Numbers Hunt
"SHARK!" Anna shouted with rage, almost throwing herself at the dark blue haired teen that stood in front of the downed forms of Allen and Myu, along with Sayaka who sat crouched beside the two of them, watching the new arrivals with wide eyes.
"Shark?" She said as she rolled the familiar yet unfamiliar name off of her tongue, and as the cloud of dust lifted, and she managed to gather her composure back from their impromptu emergency landing, she saw the teen that Anna was glaring towards.
And upon seeing the teen, memories started to flood her mind. And though many of them were spotty, the flashes of images that ran through her head was enough for her to remember who exactly the boy in front of her was.
The glare that he had pointed towards the trio who was downed and turned to look towards them, or more specifically, the cherry haired girl that she had arrived with. "Tch. It's you huh." The teen said with a click of his tongue, an annoyed look plastered on his face as soon as he saw Anna, the teen stood with both of his hands tucked in his pockets.
"The hell did you and your damned lackeys do this time!" The cherry haired girl roared out, glaring daggers towards the blue eyed teen with her own golden eyes, waving her hand angrily at the three downed boys that stood unconscious behind Shark.
"Hmph, what they do isn't my problem." The dark blue haired teen said, moving his head to glance very briefly to the three downed teens behind him, but never leaving Anna out of sight.
"If anything I had to thank that little brother of yours, and his friends." The teen said with a malicious grin as he took out his right hand from his pocket and motioned to the unconscious Allen. "They did me a favor by teaching them a lesson before I even could."
Then he scoffed as the grin then turned into a slight frown, lowering his head slightly as he placed his right hand behind his head. "But then they just had to sour my mood… so then I had to teach them a lesson."
"You-!" As her cannon carrying friend all but growled at the dark blue haired teen in front of her, locking him in what was more or less a staring contest, she took the distraction to approach the downed trio.
"Sayaka, Myu, Allen, are you all okay?" She said in a whisper, looking over the trio with worry, and she saw Sayaka's watery blue eyes behind her crooked glasses. And seeing the lilac haired girl look like that made her bite her lip.
"Y-Yuuna-san! They're-" The glasses wearing girl said as her head moved back and forth between her and the still groaning boy and girl next to her, and she nodded her head and placed her hand over her's.
"It'll be fine. They're fine." She assured the lilac haired girl, and glanced back to the cherry haired girl and the dark blue haired boy who were still locked in a glaring contest. "If there's anything, I'm quite sure that Anna can take care of it."
But although she was quite sure of Anna possibly winning should she and Shark devolve into a duel, she quite honestly had some doubt within her heart regarding whether or not the cherry haired girl would win.
For one, just like she was, Anna is most likely tired, they've been dueling for the entirety of the day after all. And though she was more or less sure that her deck had far better pay offs than whatever Shark's Water deck had, the chances of her losing were still there.
She glanced back and focused on the downed Myu and Allen, both of them were thankfully alright, although quite scuffed from what seemed to be the outcome for them having lost their duel against Shark.
And another glance to the trio of other downed teenagers, of whom she recognized none of them, gave her an image of what exactly occurred, or at least what she thinks had occurred here, if it hadn't already been obvious from the clues that Shark had been dropping since they had first landed here.
The ones who were downed and unconscious lost their duels, Shark's lackeys lost against Sayaka, Myu, and Allen, while the three of them then lost against Shark, though from the looks of it Sayaka didn't duel against him, or if she did she somehow managed to stay conscious even after being defeated.
And that brings up a huge question to the forefront of her mind, and that was the simple question of 'how'.
There wasn't a need to ask the 'why', the motives of people who dueled against them should be clear, they were the lackeys of the infamous duelists who was none other than Shark, chances are they simply came and dueled against Sayaka, Myu, and Allen just for the sake of it, or for other nefarious purposes that she couldn't think of at the moment.
No, the big question that loomed over her head was 'how exactly did they fall unconscious?'
This kind of thing does happen in this world, heck, she herself had done it multiple times already, mostly done during her rampage back at the Fusion Dimension as she forced her way to the Professor. And for what it's worth, she did do some of her own research on the phenomenon.
She managed to chalk her case up to simply 'Spirit Shenanigans', a theory that was further proved as she remembered the time where she had lit the Doctor's research laboratory aflame with the help of Eldlich of all things, in an attempt to destroy any and all research that the scum of humanity had done regarding solid vision technology.
A sort of resonance that a person could have with their cards so to speak. There was no doubt in her mind that it was the same kind of thing that Yuri and the other main characters are able to do innately, simply by the virtue of them being, well, main characters.
The other was the one that the Academia itself developed, the usage of solid vision to its maximum output, one that she had met multiple times already being used in the form of Chaos Ancient Gear Giant.
It was the usage of solid vision technology's ability to give hologram mass at its fullest, creating a monster capable of destroying buildings in its wake, no doubt the card itself being one of the ways that the Academia would lay waste to the XYZ Dimension, even if the card itself was relatively easy to destroy with the easiest form of monster removal available.
And that begs the question, how exactly is it that a total of five people managed to fall unconscious as a result of their duels?
She certainly doubts that they had all somehow hacked into their respective duel disks and removed the safety limitations that their solid vision technology had, there was certainly no way that they could have the know-how to do such a thing, at least as far as she knows.
So that only left the spirit theory, or the resonance between the duelists and their cards. And as much as she disliked the supernatural aspect of that theory, that was the only way that the outcome could lead to this situation that they had on hand.
But even that still confused her to an extent.
Because how exactly would Allen, Sayaka, and Myu be capable of such a feat? How is it that they were even able to knock the three duelists who dueled them unconscious with, well, dueling?
Could it have something to do with the cards that they used? The cards were technically not normal cards that you could find in a dollar store, they were cards made by her System, taken directly from her Shop. Or could it have been something else?
Those thought was put aside for another time as she went and tended to the trio, or rather more to make sure that both Allen and Myu were fine, and she was glad that any injuries that the duel had to the two of them were all superficial, just minor scratches and nothing that would lead to long lasting injuries, they were simply just unconscious.
She breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't known she had held, the feeling of relief washing over her as she realized that her two friends would be fine, along with Sayaka as well for that matter.
A small part of her wanted to check the condition of the other three teens that had fallen unconscious behind Shark, the trio that her friends had defeated, but she couldn't exactly do so as the stand off between the aforementioned dark blue haired teen and Anna continued.
And as she tended to the trio while keeping an eye towards the two glaring teens, the stalemate was soon broken.
And the one who did so was none other than Shark. "Tch. I've had enough." The teen said with a click of his tongue with clear annoyance on his face, turning around and continuing to walk away.
"Wha-Where do you think you're going!" Anna shouted at the top of her lungs as she saw him leave, rage still raging in her eyes as she almost threw herself onto the dark blue haired teen to fight him.
"Anna!" She shouted loudly in hopes of reaching the cherry haired girl, and thankfully it did, catching the cannon carrying girl's attention as she glared back towards her, tilted her head towards the unconscious Myu and Allen, and shook her head.
