A,N: Well here is the next chapter. Hope you will like it. If it is okay I would like some feedback, so please tell me what you think about the chapter when done reading it :D I would appreciate it.

Zaira's p.o.v.

"No way in hell I am going to do that!" I sneered angrily and looked pissed at Ray.

"But Zaira chan you are the only one fitting this role perfectly" Ray commented and made me hiss even more.

I shook my head and turned my back to him. We were currently in the hallway at school, and Ray had asked me for this favor as he called it. That only made me super pissed. How dare he even ask that!

"There is no way I will degrade myself as a cheerleader! I am not even in your 'super-secret number card investigation club!'" I yelled furiously "I am the ace number hunter. They should all cheer for me, instead of the other way around!". Ray looked very guilty at me now.

"I didn't think this through. I am so sorry Zaira chan" Ray then said in a guilty tone "If it makes you feel better, I could cheer you on..".

"I prefer no cheers" I interrupted him instantly. It was bad enough having Ray as a fan. Having him as cheerleader... I instantly shook my head. I didn't want to imagine that, ever! It gave me goosebumps.

"Just find someone else, who actually wants to be cheer leader" I said firmly.

"If.. if you say so Zaira chan" Ray said and then was smiling like hell.

He hugged me in very friendly matter "But since it is still lunch break, and you clearly have nothing to do, what about we hang ou..". That was the last thing he managed to say, before I knocked him to the ground rather pissed.

"First you ask me to be cheerleader, then want to hang out? Do you wish to get beat up?!" I yelled and cracked my knuckles. "Just stay away from me!".

I had only walked some steps, when I heard Ray mumble 'Some other time then?'. I decided to ignore it and marched angrily away. If I had stayed, I was not sure what I would do. Ray was just too pesky and annoying right now. I hoped I didn't get to see him for the rest of the day. Sadly some hours later, I was very, very wrong.

Time skip.

I was at the courtyard of the school, while dueling Yuma. I had decided to actually grant him one of his many requests in dueling. Besides, it had been a long time since I had kicked his butt. I had started off with summoning Wolfman to the field and were waiting to see what Yuma was about to do. He had just summoned "Gagaga girl" when Ray, once again, decided to appear from nowhere. I was all 'grr' inside. That until I noticed his distressed face expression.

"Yuma! Zaira!" Ray said and rushed over and took my hand. Thereafter ran over to Yuma cancelling our duel all together. Yuma looked puzzled at him.

"What is it?" He questioned as Ray and I ran towards him.

"Yuma, Zaira, hurry we got big trouble" Ray uttered and began running away with us "Just come with me". I was all 'Oh no' inside.

As we entered the first year classroom, Ray and I ducked our heads as a shoe was flying through the air. Sadly it hit Yuma right in the face, showing a footprint there. Everything was chaos. Cathy and Tori was apparently fighting like hell here, while Caswell, Bronk and Flip were holding them back from attacking each other. I knew Cathy and Tori were not the best of friends, since they both loved Yuma, but this was way more intense than normal.

"You are a wannabe!" Cathy shouted angrily as Caswell were holding her back. In one of her hands, she was holding up a shoe as a threat to Tori. I hummed and figured the other was the one hitting Yuma a second ago.

"Take that back you freaky cat!" Tori yelled angrily as Bronk tried to calm her down.

"Hey, hey quit it!" Yuma then yelled and made the two girls stop arguing. At least for now. I also decided to find out what was going here. Why were they fighting?

"I can't believe this. You guys are friends, so why are you yelling for?" Yuma continued. I nodded in agreement. Why had they been fighting in the first place?

"Well it is sort of an idea I had" Ray began and I instantly face palmed. Of course it was, because the Ray way only means trouble. Ray began explaining.

Flashback.

All the members of the number club were assembled in the first year classroom, after everyone had went home. They were having some sort of meeting, and right now they were listening to Ray's newest idea, around getting a cheerleader to the club. They all found that idea great, and Caswell and Flip both questioned who it could be. Ray's eyes fixated on Tori.

"It can only be you Tori" Ray said with a big smile.

"Me?" Tori questioned "Why me?".

"Tori, it has to be you because you are the only one who has seen the most number" Ray replied and added "And it doesn't hurt that you are Yuma's girlfriend". That wasn't the right move, because Cathy got rather pissed by that. She was glaring at Tori now.

"Oh my, why on earth would you think I am Yuma's girlfriend?" Tori then said and were blushing rather madly.

