The sun had almost set now and it had been a long day. Numbers had been hunted and Heart Pieces had been won. With his hood up and head low, Zak walked along the riverside; where he'd duelled Angel earlier. People had become scarce now; probably all getting ready for the second day of the WDC. Zak was already prepared, except for a place to sleep. He wasn't feeling tired yet, so he decided to continue on for another two or three hours. This time he was heading for the plaza to have a look around and possibly score another Heart Piece or even a Number.
Zak already had obtained 6 Numbers as it was. He could feel their dark presence radiating out of his duel disk. It sent a shiver done his spine and he stopped for a second just to check that the cards were secure. It would be hazardous if these cards escaped his possession. He then removed them from his disk and looked through each of them.
Number 13: Darkshine Dragon.
Number 18: Voltage King.
Number 50: Black Corn.
Number 62: Sound-Breaking Cannon.
Number 88: Goddess of Light.
Number 93: Desolate.
Zak checked to see which of them could be summoned in his deck. Of all six Numbers, two could be summoned with monsters alone; two could be summoned using monsters and extra effects of cards and finally, two could be summoned in very specific conditions. He didn't plan on using any other Number except the ones he needed: 13 and 50. Zak then wondered how many Numbers Kite had already hunted. He was a devastating and powerful duelist and because of that: Zak even slightly feared their next duel.
There were quite few people at the plaza, and a few duels going on. Zak could sense a dark presence now; a Number was close by. The first thought Zak had was to check the duels going on. There were three, all at different sides of the plaza. He slipped through the crowd to the first one and watched the duelists battle it out for a few minutes. Both were enjoying themselves and neither player showed any looks of being possessed by a Number.
'Not here,' Zak thought.
He continued on. Everyone was so alive tonight; the carnival did not stop at sunset. Zak wished he could have been more of a part of it and enjoy it like the rest. But he couldn't, there was too much riding on his shoulders for that. Zak reached the second duel. It was between a heavily built man and another taller, thinner man. The latter was clearly losing; no monsters, spells or traps and 100 Life Points. The first man had three Xyz Monsters already and 4000 Life Points. The odd part was that the losing one was adamant that he'd win.
'Life is a carnival!' He said, spreading his arms.
'Why did you have to use my Heart Pieces Charlie?' Came another voice.
Zak turned to its source and saw a familiar face of a young teenager. He remembered seeing him earlier. Zak struggled to remember the name. But he didn't have to; the girl that was with him said it aloud and reprimanded the boy anyway. Yuma was his name. Zak watched the trio; Yuma, the girl; named Tori, and Charlie; the duelist. Yuma then began yelling at the air beside him, calling it 'Astral.' Zak thought there was something wrong with him, but he also got a feeling of the dark presence from Yuma. Zak wondered if he was the source of the dark presence of the Numbers around here.
'I overlay my three level 7 monsters to build the overlay network and Xyz Summon: Number 7: Lucky Straight!' Charlie then called out.
'I guess I was wrong then,' Zak said under his breath, 'There's the Number.'
Zak watched the remainder of the duel as Charlie exploited Number 7's effect. The effects relied on dice rolls, and they always came up with a six. Something was wrong; it required an incredible amount of luck to do that. Zak looked at Charlie's monster: Number 7. A thought flashed across his mind.
'It's you isn't it?' Zak mumbled, 'That's your power. The power of incredible luck.'
The Number responded to Charlie's next command and attacked the other duelist directly. It was a one kit KO. The three Xyz Monsters had been destroyed and Number 7 had 4200 Attack points; Charlie's opponent had stood no chance.
'Life is a carnival,' Charlie said, removing his D-Gazer.
'And my day isn't over yet,' Zak thought.
It was best if he tried to duel Charlie now and retrieve the Number quickly, Zak decided. He stepped forward and was about to speak; but a siren cut him off. It was a police siren and, within moments, at least twenty officers had entered the area. They surrounded Charlie and began demanding him to surrender. Zak was confused now: he had no idea what was going on. But he knew better than to become a part of it. He lowered his head and tried not to draw attention to himself. He only watched the scene unfold.
Charlie stood there smiling in the middle of the area; Yuma and Tori were on the sidelines watching in surprise. The police had completely surrounded him and were ready bats and tasers; and were still asking him the stand down. Zak wondered why he hadn't complied yet. There was no escape route and no one seemed to be attempting to help Charlie. Then Charlie raised his arms to his head, seemingly to accept defeat. He was saying something, but Zak couldn't hear him from his position.
What happened in the next few moments became what Zak considered to be the strongest luck in history. Charlie deftly picked something out of his hat: it was the Number 7 card. He raised it high above his head and shouted something. Zak only heard the word 'luck.' Just then the card flashed and, almost instantly, a strong wind began to pick up. Everyone in the vicinity covered their heads, except for Zak, Charlie, Yuma and Tori. Yuma was shouting at Charlie while Tori looked around scared. Charlie still stood there, grinning and not flinching. There was a sudden creaking sound coming from well above the plaza. A giant ring attached to a sign was beginning to come loose because of the wind.
Then it fell. It finally broke loose and fell through the air to the area straight below. It was headed for Charlie. But he stood there and didn't move. It was as if he knew what was going to happen and when it would happen. Zak thought that this was probably because of the power of that Number. Number 7: Lucky Straight somehow gave its bearer incredible luck. The giant ring fell exactly around Charlie. Zak shook his head in disbelief; it was amazing. But it wasn't over; Charlie raised his other palm and the winds picked up yet again. However, this time was not an attempt to cause destruction to the scenery. Instead of damaging the landscape, the winds tore at everyone. Zak saw the extra deck hatch on his duel disk flip back, followed by a card being taken right out by the gusts caused by Charlie and his Number. Zak was quick to close the hatch, but the card was gone; and so were many other cards from everyone else's decks. Everyone in the vicinity seemed to have had one or more of their cards taken. Not even Yuma, who had been accompanying Charlie, was an exception. The cards all followed the wind and landed perfectly in a pile on Charlie's raised palm. He'd stolen an entire deck's worth of cards only by raising his hand.
Charlie then leaped out of the area, with the police all standing back from the rubble of the fallen ring. They took a few moments to get it together and give chase; but by the time: Charlie was long gone. Yuma and Tori had gone too, Yuma probably chasing Charlie for the card that he'd stolen. Zak did not join the chase instantly. He needed to know which card Charlie had taken from him. After he was sure the winds had died down, he carefully opened the hatch on his extra deck and pulled out all of the remaining cards. He was reassured to see both Crimson Blader and Number 13 there. But after going through all of the cards; he realised that Number 88: Goddess of Light had been taken by the wind. It looked like Zak had two reasons to find Charlie now; both of them being about the Numbers.
