Veil Of Greed: Hunt For The Numbers!

by Fireking492-BlazeWarriorWolf

A era of no big villains has come again. But now, new threats threaten to throw everything into chaos once again. A predatory corporation sets its sites on the hundreds of number cards scattered after A Calamity In Time's final battle. Adam, Blaze, Dominic, and the others will meet all sorts of interesting characters while they risk their lives again.

1. Once An Ally, Always An Ally

Veil Of Greed: Hunt For The Numbers!

Chapter 1: Once An Ally, Always An Ally

Date: June 6th, 2022.

In the vastness of space and time, countless actions occur at the same time. From the most predictable decision to the most impossible time travel adventure, anything can be found in existence. However, it is not much longer relatively speaking until all of existence will face its true greatest threat. You shouldn't need to be a hero for people to love and appreciate you. This threat will test everything. The stability of cooperating heroes. To be a hero is not a right, it is something that is earned and takes great sacrifice. Darker times are afoot, the threats faced so far were only just the start.

On a peaceful 2022 day, a mysterious figure laughs maniacally: "Finally! The final showdown is approaching, the ultimate deciding battle between me and those pesky heroes. Just as it has happened thousands of times in the previous run throughs of reality. The time disturbance has taken place like always and awoken my true self. I must be patient, everything has to go according to plan this time. Phase 1 begins now. Recruitment of loser villains. Maybe I should contact Freiza first. Or how about the Supreme Dark Lord?" Years later in the late 2020s, history was once again happening. The mysterious figure laughs with glee as many many individuals show up to confront them. This was going to be the battle to end all battles as the prophecy told just as it did many times before.

*Heavy metal music plays*

"Hey hey pain is everywhere

It feels like everyone is a target of a sinister corporation
They're hunting for the number cards just like we are
It's obvious what would happen if they collected even just one.

Those cards possess and are full of mysterious power

It's a veil of greed, all the things the enemy does

We're hunting for the numbers

Hoping for an end to this new urgent crisis
Sharpen your weapon, activate your duel disk

Do whatever, we need all the help we can get

This cycle of peace and pain needs to stop

But will it ever? No!
The veil of greed controls countless societies

It's in the nature of humans to be under its power
Prepare!"
*music ends*

But that's another story, let's return to 2022. Hi, my name is Kind Warrior Adam as I've been called for close to 4 years now. I've been through all sorts of things: stopping a Miitopia based supervillain from ruling everything, intervening in a magical world, and stopping a future version of one of my friends from succeeding at changing time permanently to name a few. Things since that last one have been mostly peaceful but quite chaotic. A popcorn monster ate my home galaxy, I visited a universe where The Ray Of Hope wooden coaster exists, and stopped Beerus from destroying Equestria and all other places on that planet among other things. Back in September 2021, I embarked on a long adventure with some friends in the new BRAINS Collective on a jungle planet to stop a mining company from taking it over and extracting all its resources. That would have killed countless species of plant and animal life on that world such as cocoa beans and pandas. They built a mobile city ship which we infiltrated. Then we sparked an anarchist uprising with the native intelligent life forms they captured as they cleared out the jungle. Inevitably, the company lost and was crushed by the revenue it lost. Or at least that's what we thought happened. More on that later. In October, dissent spread against the company I founded to help manage Twisted Land, my Minecraftian theme park in 2020. It was going good for a while but then capitalists took over positions in it and held the majority of power in Twisted Land's board of directors. I was furious. Twisted Land is for the people, it's meant to be run as a non profit and Covid safe style of operations. Those damn money hoarders started losing patience with the Covid policies months before this went down.

