Yuma Tsukumo woke up and rolled out of the hammock that served as his bed.

'Ow!' he muttered, rubbing his head, before grabbing the Emperor's Key from where it hang off the hammock. He quickly got dressed into school clothes and jumped down the entrance into his actual room.

The room's occupant looked at his clothes blearily. 'Yuma,' mumbled Michael, 'isn't it Sunday?'

Yuma paused. 'Right,' he said, grinning and jumping back up into the attic.

'Idiot,' remarked Michael, before slowly getting himself out of the bed and dressing himself in a red shirt and black pants, very different to his outfit previous to–

It had been three weeks since Madoka Kaname had destroyed Tres Tantibus and restored Michael. Since then, he had chosen to stay at Yuma's house, attempting to avoid contact with either his remaining family or with anyone working for Heartland.

It didn't take long until Michael regretted his decision, but knew that, unfortunately, his family couldn't be trusted any longer, as torn as that made him. Instead, he was getting to know Yuma's friends, who were nice enough considering what he had almost done to them.

Michael looked at himself in the mirror, and tilted his head to one side so that his hair fell over itself. 'The dye's wearing off,' he said. 'I'm surprised it lasted this long.'

'Well,' replied Yuma from the attic, 'just get Akari to dye it again.'

'I was thinking a different colour this time,' mused Michael. 'Black doesn't really suit me.'

'How about… purple?'

Michael laughed. 'I would look horrible with purple hair,' he said. 'I'd look like someone cosplaying Sha–'

Michael caught himself quickly. Ryoga had disappeared after his battle with IV, and despite the help of Yuma's sister and friends, they had been unable to find him.

'Probably,' remarked Yuma, leaping down, now properly dressed.

'Do you even have any other clothes?' laughed Michael, noting that Yuma was still wearing the same outfit as always.

'Well, you're wearing some of them,' replied Yuma.

'Right,' answered Michael. 'Come on, if we're late for breakfast again, your sister's going to be pretty annoyed.'

The two of the walked into the dining room, only to be confronted by a stranger.

'Yuma,' started Haru, walking in from the kitchen that connected off it, 'this is our new neighbour, Ail Themal. She's from… America, I think it was?'

'That's right,' said Ail in slightly stilted Japanese. She was short, and fairly young, with dyed black hair and piercing blue eyes. Her left hand was hidden below the table. 'I am at American Duel Academy, but I came over here as transfer student for a year. Uh… I met your sister the other day, and she told me I could come over whenever… uh…' Ail began stuttering, clearly nervous. 'I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this.'

'No problem,' replied Yuma. 'It's nice to meet you!'

'Th- thanks…' muttered Ail. 'Uh… you must be… Yuma, but who's the other boy?'

Michael blushed. 'This is… uh… Shri,' said Yuma, struggling to remember the cover story he and Michael had devised early into his stay, and failing entirely. 'He's my cousin, he's staying over here for a couple of months!'

'"Shri"?' repeated Ail, as Michael silently sighed to himself. 'That's a strange name.'

'So is "Ay-har",' replied Yuma.

'I guess,' laughed Ail.

'Well,' said Yuma, jumping up, 'I'm gonna go out, go meet all my friends.'

Michael groaned. 'Yuma, you forgot to have breakfast,' he muttered.

Later, after Yuma had had breakfast, he, Michael and Kotori were walking through the mall.

It had turned out that, given the chance, Michael was almost as happy as Kotori to idle around the stores, leaving Yuma to whine behind them. Kotori remedied this by forcing Yuma to dress in increasingly odd outfits, whilst Michael giggled behind them.

'This is boring,' complained Yuma, as they walked out of the sixth clothes store in a row. 'Why are you guys having so much fun?'

'You can leave if you want,' replied Kotori.

'Alright then, I–' started Yuma, turning and walking into a short, black-haired woman who looked down at him, startled.

'Oh,' said Michael, surprised. 'It's Ail.'

'Who?' asked Yuma.

'The girl from this morning,' answered Michael. 'The girl from Duel Academy.'

'Oh, right!' said Yuma. Ail laughed.

