Chapter 2
Time seemed to slow down for Rei as memories of a duel involving a Number surged back.
*Flashback Begin*
She saw herself hunched over her opponent, mumbling words she couldn't hear. The fallen boy was wearing a middle school uniform, albeit it was now dirty and torn in several places.
The silhouette of a large monster could be seen right behind her, the creature shadowed despite the flames emanating from its own body.
She could see the look of fear and terror on the boy's face, and it pleased her to see her squirming and begging for mercy.
"Tell me, how does it feel?" She heard a voice say. The words seemed to come from her mouth, but they sounded nothing like her.
The boy whimpered below her, desperately trying to crawl away, but failing.
*Flashback End*
Rei let out a scream as the Number's attack struck. It was how she imagined getting smashed by the ocean wave would feel like, but imagining it was way different from feeling it.
Rei: 3400 - 3200 | Miki: 400
"What's wrong, the pain too much to bear?" Miki taunted. "Well don't go fainting on me, because this is just beginning."
Rei could hardly make out her opponent's words, her groans of pain were the only audible sounds to her. Her breathing became ragged as she forced herself to her knees. "Numbers' attacks are real." She whispered to herself over and over again.
Seeing her opponent up on her feet, a smirk appeared on Miki's face. "Good to see you're still alive and well."
"Just end your turn." Rei spat back.
"One face-down card. That does it for me." Miki said, a reversed card appearing before her. The phantom whale let out a loud shriek that echoed through the empty park.
"You won't get away with this, whatever it is you're doing." Rei said as she drew, wincing in pain as she did so.
"Ideally I wouldn't." Miki shrugged. "But if you did, I see no reason why I can't."
Rei's face contorted into an expression of shock. "What do you mean?"
"Playing the Amnesia card are we?" Miki chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll be damned if by the end of this duel you don't remember what you've done and pay for it!"
Rei felt a sudden pang of guilt envelope her, the memory from before playing back again. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" She said, her voice strained and filled with frustration.
"Stop your stalling and get on with the duel." Miki shot back.
Rei took a look at the card in her hand, feeling a spark of hope as she saw it. She gazed at the Marshmallon on her field, wondering if to use her card or not. 'Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle, but her number card might have an effect that could destroy it. If I use my Darklord, I can destroy it one way or another…'
'Here goes nothing.' Rei thought. "I release Marshmallon to advance summon Darklord Desire."
The Dark attribute fairy appeared, garbed in black armor with golden designs. The armor spiked out at its elbows and two spikes were also present on its helmet. Two crimson wings aided it in its flight as it stayed suspended before Rei. (LV10, 3000 ATK)
"I can summon Darklord Desire by releasing only one Fairy-type monster." Rei said.
"Don't insult me. Unlike you, I know the effect of cards outside my own deck."
Rei ignored Miki's statement, continuing her play. "Darklord Desire, attack her Mist Phantom!"
The fairy brought up its right hand towards the Number, shooting a blast of dark energy at the whale.
Miki burst out laughing as the attack harmlessly passed through the Number and headed for one of the fishes, blasting it into oblivion.
"So the Number's like the rest of your Aqua Phantoms, huh?" Rei muttered.
"Yes, for once you get something right." Miki replied. "Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira, like my Aqua Phantoms, cannot be attacked but does not stop you from attacking directly. So in this case one of my Phantom Fish Tokens takes the fall instead."
Rei grit her teeth in annoyance. "I end my battle phase. Now I activate Darklord Desire's effect, by losing 1000 Attack Points, he allows me to send a monster you control to the graveyard."
The fairy once again shot a burst of energy at the whale, its power dropping as it did so. (LV10, 3000 - 2000 ATK)
"I don't think so, if Bake-Kujira would ever be removed from the field, I can destroy a Phantom Fish token instead." Miki countered, the whale following with another shriek and the token bursting into pixels.
"I end my turn." Rei forced out, with a bare hand she couldn't do anything else.
"My turn, draw." The smirk returned to Miki's face as she spoke. "I activate Bake-Kujira's effect! By detaching an overlay unit, I can special summon a Phantom Fish Token." (RNK5, 2800 ATK, 3 - 2 OLU)
One of the blue orbs orbiting the whale was sucked into it's open mouth, and seemingly out of nowhere a much smaller fish, one just as much of a specter as the whale was, appeared. (LV1, 500 DEF)
"I summon Aqua Phantom Whisker."
Another animal made of water appeared, this one a member of the cat family. It looked like a cheetah mostly, but it ears looked a bit too cat-like to be fully called one. (LV4, 1700 ATK)
"Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira, destroy Darklord Desire!"
A torrent of water rushed towards the fairy as Rei braced herself for the pain to come. The water smashed into both Rei and her fairy, destroying the latter while the former was smashed into the railing behind her.
Rei: 3200 - 2400 | Miki: 400
Rei let out a shout as her back made impact with the metal railing. She writhed in pain as her hands rubbed her aching back. After almost a minute she found the energy to bring herself up.
"Aqua Phantom Whisker, attack!" Miki ordered and the feline ran towards the redhead.
All prior assumption about the strength of a creature made of water vanished as soon as the feline struck Rei. She let out a faint gasp as she doubled over, it felt like she was delivered a really, really hard punch in the gut.
Her opponent's amused laughter rang out as she stared at the ground. She saw the rain drop down in a drizzle for a while, it then proceeded to pour down. There was no accompanying thunder or lightning, just the sound of the rain pouring down from the gray sky.
*Flashback Begin*
The sky was vibrant, and the sun shining brightly above. The sounds of digital explosions filled the air in the park.
Rei was lost in her thoughts, a blank expression was on the redhead's face as she sat on a bench. She was all alone, Sora and Yumi having gone elsewhere.
"Um, hey."
She was broken out of her thoughts as a hand waved across her face. "Are you okay?" She heard someone say.
"Yeah. Sorry, was just daydreaming for a minute." She answered.
"I was wondering if you would like to duel?" The boy asked, raising his Duel Disk.
"Sure." She answered after a moment. "It wouldn't make sense to continue to sit here and daydream."
He smiled. "I'm Sho."
"Rei." She answered as she stood.
"Prepare yourself, I'm one of the best duelists in my school." Sho boasted.
"I think I should be able to hold my own." Rei chuckled. She recognized the uniform he wore, it was for a middle school she'd seen in the area, not too far away from the park.
"AR Vision - Link Established." They heard after activating their respective Duel Disks and D-Gazers.
"Duel!"
*Flashback End*
Rei: 2400 - 700 | Miki: 400
Rei's face scrunched up in disgust as her hand rose and dropped to the ground, splashing a bit of water onto her face. She suddenly hated the fact that the Duel Disks were made waterproof. She felt her hand rise again, pulled by the rope Miki had attached to it. She reluctantly brought herself to her knees, it was either she moved or get a mouthful of dirty water.
"If you're going to be like this each time I attack, I'd rather we go elsewhere." Miki complained, she was equally drenched by the rain which hadn't stopped. "Chop chop." She pulled on the rope again, forcing Rei to her feet.
"I ended my turn a while ago, you were probably too dazed to realize. Make your move."
"I draw." She pulled the card off her deck. "I set a monster and end my turn." A horizontal reversed card appeared before the staggering girl.
"And so the struggle continues…" Miki said, adding a card to her hand. "I could end it now… but what's the point in that? I intend on making you suffer for as long as possible. I summon Aqua Phantom Ivory."
A large elephant made of water appeared. For a being made of water, its tusks were very solid looking. (LV3, 1300 ATK)
"Ivory attacks your face-down monster!" Miki said, pointing at the reversed card. "When Ivory attacks a monster in defense position, he gains 1000 Attack Points."
The elephant's entire body suddenly solidified, smashing into the face-down monster which was destroyed as soon as it was revealed. (LV3, 1300 - 2300 ATK)
"Since Ivory destroyed your monster, the attack boost lasts until your next turn ends."
"That was my Shining Angel you destroyed, so I get to summon another one due to its effect." Rei managed to get out, and just like she said, a celestial being in a white robe appeared. (LV4, 1400 ATK)
"Aqua Phantom Whisker, attack!" Miki ordered. "As long as there's another Aqua Phantom on the field, Whisker can attack twice each turn." She continued as the feline struck the angel, destroying it.
Rei: 700 - 400 | Miki: 400
"I'll summon another Shining Angel using my destroyed one's effect." Rei said and another robed angel appeared. (LV4, 1400 ATK)
"Go! Aqua Phantom Whisker, destroy the last one." Miki continued and the feline clawed at Shining Angel, who promptly shattered into pixels.
Rei: 400 - 100 | Miki: 400
"I'll summon Marshmallon with Shining Angels' effect."
A familiar cartoon dessert appeared in the field, a goofy inverted smile on its face.(LV3, 300 ATK)
"Turn end."
Rei's mouth hung open in shock. Noticing the redhead's expression Miki spoke. "I told you I would make sure you suffer for as long as possible, and I mean it. Get on with your turn."
Rei drew her next card silently, biting down on her lip as she saw the card. She was doing all she could to stay strong, but she didn't know how long she could hold up. Each attack from the Number had put her in a whole new world of pain, pain she had never felt before in her entire life. She didn't want to take another attack from the monster, she didn't want to duel anymore, even the attack from Miki's other monsters hurt like hell. "I just want it to stop."
"Funny…" Miki started. "I remember those words all too well." She let out a mirthless laugh. "Do whatever you will, it won't change anything. I'll make sure you get exactly what you deserve!"
"I switch Marshmallon to defense position and end my turn."
The cartoon dessert didn't go through any noticeable change as it battle position changed. (LV3, 500 DEF)
Aqua Phantom Ivory's body returned to its original state. (LV3, 2300 - 1300 ATK)
"My turn, draw!" The black haired girl declared as she drew. The rain was still pouring down, and as uncomfortable as she was, she wasn't even thinking about ending it now. 'An eye for an eye, isn't it?' "Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira, attack! Malicious torrent!"
A huge wave rose up above both duelists, before crashing down and smashing into Rei and her defensive monster.
*Flashback Begin*
Rei was in the middle of another duel with Sho, she wasn't enjoying herself. A blank expression was on her face as she watched her opponent make his move. The comments by the spectators rang out continuously in her ears, along with words spoken by another voice, smooth and enticing it was.
"You never quite seem to be able to completely escape, do you?"
'No.' She thought.
"Do you want to?"
'Yes.'
"I have a way to accomplish that. You just have to let me in."
'I-I… what way?'
"No one ever seems to care, do they? Your name is all that seems to matter isn't it?"
'Yes.'
"I can change that."
'How?'
"You always bear it all, never stand up for yourself. You can't, you won't, because you think you shouldn't, because they said you shouldn't!" The voice became stern, growing louder.
"This is all his fault, all their fault. It's time you stopped being scared, it time you changed things, take matters into your own hands."
'But t-'
"They said, didn't they? How long are you going to let them tell you what to do, so far that's what you've done and look where you are now?" The voice became lower, taking a soothing tone. "Let me in and I can stop it, no, we can stop it. We will stop it!"
'We can stop it…' Rei answered, she knew she shouldn't give in to whatever owned the voice, but she wanted to.
*Flashback End*
"Turn end."
"Draw." Rei glanced at her hand, it consisted of a meager two cards, one of which would allow her to stall for a while. "I set a card face-down, turn end."
Miki drew just as the reversed card appeared, adding it to her hand without so much as a glance. "I activate Bake-Kujira's effect, by detaching one overlay unit, I can destroy any number of Water attribute monsters I control and destroy an equal number of cards you control."
Another one of the overlay units was sucked into the whale's mouth. It opened it's mouth shortly after, sucking in the elephant and the cheetah. (RNK5, 2800 ATK, 2 - 1 OLU)
"By destroying Aqua Phantoms Whisker and Ivory, I'll destroy your Marshmallon and your face-down card."
"I chain my Trap Card to your monster's effect activation." Rei countered as her reversed card flipped up. "Threatening Roar! Now you can't attack this turn." Both the Trap Card and Marshmallon shattered afterward.
"Turn end."
"We can stop it. We can stop it. We can stop it." Rei chanted as she drew. Miki noticed, but did nothing besides raising an eyebrow.
"We can stop it, we can stop it." She continued as she placed a card on her Duel Disk. "We will stop it!"
"I activate The Supremacy Berry. Since I possess less Life Points than you, this Spell Card grants me 2000 more."
Rei: 100 - 2100 | Miki: 400
"Next, I activate Soul Charge." Rei continued. "This allows me to special summon any number of monsters from my graveyard, but in return I'll take 1000 damage for each and forgo my battle phase this turn."
Two Shining Angels reappeared, fully dressed in their robes. (LV4, 800 DEF)×2
Rei: 2100 - 100 | Miki: 400
"We will stop it!" Rei shouted as a crimson number 12 etched itself on the right side of her neck. "Level 4 Shining Angels, overlay!" The two monsters were enveloped in a glow of light as they shot upwards, a galaxy-like portal appearing where they used to be. "Using these monsters, I construct the Overlay Network." The monsters shot into the portal.
"Incinerate our foes and reduce them to nothing! Xyz summon! Number 12: Alin the Bonfire!" Rei shouted as the portal exploded in a show of light.
A very large piece of rock appeared out of the portal, it looked molten as though it was magma solidified. Numerous cracks appeared along the sides of the rock, and a hand shot out through it. More of the rock broke off as another hand shot out this one from the left. Two flame coloured wings uncurled, pushing the rest of the rock away and revealing the creature that lay within. The Fairy-type monster stood about eight feet tall, he wore charred black armor over most of his body, a burnt and dirty silver cape billowing behind him. His eyes held no emotion whatsoever, leveling a blank stare at his opponent, steam surrounding him as the rain poured down. (RNK4, 2000 ATK, 2 OLU)
Rei staggered, holding her head in pain. She couldn't think clearly through the pain, and it felt worse than any migraine she'd had in her entire life. It was like someone was shouting in her mind and banging her head at the same time. The words were incoherent, but she felt the anger they held.
Miki took a step back in shock as Number 12 appeared on the field. "B-B-But that's not your number?!" At the very appearance of the number she felt her chances of winning start to grow slim.
Rei yelled out, dropping to her knees as she grasped her head in pain. She couldn't hear anything anymore and her vision was getting blurry.
Miki noticing her opponent's behavior felt some sort of concern, concern that was pushed aside as soon as her hate for the girl surged back. She couldn't bring herself to speak, however.
That was the last thing Rei saw before losing consciousness, the look of conflict on Miki's face.
*Flashback Begin*
Rei watched, an emotionless expression on her face as the embodiment of all her hate and anger attacked her opponent.
Monstrous and destructive it was, a being made of nothing but flames, harbouring nothing but the hate and anger that drove it. Sho let out a scream as it smashed into his monster, an unfortunate dragon-like creature made of water.
Rei: 2000 | Sho: 1500 - 1300
Sho whimpered as the monster approached him, the boy's clothes already singed and torn in several places.
The monster absorbed one of the two light orbs surrounding it and its flames intensified. (RNK 5, 2500 - 3000, 2 - 1 OLU)
Sho screamed in pain as the monster struck again, bathing him in its flames as Rei watched.
*Flashback End*
The redhead woke up to a start, breathing heavily as her eyes opened. Miki was nowhere go be found and the rain had stopped. She looked around to see she was still in the park, albeit another part of it, sitting on a bench.
"Take it easy, her Number did damage you after all." She heard someone say.
She turned her head to see said person, and her eyes narrowed as she set eyes on the silver haired boy, who was still wearing his uniform. She would've yelled all sorts of profanities at him had she been feeling normal at that time. He sat next to her, saying nothing.
She turned and faced him, intending to ask him what happened, but was met with his hand waving in her face like before. "What the hell is that?!" She retorted, slapping his hand away. "Say something about a spider and I swear you'll regret it!"
"Well I-" he started before sighing. "Never mind."
Rei raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "What happened?"
Hiro didn't look happy about it, but he told her nonetheless. "Well after you summoned Number 12 and lost consciousness, the duel sort of ended as a draw."
"What happened to Miki and her number?"
"I've got number 62 now." He answered, showing her the card.
Rei felt her guilt return as she remembered the black haired girl and Sho.
"He was her brother." Hiro continued. "That's why she kept going on about payback." He regretted telling her this as she soon began sobbing into the sweater draped around her shoulders. 'Oh, crap'
"And I hurt them both." She chocked out between sobs. "They didn't even do anything to me and I lashed out at them."
Hiro fidgeted uncomfortably, wondering what he was supposed to do, he didn't sign up for this. "Um, there there." He tapped her slightly on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, it was the Number's."
"But part of me was happy about it, I could feel it." She said, sniffling.
"We're all humans aren't we? We all have negative thoughts we push aside and try to cover." Hiro began, his eyes narrowing in thought. "The Numbers just prey on those feelings and amplify them. A person possessed by a number is never really in control."
His words didn't exactly make her feel better, but at least it reduced her sobbing. "What about my Number, are you with it?"
"No, you're still with it."
"Why? Just take them!" She said, searching through her deck.
"It doesn't work like that." He explained. "Numbers can only be won through a duel and, before you suggest dueling, you're in no condition for that."
"But we dueled yesterday, why didn't you take it then?" Rei asked.
"I did." He said, showing her another black bordered card.
"Number 19: Firestorm Golem…" She gasped. She brought out another card from her Extra Deck and stared at it. "Number 12: Alin The Bonfire… why do I have another one?!"
"I'm not exactly sure." Hiro answered, a hand brushing through his hair. "But unlike Number 19, this one won't possess you."
"Then why did I lose consciousness after summoning it?"
"Eh, I guess you can call it some sort of trauma." Hiro replied.
"How do you know this stuff about the Numbers?"
He hesitated before answering. "I'm a Number hunter… and the same thing happened to me."
"How did you become a Number hunter." Rei asked.
Hiro hesitated once again. "The man that took my first Number was a Number hunter and he told me all about them, how there are a hundred of them, and how they prey on people's emotions."
"What am I supposed to do now? What about Miki?"
"She forgot all about the Numbers, I'm unsure if she'll stop antagonizing you though." He exhaled sharply, thinking for a while before continuing. "Well you can keep the Number and become a Number hunter, but if you decide you don't want to keep it we can duel tomorrow."
"I'll think about it."
He stood up from the chair, he looked like he was about to speak again, but he decided against it. "Thanks." He heard Rei say. He muttered something she didn't hear before leaving.
"Wait, why did you lie about the duel?" She shouted. He didn't respond, probably didn't hear her, she thought.
Hiro was standing in a phone booth, he had been there a while, talking to a man over the phone. "Is that supposed to happen?" He asked.
He waited to hear the man's reply before speaking. "She didn't mention that, and I doubt something obvious as that would be ignored."
The man spoke again and Hiro answered. "I offered her a chance to help?" He said, though the statement sounded more like a question.
"Oh, really?" He replied after a while. "Great." His tone became one of irritation.
"I'm pretty sure I can handle it by myself." He continued, clearly irritated by whatever the man said.
"Fine." He answered in mild annoyance, replacing the phone and cutting the man's laughter off.
His expression turned stoic as he left the phone booth for his home, deep in thought.
Author's Notes
Here's chapter 2. I felt like the first chapter didn't do well in exploring the characters so I decided to show a bit about Rei, there's still questions to be answered but I feel like this makes her a much better character than what the first chapter made her out to be.
About the Numbers' names. I feel like I lack ingenuity in that department, but I'd like to think I tried. I'm horrible when it comes to creating names, but I'll try harder for future numbers.
Fun fact: The Bake-Kujira myth was actually what inspired me to create the Aqua Phantom archetype, making it the deck's number seemed like the right thing to do.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, till next time.
Custom Cards
Aqua Phantom Whisker
LV4
Water/Beast/Effect
1700 ATK/ 1000 DEF
This Card cannot be selected as an attack target as long as it is face-up on the field, but does not prevent your opponent from attacking directly.
If you control another "Aqua Phantom" monster, this card can attack twice each turn.
Aqua Phantom Ivory
LV3
Water/Beast/Effect
1300 ATK/ 500 DEF
This Card cannot be selected as an attack target as long as it is face-up on the field, but does not prevent your opponent from attacking directly.
When this card attacks a defense position monster, it gains 1000 ATK until the end phase. If this card destroys that defense position monster it gains 1000 ATK until your opponent's end phase.
Number 62: Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira
RNK5
Water/Xyz/Beast/Effect
2800 ATK/ 1800 DEF
Three LV5 WATER monsters
When this card is Xyz summoned, special summon 2 "Phantom Fish Token" (Fish-Type/WATER/Level 1/ATK 500/DEF 500). If this card would ever be removed from the field, you can destroy a "Phantom Fish Token" instead.
Once per turn you can detach an Overlay Unit to activate one of the following effects:
-Special summon a "Phantom Fish Token" to your side of the field.
-Destroy any number of WATER monsters you control, and destroy a number of your opponent's cards equal to the number of WATER monsters you destroyed.