Chapter 2: Numbers
"Activate Number 48 effect!" The thing said. "Detach Overlay Unit, Special Summon Phantom Token!" Number 48 swung its scythe, destroying one of its Overlay Units, then a smaller version of the monster with 500 Defence appeared next to it. "Number 48, gain attack from Phantom Token attack. 500 points!" Shadow Lich was boosted to 2300 ATK.
"Now it's stronger!" I hissed.
"Attack! Constellar Zubeneschamali!" The monster cackled as it swung its scythe, bisecting the machine in an explosion.
Lennox's LP: 2800
"It's tough..." I muttered.
"Set card. End." It finished. "Whilst Phantom Token controlled, Number 48 cannot be attacked."
I gritted my teeth. "Whatever that monster is, I'll destroy it! My turn! Draw!" I looked at the Constellar Sombre and Satellarknight Unukalhai in my hand, and the Guard Break I just drew. "Perfect! I summon Satellarknight Unukalhai from my hand!" The white and gold warrior appeared with 1800 ATK.
"Now I activate my Spell, Guard Break!" The Spell showed a red and yellow shield being shattered by a bolt of lightning in the shape of a spear. "This targets a defence position monster, then switches it to attack position and reduce its attack by its Level times 100! I choose your Phantom Token!" The Token was switched to ATK Position and its power fell by 100, to 400 ATK.
"Constellar Kaus! Attack Phantom Token!" Kaus drew a bow of light and fired it into the Phantom Token, destroying it in a burst of light.
Unknown's LP: 1200
Shadow Lich's ATK fell to 1800. "Now, Constellar Algiedi! Attack Number 48: Shadow Lich!" Algiedi launched a beam of light from its staff that hit Shadow Lich in a large explosion.
Unknown's LP: 900
'Okay, now I just have to have Unukalhai attack directly!' I thought.
But as the smoke cleared, a pair of red eyes gleamed in the smoke. "What!?" Shadow Lich revealed itself. "Why wasn't it destroyed!?"
"Numbers only destroyed, by other Numbers." It said.
"Destruction negation!?" I muttered. "I can't destroy it right now...but he only has 900 Life Points left, as long as I can deal enough damage...I end my tur-"
"Activate Number 48 effect." Shadow Lich sliced its remaining Overlay Unit, making a new Phantom Token appear in DEF Position, reboosting it to 2300 ATK.
"It allowed itself to take damage in exchange for boostingf attack!" I realised. "I end my turn!"
"Turn. Draw. Continuos Trap, Overlay Feast." The card showed a Gagagigo the Risen eating two Overlay Units. "Once per turn, Use card in hand as Overlay Unit, to monster with none." A card in his hand glowed before attaching to Shadow Lich as an Overlay Unit. "Activate Number 48 effect." The new Overlay Unit instantly disappeared as a second Phantom Token appeared in DEF Position, boosting Shadow Lich to 2800 ATK.
"It keeps getting stronger and boosting its defence!" I hissed.
"Spell, Frenzy Reaping." The card showed Pilgrim Reaper in a graveyard, slicing through souls. "Target monster, allow it to attack number of times as controlled monsters, no other monsters attack." The two Phantom Token's gave off a red aura that infected Shadow Lich.
"Wait, it can attack three times!?" I gasped.
"Attack, Satellarknight Unukalhai!" Shadow Lich raised its scythe and slashed Pollux, destroying it.
Lennox's LP: 1800
"Constellar Kaus!" It attacked Kaus with its scythe.
Lennox's LP: 800
"Constellar Algiedi!" My third and final monster was destroyed, sending me flying back and crashing into the ground.
Lennox's LP: 100
"Arrgghh..." I groaned, laying on my back.
"Set card. End turn." It finished.
"Gah..." I stood back up. "All of my monsters...I only have one card in my hand, and he has that Number along with its two defending monsters, and Overlay Feast."
I looked at my Deck. "I have no choice." With a shaking hand, I placed two fingers on the top card. "I've got to bet it all on this card! It's my turn! Draw!" I drew as strong as I could, and looked at the card, my eyes widening.
"Constellar Belt!?" I looked at the Continuos Spell. "I...I can't defeat Shadow Lich with this card..." I stared up at the Number. "I can't win...what happens when I lose against this thing!? Shit!" I fell to my hands and knees in despair.
"This monster...how can I possibly fight it?" I clenched my fists. "I can't...I can't..."
"Lennox, are you giving up just like that?"
"Huh?" I looked up to see a face I hadn't properly seen for a long, long time. "M-Mum?"
She smiled softly. "Things do look dark at the moment, don't they? But if there's one thing I've learned from your father, it's that you don't feel sad in a Duel. You always enjoy yourself, and find a way."
She rested a hand on the empty yellow Extra Deck holder at my waist. "Let me give you a little hand, dear." And in a flash of bright light, she was gone.
"Mum!" I gasped as she vanished.
My Extra Deck opened up, revealing a bright light inside. "What?" I reached inside and felt something, taking it out I realised it was a card. "This is..." I studied the card and nodded. "Okay! I know what to do!" I stood up fully.
"I activate Constellar Belt from my hand! This Continuos Spell prevents my LIGHT monsters effects from bein g negated!"
"Prevents?" The slime echoed, glancing at its set card.
"I thought so...now I summon Constellar Sombre!" The female Constellar with wings of stars appeared with 1550 ATK. "I now activate her effect! By banishing a Constellar from my Graveyard, I can add a Constellar from my Graveyard to my hand! I banish Acubens to add Kaus to my hand!" I took Kaus out of my Graveyard.
"Also! After activating this effect, Sombre allows me to Normal Summon once more! So, I summon the Kaus I just added to my hand!" Kaus reappeared on the field. "I now activate Kaus' effect! Twice per turn, I can increase or decrease the Level of a Constellar by one! I increase both my Constellar's Levels to 5!" Kaus fired two arrows into the sky that burst into sparkles that rained down on the two monsters, boosting their Levels by 1.
I looked at the card. "I'm ready, Mum! I overlay my Level 5 Constellar Sombre, and my Level 5 Constellar Kaus!" The two monsters turned into streams of yellow energy as a galactic portal opened at my feet. "With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!" The two monsters swirled into the portal together, creating a burst of light energy.
"Xyz Summon! Descend! Rank 5! Number 89: Dawn Sword!"
A giant sword emerged from the portal, with a long silver blade that grew wider as it went down, then formed a diamond at the tip, whilst the handle and handguard were sapphire blue in colour, and had emerald diamond gems on the ends of them, and extending out from each side of the handguard were long red sashes with a yellow star on each side of them, and five tussles on the end. Completing it was the number 89 in dark pink on the front of the right handguard.
The blade of the sword then split in two, and turned 90 degrees so that the sharp part faced forward and the split part faced back, making it look like the sword now had two legs. The two parts of the handguard extended out, increasing the size of the gems, whilst the handle opened up and split down into a 'V' shape at the back, revealing a masked head with emerald eyes, now making the the split blade look like actual legs and the handguard look like shoulders. Finally, the tussles on the ends of each sash clenched into fists, showing that they were the arms.
Number 89: Dawn Sword, Rank 5, Warrior, LIGHT, ATK: 2700 DEF: 1800
"Number!" The slime gasped.
"I activate the effect of Number 89: Dawn Sword! By detaching an Overlay Unit from it..." Dawn Sword absorbed one of its yellow comets. "I can target 1 card my opponent controls, and negate its effects as long as Dawn Sword remains face-up on the field! I target Number 48: Shadow Lich! Piercing Purge!" Dawn Sword's legs combined into a sowrd which it fired a beam of light from that hit Shadow Lich, returning it to 1800 ATK.
"Impossible!" The goo yelled.
"Dawn Sword! Attack Shadow Lich! Shining Slash!" Dawn Sowrd swung its blade for a lower body back and slashed Shadow Lich and the Phantom Tokens.
"Gglrghhglaaarrrggghhh!" The blinding light from the attack sent the slime dissolving into the force of the Number's power.
Unknown's LP: 0
Lennox: WIN!
I looked at the place where my opponent previously stood as Number 89 faded away, where nothing but a few drops of red goo remained.
"I guess that's that." I said as I looked at Number 89: Dawn Sword's card. "Thank you, mum..."
