Cipher 038: So Much for a Hero

"He knows?" Shin gasped. "Of course I know. Your name and picture was given to all of us, Shin Artega!" It was pretty clear what Joe wanted from Shin. "You were trying to follow me, to find where the number hunters hide? That is it, isn't it? Too bad, you will have to duel me here and now!" Joe took out his cards. "No. You will have to get through me first!" But Ariel was not about to let him do what he wanted. "I am not interested in you!" Joe shoved her aside hard enough to force her to the ground. "Hey. !" Shin cried out. "What? She was in the way!" Joe laughed. "The only one I want to duel is you, so don't get scared now!"

"Good afternoon. Is there a problem, sir?" Before Joe could issue more demands, another mans voice came from the shadows of a nearby alleyway. "Huh?" Ariel, Joe and Shin saw a figure step towards them. Slowly. "Who are you?" Joe could not see his face. "Are you Dusk? Or just that nutball on the motorcycle?" It was hidden behind a mask. A metallic mask with nine nails on it.

"Oh. Neither.."

Azars LP: 8000 Johns LP: 8000

"That one too." Ion recognized the Number Azar had summoned just now, the Golem of Acid: Number 30(3/3000/3000). Yet for all its might, it remained immobile. "I see." Azar could not target Johns Number 83; Galaxy Queen(1/500/500) for an attack. "Don't think Sparrow will let you harm her, or anyone else on his team!" It seemed D.D. Esper Star Sparrow(10/3000/1500) made every monster but itself untargetable by attacks and also effects. "And because Safe Zone is on your field, Sparrow can not be targeted either." Johns continuous trap caused an endless loop of untouchability, his enemies could not affect any monsters of him this way. So Azar had to end his turn for now, placing a card face down.

"Of course! Sparrow is the leader, he protects his partners like Puma. And the one that gave him his task is Galaxy Queen!" The queen detached one of her materials. "She is the key. She keeps them all together, grants them wisdom.. and strength! Thanks to her effect, monsters I control can now inflict piercing damage and survive any battle until my next turn!" However John still lacked a card that could damage Dusk. To remedy this, he activated The Shallow Grave. The spell allowed both players to set one monster in their graveyard to their field. "On their team are also their animal friends, like the Phoenix Beast Gairuda!" He sacrificed his set monster to summon an armored fire bird(6/2500/1200). "Now, go! Esper, attack his facedown monster!" Whatever Azar had set, Sparrow would pierce through it thanks to the queens blessing. "Hraesvelg!" In this case the Esper destroyed the flip effect bird(4/1150/1850). "It returns one card to your hand!" While Azar took some damage, he could return a card to his opponents hand. He chose Safe zone again. "When Safe Zone leaves the field, any monster within that zone is destroyed!"

Azars LP: 6850

"I prepared for that as well, I activate Impenetrable Attack!" Sparrow was threatened with destruction as the Safe Zone collapsed. "My monster can not be destroyed during the battle phase!" Until Johns last trap put up a new shield to save him from the collapsing zone. "But I am not done yet! I activate my quickplay spell card, Hand Destruction!" Azar would force his opponent to discard Safe Zone before he could use it again, as the spell took away 2 cards from ones hand and replaced it with two new ones. And John only had 2 cards in his hand. "You are too late. Sparrow can not be destroyed as long as the Queen has materials to detach!" John ended his turn.

"He is right, it is useless." Subito said, noting that as long as the Esper Star was alive, no other monster could be attacked. "I am aware of that, Artega." All Azar could do was detach a material from Acid Golem to keep it from inflicting damage to him. And that was all for his turn.

"My turn! I summon Beast Warrior Puma!" John brought out a second copy of the Puma hero(4/1600/1000). "Allow me to introduce the final member of Sparrows team! The Mighty Iron Hammer!" He then special summoned a titanic knight wielding a hammer. "Ironhammer the Giant can summon itself, when Puma, Gairuda and Sparrow are all on the field!" He entered his battle phase. "And Ironhammer lets one of his allies bypass the enemy's defenses!" Sparrow jumped on top of the Giants hammer, and Ironhammer swung it around to hurl Sparrow towards Azar. "I banish Necro Gardna to negate your attack!" Fortunately the monster Azar had detached from Acid Golem was the necrotic warrior, who could now be removed from his cemetery. "You managed to stop me this time." Sparrow jumped back to Johns side, while Galaxy Queen detached another material. "But my team will never give up!" John passed the turn back to Azar.

"..." Yet this time he did not detach an xyz material from Number 30. "What are you doing?" Ion cried out, as the Golem started leaking acid, causing 2000 points of damage to Azar.