'I'm glad I made such an impact on you that you've forgotten me in a day,' she said.

Yuma laughed weakly. 'Yeah… sorry 'bout that. I didn't…'

Ail motioned to stop him. 'Don't concern over it,' she said, causing her to get a strange look from the others. She stopped, then tried again. 'Don't worry over it,' she retried. 'I hardly know any of my neighbours back home.'

'Well, it was nice to see you!' said Yuma, starting to turn, before Kotori grabbed him by the arm and twisted him around.

'Be polite,' she said. 'Unless you'd like to do more shopping.'

Yuma whitened, and Ail laughed again. 'Well then, Yuma… maybe you'd like to have a duel?' she asked.

'Hey, yeah!' replied Yuma enthusiastically. 'I mean, you go to a school for it and everything, I bet you're awesome at duelling!'

'Yuma, it's the middle of a shopping centre,' chastened Kotori. 'It's no time to duel.'

'On the contrary,' interrupted Ail, 'I assume… I think it's always a good time to duel. Let's go then, Yuma!'

'Awesome!' yelled Yuma. 'Come on, Ail, let's do this!'

Ail threw out her right hand, over which she placed a blue-white D-Pad of a curious design. Yuma threw on his D-Pad and D-Gazer as per usual.

Kotori put her face in her hands. 'Why is everyone always so obsessed with duelling,' she moaned, before taking her D-Gazer out of her pocket and placing it over her eye.

Beside her, Michael laughed, placing a borrowed D-Gazer over his eye too. 'We can go down to that shop with all the costumes later and put Yuma in some of them,' he said, and Kotori giggled.

Yuma frowned, clearly irritated. 'Hey, guys, come on!' he whined.

Across from him, Ail stood serenely, watching them. Her entire mood seemed completely different to earlier. 'I think I'll be taking the first turn, Yuma!' she called. 'I draw! Now, I Summon Darkstorm Eel, and set two cards to end!'

ATK: 1800, LV: 4

Yuma looked at the vicious blue-black snake creature across from him, then looked down at his hand.

'Yuma, this is not a monster you can defeat with the cards in your hand,' stated Astral. 'You will need to play defensively until you can fight it.'

'I know that!' yelled Yuma, irritated. 'Okay, I'll set a monster, and two other cards, and end!'

'My turn!' said Ail. 'I draw! Now, I Release Darkstorm Eel, to Advance Summon Darkstorm Hydra!'

ATK: 2000, LV: 6

Beside her appeared a multi-headed reptilian creature, around which electricity flashed and crackled.

'And, when Darkstorm Eel is Released, I can destroy a Spell or Trap Card my opponent controls!' continued Ail, and a ball of light appeared above her head, which she threw at one of Yuma's set cards, shattering it into golden particles.

'What?!' yelled Yuma.

'Battle Break,' mused Ail. 'That's that taken care of.'

'Ail's a lot stronger than she looks,' mused Michael.

'Now,' said Ail, 'I activate the Continuous Trap, Storm Front! This increases my Hydra's attack power by 500!'

ATK: 2000→2500

'Now then, Hydra! Attack Yuma's set monster! Thunder Strike №1!'

As the blasts hit his monster, Yuma grinned. 'Once per turn, my Gogogo Golem isn't destroyed by battle!' he replied.

'It's now that my Hydra's effects will activate,' stated Ail. 'When Hydra attacks a Defence Position monster, you will take piercing damage!'

The multi-headed creature spat a blast of electricity that collided with Yuma hard, singeing his clothes.

YUMA: 4000→3000

Michael gasped. 'She's inflicting real damage?' he cried, startled, and Kotori spun to face Ail.

'What?' she yelled.

Ail barely spared them a second glance.

'Hydra's second effect activates!' continued Ail. 'As long as you have a monster on your field, it can attack a number of times equal to the Level of the monster Released for its Summon! Eel's Level was 4, so Hydra will attack four times! Now go, Hydra! Destroy his Gogogo Golem! Thunder Strike №2!'

Another head opened its maw, flinging another stream of electricity at Yuma's monster, which disintegrated, before colliding with Yuma himself and knocking him backwards.

