A,N: Here is the next chapter. I am sorry for the wait. I had a lot to do with finding a new job and such. Takes my writing to be a little slow. Sorry. However one of my friends here came up with a Shipping name for Zaira and Shark called Stubborn shipping. I think it fits really well. 😃 However hope you like the chapter, and please comment on what you think. Would like feedback.

Normal p.o.v.

Yuma sneered angrily at Dr. Faker who was now present in the sphere field together with him. The good doctor was mocking him. Telling him about this grand finale that happens to be the total destruction of Astral world. Something both Yuma and Astral dreaded with all their heart. Yuma clenched his fists a little.

"This is the grand finale? I was kinda hoping for a parade and maybe even some fireworks" Yuma joked in angrily matter. Dr. Faker laughed a little.

"There will be fireworks alright. For you are about to become part of the energy blast fired by my sphere field cannon" Faker then replied and smirked "It is going to be beyond glorious". Yuma looked rather puzzled at him.

"Sphere field cannon?" he then asked.

"Yuma, look down" he could then hear Astral say inside his head, and the WDC champion took a look down. A sight he remembered seeing before, meet his eyes, and Yuma looked rather surprised around.

"This is the garbage facility from before" he then uttered "What are we doing here?".

"At this very moment, the sphere field you are in, is being loaded into a cannon" Faker then explained to him and grinned evilly "Once it is online, the cannon will set its sights on Astral world". Yuma and Astral's eyes widened in horror.

"Astral world" They replied in unison.

Yuma was having these images of a blue, blue energy world, who got attacked by something, destroying big pieces of the land. It look some time for Yuma to realize that those pictures were Astral's memories.

"These memories I have been experiencing. It is Astral world" Yuma could then hear Astral say. The ghost actually sounded a little worried now. Dr. Faker was laughing once again. Apparently he liked the distressed look Yuma was having on his face.

"You helped me create the ultimate weapon" Faker then said "This sphere field has gathered all the numbers powers into one massive confluence of energy. Once the cannon fires this energy, there will be no saving Astral world".

A picture emitted inside Yuma's head now. He could see this giant blast, who he now figured was the sphere field cannon. The energy blast hit Astral world and.. Yuma closed his eyes. He didn't need to see that. He had to stop this. He just didn't know how.

In the meantime, Kite was up and running. His soul had returned from wherever it had been, when Vetrix had captured it, and now all Kite could think about was Hart. He had quickly dressed himself in his normal attire, and was now rushing though Heartland tower and his little brother's room.

"Hart!" Kite yelled when he arrived with the elevator to Hart's room.

He ran quickly over to the bed, only to find it empty. Hart was not here. He turned towards his robotic companion Orbital, and was sending the robot an angry glare.

"What happened to Hart?" he yelled in frustration "Find out where he is Orbital now!". The robot saluted and began searching immediately.

Back with the sphere field, Yuma was still glaring down Dr. Faker.

"I'll get it now. You gathering the numbers. It was all for this" Yuma then sneered at him. The good doctor nodded in agreement. He didn't deny that.

"Yes, as was the WDC" He said "I admit I grew a little bit nervous when Kite lost to Byron, but my plan became a reality regardless of his failure. The only thing that mattered was that the numbers ended up gathered in one place during the finals, and that's exactly what happened". Yuma sneered angrily.

"So that means me, Vetrix, Kite, Shark, Zaira, Trey and his brothers. We were all just puppets in your big master plan. Isn't that right Faker?" Yuma then yelled at him.

The good doctor only smirked evilly at him. They had arrived at the destination. At the other end of the cannon, where the sphere field got attached to it. Yuma charged at Faker. He was not gonna let this happen. Sadly Yuma soon realized the doctor was not actually present here. He was just a hologram. After Yuma's attack the hologram just moved to another spot in the sphere field. Yuma could hear Faker laugh at him.

"You cannot stop me" he then replied and smirked. Yuma noticed that the doctor was not looking at him, but something outside the sphere. "It is time to shine Hart. The moment we have been waiting for is almost upon us my boy".

Yuma's eyes widened when he noticed Hart standing on a floating platform. He was guided towards something. Yuma couldn't believe it. Something was differently wrong here.

"Hart!" Yuma uttered in a scared tone now.

Kite got out of the elevator, finding himself at the bottom of the tower. Or basement more or less. Kite has never been much down here, but he knew there was more to it than what it seems. Therefore he got himself down here. As much as the elevator reached. He looked rather annoyed at Orbital.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked the robot.

"Positive" Orbital replied and summoned a digital map in midair. "Signals indicates that master Hart is at the bottom of this tower. Underground".