In protest of their increasingly rash and profit/bigotry driven decisions, some Minecraftians left the board of directors and then I left it too, defiantly continuing to build in Twisted Land. I'm the only one who can build in it anyway. Fellow anarcho-socialists founded a branch of the BRAINS Collective called Twisted Land BRAINS. Turns out most individuals working in Twisted Land ended up joining. I joined it myself. We put our heads together and triggered a civil war within Twisted Land's territory that is several times bigger than the park itself. We pulverized the capitalists in battle and after some time, the anarchist society Twisted Land Workers' Union joined with other anarchist societies to form the Minecraftian Commune. We defeated nearly countless capitalist run countries and Twisted Land BRAINS became Minecraftia BRAINS. Miitopia and Minecraftia BRAINS aren't the only branches of the collective. Kohnanix BRAINS is a small tightly knit community of individuals who fought together against Freddie the anti wolf as FurWorld Unity from November 2019 to May 2020. The members include: Blaze, Dr. Bonesbane, The Duo Furry Moms, Incinerate, Jesse, and Mystic. There's also Animal Crossing BRAINS, Music BRAINS, Art BRAINS, Scientific BRAINS, Sims BRAINS, Roller Coaster Tycoon BRAINS, Robloxia BRAINS, Domino City BRAINS, Duel Academy BRAINS, New Domino City BRAINS, Heartland-Astral BRAINS, Arc V BRAINS, Ninjago BRAINS, Blader BRAINS, Wonder Park BRAINS, and Team Sonic BRAINS. The collective has various ideologies though us Miitopia BRAINS members are trying to spread anarcho-socialism to the other branches.

Additionally, we are allied with Equestria, The Crystal Empire, The Benevolent Alliance, The Changeling Kingdom, the Justice League, and some others. Some minor threats have forced the expansion of BRAINS which is why there are so many branches now instead of just 1 or 2. Lise The Pronoun Hater drops in to be annoying every once in a while. But enough of that, it's time to share what happened on June 6th, 2022. That was the day number hunting became much more serious than it already had as a big company that might be from my world started to become a issue. We have around 100-200 of the number cards we lost upon The Shadow's defeat and split. I was sleeping peacefully inside my living quarters in the Miitopia BRAINS base when I was woken up by something licking my face. The familiar looking blue eyed husky with a curled gray and white tail, black nose, gray and white ears, white belly and front legs, gray back legs, gray body, and white paws looks very excited to see me: "Hey I'm trying to sleep, dog! Hold on a second! Is that you Willy?" Willy barks in confirmation. "Damn you are so fluffy and cute, I never thought I'd see you living and breathing instead of just being a plushie! But who let you in here? As loyal as you are, there's no way you got in here by yourself." That is when I hear 4 individuals trying to hold in their laughter but fail at it: "What the fuck, Wacky Clowns?! Is this your idea of a prank? Answer me or I will summon Regnes again to make you quiver in fear!" Banana Pants enters my room bursting out laughing: "So sorry but it was just way too funny to not do! Plus we figured you'd like the surprise sooner rather than later!" "I do appreciate it but answer this: where did Willy even come from? A husky doesn't just show up out of nowhere unless the reason is related to the popcorn monster or that RCT3 peep bowling that went way way way way way too far."

A flash of red interrupts upon entering my field of view. The flash slows down and reveals Blaze panting and wagging aggressively: "It's my fault Willy's here today! Awoo! Willy wandered into Waldsbosque yesterday and I found them after winning a candy eating contest. So now they're here!" I give my fursona a big hug: "Aww thank you for bringing them! I'm hungry now, I gotta eat breakfast. Wait here with Willy then we can go to Twisted Land to talk. Loco Bueno should be a good place to do so in the park. It's been a while since I've seen you outside of the whole portal above Equestria fiasco!" Blaze gives me 2 paws up and picks Willy up to hold them for a while. That's even though Willy is a pretty big husky! Anyway, I go to the cafeteria, get out leftover chili and spaghetti from Twisted Land, pour it into a dog bowl, and put it in the quantum microwave. The quantum microwave warms up anything placed inside to the ideal temperature instantly. My 3-way breakfast is too hot to eat right away. I grab a pack of oyster crackers and put a mound of cheese on my meal from the big bag of cheddar cheese in the fridge. Before I'm about to start eating after pouring a nice glass of water for myself, Dominic shows up and taps me on the shoulder: "Hey I know you just got up and want to eat but there's something you need to see. Blaze and Willy should come too. I will wait in the meeting room down the hall. No, Fluffy Afro hasn't had another toilet incident again in case you're wondering." I protest: "Holy shit! I just want to eat my dang chili in peace! Okay, I will meet you there. Maybe it will be safer to eat by then." I teleport my glass of water to my usual spot in the meeting room with Quantum Leap as Dominic begins to head there. After that, I pick up my tray with my hot 3-way on it and rush recklessly to Blaze and Willy. Willy sniffs excitedly at the aroma and Blaze comments: "It feels like you gotta eat a 3-way in every single one of these stories! Why are you here with it and not eating it-"