I walked over to the drops of goo and noticed several cards on the ground. "Hm?" I picked them up to discover they were three copies of Goo Shadow and Number 48. "It left these cards behind..."
I stared at the two Numbers. "Numbers, huh...wonder what the goo wanted with it?"
"Duel Blood."
"Ah!" I jumped at the voice and spun around to be met with a young man, 18 I'd say. He had white hair that flared out to the sides then spiked down at the ends, back and across the forehead, with black strands sweeping across the sides and atop his head in the shape of lightning bolts. He had piercing red eyes and wore a crimson red twin tailed jacket with a pink heart badge on his left breast, and golden buttons connecting the jacket at his waist. Underneath it he wore a blue shirt with a green tie, black slacks and sharp yellow boots with white polka dots.
"You scared me." I breathed. "How long havbe you been there?"
"Long enough." He said with a friendly smile. "I admit, I didn't think you'd be able to defeat that Duel Blood."
"Duel Blood?" I echoed. "Is that what that thing was called?"
"Yes." He nodded. "My name is Shino Cubaki, and I have been studying the Duel Blood, as well as the Number cards."
"You know about these?" I asked, holding up the two cards.
"The Number cards hold incredible power." Shino said. "They take a form most accustomed to its holder upon contact, and cannot change afterwards, and I believe that they can be used for good or evil, depending on who wields them. Both the Numbers and Duel Blood appeared recently, and I believe that they are linked. I just don't knowq how yet."
"So, why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"From what I've found out, Numbers appear to feed off of negative human emotions, and corrupt their holders." He continued. "However, you seem to be unaffected. You have been chosen by the Numbers. Thus, Lennox Mori, I request your help in keeping the Numbers out of evil hands."
"Um...okay?" Geez, a lot of responsibility all of a sudden.
"Simply defeat a Number holder, and retrieve their Numbers." He told me. "Collect as many as possible, and defeat the Duel Blood. That is all I can tell you thus far."
I looked down at the two Numbers. "Wait, just who exactly are you?" But as I looked up, he was gone. "...That is so cliche."
ZEXAL
I walked home, hands in my pocket across the setting sun. "I'd better not tell dad or Amy about all this today, not that they'd believe me or anything." I looked at the orange sun. "Now that I think about it, I never caught Yuma or Ryoga today...I should see them Monday."
I leaned on the railing and took out Number 89. "Mum...you gave me this card, didn't you? Do you want me to collect these Numbers?" I looked at the orange sun. "Alright then, I'll find these Numbers and fight the Duel Blood!"
"I should call myself something then." I thought aloud. "Like a Number Seeker or something." I then started walking again, thinking of what to call myself.
Meanwhile, a certain spiky haired Duelist was walking above him.
"Oh hey! It's Lennox!" Yuma said.
"Another friend of yours?" A blue floating being next to him asked.
"Oh, shut up already!" Yuma yelled. "I was planning to Duel him, got it!?"
"I see." He said as he looked at Lennox with a curious look. "He seems...different."
"What are you talking about?" Yuma muttered.
"I think he might have a Number." He thought aloud.
"Lennox?" Yuma mumbled, looking down at him. "In that case, I'll Duel him to find out!"
The being closed his eyes. "You are quite brash."
"Oi!"
Number 48: Shadow Lich (anime): Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Special Summon 1 "Phantom Token" (Fiend-Type/DARK/Level 1/ATK 500/DEF 500). (This is a Quick Effect.) While you control a "Phantom Token", your opponent cannot target this card for attacks. This card gains 500 ATK for each "Phantom Token" you control.
Overlay Feast: Once per turn, you can target 1 Xyz monster you control, and equip 1 card from your hand to that monster as an Xyz Material.
Frenzy Reaping: Target 1 monster you control; no other monster you control can attack this turn, and the targeted monster can attack equal to the number of monsters you control.
Number 89: Dawn Sword: Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material fvrom this card to target 1 card your opponent controls; its effects are negated as long as this card remains face-up on the field.
Yay! New chapter!
So, yeah, I had some free time on my hands and I felt like updating this story, so here it is!
What do you guys think of Number 89: Dawn Sword, or Shino Cubaki? Say so in a review!
So, until next time, see you in the next chapter!