"How is he doing? Is he okay?" Kite then asked slowly.

"He is normal" Orbital then said in a worried tone "But at that location, Ma-ster Hart, Master Hart himself is used.. P-art of the sphere field canon". Kite's eyes widened.

"He is what?!" he then uttered.

"Hart!" Yuma yelled at loud as he could, but Hart didn't hear him. It was like he was an emotionless doll or something. The boy didn't react to Yuma's screams. He just moved slowly passed him, up to the cannon.

"Hart! Snap out of it! Please" Yuma yelled and slammed his hands at the sphere. Still nothing. Dr. Faker was having an evil smug on his face.

"His destiny awaits" he then replied "Soon Hart will become the trigger to seal Astral world's fate". Yuma looked puzzled at him.

"What is he talking about?" he then questioned.

"I see. He intends to position Hart as an energy conduit" Astral replied, but when Yuma didn't understand that, he continued explaining "He is going to use Hart's power to trigger to fire the sphere field cannon".

As he was saying that, Hart got placed on top at the cannon, caged in parts of the cannon. It was like Astral explained. He was gonna use Hart's power to fire the cannon. Yuma could hear how Hart actually screamed up, and how Dr. Faker was laughing like a maniac.

"Once Astral world is destroyed, Barian's power will be mine" he said "And with that this entire world will kneel before me".

Zaira's p.o.v.

I ran and ran through the city. My hand locked into Reginald's. Or Shark's. None of us wanted to lose each other in this wild crowd of people who was running through the streets now. After all the commotion from the WDC, I wasn't really surprised there. I was a little angry though. Why hadn't I noticed that the carnival was a trap?! It was so easy to see, if you thought about it. It was a place where all the numbers were gathered. Maybe all the things with me being controlled by Vetrix had distracted me. That or I kinda was with Shark here. I still couldn't believe we were together. As in My boyfriend. As in he loved me too. I could almost see Tori, maybe even Yuma if he knew what this meant, be happy for us, and Astral as the little know it all mention an observation about love. I shook my head. That really was not important right now. The important thing for now was getting to Yuma and the others. The city was in utter chaos. Shark and I could see many of the people run out of the gate to the inner circle of Heartland. In the horizontal I could see Heartland tower who was surprisingly falling apart. It was there the sphere field had disappeared into, and it was there our destination was. Pain suddenly hit my chest and I groaned. I instantly stopped up and clenched my chest.

"Zaira? What's wrong?" Shark asked in a worried tone "Are you hurt? Want me to do something?". I smiled a little. Shark sounded really worried. I shook my head.

"Nah it is nothing" I said slowly "Let's just continue walking".

Maybe not the best thing to do here, considered he was my boyfriend, but I really didn't want to worry Shark here. That and I had a hunch why it hurt. I let go of my chest and took some steps forward. That until Shark refused to follow me or let go of my hand. I turned puzzled around. He was staring firmly at me.

"No, no, no, this is not how this is gonna roll miss stubborn" Shark then snort out in an angry sneer "I am your boyfriend, so no tough act here. You do remember our promise to each other right?". I bit my lip a little.

"You being there for me, and I be there for you" I mused slowly. "But we are in a middle of a crisis, and..".

"I suggest you explain really quickly then, because I am not letting go Miss stubborn" Shark said and sent me one of his famous glares "Yuma needs our help after all". I sighed deeply. Damn you Shark! How can you be as stubborn as me!

"Fine, fine but it is really not big deal" I then replied "Astral and Yuma is in trouble and well, I am kinda Astral's guardian from Astral world, so I can feel Astral's pain. That is why it hurt just now". Shark hummed a little.

"Well aren't you full of surprises" he then replied with a smirk "Guess that is why you can go inside Yuma's key". My eyes widened in surprise by that.

"Wait what? How do you know that?" I then questioned. Shark smirked a little.

"Yuma" he then replied "When you were taken by Vetrix, we shared info that night".

"Oh I kill them later" I sneered "But can't we wait with the rest of the explanations till we have saved them. We are in a hurry".

"After you miss stubborn" Shark in a weird gentleman tone "But if that pain gets too terrible, you tell me got it". I nodded. We were about to fun through gate, when voices actually were calling my name.

"What in the world are you doing here Zaira?". I turned around to see Bronk and the gang rushing towards me. I sighed deeply. We really didn't have time for this.

"Trying to find Yuma" I replied with a sneer. "You are keeping us from leaving". The others looked puzzled at me, but they luckily didn't stop us. Someone else did.

"Zaira Wroom what in the world are you doing here?" Kairi yelled up. Apparently she was here too. This was getting better and better this here. Kairi was glaring at Shark which he of course returned. I sighed deeply.

