Agreeing to teach a girl he just met how to Synchro Summon was not something Zak thought he would end up doing when he planned the Number Hunting mission. But it didn't worry him; Angel was his partner in crime now after all. The more skilled she was; the better and easier this mission would be. So that was his position now: heading to the duel shop with Angel next to him, who was planning to get a 'powerful, awesome Synchro fairy' as she put it.
Upon reaching the duel shop in the plaza of Heartland, Zak opened the door and gestured for Angel to enter.
'Thankyou sweetie,' She said, 'I see you've been working on your gentlemanly skills.'
'Apparently so,' Zak replied, closing the door after him.
The man behind the counter smiled at the two teenagers as they approached him. He was expecting them to ask about the new and most powerful cards like everyone else did.
'Hey, do you sell Synchro cards by any chance?' Angel inquired.
The man behind the counter raised his eyebrows at the request.
'Synchro cards?' He said with the obvious surprise in his voice, 'Well… We don't generally stock those because everyone uses Xyz cards now. But I shall have a look in the back. Did you have anything particular in mind?'
'A Fairy-Type; if that's okay?' Angel said with a smile.
'Of course, I'll be right back. Wait right here.'
The man left the room as Angel turned to Zak. She grinned at him. He looked back at her with a slight smile upon his face. She was obviously excited about this new turn of events. Zak was also admitted quite curious as to how this partnership was going to play out. She then mouthed something at him. Zak saw she said 'Thank you.' He smiled and mouthed back, 'You're welcome.' The shopkeeper returned with two cards in hand. He showed them to Angel; one was a Synchro monster called 'Ancient Sacred Wyvern' and the other was an effect monster called 'Chaos-End Master.'
'This Synchro card was the only Fairy-Type we had. Is it okay?' The shopkeeper asked Angel.
'Ooh, Level 7; perfect for me,' Angel replied, winking at Zak. Zak rolled his eyes in response; he knew what she meant.
'Excellent!' the shopkeeper stated, 'This here is a tuner monster, and a LIGHT attribute one. You'll need it to summon the Ancient Sacred Wyvern. Do you know how to Synchro Summon?'
'He's going to teach me!' Angel exclaimed, nodding at Zak.
'Well alright then. How about $10 for the both of them?'
Angel looked at Zak for his opinion. He simply nodded and she smiled.
'Sounds like a deal!' She said happily as she reached for her wallet, 'Here you go.'
Angel handed him the money and received the cards in return. She could hardly contain her excitement. She quickly turned to him with a question upon her face. Zak knew what it meant and nodded.
'Let's go teach you how to Synchro Summon,' He said calmly.
They both left without a word and walked outside towards a nearby football field. Angel half danced as she walked and already had her D-Pad activated. She had been a lot more energetic since joining forces with Zak. Zak was back in his usual calm attitude, although he was slightly more talkative than usual. He enjoyed Angel's company and it lifted his spirits. They reached the field in hardly any time at all, probably due to Angel's fast pace. They came to the middle of the field and Zak explained how he was going to teach Angel how Synchro Summoning worked.
'I'll teach you by example okay?' Zak began, 'We each get to choose the first five cards in our hands and neither of us uses any Numbers? Pick the cards you'll need to summon Ancient Sacred Wyvern one your first turn. Got that?'
'Sounds easy enough. Are you going to Synchro Summon straight away too?' Angel replied.
'I will. I'll go first to show you how it's done.'
'Thankyou sweetie. Get ready to get beaten by me and my new Fairy!' Angel said while raising her Duel Disk and activating he D-Gazer.
'We shall see,' Zak said in response, activating his D-Gazer too.
They walked to separate ends of the football field and gazed at each other for a moment before simultaneously shouting 'Duel!'
[Angel: 4000] [Zak: 4000]
Zak had already selected his five cards and promptly drew his next. He only needed two though because he wasn't planning on having a long drawn out battle with Angel.