Anna wavered, the rage that reflected in her eyes simmered down as she was torn between going after Shark and getting revenge for what he had done to her little brother and her friend, or to take care of them in their current state.
There was no doubt that she could take care of the trio here, it would definitely be a pain for her to take the three of them, and even maybe the additional trio along to somewhere where they can recuperate, and allow Anna to go wild and catch up to Shark.
But what would that lead to?
She doesn't doubt that if Anna were to go and follow Shark and confront him in her current state of mind, her chance of victory would lower. Knowing the cherry haired girl, she would most likely always have the state of Allen, Myu, and Sayaka at the back of her mind, and there was no doubt that Shark would use that to goad her into a missplay or the sort.
After all, under that hard headed and cheery exterior of the cannon wielding girl was a kind hearted soul, a person who was easily moved by her own emotions. Making the girl usually move without even thinking, relying on her instincts and feelings more than anything.
Not that she doubt that the girl could defeat Shark with the sheer overwhelming going second ability that her deck had, especially when its pit against the kind of deck that Shark has-
And for the briefest of moments, once more, she froze. How exactly did Shark even manage to defeat both Allen and Myu? It wasn't like their decks were constructed quality, but theirs were most certainly as close as they come in this world, so how exactly did Shark manage to defeat both of them?
Immediately the threat level that Shark possessed rose in her head. She doesn't even know what kind of cards that he could've used to beat both Allen and Myu, was he using some anime cards that she doesn't know of?
It would be more logical if she was the one to chase after the dark blue haired teen in Anna's stead, especially with Anna's current state of mind if she were to face Shark but… leaving now while they knew next to almost nothing to what exactly happened would be extremely foolish, especially when there might be spirit shenanigans in play.
She wants to be as careful as she can be, and falling into Shark's hand right here and now was most certainly not something that she wants herself nor Anna to do.
Thankfully much to her relief, the cherry haired girl relented, choosing to not chase after the retreating dark blue haired teen as she instead stood in place, glaring at his back as his figure slowly disappeared out of their vision.
Now the only ones remaining in the empty open space were merely herself, Anna, and Sayaka, along with the unconscious Allen, Myu, and the trio of Shark's former underlings whom he had left without care under the darkening sky.
And then she saw Sayaka flinch in the corner of her eye, her head immediately snapped towards the bespectacled girl, only to see her holding her hand out slightly, catching droplets of water with her outstretched hand.
That prompted her to do the same as she looked up towards the dark sky above, and felt droplets of water slowly fall into her palms.
She cursed aloud as she stood up hastily, taking both Allen and Myu and carrying the two of them as she shouted out towards Anna who still was looking out towards where Shark had disappeared.
"Anna! We have to go! It's about to rain!" Her voice seemed to snap the cherry haired girl out of her stupor as she turned towards her and looked up, seeing the dark clouds that hung above them and noticing the droplets of water that started to fall more and more frequently by the second.
"Crap! We'll have to hurry-!" The cherry haired girl shouted as she returned to her senses, running out towards them and fretting over Sayaka. Hefting her just like she did the other two unconscious teens, much to the glasses wearing girl's own dismay as she squeaked as she was carried.
"Get your cannon-bike thing out! We'll use that to get Allen, Myu, and Sayaka somewhere safe!"
"But where though?! Also what about those guys over there?" She said as she followed her instructions, throwing her small bag, and in a marvel of science it turned into a large floating cannon-like vehicle.
She bit her lip as she closed her eyes briefly and thought, clicking her tongue and she unceremoniously dumped the two unconscious teens on the back of the relatively small flying vehicle, and with her hands freed, she ruffled through her pockets in search of something.
And soon enough she found it. She then threw the item in question to Anna, who managed to deftly catch it with one hand, all while carefully holding Sayaka on her other hand and riding her vehicle of choice.
The cherry haired girl opened her hand to see what it was thats he had thrown, and saw that it was a key card, more specifically one that was used for her apartment, and Anna's molten gold eyes widened slightly.
"I'll figure something out for these guys! For now just get those three to my apartment!" She said to the cherry haired girl as she proceeded to pick up all three unconscious teens. Hefting them over her shoulders like bags of rice, uncaring whether or not it would be uncomfortable for them or not.
"We'll meet up there!" She shouted aloud as she ran towards what she remembered was the nearest police station that she passed through on her patrols around the area, not looking back towards Anna but heard the girl shout something back as the sound of a jet resounded behind her, along with the screams of one still conscious Sayaka.
So she ran as fast as she could as the evening raindrops fell.
-
She walked, her steps resounding in the hallway with wet squelches as water dripped from her clothes. A sigh escaped her lips as slowed her pace as she arrived at her destination, stopping in front of her apartment door.
She went to take the key card out from her pockets, then remembered that she had left it to Anna. She closed her eyes and sighed once again as she lifted her hand up and proceeded to knock on the door.
Much to her surprise the door swung open with force that she had not expected, making her yelp slightly as she stumbled backwards, her purple eyes meeting Anna's worried golden ones.
"Yuuna! You're here!" The cherry haired girl beamed as she tackled her into a hug, one that she was too stunned to even block as the cherry haired girl enveloped her into a bone crushing hug.
Only for the girl to immediately disengage as she jumped backwards away from her, a scowl on her face as she rapidly waved both of her arms. "Ugh! You're wet!" Anna cried aloud as she tried to dry herself, only now realizing that she was wet after being drenched under the rain.
She gave the cherry haired girl a wry smile "I was out in the rain after all." She said dryly as she waltzed past Anna who was still waving her arms in vain and into her apartment, walking towards the small wardrobe that the one room has to get a change of jacket.
And of course, to check on the current state of the trio.
There she saw Sayaka and Myu lay asleep on her futon, both tucked in and resting peacefully, while Allen was laid next to them atop of a messy pile of blankets, as the one futon she had wasn't wide enough to accommodate the three of them.
A small smile made it onto her face as she saw them. They were safe, they would be fine, the negative thoughts that had clawed at the corner of her mind, plaguing her thoughts while she ran vanished as soon as she knew that the three of them would be fine.
"Don't worry, they're fine." She heard Anna say, and she turned to see the cherry haired girl was leaning on the wall and just like her, was looking over the asleep teens. "I honestly just needed to throw Allen and Myu and just let them be. Though I had to actually make Sayaka rest by force though."
"What do you mean by force…" She muttered aloud as she sweatdropped at the insinuation of what Anna might have possibly done to get Sayaka to sleep, but knew that she probably won't actually do something that would hurt the girl.
Knowing Sayaka, the lilac haired girl probably wanted to also watch over Myu and Allen and make sure that the two of them got proper rest disregarding her own health, so it wasn't really a wonder why Anna had to force her to rest like she did.
ra
She took off her hat, along with her jacket, both apparel had done their job well to shield her from the rain, even if her shirt and skirt still did get wet ever so slightly, and threw them into the laundry bin to wash later.
She had to begrudgingly thank Anna for forcing her to buy her multiples of the red jacket, along with backup hats at that since she could still hold her signature look when she goes out once more.
