Cipher (1)50: Dehumanized

Cains LP: 8000 Theo's LP: 4800

"You.. what happened to you?" If one were to say that the man standing before them was once human, they would have been declared mad. "Arend.." Cain was not human, he was less... and more. "They never figured it out, did they? The air force could not explain why one of their crafts went missing over the mountain range, why it could not be found afterwards." His body had been converted, flesh and blood replaced with metal and wires. Arend Jager was no more.

"Mountain range?" But that combination of words were not unfamiliar to Xander. "Yes. That mountain range. Your friends from the agency did not control the airspace above them. The border between your world and ours was at its weakest there, where the second moon hid. During your last flight with Arend in the storm, his jet encountered the wound of the dimensions. Arends plane crashed, and his body was broken beyond repair.. beyond human salvation. Yet his mind could be saved.. by us. I, the second Number, came through the tear and found Arthur. His dying words interested me. I used whatever was left of his vehicle to fashion his new body and gave him one of my Numbers. That was enough for him to survive, but not enough to live." Cain placed a spell down and ended his turn. "He accepted me and gave up his past life. We became one. We became Cain."

"He would never.. he would never do that! He had friends at the force, he had family! He would not abandon us!" Theo denied what he heard, and angrily drew his next card. "Megaraptor, add Raystealth to my hand!" He used the effect of his raptorjet(7/1900/1000); sacrificing 1 Mecha Phantom Beast token(3/0/0) to add a Mecha Phantom Beast from his deck to his hand. He then immediately normal summoned the black stealth bomber(6/100/2100). "Stealthray can sacrifice one token to destroy one spell or trap card on the field!" The remaining token left the field in an explosive way, Stealthray dropped it on Cyber Dragon Nova(5/2100/1600), destroying his Cyber Coat equip spell. "You did not know him then, Theo." However Cain chained to Theo's effect and activated the effect of Cyber Network one final time. The continuous trap banished the third Cyber Dragon Drei in his graveyard. As Nova still counted as a "Cyber Dragon" monster before the Coat was taken away, it was again made indestructible for this turn.

"I know enough! You are not him, Arend never left anyone behind! He would have come for me!" Theo activated the effect of Mecha Phantom Beast Aerosguin(3/1600/400). It banished Coltwing from the graveyard to create a new token. "Dracossack!" And that token was tributed, so that Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack(7/2600/2200) could destroy 1 card on the field. "Theo! You can not target his monster!" Ruby had no idea what he was trying to do. "Huh?" Especially when he used the effect on his own Megaraptor. "I needed the space." Theo told her and detached the last material from his Xyz monster to create two new tokens(3/0/0). Because of the tokens and the effects of Stealthray(9/100/2100) and Aerosguin(9/1600/400), the mecha beasts gained six level stars.

"I Xyz-summon Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir!" The penguin areoscraft and stealth bomber combined into something far greater than the sum of their parts; a flying aircraft carrier(9/2900/2500) that was a mile wide. Its shadow fell over half of Cains army. "With 1 material, the Phantom Fortress can banish 1 card from the hand, graveyard, deck or field!" Theo detached 1 card from Enterblathnir. "I banish Cyber Dragon Nova!" The carrier sent out orders to all of its bombers and jets, and directed all firepower towards the metallic dragon. A hundred bombs were dropped to destroy the dragon to such an extent that there was not even a bolt left for the scrapyard. "Now, direct attack!" The Phantom Fortress scrambled its close ranger fighters, and Dracossack joined them. "This.. is for Arend! And for Tomorrow!" It rained bullets and missiles, which tore up the landscape around Cain and covered the catalyst with napalm. "Lord Cain!" Cains subjects all broke out in a panic. They could not see their leader, all they could see was devastation. "I set a trap card and.."

Cains LP: 2500

"No." Cains voice broke through the smoke. "Your turn is not over yet." The sound of a card shattering came through as well. "What..What!?" When the dust cleared, Cains field was no longer empty. One Cyber Dragon(5/2100/1600), one Cyber Ouroboros(100/600) and three Cyber Dragon Drei's(4/1800/800) stood on Cains frontlines. "How!?" Theo could not believe his eyes. "After your attacks, I activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my own Cyber Network. When the Network breaks, all banished light-type machines are resummoned to my field. Though I can not enter my battle phase the turn I summon these cards." Nova's banished cards and the cards the Network had removed, they were all back and functional. Only their effects had been negated. "So that is why.. you used it on my turn. Ngh, turn end!"

