(Cipher 175) 9: They Didnt Start the Fire

"Did it really happen? Did Chaos come back? Are you gonna fight him? Have you dueled him already? And how is Azar?" It was a restless day for the pursuers of Chaos. The cat was out of the bag in house Artega, and it had many questions. "Shin. I.." Subito had managed to avoid his younger brother in the morning and afternoon. But at night there was no escape. He would have to tell Shin everything, or at the very least as much as he could. "I do not want you to worry. You are safe." Subito was at the very least content with the knowledge that Ariel had found no infections within him. "So, it did happen." Worry, Shin did nonetheless. "It is. I can not speak much of it, not yet. We did face him, and he seems to have regained his full strength. The seven of us defeated him, but it is not known yet if he is gone for good."

"Bro. Why didn't you tell me sooner? You've been doing this for months and you look tired. Don't you think I could back you up?" Rather than growing fearful, Shin got glum. "I mean I can use my Number.. maybe! If it gives me visions of the future, I can warn you!" Shin knew he had landed himself in trouble many times in the past, but he felt he and his Number had been equally useful to the cause. "That was different, Chaos attacked us all and none could hide from him. Presently, we felt we could deal with this on our own, we could keep the burden to ourselves." The story Subito had was much like Ariels. "That, and your Number has not warned you of anything in months has it? This may simply be beyond its abilities." Shins Number, much like any other, had become less potent in the aftermath of the Chaos war. People believed that the Numbers only amplified their powers when threatened by beings like Chaos.

"Subito, Shin. What is this all about?" Any further questioning would have to be put on hold, as their father entered the living room at that time. "Dad. Its.." Shin hesitated to bring the subject to his father. That hesitation turned out to be unnecessary. "You can tell him, Shin. He already knows about my role.." As Subito revealed. "He did?" Shin was not very happy with that news either. "You are talking about Chaos. I see. Yes, Shin, I knew. I have known for a while now, and kept it secret from you and your mother for the same reason. People deserve to live their life the way they want to. And up until now, that was possible. With Chaos returning to full power we have to assume the worst."

"Father, is it ready?" Subito locked eyes with his father, keeping the topic of his question purposefully vague. "Nearly done. Test runs have proven promising." Mr. Artega replied. "Is what done? What mysterious thing are you talking about now?" It seemed like even more enigmas were dangling in front of Shin. It was starting to get aggravating. "There is a secret project in the works. One that might rid us of Chaos permanently. Thats all I am allowed to tell you for the time being. Trust me, Shin. We are going to fix this. And on that note.." He flipped his phone open. "I need to make a few calls. I have to let them know that..." He typed in a few numbers, but stopped halfway. "That's odd." Mr. Artega said as he stared at his phone. "What is?" Subito's eyes narrowed.

"I can't get any signal in here. The network is down."

...

In today's world you could not walk a mile without finding a sport event or game competition in progress. Qualifiers were held all over and every week. Dueling was a great part of it all, people could not get enough of the game. Certainly not this flame-streak haired spitfire of a girl. She lived for moments like these, she wanted to fight all sorts of people as go up against a thousand deckstyles. Her decks shifted from time to time as well. Though there was one constant factor, the element of fire. Sure she did not always reach the finals and win, sure she did not always qualify, but she never ran away from a fight. There were several titles in her past, but she did not care about those. She wanted to ensure that her name would be remembered by all future opponents. That name was Ruby Irant, and right now she was as ecstatic as she could be.

"My turn bucko!" She made it to the semis of the nearest qualifier she could find. It was run in a cramped toystore, but it could have been taking place at an abandoned warehouse for all she cared. Her opponent was some guy named Chester, a tall bespectacled young man with short black hair. He apparently ran a beastwarrior deck, as the first monster he had summoned was the golden-maned lion/horse hybrid, Leotaur(4/1500/1600). "You like beasts, do ya? Well, guess what! Me too!" Another notch on her score.