Azars LP: 4850

"Sometimes, you need to sacrifice something." Azar needed Acid Golem to keep one material for this turn, as it could not attack without them. "I summon the Evilswarm Zahak!" His latest swarm monster was a corrupted Dragunity dragon(4/1850/850) Such vile monsters. Their existence alone tells me you are trouble!" John shouted. "Your queen did not exist either, until you were found by that Number." Azar said in return. "No. She was always there, always going to be printed! They just ended the show too early, its the company's fault!" The fan started to lose hs composure. "So this team always sticks together.." Azar played a spell card. "The only way to beat them, is to separate them! I activate Mind Pollutant!" He discarded a Steelswarm Hercules from his hand to feed his spell. "For one turn, it controls one monster whose level is equal to the level of my discarded monster!" Hercules was of the 10th level.. as was Sparrow. "You wouldn't!" The pollutant took over the Espers mind, and he flew over to Azars side. "I just did. And now I can attack your other team members." With his three monsters; Golem, Esper and Zahak, Azar launched a full out assault on Johns weakest monster. "Gah!" Puma received three hits at once, and only endured it thanks to the Queens effect.

Johns LP: 4950

"You took him from me. This even worse than that one time in the two-parter.." Johns voice began to tremble. "Even if your queen tells you what dangers lie ahead, you are the one who has to put up the defenses." Azar placed two traps down and ended his turn. "That.. That is right!" John exclaimed as Esper Star Sparrow returned to his field. "And I will not let you harm my friends again!" Ironhammer once again allowed the Esper to attack Azar directly. "The same trick never works twice!" Then Gairuda charged Evilswarm Zahak. "Gairuda gains 300 attackpoints when it battles a monster!" The phoenix beast(6/2800/1200) burned the dark dragon to the ground with one flap from its wings. "And I know that your monster can destroy mine!" Zahaks effect activated when it was killed, it could destroy any special summoned highlevel monster, like D.D. Esper Star Sparrow. "But I will not let you do that either!" John activated a spell from his hand. "My Body as a Shield. I pay 1500 lifepoints to keep my monster alive!" His own lifeforce would sustain the Esper.

Azars LP: 1000 Johns LP: 3450

"Friends? You think these cards are your friends?" Subito suddenly spoke up. This kind of attachment reminded him of another duelist.. "Yes. The only ones I need. Galaxy Queen is alive, I can feel it. And her troops are alive through her." He detached an xyz material from the queen to once again keep his monsters alive for the next turn. "But a Number is not its shape, kid. They merely take the form of your desires and needs!" Ion tried to tell him. "No! You lie! She is the queen, the very same!" But he would have none of it.

"There is no need to reason with him, Ion, Artega. Once I free him from his Number, he will understand himself. Until then he will never let it go" Azar started his turn. "I activate two traps." He flipped his set cards. "Destruct Potion; I destroy my monster and gain lifepoints equal to its attackpoints." The acidic golem was converted to healing goop, which splashed all over Azar. Giving him back 3000 lifepoints. "And Breakthrough Skill! I negate your monsters effect!" His other trap sealed the abilities of Sparrow. To Johns horror, his monsters were now wide unprotected against targeted effects. "Now! I have a Steelswarm Scout in my graveyard. As I have no more cards in my spell and trap zone, it can revive itself." Azar special summoned a monster that Hand Destruction had discarded, the insect scout(1/200/0). "I tribute it to normal summon Steelswarm Moth!" The tiny demon burst open, revealing a larger demonic moth(2400/0). "When Moth is tribute summoned, using another Steelswarm monster as a tribute, I can return two cards you control to your hand!" At the cost of 1000 lifepoints, he used this effect on Ironhammer the Giant and Esper Star Sparrow. "No!" Leaving John with just the queen, the phoenixbeast and the puma-man "I attack Puma again!" Steelswarm Moth ravaged Beastwarrior Puma. Once again it only escaped its death by the grace of the Galaxy Queens effect. "Turn end."

Azars LP: 4000 Johns LP: 2650

John looked beyond outraged. "You think, you can disrupt my family bonds?" As he could not resummon the Esper Sparrow to his field without tributes, he could not special summon Ironhammer either. "I.. we still.. We have one last resort! There always is a trump card! I activate the spell card: D.D. Emergency Call! I pay 1000 lifepoints to add 'D.D. Jet Iron' to my hand!" He took a highlevel monster from his deck. "By sending all members of the queens squad to the grave, from either my hand or field!" Puma and Gairuda vacated the field, while IronHammer and Sparrow were discarded. "D.D. Jet Iron will be called out!" And high up in the sky, the new monster appeared. "What the?" Those with visors on would see a large battleship(12/4000/0), piloted by Sparrow and Puma. "Jet Iron, just like always finish that monster of the week, attack Steelswarm Moth!" It made a pass alongside Azar and his monster, unleashing a salvo of missiles that reduced his demon to atoms.

Azars LP: 1400 Johns LP: 1650

D.D. Emergency Call, Normal Spell
Pay 1000 Lifepoints; add 1 "D.D." or "Different Dimension" monster card from your deck to your hand.
You can not special summon monsters from the graveyard during the turn this card is activated.