"Wait hold it!" Ray then said and stopped Cathy before she could sneer at Tori "Tori, I just remembered, you don't know how to duel..".

"That's right" Cathy uttered happily "There is no way we can have somebody who can't duel. We need a real duelist. Not a wannabe!". That sentence however pissed off Tori a lot.

"Only one girl in our club knows how to duel, so she should be our cheerleader" Ray then suggested. Cathy smiled confidently at that.

"Hey wait a minute, how dare you call me a wannabe, you freaky cat girl" Tori then sneered.

"Wah freaky?!" Cathy hissed angrily and before they knew it, the fight was on..

I facepalm even deeper now. Of course Ray had to have gone to someone else with this cheerleader business, and of course he just had to run his mouth a little too much here. I was not sure what was most annoying. That Ray had said too much, or that the others actually liked his cheerleader idea.

"It is my fault.." Ray said in a guilty tone.

"Yeah I gotta agree with you there" I said and rolled my eyes "Looks like the Ray way failed again". Ray looked depressed down in the ground now.

"Yeah let's just forget it. I should have stopped asking for a cheerleader, when I asked you Zaira chan" he then said, and I could feel dagger's at me now.

"What? You asked Zaira to be the cheerleader first?!" Cathy yelled angrily.

"Yes, what's up with that Ray?!" Tori yelled angrily as well. I grabbed him too.

"And why is it, you are mixing me into this?!" I sneered angrily.

"Well I just thought.. Zaira is the better duelist of both of you.. so I figured.." Ray began slowly. That until I was shaking him like hell. That didn't help. Tori and Cathy looked really angry at me now.

"What's going on guys? Sounds like you are having an interesting discussion" A voice then said and Rio entered the classroom. I sighed deeply and had pledging eyes at Rio. She could help me solve this mess. That until..

"Ah Rio.. Hey I know, what about we are making Rio our cheerleader?" Bronk now said in a lovey dovey voice. I sighed deeply at that. That was not better..

"No way!" Cathy then shouted "We need a real duelist, not Shark's guppy little sister". Tori surprisingly nodded eagerly to that.

"Yeah and Zaira can't be our cheerleader either, because she is way to creepy and gloomy" she then added. I tensed angrily at that.

"Creepy and gloomy?!" I then asked in an angry tone.

"Guppy hu?" Rio also hissed "If you are challenging Zaira and I to a duel, we accept!". I hissed angry at that and nodded. I was ready too.

"Maybe this cheerleader idea, isn't so great" Caswell then said "Let's just forget it".

"I'll tell you what isn't great, Bronk's intelligence!" Flip shouted now.

"I will squash you!" Bronk yelled angrily and then a lot of fighting began.

Everyone attacked everyone now in some heated battle. I didn't notice much around me from that point on, but I was sure everyone was defending themselves the best they could. Yuma tried of course to stop us. I could hear him shout in the background, and I was also sure I saw some light coming from the key, as Astral surely was watching from somewhere. What I didn't know was that Girag was also watching at the doorstep. He was smiling very pleased, since he could use this to his advantage.

Yuma's p.o.v.

Time skip. Night at Yuma's place.

Yuma was currently at the attic, while looking through his deck for improvement. Astral was floating worriedly beside him, looking at the cards Yuma was picking.

"Yuma I am very concerned" Astral then said worriedly "All your friends fought today, and Zaira even decided to sleep at Shark's place for the night..".

"Don't be Astral. The closer the friends, the bigger the battles. It is no biggy" he tried to reassure the ghost with. Astral still looked worried at him.

"Really? Well if that is the case, are Zaira and I not close friends?" He then questioned "I do not recall we have ever fought like that before".

"Hu?" Yuma uttered and looked at the ghost "What are you talking about Astral? You and Zaira have fought plenty to be close friends. Don't you remember her slapping you once? I am sure you fought other times too. You just can't seem to remember it".

"Hmm yes, maybe one of the missing numbers reveals that" the ghost mused out.

"You'll see Astral. Tomorrow they all make up" Yuma then said with a big smile.

The next morning at school.

Yuma had just arrived at the classroom, and saw Tori and Cathy meet each other at the door to the classroom. Sadly it didn't go as well as Yuma had hoped. Both girls snort madly and refused to talk to each other. Then later at lunch when Bronk Caswell, and Flip meet at lunch, they refused to speak to each other as well. No matter how many times Yuma tried. In the end he walked down the hallways. He was pretty bumped out, they all were mad at each other. That until he saw Rio and Zaira on their way to their class and decided to approach them.

