Cipher (1)34: All that Is, Must Begin

Masked Raiders LP: 4900 Fifth's LP: 5600

"Come to me, Inzektor Ant!" Thomas normal summoned the blue suited ant fighter(3/200/600). "Gigacricket! Your death was not in vain!" By banishing an insect from the graveyard, like Maxx C, the cricket Inzektor could turn itself into an extra suit of armor again even as it itself rested in the graveyard. The Ant took it and it(2000/600) imitated the attackpoints of the Cricket. "Now, choose your weapon!" Thomas also made Inzektor Ant equip another Inzektor from the grave, with its own effect. The only card left was the Inzektor Earwig, which Ant took to strengthen itself(3000/600) with. "Your target is Gale the Whirlwind!" The biggest threat the Fifth had in its army of Blackwings, was the attack halving tuner bird(3/1300/400). Inzektor Ant tore through Gale with the equipped Earwig pincer scythe. "Then I shall strengthen my defenses, I set this card face-down!" The raider set a trap down and ended his turn. Once again he could not tell if that had hurt his opponent. It felt strange to fight one like it. "The Fifth.. it does not feel as if he is even alive. But one thing is certain; it is thinking."

Fifth's LP: 3900

And The Fifth had formulated its next plan. It normal summoned Blackwing Oroshi the Squall(1/400/300). This then triggered Black Whirlwind. It searched the Fifth's deck and found another 0 attackpoint Ghibli the Searing Wind. The catalyst added it to his hand. "Oroshi.. another tuner monster?" Now the enemy had a method to remove Flying C(3/700/700) from its field. The Fifth used that insect, along with the tuner and Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame(4/1800/1200), to materialize a new synchro monster. Oroshi used its own one star and the other monsters seven stars to synchro summon the level 8 Blackwing, Silverwind the Ascendant(8/2800/2000); the feathered samurai. "Oroshi the Squall switches a monsters position when it is used as a synchro material!" Thomas cursed his luck, as he saw his mighty Inzektor Ant move into a very weak defensive stance. "...!" And the Fifth showed it no mercy. Gram the Shining Star(5/2200/1500) decapitated the Inzektor with one stroke. Then Silverwind unsheathed his long katana and slashed right across the Masked Raider. "Gah!" The front of his suit was cut open, and his Raider mask split in half, revealing his face... revealing Thomas. "Well..so much for the Raider." Of all days to lose a secret identity, this might as well have been the best.

"..." The Fifth appeared momentarily perplexed by this change in appearance.

Thomas' LP: 2100

...

"Sure glad we spent all that time getting him that outfit! Who does this kid think he is anyway; A superhero? Give me a break!" Rita grumbled as she saw what had happened to Thomas on Claud's D-pad screen. He already had less lifepoints than all remaining Agents. "He is braver than many of us would have been at a moment like this. I do not want to hear you say anything badly about him!" Azar snapped back at her. "Alright, alright." She backed off. "Are we there yet?" And she stopped because she saw that they had reached the end of the stairs. "Yes. This the generator room. This is what powers the barrier, what feeds it the energy that no catalyst can bypass" The director opened the doors before them. "I pray that the agents can give us a little more time.."

...

Joe's LP: 8000 Lilith's LP: 8000

But that time was hard to win, as Lilith would soon prove. "You know. You have a Name for everything, you humans. I can understand, I like to Name things too. I like to keep and control them..to force them." Lilith started her turn and activated a spell card, Foolish Burial. It sent a monster from her deck to the graveyard, a Gorgonic Golem. "Do you now?" Totem Bird(3/1900/1400) could have negated that spell. But as that effect took all materials from it, Joe wanted to save it for something more dramatic. "I do. Take that Trap and take my Monster. Gorgonic Golem can banish itself from the Graveyard, to fix your Trap in place." She stated with delight as the snake-statue's spirit appeared and used its petrifying stare to turn Joe's trap to stone "Wha?!" The card was Icarus Attack, which could have been very useful. "Rats. Should have used that effect." Joe regretted his own inaction. He would not make that mistake again.