Because then that essentially makes her a walking red flag noticeable by That Man, and all of his followers. With how much of a thorn in his plan she's made herself to be as the Red Hat, there's close to no chance that the Academia wouldn't focus their forces on her when she would eventually come to cross their path once more, especially with how they knew that she was here.
She was, essentially, making herself a giant living bait, one that would hopefully pull the Academia's attention away from the regular civilians. Though she could have possibly kept this Red Hat guise for later when the Academia actually invades the XYZ Dimension, it also at the very least gives her a memorable persona to don into for customers when she's out selling cards.
"You're going out again?" Anna asked as she watched her put on her spare jacket from the corner of her eye, a small frown marring her face.
"I kind of have to, don't I?" She said as she flashed her a wry smile. "The fridge is empty, not that I can even cook in this small apartment, but there's no food here, and none of us has had dinner, or even lunch for that matter."
And as soon as the sentence left her mouth, a growl resounded throughout the apartment room, and she flashed a cheeky smile to the cannon carrying girl whose face matches the shade of her hair, refusing to meet her eye.
"I guess that's extra portions for you then?" She asked cheekily to the cherry haired girl, and in response Anna growled to her taunt, electing a small giggle from her.
"Shut up you!" Anna shouted out, waving her arms wildly in a tantrum, and that made herself giggle even more.
The cherry haired girl pouted and crossed her arms as she then refused to meet her eyes, and to keep the conversation going, she decided to change topics. "So, what did you tell your parents about all this?"
She saw Anna turn towards her from the corner of her eye, a sigh leaving the cannon carrying girl as she answered with a hundred yard stare. "Kinda explained to the old man that we're having a sleepover… had to lie that we missed the train and that we couldn't ride my hoverbike, what with the heavy rain and all."
"Hmm, I guess that makes sense." She replied back with a hum, thinking over the logical explanation that Anna had given. It would be dangerous if Anna were to ride that hoverbike of hers in this downpour, especially if she had a passenger with her.
"So what about Sayaka and Myu?" She asked, throwing a glance towards the two sleeping girls that rested on her futon, and then glancing back towards the cannon carrying cherry haired girl who was scratching the back of her head.
"Ah. Well, Sayaka did that herself since she was still awake and all. Said that she was staying at a friend's place since the rain and all. Her parents probably thought that she was at our place honestly." Anna said. "Not the first time that it had happened mind you, though she usually slept in my room while I bunk with Allen."
"Huh. I guess that makes sense. She's your and Allen's childhood friend after all." She hummed out, satisfied with the answers that she received.
Then Anna took point as she asked her a question. "What about those guys. The uh, Shark's lackeys that you were carrying when you left. What happened to em'?" The cherry haired girl asked.
"Ah, those guys." She muttered aloud as she stopped for the briefest moments, before continuing. "I just dropped them at the nearest police station that I knew was near here, told them that they got into a scuffle and I found them. Apparently they already knew them since they're repeat offenders, mostly for truancy though."
A snort was the response that came from Anna. "Figures. If anyone follows that blue haired bastard then they might as well be as bad as him. That guy's really the worst."
But even though Anna said so, she knew that wasn't quite true. After all, she knew at the corner of her mind that Shark was, at the bottom of his cold and jaded heart, one willing to put aside his own values to help the truly helpless, to help others. He was one of the main characters in the end after all, even if he did switch back and forth from being one of the protagonists and the antagonists.
That, and the teenage delinquency that Shark was doing was far, far better than whatever it was that That Man was planning to do. Him, his followers, and that mad Doctor that followed behind him too.
A comfortable silence then descended onto the room, filled only with the light snore that came from the sleeping trio and the occasional rustle of clothes from her. She basked in the moment of normalcy, brief as it was.
And soon enough, she was done changing. And added along her garb was a translucent red rain coat in the occasion that the rain kept up. "Alright, I guess I'll be going out now." She said, raising a hand in a wave towards Anna, a hand on the doorknob as she prepared to head off.
"Yeah…" Anna said without her usual cheer, trailing off and making her raise an eyebrow at the unusual display from the cherry haired girl.
So she asked. "What's wrong? Did you want something specific for dinner?" She asked as she stood by the doorway, looking back towards the cherry haired girl, her tone slightly teasing, but her eyes held a hint of worry and confusion.
Anna frowns as she once more refused to meet her eyes, an act that made her worry more, before the cherry haired girl then sighed aloud as she scratched the back of her head, annoyance clear on her look.
"Just… something that Sayaka told me before I made her rest. About Shark." And the mere mention of the dark blue haired duelist that had her on edge, her attention fully focused on the cherry haired girl.
"Something about Shark?" She said with narrowed eyes, a small frown on her face as she stared at the golden eyed girl with her own purple orbs. "What is it?" Any information that she doesn't know about the dark blue haired boy could possibly be important, especially if it could answer the question that had been nagging in the corner of her mind.
"It's… the cards that he used." She said, once more trailing off, before she growled and shook her head wildly. "Ah geez! He had those cards that's like yours okay! Those Numbers whatever!"
And her heart stopped.
Her mind whirled a million thoughts a minute as she heard the words that left Anna's lips, Numbers. The cards that even her System only has one copy of each, a card that doesn't, shouldn't, exist in this XYZ Dimension, in this world of Arc-V.
"-ter monsters and everything, really fits with his darned Shark theme." She caught back to what Anna was saying, putting back the existential crisis that she had at the far corner of her mind as an unnatural wave of calmness draped over her, all other emotions put aside as she focused entirely on the information that Anna was giving her.
"And they're indestructible by battle for some reason! Only destroyed if they're battling another Number or whatever. Not that going around that is hard or anything, it's just a pain in the ass." Anna continued on with her tangent, and she grasped at that bit of information.
"Can't be destroyed by battle other than with Numbers?" That awkward specific term of text, wasn't that-
"Yeah, it's not the reason why Allen and Myu lost the duel against that dark blue haired bastard, but it was a pain in the ass for them that they had to play around apparently. Those darned Number monsters." The cherry haired girl growled out with clear annoyance.
She grasped that trail of information again, the Number monsters that Shark uses, his iconic monsters. Just from their description of having the Numbers clause of unable to be destroyed by battle already differentiated them from the ones that she had, but she still had to make sure regardless.
She opened her System Shop as Anna continued on her tangent discreetly, checking on the Number monsters that she vaguely remembered Shark used in the story, the Water Number Monsters that he uses.
And saw that they were all still there. Their prices were still bloated as usual, pricing far over whatever DP that she still has, and clearly still missing that clause that Anna had mentioned was there on Shark's cards.
"They're different." She said aloud, relief in her voice clear as she realized that the existence of these 'Anime Numbers' that Shark has was different from her's, and that the two of them could both exist at the same time in this dimension, outside of spirit shenanigans.
And that at least answered her in that regard too. It answers how exactly it was that Shark had managed to make both Allen and Myu unconscious in way of a duel. It indeed was spirit shenanigans, through way of Numbers Monsters of all things.
