A,N: Well this is my new chapter. Have fun reading it. Please comment on what you think. And almost at end of the road here, so will thank all readers who had been following me during the story. I appreciate it alot, and therefore will give a tiny, tiny sneak peek for Zexal 2. Book 3 is called 'Choices through time and space'. I said tiny, sneak peek. Hope the title intrigues you.

Yuma's p.o.v.

Yuma looked determined up in the sky. He was still in this battle, and he was gonna keep his promise to himself and free Astral. That he had decided to do. But it did help with the motivation speech from Zaira though. His moral had gotten a little low at the end, but not any longer. He was determined to kick Dr. Faker's ass.

"She is something" Shark mused slowly. Yuma looked confused at him.

"Who is something Shark?" he questioned. Shark growled in annoyance.

"Nothing! Mind your own business!" Shark sneered at him, but Yuma was sure he saw Shark's cheek turn a little pink for some reason.

"Oh I see it differently" Kite said and smirked "There is clearly something". Yuma looked puzzled from Kite to Shark now. Confusion written all around him now.

"Yuma, make a move already" Shark sneered and brought Yuma out of his trance and drew.

However it annoyed Yuma that he didn't know what was going on between Shark and Kite right now. He tried to focus and then remembered. Astral's safety depended on this duel. His eyes got linked with Zaira, and he could see her nod.

"So it is time to high-five the sky!" Yuma shouted and looked at Faker "I am pulling all the stunts Faker. Are you with me Utopia? Chaos xyz evolution". Utopia now disappeared and C39 Utopia ray was born.

"A chaos number. That is a powerful adversary indeed" Faker replied with a smirk "But it still isn't strong enough to overcome the special abilities of my heart earth dragon".

Yuma sneered inside. He is right! His number seems unstoppable. Especially since it got gazillion and one special eff's. But even so, there's gotta be a way to turn this duel around. But how? Come on think Yuma! What would Zaira or Astral do in this case? Um let's see. Astral would say something about analyzing his opponent, and Zaira would say something about weakness, which kinda is the same thing here. So what is this monster's weakness? Yuma was staring intensely on his cards. His eyes widened. Of course. This might work!

"Go get him Utopia ray!" he then uttered. The others eyes widened in surprise.

"Congratulations boy. You just sealed your teams complete destruction!" Faker then yelled and grinned like hell.

"That would be true. Except I am activating this card from my hand" Yuma replied with a smile.

It was the quick spell "Gamusharush". With this card he made Utopia's att points get reduced to 0, but Dr. Faker now got hit by 600 points of damage, making his life points fall down to 2350. Yuma smiled.

"That worked out exactly like I planned" he replied and places one facedown card and ends his turn.

"You tried some actually strategy for a change" Kite replied and nodded impressed.

"Since attack can't damage him, you found another way" Shark said as well. He was impressed tool "It was only 600 points, but that's not bad".

Yuma smiled happily. He was glad his friends liked his move. He could even see Zaira have a little smile on her face along with a thumbs up. Tori was cheering on him as well.

"We can get this done" Yuma said in a firm voice "The important thing is that we can keep working together as a team. It is up to you now Shark".

Shark's p.o.v.

Shark nodded determined. He would win for sure. He drew and groaned inside in pain. The wound was still bothering him a big deal. I gotta tough it out. For everybody's sake, and for Zaira.

"I am activating yet another one of heart earth dragon's eff's" Faker then said "If you summon a monster or put a card face down on your field. Those cards are banished on the next turn". Shark's eyes widened.

"Banished?!" He uttered. Faker grinned and nodded. Yuma's utopia disappeared along with his facedown card.

"Ahr he is trying to mess up our teamwork" Yuma uttered in a worried tone.

"Ha-ha you must be joking" Faker said and grinned "You actually think your three are working as a team. You are too different from each other. Face it the bond between you simply isn't strong enough". At that Yuma sneered angrily at him. However Shark had different plans for that.

"Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong if you tried Faker" He then said and made Kite and Yuma look surprised at him. "We do have something important that connects us. It is the goal we share. We all wanna take you down, and it is gonna happen!". Yuma nodded eagerly.

"That is right Shark" he replied slowly.

Shark however began his move. He and Shark drake combined their powers and Shark drake chaos evolved into "C32 Shark drake veiss". He then activated the spell "Deep sea attack". By sending a water monster like "Jaws man" from his hand to the grave, Shark drake veiss could now attack directly. Yuma smiled happily. If this attack succeed, Shark would finish off Dr. Faker. However they were not that lucky. Of course Dr. Faker had a trap ready. It was called "Fake life". With this trap, Faker takes no damage from Shark's attack and instead boosts his life points by the same amount. He would have taken 2800 points of damage, so his att rose to 5150. Shark sneered angrily at that.

"Every time we think we got him down, he bounces back up" Yuma sneered in annoying's.

Shark couldn't do anything but toss down a facedown and end his turn. It was Kite's turn now. Shark just hoped he could endure the pain until then.

Zaira's p.o.v.