"Bronk told me you were at the central hospital to visit a friend. Don't tell me it is that delinquent" Kairi replied and pointed at Shark. Shark's glare intensified, but he didn't say anything. Bronk smiled sheepishly.

"Well at least Shark is feeling better" Bronk said and tried changing the subject "Zaira you haven't seen Tori have you? She suddenly disappeared".

"No I haven't" I replied, and an idea came to me. I was moving closer to the port into the inner city of Heartland. I urged Shark to come with me with my eyes and luckily he understood "But, I can go find her. Yep see yer".

Then I ran ask quick as I could inside, hoping praying Kairi was not gonna follow. Sometimes she was scarier than Grandma Haru. Especially if you were doing something she didn't like.

"Oh I see why Yuma turned out the way he did" Shark commented "He has to be that hyper with a sister like that. Hope you don't turn out like that".

"Oh shut up Reginald" I replied with a sneer "I am to fierce of a wolf".

However I also knew Shark was joking. Our fingers intervened in that moment. That and he was having that smirk on his face.

Normal p.o.v.

Back at the port to Heartland, Kairi and the others were looking after them.

"Humph, It almost sounds like Zaira is afraid of me" Kairi then sneered out in an annoyed tone and crossed her arms at her chest. The others chuckled at that. No one commented on that it was properly true.

"But you all saw it, didn't you?" Flip said and grinned. The others nodded.

"Yes, Zaira called Shark Reginald" Bronk replied and grinned "Shark only gives special people permission to use his real name". Cathy chuckled as well.

"And they were holding hands. It is purrfect" she then replied and purred as a little kitten "I believe someone are happy".

"In the end, they are finally together" Caswell said with a smile.

"Humph just hope that delinquent makes her happy" Kairi then uttered in annoying's.

In the meantime Kite was running through Heartland tower, who was slowly breaking down now. Walls were crumbling. Small boulders were falling down, but Kite really didn't care. He needed to get to Hart regardless what. Suddenly something was vibrating. His deck was vibrating.

"What is wrong with my deck?" Kite questioned and opened his deck case. A card lit up in his extra deck. Neo Galaxy Eyes was calling out to him.

"Neo galaxy eyes. This card is connected to Hart. Hart is calling out to me" he then concluded.

Suddenly the whole building was shaking. Kite tumbled forward and slammed his head into the wall. It hurt of course, but at least he wasn't unconscious. However his little stunt there made the wall crumble even more and an avalanche of debris boulders fell down on him.

"Master K-ite!" Orbital uttered worriedly.

Zaira's p.o.v.

I groaned slightly while ignoring the pain in my chest. I just had to keep on going. That stupid connection I had with Astral now apparently after he gave Cy back to me. Eliphas really didn't want to take any chances here did he? What did he think could happen here? Betray Astral or something?! The bond I have with Cy and Astral now was not something I would take for granted. But it was the reason I was feeling this way though. Or in other words, it really wasn't me who was in pain but Cy. He was one of the numbers. Made to be a part of Astral, and since Astral was in some kind of trouble, it apparently infected both of us now. Shark sent me an annoyed look, but he didn't comment on anything as we ran inside of Heartland tower. The whole tower was falling apart as we continued on in our quest to find Yuma. This was really not any safe place to be right now. I groaned again.

"Cy? You are sure Tori here?" I asked my number. Cy groaned a little.

"Yes mistress. I can.. feel her up.. up ahead" he then replied "So is.. Astral". I nodded slightly. We had to hurry then. The quicker we rescued all of them, the quicker Cy and I would get better.

"Zaira watch out!" Shark then yelled and pulled me towards him. A pile of debris fell down on the spot, I had just been standing at. I sighed relieved.

"You gotta be more careful" Shark then scolded a little "The place is not safe!".

"Like I haven't noticed" I sneered back, but I was grateful Shark just had saved my life. I sent him a grateful smile "Care to continue? And don't think you can stop me".

"I won't" Shark mused out "That is the reason I am with you now miss stubborn. Who else shall look after you, when you are about to do something crazy?".

"Oh how thoughtful of you" I replied with a little smile.

A smile Shark of course returned. We continued through the tower in a fast pace, until we stumbled upon Tori. Cy had been right about her it seems. She was trying to lift up one of the pieces of the wall who was lying on the floor, together with Orbital. I instantly noticed Kite under the many debris blocks. Tori sneered angrily.

"Put your motor into it!" she then yelled at the robot.

"Do, do you want me to over-heat?" the robot then questioned in annoying's. Tori sneered angrily, and tried moving the boulder piece but it was not moving one bit.

