Cipher 020: One Moment in a Lifetime

"Bro. What happened out there?" Shin saw Subito once again that morning. Him being home at all was a rare occurrence. "I should not tell you. For your own safety." What went down at the Prometheus shop Subito had kept to himself. "Do not tell mother about what happened there at school." He said in a surprisingly emphatic way. "Not Mom? What about dad?" Subito left him out for some reason. "He is already aware of part of the problem. We were not even sure if we should get you and mother involved. But you already know enough for me to add this." He took out his Number card: Big Eye. "These cards are not manmade. I have tried to destroy it, yet it always returned." He then looked out the window. "And more of these are going to appear, if they haven't already. I have to stop them." He put his re-arranged deck in his D-pad. "I can at least warn my friends, right?" As far as Shin knew, Azar was completely in the dark. "Of course." Subito opened the door and called for the limousine. "Go get them, Subito!" Shin waved after him. "..I am sure you can." He added softly, once he was gone.

...

Ariel stood opposite of a reporter who said he wanted to talk about Dakar. "Please, do not see me as someone looking for an easy headline, or someone who wants to look good by writing about a heartgripping story. I am more of an investigator." He took out his notepad. "And there a few holes in my research, that you could fill in for me." The girl regarded this young man carefully. "O.. kay?" She did not know what it was about him that made her feel uneasy, so she kept her hand on the door. "First of all, I wanted to ask. Does the number ten mean anything to you or your family?" He asked with a friendly smile. "No. Not that I know off." She answered, as the feelings of discomfort increased. "Hmm. Then what about your brother? Did you see him on the day that he had that accident?" The more he spoke, the more her queasiness turned into ache. "No. Yes..I do not." It began to hurt, to think back to that day. "That is okay. Just try to focus." Lance meanwhile went for one more push. "One more question. Did he have a Duel Pad on him?"

And then something snapped. "Duel?" That word was enough to crack a vault in her mind. "Uh. I..I..think he did. But it is.." The time Dakar left, when she last spoke to him; why had she forgotten that moment in the first place? "Back at your place? I thought so. Can I see it?" Ariels mind was too scattered too object. "Sure." She finally opened her door for him and showed him the way to Dakars room. "Interesting." It was nearly empty, most of his belongings had been put in his hospital room. Except for the D-pad. "Yes. I see it all now." He did not touch it with his hands, but his eyes checked out every detail. "See this is where the hole is. You could say I have a good memory." He turned to face Ariel. "For instance, your brother left with a D-pad, but did not return with it. Then one day you came home with it. So my question is.. where did you find it?" This time, no matter how hard she dug, she could not find any answers. "I do not know."

Lance however, did not seem unhappy with that. "That is what I figured. It was not you who found it, it was someone else." But even knowing the 'how' was not enough, they needed to know the 'who'. "I was hoping to find out without doing this. But.." He placed his notes on Dakars bed, and took a card out. "!?" It was a black monster card. "That's. Aaaah!" One glimpse unlocked the seal on her past, which flooded back to her mind in fragments. "A Number?" And as she recognized it... "Get out." .. She also recognized what kind of man she was dealing with.

"I apologize, time was essential. Things are in motion, and I need to know the name of the biggest target." He refused to budge. "I know your brother hunted the Numbers, and I know someone has taken over his job. I need to know his name, his real name. So, please, Ariel. Why wont you tell me who gave you that D-pad?" Gone was his affable tone, only a despicable character remained. "I do not have to tell you anything! Now get out of my house!" She had a phone in her hand. "There is no need for diversions. I just want my answer and I will go." That she could call the cops at any time did not seem to a concern to him. "I will not let you have your way! People like you hurt my brother, my family!" Lance's expression turned ugly. "Really? Then are you okay with letting me walk off, with me having my way elsewhere?" He tossed her brothers D-pad towards her. "I know you have many questions, so why don't we have a duel to see who will answer whose question first. Regardless, you will never see me again afterwards."

"What is your answer?"

At the same time, the city grew more disruptive. Word got out that at least one madman was terrorizing the streets, that people had gotten injured, and more incidents could follow. "These Number users have no selfcontrol." Azar, as his normal self, had gone out to survey 'the game' Prometheus had started. But he was always too late to catch any duels as they were progressing. "Natasha?" But he did stumble upon the principle's daughter and her friends, as they were tended to by an emergency squad. Medical service was all over right now. "Azar?" She was allowed to talk to him. "What happened?" Azar asked, though he could guess. "I don't..know. My friends and I..we were just out shopping, and then..I can't remember." The paramedic on site then stepped forward. "Madam. We could not find any complications, but we would still like to take you and your friends in for observation." Natasha silently nodded, and the man turned to Azar. "And as for you, I suggest you go back home. The police have not taken care of the danger yet." And with that warning given, the ambulance drove off, taking the trio with them. "The Numbers can not keep the game limited to themselves.." Azar knew he had to find the Number users fast, it was only a matter of time before the city itself would deal with this situation. They would not even know how to deal with these cards..

...

Ariels LP: 8000 Lance's LP: 8000

"I knew you would see things my way." Lance and the girl stood opposite of each other on the road in front of her house, their D-pads loaded and their visors active. "I am only doing this so you can tell me everything you know, mister Green." The two players started drawing cards. "You know what you want, that is good." Lance then drew five cards. "By all means, start us off, Ariel." She had the first turn and summoned a monster, the flying Wingtortoise(3/1500/1400) and placed a trap card. "A surprise. You have your own deck?" His notes had no record of her using sea-creatures. "Why did you think I did not have my own deck?" Yet Ariel had used these cards before, but she had always been to shy to challenge people in public. "Oh. Looks like I slipped there." Lance chuckled as he took his turn. "I have been watching your home for quite a while, Ariel. This including that day you returned with your brothers D-pad. The cards that were in it, were your brothers weren't they?" That was why he assumed she only dueled with Gravekeepers.

"They were... Have you been following me? Watching me at other places?" Now she saw why she felt uncomfortable around this man. "Just your home and the hospital. Anymore and you would have noticed me. Although I think a friend of yours once did spot me." He drew a card. "Friend?" That was a strangely chosen word, Ariel did not think she even had friends at school. "Long fellow but with short black hair, kinda muscular yet lean." Lance seemed to have a perfect mental image of him. "Sky?" One that described the ex-hall monitor to a T. "Enough about that. I know those moments by heart. It is the times where I could not follow you, that I want answers for." He summoned a machine, the Shreddder(4/1600/1000). Its ability was to destroy monsters on the field, whose level were lower than a monster his master would discard. "I discard Jinzo from my hand." The level 6 android hit the grave, and so the level 3 tortoise got itself shredded. "And I attack, you." The machine fired a blast at Ariel. "Bubble Bringer!" But that blast was doused by bubbles of water.

Ariel had countered with a permanent trap: Bubble Bringer. "Ah. your card prevents direct attacks from level 4 or higher monsters. Than I shall leave my turn at that." And Shreddder, being just on the 4th level, was unable to reach her right now. "My turn!" And now she could make her attack. "Airorca!" She called out a redskinned flying killer whale(3/1400/300). "I can banish a seaserpent/aqua or fish monster in my hand, to destroy a monster you control!" She banished a shark called 'Frilled Rabca'. "Only one option.." And Lance's machine was removed from the game. "Ah, but I know Airorca also removes itself after it uses its effect." Lance had already learned the effect of her monster, before it banished itself. "I know that, I know what my cards do!" However Wingtortoise then suddenly reappeared. "I also know Wingtortoise special summons itself whenever a sea monster is banished!" Because AirOrca had been removed, the winged turtle could come back and attack. "It attacks you, Lance!" And so it did, hitting the reporter with a sharp wave of wind.

Lance's LP: 6500

"You made your point clear. That was a good, if not basic, combo. However let me be clear as well, I am not taking this lightly." He summoned a psychic cyborg child, the Jinzo Returner(3/600/1400). "Equip spell card: Laser Printer." The android was given its own visor. "Now Jinzo Returner can scan your deck for monsters, and print their attackpoints out for itself!" The spell card selected the strongest monster in her main deck; Jawsman with 2600 attackpoints. That monster was banished, while Jinzo Returner(2600/1600) pasted the form of the faceless manshark on its own body. "Jinzo Returner can attack directly with its own ability." As a level 3 machine, the returrner was not affected by Bubble Bringer. "Prepare, Ariel!" The android fired a laser beam from its goggles that slipped through the bubbles, warped itself around Wingtortoise, and hit the girl straight in the chest. "Haah!" The hit shook her to her core. Not the intensity, but the familiarity of that pain was what had terrified her. "I set a card and end my turn."

Ariels LP: 5400

Laser Printer, Equip Spell
Once per turn, you can select 1 card from your opponent's deck and banish it, then shuffle your opponent's deck,
The equipped monster ATK becomes the ATK of the banished monster until the end phase of this turn.

"Grr. But Laser Printers attackpoints will go away now." At the end of the turn Jinzo Returner(600/1400) had to revert to his original state. "And Airorca also only banished itself for one turn!" Ariels killer whale came back from the banished zone, emerging through dimensional waves. "I tribute Wingtortoise for Sea Lancer." The tortoise sank into the road, as a merman trident wielder(5/1300/1000) surfaced. "Sea Lancer gains 1000 attackpoints, by equipping a banished sea creature!" The Lancer pierced the barrier to the banished zone with its weapon, and dragged Frilled Rabca out, attaching the shark to himself(2300/1000). "I have it attack the Returner!" The mermans trident skewered the psychic returner. "I am afraid you played into my plan, Ariel. I can special summon 'Jinzo' from my graveyard, when the Jinzo Returner is sent there." The little android also replaced itself with its taller model, the original Jinzo(6/2400/1500). "Jinzo negates the effects of all traps on the field!." The bubbles from her trap popped one by one as Jinzo swept through the field with his trap scanner.

Lance's LP: 4800

"I did not make a mistake, mister Green. My visor told me what Jinzo returner would do. But Airorca is still around." She banished another monster from her hand, and AirOrca from her field, and in return Jinzo was exiled to another dimension. "Yes, a visor is a great invention. Isn't it?" And this time around, Wingtortoise revived itself in defense position. "..I end my turn." She grew tired of talking to him. "Are we getting impatient? You shouldn't be. Impatient people rush things, and rushing things leads to flawed outcomes." He activated a spell card: Foolish Burial. "!?" It let him send a monster, a second Jinzo Returner, from his deck to the graveyard. "You need to appreciate time as it comes and goes, Ariel." Even if it was sent from the deck, the Returner that ended up in the graveyard revived his Jinzo as well. "But, I agree with one thing." He then normal summoned another machine, a Scanner. The little robot scanned Ariels graveyard for banished monsters, and found Jawsman. "Time is useless without progress." Scanner(6/2600/1600) now resembled the Jawsman in every way.

"I will XYZ-summon the card you saw before!" Lance traded the level 6 Jinzo and the pseudo-level 6 Scanner in for a new machine, an actual camera(6/2800/2400). "Number 25: Force Focus" The mark of number 25 appeared across a part of Lance's body that normally could not even be branded, his iris.. "I know that look, Ariel." Lance looked at Sea Lancer. "You are counting on Sea Lancers effect to save itself. As long as it has a monster equipped, Sea Lancer can not be killed. But that is a lie." Force Focus detached Jinzo from itself. "My monster can negate the effects of other highlevel monsters on the field!" The camera took a snapshot of Sea Lancer, and it flashed the monster as it did so. "!?" The Lancer(1300/1000) was now without powers, and no longer powered by the equipped Frilled Rabca. Force Focus had literally drained its color away. "Attack!" Then Number 25 released a a volley of energy beams from the scope on its side, bombarding the Lancer to death. "Gah!" The pain she felt before, it was getting worse. Her heart was going crazy. "Yes. It brings back feelings from the past, doesn't it? Makes you more determined, doesn't it?" Lance placed another trap down and passed the turn to her.

Ariels LP: 3900

"I do not know what you mean!" Ariel shouted. During her standby phase, Airorca came back once more. "I use the effect.." But before she could target Force Focus with the Orca's power. "You have tried that too often." He activated a continuous trap. "Imperial Iron Wall. No monsters can be banished while this card is active!" Airorca could neither remove a card as a cost, nor itself. "I will tell you what I mean, Ariel. You see Force Focus has been a great tool to me as well, it helped me a lot in my field. It is how I found you, how I saw that D-pad. How you started to get back your memories. Memories, they are everything.." He started to laugh. "Force Focus bestows a photographic memory on its wielder!"

"Your memory is..Perfect?" Ariel asked as she placed a trap card down and summoning a Needle Sunfish(3/1500/100) in defense mode. "You heard right. Force Focus stores whatever my eyes catch. When I want to remember a thing I once saw, I can see it for me as clear as day." Lance closed his eyes. "At the rate I am going, I will learn everything there is to learn. Paper can be be burned, data can be deleted. But my brain can only be accessed by me, And when I have eliminated the last people that are a threat to me, like your brothers replacement. I will be able to control this world through its information!"

..

"Number approved." Quartermaster sent him a copy of a Number from the archive at last. Any later and Agent I would have had to risk going out there without a Number. "This one?" The card was printed out by his vans computer. It was a Number Ion had hunted himself. "Of course, this is one of the Numbers whose hidden power you can bring out." She explained. "However." Her tone turned strict. "The agency was not satisfied with the news. If you fail this mission as well, and lose this Number, there will be consequences." Ion simply sighed. "Right now. That is the least of my worries.." And he drove off..

(To be Continued in Cipher 021: Tears through Oceans)

New Cards used by Ariel Serin
Wingtortoise
Airorca
Jawsman
Frilled Rabca
Sea Lancer

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Bubble Bringer

Cards used by Lance Green
Shreddder
Jinzo
Jinzo Returner
Scanner
Number 25: Force Focus

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Laser Printer
Foolish Burial

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Imperial Iron Wall