I glared angrily at Dr. Faker in a supported grip of Tori's. Although she couldn't keep it up, and therefore suggested to carry me over to the wall of the platform. There I could at least sit. I agreed, but not before sending Faker my most cruelest glare I could manage without groaning in pain. My body was still beat. I was sure that without Tori I wouldn't even could manage to walk correctly, which made me blush a little just thinking about it. Shark alias Reginald was right there, even though he was busy with the duel at the moment. My eyes had narrowed several times doing the duel. I knew Shark. I had been with him for quite some time now after all. I knew how much he could handle. That and the different expressions he would use, to conceal the pain he was really feeling. I was using a similar method. One Shark of course knew of course. Point was he couldn't hide it from me. I knew Shark was in great pain. I knew he was not supposed to duel. Just like I wasn't. However I also knew I couldn't stop Shark from doing this. Just like Shark couldn't make me stop either. If I could walk right now, I would be up fighting now too after all.

My back hit the wall rather hard and I groaned out in pain. Tori sent me an apologizing look. She had tried placing me as careful down at the ground as she could, and I sent back an reassuring smile, to tell her it was okay. I wasn't angry or anything. Inside I even sighed relieved. From here I could see the battle. Not as close as before though, but I took what I could get. I saw how Shark attacked with Shark drake Veiss, and how Faker once again blocked it. I sneered a little inside. Shark was almost having him. The duel, in my eyes, was totally unfair. Faker was having Heart earth dragon, who couldn't get destroyed in battle, and gained life points equal to the damage it took. It wasn't helping that the dragon banished cards after the turn it had been summoned. Like Yuma's Utopia. Yuma had done a great job damaging Faker, without Astral and I, only to later get Utopia removed from the field. However I was still proud of Yuma. He was learning. He had gotten a lot of better, since my last duel against him. Shark couldn't do much more than tossing down a facedown, and let Kite take over.

However it was here, it began getting downhill for my boyfriend. Shark literally fell down on both knees, groaning in pain. He clenched around that wound he had gotten from the robots earlier, and from where I stood, It looked like he was about to pass out. Blood was slowly running out from his wound and down his clothes, and hitting the floor seconds later. I clenched my hands angrily. Oh yeah totally a scratch Shark. However at the same time I couldn't stop myself from uttering his name anyway.

"Shark!" Yuma's voice ran in unison with mine now too, and apparently we were both worried about him. Yuma had rushed to his side to help him.

"We gotta get you some help" Yuma shouted. Shark glared at him though. '

"Not until we win this duel" he replied in a stubborn tone.

"But.." Yuma said, but Shark was not backing down one bit.

"Hang in there Shark boy!" I decided to shout and surprised properly everyone "You can do it! I know how tough you are".

Shark eyes locked together with mine, in a mutual understand. I just knew he appreciated my support. Even though he would never admit it out loud right now of course. Our relationship was not revealed as of yet. Not that we wanted to keep it a secret, but would you reveal that while fighting on life and death rope? I don't think so. I feel like it kinda takes away the romance of it. Even though I had a feeling Kite knew it. It was easy to see with all those annoying glared he sent us. At some point however Kite walked forward and was now standing in front of Yuma and Shark with a determined glare.

"Listen Shark. Don't worry I got it from here" the hunter said "I will follow your lead and crush Faker for good". Shark nodded and let Kite take over.

Kite drew and I could hear the annoying laughter who was coming from Dr. Faker.

"You three would never learn" He stated and activated his dragon's eff. This turn Shark drake and Shark's facedown card was banished from the game.

"As you can see your team is in a total desperate situation" Faker replied and grinned.

However surprisingly Shark countered that with a grinning laughter of his own. He was still sitting on the floor clenching around his stomach, but at the same time he was smirking like hell. My eyes widened. Shark clearly had a plan here.

"I was waiting for you to do that doctor Faker" Shark then said and smirked "This is a desperate situation, but for you". Dr. Faker looked puzzled at him.

"What.. what do you mean?" He questioned in a worried tone.

"I activate an trap called 'Xyz dimension splash'. This trap is activated when it is banished. So thanks Heart earth dragon" Shark shouted. "Cause of that I can summon two lv 8 water attribute monsters from my deck".

"But I was so close archiving victory" Faker shouted in disbelief.

I on the other hand was very pleased. Finally something that caught the good doctor off guard. Shark summoned two "Hyper Ancient Shark megalodon" from his deck to the field. Those two monsters couldn't use their eff nor attack. They couldn't even get tributed. However my eyes still widened in surprise. They could get overlaid.

"So you turned Heart earth dragon eff to your advantage" Faker shouted, and was it me or did he sound a tiny bit scared?

"Now Kite's taken over and we finish what I started" Shark said and groaned a little because of the pain he was feeling. He continued though however "Be.. cause the three of us, can work together as a team!".

I smiled when Shark's speech was finish. I would lie if I said, it didn't move me a little. Shark however groaned in an angry tone and almost collapsed to the floor. I looked worried after him. That wound was seriously hurting him.

However in the meantime, Kite was all set to take down his father. He summoned the powers, I transferred from Hart to Kite in his duel against Trey and Quattro that time. I knew what he was going to do. He was about to summon his Galaxy eyes. Kite overlaid his galaxy eyes and shark's two lv 8 water monsters, to xyz summon his "Neo galaxy eyes proton dragon". My eyes still widened in awe when this new Galaxy eyes appeared. It was impressive after all. A dragon with 4500 att points and some massive eff's to add to that. I just knew Faker was in for it now.

"Cool now we are back in business" Shark uttered with a smile and looked at Kite's duel now.

