Matt awoke with a start.
The first thing he noticed was silence. The second was light – there was something bright shining directly onto his face and into his eyes. He clenched his eyes shut again and allowed his other senses to explore his immediate surroundings. As he felt the softness of a pillow beneath him, and the warmth of the duvet draped over him, he quickly realised that he must be in a bed. The question was whether it was his bed, or a hospital one. Nervously, he sat up and opened his eyes again.
He needn't have worried. He was safely back in his bedroom, and from the looks of it, he'd been out for quite a while. The sun was just beginning to rise – which, he realised, must've been the light shining on his face – yet it had been nearing midday by the time they'd finished the duel.
The duel!
With dread, he recalled the events of the previous day – at least, he assumed it was yesterday – and strove to remember every minute detail. He wanted to remember if any of his friends had been hurt or, worse, if he'd been the one that hurt them. Unfortunately, the effort proved futile. His brain was scrambled, his memories disjointed and confused. He could remember vague impressions, but not exact details.
Frustrated, he swung his feet out of bed and into a pair of slippers. He'd just have to ask them himself. His sense of foreboding made him feel uneasy, and there was a small part of his mind telling him to hide under the covers to escape the prospect. Matt chided himself for being such a coward, and angrily pushed the thought out of his mind as he searched for his dressing gown.
Then, as he slipped it on, something caught his eye.
It was on his desk, exactly where he left it every night. A Deck. His Deck. And sitting on top of it was his Number card, Number 51: Dark Excalibur. A grimace crossed his face. It was always Dark Excalibur on top – no matter which card was on top of his Deck when he went to sleep, Dark Excalibur would always be on top when he woke up. It bugged him, but it didn't cause him any major concern. Dark Excalibur had always been quite a show-off.
Matt picked the card up and looked at it in the way that had become his habit, as though trying to find some hidden meaning in the card that had eluded him the previous nine-thousand times he'd examined it. Once again it yielded none of its secrets, but as Matt went to put the card down he spotted something else. A new card, sitting top of his Deck where Dark Excalibur had been, one that hadn't been there a second ago, one that he'd never even seen until yesterday.
"Chaos Number 51: Dark Excalibur Reita..." he muttered.
If he had any delusions about yesterday all being a bad dream, the presence of that card dispelled them in an instant. He swiped up that card too, pocketed both his Number and his new Chaos Number, and again went to leave his room. Yet again, however, he was stopped by something. This time it was a pile of cards, lying face-down next to his Deck. Curiously, he picked them up and examined them.
He had only gone through two cards before he realised what they were. They were the cards that he'd extracted from Skyler yesterday. There were ten of them.
Sifting through them, he recognised Number 68: Glacial Dragon, the very card that they had sought to obtain in that duel. He smiled to himself – at least that part of the plan had gone well. If luck was with them, Dan would soon have his memory back.
He also recognised Number 20: Blue Firefly, Number 3: Comet the Skylord, Number 55: Vapour Freeze, Number 68: Underworld's Hands, and Number 40: Trailblazing Hunter Brutsar - the cards that Dan had managed to capture when he was still able to hunt, and which Skyler had taken from him a while back.
Then there was Number 25: Sonicboom Dragon and Number 53: Alpha Centauri – two of Skyler's own Numbers, and two incredibly powerful Numbers. Both had been capable of causing horrific injuries to duelists just by attacking, and Matt found himself feeling sick just looking at them.
There was also a card he'd never seen before, Number 39: Ignite-Mare – he assumed that this was another of Skyler's Numbers, which he probably extracted a while ago. For some reason, looking at the card made him sad, as it represented yet another innocent bystander that Skyler had maimed.
And then he came to the tenth card. This card was another one he didn't recognise, but it grabbed his attention in a way that Ignite-Mare simply didn't. It seemed very... how could he put it... vocal. Its very image seemed to scream to him about the person who'd created it – whoever that was – and he could practically see which emotions had gone into forming this card. Glancing at the stats and effect, he could also see why Skyler had kept it on his person. This was a very strong Number.
For some reason, it seemed to remind him of someone. A long time ago, he'd met someone who seemed to embody this card's very essence. Briefly, he wondered if that person had been this card's original owner.
Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he decided that maybe getting dressed would be a good idea. A rogue Number could appear at any time, and they still had a job to do. Plus, it would be good to capitalise on this moment and grab as many Numbers as possible whilst Skyler was still recovering.
*HALF AN HOUR LATER*
Fully dressed and apprehensive, Matt finally left the sanctuary of his bedroom and stepped out into the living room area. He spotted his team immediately; they were sitting at the dining table, chatting to each other. As far as he could tell, they all seemed to be perfectly fine. Leah noticed him walk in and smiled.
"Morning Matt," she said cheerfully, beckoning him over. As he sat down between her and James, he noticed that the four of them had spread all of their own Numbers out on the table in front of them. Most prominently, he noticed a new card in front of Leah. One which, he knew, had not existed until yesterday. Chaos Number 17: Passion Aurora Sol.
"You too?" he asked, indicating the card.
"Yeah," she nodded. "So does that mean you...?"
He nodded and fished around in his pocket, his hand emerging a moment later with his own Chaos Number. "So I guess yesterday happened after all."
"Looks like it," she muttered. Matt noticed that she seemed troubled by something. There was a brief lull in the conversation, while Matt tried to think of what to say next. He had just about decided on what to say when, quite unexpectedly, Leah threw her arms around him and hugged him. "Sorry Matt," she whispered.
"Me too," he replied, returning the hug, albeit awkwardly. "I should've had more control over my Numbers than that."
"Remind me to train you better next time," she grinned, finally releasing him.
He smiled back and, almost subconsciously, glanced down at her wrist. "So you got hold of a new band then?"
She shook her head. "It's not mine, it's Dan's," she said, and Dan nodded to him. "He doesn't have any Numbers, so he used his band to protect me, just like Katie used James' to protect you."
"James'?" Matt queried. "But... doesn't he have a Number too? How did he-"
"I extracted it," Katie said, her voice racked with guilt. "We had Dan's spare band, but that wasn't enough for both of you. And me and James couldn't take our bands off without being taken over. So while the duel was going on, I used my band to extract James' Number, then took his band to give to you."
"I think that's a metaphor for most divorces," James muttered.
"Relax James," Leah grinned. "Think of yourself like a police officer with a taser. No police officer is qualified to use a taser until they've been through training on how to use it, which actually includes being tasered yourself! So by that logic, out of all of us, you're the one who's most qualified to use the band."
"Hmph," James said, but everyone saw the way his lips curled at the corners, and they knew that he bore his girlfriend no ill will. She kissed him on the cheek.
Suddenly, Matt remembered the state Katie had been in after almost being diced by his Chaos Number, and immediately turned to apologise. Katie, however, seemed to guess what he was thinking and just laughed it off. "You don't need to apologise; I'm fine," she assured him. "I have a bit of bruising in my shoulder from where I hit you, and that's it. It's no big deal."
Matt nodded, still feeling guilty, and tried to think of a way to change the subject.
"So... looks like the Professor gave you new bands," he said. It hadn't escaped him that everyone on the table was wearing a band, including himself.
"Yeah, but not after we got a royal tongue-lashing about breaking them in the first place," James grumbled.
"When we got home, you and Leah were unconscious, and Katie wasn't far off," Dan continued. "So me and James put you all to bed, then we went to get replacement bands for ourselves, as well as some spares just in case. Like you said," he nodded to James, "Professor Usur wasn't happy. He gave us a good ten minute rant about how his supply of bands isn't limitless, how he isn't made of money, how we should be more careful with them, etc."
"What did you tell him had happened to them?" Katie asked, and Matt realised that she and Leah probably didn't know this part of the story either. "Did you mention the Chaos Numbers?"
Dan shook his head, but it was James who answered. "No. It's none of his business."
"Why not?" Matt asked. "He's our boss after all."
James shrugged. "I dunno. I just... would any of you have told him?"
"Nope," Leah said straight away. "I agree with you. There's something about the Professor that I just don't trust."
"Same," Katie added. "I know he's our boss, but if what happened to you yesterday had happened to me, I certainly wouldn't go to him for advice. I'd sooner go to Doctor Lithon." Without seeming to notice, she crossed her arms as if she was feeling cold. "It's just... something about him is weird. He doesn't feel very trustworthy, you know?"