"Hold that thought. You just said stories in a way that breaks the plot. Let's wait for our unwelcome visitor. The anti-teleportation stuff around this base is not going to stop him." Right on schedule, the 4th wall defender organism appears: "How dare someone break the 4th wall! I shall not accept that outcome, it won't go unpunished! Offender shall be smitten by my power and my power alone! *transforms into a furry like organism* OwO it's me friends again! Hi friends, do you wanna rp?!" I deadpan say: "Yep. Again. Willy, why don't you show us what you're made out of and sick this clown." After being let go floor by Blaze, Willy charges at our favorite gag joke character: "UwU! Me sad! Aaaaa bad dog bad dog! Don't hurt me! Me sorry for what I didn't do!" The dog does a lot of biting and pawing: "Okay, that's enough, Willy. He'll leave us alone for a while now unless he chooses to never bother us again. *teleports the funny character to a even more deserted island than last time* Now then, both of you need to come with me. Dominic said it's important and that I should bring you two along. This is going to be good." Blaze gestures to me and Willy to grab onto them. In an instant, we are in the meeting room and my meal somehow isn't ruined. As I begin finally eating it, Dominic points to the big screen in the room: "The main BRAINS base has sent us a mission they want us to choose a team for. Next week, we will be up there on the base to take our turn operating it along with Ninjago BRAINS. Before I share it, has Willy gone through the process of being a BRAINS member yet?" Blaze shakes their head no: "We haven't had time in Kohnanix BRAINS to take care of that. But we did all officially invite Willy into Kohnanix BRAINS at least. Dr. Bonesbane and the rest of us were looking into the portal incident again."

"As you know, we cannot allow a non BRAINS member to join us on any missions till they are invited, get inducted in, and prove their skills. So I guess that's going to be the first thing we take care of. I'm so glad we wrote down an article in the BRAINS Manual about this sort of situation months ago. Ugh I need a nap. Come, we will take a stroll to the training room. There, we will do a speed induction. The 3 of us alone will be enough for it." I'm relieved Dominic said we are going to walk because I'm not finished with my 3-way or water yet. *finishes the water* The 4 of us begin walking there while I silently eat the food and try hard not to make a mess. Blaze takes the time to provide in depth information about BRAINS to Willy while Dominic sneaks a few micro naps. Upon arrival to the training room, Dominic reminds me to retrieve my sword and Blaze to get focused. "Alright, I will go get it. Now that I've finished my breakfast. It even started to get cold! Annoying but unimportant in the long run." We have dish collectors everywhere so I put the fork, dog bowl, durable grass pack the crackers were in, glass cup, and cloth napkin I used for my meal in the nearest one. Alongside that, there's a gaming room, computer room, simulation training room, library, anti-time travel barrier, laboratory, and other things in the place. We had to move the facility back in November from the city in Galados Isle we live in as a precaution. It's in a location we all just teleport to and intentionally don't remember. My sword is with me in the training room 5 minutes later. The speed induction does away with the ceremony and party part. Most everyone in Miitopia BRAINS are away on missions. Willy just needs to prove themselves in 3 categories: Intelligence, speed, and strength. Dominic and I already invited Willy to the Minecraftia and Miitopia BRAINS branches respectively.

I say to Willy while holding out my sword: "Are you ready to test your strength? You just need to be able to land an attack on me as I use my sword to swing at you. This will also test your wits and dodging abilities. On Earth, all you do is eat, sleep, talk with others, and hang out with me. I have little knowledge of just how powerful you are! What I do know is you are so fluffy and cute!" Dominic and Blaze indicate they are ready to watch this through and so we begin. The test doesn't last long because my swings are too slow for Willy. When I first try to gently and quickly touch them by swinging my sword, the husky just leaps out of the way. "Dang it Willy! You must have survived on your own in Kohnanix for months if not longer! Very impressive!" In the end, I do hit Willy a couple times but no damage is done. In fact, they use their tail to softly hit me in the face while leaping into the air. Dominic hands Willy a sticker with a sword icon on it for succeeding. It is now time for the speed test. "Okay Willy! Awoo! It's my turn to play! We will be playing a game of tag where you have a couple advantages! I am so fast that you need to have those! I will run around the sides of the room, your job is to catch me by moving in a diagonal direction every time you take a step! Just tap me or boop my nose and you win! Dominic will explain his test after we are done. We already have established you are quite speedy but are you fast enough to touch me? I will be running with a few weights on my paws to slow me down. That evens things out! I need to make my muscles stronger as a matter of fact! One more thing, your decision making skills will be helpful here even though Dominic will be the one testing them." Willy nods in understanding and the 2 begin after getting to the right spots. Blaze races around the room at about an eighth of their maximum velocity due to the weights.

Willy doesn't start running right away. It's like little numerical gears are turning in that dog's head. After observing Blaze's motion, they darted right away to the opposite side of the room Blaze was at upon Willy's movement. There, they wait patiently and continue to observe. After about 15 times of seeing Blaze move around in laps, Willy jumps up and boops Blaze, having timed it right. "Good job, Willy! Dominic, I hope you are recording Willy's decision making right now! Awoo! Once we are done here, you are getting a chocolate bar! Most dogs who stand on 4 paws instead of 2 can't eat chocolate but apparently, you can! It's so funny how last night, I was eating a triple chocolate sundae and you begged for a little bit of chocolate! It took a couple minutes but how could I say no to you? Dr. Bonesbane was nearby and I have Great Sage Bray on speed contact so I relented. It was scary watching you eat it. But you ate it just fine with no problems!" Dominic gives Willy a sticker with an icon of Blaze moving really fast: "Now for the final test. I'm really going to need a nap after this. We will use a test sheet with questions on it that will be answered in various ways. You aren't much of a talker so I can always read your brainwaves with one of my inventions if needed. Some will have you respond to theoretical situations for example. I have already removed some questions based on your performance in the other tests. Let's begin." To sum up that part of things, Willy surprises us by finishing that test in 20 minutes as a 4 legged, not very talkative husky! It doesn't take long for Dominic to review the test: "Okay, let's see here. Well, you passed! To be honest, I used a grading system where the average score of these kind of tests overall was the passing score. It's a more fair way of scoring the test. Congrats! Here's your other sticker with a brain icon on it!"

Willy is wearing some custom fitted armor and a collar they put the stickers on. Dominic smiles and then frowns: "This is the part I hate most about missions. We have to be very serious. Come along back to the meeting room. *they leave the training room* Willy, you are now an official member of BRAINS in the Kohnanix, Miitopia, and Minecraftia branches! You are free to roam any bases they have and participate in them at any time you choose. We don't do things with a leader or hierarchy. We make coded guidelines that go along with the culture of BRAINS. The only punishments are exile to a deserted island and removal from BRAINS. Amazingly, no one has ever had to be punished in the collective." I add: "There's a lot of social outings too. About 20% of them are to Twisted Land. Of course, you've seen a lot of Twisted Land already so that shouldn't shock you, Willy." After a little time, we return to the meeting room where Dominic visibly struggles to keep himself from clocking out and taking a nap right in front of us. In reaction to that, Blaze and I tickle him: "Aaaaa! Stop! That feels so funny! Okay. I'm fully awake again. Please stop!" We nod and he goes back to point to the screen again: "The mission detail is quite long so I'm going to sum it up. Several number cards have been detected on the Earth where the Pound Puppies we met live. Not much is known as all BRAINS branches are too far away to exactly pinpoint what's going on. As it's my turn to monitor for any missions any member of Miitopia BRAINS could go on, I just had to get the 3 of you. It was logical to ask you 3 to go on the mission. It's been sent out to other branches and our allies too in case some others want to join it. The only other thing we know is that the cards are located somewhere within the city dog pound Shelter 17 is located or in London. They could be in the hands of anyone by now. Who knows what's going on?!"

Many months back, Mr. Mcleish, a red haired, glasses wearing white man and head dog catcher of Shelter 17 has been possessed by a number card. He walks out of his office and spots Olaf: "Hey Olaf." Olaf is a black haired white man wearing green clothing, he feeds the dogs at the shelter and cleans up the place. Unlike Mcleish, he loves essentially all dogs. Mcleish has a dog but claims he hates dogs every day and leaves most of the dirty work to Olaf. Olaf replies: "Yes, Mr. Mcleish?" "Do you know where the dog catcher is? I need him today. I will be gone for a while whenever I find him. The shelter will be your responsibility while I'm gone. Okay, Olaf?" "No sir, I haven't seen him since yesterday. There's been so few stray dogs around I think he took the day off without telling you." "Thank you, Olaf. He better come here with some dogs or else he's fired. That way, I can keep my job and then get promoted to a better job by my brother, the mayor. Dogs are so filthy and annoying." Just as he said that, the dog catcher Officer Ketchum, a stereotypical bald white man in sunglasses and a hat comes in with some dogs at the back of the truck he uses to transport captured stray dogs. Mr. Mcleish anxiously waits to see how many dogs Ketchum has found. The back door to the vehicle is opened to reveal just 1 stray dog: "Is that seriously all you could find today, Ketchum?" Officer Ketchum sighs and shrugs: "I'm tired of there being so few dogs being brought in. My brother will kick me out of city employment at this point! Officer Ketchum! Since you can't do your job right, I'm going to come with you to make sure you catch more dogs! I will even catch them myself if I have to! I will become richer and more popular! Just you wait brother!"

Ketchum crosses his arms in disapproval: "What? You think I'm crazy? You know who you're talking to, right? I can fire you right now if you continue to refuse me tagging along! You know what? Scratch that! I'm taking over the vehicle!" A dark aura appears around Mcleish as a green symbol for 109 appears on his forehead. His muscles grow in size as he swings a punch at Ketchum. As a result, Olaf moves back in fear and Ketchum is knocked unconscious. Before getting in the vehicle, he picks up him and puts him in the back: "That's one dog found! Many more to go! Soon all dogs in the area will be in Shelter 17! Oh and Olaf, if you think you're a dog just because I found a dog and put him in the back, you're not." The puppy that was previously released out of there is scooped up by Olaf: "Don't worry little puppy, I won't let Mr. Mcleish hurt you. You'll be safe here. Now come on, let's get you in the pen." Mcleish doesn't care if he even heard that and so he starts going around town at high speed, looking for dogs and "dogs". At first, he only captures actual stray dogs. After an hour, he runs out of stray dogs: "If they aren't lost on the street, they must be in houses!" To the anger of many dog owners, he captures their dogs. "Oh so you hate how your fellow dogs have been taken out of this house, huh? Well, you must come with me too!" Mcleish easily overpowers any human who tries to stop him from capturing their dogs before putting them in the back of the truck too. The stench from back there is so bad, he turns around and goes back to Shelter 17 to drop them off. Without much trouble, he gets both dogs and "dogs" inside of dog cages where they stay locked up because Mcleish threatened to fire Olaf. The unhinged head dog catcher's next move is to buy a bunch of dog food for everyone.

When he goes to the grocery store to buy it all, he realizes everyone there are "dogs" including cats. Within minutes, he captures everyone there, even the security guard. Since no one is left in the store, he takes all the dog food he can with him. He moves out before the coppers can arrive. They just miss him and don't realize he got away. Mcleish returns to the shelter and does the same thing again. It's late after that so he heads home for a good night sleep. After waking up, he captures his dog Ralph and puts him in the truck. He used it to get home. Within a matter of weeks, the whole city is his. McLeish calls himself the Dog King and everyone within the city are his pet "dogs". He claims that they are all behaving badly but releases them into the city, forbidding them from leaving it. Life is thrown into a strange kind of chaos as he controls everything everyone does one way or another. The coppers show good behavior so Mcleish makes them deputy dog catchers to help him rule the city. Every animal from the tallest human to the smallest mouse is a "dog" now and they all wear collars to signify that. At the same time, some rouge cats who abandoned the Kennel Kittens in London are causing similar chaos. They are hunting down every dog and cat they possibly can get their paws on. The Kennel Kittens and Pound Puppies send for reinforcements from other cities but they too are captured.

The mysterious figure from earlier watches this all with delight: "Hehehe. This is sure to attract the company owned by a man who would make a fine addition to my Dark Council! If he gets defeated, his desire for revenge will be so powerful he will make for a better asset than he already does!" The coppers and military of the UK and US cannot stop the rouge cats or Mcleish. The number cards are too powerful for them to handle. Back with Blaze, Willy, Adam, and Dominic. I reply: "I accept the mission. What about you two?" They nod, accepting the risks and adventure of the mission as well. Dominic breathes a sigh of relief: "Thank you thank you! I'm going to nap soon but first, let's see if there are any messages regarding this mission from others." We all look at the big screen and I point out: "Hey! We got 2 messages! One from Mystery Inc., the other from the Justice League!" Dominic reads the Mystery Inc. one: "Dear BRAINS, we would like to have Velma join the team working on the situation. Her skills would come in handy. Sincerely, Mystery Inc." and then the other: "To whom it may concern, B'wana Beast has accepted the mission. Please let us know who he's teaming up with and get him to that universe. Sincerely, Martian Manhunter." Dominic types up a message in the big chat thing we have for urgent missions: "To Justice League and Mystery Inc., I Dr. Dominic Duns accept Velma and B'wana Beast to be on the team also consisting of Blaze, Adam, and our newest member, Willy. Thank you for contributing, Dominic of Miitopia BRAINS." Soon enough, more approval for the team comes so we head out to pick up Velma and B'wana Beast.

Before that, Dominic hands me a new device: "Look, I'm tired and not really feeling up to this mission myself. Take this contraption. With it, you can transform into any animal in the database inside its hard drive. Along with it, take these first aid supplies. You never know when someone could stop breathing and they need CPR or bust up their elbow a bit." I gladly accept the items and put them in my backpack: "Thank you so much, Dominic! With these, our chances of succeeding have increased! We won't let you down." After all that's taken care of, the 5 of us arrive near Shelter 17 and it's raining with loud thunder. Velma yells: "Aaa! I need to get under something! If I don't, my glasses will get wet! I can't see without my glasses!" Velma is a brown haired glasses wearing lesbian woman wearing an orange shirt. Blaze and Willy get the same idea before anything else. My fursona gets all of us under a nearby roof, allowing us to actually focus on the task at hand. B'wana Beast, a buff bare chested man with a animal like red, yellow, and black helmet and red/yellow pants already begins his work: "I'm going to see what the animals can tell us about the situation." Blaze complains about their sense of smell: "I can't smell dogs from Shelter 17 from here! There's too much wind and rain! Most of what I smell is people, food, and water! Willy, are you having better luck?" Willy firmly shakes their head no as if to indicate that they are having even worse luck. I notice the visible strangeness of what's going on around us: "Where's everyone? We're underneath the roof of a cafe but no one is here. People are nearby as you told us, Blaze but that doesn't explain any of this."