Ruby's LP: 8000 Chesters LP: 8000

"I activate the spell, Onslaught of the Fire Kings! Because you have a monster already, I can special summon a fire beast/beastwarrior/winged beast from my deck!" She used the spell to call upon one of her newest cards, a pale unicorn(3/1000/200) who walked in green flames and gold armor.. "Excuse me. But that's Fire King Avatar Kirin; a beast and not a beastwarrior." Chester immediately lectured her on the difference between the two types. "Meh. Details." She was not interested in hearing to what he had to say and what he seemed to know. "Not every card I use is a beastwarrior.. I normal summon Brushfire Knight." The next fire monster was a pure warrior(4/1400/1200), donning a silver shield and armor. "Now, during the endphase, Onslaught of the Fire Kings destroys the monster it summoned." She placed three cards from her hand face-down and let her turn end.

"Say what? You can't attack, or don't want to?" With a spell like Onslaught, Ruby could easily have summoned something stronger than Kirin. Instead she brought out something that died in the very same turn. "Pay attention. When Fire King Kirin is destroyed, I can send one fire monster from my deck to the graveyard." Ruby rummaged through her deck. "Oh and Brushfire Knight has an effect just like it! Except it sends fire monsters into my graveyard when one of my other fire monsters dies by an effect!" Due to Kirins selfdestruction, she could send two monsters out of her deck; Fire King Avatar Yaksha and a Leopard of the Fire Fist Brotherhood.

"You are working towards something. The summoning of your Number perhaps? It must be a complex method." Chester smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "Mine is far less convoluted. Allow me to demonstrate." He normal summoned another centaur-like beastwarrior(3/800/400). Only this one was halfhuman and wearing red samurai armor. Its face was covered by a thick mask of sorts with japanese writing on it. "I summon Shogi Knight. Its power in the game is this; it destroys one trap you have." The horseman rode towards Ruby's side and cut through her leftmost trap with its sword. "Hey hey!" Her Horn of the Phantom Beast was removed from the board. "A bluff then. Or the wrong choice. Irregardless.." Chester took another card from his hand. "When Shogi Knight destroys a card, it may also summon another level 3 beastwarrior from my hand." He special summoned a wooden wheel(3/500/500) with ten spokes. "Thats a beastwarrior?" Ruby blinked. There was nothing animalistic about that thing. It did have another japanese-inscribed mask at the center. "What do those masks say?"

"They are not masks, ms. Ruby Irant. They are Shogi pieces. This monster is Shogi Lance. Its power in the game is to take another level 3 beastwarrior and combine its own level with that monsters." The Lance wheel(6/500/500) and Knight horseman(6/800/400) stapped on top of each other. "Oh. Like Chess. No wonder you are called Chester." If that was a coincidence, it was still funny enough to laugh at. "They are two entirely separate.. nevermind." Chester nearly let his frustration get the better of him. "I overlay the two Shogi pieces, and summon a third!" Chester performed his rank 6 Xyz-summon, and created a flying cycloptic chariot(6/2500/1200). "Number 72: Shogi Rook! Its power is linear destruction! It sacrifices two attached materials and halves all damage one can inflict for this turn, to wipe out one face-up monster and one face-down trap!" The Shogi Number absorbed the lesser pieces and unleashed his two spiked lance wheels upon Ruby's side. "I destroy Brushfire Knight and your remaining trap!"

"How nice, but my trap isn't facedown anymore!" Ruby flipped a continuous trap face-up. "Kickfire! Once a turn, when an effect destroys a fire monster, this trap gains a counter!" Though her redcaped knight was impaled on the spiked wheels, the trap could no longer be destroyed. Instead it gained 1 counter. "Oh and Brushfire Knight may use its power even if he is the one being destroyed!" With his dying strength, the Knight dragged another fire monster, Heavy Cavalry of the Karmatic Flames, into an infernal grave. "That still leaves one less piece on the board, doesnt it? Now you have none, and I have two." Chester said right before his Leotaur unceremoniously blew itself up. "What?" The blast caused some minor damage to him and her as well. "Trap card: Chthonian Blast! You kill one of my cards, I kill one of yours. Its only fair." Ruby's third trap had destroyed the weakest monster on the field in response to Brushfire's destruction. Both players also lost lifepoints equal to half of Leotaurs attackpoints.