"Theo. You do not know your brother. He came to loathe his place in the world, and the fights he had to endure. He loathed mans need for conquest and violence." Cain drew his card. "But we havent had a war in years!" Xander protested. "No public war. But the desire still exists, envy and hatred can not be removed through pretension and lies. As long as people live and die, they will fight each other. That is evolution." Cain attempted to activate the spell, Polymerization. "I know what you are trying to do!" Theo reacted instantly with a counter trap. "Barrel Roll! I sacrifice my tokens to negate your effect!" The Mecha Phantom token jets started spinning in mid-air and ripped Polymerization apart by crashing into the giant steel card. "Arend was not like that! You only brought out the worst in him!"

"Like your Number did in you?" Cains left eye glowed fiercely as he posed his question. "What?" Theo did not know how to respond. "He loathed you too, Theo. He hated you, as you hated him. You desired his record, his esteem and power. And when he left you, you were all alone. Your family already dead, your friends distanced from you. Creating Tomorrow was the logical outcome, once you attained your Number." Cain played his final card. "Power Bond. All machines on my field are merged, for a fusion summon.." Cains fusion monster required at least 2 materials, a machine and a Cyber Dragon. "You only have one Tomorrow, Theo. I summon Chimeratech Overdragon!" The five metallic serpents became a five-headed dragon(9/8000/8000). Each head counted for 800 attackpoints. And a monster fusion summoned with Power Bond gained double its original attackpoints. "This is the end of the Jager name!" Only one head needed to strike, the Chimera released a burst straight through the Phantom Fortress. It blew up before it could even lose altitude, and the skies were lit up with flames.

Theo's LP: 0

Everything seemed to happen all at once after that. "Now you are like me. You follow me." Cain summoned a Number spirit from his own body and shot it into Theo. "I have to.. go back there..!" Theo immediately turned around and attacked Xander. "The barrier!" While the two struggled, Xander lost control of the forcefield around them and it disappeared. "You had one shot, you failed to take it." Cain started to float away from them, while every duelist in his army activated their D-pad. "Now you will stand against the wrath of my soldiers! Now.."

"No!" Then, when things seemed most dire, Cains other 'brother' appeared. "Fifth?" The Raider teleported behind Cain and put him in a headlock. "It is not time for you take your exit, Cain!" It took him every ounce of his strength to hold him and immense willpower to counteract Cains own teleporting power. "Fifth! Release me!" Cain could not break free physically either. "I am not that entity anymore, Second!" His attacker explained. And now Cain saw that the other catalyst was not wearing his mask. "That's right, you have fallen. You should not have betrayed us, your allies can not stand against my army!" Cain declared his order. "Do it! Crush them all! Crush them now!" Yet yet not a single subject listened, nor did they move a muscle. They were frozen in time!

"I took care of them!" Down on the ground were Subito and Azar, who had also warped to the scene as soon as they saw that things were getting out of hand. "I can not hold them for long!" Subito's Tachyon Dragon had a time limit of its own. "No need to say it twice.. Cain!" Azar raised his voice to the sky. "No! I challenge you!" But he was beaten to the punch, by Ruby. "Ruby, you?" Though there was no reason to not let her challenge him, as she had her own Number now, Azar had not expected her to make that demand. "I have my reasons." Dakar meanwhile managed to pin Theo down, and Xander was free to restore the forcefield. He was just in time, as the time freeze ended seconds thereafter. "Ruby! Do not fight my brother! I understand now, I know what he went through!" Already Theo's mind had been twisted by a Number. "You are still a part of Tomorrow, you kept your mark didn't you!? Do not fight against us!?" His words were the same as before, when he first encountered Cain. "I.." Ruby reached for her neck. When did Theo see the tattoo? "I did not keep this because I wanted too! I never got around to it! And why bother with the pain! It means nothing to me now."

