Black Mist closed his eyes and flexed his claws. He felt something in his claws.

"Black Mirage Whip," he mumbled, and his claws turned silver. They whipped out, and his eyes snapped open in surprise. The whips slammed against the gears and retracted.

On the other side of the airship, Astral bolted up. He looked around in alarm.

What was that? he wondered. It came from the wall!

Astral hurried to where his brother was, and he was astonished to see him with three glowing orbs around him.

"Black Mist, what are those orbs?" he asked.

Black Mist looked over to Astral with a grin. "Well, turns out I'm a Number. An evil one."

"Hm? What is a Number?"

"Dunno. Dad left some kind of message, but he didn't explain what it is. All I know is that they're really powerful."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He also said to use this power to protect us."

Astral nodded in understanding. "I see. If you are a Number, then what Number is it?"

"96, I think. I mean, that is the Number on this wall I was most attracted to."

"Mmm." Astral and Black Mist sat on one of the gears. "96, huh? Father picked that one?"

"I dunno. He just said that it was a number he liked."

Astral nodded. He didn't fully understand the concept of the Numbers, but he understood that it was a special thing.

"Well, you did not answer my question," Astral commented. "What are those orbs?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, these are called overlay units. Apparently, I can do something with them. Something about taking half of my opponent's strength and adding it to my own."

"That sounds useful."

"They seem to be, but I have no way of trying them out, and I don't want to experiment on you. After all, tjere will be enough of that if the men in black catch us."

"You mean when."

"Geez, you always have to be so negative." Black Mist chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I had a firsthand experience that I definately cannot change the future I see," Astral explained. "Now I heard a banging sound. What was that?"

"That was something called Black Mirage Whip. It's some kind of ability I now have."

"How does it work?"

"Well, I have to concentrate hard. The whips normally take me by surprise. I'll have to train for a while." He grinned. "And that'll mean a lot of destruction. I sure hope Dad made this thing durable."

Astral smiled. "Just one more thing. If you're an evil Number, why haven't you been acting like it?"

"I guess it's because of the way we were raised. I dunno."

Astral nodded and got out of the way so that he wouldn't be caught in his brother's training. After all, it would be very violent.

Black Mist focused on the attack. He practiced until he no longer had the energy. By that time, it was night. He looked over to Astral and saw his brother asleep. Black Mist decided to join him.

~.~.~

The next morning, Astral and Black Mist woke up late. They decided to see what was going on outside.

Astral and Black Mist emerged from the Key.

"Why are we running?" Black Mist asked.

"Government guys," Yuma panted. "We gotta make sure they don't follow us back home."

"Astral and I will take care of that," Black Mist said with a smirk.

Yuma nodded and kept running. The men in black caught up to them, but they stopped when they saw the twins.

"There!" one shouted.

Astral held out his hands. He made fire appear in them. "Will we be able to stop them here?" he asked in the language he first thought in.

"Yeah," Black Mist answered in the same language. "For sure."

Astral threw a fire ball at one man in black. The fire ball found its mark, and the man burned. Black Mist made a tentacle grow out of the ground right below four of them. He wrapped it around them and constricted tightly. He suspended them high up, but not too high.

"This is too easy," Black Mist taunted. "You call yourselves tough? We can do better." He turned to Astral. "Shock 'em."

Astral nodded and floated up to two of the men. They tried to get out of the way, but Black Mist's strength obviously had them outmatched.

"This would never have happened had you not seeked to destroy us," he said stoically. He placed one hand on one of the men and his other hand on the other. "Honestly, I feel like Raiden from Mortal Kombat. The only difference is..." Astral started to electrocute the two. "...He's much better at it than me."

Astral moved on to the other two men. When that was done, they went home.

As soon as they got home, more men in black were waiting outside. They all had their guns ready.

Black Mist snarled as the men in black surrounded him. He called on his tentacles, and they rose from the ground. Astral made fire come to his hands.

"They're not going to get this out," Black Mist hissed. "They're not going to tell anyone where we are."

Astral nodded in agreement. "Yes."

"What makes you so sure that we won't get away from you," one of the men laughed.

"We just are," Black Mist purred. He whipped one tentacle, and it found its mark, killing one.

Astral mixed the fire with wind, and he made smoke. He threw it at the men, and they were blinded. That was when Black Mist unleashed his claw whips.

"Black Mirage Whip!" Immediately, he manipulated them to stab all of the men.

"Too easy," he scoffed. "C'mon. Let's go inside."

As they went inside, a figure watched them go. Little did the twins know that they had let one escape.