"Out of the way" Shark sneered and let go of my hand.

I smiled. I was glad Shark wanted to help, because I was not sure I was capable of much right now. Not that I couldn't lift the boulders, but I was afraid I might drop them out of instinct if the pain in my chest became too great. I didn't want to hurt Kite here after all.

"Zaira? Shark? Where did you two come from?" Tori questioned puzzled.

"Oh no it's you two a-again" Orbital sneered a little. I snort back.

"Happy to see you two Orbital" I replied just as coldly "Do you want us to help? Or do you want your precious Master Kite to lie down there". Orbital shrunk a little in size. He looked very worried and embarrassed, so Shark and I took it as a 'Yes'.

"The robot and I can lift that" Shark then said firmly "Then you and Zaira can pull him out of there".

Orbital and Tori looked rather stunned at him. That until Shark yelled at them to move. They quickly did as he ordered, and soon we had pulled Kite out of the pile of debris. Kite was sitting up at one of the walls, who wasn't too damaged and was gasping for air. Orbital sighed relieved.

"Oh Ma-ster Kite. I'm so glad your o-okay" the robot then said.

"Thanks Shark. Thank you too Zaira" Tori then said and bowed to us.

"Don't thank us" I then replied in a cold tone "Just get him out of here Tori". Shark nodded in agreement. We both continued our quest in finding Yuma.

"No I am not leaving" Kite then said and got slowly up on his feet's.

"But ma-master Kite" Orbital then uttered in a worried tone.

"The place is coming down man" Shark then replied in annoying's. I nodded as well. However that look Kite had in his eyes. I had a feeling, he didn't want to listen to us.

"I am not leaving without my brother" Kite then said firmly. That actually surprised me a little. Hart was here. While the tower collapsed?!

"What you mean Hart is here too?" Tori uttered rather shocked and took the worlds right out of my mouth there. "Do you know where he is?".

"It is rather com-complicated" Orbital began, but Kite quickly cut him off.

"That's enough!" He said firmly and the robot went silent. I sneered a little annoyed here. I bowed down so I was eye to eye with Orbital and shook him like hell now.

"Where he is?! Tell me where Hart is?! Out with it your bucket of bolts" I yelled while shaking him uncontrollable. Orbital didn't seem to like it.

"Hart is being used by Doc-ter Faker to power up the sphere field can-nnon" Orbital then uttered.

That was not exactly the answer I wanted, but it surprised almost all of us, with exception of Kite. He must have known that already.

"What is a sphere field cannon?" Tori then questioned.

"It is the ul-timate weapon to destroy Astral world" Orbital explained "In order for Dr. Faker to com-complete it, he made master Kite assemble the number cards, so that he can gath-gather their energies in one place, to create a devastating blast..".

"Alright it is bad news. We got it, so where is this thing, and how do we get to it" Shark then interrupted angrily.

His eyes were fixated on me for a second. Maybe it was because he knew I was connected to Astral and Astral world. Who knew what happened to me, if Astral world was destroyed. I bit my cheek a little. I didn't like this at all either, but it did explain the pain I was feeling. They must be about to fire that cannon soon. I could hear Kite snort coldly now.

"This doesn't concern you" He replied and began leaving "Let's go Orbital".

"Where do you think you're going?" Shark sneered and made Kite stop up.

"I don't have time to settle a score if that's what you want" Kite then replied.

"It's not.. All I want to do is save Yuma and.." Shark's eyes fixated on me again. He continued "If he is still in the sphere field, and they are using it as a weapon, things are not going to end well".

Tori looked rather horrified by that, and who could blame her. She was having a crush on Yuma. Even though she never would admit it.

"What can we do?" she then asked.

"I.. I don't know" Shark admitted and clenched his hands a little "All I know is that I can't do nothing when my friends is in trouble. Now talk your lousy vacuum cleaner. The sphere field cannon? How do we get too it?".

The last sentence was clearly directed to Orbital, who looked really offended now. I on the other hand was smirking a little bit. Shark's method to get information was almost as good as my own here.

"I am not a vacuum cleaner" Orbital then sneered out "I am a highly sophisticated artificial recharger unit". Now Orbital felt rather hurt and refused to talk to us. I hummed a little. It didn't go so well here.

"Kite please. I wanna help save Yuma too" Tori tried pledging "We have to work together. Yuma was always worried about Hart. You know that right? Please Kite. Let's all work together and save the people we care about".

At that Kite only closed his eyes and began leaving. So much persuading him.

"Let's go Orbital" he said firmly and Orbital nodded eagerly.

"But Kite.." Tori tried once again. Kite looked at her and snort.