I looked worriedly at Kite now. I heard when Dr. Faker told us about Kite's Photon transformation, and how it drained Kite's energy. Right now Kite wasn't in better shape that Shark. In my eyes he looked like he was about to pass out.

"I almost succeed my limit of my powers, but I have to hang on" Kite mumbled out. Like I had predicted, he wasn't well. "I must find the strength within me!".

Then he activated his dragon's eff. Since it had used Galaxy eyes as an Ou when it got summoned, Kite's dragon could now get rid of all eff's of all face up monster's on the field. That means Heart earth's many effects were no more.

"Your number's special eff's are no more doctor" Kite then told him and used Galaxy eyes second eff.

By using one Ou, he could send Heart earth's Ou to the grave, and Galaxy eyes gained 500 att points for each Ou, the monster lost. Heart earth dragon had 1, so Galaxy eyes had 5000 att now.

"Wait this can't be!" Faker shouted in disbelief. I just smirked. He was done for.

"Now then Faker. Have you come to your senses and give up your insane schemes, or will I have to force you to change your ways?!" Kite asked his father in a firm voice.

I must admit I was pretty impressed here. Kite was prepared to stop his own father. Just like Grace had gone against her father to free me. That took guts for sure.

"How dare you threaten the universe's greatest genius" Faker only shouted back, making Kite attack with his Galaxy eyes seconds later.

Apparently he had to used force. He attacked, forcing Faker to get blown backwards and even damage that robotic suit he was wearing. His life points also dropped to only 150 points.

"Awesome! That sure cut Faker down to size" Yuma said in a happy tone.

"I will give you one last chance" Kite then told his father "Set Hart free now. I won't ask again. Release him!".

My eyes turned over to Dr. Faker. Just like the rest of the group did. We were all waiting for the doctor's reply. Faker got shaken up on his feet's. He looked beat, but hey he got blasted by Neo Galaxy eyes photon dragon.

"Don't you see. I can't" Faker then surprisingly shouted "You think you are helping Hart, but you are only putting him in greater danger".

"How is that?" Kite replied with a firm look. He clearly didn't believe his father one bit. I couldn't disagree more on that part.

"Because your brother cannot hope to survive unless Astral world is destroyed once and for all" Faker replied and surprised us all.

"Wait what? Why do you have to destroy Astral world to save Hart?" Yuma questioned in a puzzled tone. I nodded in agreement from my seat at the wall. Why did he want to destroy that world exactly?

"It makes sense once you see that Hart's life depends on Barian world's power" Faker said slowly, and my eyes widened once again. So did the others.

"Barian world?!" Kite shouted in a confused tone. Faker nodded slowly.

"Ever since his birth, Hart's physical condition was frail, and I knew it would grow worse over time unless something drastic was done" Faker began explaining "In my quest to save the boy, I decided I have to look outside a world for a solution. Once I have decided that I would save Hart no matter what, I abandoned everything else. Even my own principles. Although I greatly respected Byron and Kazuma, I never the lest betrayed them in order to open the portal we discovered. As I hoped, the portal did open to another world, and I soon discovered it was called Barian, who was a strange world with energy resources that seem to be unique. Because of this the inhabitants possess knowledge and technologies rather differently from our own. I didn't hesitate to make a deal with it. They promised me they would save Hart, and in exchange I agree to destroy Astral world. My plan slowly took shape. It would require great force, but by harnessing the power of the numbers, I could use my sphere field cannon to target Astral world and obliviate it. failure is not an option. I was told that if my mission does not succeed, Hart would be taken away".

When Faker was finally finished explaining, I must admit I was staring. Really staring. Dr. Faker was doing this to save his son. He was ready to go these extremes to save his son, which really showed how much he cared for him. But at the same time, to destroy a whole world, Astral's and my home for years to come, just to save him. Well I must admit it was hardly fair for Astral world. And Barian world. Wasn't that the ones who sent the snakes to attack Astral once. Why did they want Astral world gone in the first place?! I didn't understand a thing here!

"Why didn't you tell me all this before?" Kite questioned in a puzzled tone.

"I couldn't risk it" Faker said and sighed "I was afraid that if you learned the truth, you might try something rash that could increase the danger".

I couldn't keep myself from smirking at that. Kite would do something rash alright. Kite however looked stunned at his father. He first now realized that he actually cared about them both. He wanted them safe, while at the same time carried a major burden on his shoulders.

"I will always be grateful to you Kite" Faker then continued "I asked much of you. Especially when I need you to become a number hunter to help your brother. Even then you didn't defy me. I wish I could have told you the whole truth of why I was driven to such extremes, but then..".

"That was wrong of you father" Kite interrupted in a firm voice "You put your trust in barian without question, but yet you couldn't find it in yourself to trust me. Your own son!".

Kite shouted that last part out, which had such an impact on the whole group, that silence uttered around us for some minutes.

"My.. son" Faker said in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I have sworn to protect Hart, and I intend to keep that promise, but I will do it the right way" Kite continued. "And that's by stopping Barian world".

"Kite you won't be fighting alone" Yuma then said and walked over to him "I don't know a lot about barian, but I will be battling by your side".

"And so will I" Shark said and made the two boys look at him "Don't get the wrong idea. Barian has to be stopped, and I want in on the action".

"Don't forget me!" I shouted and made everyone look at me. I smiled a big smile "After all there need to be at least one girl who can duel in this group of males".