Ruby's LP: 7250 Chesters LP: 7250

"But my Shogi Rook may still walk all the way to the other side and strike!" Number 72 hit Ruby with its sharp weapons. "Hmph. Just a copy." Ruby barely felt the wheels and spikes, even though they were playing at the highest legal intensity. This guy must have had a different Number and was just using a reprint of Number 72.

Ruby's LP: 6000

"Your turn, Ruby Irant!" Chester placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "Hey. I get to say when it is my turn! My turn!" Ruby drew her card. "Even better." It made her flash a big toothy grin. "Hey Chester guess what?" She took one spell from her hand and kept it obscured. "What?" Chester sighed and asked her anyway. "Rekindling's what!" The spell was activated."Rekindling!?" Chester gasped loudly. It was a card that required no explanation, any duelist knew of its game-breaking ability. It would rekindle all fire-type monsters whose ashes lied in the gravyerd, as long as their defense points were exactly equal to 200. "I should have known, this was the reason for your milling strategy!" The revived were Fire King Avatar Kirin, Fire King Avatar Yaksha(4/1800/200), Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Leopard(3/0/200) and Heavy Cavalry of the Karmatic Flames(4/1800/200) "What are all these things?" That last monster was a chariot riding zombie of all things. Just what kind of deck was Ruby using?

"I dabble in a lot of things. I dont like predictability. I really should have given Rekindling a go, years ago though." She entered the battle phase and sent her zombie in first. "Heavy Cavalry of the Karmatic Flames can banish one monster it battles before damage calculation. No Number immunity is gonna save your Number now, Chester, reprint or not!" The Cavalry charioteer stampeded towards the Shogi Chariot. The Number was run over by the undead rider, whose karmatic fire burned the Rook to a blackened crisp. "You..my Number!" Chester had foreseen a destruction ability, as his face-down trap could have defended against that. But he did not foresee banishing effects. "And now two direct attacks!" Kirin and Yaksha the Avatars closed in on Chester and dropped a dozen firebombs on him from above. "Confounded..." He had lost the lead he had built up. "Hrm. A good effort, but it is still anyone's game!" During the endphase, Rekindling would permanently kill the flames it had relit. All four of Ruby's monsters would be banished. Kickfire could not take advantage of that either.

Chesters LP: 4450

"Oh I love that look; that look satisfied selfconfidence. Its so fun to shove it back in their face." Ruby chuckled to herself and revealed the last card in her hand to her opponent. "Look. Recognize this? Its Dark Hole." She gave Chester a moment to change his expression to one of horror, and then placed the spell on her D-pad. "I destroy all monsters on the field!" A black hole opened up on the board, sucking up all her monsters at once and crushing them to nothing. "Four monsters are destroyed. Soooo.." Ruby let her trap do its thing. Kickfire gained 4 more counters. "Welp, time to end my turn! You know what that means? During your standby phase, I can sacrifice Kickfire and each of its counters will cause 1000 points of damage. Thats more than you have, Chester. You can kiss all your lifepoints goodbye!" She had done it again! Whoever said she needed a Number to make it this far could kiss...

Zap.

"What? Oh come on! I was just about to win!"Ruby snarled as the lights went out, as did her D-pad. "What just happened? This can't be a black out?" Chester had no idea what could have caused even their independently powered D-pads to short out. Nowadays all energy came from Numbers, and that energy was near limitless. "Whatever. Just don't think this means you get off on a technicality! You, you saw it right!" She pointed at the referee. "I won, declare it.. so what if its not recorded on the network. I.. Hey! Are you even listening?" The ref seemed to have no interest in her. "What are you even looking...at?" Ruby turned around..

..and stared right into darkness. "Jesus!" She tripped and fell to the floor out of fright. "What the hell are you?" A faceless figure stood there, a phantom that blackened the space it occupied like a living shadow. "You have not changed one bit, Ruby Irant." It adressed her, it knew her. "What? No! Thats not what I asked! You dont get to not answer my questions!" She pushed herself back up and tried to grab the entity. "Wha!" But her hand slipped through him, and he rematerialized a few inches to her left. "He..he really is a ghost!" The other duelists around them started panicking. They had seen what Numbers could do, but something as paranormal as this went beyond their worldview. "You..you are Chaos!" Some cried out the name they had come to fear, even before Azar got a chance to talk to them. "So you have fed them what emotions you want them to have, Pandora?"They did not fear him and remember his name because of their own past, they were told to react this way. "I am not Chaos."