"We are done talking about this" he then replied "We need to get to the garbage treatment facility". Then Kite began leaving. Shark, Tori and I was looking rather puzzled at each other now.

"Was that his way of saying 'follow me'?" Shark questioned. I shrugged a little.

"I guess so" I replied and began following Kite and Orbital through the hallways.

Normal p.o.v.

In the meantime Yuma was still caught up in the sphere field. Hart was still above him, hissing in pain as the cannon drew on more and more of his energies. Yuma groaned a little and closed his eyes. He felt so weak.

"I feel so tried" He then uttered and groaned again.

"I fear that is my fault" Astral then replied him "My lifeforce is weakening by the minute". Yuma clenched his hands. He was really worried now.

"Don't say that" he then uttered. He didn't want Astral to think like that.

"Please hear me" The ghost pledged "We might be able to save you, but for me there is..". However Yuma quickly interrupted him.

"Don't even say that" Yuma then said firmly "Nobody is leaving anybody behind. All three of us are getting out of here together".

The last sentence was aimed at both himself, Hart and Astral. Yuma could hear Astral sigh. Then he nodded. They would get out of here together.

Zaira's p.o.v.

I sneered angrily at the giant piles of rocks, who was blocking the stairway we were supposed to be using to get to this garbage facility. Out of frustration, I even kicked one of the small peoples here. Not that it helped a lot though. It didn't help at all though. It didn't make the blockade disappear, or make the pain in my chest disappear. It was getting worse by the minute. We just had to get to Yuma and Astral before it was too late. Shark growled angrily as well.

"There has to be another way" he then said and clenched his hands.

"Scan the building's schematics" Kite then ordered to Orbital.

"I would expect th-at the exit points that will enable me to tap into the engineering system has been destroyed by debris. If I can-can't exit the exit point..".

"Stop making excuses your worthless scab pile" Shark then interrupted.

"I don't see you doing anything to help your hairless ape" Orbital then yelled back. I just sighed deeply. This was not going anywhere. Then an idea stroke me.

"Tori, do you have your D-gazer on you?" I then asked and made Shark and Orbital stop fighting. Tori nodded confused and took her gazer up from her pocket. I smiled relieved "Good then call up Kairi. She is good at stuff like that".

"Okay, but why don't you do it?" Tori questioned puzzled. I smiled sheepishly.

"Oh you see I don't have my gazer" I then lied.

The truth was that I was not sure that Kairi had forgiven me for running off like that with Reginald. I just hoped she didn't notice me here. Seconds later that apparently wasn't the case. The first thing Kairi asked was if I was with her. I hadn't prepared Tori to lie here, so she of course mentioned me. Surpringly Kairi hadn't thrown a fit at me. She was glad to help. All so she could make sure we all got out safely. After we had saved Yuma of course. I sighed relieved. Maybe Kairi had just been worried about us all?! However she got into the system and told us there were a staircase 3 blocks to west from where we were standing. We all, or mostly me and Tori, thanked Kairi and rushed towards the staircase as fast as we could.

We ran as fast as we could down stairs. We didn't have much problems beside Shark and Orbital arguing. I smirked inside. I knew what I was going to give Shark for birthday now. Or maybe Not give him for his birthday. Although we all first had to survive from here first. We now ran down the hallways. Orbital told us that Hart was just up ahead. We soon entered the only door at the end of the corridor.

"Welcome!" we actually got greeted and an annoying sight met my eyes.

Mr. Heartland in his hover jet was floating in midair and looking down on us. He was laughing in his annoying and surely fake laughter.

"I am so glad that you can find it in you to join us" Heartland continued in a mocking tone "Unfortunately if you are looking for Hart, I am afraid he is a bit indisposed at the moment".

Kite walking further down in the room and glared up at Mr. Heartland.

"Where is he?" He demanded to know.

"Well he is right here" Mr. Heartland replied with a smirk.

My eyes widened in horror as I looked up and found Hart tied to the cannon, groaning in what looked like pain, and Yuma was in Zexal mode trapped inside the sphere field. This was apparently the sphere field cannon Orbital mentioned.

"Look Yuma is up there too" Tori pointed out. I sneered and rushed inside the room with Shark and Tori. We were close at Kite now.

"It was nice of you all to drop by, but I am afraid I have to ask you to leave now" Mr. Heartland sing song in an annoying tone.

It made me go up there and smack him off that hover jet. However I was not sure I was capable of that. I was not sure I was capable of much right now. The pain had intensified a lot since we walked in here. In some way telling me to hurry up and save Astral and Yuma.

"We have a world to destroy" Mr. heartland continued "Litterbots it is time to take out the trash".