"Ggh. I activate the effect of a monster in my graveyard!" Azar special summoned the second card he had discarded though Hand Destruction "Interplanertarypurplythrony Beast!" A dark cosmic hound(5/1100/2200) appeared. "This monster revives itself when a monster of mine dies." Meanwhile Jet Iron flew back to the skies. "Summon as many evil creatures as you want. You can not overcome this perfect union! Next turn I can sacrifice him to revive all four members!" John was not able to do that this turn, because D.D. Emergency Call prevented that. But next turn Ironhammers direct attacking effect would certainly finish Azar off. "John. Are these cards because they are all you have left? Or is that what the Number wants you to think?" Azars turn started. "You tried to reach out to Subito, but then she saw us as threats." He revived Steelswarm Scout from his graveyard once more. "You are a threat, she can sense it! I owe Subito and his father. They inspired me to duel, they gave me the cards I needed to see my family! I need nothing else!" John said with a fanatic expression.

"The Number..does this much?" Subito began to see just how much influence it had on a man.

"I have no choice, John Smith." Azar sacrificed his Scout for a new Steelswarm, a black preying mantis(5/2200/0). "Steelswarm Mantis; it revives one Steelswarm monster in my graveyard." The mantis dug the Steelswarm Moth out of its grave, at the cost of 1000 lifepoints. "And then I use both my level 5 monsters." The Purplethorned beast and Mantis demon were attached to each other and to a new demon. "To Xyz-summon Adreus - Keeper of Armageddon." A blackhaired dark angel(5/2600/1700) fell from the skies. It hovered around the massive Iron battleship. "That is.." Ion recognized the card, it was the dark counterpart to his xyz monster: Tiras, the Keeper of Genesis.

"I can detach one material from Adreus, to destroy one face-up card you control!" Adreus used one of its materials, to release a hail of black feathers at D.D. Jet Iron. "What? No! Jet Iron never gets destroyed!" John could only look up in dismay, as the feathers punctures his monster and it it blew up from the inside out. "And then I attack, John Smith!" Steelswarm Moth flew towards Galaxy Queen, his last monster. "But Numbers can not be killed by non-Numbers! She is still more special than any of your cards!" John protested. "That is why." Azar banished a trap card from his cemetery. "I will use Breakthrough Skill. This trap can also be activated from the grave, during my turn!" This time the skill sealing trap negated the Queens powers, including her attack invulnerabilities "Impossible!" Steelswarm Moth could slay her. "Not her too.. They are all." And Adreus finished John off with a direct strike from his crimson dagger. "Gone. I.." John did not finish his sentence. "I.. what was I.. doing?" He stumbled a bit. "Where.." He looked around as if he was in an entirely new location, all by himself.

Azars LP: 400 Johns LP: 0

"That is..different." Ion said, seeing this reaction for the first time. "I have seen it happen before, " Azar explained as the Number 83 flew into his hand. "There is something about this place, this city. Somehow your people have found a way to counteract the amnesia that follows the loss of a Number." Unless everyone had been fed microchips somehow as soon as they entered Neo Avalon, Azar did not know how they accomplished this. "Every time a Number user is defeated, men appear to take care of him. In fact.."

"There is one right now." An Agent had appeared, Andre D Morbis.

"Ah. How fortunate that we should meet." The man in black leather bowed to the company of four. "Ah two former colleagues; the agent who betrayed his agency and the professional who quit after one accident. And then there is Dusk.." He sounded particularly interested in the last of the three. "What did you come here for? To interrogate him?" Ion stepped in between the agent and John Smith, who was still a bit out of it. "Nothing of the sort. Such tasks are for lesser men with lesser dreams. They should arrive shortly." He chuckled to himself. "But you should not get in my way, Ion." He spat as he said that name. "You should know who I am. I am Agent M." Ions eyes widened. "M?" That letter was known to all agents.

"Who is he?" Subito asked. "He only knows me as the agent with the record for most Numbers hunted. But, I am not here for the traitor." Andre answered and he pointed his black gloved finger at Azar. "I came here for you. Fallen One." Azar flinched. How did he know that title? "Yes. I know what you are, because you are like me. That is the reason why I shall challenge you here and.." Morbis was about to activate his D-pad. "..oh?" When he received a call. "Yes, what is it Agent A?" Whatever he heard, it was enough to change his usual self-satisfied expression into one of distress. "..Interesting." He quickly regained his confident stance. "Wait, where are you going?" Azar saw him turn off his phone and walk away. "Our duel of destiny will have to be postponed. There is another in the vicinity, a more pertinent target." Once that was said, he disappeared into the city streets. "More pertinent?" The same name came to the mind of Ion, Azar and Subito. "Do you think, he was talking about Prometheus?" Ion feared the worst.

(To be Continued in Cipher 39: In Seventh Heaven)

New Cards used by Azar Helder
Evilswarm Zahak
Steelswarm Moth
Interplanetarypurplythorny Beast
Steelswarm Mantis
Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon

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Hand Destruction
Mind Pollutant

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Destruct Potion
Breakthrough Skill

New Cards used by John Smith
Phoenix Beast Gairuda
Ironhammer the Giant
D.D. Jet Iron

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The Shallow Grave
My Body as a Shield
D.D. Emergency Call

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Impenetrable Attack