Skyler LP: 4900
Lithon LP: 4000
"Be born! Number 4: Tesseract Dragon!"
The three numbers on Skyler's body (forty-five, nineteen, and fifty-four) all shattered, to be replaced by a single electric-blue number four on his right hand. Out of the portal rose a huge grey tesseract – a cube made of cubes, something which could not physically or mathematically exist. Yet here it was, changing for before their eyes, growing legs, a tail, a head. With a flash of light, the creature formed entirely, and dropped down behind Skyler with an earth-shaking crash. Whatever it was, it walked on four legs, had a long spiked tail, and a slender neck with a head that was half dragon, half bird in appearance. The monster seemed to be floating in pieces – no parts of its body were even joined together. The three separate parts of each leg were only held together by an electric current, and there seemed to be nothing holding its tail spikes on at all. The front of its chest resembled a mouth, and was full of wicked-looking teeth. The insane-looking digital monstrosity stared at Lithon with its soulless red eyes, then let off a distorted electronic howl, sending sparks in all directions. A grand total of nine purple Overlay Units encircled it.
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: Thunder-Type/Xyz/DARK/Rank 4/ATK 4100/DEF 2800 – 9 OLU
Lithon took a step back, staring at the colossal creature with wide eyes, his yellow lab coat flapping in the wind given off by this creature's Summoning. "What... I don't..." he struggled to find the words. "What on earth is that thing?"
Skyler rubbed his robotic arm distractedly. "I'll explain this simply, so you can keep up. Number 4: Tesseract Dragon requires three Rank four monsters to Xyz Summon. Not Level four monsters, mind you. Rank four monsters."
"An Xyz Monster that uses other Xyz Monsters as the Xyz Material Monsters..." Lithon muttered. "I... I thought those were only..."
"And here's the best part," Skyler interrupted. "Since it uses Xyz Monsters as its Material, any Overlay Units that were attached to those three Xyz Monsters also become Overlay Units attached to this card." He indicated the nine glowing orbs of light, each tracing a bright line around the Number. "Each Xyz Monster becomes an Overlay Unit, and each of them also contributes their own two Overlay Units, which makes for a total of nine Overlay Units."
"NINE?" Lithon, Dan, and Leah gasped all at once. None of them had ever heard of an Xyz Monster having so many Overlay Units.
"Indeed," Skyler nodded. "Now it's time to put them to use. Number 4: Tesseract Dragon's effect activates! By detaching one of its Overlay Units, I choose one of its three effects to apply."
"And what are those effects?" Lithon asked suspiciously.
*Basically, I can banish one card from any three places," Skyler explained. "Your hand, field, or Graveyard. For the first use, I'll choose your hand." A single orb of light broke orbit and flew into the monster's teethy chest.
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: 9 → 8 OLU
A random card in Lithon's hand was suddenly coated in pale blue electricity. He looked irritated as he banished the card. It was Chaos Sorcerer.
"And here's the beauty of it," Skyler grinned. "This effect can be used as many times as I like per turn, as long as I detach one Overlay Unit for each use. Fortunately, I think I have plenty of Overlay Units to spare. However, I can't choose to banish a card from a different place if I've already used the effect this turn." He pointed at Lithon with his metal hand. "Hence, I'll activate the same effect again, to banish another card from your hand!" Tesseract Dragon absorbed another Unit.
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: 8 → 7 OLU
"Wait a minute..." Dan gasped as Lithon banished his second card – Epignosai Sin. "You don't think he's-"
Skyler grinned wickedly. "I'm sure you've figured it out by now. I'm going to destroy your entire hand! I activate Tesseract Dragon's same effect, three more times!" The dragonic creature absorbed three more Overlay Units in quick succession.
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: 7 → 6 OLU
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: 6 → 5 OLU
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: 5 → 4 OLU
And just like that, Lithon was standing there with absolutely no cards in his hand. The rest of his hand has contained one more Epignosai Sin, one Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and one Epignosai Mem.
"There," Skyler nodded, satisfied. "Now there's absolutely no chance of a counterattack." Not even the best duelists can fight with literally one card. I end my turn there."
Oddly enough, Lithon seemed completely unperturbed by this setback, and drew his card as though nothing was wrong. "My turn, draw. I Normal Summon Epignosai Lamedh!" A strange leopard appeared. It had pitch black fur, no eyes, and a gaping mouth filled with teeth. Something that resembled black tar dripped from its body.
Epignosai Lamedh: Beast-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1800
"Now I'll use Lamedh's effect," Lithon said. "With this effect, when this monster is Normal Summoned, I can banish any card with Epignosai in its name from my Deck. I choose Epignosai Veil." He extracted the Trap Card from his Deck and banished it. "With that, I end my turn."
"Really? That's it?" Skyler said, and his opponent nodded. "Disappointing. I was expecting more from you than this. Ah well, I draw." Immediately, he reached under his Number card. "I activate Tesseract Dragon's effect again, but I'll be using a slightly different effect this time." With one swift movement, he pulled an Overlay Unit from beneath Tesseract Dragon and sent it to the Graveyard. "By detaching one of its Overlay Units, I'll banish one card from your field. I choose your monster!" The dragon absorbed yet another Overlay Unit.