A lot of hatches opened in the wall now, and seconds later we all found ourselves surrounded by Litterbots, and those here were surely not like the ones on the streets. Those reminded me of those robot gang we saved Lilybot from, and they were properly as strong as Orbital 7 was in drill mode. Not good!

"Orbital, get too it!" Kite then ordered and made Orbital go into attack mode alias drill mode.

He of course attacked right away, with Kite, Shark and I as back up. Shark jumped up in the air and hit the first robot with a flying kick. Kite and I had grabbed two scythes from the robot's Orbital already had destroyed. Then we slashed them to pieces. We were fighting pretty valiantly. All three of us slashed away with the scythes. Shark had managed to get one, and I must admit he was rather attractive fighting like this. However I couldn't let myself get beaten by him either, so I continued slashing robot after robot. Everyone was fighting. Even Tori who manage to get one of the robot arms, which she slammed down in the head of one of the robot making it shut down. I smiled a little. Tori might not have the best fighting skills, but she had courage. I was impressed. Even Orbital was impressed.

"Effective demolition skills" he said. Tori looked firmly at him.

"I will demolish you if you don't keep on fighting" she sneered.

"Understood ma'am" Orbital uttered in a scared tone and drilled some more bots down.

The fight continued on. I slashed some more bots, but sadly they kept on coming. We couldn't continue like this. We were only four humans and a robot, and although Orbital could fight on for long, we sadly couldn't. Soon I found myself back to back with Shark. We were surrounded by robots.

"Mistress let me help!" I could hear Cy say inside my head, but I just shook my head. Cy may be powerful, but in our condition, this would only drain us further.

"Man there is no end to them" Shark uttered and slashed a robot who was about to hit me in half. I sent him a smile, and slashed one on his side as gratitude.

"I got to get Hart down from there" I could hear Kite sneer in the background.

"Hart's not going anywhere. Besides I am sure he is happy right where he is. He is making his father proud. Every boy wants to make his father proud" I could then hear Mr. Heartland reply up from his stupid hover jet. He was smirking evilly at us before he continued. He was glaring at Kite though "You on the other hand are turning out to be quite the disappointment. You played your part for a while, and we certainly, appreciate that you gathered the number cards, but now you seem to have lost your way. Your father hopes you will come around, but I know better. You always been ungrateful and arrogant, and now it is time for you to vanish along with all your little friends. Including Yuma!".

He pointed on the floor with his cane thing, and the floor began to rumble. The floor open up a round space in the middle of the room, and tossed all the Litterbots who had been standing there into this giant pit.

"And now it is time to say goodbye" Mr. Heartland then yelled.

I looked surprised around. The rest of the floor began pulling backwards with us on it, making everything rumble while tossing some more Litterbots into the pit, who got bigger and bigger every minute now.

"Not good" Shark said and took the worlds right out of my mouth.

"Below us is a portal to Astral world" Mr. Heartland then told us. I sneered angry. So what was the plan here? Them blasting Astral world? Not gonna happen!

"Everybody get away from the edge and run towards the walls!" Shark then yelled.

I looked surprised at my boyfriend. He really had some good leaderships skills considered the dire situation we was in. Kite walked some step backwards as well, while looking up at his little brother at the sphere field cannon.

"Hart! You gotta fight it" he then said, but there were still no reaction from Hart.

I sneered angry and looked down at the portal at the end of the vortex. If they were opening it now, they much be close to fire the cannon. I clenched my fists and looked up at the sphere. Yuma, Astral hold on just a little bit longer.

"Litterbots toss all that of this trash into the vortex" I could hear Mr. Heartland order.

A horde of Litterbots jumped out from the hatches. Once again we were surrounded. Added with that we also should watch the vortex behind us. Thing were not good.

"Zaira watch out!" I could hear Shark say and I noticed a litterbot who was about to attack me.

I sneered, but deep down I knew I was not fast enough. Wind suddenly blew around me and surprisingly the robot as well 4 others got blown away from me.

"Leave my mistress alone!" Cy's firm voice roared and a spirit form of him, not so big as usual, was present beside me. I was a little surprised at that. He was flashing in and out however. Just like Astral's powers were drained in the sphere.

"I told you, I don't need your help" I then told him inside my mind.

"And I didn't listen" Cy replied proudly "I will protect you my mistress".

"But this will drain you Cy..".

"I would gladly give my life for your safety Mistress" Cy replied and smiled a proud smile "No Mistress Zaira. I would rather die than live without you. Please let me join in the battle".

I sighed deeply and nodded. Like I could deny Cy this, when he pledged me so much.

"Okay but we need to be quick about it" I advised and Cy quickly nodded.

A scream filled the air and make me turn surprised towards the sound. Shark was kneeing on one of his legs and was groaning in pain. I looked rather shocked now. It looked like one of the robots had injured him. Without thinking, I ran towards him as quick as I could, while Cy slammed all robots down that were in my way.

"Shark? Shark are you okay?" I asked and quickly kneeled down before him.

"I am fine" Shark growled and got up on his feet's again. "They just caught me by surprise. It is only a scratch".

I hummed a little. Him growling while placing his hand around the right side of his abdomen, was not okay to me, but considered our situation, I couldn't do much anyway, so might as well make him act tough for now. Shark and I both grabbed around our 'weapons' and looked at the horde of robots.

"Man those guys just keep on coming" Shark sneered in annoying's and turned his gaze towards Orbital "Hey toaster own, can't you do something about this?".

"I am not a toaster own!" Orbital yelled up. He was really offended here. "I am a semiofficial..". Luckily Tori interrupted them before they both fought for real.

"Come on keep it together you two!" She yelled at them "These junky Litterbots has to receive their orders from somewhere right? If we can find the source of their signal and destroy it..".

"An excellent i-idea. I shall investi-gate immediately" Orbital uttered and began searching. Soon he had found the central computer, and began explaining how he was gonna do it. At that point even I had lost my patience.

"Again with the explanations" I sneered "Just make it happen". The quicker he stopped those bots, the quicker we could save Yuma and Astral. Orbital was however offended once again.

"How dare-dare you speak to me that way. I am not you minion..!" He yelled at me.

"Just do it Orbital!" Kite interrupted and made the robot salute to him.

"Ye-yes master Kite" Orbital replied and returned to his mini robot form.

He rushed passed the Litterbots as quick as he could over to that access point. I glared at all the robots. There was no way he would manage this himself.

"Cy give him a hand" I said firmly and I could hear Cy roar in agreement.

Many of the robots got tossed into the Vortex now. Orbital had reached the access point and now placed his robotic hand into it saying "Commencing overload". A lot of volt got filled into that access point and shocked properly the whole computer system. That included Orbital who was plugged into it. My eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no Orbital!" Tori and I shouted in unison.

However that process also shut down all the Litterbots system, as well as the sphere field cannon. I could feel the pain slowly leaving my chest now.

"It looks like the hunk of junk did it" Shark commented.

"No this cannot be happening" Mr. Heartland said in an angry tone. "Then I just have to do it myself".

Without warning Mr. Heartland flew over in his hover jet and attacked the one of us who was closest by. Sadly that was me. He was striking me with his cane, surely to throw me off guard, while grabbed me and tossing me over the hole with the portal. Or that was properly his plan. Cy was not letting that happen.

"Stay away from My mistress!" the wolf roared and I stretched my hands out in defensive manors. A whirlwind, barely enough to blow one person, hit Mr. Heartland and made him swirl around like crazy.

"Wah, wait a second! No, no this is not supposed to happen like this! No!" Mr. Heartland yelled.

Then his hover jet stopped functioning, and he fell into the portal as well. I sighed relieved. I groaned a little though, and fell down to the ground, rather exhausted. I had used too much energy I guess.

"Zaira?! Zaira are you okay?" Shark asked worriedly and kneeled beside me.

"Yeah, just tired that is all" I mumbled. "Just get on with freeing Yuma from the sphere".

Shark nodded slightly and I sighed relieved again. I groaned again too. Maybe Cy and I could just have one tiny rest. That wasn't a wrong thing to do right?

Yuma's p.o.v.

Yuma groaned rather tired and opened slowly his eyes. The sphere field felt different all of the sudden. He and Astral was less tired now for some weird reason.

"What happened? What's going on?" Yuma questioned puzzled and looked down from the sphere field. "Is that.. Tori, Shark, Kite and Zaira? Why are they here?".

"The sphere field's energy is weakening. This may be your moment to escape" He could then hear Astral say, and could see himself glow now "We must break the Zexal bond". Yuma looked horrified now.

"No we can't break the bond" He uttered, but Yuma couldn't do a thing to make Astral change his mind.

Soon he found himself separated and was staring face to face with the Astral ghost. They were surrounded in a circle created by the numbers.

"Why did you do that?" Yuma then asked Astral. The ghost smiled at him.

"Yuma go! You might not have another chance to escape" Astral told him.

"Well what about you? We are getting out of here together!" Yuma replied firmly.

"That cannot happen" Astral told him in a sad voice "I am one with the numbers. Now that the numbers has gathered here in this sphere field, I cannot leave. I cannot exist outside". Yuma looked rather shocked at him.

"What?! No way!" He replied.