"I knew it! So they are different from the Number Monsters that you have right!" Anna said aloud, nodding her head with a small smile. But that small smile then turned into a frown as her brow creased in thought.
"But in that case, how come your's is different from his?" She asked, and she then realized the landmine that she had accidentally walked herself into.
She closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose, chiding herself for her mistake in letting out too much information, or rather she underestimated the natural insight that Anna had, not that it was hard for someone to connect the dots from the single piece of information given. She was simply surprised at how fast it was that Anna pieced them together.
She lets out a sigh, shaking her head to refocus her thoughts. She'll try to put this to the side later, she really should be getting food for dinner at this point. "I'll explain later." She said, turning the doorknob and opening the door. "I'll go get dinner, and I guess tomorrow's breakfast too at this point huh."
"Ah, yeah, it's getting really late huh." Anna realized as well, looking at the small digital clock that she had on the small desk of her apartment, and turned to her as she waved her hands, shooing her away. "Well get going then! And don't forget to get me extra portions!"
"So you really did want extras huh…" She said with a wry smile as she shook her head and walked through the door. "Well, I'm going then." She said, giving out a last wave as she then closed the door.
And immediately her mood plummets, the thoughts that she had placed on hold at the corner of her mind came rushing back as the existential dread pooled over her.
Why. How. What. When. They were simple questions, the most basic of them all really, but when put into the question of the Numbers Cards and their general existence it certainly made her question many things about this world and its four separated dimensions.
They shouldn't exists in the story of Arc-V, in fact, they didn't exists. At least, as far as she knows. But just by setting a timeline of cards used in the anime and cards released at the time, she could make an educated guess that they weren't a returning gimmick, especially with the products that they wanted to sell being that of the new Pendulum cards.
So why are they here, in this world, if they weren't meant to exist here then? How exactly did the cards, the exact Water Numbers even managed to fall into Shark's appropriate hands? What does their existence imply? And when exactly did these cards even appear in the first place?
There were too many questions, too little time to search for answers to them. The WDC is already on the horizon, and she hadn't even gotten to search for those Academia bases that the Performage duelists said existed in Heartland, and now she had to deal with this too?!
A ping resounded on her ear, one that she decidedly chose to ignore for now, choosing to instead focus on something else.
Dinner. Right. She needed to get take out for both herself and Anna. And breakfast too for that matter since she was staying for the night evidently, along with the others too. And they would most definitely be hungry when they eventually wake up.
Right. She'll do that. She can focus on that for now. That, she can most certainly do without problem.
-
"Could you please not bother me tonight?" She said aloud to the empty dark streets of the night, a large plastic bag of take out on one hand, not bothering to turn to look at the person standing behind her.
It was supposed to be simple. Go out, buy take out for dinner and breakfast, and go back. A short half an hour stroll towards the nearest cheap restaurant that she frequented, and her mood did rise slightly with the rain going away.
And then she just had to realize that she had been stalked throughout her entire journey. All starting straight when she stepped a foot outside from her apartment no less.
"I've had quite the stressful day you see? So I would very much appreciate it if you were to leave me to my own devices on this fine night." Though she knows that the possibility of her stalker to comply with her words were incredibly low, especially if they were who they thought they were.
And she turned around, and sure enough her apparent stalker truly was the person whom she thought they were, and she had to keep her eyes from twitching with how incredibly annoying this encounter would undoubtedly be.
Standing before her was a familiar teen, one who was only slightly less taller than herself. But unlike last time, where she had personally met the boy in an abandoned alley, or that time where she saw him from afar as he dueled in the final match of the Exhibition Tournament, the teen looked completely different.
Unlike when she first met him when he looked wary, unlike the time where she watched him from afar where he showed his genuine smile and general kindness when dueling against Yuto, the teen in front of her truly did feel like a different person, simply from the mood that he had.
After all, the solemn yet vicious feeling that the blonde teenager, that Kaito radiated, truly did make him seem like a completely different person than the person that she's seen before.
"I've heard." He said, ignoring the words that left her mouth as he instead slowly lifted his left hand, and with how long she's lived in this world she could already tell what his intention was. "You have in your possession a Numbers don't you?"
By all accounts, she should probably not even bother answering his question. After all, from what she could tell from the explanation that Sayaka gives about the Numbers Monsters that Shark possessed, something that undoubtedly the teen in front of her was searching for, was different from the Numbers that she herself generates from her own System's Shop.
But the fact that he was already here, specifically going after her of all people, probably meant that he had known about her own 'Numbers', but of course like everyone else, he doesn't know that the cards that she possessed were different from the ones that he was hunting for.
But quite honestly, she wasn't in the headspace to think logically, so instead she glared at the boy from under the cap of her signature red hat. "And if I do?" She said, irritation clear in her tone. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I will be taking it." He said calmly, activating his bright blue crescent shaped duel blade. "I am the light that disperses the darkness in people's hearts. They call me… the Numbers Hunter."
"Well then, Numbers Hunter-san," She called his name with a mocking tone. "It seems that you'll have to pry these cards from my hand by force." She said with no trace of humour in her tone, raising her own duel disk and activating its purple duel blade.
-
Urgent Mission!
[Defeat the Numbers Hunter!]
Defeat the Numbers Hunter in a duel, and prevent him from taking your [Numbers]
Rewards: 100000DP, Reputation (???) Up, Reputation (???) Down, Reputation (Numbers Hunter) Change to Rival
Failure: Number 39: Utopia x1 Will be lost, Number 39: Utopia Double x1 Will be taken, Number 39: Utopia Will be lost, Number C39: Utopia Ray x1 Will be lost, Number C39: utopia Ray V Will be lost, Number 39: Utopia Ray Victory Will be lost, Ultimate Dragonic Utopia Ray x1 Will be lost, Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray x1 Will be lost, Reputation (???) Down, Reputation (???) Down, Reputation (Numbers Hunter) Down
-
And without any long wait, without a need for any form of a long talk between the two of them, they both prepared themselves for a duel.
""DUEL!!""
Numbers Hunter: 4000LP
Red Hat: 4000LP
"I'll take the first turn." The blond boy declared aloud in the empty street, taking the initiative in his primary going second deck, and that set her on the alert immediately. After all, now that she knows there were Number Monsters out there, with their anime-esque Number's Rule, the possibility of the teen in front of her in possession of two of his archetypal going first XYZ Monsters, which were both Numbers, was not zero.
And that meant that she would possibly have to deal with potential interruptions. Which was annoying in their own right.
"I'll start by summoning Cipher Twin Raptor!" The Numbers Hunter declared aloud, placing the monster card on his crescent shaped duel blade, and the rainbow winged mechanical monster then appeared on the field.
Cipher Twin Raptor - Light/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1600/800
It surprised her slightly, seeing that the teen was still on Ciphers instead of changing to his more well known archetypes that were Galaxy and Photon, but perhaps that was another meddling of the universe.
But that surprise only lasted for merely a few seconds as the gears of her mind worked, noting that if Kaito was still using his Cipher deck, then that could cross one form of interaction off of his possible end board.