"Then who are you? You aint human, that's for sure." Ruby was not going to let this thing scare her, but she was not going to be at ease around it either. "I am a friend, to humans and Numbers alike. To call me Chaos is denial. I want nothing more than to bring balance to their order and your disorder. I am here to show you all a truth, the world you know is not the world you were born in.. none of you. You may call me 'The Truth'." Azar summoned his dueling blade and his cards. "And the only way to show you this truth, is by facing you and the Numbers you hold in battle." His free hand was directed towards Ruby. "I challenge you, original owner of Number 57, to a duel. It is your choice to accept or run."

"What? Me? Run away!? A supernatural being shows up to fight in the tournament, and he expects me to back off? Not on your life, Truth/Chaos/whateveryouare!" Ruby responded exactly how Azar had expected her to. "If you are even remotely related to Chaos, I can even consider this my duty!" She began to reshuffle her cards. "You may take the first turn.." The shadow drew five cards. "I was gonna do that already!" Ruby placed one monster face-down and one trap card. "I don't need your permission!" As soon as she ended her turn she activated the set trap card. It was Kickfire again. She was robbed of one victory with that card, she would not let another be taken from her. The others in the building just stood there and stared. They could escape if they want, Azar had only turned of the power. Ruby's D-pad was the last active D-pad. Because he was only interested in dueling and converting her.

Azars LP: 8000 Ruby's LP: 8000

"My turn. I special summon Trap Eater by eating your trap." A hungry tuner monster(4/1900/1600) jumped out of the floor and swallowed Kickfire whole. "Gah!" Then Azar normal summoned one of the demons Chaos was more known for, Steelswarm Gatekeeper(4/1500/1900). "Synchro summon." Trap Eater tuned itself with the shellbacked demon, and combined its eight stars. "Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons." The synchro monster that process created was a devil of both dragonic and insectoid nature. Azar brought out the lord of flies, Beelze(8/3000/3000) with its two dragon heads, demonic chest-face and bloodred scales. "Attack." Beelze's two heads tore Ruby's facedown monster, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist Boar(4/1100/1400) mercilessly in half.

"Thats a pretty evil-looking monster you got there, Truth. You say you are the good guy?" Ruby in turn activated the effect of Boar. It could special summon another level 4 Fire Fist monster when it was destroyed as a result of battle. Ruby used the effect to special summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Rhino(4/1700/1400). "Well against someone like you.." After her opponent placed two cards face down, it gave the turn back to her. "I think I will have to summon my Number!" Ruby normal summoned Coach Soldier Wolfbark(4/1600/1200). Wolfbarks effect revived one dead level 4 fire-beastwarrior, so she special summoned Fire Fist Boar back to her field. "The sooner, the better.." Azar was waiting for this. "Well, hope you are pleased then!" Ruby placed Boar, Rhino and Wolfbark on top of each other. "I xyz-summon Number 57: Trihead Dust Dragon!"

Yes. This was what Azar wanted. Ruby was like Dakar, she had a connection with the force of Chaos and a connection with the Overhundred Numbers as well. Azar did not need to be alone, he had friends once, and he still did. Here on the other side of the world in the middle of the day, the Seven would not find him, not right away. Ruby would not be the first person they'd suspect he would visit. Time was still of the essence. Azar only needed to show her the truth they had forgotten. And after her, he needed four more to start fighting back.

(To be Continued in Cipher 10: One Ally at a Time)

New Card used by Ruby Irant
Brushfire Knight
Heavy Cavalry of the Karmatic Flames
Fire King Avatar Kirin
Fire King Avatar Yaksha

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Rekindling
Dark Hole

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Kickfire

Cards used by Chester
Leotaur
Shogi Knight
Shogi Lance
Number 72: Shogi Rook

New Cards used by Azar
Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons