A/N: This is sorta one of those stories that starts at the end, then goes back to the beginning of the story and ends up at the end again, so don't worry if you don't really understand what's happening at first, 'kay? Enjoy~
He fled, dodging and weaving between the spinning gears. He couldn't allow them to catch up. If he did, he'd never see the light of day again. He could count on that.
Twisting to the left, he barely made it between another pair of gears before their teeth clamped together in their ever-moving rotation. He shuddered at the thought of being crushed in the gears, but continued his haphazard flight through the labyrinth.
He ducked under a powerful blast of energy that hit not far from his head, but instead collided with a large gear.
He went between two more gears, but found he'd misjudged his timing.
The teeth of one gears clipped his shoulder, nearly dragging him down to a grim, bone-crushing fate.
The force was enough, however, to spin him out of control.
He collided head-on with another smaller gear, luckily not breaking his neck, then dropped down, barely conscious.
He smashed into the ground below, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs.
It felt like an eternity before his heterochromic eyes eased back open, though in reality it had only been a few seconds.
He was lucky it only had been that long though, because just as he looked up, they had already cleared the gears and were now rushing towards his.
He quickly glanced around him for an escape route but found none other than the one hi pursuers blocked.
He backed away as best he could with his bruises and cuts.
The monsters got closer to him, snarling in rage. But they weren't just any monsters.
They were Numbers.
Suddenly the whole airship shuddered as it took another brutal attack from outside.
Metal shrieked and twisted. Gears gave way and fell with a resounding clatter to the floor. The entire frame of the airship started collapsing on itself.
He trembled, breathing hard, against the far wall, watching in terrorized agony as the Numbers closed in.
This is the end for me.. I bought all the time I could... He thought.
Then a miracle happened; a large gear gave way and fell on one of the Numbers. The others jumped in surprise, startled as Number 20 Giga Brilliant cried out in pain and became trapped the metal.
He took the opportunity to flee, knowing it was his only chance to escape.
Once he put some distance between himself and the other Numbers, he slowed down slightly, already beyond exhausted.
With his guard down, he never noticed the beating of wings behind him until something crashed against him, and claws dug themselves into his body.
Before he could even scream, he caught a glimpse of a Number printed in it's armor.
107
Tachyon.
He wasn't in the dragon's claws long. A sword slashed at Tachyon's head, and with a roar of frustration, Tachyon released it's prey to turn on it's attacker.
His falling body was caught on a stationary gear, half dangling off the edge. He was far too tired to try dragging himself from the danger of falling further.
Instead, he stared up at the Number that had saved him from Tachyon and that was still clashing with the fore-mentioned dragon above.
Engraved on it's chest plate was 65.
He let his head loll to the side and watched, as his vision faded, the violet drip from the gashes in his midnight flesh.
A/N: (Now, I'm sure you're wondering what caused such a conflict between the Numbers came to be, correct? I'll explain as best I can without giving away the whole story.
So for one thing, as said in the description, this is if the Numbers had their own dimension and they can travel to the reality world through being summoned in duels. What you just read above, the Numbers have pretty much found a way to access the reality world without being summoned, specifically from Yuma's key/Astral's air ship. The reason for the conflict will be explained in a few chapters. I'll leave any other notes to explain things that may need to be clarified. If you have any questions, I'll be more than glad to answer them. Just drop a comment on this story about what you're wondering.
Barian Sekai No Tame Ni~!)