"Enough." Cain Cain spread his arms and broke free from the Raiders grip. "You have made your choice, Fifth. What fate do you think awaits you, when we cleanse you? You know what happens to those that separate from their Numbers." He had even less compassion for this 'brother'. "..To me?" Thomas had never even considered his future, he was always thinking about the now and here. And here and now he was certain he could not catch Cain a second time. "Hey! Down here, tough guy! It is me you have to fight." But it was Ruby that would duel Cain next. Her challenge could not be ignored as she was another Numbered duelist, it was too late for Cain to flee. "And you have chosen your path as well Ruby Irant.. at long last" The catalyst reclaimed his cards and shuffled them around. "You will be the last. This tactic will not work a third time." The barrier around them was weaker than before. Cains duelists were now continuously attacking it with holographic monsters. It would not even hold out for another hour. "This is your last fight."

Ruby's LP: 8000 Cains LP: 8000

"Your this and your that. I am really sick of your high and mighty talk. I already was when I first met you!" Ruby drew six cards. She would have the first turn no matter what he said. "I make my own actions! Nobody is the boss of me, not Chaos or the Numbers!" She placed one trap card down. "You have a Number with you right now. How can you believe your own words?" Cain already knew which card Ruby had acquired recently. "This Number is different! It did not mess with Claud's mind, and it does not make my thoughts any foggier either!" Ruby normal summoned a new monster, a green muscular boxer(4/2000/0) wearing a mask of glass. "Battlin Boxer...Glassjaw?" The only one who recognized the monster was Azar. "Ruby, why are you using that card?" It was a card from an older archetype, and it did not mesh well with the kind of deck Ruby had been wielding in the past. "Before we came here, I swapped out decks. I have a new Number now, I wanted to surround it with cards that fit its theme.. The same cards Claud used to have, before he became an agent."

"You are a fool." It was now Cains turn, and because he controlled no monsters, he could special summon Cyber Dragon(5/2100/1600) from his hand. "Using a deck you are not familiar with, against an enemy like me.. you might as well have come empty-handed." Then Cain normal summoned a metallic serpent with a second head in its torso; Cyber Dragon Zwei(4/1500/1000). "Those cards are not unknown to me." Cain tapped the side of his head, and a light started blinking. "Battlin Boxer Glassjaw, it destroys itself when it is targeted for an attack. Your warrior of flames.. is a dead man! Cyber Dragon, attack!" Cain entered the battle phase and the stronger of the two dragons fired its energy first. "I activate the Trap: Impenetrable Attack!" Luckily Ruby came prepared. "This card negates the destruction of my monster this turn!" Impenetrable Attack protected Glassjaw against any lethal attacks or effects, even if the effect was its own. Glassjaw shielded his face from the energy stream, and kept his body relatively unharmed. Though Ruby suffered very minor damage herself. After that Cain wordlessly ended his turn.

Ruby's LP: 7900

"Heh. You call that damage?" Ruby wiped her chin and drew her next card. "What kind of warrior cyborg are you?" She normal summoned another of the Battlin Boxers, a blue toned fighter(4/1000/1800) with red gloves and headgear. "Boxer Headgeared can throw a Battlin Boxer in my deck to the graveyard." Ruby used it to send a Battlin' Boxer Counterpunch. "But that's not what we came here for, is it?" Ruby took both Glassjaw and Headgeared and cast them into an energy portal. "I overlay two Battlin Boxers to Xyz-summon Battlin Boxer Lead Yoke!" A barbarian(4/2200/2000) bound by chains and metal masks emerged from that portal. "I thought, since you favor rank 5 xyz monsters, I know who you will miss the most!" Ruby set her sights on Cyber Dragon. "Go!" The enslaved Boxer threw a punch into Cyber Dragons body, tearing wiring and transistors out as it pulled its fist back. The dragon was destroyed. "Same damage, but at least I destroyed my target!" Ruby smalled her fists together and ended her turn.