"Hey Rio, Zaira wait up!" He yelled as the two girls stopped up.

"Did you want something Yuma?!" Zaira sneered and hissed like an angry wolf. Rio didn't sound any better with that icy personality she was having.

"Um who, me? Nah!" Yuma quickly said. He quickly decided to leave before anything happened here.

As the day ended, Ray and Yuma were the only ones walking home together which frustrated the lobster haired male a lot.

"Ahr I am so bumped. Everyone went home early" Yuma sighed in a complain. "I really felt like having a duel today". Ray looked happily at him.

"I'll duel with you Yuma kun" he then replied. Yuma eyed him a little. Ray was shown to be a novice in dueling, and dueling him wouldn't get any satisfaction.

"I am over it now" Yuma just replied and turned down his request.

"Okay, some other time then" Ray replied and shrugged at that.

"Yo Yuma!" A new voice then suddenly yelled. Yuma turned around and found himself face to face with a giant male second year student. He looked rather scary.

"Yeah?" Yuma questioned "What do you want?".

"Nothing much. Just a little duel" The second year student then said.

Soon Ray and Yuma was sitting at the riverbed, thinking over this big guys offer.

"So what do you think?" He then asked. Yuma looked puzzled at him.

"You wanna have a sports duel?" he then questioned.

"Your friends gotta get over their frustration, and sports are the way to do it" The male said and smiled. "Team them up with each other and they have to work together to win". Ray lit up at that.

"You know what. He is right. I need to make up to Zai chan too" he then said "Our last conversation didn't go very well". Yuma nodded eagerly.

"Yeah it is a great idea" he added and smiled too.

"But there is one thing you gotta remember. You gotta compete too, and if he makes it to the finals, you gotta make sure the other guys win" The male then said.

"What?!" Yuma uttered rather shocked.

"The reason you are doing this is so your friends will be friends again" the male countered "If they win, they'll be happy, and if they are happy you'll be happy".

"Yeah I get it" Yuma uttered happily and looked at him "Thanks a lot.. Wait I don't even know you, so why do you wanna help me?". The big guy got up on his feet's.

"Ah... it is because I am a big fan. I love your work" he then said with a big smile.

"Thanks I guess.." Yuma replied a little confused but then lit up like hell "Okay tomorrow we'll hold the first ever friendship games! Come on Ray. Let's go tell them". Ray nodded happily and they rushed out to find their friends.

Barian's p.o.v.

Inside the gym, where Alito and Girag was having their currently hideout, in the storage room, Girag was watching television with the pop star he loved, while Alito was working out on the floor. He was doing pushups.

"You look very pleased with yourself" Alito then said and looked at his colleague.

"I have a perfect plan to take down Yuma" Girag replied with a smirk.

"Well don't get your hopes to high my friend, because I'll be the one who's gonna beat little old Yuma. Yuma and Zai" Alito then proclaimed and began working out on a couple of punches in midair now.

"Take your best shot Alito, but those numbers are gonna be mine" The big barian replied. Then he looked at the workout partner of his "What are you actually doing?".

"Training" Alito replied and punched the air again "Can't you see that?".

"Of course I can!" Girag sneered "But you have been doing that for a couple of hours now. What do you have to prove?". Alito punched the air again.

"To win of course" he then said "I need to be better, so I can beat Yuma and Zai. Next time she won't be so lucky". Girag looked puzzled at him.

"Zai? You keep mentioning that name. Who is that?" He then asked.

"Oh yeah, I never told you about her, did I?" Alito replied slowly "Well she is this orange haired girl, who is also Yuma's sister, and my new rival. She even beat me in a duel! In this form of course, but still. She has intense moves".

"Wait orange haired girl? Does she use wolves, because if she does, then she is Astral's protector who came with him from Astral world" Girag mused angrily. "She beat one of my human puppet once in a duel. She has a number too..".

"Really? She is helping Yuma and Astral?" Alito said and smirked "Well in that case, it is even more important that I beat her. With numbers on line and everything".

Girag sweat dropped as Alito began working out in double tempo. He could get single minded once he had a goal. Girag however just let him be. As soon as he had taken care of Yuma's numbers, he was going after Zai then, to claim her wolf number.

Zaira's p.o.v.

At dinner time at Rio and Shark's place.

