your attack by the same amount as Lead Yoke's original ATK points!"

A long white staff with a small blue orb appeared in the High Priestess's right hand. She swung the staff forward and fired a beam of blue light at Alit. Before the attack could hit though, a ghostly image of Lead Yoke appeared in front of Alit and intercepted the blast. Part of the beam got through however and struck Alit in the chest, nearly bringing him to his knees. His life points had taken a heavy drop to 1200.

"Phantom Block also ends the battle phase, meaning you can't make a second attack this turn." Alit announced.

"Then I'll just end my turn there." Ayumu announced. "By the way, the next card you're about to draw is Spellbooks from the Pot, which will allow us both to draw three more cards. That's good for you, since you can use all the card you can get right now, not that it'll help you any though."

Alit drew his next card and scowled. He had indeed drawn the very card that Ayumu had predicted he would. The boxer duelist then began to wonder if it was indeed his destiny to lose this duel.

"I'm waiting." Ayumu spoke, breaking Alit from his thoughts. "Stalling isn't going to help you any, you know."

"I activate Spellbooks from the Pot!" Alit announced. "This card allows us to draw three more cards from our decks!"

"And next you're going to draw Battlin' Boxer Veil, Battlin' Boxer Switchitter and Battlin' Boxer Spirits." Ayumu predicted.

"Shut up!" Alit told them. He then gritted his teeth in frustration when he saw that he had once again drawn the cards that the young magician said that he would.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what I've already seen. No need to get bent out of shape." Ayumu told him. "And before you say anything, I can assure you that my predictions have never been wrong. I've been doing this since I was a kid."

"Since you were a kid?" Alit repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep. I've had this little power of mine since I was about seven." Ayumu revealed. "My dad was this broken down old street magician who was a total hack. But when he found out what I could do, I became his cash cow. He made me perform predictions for the crowd and we'd rake in hundreds of bucks each day. Of course then my dad would just blow all that cash the same evening at the track when he'd get drunk. Then one day my life changed when I predicted that a car would hit my dad. It was a rocky few years after that, but now here I am! I'm not the greatest dueling magician there is."

"Yeah? We this duel's one prediction of yours that's going to fail!" Alit declared. "I activate Battlin' Boxer Spirits and send the top card of my deck to the Graveyard to summon Headgeared from the Graveyard!" The dark-grey boxer reappeared on Alit's side of the field. "Next I summon Battlin' Boxer Switchitter in Attack Mode!"

Materializing on the battlefield was a humanoid figure wearing a grey metal mask with an off-white hood. He had grey armor with springs on his right arm and leg and red boxing gloves on both his hands.

"Switchitter's effect allows me to use him as two overlay units for an Xyz Summon!" Alit announced. "So I use the level four Switchitter and Headgeared to build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my most powerful fighter! Come forth, Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus!"

Switchitter split in two and a large vortex in the form of a swirling galaxy appeared in the center of the field. Alit's boxing monsters were pulled in as balls of red energy, and rising out of the vortex a moment later was a large bronze object shaped almost like a bowtie. The object unfolded and expanded, taking the shape of a blue and grey armored warrior with golden yellow plates on his chest and legs. A golden yellow blade adorned the top of the warrior's head, and on his shoulders were two large blue armored plates framed in gold-yellow. The number 105 glowed in red alien writing on the armor of the warrior's right shoulder.

Two balls of yellow light orbited around Star Cestus. But in moments, bolts of blue lighting shot up from the magical seal on the ground and began to bombard him, causing his body and the lights orbiting around him to turn grey.

"You do know that Magic Seal has the same effect as the regular 10X Disruption Zone card." Ayumu reminded Alit. "Meaning that Number monster of your loses its effects and 400 ATK for each of its overlay units."

"Not for long, because I equip Star Cestus with the Spell card, Belt of the Champ!" Alit announced. "A Battlin' Boxer Xyz Monster equipped with the belt becomes immune to my opponent's card effects, meaning your Magic Seal's power can't touch Star Cestus!"

A gold and black championship belt appeared around Star Cestus's waist. The belt glowed and gave off bolts of golden lighting, causing Star Cestus to growl and flex his arms. The armored boxer's original coloring returned and the balls of light orbiting around him became yellow again.

"Star Cestus, attack Charioteer of Prophecy!" Alit commanded. "Stardust Impact!"

Star Cestus charged forward and punched the Charioteer in the chest. The mage was knocked off the back of his white horse, and both he and the horse shattered into bits of golden light. Ayumu's life points took a slight drop to 3600.

"All that, and that's the best you can do?" Ayumu chuckled.

"I'm just getting warmed up." Alit told him. "I end my turn. Make your move, magic boy."

* * *

><p>Shark and the others had made it out behind the back of the building and found an old wooden door with a window down a small flight of concrete stairs. Yuma tried the doorknob only to find it locked. Yuma and Shark then began to throw themselves into the door and managed to break it down after just three tries.<p>

"Well, that turned out to be easier than I thought." Yuma remarked.

"It is a pretty old door." Rio observed. "It's probably not used all that much."

"Let's go." Shark told them. "Who knows what Alit's gotten himself into?"

* * *

><p>Ayumu drew his next card. "Thanks to your Spellbooks from the Pot, I already have three Spellbook cards in my hand, so I reveal those three Spellbooks and summon a second High Priestess of Prophecy!" A second redheaded magician materialized on the battlefield. "Now I overlay my two level seven High Priestesses to Xyz Summon Hierophant of Prophecy!"<p>

A swirling purple vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in the high priestesses as balls of purple energy. Rising out of the vortex was a man with long black hair and purple markings on his cheeks. He wore black and purple robes with gold trim and white banners with black runes written on them. On his head was an ornate golden crown with spherical green gems, and in his hand he carried a long golden staff with a large object resembling the Emperor's Key that hung from Yuma's neck at the top. Two balls of green light orbited around him, and his eyes began to glow red upon being struck by the bolts from the seal.

"I now activate Hierophant's effect!" Ayumu announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, I can destroy an opponent's Spell card for each Spellbook in my Graveyard. Right now I only have one, but one is enough to destroy your boxer's golden belt!"

One of the balls of light orbiting the Hierophant entered the green orb embedded in the top of his staff. The dark-haired mage swung his staff and stuck Star Cetus's belt with a blast of purple energy. The belt shattered and the armored boxer turned completely grey once again.

"Now that your Number's lost his belt, the effects of my Magic Seal negate his effects and drop his ATK to 1700." Ayumu announced. "For my next trick, I summon another Charioteer of Prophecy from my hand!"

A second blonde horseman materialized on the battlefield next to Hierophant. The bolts of lightning from the seal caused his eyes to turn red.

"I activate my Charioteer's effect and discard a Spellbook to return one of my High Priestesses to my hand." Ayumu announced. "Now I activate a second Spellbook of Power and use its effects to raise Hierophant's ATK to 4100 until the end of the turn!"

A second glowing orange book appeared in the mage's hands. After he read a few pages, the book shattered and he began to glow with a brilliant orange aura.

"Hierophant, obliterate Star Cestus!" Ayumu commanded. "Imperial Magic Blast!"

The mage swung his staff and blasted Star Cestus in the chest with a blast of green light, causing him to explode in a flash of fire and smoke. When the smoke cleared however, Alit's life points were untouched and a new monster had appeared on his side of the battlefield in a kneeling position. It was a humanoid figure wearing knee-high red boots and a grey masked attached with brown leather straps that completely covered his face. On his arms were the two halves of a large round yellow shield.

"By summoning Battlin' Boxer Veil from my hand in Defense Mode, I was able to reduce the damage I would've taken to zero!" Alit announced.

"You're only prolonging the inevitable." Ayumu told him. "Charioteer, destroy Battlin' Boxer Veil! Mystic Sword Slash!"

The magical horseman swung his sword and blasted Veil with a beam of blue light from the blade. The attack struck Veil's shield and the boxer shattered into bits of golden light. At this time, a hidden panel in the far wall to Alit's right opened up and Shark and the others emerged.

"Alit! You okay?" a concerned Yuma asked.

"So, you guys managed to find your way in." Ayumu observed. "Of course I knew you would, not that it matters. Your friend is as good as finished."

"Don't count Alit out yet!" Yuma told him. "Even if you do have him on the ropes, he'll bounce back and take you down!"

"I'm afraid boxer boy's fate is sealed." Ayumu told them. "Here's what's going to happen. The next card Alit's going to draw is Counterpunch, a card that in his current situation can do nothing to help. He'll place it on the field as a shield and end his next turn. After which, I'll attack with Hierophant and Cherioteer and blow him away."

"Get real! There's no way you know what card Alit is going to draw." Shark told him.

"No Nasch, he can." Alit told him. "He's been able to predict every card I've drawn in this duel so far."

"Seriously?" a shocked Yuma asked.

"How's that even possible?" Kotori asked.

"Wait a sec… if what Alit says is true, then his opponent is a psychic duelist who can see into the future!" Hikari realized.

"How very perceptive you are." Ayumu told Hikari. "I see that the daughter of the Black Rose Witch has a good head on her shoulders."

"You… you know about that?" a surprised Hikari asked.

"But of course. Your mother was quite the legend at the Arcadia Movement facility where my teammates and I were trained." Ayumu revealed. "Anyway, there's nothing your friend, Alit can do to win this duel. I've been looking into the future for days, waiting for the right time when both our decks would stack up so that he would lose and I would win, and that time is now."

"Well then, if you're right then Alit isn't a true duelist." Cleo remarked, getting Alit's attention. "Even if a hack magician like you can see into the future, true duelists can reshape their future and carve their own destinies!"

"Cleo's right, Alit!" Yuma told him. "Maybe this guy can see into the future, but whatever that future is you can change it! All you have to do is never give up!"

"…You're right Yuma." Alit smirked. "I've been letting this jerk play me from the very start of this duel! Well no more!" As Alit drew his next card from the deck, the card glowed with a brilliant red light. "I play Rank-Up-Magic The Seventh One!"

"What? No! That's not what's supposed to happen!" a shocked Ayumu protested. "You were supposed to draw Counterpunch!"

"I'm through with you telling me how my moves are going to turn out!" Alit told him. "I use the power of The Seventh One to bring back Star Cestus from the Graveyard and Xyz Summon Number C105: Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus!"

A swirling galactic vortex appeared in the center of the field and shot a beam of red light into the air. The light faded to reveal a humanoid figure clad in purple armor over a black bodysuit. He had two pairs of purple and gold horns on the sides of his helmet, and on the back of each of his hands was a golden X. The number 105 blazed on his chest in red, and on his back were four large arm-like objects arranged in an X-shape. Each arm had claws on the end and a wide line of glowing red energy on the front. Appearing on the ground next to Comet Cestus was a red diamond-shaped crystal with golden plates. As soon as Comet Cestus appeared though, the seal's bolts of lightning shot him, causing his body to turn grey.

"Okay… okay, so you managed to summon your Chaos Number. But he still loses his effects thanks to my Magic Seal." A noticeably shaken Ayumu pointed out.

"I now activate an effect of Belt of the Champ from the Graveyard!" Alit announced. "Since I just performed an Xyz Summon, I can banish two Battlin' Boxer monsters from my Graveyard to equip Belt of the Champ to Comet Cestus!"

In a flash of gold light, Star Cestus's belt appeared around Comet Cestus's waist. The belt glowed and the armored boxer's body returned to normal its normal color.

"I activate Comet Cestus's effect!" Alit announced. "By detaching his overlay unit, I can destroy an opponent's monster and deal damage equal to its ATK! And the monster I choose to destroy is Hierophant of Prophecy!"

The red crystal on the ground shattered and went into one of the arm-like extensions on Comet Cestus's back. The energy traveled down into the warrior's chest, going to his arm. The armored boxer thrust his first forward and shot Hierophant with a beam of red light. In an instant, Hierophant was vaporized and Ayumu's life points dropped to 500.

"This… this can't be!" a trembling Ayumu exclaimed. "My prediction!"

"This is for ruining my date with Chitose!" Alit declared. "Comet Cestus, attack the Charioteer! Celestial Burst!"

Comet Cestus charged forward and punched the magical horseman in the chest. The horseman shattered to bits and a beam of red light shot from Comet Cestus's fist and hit Ayumu in the chest. The magician's life points fell to zero. With the duel over, Comet Cestus vanished and the glowing seal on the ground began to shrink around Ayumu. A beam of light shot up from the seal, and when it faded Ayumu collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Well, that was a close one." Alit declared.

"We, uh… we better call Kaito to come get this guy." Hikari decided.

"You okay?" Shark asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hikari assured him. "It's just… Alit's opponent said some things that kind of got to me. I think I'll have to give my mom a call tomorrow and tell her about what's happening."

* * *

><p>Chitose walked out of the back of the restaurant while Shark and most of the others waited for Kaito and the authorities to arrive. As she headed down the sidewalk tough, Alit ran out of the building and caught up to her.<p>

"Hey Chitose, don't you want me to walk you home?" Alit asked.

"Thank you, but I do not need to be escorted." Chitose told him.

"Well listen, I'm sorry that our date tonight didn't go so well." Alit told her. "But hey! I'm sure the next one will go a lot better."

At this, Chitose suddenly stopped walking. "You know Alit, from your personality and the way you duel, I realize that you remind me of the legendary duelist, Joey Wheeler."

"Oh yeah, I've heard of him." Alit recalled. "From what I know of him, he was a pretty good duelist."

"He was an obnoxious brute who delight in tormenting those who were weaker and smarter than he was!" Chitose snapped, causing Alit to flinch. After a moment, Chitose realized what she had just said. "Uh, at least that's what I've heard."

"Where the heck did you hear something like?" Alit asked as he scratched his head.

"It doesn't matter." Chitose told him. "Look Alit, I agreed to go with you to that show tonight simply because I did not wish to go alone, and I had no one else to ask. If you thought that this was the beginning of a romantic relationship, you are sadly mistaken. Goodnight."

With that, Chitose calmly walked away, leaving Alit to stand there and try and figure out what had just happened. After a moment, Alit let out a defeated sigh and slowly began walking back to the Kamishiro mansion.

* * *

><p>It was late at the warehouse hideout of Kaine and his gang as Anitak suddenly appeared through a portal, picked up Splicer like a ragdoll and threw him against the wall. Brimstone ran to his brother's side while the rest of the psychic duelists stood and watched. Seeing that Splicer was okay, Brimstone stood up to face the hooded woman.<p>

"What the hell's your problem, bitch?" Brimstone demanded to know.

With her eyes glowing green, Anitak responded by firing a blast of pink energy at the masked duelist. Brimstone managed to sidestep the attack, but the blast left a hole in the paved ground where it struck.

"You buffoons!" Anitak shouted. "Every single attempt you made to destroy the Seven Emperors has failed miserably! One of you even had the power to foresee the future and you couldn't even eliminate that knuckle-headed ignoramus, Alit!"

"Whoa, lady! Just chill." Kaine interrupted as he stepped forward. "We may have had a few setbacks, but we're doing the best we can here. So maybe three of our guys have failed. No big deal. Will just come back later and finish off the ones we missed. Just give us some time, okay?"

After a moment, Anitak seemed to calm down. "…Very well, but my patience is starting to wear very thin. I had better start seeing some results soon, otherwise I will be forced to take drastic action."

With that, the hooded woman turned and vanished through another portal. Most of the psychic duelists breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she was gone.

"That was harsh." Splicer remarked as he finally stood back up.

"Dammit, Kaine! This job is starting to get way out of hand!" Brimstone told him.