'I summon Trident Warrior to the field and by using its effect: I can special summon a Level 3 monster from my hand. I special summon Delta Flyer! Now I use Delta Flyer's effect; once per turn I can raise the level of one other monster on my side of the field by one: Trident Warrior becomes Level 5! Here's how you Synchro Summon Angel! Are you ready?'
'I'm all set sweetie,' Angel called out from the other side of the field.
'A Synchro Monster requires two or more monsters whose levels total its level and exactly one of these monsters needs to be a Tuner monster. Both of my monsters total Level 8 and Delta Flyer is a Tuner! So I tune my Level 5 Trident Warrior and my Level 3 Delta Flyer and Synchro Summon! Arise: Crimson Blader! That's all there is to it! I end my turn!'
'Alright then: my turn! I draw! I activate the spell card 'Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen' from my hand. You know where this is going don't you sweetie? I use its effect to special summon Athena from my hand! I now normal summon Victoria and because she's a fairy: you take 600 points of damage due to Athena's effect!'
[Zak: 3400]
'Now I activate Double Summon so I can normal summon once more! Out comes Chaos-End Master: my tuner! I tune my Level 4 Victoria with my Level 3 LIGHT attribute Chaos-End Master to Synchro Summon Ancient Sacred Wyvern! Come on out my newest fairy! Athena's effect activates again and you take another 600 points of damage!'
[Ancient Sacred Wyvern – 2100 ATK – 2000 DEF – LIGHT Attribute – Fairy-Type – Level 7]
[Zak: 2800]
'But I'm not done yet! When my Life Points are higher than yours, Ancient Sacred Wyvern gains Attack equal to the difference. So now its Attack is on 3300! I now attack your Crimson Blader with my Ancient Sacred Wyvern and then activate the effect of Honest in my hand! When a LIGHT attribute monster on my side of the field battle with one of your monsters: I can send Honest to the graveyard to increase the Attack Points of the LIGHT monster by the Attack Points of your monster! Ancient Sacred Wyvern now has a grand total of 6100! Take this Zakky; Ancient Sacred Wyvern: ATTACK!'
The wyvern did as it commanded and breathed in deeply before sending out a huge white ball of energy at Zak's Crimson Blader; destroying the latter completely. Zak was blasted back a few feet as his Life Points dropped to zero.
[Zak: 0] [Winner: Angel]
Zak sat up as Angel approached him, smiling innocently. They both knew that Angel had done that as payback for Zak defeating her yesterday. She grinned at him and he couldn't help but smile in return; that was the first time anyone had beaten him in quite a while. He raised his arm and waited for her to help him up.
'That was amazing! I totally nailed that Synchro Summoning business. And you know, I was going to give you a Heart Piece 'cause you beat me last time. But I don't think you deserve it now,' Angel said playfully.
Zak raised an eyebrow at her, but couldn't keep a straight face and let off a small laugh.
'Ooh, laughing now? This is new Zakky. And look: I beat you without using this!'
Angel held out her Number 88: Goddess of Light card on the palm of her hand. Zak reached into his Duel Disk and retrieved Number 50: Black Corn. He placed it on top of her Number and placed his hand on hers.
'Neither,' Zak smiled, 'But don't think…'
He couldn't finish his sentence as just then the two Numbers resonated against each other between Zak and Angel's hands. The cards sent out a shockwave which almost made the pair fall over. Zak's head was in a rush now. He closed his eyes and then felt his mind show him a picture of the Heartland Duel Academy. It was a vivid mental image, which seemed to be moved in real time. The picture then zoomed in on two senior boys in a secluded corner. He recognized them as old classmates. They were conversing and looking shifty, but Zak couldn't make out any words. Then the picture showed him something that shocked him: the boys' right arms lit up; both with the symbols for a Number. Zak opened his eyes quickly and looked at Angel. She looked as if she had seen the same thing and she looked back at him anxiously. There were Numbers at the school, and they both knew it.
'How do you feel about going to school?' Zak asked calmly, pulling up his hood.
'I'd love too,' Angel replied in the same tone.
Both duelists returned their respective Numbers to their extra decks and, after a quick glance at each other, headed off toward the school.