YUMA: 3000→2000

'Yuma…' whispered Kotori.

'I'm alright!' cried Yuma. 'Don't worry, I'm alright!'

Not for long, thought Ail. 'I'll end at that,' she said. 'And during the End Phase, Storm Front resets itself, returning Hydra's attack power to normal.'

ATK: 2500→2000

'It's my turn!' declared Yuma. 'I draw! Now, I Summon Zubaba Knight, and activate Copy Knight, allowing me to Special Summon it as a monster with the same Level as Zubaba Knight!'

ATK: 1600, LV: 3; ATK: 0, LV: ?→3

'And with these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!' As the two monsters disappeared into the galaxy-shaped portal in front of him, Yuma punched the air. 'Come on out, Number 17! Leviath Dragon!'

ATK: 2000, RK: 3

'Number…' whispered Ail.

'I activate Leviath Dragon's effect,' continued Yuma, 'detaching an Overlay Unit from it to increase its attack power by 500! Now go, Leviath Dragon! Destroy her Hydra! Vice Stream!'

'I activate the effect of the Darkstorm Scouter in my hand!' interrupted Ail. 'By discarding it, I can negate your monster's attack and then Special Summon two Bolt Tokens!'

A huge electrical barrier formed around Hydra, deflecting Leviath Dragon's attack, then splitting into two bolts of electricity and coalescing into spheres on either side of Ail.

DEF: 0, LV: 1

'In that case, I set a card and end!' finished Yuma.

'Yuma,' said Astral suddenly, and Yuma turned to face him, 'why are you using a Number against someone who does not appear to be possessed by a Number?'

'Uh… because…' stuttered Yuma.

'My turn,' said Ail, and her voice went hard. 'I draw. Now, I Release both Bolt Tokens to Advance Summon Darkstorm Overlord!'

The two Tokens disappeared, sucked into a massive storm that was appearing behind Ail, expanding and transforming into the shape of a monstrous dragon.

ATK: 3000, LV: 8

'3000 attack points?!' yelled Yuma.

'3500, actually,' said Ail. 'Because I'm activating Storm Front again, and increasing Overlord's attack power by a further 500!'

ATK: 3000→3500

'I see,' mused Astral. 'By constantly resetting that card, she can give its benefits to different monsters each time.'

'Now,' declared Ail, 'Overlord will attack Leviath Dragon! It's the end for you, Yuma!'

'Not quite,' replied Yuma confidently. 'You see, my Leviath Dragon is a Number, which means that only another Number can destroy it!'

'You're taking damage, regardless!' stated Ail. 'Continue your attack, Overlord! Hurricane Annihilation!'

The massive dragon transformed into a storm again, now a huge typhoon that spiralled through Leviath Dragon and into Yuma, knocking him backwards.

YUMA: 2000→1000

'Yuma's on 1000 Life Points and he's only had two turns…' whispered Kotori.

Yuma cringed. Astral, I need your help, he thought.

'There is no need for my help,' stated Astral. 'This is just a normal duel, a casual one if you will, between friends.'

Ail began laughing softly. 'I can hear you,' she said. 'I can hear everything you've been saying.'

Astral turned slowly. 'What?' he replied, startled.

'Nothing hides from the Crystal,' stated Ail. 'Not even you. I activate the Spell Card, Storm Alignment! Since I control two Darkstorm monsters, I can make one's Level that of the other! So, I'll change Hydra's Level to 8, the same as Overlord!'

LV: 6→8

'Oh no…' whispered Astral.

'And with these two Level 8 Dark monsters,' cried Ail, 'I will construct the Overlay Network!'

The two monsters disappeared into a glowing black vortex, shaped like a galaxy – the Summoning of a Number.

'The creature that dwells within the heart of darkness,' intoned Ail, 'the creature that will devour the souls of all the world!'

Behind her, the shape of a cracked mask appeared, seemingly a mask of some lizard's face.

'Rise from the darkness within my heart!' cried Ail. 'Xyz Summon! Number 84!'