"Indeed. This is the first time we've seen Ms. Anitak become so volatile over one of our failures." Mortimer pointed out. "The risk level of this task seems to have become even greater."

"Yeah? Well at this point I doubt our new employer is gonna let us quite now, at least not without taking our breathing privileges." Kaine told them. "Looks like we're just gonna have to step up our game."

* * *

><p>Please review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	9. The Dragon Hunter

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the slight delay in getting this chapter up. I had intended to get it up on Wednesday, but the stress I've been under these past few days combined with this one thing I had to do for my online class made that impossible. I also decided that I needed to really rethink how this next chapter was going to go.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: The Dragon Hunter<p>

It was shaping up to be another fairly ordinary morning as Mizael entered Heartland Academy. By the time he got to his shoe locker though, the blonde dragon tamer noticed an object sticking out part way. It was an artificial pink rose, and not the first one that Mizael had found in his locker. He had been finding roses like that ever since the day after the beach trip. At first Mizael had though the roses were some kind of odd gift from Cathy, but when he questioned her about it she claimed not to know anything about the fake flowers. Mizael found the whole thing to be a bit strange, but at that moment he decided to just brush the whole thing off and go about his usual routine.

"Hey Mizael, got a minute?" Shark asked as we walked up, causing the dragon tamer to turn.

"What is it, Nasch?" Mizael asked.

"I just heard from Hikari. She says her mom just told her about something that might give us a clue about who's trying to kill us." Shark began. "We're all gonna meet up at Kaito's place to talk about it."

"I will be there." Mizael told him.

Shark nodded and noticed the rose that Mizael was holding. "What's with the flower?"

"Oh, someone has been leaving roses like this in my locker each morning." Mizael explained. "And before you ask, it's not Cathy."

"Well, you are pretty popular with the girls around here." Shark noted. "Guess you have a secret admirer, or something. Catch you later."

"Later." Mizael replied, and with that Shark walked off.

After Mizael finished switching his shoes, he proceeded into the halls. When he turned the first corner, someone came up from behind and put her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" a familiar voice asked.

Mizael smirked. "Good morning, kitten."

Cathy removed her hands, allowing Mizael to turn around. The catgirl moved in and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Have you got a few minutes?" Cathy asked.

"Of course." Mizael answered.

Cathy grinned and took Mizael by the hand, pulling him into an empty classroom. Once they were inside, she locked the door and dragged him over to the teacher's desk. She then turned around and gave Mizael a deep kiss, jamming her tongue into the dragon tamer's mouth. Mizael responded by deepening the kiss and bent her back over the desk. When they broke for air, Cathy quickly undid Mizael's belt and unzipped his pants. Her nimble fingers pulled out the blonde's already hardened rod and began to gently stroke it.

After a few moments, Cathy turned around and positioned herself by the corner of the desk. Mizael hiked up Cathy's short school uniform skirt and pulled down her plain white panties. He then inserted his hardened rod into the catgirl's rear end and slowly began to pump into her, causing Cathy's womanhood to grind against the corner of the desk. Cathy's knuckles became white as she held onto the desk. As the two of them went on like that, they were completely oblivious to the camera lens outside one of the classroom windows that was watching them.

Eventually Mizael began to feel himself coming close to the edge, causing him to snake his arms under Cathy's and grab onto her breasts. He began to pound into her harder, speeding the catgirl even closer to her own orgasm. With one final hard thrust from Mizael, they both managed to hit their climax at the same moment. As they did so, Cathy cried out in the form of a loud meow. In the early days of their relationship, Mizael had found Cathy's tendency to meow when she came to be a little strange, but he had grown to like it in a very short amount of time. After the two of them caught their breath, Mizael pulled out of Cathy.

"You certainly are frisky this morning." Mizael remarked.

"You wanna come to my place later after school?" Cathy asked as she pulled her panties back up.

"Actually, I have to be over at Tenjo's after school." Mizael informed her. "Apparently Hikari has some clue about who's been trying to kill me and the others."

"How 'bout you come over after that then?" Cathy suggested.

"Sounds fine." Mizael agreed

"Good. We should probably head to class now." Cathy told him.

"Actually, I think we still have about ten minutes." Mizael pointed out.

Cathy glanced down and saw that Mizael had yet to zip his pants back up, and that a certain appendage of his had re-hardened. "Well then," Cathy began with a smirk, "I guess we don't have to leave right now then."

With that, Cathy got down onto her knees. At the same time, the camera outside continued to watch them.

* * *

><p>The late afternoon had come, and Shark and most of the other former Barians had come to the Tenjo residence at the top of Heartland Tower. Hikari, Cleo and Hana had already arrived, as had Droite. By the time Yuma, Kotori and Cathy had arrived, they were finally ready to begin.<p>

"So I got in touch with my mom and told her all about what's been happening with these psychic duelists." Hikari began as all attention focused on her. "When I mentioned the things that Alit's opponent had told me during the duel, my mom told me and Hana more about a few things that we already knew. Things about a group called the Arcadia Movement."

"So just what is this group?" Kaito asked.

"They were an organization that collected psychic duelists like me, Hana and our mom from all over the world and trained them to use their abilities." Hikari answered. "Or tried to."

"So these Arcadia guys were just trying to help people?" Yuma asked.

"Not exactly." Hana answered. "From the way mom told it, it sounded like the movement wanted to one day take over the world."

"Our mom was part of the movement for a few years back when she was a teenager." Hikari continued. "She even knew the person who was in charge of the whole organization, a man named Divine."

"What happened to this guy, Divine?" Shark asked.

"Mom says he died, though she wouldn't say how." Hana answered. "She just said that our Aunt Misty had something to do with it and clamed up about it. I guess those are some hard times for her to talk about."

"Anyway, both our parents and the rest of our family thought that the Movement died with Divine." Hikari continued. "But it looks like that might not have been the case."

"Mom said that she talked to our Aunt Carly." Hana informed them. "It turns out that she had done some digging after what happened on that island Cleo and Rio were on and found that the facility Brimstone and Splicer had come from had been run by the Arcadia Movement."

"In other words, it sound like there was some kind of rogue cell of the Arcadia Movement that was still in operation up until Brimstone and Splicer escaped." Durbe deduced.

"That seems to be the case." Hikari confirmed. "Right now my dad's using some of his government connections to make sure there aren't any other rogue cells of the Movement out there that could cause problems, but so far it seems like the Movement really is dead this time."

"Arcadia Movement or not, Brimstone and these other apes are all just hired assassins." Cleo pointed out. "It still doesn't answer the question of who's sending them after us."

"Whoever is behind this is probably the one giving these psychics cards that can cripple the 10X Numbers." Kaito assumed. "The only ones I can think of with the capability to create cards like this are my father, the people of Astral World and the Barians. And perhaps maybe the Arclights."

"Well we can eliminate Dr. Faker and the Arclights, so I guess that leaves Astral World." Shark assumed.

"But why would Astral's people still want to kill Shark and the other Emperors?" Yuma asked.

"It could be that some of the people of Astral World still consider us to be a threat, despite what Astral has done to bring us back." Durbe theorized.

"What if it's not people from Astral World, but some Barians who don't like how the war between both worlds turned out?" Kotori suddenly suggested. "Maybe they hired these psychics to go after Shark and the others because they feel like they betrayed them somehow."

"It could also just be someone from Earth who we've never met before." Rio theorized. "Someone who knows about what we did during the attack on Earth two years ago and wants us dead for it, and also has the technology to help do it."

"So in other words, we still have no clue about who wants to kill us." Alit cut in.

"Not until we can get some more clues." Shark answered. "Either way, we're up against a pretty dangerous enemy."