… Or so she would like to say, but Number 90: Galaxy Eyes Photon Lord still possesses a form of monster effect negation even if it has no Galaxy card as material, detaching one would simply also add the clause where it destroys upon negation. And not running it in a deck that runs Photon or Galaxy cards simply means that it would not be indestructible by card effects, and that it would not be able to search or attach a card of the two archetypes mentioned for free during her turn.
"I will reveal Cipher Biplane in my hand!" The blonde duelist declared aloud, revealing the monster card in his hand. "If a 'Cipher' monster is normal or special summoned, I can special summon this card from my hand!"
And as the monster's in hand effect resolves, Kaito then proceeded to summon the flying machine onto his side of the field, all of its four rainbow-cipher-like wings shining as it appeared right beside Cipher Twin Raptor.
Cipher Biplane - Light/Machine/Level 6/Effect: 1600/800
More than anything, this line of play that the blonde was going into was quite possibly proof enough that he was going to end in some form of interaction. After all, he could have simply used the effect of Cipher Twin Raptor and discarding any card from his hand to summon any Cipher monster from his deck, with the caveat that he would be locked to Cipher monsters for the rest of the turn.
So she prepared herself to face at the very least one form of interaction, her mind already going on what kind of play she should do with the hand that she had to do so.
"And since I control a 'Cipher' monster, I will special summon Cipher Wing from my hand." And Kaito continued to flood the field with monsters as he then proceeded to summon out the third monster right from his hand, the mechanical cipher-winged monster then appeared on the field.
Cipher Wing - Light/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1400/1200
"I see…" She muttered under her breath. "So the line of play that you're going with is like that." She said, knowing already what kind of endboard that the teen in front of her would end with, one that would end with two XYZ Monsters of sort, one possibly being his tribal Cipher XYZ Monster, and the line telegraphs that one of the two cards left in his hand was a Level modulator card of sorts.
"Cipher Biplane's effect!" Kaito declared aloud just as she thought he would, waving his right arm outwards as he motioned towards the four cipher winged plane-like monster. "Once per turn, I can target 2 'Cipher' monsters I control, and change their Levels to become 8 until the end of this turn!"
Then he proceeded to point towards the two targets whose Levels he would modulate. "I will target Cipher Biplane and Cipher Wing, and change their Levels to 8!" He declared, and the two monsters then seemed to glow with yellow-ish light as their Levels changed.
Cipher Biplane - Light/Machine/Level 8/Effect: 1600/800
Cipher Wing - Light/Machine/Level 8/Effect: 1400/1200
"Now I'll take the Level 8 Cipher Biplane, and the Level 8 Cipher Wing, and overlay the two of them!" Kaito declared loudly as he raised his right hand upwards, and both cipher-winged monsters turned into bright orbs of golden light that flew into the air.
"With these two monsters, I will construct an Overlay Network! XYZ Summon!" He shouted aloud, the two orbs circling one another as they entered the galactical vortex that appeared between them, and she braced herself for the monster that he would summon, and a pillar of light shone from the vortex.
"Appear! Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand!" And the monster then appeared onto the field, one that took the form of a warrior, garbed in glistering silver and golden armour, carrying on his right hand a shining blade, dragon-like wings protruding from his back, acting as a sort of cape. The monster posed defensively, as it was summoned in defence position, although its defence points were lower than that of its attack.
Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 8/Effect: 2800/1800 OV: 2
"Felgrand?" She muttered as she narrowed her eyes at the monster before her. The XYZ Monster that Kaito had summoned had not been the one that she had expected, she'll give him that.
Especially with the plethora of Rank 8 Number Monsters that has some form of interaction with the opponent that he could've potentially summoned with the two monsters, the likes of Number 23: Lancelot, Dark Knight of the Underworld, Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy, Number 68: Sanaphond the Sky Prison, and her earlier example of Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord.
But still, Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand was still a good Rank 8 option that the teen could go into. It was still a targeting monster negate, but whether or not the boy in front of her could use it well was up to his own discretion.
"Now Cipher Twin Raptor's effect!" Kaito declared aloud, now willing to use the effect of the monster that he had first summoned now that he had summoned his non archetypal XYZ Monster.
"I can discard one card, to special summon one 'Cipher' monster from my hand or deck. And for the rest of this turn, I cannot special summon monsters except 'Cipher' monsters." The blonde duelist explained, reaffirming her suspicion as to why he hadn't shotgunned the monster's effect in the first place, what with it locking him to only Cipher monsters.
And then took out one of the two cards that he still had in hand, revealing the card that he would discard as cost for Cipher Twin Raptor's effect. "I will discard Cipher Etranger, and special summon another Cipher Twin Raptor from my deck!"
Having discarded the other Cipher monster from his hand as cost, Kaito then proceeded to special summon another exact copy of the winged raptor-like Cipher monster, making it so that he had two copies of the monster on his side of the field.
Cipher Twin Raptor - Light/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1600/800
"Now Cipher Etranger's effect!" He declared, activating the effect of the Cipher monster that he had just discarded. "If this card is sent to the graveyard, I can add one 'Cipher' Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!"
And done with explaining its effects upon hitting the graveyard, he then took out a card straight from his deck that he would add to his hand. "I will add Rank-Up-Magic Cipher Shock from my deck to my hand!"
She narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly as she heard the target that her opponent was adding to his hand, motionlessly opening her System's Shop to check on the card in question.
It was… a card, that was for sure. A Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic that can only activates its effects during the Battle Phase, specifically when a Cipher monster battles, it cannot be destroyed by that battle, along with a Skill Drain-esque negation for all monsters' effects on the field at the card's activation until the end of the turn. It then ends the Battle Phase immediately after damage calculation, then allows him to Rank up the XYZ Monster one 'Cipher' XYZ Monster which was one Rank higher.
It's certainly an interesting card, that's for sure, one that she does not think has ever been printed while she was alive back in her old world. But the card essentially does not do much in regards to disrupting her plays.
She doesn't doubt that he could make the Rank 8 in question to use the Quick-Play Spell on. This was, after all, one of the best duelists that Heartland has to offer after all.
"Then I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Double Exposure!" And just as she had expected, he played the last unknown card in his hand, revealing it to be a Level modulating Continuous Spell. "And I will activate its effect!" He declared.
"I can target 2 Level 6 or lower monsters with the same name on the field, and double their Levels!" Kaito explained the Continuous Spell's effect, waving his hand forwards and gesturing to the two monsters who shared the same name on his field.
"I will target both Cipher Twin Raptors, and double both of their Levels!" And with that said, the two cipher-winged raptor monsters let out a mechanical roar as they shone with light, their Level being modulated to that of double their original Levels.
Cipher Twin Raptor - Light/Machine/Level 8/Effect: 1600/800
Cipher Twin Raptor - Light/Machine/Level 8/Effect: 1600/800
"Now I will take the two Level 8 Cipher Twin Raptors, and overlay them!" The blonde duelist declared loudly, raising his right arm upwards once more as the two raptor-like monsters turned into golden glowing orbs of light.