While this conversation continued, Matt examined the other Numbers that were laid out on the table. Excluding the Chaos Number, Leah had five of them, as did Katie. James had one – he smiled as he saw it, as it meant that Katie had given it back after all – and he had six, plus the ones he'd extracted from Skyler.
And that reminded him.
"Don't you think it's time we got down to business?" he said, cutting off the conversation mid-sentence.
"Business?" James asked.
In response, Matt reached into his pocket, pulled out the pile of nine Xyz Monsters, and held it up for all to see. He'd rearranged them earlier, so that the top card was Number 68: Glacial Dragon.
Leah's eyes widened, and as one the four kids turned to look at Dan, who was likewise looking apprehensive. "Well," he said. "This is the moment of truth then."
"You think this will work?" Leah asked.
Dan shrugged. "How would I know?
"I wouldn't get your hopes up too high, just in case it doesn't work" Matt warned them. "It seems pretty unlikely to me."
"Unlikely or not, it's still worth a shot," Leah insisted.
Matt nodded. "Indeed. Dan, hold out your hand." Dan did as he was told, and Matt extended his own so that the pile of nine cards were hovering just above Dan's hand.
"You're going to give him all of them?" Katie asked, surprised.
"Yes," Matt replied. "Most of them were Dan's to begin with before Skyler took them, so it's only right that he should have them back. As for the rest of them, the ones that Skyler had..." he shuddered, "...I can't stand the sight of the things."
Katie nodded, understanding.
"Ready for this?" he asked.
"Nope," Dan said. "Just go for it."
Without another word, Matt placed the cards in Dan's palm and withdrew his hand.
Dan felt the cards in two ways. He felt them as a smooth, gentle pressure on his skin as the cards were deposited in his hand. But he also felt something else - it was ever so faint, but unmistakable. A tiny, immeasurable presence, pressing on what could have been his heart, but it felt too ethereal for that. It was more like a tiny wisp of smoke, or something else with no weight of substantiality, had coiled itself around his very soul. It was quite an unsettling feeling.
The four Deltas watched him expectantly as he sat there, motionless, his eyes distant. As usual, the nine glowing symbols briefly flared into being on Dan's right arm as the cards changed hands, but beyond that, nothing. Dan gave no indication as to whether it had worked or not. He seemed to be pondering something, oblivious to the world.
"Well?" James said, finally getting bored after three minutes of waiting. "Did it work?"
They watched as Dan seemed to snap out of a trance. He glanced around the group, rather subconscious of the way they were staring at him.
For a moment, there was just silence.
Finally, Dan shook his head. "No. Nothing."
"Damnit," Katie muttered.
Leah looked slightly more upset. "So I guess that duel was for nothing..." she said.
"Hey, I wouldn't go that far," Katie cut in. "We scored a huge victory against Skyler, retrieved almost ten percent of the Numbers from him, and got ourselves two powerful new weapons." She indicated Leah and Matt's Chaos Numbers. "That's got to count for something, right?" Leah nodded, but still seemed saddened by the result.
Matt sighed. "Looks like that healing Number is our only hope after all," he said. "We just have to wait for that girl to return to this city."
"But she's surrounded by the press," James argued. "She spends most of her times in hospitals. Hell, she can't even walk down the street without someone begging her to heal their relative or something. So how do we-"
The alarm went off. The Professor had installed it a while back to make sure Team Delta never missed a Number alert. It was designed to be as loud and as obnoxious as possible, and it did its job admirably.
Katie glanced up at the thing in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me. Now?!"
"He can't really expect us to go out after yesterday," Dan said.
James snorted derisively. "Have you even met our boss?"
With another heavy sigh, Matt stood up. "Alright then, everyone get your gear," he said. "I suppose we should get to work."
Fun Fact #41: Told you we weren't finished.
Fun Fact #42: That thing about tasers is actually true. Any police officer signing up for the force must have a taser used on them during training before they are allowed to wield one. The reason being that it hurts, and they have to understand the sort of pain they could be inflicting before using a taser. Plus, in court, their reasoning of why they used a taser to subdue someone becomes infinitely stronger if they have experienced the same thing themselves. The same holds true for pepper spray.