At that Yuma chuckled, and Shark sent me a confirming smile. He wanted me there too.

"We will join all our powers together. Just like we did today guys" Yuma said in an encouraging speech. "We can't lose!". Tori and I both nodded in agreement there too.

"Father, you don't have to carry this burden any longer" Kite then told Dr. Faker. "We will settle everything I promise. I know what I am doing. Please trust me".

"Yes Kite" Faker said and tears were shown in his eyes. I smiled.

Dr. Faker really regretted everything that he had done. This is what I would call a happy ending.

However sadly that was not the case. I was not sure what was going on, but I felt this presence all of the sudden. The wind was blowing, and then suddenly Dr. Faker was screaming up. I could feel Cy's card in my deck case vibrate, and even though Cy didn't show, I had a good idea on what he was going to tell me. Danger was near! Then I heard it. This voice. This faint voice, who was coming from Dr. Faker's side of the platforms. I was not sure how I was able to hear it. I wondered if it was because of the wind, since Cy was part of the wind, but right now this actually didn't matter that much. This voice however sounded cruel and evil.

"Doctor Faker. You almost succeed, but at the critical moment you faulted".

"Ahr! No, no stay away!" Faker shouted and walked backwards.

"What is happening to you father?" Kite yelled. He sounded concerned.

"Since you failed me, I will have to complete what you began".

Dr. Faker let out a terrified scream again, but we could no longer see what was happening. Smoke from some kind of explosion filled our view. When the smoke cleared, Heart earth dragon was suddenly back to the field.

"What is happening?" Yuma shouted and took the words right out of my mouth.

My eyes widened in horror when I was staring eye to eye with a red energy being with blue eyes and red wings on its back. It was floating in front of me, while staring at me. Then without warning it flew over to Dr. Faker, who looked like he was in a trance of some kind. He was radiating in a weird red energy.

"You three believe you can defeat me, then I will give you the chance to prove it" this being then said and looked over at Kite, Shark and Yuma. "This duel is far from over". I could see the surprised faces from the others now.

"What do you mean? Who are you?" Yuma questioned this weird creature.

"I am from barian world" The entity shouted, and I looked rather horrified now.

This must be the presence I felt when I was in Astral form. There had really been a barian that close to us. This was not good. I knew Kite and the others were having their work cut out for them.

"You are from barian world? And you are out to destroy Astral world?!" Yuma uttered in complete disbelief.

I couldn't blame him. A weird red energy being had suddenly appeared, claiming he comes from Barian world. Who actually believes that? If it wasn't for Dr. Faker telling us about Barian world, there was no way this would make sense. However it was still here, floating around Dr. Faker, threating Yuma and the others. It couldn't be anything else. That I was sure of.

"That is correct, and I will not let anything or anyone interfere with the completion of my mission" The barian replied.

"He took over Dr. Faker so he could finish the duel" Tori uttered surprised. I nodded in agreement. I had come to that conclusion myself.

"Now to complete my takeover so I can finish you off" The barian continued and disappeared inside Dr. Faker's body. Clearly possessing him.

"Much better" Dr. Faker then spoke in a weird tone of voice and his appearing's changed as well.

He was now dressed in a slight different outfit, had acquired wings, could fly even and had a weird symbol on his forehead. There was no mistake in that Dr. Faker was completely taken over by this barian.

"Now I have an unpleasant surprise for you" the barian said "Heart earth dragon has another effect you were clueless about. When it has no Ou's when it is destroyed, it can come back one last time. Heart earth dragon's att points equals the number of banished cards, multiplied by 1000". I sneered angrily. That means Faker's monster was having 4000 att right now.

"Guess we are gone back to square 0" Kite uttered in frustration.

Shark sneered in agreement. I clenched my fists. Wasn't there anything I could do?

"Your situation has become even more desperate than you realize" then barian then said "Your neo galaxy eyes is now switched to def mode". Kite glared angrily at the barian, when his ace monster now switched battle mode.

"Oh just great. What do we do now?" Kite uttered and clenched around his chest.

He fell down to the ground now. I had a feeling his energy would ran out soon. I could see Yuma's worried face, when Kite fell down on his knees. Things really were dire.

"His misery will soon end" Dr. Faker then said "In fact none of you will survive this turn".

And Faker alias the barian now, drew. He activated the spell "Barian's gateway" from his hand. During this turn, if the barian destroyed a monster on the field, it could deal them 800 points of damage for every card it destroyed. Downside it couldn't summon anything this turn. Not that it needed with Heart earth dragon on the field anyway. However it was really bad news for the boys.

"Think quick, we only have 100 life point's left you guys" Shark shouted.

"A little too late. Heart earth dragon. Strike them down, ending this duel and their last chance to oppose my plans" the barian shouted.

Heart earth dragon attacked, but luckily for our side, Kite had a facedown card ready. The trap "Photon escape". Since a photon monster was targeted for an attack, Kite could banish it, and end the battle phase. Since no monster got destroyed, they didn't take 800 points of damage either.

"You have only delayed your unavoidable defeat" the barian replied in a grumpy tone "It is true you will take no damage, but since you banished a card, my heart earth will now grow 1000 att points stronger". I sneered angrily. Of course it did!

"It will be even harder to destroy it now" Yuma said in a scared tone.

"I can't give up!" Kite yelled and got up on his feet's.

"But you are not well" Yuma said in a concerned tone.

"I don't care!" Kite sneered back and looked up at the barian "If you wanna take my little brother, you have to get passed me first, and I will never gonna let that happen. Hart!".

Kite shouted out his brother's name as loud as he could, in hope of reaching him. It however didn't look like he reacted from where I was sitting however. But at the same time, thoughts were running through my head now. I might not be able to help out in the duel, but maybe I could help in other ways.

"Cy, give me a little push" I said inside our headspace. I needed to get up.

Yuma and co. 100 Lp's.

Dr. Faker/Barian 150 Lp's.

In the meantime, Kite was still fighting on. He had activated the monster card "Dimension wanderer" from his hand. Since a monster was banished, he could use it's eff. By sending it to the grave, he could target two banished monsters, and inflict damage to the barian equal to their combined att point's. He choose Shark drake veiss and Neo Galaxy eyes.

"That's 7300 points of damage. And that means this duel is over" Kite proclaimed firmly and looked at Shark "Ready?".

"You bet" Shark replied and then they made both their monsters attack. In some way.

"I admire your effort, but it means nothing" the barian replied.

He activated the other eff of his barian gateway spell. He just needed to send the card to the grave, and he could negate, Kite's card eff. Kite clenched angrily his fists again.

"He dodged yet another attack of ours" he said.

Then without warning Kite fell to the ground again, and Shark soon followed. Both males were gasping for air, which showed just how much their energies were drained in this. However the barian was pleased with the result. His eyes were fixated on Yuma now.

"Hehe now that I worn out two of you, I can end my turn" He proclaimed and tossed down a facedown "Only you stand in my way now Yuma Tsukumo, but not for much longer".

Then he laughed like hell. However I didn't like this. I was not standing by doing nothing! Not over my dead body.

"Your life points are almost gone Yuma Tsukumo. With your friends down and your field empty, you stand alone, which means you are destined for complete destruction. Just like Astral world" The barian mocked.

I could see Yuma angry face, but deep down I knew he didn't know how to make a comeback.

"You are wrong! He is not alone" I shouted and made everyone's eyes wander towards me now. Even the weird barian. "I am still here".

I took some steps forward. My will power was the only thing keeping me steady, but I manage to walk close to the cliff edge. I could look up at Hart who was chained to the cannon, but I realized Hart was awake. Maybe the shouting from Kite before really did wake him up.

"You?!" the barian sneered "You are the girl I checked out before. But what can you do? You were drained and completely powerless". I sneered angry.

"I may be drained, but I am not powerless" I yelled back. My eyes fixated on Hart, and I began shouting as loud as I could "Hart! Listen to me! You wanna help Kite and Yuma right? You might feel drained from the cannon right now, but don't get discouraged. I can't do much either".

I took a deep breath and looked up at Hart again. This time magenta energy rose around me. This was my own powers as Cy called it. However I had feeling, there were only enough energy for one shot.

"We are on the same level Hart. Our powers bonded once before remember? We might not be able to do this separately, but together we might stand a chance" I then shouted "Our powers together might be able to save them. Are you with me?".

"Zaira!" A weak voice shouted in my head, and I knew Hart had heard me.

Without Warning I assembled as much power as I could. It was actually pretty easy, but I figured that was because I was drained from my usually energy. Cy's energy. I fired one beam towards Astral and the sphere field. Gathering energy was easy, maintaining it, was a different case. I had a hard time keeping the energy stable on my way up there, but I was not giving on. If Shark and Kite could do this, considered their current injuries, then so could I. I fixated my eyes on the sphere and hoped on a miracle. Luckily that came. Hart had in the meantime build up similar energies, which collided with mine. The barian was shouting angrily in the background. Something with that Hart's power was something, it infused in him, but I was only half listening. I had to concentrate, and so did Hart. However after a little time, the powers did bond together and now hit the sphere field with Astral inside. Energy was radiating all around us now, and slowly the sphere moved downwards.

"No, this was not supposed to happen! The field is destabilizing" The barian shouted and his eyes fixated on me again. Anger was clearly shown in them. "You! How are you able to merge your powers with what I have infused in Hart. It is not possible! Unless..".

For some reason the barian cut itself in mid-sentence. I on the other hand really didn't care. I turned to Yuma instead.

"Yuma what are you waiting for? This is it" I yelled at him. "Use the power of Zexal".

Then I sat down on the platform and was totally beat. Or at least until Astral was free from the sphere. I knew that as soon as Astral was free, my energy would begin to recover. Bit by bit. I couldn't wait for that.

Yuma's p.o.v.

Yuma looked surprised at the scene in front of him. He couldn't believe what had happened. Suddenly Zaira had gotten up on her feet's and began shouting. To Hart and the barian. She had combined powers with Hart. Yuma could remember that color of sparkling energy. It had been that kind of energies she had used when Hart had been running around in Heartland city, destroying everything. Like he did to that truck and later sparkling energy, Zaira had faced and survived. It was that power now who had protected her that time. At least that was what Yuma had figured. Now those two powers had joined together and made the sphere field go out of whack.

"Yuma what are you waiting for? This is it. Use the power of Zexal" He could hear Zaira shout and woke him up from his trance of thoughts.

"Yeah what Zaira says" Kite growled out "You and Astral can end this".

"Your combined powers will be too much for that thing to handle" Shark added as well. Both were agreeing on him joining with Astral.

"Yuma it is true" Astral then also said, which made Yuma stop hesitating.

"Let's do this!" he yelled and did two back hand springs so he ended close at the edge of the wall.

He then sprints as fast as he could forward, hitting the other end of the platform, and jumped up in the air, trying to reach Astral. His key acts as a protected shield, and he was then flying upwards, reaching Astral, who in that moment managed to get out of the sphere field. They touched, creating the bond of zexal. After flying around a little of course, and they both landed gracefully on the platform beside Shark and Kite. Yuma was dressed in his Zexal attire of course.

"This must be the power I heard so much about" The barian then said.

"That's right, and I will defend Astral world no matter what it takes" Yuma replied firmly "You can't win Barian. The bond that the two of us share, is simply too strong for you to ever break. It is my turn!". Yuma lifted his hand up in the air. It began glowing in a brilliant light, and Yuma could hear Astral say.

"A truly powerful duelist can shape the outcome of a duel. He can even generate the very card that he needs to draw".

And Yuma did a shining draw. He had drawn a monster card "ZW ultimate shield" which Yuma of course summons to the field. It is a monster with 0 att and 2000 def points. They activated it's eff. Since it was summoned, it could bring back three monsters who had been banished. The only drawback was that they lost their special eff.

"Three monsters?!" the barian uttered surprised.

Yuma of course brought back this teams three aces, which in some way symbolized their combined powers in this duel. Utopia ray, Shark drake veiss and Neo galaxy eyes photon dragon. They were however all summoned in def mode, but since three banished monsters were back on their field, Heart earth dragon lost 3000 att.

"You see. Standing together, we are too powerful for you" Yuma then said.

"Or so do you believe" the barian snort back "You are still destined for destruction. Just look!". Yuma looked horrified when suddenly the sphere field attached itself to the sphere field cannon once again.

"Even without Astral, the cannon now has more than enough energy to obliviate Astral world" The barian replied and Dr. Faker smirked "Nothing you do can stop me from completing my plan".

And to make his point, the barian made Heart earth dragon fly over and snatch the sphere field with if giant mouth. This was not good.

"In a moment Astral world will be wiped out of existence, and all of you along with it" the barian then said, but Yuma was not gonna let that happen.

He activated ultimate shield's eff, and equipped it on to Utopia, which gave Utopia, 2000 more def points. Yuma was not done however. He activated the spell "Xyz unity" which enabled Utopia to switch from def to att mode.

"But that is not all. Utopia ray gains the att point of all the Xyz monsters on our field in def mode. Therefore Utopia ray has 9800 att point" Yuma and Astral said in unison which stunned everyone around them.

"Impossible!" The barian shouted in disbelief. Yuma attacked with Utopia.

"Fool, raising your monsters att points was a mistake" the barian replied "Because Heart earth dragon bounces the damage back to you".

However Yuma and Astral was ready for that. They activated Xyz unity other eff. By sending an xyz monster to the grave, like Shark drake veiss, he could attack again, and now they attacked directly.

"Unless I put a stop to it that is" the barian said and activated it's trap "Barian's battle buster".

By banish a barian card in the grave, like Barian's gateway, Faker could now stop two attacks this turn. He of course stopped this direct attack. Yuma sneered and sent Galaxy eyes to the grave, to be able to attack again, and once again it was directly. The barian activated his battle buster once again, and stopped Yuma's direct attack. Furthermore he activated the other effect of that trap. By sending Battle buster to the grave, which then forced one monster to engage in battle.

"We are cooked, if he picked Utopia ray.." Shark began and Kite finished "Then 6800 points of damage will come bouncing back at us".

The others looked horrified when Utopia ray attacked once again and hitting the dragon and the sphere it was carrying. Energy was sparkling from the sphere now.

"Victory!" The barian cheered in a happy tone "It is dooms day for you and Astral world". Faker laughed like hell. That until Yuma was smiling.

"You just lost" Yuma and Astral said. The barian's eyes widened.

"What?!" he yelled angrily.

"I activate ultimate shield's eff" They both shouted and did just that.

Ultimate shield not only blocked the damage, but the point total of that damage was added to Utopia ray's att points. Giving them att at 16600 points. Furthermore Heart earth dragon's eff was now negated. The attack on heart earth dragon continued, making utopia slice that dragon, and reducing Dr. Faker/barian's life points to 0. The blast of the attack made the barian fly out of Dr. Faker and was now floating in midair. It looked mad.

"Oh you will pay for this!" It shouted and disappeared. Faker landed on the platform a little away from the others. Yuma clenched a fist.

"I warned you. Our bond is way too strong for you" He shouted out in the thin air.

Zaira's p.o.v.

I was cheering in happiness when Yuma and Astral, in Zexal mode, won over this barian. In the last moments even I was worried if they could pull it off and win. Tori was dancing beside me and was just as happy as I was. Cy and I was gradually getting better now that Astral was free from the sphere. As he gained his strength so did we. Although I was still beat a little, from using that weird power to connect to Hart, and save Astral. I still didn't know where it came from, but I didn't complain. It had been extremely helpful today. I smiled a big smile now. Everything had turned out to the better. Faker was free from the barian's influence and was lying on the platform a little away from us. We had won the duel, and Kite and Shark could relax. Or at least I thought they could. The cannon suddenly came crashing down. Properly because of the duel.