* * *

><p>Splicer entered the warehouse hideout of Kaine's gang after getting some air. On the way in, he saw that the warehouse's office door was open a crack. Peeking in, Splicer saw Lucy sitting alone in the room watching a video of Mizael getting it on with Cathy in an empty classroom of Heartland Academy. The dark-haired psychic quickly backed away and closed the door to keep from seeing whatever else Lucy might've been doing in that room, which was something he did not want to see. Looking around, Splicer saw Brimstone sitting on a crate reading a magazine of some kind and went over to him.<p>

"Hey bro." Splicer spoke as he walked over, getting the masked duelist's attention. "You and I need to have a serious talk."

"Let me guess. You're gonna tell me about how we shouldn't be on this job." Brimstone deduced.

"Hell yeah!" Splicer quietly exclaimed. "I finally remembered why we decided to leave these guys for dead when we escaped the facility. They're totally nuts! Well, not Mortimer and Ayumu. They're just annoying as hell. But the rest of the gang's totally insane! I am glad that Marcel ended up in that coma, and I don't know where the hell Miriam disappeared to but I never want to see her again."

"Hey, I hear ya, little bro." Brimstone assured him. "But this is one job we just can't walk away from. Otherwise Kaine will hunt us down and kill us, or if he doesn't our mysterious employer might. All we can do is ride this job out and hope we at least get out with our skin intact. Plus this is our best shot at getting back at the Atlas girl, not to mention our chance to prove ourselves against the daughter of the Black Rose Witch."

"I know, but still!" Splicer insisted. "Do you know what I just saw Lucy doing? She's in the office watching that Mizael punk humping that cat girl."

"Oh, yeah. I saw that too." Brimstone told him. "I also caught Mortimer watching her, the little perv. But yeah, Lucy's definitely one of the craziest members of this little gang. Not as nuts as Kaine or Miriam, but she's up there."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kaine interrupted as he walked over, causing Splicer to flinch.

"Splicer was just mentioning how he almost walked in on Lucy watching that video and probably getting her rocks off while doing it." Brimstone explained.

"Ah, that." Kaine chuckled. "That's just part of her little hunting ritual. It means she's getting ready to move in for the kill. And I gotta say, she's been really looking forward to going after this one."

"So she's still hung up on dragon deck users, huh?" Brimstone asked.

"Oh yeah. Big time." Kaine confirmed. "And she's got quite a few trophies under her belt. I'd sure hate to be that Mizael punk right now, because he is gonna get slaughtered."

* * *

><p>It had been a less than ordinary day for Mizael as another day at Heartland Academy wrapped up. Everything had been normal except for one major detail. Cathy had not come to school. The dragon tamer had heard no word of Cathy calling in sick, and when he tried to call his girlfriend a few times in between classes he had gotten no answer. Something just didn't feel right.<p>

As Mizael prepared to leave the building, he got a call on his D-Gazer from an unknown number. When he put the device over his eye, an image of a seemingly unconscious Cathy chained to some kind of pillar or beam appeared before his vision. Mizael instantly began to fear the worst.

_"Hello? Mr. Mizael?"_ a somewhat familiar female voice asked over the line. _"Um, I have your friend. If you want her back, please come to the location I'm about to send you. Oh, and… could you please come alone? I want this little moment of ours to be private."_

With that, the image of Cathy disappeared and was replaced by the image of a map with a red blinking dot over a certain location. Mizael quickly memorized the location and prepared to walk out the door.

"Mizael?" a voice asked, causing him to stop. Mizael turned around and saw Droite standing behind him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Mizael lied.

"Are you sure? You look like you've seen a ghost." Droite told him.

"I told you I'm fine! Now back off, woman!" Mizael snapped before storming off.

As quickly and as calmly as he could, Mizael headed for the place that Cathy's abductor had told him to come. The location was a fair distance away from the school, and the long time it took him to get there did not help him stay calm. The whole time he kept worrying about what had happened to Cathy and what the person who had taken her might be doing to her in the long time it was taking him to get to her. He tried thinking of other things during the trip, but his thoughts kept going back to Cathy. On the way over, Mizael resolved to kill whomever it was that had done this terrible thing.

After what seemed like twenty or thirty minutes, Mizael arrived that the location, which turned out to be an abandoned five-story brick building scheduled for eventual demolition. Steading his resolved, Mizael headed towards the door.

"Kind of an odd place to come to after school, don't you think?" a familiar voice asked. Mizael turned to see Kaito standing behind him with Orbital 7.

"What the hell are you doing here, Tenjo?" Mizael demanded to know.

"Droite called me and said that you seemed agitated." Kaito explained. "So Orbital and I tracked you down."

"You and that wench of yours couldn't mind your own business?" an irritated Mizael asked.

"There's clearly something going on with you, and I'm guessing it has something to do with the group who's been coming after you and the other ex-Barians." Kaito deduced. "So why don't you just put that massive ego of yours aside and tell me what's going on?"

Mizael clenched his fists at his sides. "…Cathy has been abducted. The person who took her said to come here alone. Now that you and that talking vacuum cleaner of yours are here, Cathy's probably in even more danger."

"Hey! I am not a v-v-vacuum cleaner!" an offended Orbital 7 protested.

"Clearly you need some help." Kaito told him. "Despite what you might think, you can't do everything by yourself. Besides, the person who took Cathy may know I'm here already, so it's probably too late for me to go now."

Mizael turned back to the door. "…All right, you can help. But mark my words, Tenjo! If a single hair on Cathy's head is harmed because you interfered, I will tear you limb from limb!"

"I won't doubt that." Kaito told him. "Now let's go."

With that, the three of them headed into the building. The inside was completely bare and white paint was peeling off the walls. As they headed down the hall, Orbital 7 turned his head and shined a beam of light into one of the dark rooms.

"M-Master Kaito!" the robot spoke, causing Kaito and Mizael to stop. "I think you and Mizael should see this."

The two dragon duelists walked back and saw what Orbital 7's light was shining on. The far wall of the darkened room had a bulletin board that had several messily cut pictures of Mizael all over it, like some kind of demented shrine. Many of them showed him doing fairly ordinary things like walking to school or talking to his friends. Many of the pictures showed Mizael with Cathy, with a few of them showing the two doing some very intimate things. Each one of those pictures had a red X drawn over Cathy's face.

"What… what is this?" a horrified Mizael asked.

"Clearly someone's been targeting you." Kaito observed.

The photon duelist then glanced down at what looked like a small alter that was in front of the unsettling collage with a book resting on top. Kaito picked up the book and began to look through it. Each page had two special plastic sleeves containing a Duel Monsters card. Many of the cards were quite rare and each one of them was a dragon. Next to each card was a photograph of a different person on the ground that was unconscious and most likely dead.

Orbital 7 extended his flexible neck to peek over Kaito's shoulder and looked at the pictures. "M-M-Master Kaito! The people in these pictures are all duelists who mysteriously disappeared."

"Are you certain?" Kaito asked.

"Positive. I just checked." Orbital confirmed. "E-each one of these duelists possessed a rare Dragon-type card or used a dragon-based deck."

"Then clearly who were dealing with is probably ready for Mizael." Kaito deduced. "If a duel is going to break out, it's probably a safe bet that this person will have a deck armed with anti-dragon cards."

"I don't care what sort of deck this fiend as prepared! I will grind her into the dust!" Mizael proclaimed.

"Her?" Kaito asked with a quirked brow. "The person who took Cathy is a girl?"

"Yes. And there was something familiar about her voice, now that I think about it." Mizael replied. "But never mind! Let's just go. Every moment we waste here puts Cathy in more danger."

Kaito nodded, and with that the three of them left the room. When they got to the second floor of the building they saw that it was completely stripped of walls and paint. Right away they saw Cathy chained to one of the support beams. On the front of the chains was a silver rectangular device with a timer on the front.

"H-hello, Mr. Mizael." A voice spoke from a far dark corner of the room. Lucy stepped into the light and walked in front of Cathy.

In an instant, Mizael remembered where he had encountered Cathy's abductor before. "You! You're that girl from the beach."