"Hmm. Gorgonic Cerberus now." Then the female catalyst normal summoned a mechanical rock hound(3/1300/300), with three heads on three snake-like necks. "And Gorgonic Gargoyle's assists us as well." A rock-scaled purple serpent(3/1000/600) slithered out of Liliths hand and coiled around the Cerberus. "Gargoyle can, as you say, Special summon himself when a rock monster is Normal Summoned." The two Gorgons constricted each other even tighter. "And this is an Xyz-summon for the Third Rank." The Gargoyle crushed itself and the Cerberus, melting into a puddle of acid and rocks. Their remains subsquently were recollected by an unseen force, and reshaped into a demoness(3/1600/1200) with the lower body of a snake, and snakes for hair as well. "Gorgonic Guardian is my Xyz-monster." Lilith detached one material from this new Gorgon. "She Corrupts the Hearts and Bodies of all that walk." One red eye and one blue stared at the Totem Bird. "Totem Bird, its power and its movements, will be sealed." And Joe's bird stared long enough in the Gorgons eyes, it(0/1400) become completely petrified. "Gross." Joe was not happy. Certainly not when the Guardian turned the Totem statue to a fine powder of gravel with one sweep from its tail. "That was an Attack. You understand that, right?"

Joe's LP: 6400

"Lady. I do not know who you were in your past life. But you became one major whackjob.."

...

Sandra's LP: 8000 Babylons LP: 8000

"Another. Another Number is required. We demand it." Atlandis' commands echoed across the sky. Her body(6/2600/3000) took up most of the space inside the barrier, so it was not easy to ignore her. "Chronomaly Moai." It special summoned the easter island statue head(5/1800/1600). Which it was capable of, as it controlled another Chronomaly monster. "Chronomaly Winged Sphinx." Then it normal summoned a sphinx statue(5/1600/1900) with wings, by tributing the Moai. "Revive." When tribute summoned, the Sphinx could special summoned a Chronomaly from its grave; thus Moai was resummoned to the field. Now Babylon had the materials it desired.

"Hold yer horses!" Sandra activated a continuous trap card; Gozen Match. "This should take care of that! We can not control more than one element now! So say goodbye to yourself or to your statues!" Sandra only controlled a Light-attribute monster: Vylon Disgima(4/2500/2100). Atlandis was also a Light-type, while Sphinx and Moai wera Earth-types. "No. Babylon does not say goodbye to any thing!" But the Sixth activated a quickplay spell from its hand, Numeron Direct. "Come forth, Number 33!" It could perform an instanteneous Xyz-summon of a Number monster with this spell, so the two earth Chronomalies were overlayed before Gozen Match could send them away from the field. "Oh boy. So this is that power of Numeron that we were warned about?" Tthe floating city superweapon: Chronomaly Machu Mech(5/2400/1500) was solidified before the mountain-sized colossus. "Babylon, does not yield!" Atlandis then swung its fist of magma down and reduced Disgima to a crater in the rocks with one planet-shaking blow. Meanwhile Machu Mech fired its main cannon towards Sandra, nearly shooting her and the helicopter she was on, out of the sky. "That was a little too close for comfort!"

Sandra's LP: 5500

Numeron Direct, Quickplay Spell
Xyz summon 1 "Number" Xyz monster, by using the appropriate monster(s) on your side of the field as the Xyz Material(s)

Once the chopper stabilized, Sandra drew her next card. "But I aint gonna let a thing like that scare me off!" She activated the spell card, Recycling Batteries. With it she could take back two thunder-type monsters from the grave, as long as they had less than 1500 attackpoints. "Come out Ma and Pa!" She took back and re summoned Mahunder(4/1400/800) and Pahunder(4/1300/700) using the formers effect to extra-normal summon the latter. "And you too Calibrator!" With Pahunders effect she extra-normal summoned a more robotic thunder monster, the walking calculator droid: Calibrator(4/1500/1500). "Calibrator gains 300 attackpoints for each rank my opponents monsters have!" Calibrator did its calculations and it(4800/1500) counted 11 rank stars between the two Numbers on Babylons side.

"And that sure aint all!" Sandra took Mahunder and Pahunder, attaching them to another rank 4 monster from her extra deck. "Starliege Paladynamo!" This time the gathering storm bolts shaped a more knightly xyz monster, the winged paladin Paladynamo(4/2000/1000). "I detach both materials from Paladynamo, and negate the effects of your Number 33: Machu Mech!" The Starliege absorbed the attached Hunders into his blade and swung it around to blast the floating city with divine lightning. Machu Mech(0/1500) lost its power and its invulnerabilities. "And here I come!" Sandra began her assault, sending the Calibrator to bombard Atlandis with numerical energy blasts. Number 6 was not destroyed as Calibrator was not a Number, but Babylon still had to give up a hefty sum of lifepoints. "And again!" The same could not be said for Number 33. Paladynamo cut the entire Chronomalic city to ruins with his sword, raining pieces of it down to the mountains below. "Now I wonder; is the Morgana inside you proud of her agent now?" Sandra placed a trap card down and ended her turn.

Babylons LP: 3800

"That card.. is part of this hosts memories." The usually monotone Atlandis sounded rather upset that it had lost one of its own cards. "Babylon.. will overcome this problem. No matter the cost." The titan drew another slab, and this one was oddly colored. Like it was made from pure red crystal and gold.

...

Dantes' LP: 5600 Pandora's LP: 8000

"Can't believe that girl and that outsider are the first to lay a finger on your kind." Dantes spat as he watched Sandra's and the Raiders progress. "That upsets you, doesn't it?" Pandora stated, as she stood behind her summoned Number 8: Genom Heritage(4/2400/1800).

"Not as much as this will upset you!" Dantes had managed to put a lot of Hazy Flame monsters on his field. Hazy Flame Griffin(6/200/2100), a Sphynx(6/1900/1900) and two two Hazy Flame Hyudras(6/2300/200). "Have some of this! I Xyz-summon Hazy Flame Basiltrice!" The fire beasts along with the sevenheaded snake monsters, were all poured into one cauldron. And the great basilisk of the haze(6/2500/1800) emerged from the cauldrons fire. "Basiltrice gains 200 attackpoints for each attached material. And it can attach two more Hazy Flames from my graveyard to itself, because two Hyudra's were turned into its xyz materials." Through the effect of the Hyudra, Basiltrice gained 2 entirely new materials, holding a total of six. "I detach 1 material, to banish your monster!" The Basilisk(3700/1800) used its stare power on the Heraldic King, banishing it from the skies completely. "Direct attack!" Basiltrice then covered Pandora with a surge of flames coming from its wings. "Without your Number, you aren't so tough at all, are you?" Dantes laughed. Things were looking up for the agents.

Pandora's LP: 4500

...

"I though I was supposed to be leading the charge?" Joe let out a quick moan, he was lagging behind. But now that Lilith had placed two cards from her hand down in her magic/trap zones and ended her turn, he could return fire. "I summon Harpie Dancer, and I shall tribute her to activate my trap card; Icarus Attack!" The white-winged harpie(4/1200/1000) started dancing in the air, and surrounded herself with flames as Icarus Attack targeted her. "Unfortunately, Icarus is still... Sealed." However the flames were doused by a rain of blood. "What the hell?" Joe could not flip his trap face-up. In fact, Lilith had activated her own first. "A Continuous Trap card: Sanguine Swamp. Face-down spells and traps can not be activated. Their Names will remain Unknown."

"This is not funny anymore..." Joe activated a field spell card, Divine Wind of Mist Valley. "When a Wind-monster returns to my hand. I may special summon a Wind-monster from my deck! And Harpie Dancer can return a Wind-monster to my hand once a turn, to normal summon a Wid-monster from my hand!" The dancer removed herself off the field, only to resummon herself through her own effects rewards. Then the Divine Wind field spell put the redhaired Harpie Lady 1(4/1600/1400) on the field. "I will give you a name to remember, Lilith!" The Harpies were then overlayed and formed a new rank 4 bird. This one(4/1900/1600) was made from pure blue electricity. "Lightning Chidori! Once a turn, she may return one monster on the field, back to a players hand!" The lightning bird let out a piercing shriek, as started to build up energy for its effect.

"Oh. But that is not an interesting creature to me. Meaning.." Gorgonic Guardian detached its other material. "You are not telling me that your monster can use its power in my turn as well?" Even a creature made from the currents of storms could not escape the Gorgons gaze. Chidori(0/1600) turned to a solid statue. "And my traps.." No matter what Dantes would set now, Sanguine Swamp would negate it. He was forced in a corner. "Tch. That swamp does not last forever, Joe. Just keep it cool. I end my turn!"

"You could not even last two turns against me. You are a Poor thing. I shall not remember your Name or Keep you. But.." The Third activated the spell card, Monster Reborn, to revive Gorgonic Cerberus from her graveyard. "Because you amused me. I shall let you know my true Name before your Resistance ends." Then she summoned a new Gorgonic monster, a green golem(1/100/100) that crawled on all fours, with a serpentine head and massive crimson jaws. "This is Gorgonic Ghoul. I shall let him taste some of my own life. So that he can give life to another." The Ghoul drained 300 of her lifepoints. And then a second Ghoul(1/100/100) appeared from its mouth, special summoned from Liliths hand. "Gorgonic Cerberus will now reveal his Power. The power to change the stars of the Gorgons." Two necks of the Cerberus stretched out, so that the heads could bite the two ghouls as well, giving th two Gorgons(3/100/100) three times as many level stars as they had before. "Three times Level Three. That is what you need..to summon Me." Lilith placed the Gorgons on top of each other. "Look at me, Number 3: Pestilence Queen!"