"No! Hart!" Kite shouted in distress "Hart!". I looked up at the cannon.

"Cy do you have enough power now to save him?" I questioned.

"Of course Mistress. Wait a moment" Cy replied and a roar filled the room.

Wind were blowing and I could now see Hart floating slowly downwards near Kite. As the big brother Kite was, he instantly grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

"Kite I am free" Hart said in a happy voice and smiled up at him.

"Yes you are free Hart" Kite replied and returned a little smile. "It is all over. You are gonna be safe now".

Then his eyes fixated on me. His eyes showed the gratitude he was not able to say out loud. If it was for me helping Hart just now, or for everything that happened with Hart and I, I didn't know. I actually didn't care either. I was just happy the Tenjo brothers were back to normal.

"Come Mistress. We need to get you to safety" Cy then said and roared again.

Wind was blowing around me, and I let out a surprised squeak when the wind lifted me carefully up and placed me on the platform beside Shark and the others. Actually in front of Shark, who was standing, and still clenching that wound of his.

"Hey Zaira, you al.." Shark said but I glared angrily at him.

"Shark you damn idiot!" I yelled and interrupted whatever he was supposed to say, and hit his shoulder a little too "Does that injury you got from the robot, look like a little scratch? You are bleeding, and then you tell me Not to duel?! Are you crazy? Do you know what could have happened, if you..".

"Ahr Zaira don't injure Shark more" Yuma uttered worriedly and made me stop hitting him. Shark growled in annoying's at Yuma actually.

"Ahr don't worry, she hits like a 5 year old" Shark then proclaimed and smirked.

"5 year old?! I shall show you" I sneered back, and was about to hit him, but that never happened.

Suddenly without warning, one crack appeared in the walls in here, and a giant piece of the wall flew towards us. Shark noticed it first and pushed Yuma and I out of the wait and shielded us from the blow. My eyes widened in horror.

"Shark!" I shouted.

At the same time the room in here began collapsing other places, and I knew the whole tower above was falling down as we speak. This room was no exception. I knelled down beside Shark, who was not out of it, but still was lying on the ground. After that bleeding wound he was having, added with that debris boulder who hit him, I was not letting him do anything as of yet. Yuma on the other hand was more worried about Tori on the other end of the platforms. Made sense since Shark was in good hands by me. However Kite ordered Orbital to wake up, which it surprisingly did, and it brought Tori to safety.

In the meantime however, Dr. Faker was waking up too. He was rather confused about what had happened, but considered he's got taken over by an evil barian, that was understandable. However fate was really not good to him. He had just woken up, finding out where the hell he were, seeing his sons at the other platforms, only soon to find the platform he was on was not save. Like everything in here, it broke apart and Dr. Faker fell downwards to who knows where.

"Father!" the two Tenjo brothers shouted. Kite ordered Orbital to take care of Hart and the others, before he jumped downwards, trying to rescue his father.

"Kite! Kite come back!" Hart shouted in agony.

"I will Hart. After I found our father" Kite yelled back and disappeared out of sight.

"Tori, look after Shark" Yuma then instructed, then he jumped after Kite.

I was torn between staying by Shark's side or jump after Yuma and Kite. I felt a hand on my shoulder now and turned surprised around. Shark smiled at me.

"Go! I will be fine. I have managed this long, so you don't need to worry" he then said and pushed me forward "Besides someone need to look after that lobster haired idiot. Yuma and Astral needs their guardian from Astral world. Just promise me you will be careful".

"I will" I replied and smiled a grateful smile at him. Then I jumped after Yuma and Kite.

Normal p.o.v.

Everything was breaking down really fast, but Kite really didn't care. He needed to find his father, and that couldn't get fast enough.

"Now where is my dad?" Kite questioned and looked around.

His eyes widened. On a platform a little away from where he was, was his father actually lying. He had managed to climb on a broken platform, lying on his chest, while his legs were dangling over the edge there. Kite figured he was too tired to pull himself up completely. The barian from before must have drained him a lot after all. Kite rushed over, grabbing his father's hand, when he got pulled over the edge once again.

"I got you" Kite shouted and had a tight grip in his father's hand.

"You came for me?" Faker questioned surprised. After all he had done, he didn't deserve to get saved at all. However Kite didn't care. He wanted his father back.

"Let's go!" He sneered, and tried pulling him up.

However the platform they were on crumbled under his feet's and soon Kite fell down towards the portal as well. In quick motion Kite tossed up his duel anchor from his duel disk, hoping someone would catch it. They did! 4 hands were holding on to the line, stopping Dr. Faker and Kite from falling complexly. Now they were dangling over the portal however. While Yuma and Zaira both tried pulling them up to safety.

"Yuma, Zaira" Kite said in a relieved tone.

"Zaira? Yuma?!" Faker questioned "Why are you two helping me? I was trying to destroy Astral world, and I betrayed your father Yuma".

"I despised what you did" Yuma said firmly and then smiled "But I also understand that you thought you were helping your son Hart. If my dad were here, I am sure he would help you as well".

Faker's eyes widened in surprise. Yuma was behaving just like his father, and it stunned the good doctor deeply.

"Yuma you are just like your father, but I don't deserve any mercy. My actions were truly unforgivable" Faker then replied.