I was looking very angry and annoyed, while turned my face away from Shark. I refused to look at him as I ate the food from my plate. Shark didn't respond to that, and were instead picking at the food with the fork. He didn't eat anything though. I snort a little, but I was not giving up. I was gonna win this 'who can ignore the most' game. I was pretty determined here. Rio was looking at both of us and sighed deeply.

"Oh come on you guys. This suspense is killing me!" she then said "Make up already". I snort and had crossed arms over her chest now.

"How can I make up with someone, who just accepts Yuma and Ray's invite to that stupid friendship game?" I sneered "Especially while not asking for my opinion".

"Well I was doing the right thing" Shark sneered back "You would have declined, and I hate to admit it, but Yuma is right here. You need out with some frustrations..".

"Says you" I snort back "I have my temper under full control here".

"Yeah right" Shark said and rolled his eyes. That pissed me off even more. Who did he think he was? Mister know it all?!

"You and Rio have been the ray of sunshine" Shark said, clearly in a sarcastic tone "Your moods is killing me here, and if I have to live through one more of those, I will be the next one to leave here". I just rolled my eyes.

"Well then leave. I don't care" I sneered angrily. I have not been that moody.

"Actually I meant it the other way around" Shark quickly said "I live here, so you should be the one...". I hissed angrily and got up from the chair.

"If that is how you feel, then fine. I'll leave. Are you happy now?" I sneered.

I could hear Rio mumble something sounding like 'smooth', but I ignored her. Fine, if Shark boy doesn't want me around, then I will just leave. I took some steps forward. I wanted to leave the room, but in the last second my hand was caught. Shark was holding my hand in his, and was it me or did he look guilty?

"Zaira I didn't mean it like that.." He began.

"Then what did you mean?" I hissed angrily "You decide on something without even asking me, and then you just suspect I will go along with it. I am not playing..".

"Will you let me finish?!" Shark sneered and glared angrily at me. That made me stop surprised up. I had never seen Shark so angry before.

"Do you think I want to go this stupid friendship game?!" He said in an angry tone "No I don't. It is not something I would ever do, if I had choice. Sadly I don't. Because I am doing this for you". My eyes widened in surprise.

"What do you mean?" I questioned "Doing this for me?".

"Try seeing things from my perspective for once" Shark replied slowly "You calling me, saying you wanna stay over, because you had some trouble at home. Knowing you might be a little bit angry, I still let you stay thinking you and Yuma had some fight again. Then You and Rio appeared with the most moody and angry expression I ever have seen, and I find out you have problems with the whole school instead of home. It is killing me. You are angry in school. You are angry and complaining here. Do you think I find it funny being surrounded in all that negativity? Hu? You are entering that friendship games to make up with the others, before I go crazy got that! It is already enough I have to live with Rio as it is..".

"Hey!" Rio yelled up, but Shark and I ignored her. I looked over at Shark. He was still holding my hand. It was like he was holding on to it, so I didn't leave. I sighed deeply. Maybe I hadn't been completely fair over for him here. Both Rio and I.

"I am sorry Shark, I didn't think about that.." I mused out slowly "I will try not to be so angry all the time then. Can you forgive me?". Shark send me a warm smile.

"Always miss Stubborn" he said and kissed my cheek "Just try to be yourself. Be miss stubborn, but not as angry and stubborn though". I chuckled at that.

"Ha-ha Shark boy. Very funny" I replied "If we really are gonna participate in that game, I hope we are not on the same team. Because then I can't beat you".

"Hmm how cute" Shark mused out and smirked "You really think you can beat me?".

"Yeah. You know it Shark boy" I said and grinned. I leaned in on his chest "But it is sweet you think I will let you win". Shark chuckled at that.

"Oh I know you won't, but you will soon taste the sweet smell of defeat" He said in a confidentially voice. I rolled my eyes.

"And I am gonna hurl" Rio then uttered "If you continue to talk and challenging each other like that, then get a room! Way too much sweet for my taste".

"Oh look Zaira, my sister is jealous" Shark then said and chuckled "Jealous that she doesn't have anyone to share with, what I have to share with you". I turned a little red by that. Rio on the other hand hissed angrily.

"Yeah, in your dreams!" Rio sneered and looked pissed "Go do your love squabble someplace else, or you are gonna regret it..".

Shark was properly gonna open his mouth and ask what 'Or else' means, but he didn't need to. Not with Rio suddenly tossing cushions after us from the living room. So in the end we did leave the room, making Rio clean up from dinner in the process.

Time skip.

It was finally the day for that stupid friendship game, and do you think I was thrilled. Of course not. Luckily I was not the only one. Bronk, Tori and the rest of the gang didn't look very happy either. It made me wonder what Yuma had done to convince them. The only ones who did seem happy was Yuma, Ray and some second year student named Girag. I had frowned at that. I never heard of him. He wasn't even in our class, so I figured he was in the other second year class we had here. Although it now did make sense how they even could make up the friendship game. Yuma and Ray was clearly not bright enough for this. However we were all assembled in the courtyard at school, under this weird friendship banner.

"I officially welcome you all to the first ever friendship games" Girag introduced.

"Remember to do your best and good luck" Yuma said in an enthusiastic voice and clapped along with Girag and Ray. The others however, weren't.

"It is gonna be fun!" Ray uttered happily. Bronk snort at that.

"Maybe for him, but not for me" He then sneered

"Whatever" Flip said and snort annoyed.

"I only wish I had some competition" Rio replied which made Cathy flip out a lot.

"Well let's just try. If we all get into this, we all come away happy" Yuma tried reassuring.

I don't think that helped much. However Girag began explaining the rules. That we should work in teams, and if the team won, it got a point. The two teams with the most points, advanced to the finals. I rolled my eyes. It sounded simple enough. As long as I got a decent partner here, I was sure to win it all.

"Alright here is the teams" Girag then said and looked at his list.

(the list Girag is holding Couldn't help myself lol 😊)

Yuma and Shark. (The cool and the fool)Caswell and Flip. (The nerd herd)Bronk and Rio. (The beauty and the Bronk)Cathy and Tori (GRR-L Power)Ray and Zaira (Sunny and Gloomy Carrot)

I literally almost tripped hearing who I got paired up with. Tori and Cathy were not happy either. Well we all hated it, beside Bronk who was happy to be paired up with Rio, but hey he had a crush on her.

"Yeah!" I shouted in agreement and pointed at Ray "Why do I have to be paired up with him of all people? He is the reason we are in this mess to begin with".

"Ah Zaira chan.." Ray said in a depressed tone "You really do not like me..".

"Ahr Ray, Zaira didn't mean it like that" Yuma uttered and sent me an angry glare.

That alone told me, I was gonna play with Ray. There were no but's about it. So after Girag had told the girls one of them could be the cheerleader, the events began. Girag pulled out the first event who was sky diving. The whole field turned into us jumping down from the sky riding our duel monsters. I had quickly managed to summon "Wolfman-the criminal" to the field, and Ray his.. "Shinning Sly" ?! Not sure what Ray thought to accomplish here was. He couldn't do much with 1200 att point monster. Even though we were facing up against Tori and Cathy in this. I really was not fond of being partner with Ray, but like Astral said everyone has different strength. Ray well..

"Ray, you are my biggest fan right?" I asked and Ray nodded eagerly "Then do as I say. Let me handle the battles, but make sure nothing happens to me. But when I attack stay as far away as possible, or I will kill you..".

"Aye, Aye Zaira chan. You must really like me, since you are warning me like.." He began and smiled like hell. I sent him a cold glare at that, which made him flinch "Never mind".

We quickly won our duel, and I saw Shark defeat Caswell and Flip with "Aero Shark".

The field changed into beach volleyball duel. Surprisingly Shark, Yuma, Ray and I had to battle, and it went pretty wild. We were both so stubborn, so the ball went back and forth like ping-pong. Shark and I were the only one having the ball. Like we were giving it to Yuma and Ray. If they got it, one of us would lose, and we both hated that. Our monsters were "Wolf kid", Ray's "Shinning Rabbit", Yuma's "Gogogo golem" and Shark's "Black ray lancer". The others finished their duels and were watching our heated battle. However sadly, here at the end, Ray had to mess the whole thing up. I was close at the net and Shark had managed to fire the volleyball way passed me..

"I got it!" Ray shouted and he did get it.

He fired and.. hit the net. Surprisingly I did catch the ball before hitting the ground, but Ray sadly had been trying to do that too, and crashed into me, making us lose this round.

"Oh eh, he-he, I guess we lost Zaira chan" Ray said and scratched his hair.

"Get off my back or I am gonna maim you" I threatened angrily.

The other events went more smoothly, but hey I was not facing Shark or Yuma at all. In the Tennis field, we were faced up against Rio and Bronk. Rio was tough, but we did manage to get a point from that. Cathy and Tori however, who was facing Caswell and Flip, didn't go so well. Like we did in the volleyball duel, they clashed into each other and began arguing like hell. Ray lit up by that.

"At least they are speaking to each other again" He proclaimed.

"It sounds like yelling to me" I responded and shrugged.

We won over Caswell and Flip in ping-pong, and faced Tori and Cathy in wresting. In the end, after all the sports we were doing, I was sweating a lot. The others were rather beat too. I sat down on the stairs to the school and sighed deeply.

"Here Zaira chan.." I could see Ray hold a water bottle near me, who I instantly grabbed and drank greedily from it. I handed him the bottle again.

"Why are you doing this?" I questioned annoyed "Being nice.. what do you want from me Ray? You hug me. Want to impress me. You kiss up to me.. why?".

"I.. eh.. I.. just want you to notice me. To like me. To be your friend.." Ray replied and smiled sheepishly. I rolled my eyes at that.

"You are, Idiot. I wouldn't let you this close if we weren't" I said slowly.

"This is how you treat friends?" Ray questioned and then grinned. He hugged me like he usually do "Man I do not wanna see how you treat your enemies then". I sneered and were about to knock him down to the floor, when someone else did it.

"Hey, you dare hug my girlfriend!" Shark sneered and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to my feet's. Ray were groaning at the floor.

"Sorry, didn't know" He mumbled and rubbed his cheek. Shark just snort and pulled me away from Ray and the others. I looked puzzled at him.

"Hey what gives?" I questioned "The finals is still missing".

"Yeah, well I don't wanna play" Shark proclaimed "Especially not when I heard rumors that Yuma was gonna throw the duel in the finals". My eyes widened.

"Really? Who told you that?" I questioned. Shark pointed slowly at Astral. I sighed deeply. Well if it were Astral then it was true.

"But I do wanna see the duel" I then said "Wanna hide until they start the event?".

"You know me so well Miss Stubborn. You know me so well" Shark said and smirked.

Normal p.o.v.

A little bit earlier, before Shark and Zaira disappeared.

A lot of things then happened. After the events with the games, the others actually were once again talking to each other. They had found the game funny, and therefore actually forgot the reason they were mad at each other. They all made up and were apologizing to each other's, which was something that pleased Yuma a lot.

"Hey Yuma, your friends strategy is working perfectly" Ray said, looking at Girag while he placed an ice bag on his cheek. Yuma didn't comment on that. He knew he had been hit once again by Zaira. However, Yuma still couldn't stop smiling.

"This just makes me so happy" Yuma uttered and cried out in joyful tears. He was just so happy, his friends were friends again.

"I do not understand how a person can be so happy, when their dueling abilities are so sad" Astral then said beside him, and made Yuma glare angrily at him.

"Be quiet!" he yelled back at the ghost.

However the game continued. Girag told them the team who was advancing to the finals. First of was Shark and Yuma. That came as no surprise, since they were in the lead with most points. The second team however, was Cathy and Tori, which was something the others couldn't understand. Tori and Cathy hasn't got one single point through the whole event.

"Hey they don't have as much points as Rio and me, so how is it they get to play?" Bronk now uttered in complain. Girag smiled a little smile.

"Did I forget to mention all-girl teams gets a 50 percent bonus?" Girag then replied and made all the boys do an anime fall down. So in the end, he took Tori and Cathy with him, into an empty class room, and brainwashed them with Barian's force.

"I knew my plan would work perfectly. Now when Yuma let's these two win their duel. I'll get his numbers" Girag said and smirked confidently. Nothing could be wrong now.

However, Girag couldn't be more wrong. When he entered the courtyard and activated the last event, who was this baseball field, Girag found a certain duelist missing. Shark and his girlfriend Zaira had left the building as Rio called it, since they were bored. Or so did they think. Sadly Girag couldn't change his strategy since the game was already underway and Cathy and Tori was ready to face them.

"Oh I hate those two quitters" Yuma sneered out, but then shrugged "Oh well you just have to be my teammate instead". Girag looked shocked at him.

"Who me?" He said and pointed at himself "I don't think that is a... Hey get this thing off me!".

Sadly Girag couldn't change a thing and were soon dressed in baseball clothes similar to Yuma, as well as the field made his duel disk react, and soon him and Yuma were baseball dueling.

Yuma and Girag: 4000 Lp's.

Tori and Cathy: 4000 Lp's.

Girag really couldn't believe what was happening here. This was not part of his plan. He was not supposed to be Yuma's teammate. He was sweating a lot here. This is bad! The girls have a Cxyz monster, and Yuma is gonna lose the duel on purpose. That means I'll be a loser too and get send back to Barian world. Oh no! Mizar and Dumon are so gonna kill me! While Girag was trying to figure out how to get out of this sticky situation, Yuma had begun his move. He drew and was trying to look into his hand to see if he had a weak monster somewhere.

"Yuma are you actually planning to lose this duel?" Astral asked beside him.

"Aha" Yuma replied with a smile "I got to pick something weak".

"Do.. Do you have to?" Girag mused slowly beside him.

Yuma continued his move by summoning "Stinging swordsman" in att mode. (Lv 1, att 300) He placed one card facedown and ended his turn. Girag sent him a disapprovingly glare. He chooses that little weakling?! But he quickly got his act together when Yuma sent him a thumps up. Girag smiled a fake smile. It was Cathy's turn. She drew and summoned her lv 4 "Cat girl" with 1200 att points. She of course attacked, sending a 'fast ball' at Yuma's monster and destroyed it, giving them both 900 points of damage. Girag looked rather shocked at that. If they played like that, they would lose for sure. I am in big trouble!

"Now that I think about it. Maybe it is a bad idea to lose this match" He said while trying to change Yuma's mind. The lobster haired boy just looked at him.

"Getting them to be friends is way more important than winning" Yuma replied quickly "That is why I am proud to lose!".

Girag sneered inside. What am I gonna do? Those two girls are gonna use barian's force on us for sure. Hey wait, all I have to do is destroy barians force before they play it!

"My turn, I draw" Girag yelled and drew. He summons "Magic hand" in att mode, who was a lv 4 monster with 800 att points.

Then he placed two cards face down and ended his turn. It was Tori's turn, but as she was about to draw, Girag activated one of his traps. The card "Spell search". Instead of drawing, Tori could now add a spell card to her hand, which she did. Girag smirked inside. She is differently gonna chose barian's force. If I just can destroy it.. Girag activated his monster's eff. If you add a card from your deck to your hand, like Tori just did, and if it so happens to be a spell card, it now gets destroyed and the girls take 800 points of damage. Girag felt confident that without barian's force, it didn't matter if he lost, because then he wouldn't get send back to barian world. Yuma growled a little.

"You can use my memory loss trap card if you want" He told him. Girag lit up.

"You mean you are gonna help me beat them now?" He questioned.

Yuma just smiled and were holding up a thumps up. So Girag activated the trap, which was not so good, because the trap only cancelled his monster's effect and switched it to def mode. Girag couldn't believe what he was seeing here.

"You are forgetting your plan" Yuma then uttered "I thought you wanted the girls to win".

At that Girag turned his back to him, while clenching his hands in angry matter and even small tears were shown in the corner of his eyes. I am so death!

Zaira's p.o.v.

Shark and I entered the tribune as the games were underway. As Shark had told me, Yuma really was trying to lose the duel. Even Yuma couldn't play that bad, so I could understand Shark not being part of it. What did surprise me though was Yuma's new teammate, this Girag fellow, was having a hand deck? That was a little unusual. The others at the tribute turned surprised to us, as we sat down on some of the seats. I could even see Ray lit up and were surely ready to hug me, before Shark sent him a glare saying 'You dare try'. Oh I just loved Reginald so much.

"Zaira, Reginald, I thought you had left the building" Rio then uttered stunned.

"Nah, just didn't want to play" Shark replied with a smirk and squeezed my hand "Miss Stubborn wanted to see the duel so we compromised and hit until the games started". I nodded eagerly at that.

"Yeah Shark is so considerate" I said and leaned onto his shoulder.

Then my eyes narrowed at the games down there. It had annoyed me for a while now, and I was not talking about Yuma's terrible game plan down there. It was Tori and Cathy. How they were just standing there, it bugged me a little. I mean Tori and Cathy are getting along now, but I could still see them argue a little through their duel. Tori had summoned her "Little Fairy" who was a level 3 monster with 800 att points. She had activated her monsters eff flawlessly. By sending a card to the grave, her monster raised her lv by one. Not that I doubt Tori's abilities, but should a novice could pull that move off? Now they were having 2 lv 4 monsters on the field. It didn't surprise me that she did use them to Xyz summon her decks ace. Her "Fairy cheer girl" who was rank 4 monster with 1900 att.

"Something is not right" Rio then said and made everyone turn towards her "Look at them. They seem different than before". I sighed relived at that.

"Oh good I thought I was the only one" I then replied "But you are right. They are way different than in the other games". Rio and I were staring stunned at each other.