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon: 4 → 3 OLU
"Too predictable, hunter!" Lithon interrupted. "I activate the effect of my banished Trap Card, Epignosai Veil!" A faint image of the card appeared behind him. "With this card's effect, I can return it to my Graveyard to negate the effects of one Effect Monster you control, until the End Phase." A portal opened above Tesseract Dragon, and a globule of black and white tar fell from it, coating the Number completely. The dragon sagged under its weight.
Skyler didn't seem put off by this turn of events. Indeed, he seemed as nonchalant as Lithon was. It looked like the two of them were desperately trying to out-nonchalant the other.
The two Deltas were still watching the duel partly with fear, and partly with curiosity to see which of these enemy hunters would win. Leah was sitting down, still exhausted from her last ordeal, with Dan kneeling beside her.
He suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, here's a question," he said. "Which one of them are we actually rooting for?"
She considered the question for a moment. "Um... I'm not sure. On the one hand, if Skyler wins and then beats us, his extraction method will damage us forever, like Andrea and Harrison were. On the other hand, Lithon's a creep who tried to kill me." Once again, she distractedly ran a finger over the deep welts in her neck, as had become her habit. "So what's your vote?"
"My vote?" Dan said. "My vote is to run away. Either of these two winning is bad news for us, and you're in no condition to be dueling either of them. We should get away while we can."
Once again, Leah thought about this for a while. "Yeah," she said eventually, turning to face him with a grin of her face. "You're right, that would be the best thing to do."
They stared at each other for a moment longer.
"You don't want to leave, do you?" Dan asked.
"Nope," she grinned.
"Oh dear lord..." he muttered. "Why not?"
She was about to answer, but was interrupted by the number ten appearing on her hand again. She paused for a moment, concentrating hard on countering the Number's powers, and the symbol eventually faded away again. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued talking. "Because this duel is amazing. I want to see it through to the end."
Dan sighed. There was to be no arguing with her. Anyway, the other Deltas would be here soon, and they would be able to help him fight off whoever won this duel.
So they stayed.
"Alright," Skyler muttered. "Then I'll have to get rid of your monster the old fashioned way. Battle! Go, Number 4: Tesseract Dragon, attack Epignosai Lamedh!" The dragon shook its head vigorously, which was enough to dislodge the tar from its face. It then opened its mouth wide and began drawing in electrical energy from the surroundings, as well as from its own body. The watchers pre-emptively covered their faces. The dragon fires a blast of fire electrical energy, which consumed Lithon's entire field. The tar-soaked leopard was vaporized in an instant.
Lithon LP: 4000 → 1700
The scientist was thrown backwards from the force of the blast. He landed heavily, his body crackling with electricity.
Skyler nodded with satisfaction. "I end my turn. Let's see you come back from this, Lithon."
Lithon stood up slowly, shaking with rage. "Oh, I'll do much more than that, hunter... I draw! I activate the effect of my banished Epignosai Mem! By returning two of my other banished Epignosai monsters to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this banished card." Both copies of Epignosai Sin returned to his Graveyard. "Appear, Epignosai Mem!" A blob of dull white slime entered the battle field. The only feature visible on its body was a gaping, empty mouth, and the pure white tar that coated it.
Epignosai Mem: Aqua-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 100/DEF 100
"Next I Normal Summon Epignosai Samekh!" Another new monster appeared. This one was a pitch black piranha, with a large mouth full of teeth and spikes along its body, but no visible eyes. It hovered several feet off the ground, with black tar dripping from it.
Epignosai Samekh: Fish-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1100/DEF 1100
"Samekh's effect activates. When it's Summoned, I can banish up to three Epignosai monsters from my Graveyard, then change Samekh to Defence Position. I'll choose to banish Epignosai Lamedh and both Epignosai Sins." The three cards appeared behind him, then disappeared into a portal as Samekh shifted position.
"And I assume you're going to use them to Xyz Summon," Skyler said. "I'm not a fool, you know."
"Really? Well you certainly had me fooled," Lithon retorted. "Why else would you have engaged me in such a pointless duel, rather than just letting me take their Numbers?"
"Because then I'd have to duel you to extract Number 93 from you anyway," Skyler replied. "This way, I'm getting a troublesome hunter out of the way, so I don't have to deal with the collective Numbers from a bunch of people used by one person."
"You should not have interfered, Skyler," Lithon said. "You've just wasted four of your Numbers for no reason at all. Because you will lose them, hunter. That I can guarantee you."
"If you believe your claims so fervently, then by all means, Summon your Number," Skyler said. "I'm interested to see if it can stand up to Tesseract Dragon."
"A question first," Lithon interrupted. "None of the Numbers you've Summoned in this duel are your originals, are they? Not even Tesseract Dragon?"
The question caught Skyler off guard. "No, they're all Numbers I've extracted from others. What does that matter?"
"Simple curiosity," Lithon assured him. "Now back to the duel. Level four Epignosai Samekh and Epignosai Mem, Overlay!" The fish and the blob of slime morphed into fully purple and yellow masses of energy, and shot into the air. A galaxy-shaped portal opened up on Lithon's field. "I use these two LIGHT and DARK-Attribute monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The two monsters sailed into the portal, which exploded. "Arise, Number 89: Blacklight Prototype!"
A beige number eighty-nine appeared on the front of Lithon's neck, stretching across his throat like a ghastly tattoo. From out of the portal rose a grey cube. It was crackling with static, and chunks of it were missing in places. Everything about it looked incomplete. With a grinding noise, the cube folded outwards, forming the shape of some sort of humanoid, all though it resembled an alien more than anything else. Its skin was grey and leathery, and it was pulsating with a faint glow like cooling magma. There were absolutely no facial features, not even eyes of a mouth. In fact, the only noticeable features on its body – besides the glowing beige number eighty-nine on its shoulder – were its wings. One of them was like a crow's wing, black and feathery, with a white crystal orb at the tip. The other wing was white, and resembled a leathery bat's wing, with a black orb at the tip. The creature made no noise as it settled in front of Lithon. Two yellow Overlay Units orbited it.
Number 89: Blacklight Prototype: Fairy-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 1900/DEF 1900 – 2 OLU
"And due to its effect," Lithon added. "As long as it's on the field, it's also treated as a DARK Fiend-type monster." One of the yellow Overlay Units gained a purple tint.
Number 89: Blacklight Prototype: Fairy-Type → Fairy-Type/Fiend-Type
Number 89: Blacklight Prototype: LIGHT → LIGHT/DARK
"Behold, hunter," Lithon called. "This is my original Number."
"Really?" Skyler said, squinting at the monster. "It doesn't look like much. I think the word I'd use to describe it would be-"
"Incomplete?" Lithon suggested. "You're entirely correct. This Number was created from my original desires. I wanted to find the imperfect and make it perfect, so this thing was created. The most imperfect Number."
"Why on earth would you want an imperfect Number?" Skyler asked.
Lithon grinned widely. "So I can seek perfection from it. I did my research, I conducted experiments, I pushed everything to the limit, even my own body. But I finally did it. I artificially created something incredible. I artificially created the perfect Number!" He clenched his fists. "You see, young hunters, there's much more to the Numbers than meets the eye. You don't understand their secrets. They have a true form hidden away inside them."
"A true form?" Leah gasped. "What do you mean a true form?"
"I mean that a Number has an alternate form that it can evolve into, one that allows it to release all of its power," Lithon explained. "And I have achieved that form, so behold it now! The ultimate power of the Chaos Numbers!"
"What? Chaos Numbers?" Skyler gasped, but Lithon was no longer listening.
"I use Number 89: Blacklight Prototype and its Overlay Units to reconstruct the Overlay Network!" With more grinding, Number 89 began to revert back into its grey pulsating cube, its Overlay Units continuing to circle it. Beneath it, another galaxy portal appeared, and the entire cube descended into it, along with its Overlay Units. The portal erupted outwards with light. "CHAOS XYZ CHANGE!"
Author-made cards:
Epignosai Lamedh (credit to Superjad)
Beast-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1800
When this card is Normal Summoned: Banish 1 "Epignosai" card from your Deck.
Epignosai Mem (credit to Superjad)
Aqua-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 100/DEF 100
If this card is currently banished: You can return 2 other banished "Epignosai" monsters to the Graveyard; Special Summon this banished card. Each player can only use the effect of "Epignosai Mem" twice per Duel.
Epignosai Samekh (credit to Superjad)
Fish-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1100/DEF 1100
When this card is Summoned: Target up to 3 "Epignosai" monsters in your Graveyard; banish all of those targets, then change this card to face-up Defence Position.
Number 4: Tesseract Dragon
Thunder-Type/Xyz/DARK/Rank 4/ATK 4100/DEF 2800
3 Rank 4 monsters
Must be Xyz Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. If this card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card instead. You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card; apply 1 of these effects (you cannot apply 2 or more different effects during the same turn): ●Banish 1 card your opponent controls. ●Banish 1 random card from your opponent's hand. ●Banish 1 card from your opponent's Graveyard.
Epignosai Veil (credit to Superjad)
Trap Card
Cannot be banished (except by the effect of an "Epignosai" card). If this card is currently banished: You can return this card to the Graveyard, then target 1 face-up Effect Monster your opponent controls; negate that target's effects until the End Phase.
Fun Fact #16: I think Number 4: Tesseract Dragon now holds the record for the highest amount of Overlay Units attached to it at one time. Although, spoiler warning, it won't be holding that record for long.
Fun Fact #17: Someone should totally make a Guinness Book of World Records for Yu-Gi-Oh!. I'm not sure how many records we've broken so far, but as far as I'm aware it's at least two (with Skyler Xyz Summoning 4 Numbers in a turn, and attaching a total of 9 Overlay Units to a monster at one time). If anyone finds/knows of another fanfic that has feasibly done better than us on either of these things, then please let us know, and we will immediately go and congratulate them (and most likely leave them in a state of total bewilderment).