"No if your truly sorry.." Zaira said, but got interrupted by a galactic portal who appeared beside them. Floating beside Zaira and Yuma was Vetrix now.

"Faker, those you wronged would be revenged" Vetrix said and looked down at them all now. Yuma and Zaira both sneered out. This was just what they needed.

"Vetrix hasn't there been enough suffering?" Yuma then said.

"Yeah, do you think it will solve anything?" Zaira added "You get your revenge on Dr. Faker. Then what? Do you think your children will be happy knowing you killed someone? And what about young Hart? Revenge only makes things worse. Not better". Vetrix didn't listen however. He chuckled darkly instead.

"Please Byron" Faker pledged "I deserve whatever vengeance you wanna carry out. But my son and his friends are innocent. Let them go. Then you can settle things with me".

At that Vetrix only smirked even more. The crest showed in his warped face.

"Let go of your rage please Vetrix" Yuma pledged. Vetrix chuckled again.

"I will now show you my great powers" he replied and the platform collapsed even more under them, making Yuma and Zaira fall down towards the portal along with Kite and Dr. Faker.

In the meantime, the others were outside waiting. Orbital had carried out, Hart, Tori and Shark from the garbage facility, and was now looking at the remains of Heartland tower. Most of it was rumbles by now.

"Don't worry you guys" Tori said encouraging "I am sure Yuma, Kite and Zaira would be okay. They will find away somehow". Shark growled in annoying's.

"I told miss stubborn to be careful" He sneered out.

Then groaned in pain. Tori nodded concerned. Tears were falling down her cheeks now. Then suddenly out of the blue a portal appeared beside them. Yuma and Astral popped out of the portal, and they were not in Zexal mode. Soon followed Zaira, and Kite and lastly Dr. Faker.

"We.. we made it?!" Yuma uttered surprised. Zaira looked around.

"Oh of course we did you moron. We wouldn't be here otherwise" she sneered and slammed a fist in his head. Something Yuma didn't like at all.

"Kite! Father!" Hart yelled and rushed over and hugged his dad and big brother.

"Alright you can stop crying now Tori" Yuma said and rubbed his head "I am totally fine".

However that caused Tori to yell at Yuma instead, saying she was not happy to see him, and was crying because he came back to complicate her life even more. Faker told them what really had happened. Apparently Vetrix had saved them all in the underground facility. He had forgiven Dr. Faker for what he did, and now the Tenjo family was together again. Shark got soon picked up by a helicopter, driven by Nistro and Dextra, and Zaira had helped Shark over to the stretcher, but not before she had kissed Shark in front of everyone, showing them that they were finally together. Something Yuma couldn't comprehend, Tori was utterly happy for, and Kite uttered the word 'finally'. Nistro was staring, and Dextra just shrugged and properly accepted Zaira truly wasn't into Kite.

"Observation special" Astral said analytically "When telling people you love them. You don't need words to speak with. You only need to kiss them apparently". That observation made Zaira sent Astral an annoyed look.

Soon Shark was transported to the nearest hospital however. Zaira was staying with Yuma though. Shark insisted on it. He wanted her to go home. The sun was also about to set, and since Zaira hadn't been 'home' at Yuma's place in ages, she couldn't refuse Shark at all.

"Goodbye Shark, I know you are in good hands" Yuma then said slowly and looked after the helicopter. Zaira's eyes were more fixated on Hart and Kite though.

"Forgive me Hart" Dr. Faker said and hugged his son "I have so much to make up for. To you and your brother. I hope that in time, we can be a true family again".

"I know that look Zaira" Astral said and looked worried at her "What is on your mind?". Zaira turned her head and looked at Yuma and Astral.

"Well just with all the commotion with the duel carnival and that. I never did find my brother" She then said slowly "I wonder if I ever find my real family".

"What are you talking about?" Yuma shouted offended "Your real family is right here. Adopted or not. We will reach for your brother when we high-five the sky".

"I concur to that" Astral replied "So don't lose hope Zaira. We will find him someday. It is more likely now since the WDC is over too. You two did a great job".

"Wait it is not over yet!" Yuma suddenly shouted and looked over at Kite "I still have to get one wish granted for winning the duel carnival. And for my wish, I wanna have a duel against Kite. Come on what do you say?!". Yuma was pointing at Kite now.

"That sounds intriguing" Astral then said and smiled "This will be the carnival's real final Kite". Kite were thoughtful a little.

"Well then I say.." However Zaira came in between.

"No, no, no, no more dueling today!" she shouted angrily and looked at everyone "You Kite used way to much photon transformation, and Yuma used Zexal..". Her tummy suddenly were rumbling, and Zaira turned completely red by that.

"And I am hungry too" Hart said and groaned. Kite chucked at that too.

"Fine, we postpone the duel until a week later. Then everyone is charged up and ready to go" Kite suggested "Then you can't come up with any lame excuses when I win". Yuma snort at that.

"I don't need one, because I win it all" Yuma then proclaimed.

A,N: Well everything with the carnival is officially over. I could, if I wanted to, end Zexal 1 here if I wanted to, but already have some ideas to add to Yuma and Kite's duel. So will continue with the two last episodes. Unless you are against that. lol. Kite and Yuma will duel. Shark is better after his operation at the hospital, mostly, and Zaira and Shark are officially together. So yeah wait for some interesting fun.