"I will take these two monsters, and construct an Overlay Network with them!" Kaito shouted aloud, the two golden orbs entering the black and golden spiral that appeared once again in the middle of the field.
"O galaxy that shines in the darkness! Become my servant to achieve my goals!" The blonde duelist chanted as the whirlpool of power exploded with golden lights. "XYZ Summon! Descend! Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!"
And as the chant was then finished, the XYZ Monster then descended from the skies, both of its eyes shining as if they were the galaxy itself as it unfurled its large wings which shone with its rainbow cipher-like pattern, shining under the moonlight.
Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon - Light/Dragon/XYZ/Rank 8/Effect: 3000/2500 OV: 2
"I will set a card face-down." He said, setting the last card in his hand, the Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic that he had searched with the effect of Etranger. "And I will end my turn." And then proceeded to end his turn with that, ending with two Rank 8 XYZ Monsters, one of which was a spot monster negate, and the other being a target for his set card, along with no cards remaining left in his hand.
It was, essentially, a bait she realized. With Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand in defence position, the only way that someone could OTK in this position was to either have a monster with piercing attack it, or to attack the attack position Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon, no matter how rare that might be.
Which will in turn, allow him to activate his set Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic. Letting his monster survive the battle, at the cost of possibly receiving whatever battle damage that that would be, and immediately ending the Battle Phase and having something like Neo Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon on the crack back.
Though the opponent not have an out to Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon however, and only could out Felgrand what with its measly 1800 points of defence, he can simply OTK on his own with Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon being an out to any Numbers via its effect, and possibly even keeping the stolen monster if he were to use the the Rank-Up-Magic on it.
She didn't doubt that the board was made somewhat after doing research to what her cards, specifically her Boss Monsters, could do. Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand to both negate the effect of Utopia Double and prevent it from being used as material for her own Rank-Up-Magic, while the Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon was a bait for an OTK push on the crackback should she summon something like Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray whose attack would be around 6000.
"Then it's my turn huh?" She said, eyeing the board that her opponent had built and was simply… quite unimpressed. Now don't get her wrong, the fact that Kaito had managed to assemble a board of two Rank 8 Monsters using Ciphers of all things was commendable, and he did at the very least manage to get a form of interruption in Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand, but that was just it.
She could only think of the possible board that the boy could manage should he had played the archetypes that he was more well known for, even as limited as the pool of cards they might be at the current timeline, he could have perhaps made the same endboard, one without the need of locking himself to Cipher Monsters.
Then again, quite a lot of the good Photon and Galaxy cards were released after the end of the Arc-V era, and the cards around those times were the ones that she found running around here. So that meant that the deck that the blonde would have had wouldn't quite be running at peak performance.
"I'll draw." She proceeded to cut out all unnecessary lines of thought as she focused on the duel, drawing a card for turn and starting with six cards in her hand, a play already in mind having had the time to think of a line while Kaito was doing his turn.
"As I control no cards, I will special summon ZS - Ascended Sage from my hand." And started so by special summoning a monster from her hand, that being the golden staff wielding blue armored warrior, with several bits and pieces of armour hovering over behind the monster in question as it entered the field.
ZS - Ascended Sage - Light/Warrior/Level 4/Effect: 900/300
"Then I will activate the Continuous Spell, Onomatopickup." She said, playing the card from her hand, and the holographic projection of the Continuous Spell appeared on her field, its image depicting Gagaga Magician and Zubaba Knight, both cards whom she had taken out of the decks a long time ago since she picked this specific Structure.
"When this card is activated, I can add one 'Onomat' card from my deck to my hand, except another copy of 'Onomatopickup'." She explained the Continuous Spell's effect, and seeing no form of interception from her opponent, with him only having Felgrand as one, she picked out her target.
"I will add the Spell, Onomatopaira from my deck to my hand." And saying so she added the Spell card, and shuffled the five card hand that she had before proceeding to then activate the added card. "And I will activate it."
WIth the holographic image of the Spell appearing on the field, she began to explain its effects as it shone. "Onomatopaira lets me send one card from my hand to the graveyard, and choose 2 categories between 'Zubaba', 'Gagaga', 'Gogogo', and 'Dododo', and add one monster in that category from my deck to my hand."
The eyes of the Numbers Hunter before her narrowed as she listed the plethora of cards that she could technically add from her deck to her hand with the Spell's effect, and she then paid the cost and added them in quick succession.
"I will discard the Spell, Zexal Construction, to add Utopic Onomatopoeia, which is always treated as one of all four categories, and Zubababancho Gagagacoat from my deck to my hand." Saying so, she sent the Spell card from her hand to the graveyard, and proceeded to take the two monster cards from her deck to her hand.
"I will normal summon Utopic Onomatopoeia." And she then proceeded to use her normal summon of the turn. Placing the monster card on her duel blade, the miniaturized version of her current deck's signature monster appeared, brandishing its blade as it hovered right beside her Ascended Sage.
Utopic Onomatopoeia - Light/Warrior/Level 4/Effect: 1500/1500
Her opponent's eyes narrowed as he saw her gather two Level 4 monsters on her side of the field, prime materials for an XYZ Summon, but she wasn't quite done with her plays just yet. "Now Utopic Onomatopoeia effect." She declared.
"During my Main Phase, I can special summon up to one each 'Zubaba', 'Gagaga', 'Gogogo', and or 'Dododo' monsters from my hand in defence position." She explained, glossing over how the effect locks her from summoning monsters from her Extra Deck to only XYZ Monsters until the end of the turn.
And seeing that her opponent decided not to use his one form of interaction just yet, most probably keeping it for the XYZ Monster that she would undoubtedly summon, she revealed the other monster that she had just added to her hand. "I will special summon Zubababancho Gagagacoat from my hand."
And the monster then appeared onto the field, hefting its serrated blade on its shoulder, the cap wearing warrior appeared on her side of the field, being the third Level 4 monster that she had managed to summon for the turn.
Zubababancho Gagagacoat - Earth/Warrior/Level 4/Effect: 1800/100
"I will overlay the Level 4 ZS - Ascended Sage, and the Level 4 Utopic Onomatopoeia." She said with a wave of her hand, and both monsters turned into glowing orbs of light that circled one another as a galactical black and gold vortex appeared in the middle of the field for the third time of this game.
"I will construct an overlay network with these two monsters, XYZ Summon." She said simply, and the two golden orbs of light then melded into the galactical vortex, exploding into a pillar of light.
"XYZ Summon." She said with a snap of her finger finishing the simple chant. "Appear. Tornado Dragon." And the XYZ Monster that appeared onto the field was one that she had kept since she had gotten sick from her sick leave, the dragon-like monster made of whirlwinds and tornadoes letting out a distorted roar as it emerged onto her side of the field, two pale green orbs orbiting around the Wyrm Monster.
Tornado Dragon - Wind/XYZ/Wyrm/Rank 4/Effect: 2100/2000 OV: 2
"Tornado Dragon… that's not the Number Monster that we've heard." She heard Kaito murmur, and she couldn't help but scoff at him thinking that she would only run the titular Number monster in what was more or less the premier Rank 4 toolbox deck.
Though summoning the monster did come at a bit of a downer, as she had used Ascended Sage as one of its materials, she did not get its effects of freely searching a Rank-Up-Magic upon summon, that only works for a 'Utopia' XYZ Monster after all.
No, this was simply done for the quick and easy OTK line that she envisioned. One done to bait out the singular form of interruption that her opponent had.
"Tornado Dragon's effect." She declared aloud, snapping her fingers once more. "Once per turn, as a Quick Effect, I can detach one material from this card to then target one Spell or Trap card on the field, and destroy it."
Hearing the monster's effect, Kaito's composure broke for a single second, realising that the monster that she had summoned would destroy the set card that he had in his backrow, the Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic that he had searched over his combo line, and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I will detach one material from Tornado Dragon, and target your set card to destroy it." With a distorted roar, the Wyrm XYZ Monster absorbed one of its two overlay units, using it as cost to use its effect and destroy the set card on her opponent's side of the field.
Tornado Dragon - Wind/XYZ/Wyrm/Rank 4/Effect: 2100/2000 OV: 1
"Tch! I will activate the effect of Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand!" The blonde declared in response, chaining his own XYZ Monster's effect. "Once per turn, during either player's turn, I can detach one XYZ Material from this card, then target one face-up monster on the field, for this turn, its effects are negated, but it is unaffected by other card effects!"
The Numbers Hunter then pointed towards the target for the monster's effect, and he of course targeted the one XYZ Monster that was currently on her side of the field. "I will target your Tornado Dragon, and negate its effect!"
With that declaration, the warrior XYZ Monster raised its blade, and one of the two overlay materials that it had was absorbed into the weapon. With a wave of its sword, the monster shot out a bright light aimed towards Tornado Dragon, intending to negate its effects, and make it immune to other card effects until the end of this turn.
Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 8/Effect: 2800/1800 OV: 1
The chain then resolves backwards, as it always does, and the golden light hits her Tornado Dragon, making it lose its effects but with the added caveat that it would be immune to other card effects until the end of this turn. And with that, the effect that it had activated earlier in the chain resolved without effect, as it was negated.
But it all still went exactly as she had planned it. She had managed to bait out the one negation, now it was simply time to perform the rest of the OTK. "I will activate the effect of Zubababancho Gagagacoat."
Declaring so, she waved her right hand outwards towards the monster as she explained its effect. "Once per turn, I can target one 'Gogogo' or 'Dododo' monster in my graveyard, and special summon it." She said, once more glossing over how its effect locks her to summoning only XYZ Monsters from the Extra Deck for the turn.
"As it is treated as both a 'Gogogo' and a 'Dododo' monster, I will summon back Utopic Onomatopoeia." And with a wave of the monster's jagged blade, the miniature Utopia returned onto her side of the field, once more brandishing its silver blade towards her opponent.
Utopic Onomatopoeia - Light/Warrior/Level 4/Effect: 1500/1500
"And I will overlay the Level 4 Zubababancho Gagagacoat, and the Level 4 Utopic Onomatopoeia." She declared once more, performing her second XYZ Summon of the game, and the two monsters turning into orbs of light, both brown and gold respectively.
"I will once more construct an overlay network with these monsters, XYZ Summon." She said with a snap of her finger, the two orbs of light entering the galactical vortex that appeared, and exploding once more into a bright pillar of light.
"Appear. Number 39: Utopia Double." And appearing out from the blinding flash of light was an astral figure, leaving after images as it appeared, spreading its metallic wings wide as it brandished both of its weapons.
Number 39: Utopia Double - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 0/2500 OV: 2
And with Kaito's singular interaction having been used, she could easily go off without any problems. "I will activate its effects." She declared. "As a Quick Effect, I can detach one material from this card, to add one 'Double or Nothing!' from my deck to my hand, then special summon from my Extra Deck one 'Utopia' XYZ Monster except another copy of itself, by using this face-up card I control as material."
The ghostly-like figure of her XYZ Monster then waved its two swords, taking one of its two overlay materials that orbited around it as a cost to activate its effects, absorbing the orb into its chestplate.
Number 39: Utopia Double - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 0/2500 OV: 1
With the XYZ Monster's effect explained, she raised her right hand upwards slightly. "XYZ Change." And with a snap of her fingers, the ghostly-like figure of Utopia Double glewed bright, its translucent form becoming more and more real. And of course, she added the Quick-Play Spell that was Double or Nothing! from her deck to her hand.
"Appear. Number 39: Utopia." And with a simple chant, the once ghostly figure changed, its once translucent body becoming real, the two blades that were once on both of its hands replaced with a large broadsword that it brandished with its right hand.
Number 39: Utopia - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 2500/2000 OV: 2
"And as I have summoned it with the effect of Utopia Double, Utopia's attack will be doubled, but it cannot attack directly." She further explained, a golden light glowing from her changed XYZ Monster, its attack point doubled from its original one.
Number 39: Utopia - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 5000/2000 OV: 2
"Battle." She declared, moving on towards the Battle Phase, intending to end the game with the usual Utopia OTK. "I will attack Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand with Utopia. Hope Sword Slash."
With the order given, the XYZ Monster spread its metallic wings, hefting its large blade, the monster flew towards the defence position Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand, should the attack connect, then there was no doubt that Kaito's XYZ Monster would be destroyed in the following battle.
But that wasn't the line, really she only declared that because attacking straight into Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon would trigger the set card that the Numbers Hunter had set in the previous turn. "Utopia's effect." She declared.
"When a monster declares an attack, I can detrach one material from these cards to negate that attack. Hope Shield Wing." She said with a snap of her fingers, one of the two orbiting overlay materials that her XYZ Monster had been absorbed into its torso as a cost of activating its effect.
Number 39: Utopia - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 5000/2000 OV: 1
And the gold and white armoured XYZ Monster halted its attack, spreading its right wing in front of it as said metallic wing expanded to cover its entire body, negating its own attack and stopping itself from destroying Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand.
"You negated your own attack?!" The Numbers Hunter shouted aloud with wide eyes, surprised by the play that she had just done. Before trying to regain his composure as he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "But why would you-"
"Then I'll activate the Quick-Play Spell, Double or Nothing!" She declared as she then activated the Quick-Play Spell right as she resolved Utopia's effect to negate its own attack, right on time to fulfil the card's activation condition.
"When a monster's attack is negated, I can target that monster, and it can make another attack on this Battle Phase." She said, explaining the Quick-Play Spell's effect. "Go. Utopia." She said with a simple lazy wave of her hand, snapping her fingers for one last time as she declared another attack. "Attack Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon. Hope Sword Slash."
With the order once again given and the XYZ Monster reinvigorated to attack once more, the white and golden armoured XYZ Monster leaped high with the help of its wings, hefting its gigantic blade high above its head as it faced against the galaxy-eyed dragon who roared in challenge.