The mask began to glow, and a body began to expand out of it, a black, featureless body, at the end of which was a pointed stinger-like tail.

'Demonic Reptile King of the Darkworld! Lightning Scarred Caiman!'

The creature stopped transforming, and stood in front of Ail, a featureless creature standing on its back legs, upon its face the mask with the number "84" emblazoned upon it in pale green.

It was also a foot high.

ATK: 0, RK: 8

Zero attack power… thought Michael. Oh, this isn't good.

'That's not that scary,' remarked Yuma.

'I activate Caiman's effect,' continued Ail. 'Once per turn, I can detach an Overlay Unit from it to drain the soul of one of your monsters! Your monster's attack and defence power will become zero, and its effect will be negated! At this time, my Caiman's attack and defence power increase by the power your monster lost! Go, Soul Taker!'

One of the tiny purple spheres floating around the creature was absorbed into its stinger, and that same stinger expanded, firing a black cord into Leviath Dragon, which began to slowly fold into a sphere – its sealed form.

Caiman, on the other hand, grew larger. Its eyes became narrower, its mask thinner, and from the back of its head emerged three huge horns. Onto the leftmost of these, its number shifted. From its back emerged three sets of massive black wings, whilst around its lower legs a set of metal spikes appeared.

OU: 2→1, ATK: 0→2500, DEF: 0→0; ATK: 2500→0, DEF: 0→0

'It… it…' whispered Yuma.

'It took Leviath Dragon's soul…' whispered Michael, stunned.

'Well, at least she can't attack with it,' said Kotori. 'I mean, she's already conducted her Battle Phase this turn.'

Ail turned to Kotori, and smirked. Her right eye was shining with an unnatural violet light. 'I guess I'll just have to conduct another one, then,' she stated. 'I activate the Spell Card, Mischief of the Time Goddess! This allows me to skip the turn count to my next Battle Phase, permitting me another attack!'

'Oh no…' whispered Astral.

'Now then, Caiman attacks Leviath Dragon! Go, Shadow Vice Stream!'

The creature opened its maw and spat a blast of black energy at the crippled Leviath Dragon, as Michael and Kotori watched helplessly.

The blast hit.

Custom Cards

Okay guys, because this fic is using the dreaded Original Character, there will be a number of original cards as well. I'm just going to stick all the new ones in this section here at the end of the chapter they appear in. Just letting you know.

Darkstorm Eel
Level 4
1800/700
Dark/Reptile
When this card is Tributed: Target 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field; destroy it.

Darkstorm Hydra
Level 6
2000/1600
Dark/Reptile
This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card can attack a number of times during each Battle Phase equal to the Level of the monster Tributed for its Tribute Summon, but it cannot attack directly.

Storm Front
Continuous Trap Card
You can only activate this card during your Main Phase 1 if you control a face-up Level 4 or higher LIGHT monster. Set this card during the End Phase. Once per turn: Target 1 face-up LIGHT monster on the field; that target gains 500 ATK whilst this card remains face-up on the field.

Darkstorm Scouter
Level 4
0/800
Dark/Reptile
If your opponent targets a Level 6 or higher LIGHT monster you control for an attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand; this card becomes the new target for that attack. When this card is destroyed by battle: Special Summon two "Bolt Tokens" to your side of the field (Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 0).

Darkstorm Overlord
Level 8
3000/2200
Dark/Reptile
You can Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 3 LIGHT monsters. If this card is Summoned this way: Banish all cards your opponent controls.

Storm Alignment
Normal Spell Card
Target 2 Level 5 or higher LIGHT monsters you control: Their Levels become that of the target with the highest Level. During the End Phase of this turn, if you Xyz Summoned using those monsters as Xyz Material: You can draw a card.

Number 84: Demonic Reptile King of the Darkworld - Lightning Scarred Caiman
Rank 8
0/0
Dark/Reptile
2 Level 8 Dark monsters
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except with another "Number" monster. Once per turn: You can detach an Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 other monster on the field; reduce that target's ATK and DEF to 0 and negate its effect, and then this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the respective ATK and DEF lost by that target. If this card attacks a Defence Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent.