Over the week, Yuma finally gathered the rest of his friends, all while remaining "missing" to his sister and grandmother. Word got around that kids were going missing as well, and entire search parties were dispatched. Unfortunately, none could find the missing kids.

There was one person who dug deeper than the other search parties, though. Kaito flew with Orbital 7 around the city to see if he could find something from above. Unfortunately, just like Yuma's friends, he couldn't see any clues from the perspective he was looking at. Just as he was about to tell Orbital to go back, the robot spoke up.

"There's a message for you, Kaito-sama."

"Who's it from?"

"There's no name on it, and the sender is untraceable."

"What does it say?"

" 'Kaito. I have Yuma in my grasp as I type. Come over to this location that I've attached if you want to see him again.' "

Kaito closed his eyes and opened them again after a while. "Take me there."

Orbital complied, following the directions attached to the message that led to a building they seemed to have overlooked, and for good reason. It was a rather tall and well hidden building. There was nothing really standing out about it unless one looked into the windows. There was plenty of machinery neatly placed and taken care of. That meant someone was living there, or at least occupying it. Kaito knew this was the right place. Orbital knew this, too, so he landed Kaito on the ground and formed back into his robot self.

He knocked at the door and waited for a while before someone opened the door. The person at the doorway was someone who looked like Yuma, but he had an oddly empty look about him, and the normally bright Emperor's Key was dull in color. Even the green gem embedded in it was lacking luster. On his head was a sort of headset that made him look like he was being mind controlled.

"Yuma?" Kaito tested.

"I'm Yuma," the boy replied. "So, you got Shing's message? Come in. She's very eager to see you." Without waiting for an answer, he mechanically turned and walked back inside.

Kaito had no choice but to follow, not if he wanted to go home empty-handed. He and Orbital entered the strange building and immediately noticed a strange smell, like disinfectant or something along those lines. This place smelled too clean, like a doctor's office. "Orbital, I want you to go back home and take care of Haruto," the Numbers Hunter whispered to his little bot. "If anything happens to me here, I want him to be safe. Can I trust you with that?"

"You can count on me, Kaito-sama!" Orbital hissed back and scurried back outside, where he transformed into something more suited for speedy travel to make his way back to Haruto quickly.

Kaito watched him to before hearing the impatient sound of a foot tapping on the ground. He turned back to face Yuma, whose blank face betrayed no emotion, but something deep inside was irritated. Was it just that Kaito wasn't hurrying up, or was his own spirit deep inside, impatient to get free? Whatever it was didn't show in the face or in any other body language. Kaito, stone faced as ever, simply walked by the boy without a second glance.

"My queen, he is here," Yuma said from behind Kaito. The Numbers Hunter heard a movement behind him and turned around. To his surprise, Yuma was kneeling on one knee with his head bowed. His hands were twitching, though, trying to reach for the Key, as if reaching out to Astral for help. He didn't look like he was aware of it, though.

"What did you do to him?" Kaito demanded.

Shing took her time answering. Currently, she was bent over her desk, her nose deep in something she was working on. It was clear that she wouldn't be rushed in her answer. Finally, after a few moments, she replied. "What do you mean, Kaito. He's perfectly fine. Just how a knight is supposed to act to his queen." She looked down at Yuma with a soft smile. "Now, my knight, I want you to bring Cathy and Kotori for me. I think the serum is improved."

"Yes, my lady." Yuma stood up and went out to fetch Kotori and Cathy. 

"He's robotic," Kaito commented. "That isn't normal. Now, what have you done to him?"

Shing giggled. She waited until Yuma came back with both girls and strapped them down to similar chairs. Cathy seemed to be putting more of a fight than Kotori, scratching Yuma and hitting him, but to no avail. As soon as both girls were secure, Yuma took his position beside Shing. "He's my knight, Kaito. I made him see that my vision for this pitiful city is far superior than what Heartland has planned. Isn't it, my pet?"

Yuma nodded. "It is, my queen. You will rule this city, and I will be by your side."

Once again, Shing giggled, and there was a pinkish tint to her cheeks. "Why, thank you, Yuma." She turned her gaze back to Kaito. "So you see, he agrees with me, but he needs a partner. Now, you will either come quietly and do as I tell you, or I will have to use this serum against you."

Kaito threw a disgusted look at Shing and spat. "You think you'll rule this city with mind slaves? Well, I hate to ruin your fun, but I have no interest in being your slave just so you can rule one city."

Yuma stood in front of his queen protectively. "My lady, do I take his energy?"

"Yes, Yuma dear," Shing replied. "It's obvious he won't come easily. Duel him, and take his dueling spirit."