"You remembered me!" Lucy replied with a tearful smile. "I'm so happy!"

"Let Cathy go this instant!" Mizael ordered.

"But I can't. At least not now." Lucy told him. "You have to duel me to get her back. If you don't, the bomb I attached to her will go off in about thirty minutes. The only way to shut it off is to beat me."

"Fine then!" Mizael agreed.

"Mizael! You're playing right into this girl's hands!" Kaito told him.

"K-Kaito Tenjo?" Lucy observed as a blush came to her face. "You, uh… you weren't supposed to be here. But, um… it's fine. I can take you on once I beat Mr. Mizael. Until then though, could you please wait?"

"Stay out of this, Tenjo!" Mizael told him. "This is my battle!"

Kaito gritted his teeth in frustration. "Fine, but be careful."

Mizael nodded and both his and Lucy activated their D-Gazers and duel disks. Kaito switched on his own D-Gazer tattoo and the color of the surrounding area changed. Lucy and Mizael drew their opening hands and prepared to face off.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Big thanks goes to K.I.T.T. RIDER for coming up with both Lucy's name and personality. Back when I was deciding what sort of opponents each of our former Barians would face, my initial idea was for Mizael to go up against a female dragon user who was very shy and unsure of herself in contrast to Mizael's giant ego. KITT liked the idea of Mizael's opponent being a female dragon user, but thought that she should be more of a Yander type character. That idea seemed too good not to do, so Lucy ended up being kind of a stalker who presented a shy front.

The duel between Mizael and Lucy was originally going to take place in this chapter, but I decided yesterday to push it to the next chapter due mainly to length. The duel was also going to be Mizael and Kaito teaming up to take on Lucy together, but I just couldn't make it work during the outline stage. I've said before that asymmetrical duels are hard for me to do, and I just couldn't make that particular two-on-one duel happen due mostly to the other stuff that's going on in my life right now. So I apologize if it seems like I'm phoning it in. I will probably have Kaito and Mizael work together in a tag duel in some future story though. Maybe in the third story of this little trilogy I've started here.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	10. Mizael's Crisis

**Author's Note:** A few days ago, I read a guest review for this story asking why I haven't done a lemon of Yuma and Kotori in this story. There's a very good reason why I haven't, but I'm not going to share what it is at this time. I will say at this time is that the reason has to do with the next story in this trilogy, but that is all I will say. That said, on with the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Mizael's Crisis<p>

"Um, I'll be going first." Lucy shyly announced as she drew her first card. "I summon Skilled White Magician in Attack Mode."

Appearing on Lucy's side of the field was a man in white hooded robes carrying a silver staff with a blue orb mounted on top. His chest and shoulders were covered in large pieces of silver armor with gold trim. Mounted in the pieces of armor were three round blue gems similar to the one atop the wizard's staff.

"Next I activate the Spell, Reload." Lucy announced. "This card lets me shuffle my current hand into my deck to draw a new hand. And because I played a Spell card, one Spell Counter is placed on Skilled White Magician." At this, one of the gems in the wizard's armor lit up. "Next I play another Spell, Magical Mallet. I shuffle one card back into my deck and draw a new one." A second of the magician's gems let up. "I set two cards on the field. That ends my turn."

"Looks like she's playing some kind of Buster Blader or Dark Paladin deck." Kaito observed from the sidelines. "Mizael! You need to be careful! This girl's deck might be pure poison to yours!"

"I don't need your concern, Tenjo! This girl is no threat to me!" Mizael declared as he drew his first card. He scowled as he looked at his hand. "I play the Spell, Reload and shuffle my hand back into my hand to draw a new one!" The third gem on the White Magician's armor lit up.

"That move of yours just gave the White Magician another Spell Counter!" Kaito told Mizael.

"Be silent, Tenjo!" Mizael ordered. "Her magician may have three counters now, but she can only activate his effect on her turn. And I'm not going to give her that chance! I summon Sunspot Dragon in Attack Mode!"

Appearing on Mizael's side of the battlefield was a winged bipedal dragon that looked to be made almost completely of fire. It had a single white horn on the back of its head, and on its body flared several dark spots that seemed to shrink and disappear every now and then.

"Your magician only has 1700 ATK, which is a hundred ATK points weaker than my dragon!" Mizael pointed out to Lucy. "Sunspot Dragon, attack the White Magician! Solar Flare-Up!"

"I activate my Trap, Emergency Mage Summon!" Lucy announced. "This card lets me send a Skilled Dark Magician or Skilled White Magician with three counters on it to the Graveyard to bring out the monster it summons from my hand or deck. So I send Skilled White Magician to the Graveyard to summon Buster Blader!"

Just as Mizael's dragon opened its mouth to attack, the magician raised his staff in the air and was enveloped in a pillar of white light. The light faded to reveal an imposing warrior covered head to toe in purple and silver armor. On his head, which was completely covered in armor, were two long lightning bolt-shaped horns. His right hand carried a massive sword with a curved blade that rested over his shoulder.

"Dammit, I was afraid something like this might happen!" Kaito spoke. "Those two cards that girl set out on the field were obviously put there to protect the White Magician or speed the power of his effect. You should've thought of that, Mizael!"

"Shut up, Tenjo!" Mizael snapped. "I don't need any of your backseat dueling!"

"I'm only trying to help, you hardheaded fool!" Kaito told him.

"Um, Buster Blader gains 500 ATK for each dragon on my opponent's field and in their Graveyard." Lucy spoke, getting their attention. "So right now, his ATK goes up to 3100. Now I activate my other facedown card, Dragon Bait. This card forces all my opponent's monsters to attack Buster Blader this turn."

Suddenly Sunspot Dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of orange flames at Buster Blader. The dragon slayer swung his massive sword and cut the blast down the middle. He then charged forward and sliced Mizael's dragon in two. The two pieces shattered and Mizael's life points dropped to 2700.

Mizael gritted his teeth in frustration. "I set one card on the field and end my turn!"

"That's all?" Lucy sadly asked as she drew her next card. "I was hoping this duel would go on a lot longer. But I guess… I have no choice. First though… I'll equip Buster Blader with the Spell, Dragon Scale Shield."

A small shield-like piece of armor appeared on Buster Blader's left forearm, attached by two brown leather straps. The armor was covered in silver scales.

"And now… Buster Blader, attack Mr. Mizael directly." Lucy commanded, as tears seemed to come to her eyes. "Destructive Sword Flash!"

Buster Blader charged in to deliver what looked like would be the finishing blow. But before he could land an attack, a large silver-blue stone suddenly dropped down from above and struck the ground, creating a small fiery explosion. Lucy's life points suddenly dropped down to 2400. As the smoke cleared, the stone that hit the ground suddenly broke open. The two halves of the stone became wings for an orange-red crocodile-like dragon that was inside.

"What… what happened?" a surprised Lucy asked.

"Because I was being attacked directly, I was able to summon Asteroid Dragon from my hand in Defense Mode." Mizael explained. "And when Asteroid Dragon is summoned using this effect, my opponent takes 400 points of damage for each card in my hand."

"You're…" Lucy began as a huge smile, "you're amazing! You're just as strong as I hoped you'd be! Just as strong as my darling Lance!"

"Lance?" Mizael repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh-huh. Lance Jackson. Surely you've heard of him." Lucy replied. "He's only the best duelist there ever was."

"Wait a minute… I think I've read about that guy." Kaito recalled. "He was a champion duelist who was widely known as the gold dragon tamer. He swept several major tournaments until one day he just disappeared."

"T-that's right." Orbital 7 replied. "According to the data I've just found, he simply vanished on his way back from a major tournament while traveling with his girlfriend. Neither of them was ever found."

"Lance was so kind to me when we first met." Lucy dreamily went on. "He found me on the street after my parents had beaten me again and took me in for a while. He even taught me how to duel. I loved him so much. No one was could ever have loved him as much as I did."

"What happened to Lance?" Kaito asked.