"Hmph! I'll activate the Quick-Play Spell! Rank-Up-Magic Cipher Shock!" The blonde duelist declared, flipping up the face-down card that he had set during his turn, raising his right hand high as the Quick-Play Spell's holographic projection shone brightly.
"During the Battle Phase, Cipher Shock allows me to target one battling 'Cipher' XYZ Monster that I control, it cannot be destroyed by that battle, and negate the effects of all monsters that were on the field when this card was activated until the end of this turn!" He explained and waved his hand outwards towards the target.
"I will target my Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon, and make it so that it cannot be destroyed by this battle, and negate the effects of all monsters on the field!" He declared loudly as a wave of energy shot out for the nor roaring dragon, negating the effect of all monsters currently face-up on the field.
"That changes nothing." She cut in to her opponent's explanation of his card's effect. "The lingering effect of Double or Nothing! isn't a monster effect that that card can negate, and even if it isn't destroyed by the battle… you'll still take the damage."
"But it won't be enough for you to defeat me!" The Numbers Hunter shouted aloud. "Even if this attack connects, I would still have some Life Points remaining."
"No. You would not." She said a matter of factly, already lowering her duel disk as the game had all but ended. "Double or Nothing!'s effect activates during the Damage Step." She declared, startling her opponent.
"Should that monster make another attack during this Battle Phase, during the Damage Step only, its attack is doubled." She explained fully the effect of the Quick-Play Spell that she had used earlier.
"Doubled?!" Her opponent shouted with wide eyes, startled at the thought of how much the monster's attack could possibly rise with the Quick-Play Spell's effect. "And its activated on the 5000 attack Utopia, that means-"
"10000 attack, as I said, you won't have any Life Points remaining from this attack." And as the two monsters closed in on one another, the effect of Double or Nothing activated, a golden glow surrounded the flying Utopia, making its attack points rise even higher.
Number 39: Utopia - Light/XYZ/Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 10000/2000 OV: 1
And the attack hits. With a loud heavy grunt the armoured XYZ Monster cleaved its giant blade through the gigantic galaxy-eyed dragon. Cleaving the monster cleanly into two, and creating an explosion of light.
"GUAAAAH" The Numbers Hunter before her shouted as he was thrown back from the force of the explosion, or at least something similar made through solid vision, and landed harshly on the pavements below. The one attack that she had done reduced any and all Life Points that he had.
Numbers Hunter: 0LP
She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, and let out a long exhale, calming herself down as she lowered and deactivated her duel disk. The holographic projections that filled the night streets disappeared as the device was turned off.
She started to approach the fallen Numbers Hunter, who was struggling to get himself back up. "I-I lost?" She heard him grumble in disbelief, the blonde boy's entire body shaking in anger at the thought that he had lost the duel, gritting his teeth and digging his nails into his fist.
"That you did. Numbers Hunter-kun." She said as she stared down at the fallen boy, said Numbers Hunter then looked up towards her and sent death glares all while a fierce scowl decorated his face.
And there was no doubt that this was an important duel, both for herself and the boy before her. After all, it was a duel that the 'Numbers Hunter' started after all, a duel where she would have lost her Numbers Monsters should she lose, and that currently consists of the entire Utopia line up, the Number 39s that is.
She looked down on the boy before her, and a whole slew of emotions flew through her mind, quite honestly the situation that she faced before her felt incredibly similar. As if something like this had happened before.
And it had. Though the situation isn't exactly the same, the teen before her shared quite the parallels with Edo of all people.
Both of them had reasons for dueling her, though in Edo's case he hadn't known that it was her exactly, but by now the silver haired teen would no doubt have been informed of the Red Hat's identity.
And though she had only met the teen in front of her in passing, and she had only sold him a play set of Galaxy Cyclone of all things, just like Edo, he had a likable backstory, if she could still remember it correctly that is.
If she wasn't misremembering, he became a Numbers Hunter for the sake of his little brother who fell ill or something of sort, essentially it had something to do with the existence of Numbers.
And there was also the fact that he was a protagonist, with him ending up helping the main characters in their journey and all.
She doesn't know what his role exactly was in the story of Arc-V, nor does she know why he was out here, being a Numbers Hunter of all things…
She felt bad. Truly she did. But she wouldn't just let herself lose because of empathy like that, not only would that give a hollow victory, but she too had something that she was fighting for.
But that doesn't mean that they have to be enemies at the very least. And it wasn't her simply speaking of liking him as a 'character', nor was she sympathizing with what he might or might not be going through, no if anything her reasoning was far more 'sinister'.
After all, the teen in front of her was as formidable as the duelists from the XYZ Dimension could come. And that wasn't counting perhaps the additional support cards that she could possibly give to him.
The teen in front of her could become a valuable asset in the upcoming battle against That Man and his army of brainwashed soldiers. A force to be reckoned with against those who face him.
And if it accidentally helps whatever quest he was on, and perhaps help save the XYZ Dimension while he was at it, then that was simply an added bonus, at least that was what she was convincing herself.
So she took the entirety of the DP that she had just gained from both the resulting duel and the Emergency Quest that popped up, and dumped them all as she opened several boxes worth of packs.
Soon enough, the card that she had searched for came up, along with a notification that the card could no longer be attained. Which was annoying, but considering what the card was, it couldn't be helped with how the rules of the world and her System worked.
With a flick of her wrist, the card appeared on her hand as she took it out of her inventory, and with another flick, the card landed right between the crevices of the stone pavements below them.
"A consolation prize. And I guess a piece of proof to show that the Numbers that I possess are not the one that you're hunting, Numbers Hunter-kun." She said as she then fixed the cap of her hat, and turned to walk away.
Kaito looked understandably startled at her actions, and as he seemingly started to raise his head, watching her retreating figure getting farther and farther away. "Wait!" He shouted, all while he struggled to push himself back up.
And she obliged, stopping briefly as she turned her head slightly to give her last regards to the teen. "I do hope that we can be amicable with one another, Numbers Hunter-kun. You were my first customer here after all."
With her final piece said and done, she continued her trek back to her temporary home, raising her hand as she waved back as she walked. "Good luck on your Hunt." She shouted aloud, not once looking back even as the downed teen kept shouting at her to return.
"But I know that you'll do well even without luck." She muttered under her breath as she soon enough lost the blonde teen, moving her eyes slightly as she glanced over towards the screen that had popped up not long before.
-
World Quest
[Numbers Hunt]
Collect all 99 [XYZ Dimension] exclusive Numbers
Rewards: 999999DP, Reputation (???) Up, Reputation (???) Down, Numbers 100: Numeron Dragon [XYZ Dimension] x1, XYZ Master Pack Unlocked
Failure: XYZ Dimension Reputation all Down, ??? Will invade the XYZ Dimension immediately
[Deadline: The end of the World Duel Carnival (7 Days, 6 Hours, 34 Minutes, 5 Seconds remaining)]
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"And I do hope that you do your best in getting them all." She whispered aloud once more, knowing that no one would hear her as she stared into the night sky with grim determination. "Because I will certainly give my all to do my part."