Cains LP: 7900

"One death does not matter." Cain activated the effect of Cyber Dragon Zwei at this point. He revealed a spell from his hand, which subsequently changed Cyber Dragon Zwei's name to just 'Cyber Dragon'. One that was finished, the revealed spell could be activated. "Spell card: Cyber Repair Plant. You made sure my graveyard holds Cyber Dragon, so this spell makes sure a light machine comes to me." Cain gazed into his deck and used the spell to pull out a Cyber Dragon Drei. The three-headed silver serpent(4/1800/800) was normal summoned. "Your levels shall rise!" Drei's effect raised the levels of all 'Cyber Dragons' by 1. "And you shall form the Nova Dragon!" Zwei(5/1500/1000) and itself(5/1800/800), whose name was treated as 'Cyber Dragon' while it was on the field, were overlayed and attached to Cyber Dragon Nova(5/2100/1600). "Now!" Cain detached one material from Nova, and special summoned Cyber Dragon from the cemetery. Of course that dragon was banished to feed Nova's attackpoints. "..comes the pain!" Cyber Dragon Nova(4200/1600) bombarded Lead Yoke with flames as hot as the suns.

Ruby's LP: 5900

"Yeah? Well you do not even get a death this time either!" Ruby shouted through the blaze, and used up a material from her Xyz monser. "By detaching one material, Lead Yoke cancels its own destruction!" The barbarian(4/3000/2000) broke through one of his burdens, the chained yoke on his back. "Oh yeah. It gains 800 attackpoints whenever it detaches a material!" She explained after the powerboost became evident. "You refuse to accept death, yet you refuse immortality as well. This path you chose leads to nothing." Cain placed one trap card down and ended his turn. "I know what I want, Cain!" Ruby drew another card and immediately played it. "I want to bring you down. Not just one peg, all the pegs! Xyz Energy!" A spell card was activated, which detached Lead Yoke's second material. "The cost is one Xyz-material, the pay-off is your monster.. dead!" XYZ Energy targeted Cyber Dragon Nova, the xyz monster was covered with light and burned down to slag. "Also when Glassjaw is sent top the graveyard for a monsters effect, I can put another Boxer back in my hand. Isn't that nice?" As XYZ Energy had detached the Glassjawed boxer, Ruby could take the earlier detached Headgeared out of the graveyard.

"!" But to the surprise of everyone, the death of Nova meant the life of another machine. "Your actions, like any humans, only lead to more struggle. When Cyber Dragon Nova is destroyed by an effect, a fusion Cyber monster is summoned!" The catalyst special summoned the three-headed metallic hydra, Cyber End Dragon(10/4000/2800), in attack position. "Blah blah blah! So what if another big mecha shows up? I will wipe them all out!" Ruby moved on to her battle phase. Lead Yoke(3800/2000) was now free from all restraints, even its lead mask. "I banish Battlin Boxer Counterblow from my graveyard! Its effect adds 1000 attackpoints to my Boxer when it fights someone else!" The Barbarians(4800/2000) muscles bulged even more, making it strong enough to drive his fist through the massive fusion dragon. Cyber End Dragon did not live long. "If you do not fight for what you want, you will never get anything! I thought with a name like yours, you would get that!"

Cains LP: 7100

"You fight to get what you want. That is the truth as you say it, Ruby Irant." Cain took enjoyment from her words. "Your wants and needs are a result of mortality. The existence of death instills the desire of living and surviving. To that end, life itself invented competition, something unknown to our limitless deathless world. And then mankind took it a step further, you corrupted it with hatred and jealousy. That is why this name was given to me, the name of the first murderer. Mankind learned to kill to get what they want, and they have killed ever since.

"And now that you know this, you will also know my power, Ruby Irant."

(To be Continued in Cipher (1)51: A Second Summer)

New Cards used by Theo Jager
Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir

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Barrel Roll

New Cards used by Cain
Cyber End Dragon
Chimeratech Overdragon
Cyber Dragon Zwei

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Mystical Space Typhoon
Polymerization
Power Bond
Cyber Repair Plant

New Cards used by Ruby Irant
Battlin' Boxer Glassjaw
Battlin' Boxer Headgeared
Battlin' Boxer Lead Yoke
Battlin' Boxer Counterpunch

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XYZ Energy

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Impenetrable Attack