At this, Lucy's expression darkened. "He… he only pretended to care about me. The only one he seemed to have time for was that tramp he was with. She could never have loved Lance the way I did. So I got rid of her! It was the only way Lance and I could be together! But he only got mad at me, so I had no choice but to get rid of him too. But… but I always carry his best dragon card with me, so he and I are always together still."

"S-s-she's insane!" a horrified Orbital 7 declared.

"Since my darling Lance, I've looked all over the world for dragon users as strong as he was. But none of them so far have ever measured up." Lucy continued. "But I think it'll be different for you and me, Mizael darling."

"So that album we found before was of all of this girl's previous victims." Kaito realized. "Mizael's really up against a dangerous opponent here."

"Now then, I believe it's still my turn." Lucy continued. "Your Asteroid Dragon may have 2700 DEF, but it's no match for the 3600 ATK my Buster Blader now has. Buster Blader, attack Asteroid Dragon with Destructive Sword Flash!"

"I activate my Trap, Mirror Force!" Mizael quickly announced as the dragon slayer charged in for another attack.

Buster Blader's massive sword struck a barrier of light that suddenly appeared in front of Mizael's dragon, causing a massive explosion. But when the smoke cleared, the dragon slayer was still on the field. The only thing that had changed was that the shield strapped to his left arm had vanished.

"What… what's the meaning of this?" a shocked Mizael demanded to know.

"When a monster equipped with Dragon Scale Shield would be destroyed, I'm able to destroy Dragon Scale Shield to protect that monster." Lucy explained. "Now then Buster Blader, finish my darling Mizael's dragon off."

Buster Blader swung his massive sword again and cut the dragon in two. In an instant, both halves of the slain Asteroid Dragon shattered into particles of light.

"I end my turn." Lucy happily announced. "It's your move, Mizael darling."

Mizael drew his next card. "I activate Sunspot Dragon's effect from the Graveyard! By banishing Sunspot Dragon, I can summon two level eight dragons from my deck! I summon two Schwarzschild Limit Dragons!"

A pillar of orange flames shot up from the ground in front of Mizael. In moments the flames subsided to reveal two slender brown serpentine dragons, each one with a set of three red eyes.

"Oh wow! Are you going to summon that Number dragon I've hard so much about?" Lucy asked.

"You're not worthy of facing Tachyon!" Mizael told her. "I overlay my two level eight dragons to Xyz Summon Galaxy Kaiser Dragon!"

A swirling purple vortex appeared in the center of the field and pulled in Mizael's two dragons as balls of purple-blue energy. Rising out of the vortex a moment later was a mostly black bipedal dragon with sparkling scales. Its chest and stomach along with the front of its neck were white, and in the center of its chest it had a swirling vortex resembling a small galaxy. On its back was a pair of large red bat-like wings, and on the top of its head was a single blade-like horn that pointed forward. Orbiting around the dragon were two balls of purple light.

"I activate Galaxy Kaiser Dragon's effect!" Mizael announced. "By detaching one overlay unit, I can negate the effects of one monster my opponent controls and reduce its ATK by 2000 until the end of the turn!"

One of the balls of light orbiting the dragon entered the miniature galaxy in the center of its chest. A white beam then shot out of the same galaxy and struck Buster Blader, causing his armor to turn grey.

"Galaxy Kaiser Dragon, attack Buster Blader!" Mizael commanded. "Supreme Cosmic Flare!"

The sparkling dragon opened its jaws and blasted Buster Blader with a powerful stream of purple-blue light. The dragon slayer was hit and exploded in a mass of fire and smoke. Lucy's life points took a steep drop to 200. When the smoke cleared, however, a new monster had appeared on Lucy's side of the field. It was another dragon, slender with sickly grey scales and a beak-like snout. In place of arms it has two large black-feathered wings, and its legs ended with a pair of large talons.

"And just what is this" Mizael asked.

"Since I took battle damage, I was able to summon Vulture Dragon from my hand in Defense Mode." Lucy explained. "Just so you know, my Vulture Dragon's ATK and DEF are equal to the damage I just took."

"Then I end my turn." Mizael announced.

Lucy drew her next card. "I activate another one of Vulture Dragon's effects. By banishing two cards from my Graveyard, I can summon a monster from my Graveyard in Defense Mode with its effects negated. So I banish Emergency Mage Summon and Dragon Bait to bring back Buster Blader!"

The Vulture Dragon let out an unpleasant and very high-pitched screech that forced Mizael and Kaito to cover their ears. The sound also caused a few sparks to shoot from Orbital 7's head. In moments a dark circular portal appeared on the ground and Buster Blader rose from it in a kneeling position.

"I overlay my level seven Buster Blader and Vulture Dragon to Xyz Summon Cosmic Dragon Slayer!" Lucy announced.

A black vortex appeared in the middle of the field and pulled in Lucy's two monsters as balls of grey energy. Rising out of the vortex a moment later was another warrior that greatly resembled Buster Blader, though there were some major differences. This new warrior's armor was pitch-black instead of purple, and instead of the horns Buster Blader possessed he had a head of long light-blue hair. On the front of the silver chain-like belt around his waist was the yellowed skull of a small dragon. The armor of his arms and legs seemed to have some sort of fishnet-like covering, and in his right hand was a very large jeweled sword similar to Buster Blader's, but the blade was more jagged and there was a small dragon skull on the end of the white handle. Orbiting around the warrior were two balls of blue light.

"Next I activate the Spell, Xyz Treasure and draw a card for each Xyz Monster on the field." Lucy announced. "And now… Cosmic Dragon Slayer, attack Galaxy Kaiser Dragon! Dragon Death Blade!"

"But my Kaiser Dragon has 2800 ATK!" Mizael reminded her. "That dragon slayer of yours is 200 points weaker!"

"Uh-huh, but when my Cosmic Dragon Slayer attacks a dragon, he negates whatever effects that dragon might have and gains 1000 ATK during the battle." Lucy told him.

The dragon slayer charged forward and cut Kaiser Dragon down the middle. The two pieces shattered to bits and Mizael's life points dropped to 1900.

"Now I activate Cosmic Dragon Slayer's effect." Lucy announced. "By detaching one of his overlay units, Cosmic Dragon Slayer can take the dragon he just killed as a trophy and equip himself with it as armor."

One of the balls of light orbiting around the dragon slayer entered the black jewel on the crossguard of his sword. The warrior began to glow with a blue light and his armor suddenly began to change. His back gained the same red wings that Galaxy Kaiser Dragon had, and his chest became covered in the same black and white scales. The center of his chest also gained the same miniature galaxy that Mizael's dragon hid in its chest. The white skull of Galaxy Kaiser Dragon also appeared on Cosmic Dragon Slayer's right forearm as a piece of armor.

"Cosmic Dragon Hunter gains half the ATK of each Dragon monster he wares as armor." Lucy continued. "Meaning that right now, he has an ATK of 4000."

"Are you done yet?" Mizael asked.

"Yep! I'll just set one card on the field and end my turn." Lucy cheerfully announced. "Your move, Mizael darling."

"Let's make one thing clear, you demented girl. I will never love you." Mizael told Lucy. "The only woman I love is the one you have chained to that bomb of yours. I don't know what you think there is between you and I, but I could never bring myself to care about a twisted creature like you."

A hurt expression appeared on Lucy's face. "You… you don't mean that!"

"As far as I'm concerned, you can just die!" Mizael told her.

"Oh boy. I-I'm not sure if what Mizael just did was such a good idea." Orbital told Kaito.

Lucy's right hand clenched into a fist at her side. "…So, you say you could never love me? Well we'll see about that! I'm going to make you love me with this duel! Once I beat you, I'll kill that little kitty cat tramp of yours! Then you'll have no one else to love but me!"

"I'll break your neck before I let you harm Cathy!" Mizael declared.

"Make your move, darling." Lucy told him with a mad smile.

"Indeed I shall!" Mizael replied as he drew his next card. The card he drew glowed with a brilliant red light. "I play Rank-Up-Magic The Seventh One!"

"Mizael, wait!" Kaito called.

"Using the power of The Seventh One, I bring forth Tachyon Dragon to Xyz Summon Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!" Mizael announced.

A swirling vortex in the form of a galaxy appeared in the center of the field. Rising out of the middle was a large slender golden object that somewhat resembled a top. The object unfolded and expanded to become a massive gold mechanical dragon with gigantic wings and three heads. On its body glowed the number 107 in alien writing. On the ground near the dragon was a single red diamond-shaped crystal with gold plates.

"I activate my face-down card, Demise of the Land!" Lucy suddenly announced. "With this card, I activate 10X Disruption Zone from my deck!"

Suddenly the surrounding area inside the building turned completely grey. Neo Tachyon's body turned completely grey as well and the crystal on the ground near it lost all of its color.

"No!" Mizael exclaimed.

"Please try not to struggle, darling." Lucy requested. "You and I will be together soon, even if I have to kill you."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> One of the reasons the duel between Mizael and Lucy was so hard to write was because I wound up creating more than a few cards for both of them. I made new monsters for Mizael that would fit with his deck's whole space dragon theme, and in the early stages I decided to make up an ace card for Lucy that fit her whole tendency to hunt down dragon deck users and take their cards. The result being Cosmic Dragon Slayer, which I also ended up making into sort of an anti-Galaxy-Eyes card. Appearance wise, Cosmic Dragon Slayer ended up being a cross between Buster Blader and the Predator alien from the well-known _Predator_ films.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. The Shining Number

**Author's Note:** Just to give everyone a heads up, I have a special announcement to make at the end of this chapter. It's nothing too big though. In the meantime, I apologize if Mizael was a little OOC in the last chapter, and I apologize in advance if he's a bit OOC in this one too. That said, onto the epic conclusion of Mizael's duel with Lucy.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: The Shining Number<p>

"Um, I guess you could still attack my Cosmic Dragon Hunter using Neo Tachyon." Lucy suggested. "Oh, but my Dragon Hunter gains 1000 ATK when battling a dragon, so… I guess that's not such a good idea."

Mizael scowled. "I set one card on the field and end my turn."

"M-Mizael sure lost his temper there for a moment." Oribtal 7 observed.

"I guess I can't blame him. I'd probably lose it too if it was Droite chained to that bomb." Kaito admitted. "But Mizael has to keep it together, or else he's finished."

Lucy drew her next card. "Cosmic Dragon Hunter, attack Neo Tachyon! Dragon Death Blade!"

The dragon slayer charged forward and jumped in the air, leaving a large gash in Neo Tachyon's chest as he went down. The three-headed dragon exploded in a flash of fire and smoke. Mizael's life points took a drop to 1000.

"I now activate my Cosmic Dragon Hunter's effect!" Lucy announced. "By detaching his last overlay unit, I can equip him with Neo Tachyon!"

The remaining ball of light orbiting around the dragon slayer entered the gem in his sword. In moments his armor transformed to include parts of Neo Tachyon. The gold dragon's center head became part of his helmet while the remaining two heads became the pieces of his shoulder armor. Gold plates from the dragon's body became attached to his chest at the sides of the small galaxy from Galaxy Kaiser Dragon. The Dragon Hunter's lower legs had gained golden armor as well, and the new armor around his waist looked as though they had been made from Neo Tachyon's wings.

"Because Neo Tachyon is now a part of my Dragon Hunter's armor, his ATK goes up to 6250." Lucy continued.

"I activate my Trap, Xyz Reborn!" Mizael announced. "With this card I revive Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon!"

A large black metal object with blue and red lights resembling a top appeared on Mizael's side of the field. The top expended and unfolded to become a black mechanical dragon. The number 107 glowed on the dragon's large head crest. But as soon as Tachyon Dragon appeared on the field, all the color drained from its body. A single ball of grey light orbited around it.

"But darling, what good is it for you to summon Tachyon Dragon's original form?" Lucy asked. "Because of 10X Disruption Zone, its effects are negated and its ATK is now only 2600."

"Maybe so, but I have absolute faith that Tachyon and I shall defeat you!" Mizael declared.

"I like how devoted you are to your dragon." Lucy remarked. "I'll set one card on the field and end my turn."

Mizael drew his next card. "I activate the Spell, Mystical Space Typhoon! Using this card's power I destroy Galaxy Kaiser Dragon!"

A twister of wind appeared around Cosmic Dragon Hunter. As the wind blew, the parts of armor that had been made from Galaxy Kaiser Dragon shattered. The small galaxy in the center of the dragon slayer's chest also vanished.

"Because your Dragon Hunter has lost the parts of its armor it made from my Kaiser Dragon, its ATK falls to 4850." Mizael announced.

"But that still makes my Dragon Hunter far stronger than your Tachyon Dragon." Lucy pointed out. "You've put up a valiant fight, Mizael darling. But you should just make things easy on yourself and give up."

"I'll never give up! Not while Cathy is in danger!" Mizael declared.

At this, Lucy's left eye twitched. "Is that all you care about? That tramp? What the hell makes her so special?"

"…Believe me, Cathy is very special to me." Mizael admitted. "A few years ago, I wanted nothing to do with the human race, even after I had become one myself. But there was just something about Cathy that changed that. She cares for cats just as I had cared for dragons in my former life. I never thought that could love a human until Cathy, and if necessary I will give my life to protect her!"

Just them, Tachyon Dragon roared and its body gave off a brilliant while light. The same kind of light began to shine from Mizael.

"What's going on?" a surprised Kaito wondered.

"M-Master Kaito! It looks as though Mizael's Number is changing." Orbital 7 determined.

"Using Tachyon Dragon I rebuild the overlay network!" Mizael announced. "Arise, Number S107: Galaxy-Eyes Shining Tachyon Dragon!"

Tachyon Dragon folded back into the same top-like object it first appeared as and receded into a large galaxy-like vortex that had appeared on the ground. Moments later, a similar top made out of white metal with two balls of golden light orbiting around it. The object unfolded and expanded into a white mechanical dragon very similar to Tachyon Dragon's original form. One of the major differences though was that it had two large pairs of golden sail-like wings on its back, with the bottom pair being smaller than the top pair. The dragon had gained two small arms, and on the tip of its snout was a small golden horn.

"Number S107? What's going on?" Kaito wondered.

"That dragon… it's so pretty." Lucy spoke. "But… what is it?"

"This new form of Tachyon was formed for the love I have for Cathy and my desire to protect her." Mizael explained, still shining with a white light. "And because this form is a Shining Number, Tachyon's now unaffected by the power of your Field Spell."

"O-of course! 10X Disruption Zone only affects 10X Numbers in their regular and Chaos forms. But it wouldn't affect a Shining Number." Orbital 7 realized.

"I get that this monster was formed the same way Utopia Ray and Shark Drake Veiss were, but a Shining Number?" Kaito asked.

"I activate Shining Tachyon Dragon's effect, Temporal Reversion!" Mizael announced. "Since I now have only 1000 life points left, I can detach on of Shining Tachyon's overlay units, and every card that was not on my opponent's side of the field at the beginning of their last turn is returned to the deck! Not only that, the effect of every monster still on my opponent's side of the field when this effect resolves is negated until the end of the turn!"

One of the balls of light orbiting around Shining Tachyon entered the horn on its snout. The dragon roared and particles of light from its wings bombarded Lucy's side of the battlefield. Cosmic Dragon Hunter returned to his original form and the large facedown card Lucy had out vanished. The dragon slayer had become completely motionless almost as though he had been frozen in time.

"For each card returned to the deck, Shining Tachyon gains 1000 ATK points until the end of the turn." Mizael announced. "And since two cards have been returned to the deck, Shining Tachyon's ATK rises from 3000 to 5000!"