Lilith's LP: 7700

"These are dark tidings!" Thomas could not see her well from way below, but he knew that Lilith had summoned her Numbered form up in the sky. "NO. This is.." And she was not the only one.

"Number 4: Charybdis the Eternal Hunger!"

"Number 2: Nanogear War Shadow!"

Iscariot had summoned his numbered form against Philip, who had barely even touched the Fourth catalyst. And Cain summoned his Number against the rest of the backup agents that had tried to take him on all at once. Not even they could make a dent in the Second's armor. "Gyah!" Even Babylon had upped her game. Atlandis had somehow changed itself, reforging its whole body from burning liquid magma. However that had happened, the endresult was that Sandra stood no chance against it. She and the other agents were all blasted out of the skies in one fell swoop.

Sandra's LP: 0 Babylons LP: 3800

Philips LP: 0 Iscariot's LP: 6200

Joe's LP: 0 Lilith's LP: 7700

Backup Agents LP: 0 Cains LP: 8000

...

"Such power.. such incredible power." Kincaid watched the carnage unfold with wide eyes. "Only Dantes and that masked kid are still in the game." Claud winced every time he saw his associates fall all. Their screens went offline, as the helicopters had crashed. "What will happen to them now? Are they.." Ariel knew nobody could survive a fall from that hight. "They will see to it that they become part of their design, even if they nearly die in the process" But Dakar knew better, their fate was far different. Once you started to become like the catalysts, your old bodies' wounds did not matter anymore. "They will give them the Numbers that they introduced into this world, and make them their servants."

The base started to rumble. "They are inside, sir. Four catalysts have breached the compound" Esther warned the director, who was working the controls of the generator. "I see." He let out a long deep sigh. Kincaid looked at the others, and at his own 'daughter'. "Agent K.. Korose." He spoke to the man who was holding her. "This is my last order for you. Take care of Ann."

"Sir? What do you mean.." And before Korose could get an answer, Kincaid pressed a button which made a metal grid fall down in front of them, closing Kincaid off inside with the generator itself. "Hey! What are you doing!" Shin yelled. "You have to leave now, while you still can! I will try to limit the radius of the explosion, but I can not guarantee the safety of anyone inside the energy cage! Use the agents D-pads to get through it!" The director yelled from the other side. "Explosion?" Shin gasped. Who said anything about that? "You are going to detonate the generator!?" Subito deduced that this had been Kincaids last measure all along. If this generator was powering the barrier and was using the infinite energy from the catalysts homeworld, it could theoretically destroy even them. "This is the only way. We can not reason with the Numbers. This all happened because of me. And I am going to set things right! For my daughter, for you, and for the world!"

Kincaid then pushed another button to completely seal himself inside and them outside. "Hey! Open that door!" Rita banged against the metal wall. But Kincaid could no longer be seen or spoken to. "You are wasting time which we can better spend on vacating this area!" Xander knew what Kincaid wanted to accomplish, that was enough for them to know. "But..how we do we get out of here fast enough?" They did not have a map handy. And ho knew how much time they had!

(To be Continued in Cipher (1)34: And All that Is, Must End)

New Cards used by the Masked Raider/Thomas
Inzektor Ant

New Cards used by Joe Davis
Lightning Chidori

-
Divine Wind of Mist Valley

-
Icarus Attack

New Cards used by Sandra
Callibrator
Starliege Paladynamo

-
Gozen Match

New Cards used by Dantes
Hazy Flame Hyudra

New Cards used by 'The Fifth'
Blackwing - Oroshi the Squall
Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant

Cards used by Lilith
Gorgonic Golem
Gorgonic Cerberus
Gorgonic Gargoyle
Gorgonic Guardian
Gorgonic Ghoul

-
Monster Reborn

-
Sanguine Swamp

New Cards used by Babylon
Chronomaly Winged Sphinx

-
Numeron Direct (+)

(+ Adjusted effect for the Zexal spell used by Don Thousand)