"Oh no could it be?!" we said in unison and looked down at the girls. I was having this terrible feeling in my stomach. This couldn't be, could it?

Tori activated her monster's eff. By using one Ou, she could draw a new card from her deck. I bit my lip. I really hoped this had not happened to them. Sadly my assumptions were correct when a certain barian emblem hit their forehead now.

"And now I activate 'Rank up magic barian's force'" Tori then yelled and surely surprised Yuma and everyone at the tribune "This duel is finished! I rebuild the overlay network with fairy cheer girl. Go Chaos Xyz evolution! Barian power, born of chaos. Visit your judgement of this world of filth. Come forth Cxyz Dark fairy cheer girl!".

An impressive big and dark monster was now in this place instead of Tori's little cute fairy cheer girl. It was a Rank 5 with 2500 att points. My hand clenched a little. How did the barian's manage to brainwash Tori and Cathy?! It must have happened when Shark and I was not here. Damn, we should really have stayed behind, shouldn't we? Of course Tori continued her move, by making her fairy attack Magic hand. The only plus was that it was in def mode, so Yuma and Girag didn't take any damage or so did I think. Sadly Tori was not done yet. She used her fairy's special eff. Since dark fairy cheer girl destroyed a monster in battle, it could use one Ou and her opponent took 500 points of damage for every card in her hand. She was holding 4 so Yuma and Girag took 2000 points of damage. I looked rather horrified when Yuma and Girag only had 1100 points of damage. They really needed to turn this around, or Astral was done for. Of course Yuma understood what was at stake, so he was feeling the flow as he drew his next card. He summoned out "Gagaga girl" in att mode. Then used the spell "Level lifter". With it he could send one monster from his hand to the grave and raise his level up to the monster he discarded. Like "Gagaga magician". Therefore his monster became lv 4. Then he used "Monster reborn" to bring back "Gagaga magician". He overlaid his two monsters to bring out "Nb 39 Utopia" to the field. Yuma's monster was having 2500, which equaled Dark fairy Cheer girl, but because Gagaga girl was overlaid with another Gagaga monster, he could use her special eff. She could reduce the opponents att to 0. So Tori's monster had 0 att points now. Surprisingly Girag was also helping out with his other trap called "Hand power". By banishing a hand monster from the grave, like magic hand, Yuma could now double his monsters att points. Utopia was having 5000 att now, which was enough to KO the girls and this baseball game.

The game ended and Tori and Cathy was free from the barian's control. Just like the other battles we had been having, Tori and Cathy couldn't remember they had been brainwashed at all, and Yuma decided not to go into detail about them. Sadly that also lead to that the girls wanted to have the final duel now, which Yuma declined since he had just been dueling, and were tired. It was actually fun seeing them chase Yuma around on school ground, because they wanted to know who was now their cheer leader then. I chuckled a little at that.

"Um Zaira chan..?" I could hear Ray say as he approached me carefully "Are.. are you.. still mad at me?".

I rolled my eyes. I knew Ray was referring to the whole cheer leader idea he had started. I hummed thoughtfully.

"Nope, not mad any longer" I said and smiled a little. Ray lit up like Christmas.

"Yay, does it mean we can hang out?" he asked hopefully. I hummed at that too.

"Nope we can't do that either" I said and shrugged "I do not feel like hanging out with you right now. Besides I have plans with Reginald today".

"Oh well.. okay some other time then..." Ray muttered a little disappointed and left. I looked puzzled after him. What was his deal anyway here?

"Ready to leave?" Shark questioned and were holding a hand towards me. I of course took it. I also nodded eagerly.

"Yep. I also think I want to cook at your place tonight" I said rather determined.

"Oh really?" Shark said and rolled his eyes "Guess we are getting pizza tonight..".

"Ha-ha Shark boy, my cooking skills are not that awful" I hissed out.

"Hmm that is true" Shark mused and chuckled "They are terrible and close to none existing, if you don't let me help you".

I send Shark a cold glare. He on the other hand was just laughing at me. Damn you Shark! Damn you!

A,N: Well that was that chapter lol. As for the next chapter, it is a.. bonus chapter? Who actually fits the plot in some way. You will see as the story continues. I felt we needed Zaira to duel one more before the barians reveal themselves. It will be quite a while before she sort of duels again. What I can reveal is that Ray is an important figure, along with Girag, some girls and Zaira of course. Hope you find that interesting, and eager to read.