He just couldn't believe it. Suddenly Astral summoned two numbers in front of him. Their cards were not easy to spot however. Yuma looked puzzled up at his friend.

"What are these?" He questioned.

"One is hope. The other is the future" Astral replied slowly as Yuma picked them up. He stretched a hand toward Yuma as well "You have to leave now Yuma".

"But what about you? What's gonna happen?" Yuma questioned puzzled.

"That does not matter" The ghost replied in a sad tone "What matters is that you save Hart and by doing so, you save Astral world. Please just tell Zaira that I am sorry I have to drag her down with me Yuma".

Then he sent a little shockwave towards Yuma and he got blown backwards, and out of the sphere field. The last words he heard from Astral before he left was 'The future is in your hands'. Then he hit the ground pretty hard. He was laying on the platform beside Kite and the others now.

"Yuma is back!" Shark uttered.

Tori lit up in happiness. She was currently at Orbital's side, while tending the shutdown robot now. Zaira smiled a little smile, before clenching her chest once again. Yuma was about to ask her what was wrong when laughter could be heard in the background now.

"Did you really think I would spent so long putting my plan into motion, and not have a back up system in play" A voice then said.

Yuma had heard it before though. This was Dr. Faker's voice. A hidden passageway opened up and revealed Dr. Faker sitting on a throne, on a weird floating device, who now appeared in here.

"Once it becomes online, the cannon will repower itself, and Astral world will seize to exist" Dr. Faker continued "You will soon be finished along with Astral world. It is over. Dr. Faker won, and team Yuma 0". Yuma clenched his fists in angry matter.

"It is not over yet Faker" he sneered.

Then he noticed the card in his hands, and his eyes widened in surprise. Astral have given him Nb. 39 Utopia/ray and Nb 32 Shark drake/Veiss. Oh I get it. Hope and the future. He turned towards Kite and Shark.

"Hey Shark" he began while holding out Shark drake towards him. Then he turned to Kite "Hey Kite. You guys ready to rumble? As long as my friends and I are still here, we are gonna keep fighting". Shark looked surprised at him and took the card.

"Do you really think we can stop him?" he questioned.

"We have to try Shark" Yuma replied firmly. Kite looked at his Neo Galaxy eyes. Then he nodded. He was up for it as well.

"Don't forget about me" Zaira then sneered "I wanna be part of this..". She let out a painful groan and cut out the sentense she was about to say. Yuma and the others looked worried at her.

"Zaira what is wrong?" Shark asked and were quickly by her side.

"I.. it hurts. It suddenly hurts.. much more" she sneered and clenched her chest.

"Zaira..?!" Yuma uttered confused "Could that have something to do with Astral? He said he would drag you down. He wanted to apoligize". Zaira groaned a little.

"Hmm it seems like this pain got worse when Yuma and Astral split" Kite said analytically. "But it makes sense considered she is part of Astral world".

"You knew.." Zaira whispered and clenched her chest. Kite shrugged.

"I had a hunch since the experiment I did on you" he replied firmly.

"You what?! What kind of experiment?!" Shark yelled and glared at Kite.

"Shark, please we are in.. middle of something.. here" Zaira whispered and closed her eyes "Settle this.. after". Shark growled in an angry matter.

"Fine! But you are not taking part of this!" Shark said and hanked up in her. Then he walked over to the sideline where Tori and Orbital was. Tori easily took her from there and placed her at the ground beside Orbital.

"But I wanna.." Zaira whispered slowly, but Kite snort coldly at her.

"Oh and what can you do in that condition" he said in a cold tone "Let a real duelist do this". Yuma noticed Zaira clench her hands. She groaned angrily.

"Okay miss stubborn" Shark then suddenly said and smirked "If you can get up, you can join us in the duel. So get up!". Silence uttered between them all for some seconds. In the end Yuma could hear Zaira sigh deeply.

"Beat him for me Reginald" she then said and sent him a weak smile at Shark.

"Consider it done Miss Stubborn" He replied and turned his eyes towards Faker.

"We can do this together" Yuma then said firmly and was holding up his Xyz monster. Kite and Shark soon joined him. "This it is. There is no looking back".

"If it is a duel you want, it is a duel you get" Faker then said said smirked "I will demolish you and be rid of the whole lot of you once and for all. Your days in mettling in my affairs will come crashing to an end, and after that this world is mine for the taking". Yuma just snort. He was not giving up here.

A,n: Well that was that chapter. In the next chapter the duel begins for real. Hopefully I ca cut it to two long chapters instead of three. But yeah almost done with Zexal 1 and I can't actually believe it. Can't wait for that actually. Hope you can be a little patient though with the next update.