"Oh… wow!" Lucy cheered. "You're so amazing, my darling!"

"Shining Tachyon, obliterate Cosmic Dragon Hunter!" Mizael commanded. "Shining Tachyon Blast!"

The mechanical dragon opened its mouth and fired out a blast of golden light. Cosmic Dragon Hunter was vaporized by the attack in an instant. The blast kept on going and struck Lucy, brining her life points down to zero. With the duel over, Mizael's dragon vanished. A beam of grey light came up from the ground around Lucy, fading only a few seconds later. When the light faded, Lucy collapsed to the ground unconscious. At the same time, the numbers on the bomb chained to Cathy flashed green and turned off.

Immediately Mizael ran over to Cathy's side and began to shake her. "Cathy! Cathy, are you okay?"

After a moment, Cathy opened her eyes and blinked. "Huh? Mizael, what's going on?"

"I'll explain in a moment, but I need to know if you're all right." Mizael told her.

"Well, I have a little bit of a headache, but other than that I'm fine." Cathy assured him.

"Orbital, go and cut Cathy's chains." Kaito ordered. "I'm going to call someone to come get Mizael's opponent."

"Y-yes sir!" Orbital 7 replied with his trademark salute.

* * *

><p>Kaito stood before the comatose Lucy in her hospital bed with Orbital 7 at his side. He had been standing there for less than five minutes when Hikari and Shark entered the room with Hana and Durbe.<p>

"We came as quick as we could." Hikari told Kaito. "So that's the girl Mizael dueled?"

"Yeah, and she was pretty dangerous." Kaito replied. "I just spoke with a police detective. It turns out this girl is responsible for the disappearances of quite a few duelists who use dragon decks."

"You also mentioned that she was nuts over the phone." Shark recalled.

"That's putting it mildly." Kaito replied. "This girl thought Mizael was in love with her. That's probably how it was with all of her victims."

"S-she also mentioned that her parents abused her." Orbital 7 recalled. "That could have something to do with her psychotic behavior."

"She was probably abused because of her powers." Hikari darkly replied. "Her parents must've thought of her as a freak."

Before Shark could say anything to comfort his girlfriend, his D-Gazer began to ring. After seeing that it was Yuma who was calling, he put the device over his eye. "Yuma, what's up?"

_"Hi Shark. Can you and maybe Hikari drop by my place real quick?"_ Yuma requested. _"My sister found something we think you should see. It's about the psychic duelists."_

"Right, we'll be right over." Shark answered before hanging up. "Yuma thinks his sister might've found something that could help us with what's going on."

"Then let's go see him." Hikari decided.

With that, Shark and the others went over to the Tsukumo residence. When they got to the door, Yuma's older sister, Akari, greeted them. Akari led them into the living room where Yuma was sitting on the couch.

"Yuma told me a little about what's going on with these psychic assassins you're dealing with." Akari told them. "So I decided to do a little digging of my own on these guys."

"Thanks for the help." Hikari told her.

"It's no problem. Since I'm guessing my brother here is already caught up in this mess, I figure it's the least I can do to help." Akari told them as she began typing some things into her laptop on the coffee table. "Anyway, I managed to get in touch with a friend of mine at the government and he sent me some files he managed to get his hands on. He said not to ask how he got them, but I think you should all take a look at what he sent me."

With one final keystroke from Akari, nine windows containing pictures and paragraphs of information appeared on the screen. Shark and the others instantly recognized who a few of the people pictured on the screen were.

"That's the girl who just dueled Mizael." Kaito told them, pointing at one of the pictures. "So her name's Lucy."

"That one guy looks like the guy who went after Gilag." Yuma spoke, pointing at another one of the pictures. "I mean it's kinda hard to recognize him without the face paint, but I'm pretty sure that's him."

"It looks like we have files on the group that's coming after us." Durbe observed.

"Hey Akari, where did this stuff come from?" Hana asked.

"My friend told me that these are files salvaged from a destroyed secret facility that turned out to be an operation of that old Arcadia Movement group." Akari revealed.

"It must be the one that Brimstone and Splicer destroyed." Hikari realized.

"There's a whole lot more than just the files you're seeing here." Akari told them. "A few of them seem to be corrupted, probably because they were salvaged from a damaged computer. But there's a whole bunch of stuff that I haven't even had time to go through yet."

"Why don't you send what you have over to me and Hikari and I can help you analyze all of it?" Kaito suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Akari agreed.

"Well, at least we now have a better idea of who we're up against." Shark observed.

"True, but we still don't know who's sent these people after us." Durbe pointed out.

"Maybe so, but this is a lot more than what we had before." Hikari pointed out. "At least with this info we have a better idea about who might come after us next. Hopefully when the next attack comes, we'll be ready."

* * *

><p>Mizael and Cathy were both naked on the bed in Cathy's room. The blonde dragon tamer was on top, pumping his hardened rod into the silver-haired catgirl beneath him. Cathy reached up and ran her fingers down Mizael's back, leaving scratch marks. Before long, Mizael could feel Cathy's inner walls tightening around him. They looked into one another's eyes as they both came close to the edge. Then in one blissful moment they came to a hard climax. Mizael withdrew and rolled onto his back, prompting Cathy to cuddle up close to him.<p>

"You were amazing." Cathy told him. "Not that you ever aren't, of course."

"Cathy… I'm sorry about what happened today." Mizael spoke. "That mad girl almost killed you because she was coming after me."

"Mizael, this is like the tenth time you've apologized now." Cathy told him. "Look, everything turned out okay in the end. Besides, I've been in situations like that lots of times before during the Number War."

"Still, you almost lost your life today." Mizael pointed out. "I don't what I'd do if I ever lost you."

Cathy kissed Mizael on the cheek. "You're not going to lose me. And I know that if I'm ever in danger, you'll always be there to protect me."

Mizael looked back into Cathy's eyes, and in moments they became locked in another deep kiss. They rolled on the bed and Cathy ended up on top of the blonde dragon tamer. She sat up and moaned a bit when Mizael's re-hardened manhood entered her again. Slowly she began to rock her hips. Mizael reached up and began to massage the catgirl's breasts, earning more moans of pleasure from her. After a moment, Cathy took hold of Mizael's wrists and pinned his hands back onto the bed.

Cathy picked up the pace of her hips and ran her fingers down Mizael's bare chest. Mizael groaned as Cathy's sharp nails left scratch marks. Before long, Cathy could feel herself coming close to the edge again, prompting her to move faster. Then in one sweet moment they both climaxed, with Cathy letting out a meow at the top of her lungs. Exhausted, Cathy collapsed onto Mizael. Mizael put an arm around her and kissed her on the forehead before they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I decided to borrow the whole Shining Number concept from the ZEXAL manga as a way for Mizael to win using a loophole in the Field Spell effect. The main reason for this was because I was kind of stuck on other ways for Mizael to win. I can't really say at this moment if all of the former Barain Emperors will get Shining Numbers though. For one thing, I can't quite picture Vector using one. What I can say with certainty though is that Number S107 is the only Shining Number that will appear in this story.

Anyway, now for the special announcement I said I'd make at the end of this chapter. The announcement is that I won't be doing any updates to this story at all next week. The two big reasons are of course the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and my online class, but I've also decided that I just need to take a break for awhile. The fact is I've been under a lot of stress over the past few days. In fact I'm still under a little bit of stress. So I feel that it's necessary for me to just step away from this story and try and relax, maybe do some thinking.

I also confess that I'm seriously thinking about working on a different story, and I need to decide whether or not to work on that story after I get done with this one or to just go ahead and start work on it week after next. If I decide on the latter, then I'll probably just end up working on this story maybe once a week, but nothing is decided. So for now, I'll be signing off as far as this story is concerned. Until next time, I hope you enjoy what I've written so far.

Please review and let me know what you think.


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Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Adventure, Friendship