"Yes, my queen." Then, without a word and without his usual flamboyancy, Yuma set his D-gazer and his duel disk.

Kaito followed suit with his eye color change and his duel disk. Virtual reality vision was set; they were ready to duel.

Yuma looked at his hand blankly. His cold and empty mind calculated what would be the best first move, but deep inside, a little part of himself screamed and screamed, demanding to be let free, begging to not bring his friends into this. Unfortunately, this little part was too small to be noticed. The only ones noticing it were Astral and Dark, who were locked in the Key. While they were there and unable to do anything, Yuma went right ahead and set up a defensive field with traps and spells set in case Kaito tried anything. He ended his turn like that.

Kaito scanned the field. A defensive strategy, huh? Well, he would go offensive, and he would go strong as usual. Just because Yuma was being mind controlled didn't mean he would go easy. In fact, it was all the more reason to put his entire energy into this duel to try and snap him out of it. With a few monsters' effects and spells, Kaito immediately summoned his Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. He set a few traps, played a few spells to increase Photon Dragon's attack so it was higher than Yuma's defense. Then, he attacked.

Yuma didn't flinch as his monster was destroyed. Nonchalantly, he played the effects of traps he set.

The duel went on for seemingly forever. Cathy, Kotori, and Shing were merely spectators in this intense duel. Cathy and Kotori, mostly Kotori, went on cheering for Kaito so that the Numbers Hunter could possibly free their friend from this mysterious grasp. Shing watched her knight as he bravely fought for the sake of her soon-to-be kingdom. He looked so brave, fighting against this powerful Hunter, and yet he looked so calm about it. He was collected. She didn't miss the sudden twitches in his body language, though. Was it a kink in the serum? She would have to fix it soon.

In the middle of the duel, the headset that kept Yuma sane enough cracked. The hostages plus Kaito then noticed his focus slipping. More than once, Yuma made a stupid move that nearly cost him the duel. Shing noticed this with worry.

"Keep your focus, Yuma!" she called out. "Do you want to see my kingdom come to fruition or not?"

Yuma shook his head and adjusted the headset. "I will win this for you, my queen." He looked at his hand, and with the help of some miracle, he was able to finish Kaito in the same move. After defeating the Numbers Hunter, he took his fighting energy and caged it.

Shing immediately took Yuma by the arm. "You need to rest now, my knight. Your brain damage won't heal properly if you don't go."

Yuma nodded and stumbled to his room to rest. Shing took Kaito and bound him to a chair beside Kotori and Cathy. 

"You gave Yuma brain damage!?" Cathy screamed, fighting against her bindings even more. "Why would you do that!?"

"It was an unwanted side effect." Shing waved it off as if it was nothing. "Let's see, who will be my guinea pig today?" She pointed to each of them in turn, as if choosing by random. Finally, her finger settled on Kaito. "You. I need you right now anyways." She hooked Kaito up to the machine.

Kaito tried his best to struggle, but the fighting energy that Yuma took and imprisoned made it almost impossible to even move around! This made it easier for Shing to hook him up to an IV and attach the new serum. She then set a little bag of the new serum beside him and attached it to the tube.

"There you go," Shing said with a smile. "Don't struggle too much."

Kaito sat there, unable to do anything, as Shing walked back to the machine and flicked a switch. He jumped when a cold liquid entered his veins, and he could immediately feel his mind slipping. Still, he fought to keep his own mind. He lasted far longer than Yuma did.

Shing looked at her monitor with a frown. The new serum was still causing damage, and since Kaito was fighting as much as he was, the damage was becoming deeper than Yuma's. She flicked her tail impatiently.

Enough time went by that Shing could fix Yuma's headset and make one for Kaito. Still, Kaito fought on. Yuma soon joined them and watched with a blank, robotic expression as the Numbers Hunter finally succumbed to the serum. Shing, grinning with glee, placed the headset on Kaito's head. The Numbers Hunter woke up.

"Well, hello there," she sang. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling well, my lady," Kaito replied mechanically. Cathy and Kotori were horrified to hear how similar he and Yuma sounded. Their tones and methods of speaking were identical.

"Very good." Leaving the two girls alone, Shing led Kaito and Yuma back to the training room.

The girls immediately started whispering to each other. "The same thing's going to happen to us if we don't get out of here," Kotori hissed.

Cathy meowed sadly. "But we can't move. The wounds from the operation haven't healed, and we're strapped down here. There's no way we'll be able to get out of here before becoming her slave."

"We'll think of something, I'm sure. We just can't rely on Yuma anymore. He's not going to help us."

The girls continued talking in hushed tones while Shing was away.