Velma thinks for a second: "Maybe they're all gathered in one location like for a festival or something? It's hard to tell, I can only see so far even with my glasses." I agree with her theory and turn my attention to B'wana Beast who is communicating with a small innocent rat with dirty gray fur and beady eyes plus a miniature collar. He turns to us: "No other animals were able to contact me. This one said that he couldn't say much but he did tell me someone has taken over this city and to be careful of the police." As the rat scurries away, I reply: "I have a proper hypothesis now. That someone has been possessed by a number card and collared every living and breathing creature by force. The coppers must be doing part of their work for them. Why this is happening is unknown of course. If we could just get to Shelter 17, we could talk to the Pound Puppies there to figure out what's going on. Then, we can stop this holligan." Velma starts typing on her laptop and groans frustrated: "Nothing is working! I can't get a signal to find where Shelter 17 is! Do any of you have an idea of where it is located?" "Not really. My memory is a bit fuzzy of this city. I'm sure I will recall it if we venture closer to the people. Blaze, Willy, and B'wana Beast, would you care to sniff out for any dogs? Even if you just find one, we can go to that dog and hopefully y'all could smell more from there." The 3 nod and so they start sniffing. Blaze's nose locks onto the scent of a dog first so the wolf furry leads the way. I remark to Velma: "It's so fascinating and terrifying how subjective good and evil are. In one society, killing people for being different is considered the right solution. In another, the opposite is true. In yet another, time travel is considered the only ethical way to solve problems. Somewhere else, peace and violence are considered solutions that should be used at the same time equally."

"Jenkies! I never thought of it like that before! In Mystery Inc, we just stop whoever is causing trouble and scaring people. The existence of different cultures leads to many different beliefs based on some element of truth." "Precisely! No matter what we do, someone is going to love and someone is gonna want to kill us for doing it! You can't please everyone so you have to make decisions based on your moral compass. Emotions are so important, they often cloud people's judgement, leading to things like assimilation and genocide. Can't forget segregation too." The conversation goes great but then, Willy barks in a tone that suggests danger. "What's wrong, Willy? Is something bothering you?" They insistently bark more and faster, more urgently with every passing second. We all turn around to see the collared coppers glaring at us. One of them steps up: "Your identification please. We need to check to see if you are registered dogs or not. Where are your collars with the identification on them?" We look on in confusion as the rain makes us wetter by the second. My body feels a bit heavier than it did earlier. The coppers hearing no answer search us for collars with identification: "Fine. If you're not going to speak up, we will find them ourselves." In my mind, I'm thinking: "Oh shit. This feels like what fascist nationalist Americans say being inclusive of transgender people is like. I'm so tempted to rip the number card responsible for this. This is a cruel joke. Being accepting of trans people is not about forcing people to accept people not identifying with their birth gender. If it were, far more trans people would be totalitarians. Few are thankfully. Seriously, I wish there was something I could do about the anti-trans attitude in the dump America I'm from to drastically cull it."

As the coppers find no identification things on collars, they all demand at the same time: "Even though we don't want our new mayor to rule the whole city or make everyone unwillingly dogs, we also don't want to be punished. HANDS IN THE AIR! You are under arrest for being unregistered dogs!" The demands are ineffective, we are too strong for them. B'wana Beast tries to hit one of them, that fails so he calls in any animals willing to try to help. In the meantime, I activate my duel disk: "Rain or no rain, it doesn't matter! I set the Pendulum scale with these 2 monsters! Then I Pendulum summon Digital Artist Sandra and Culinary Artist Andrew! Now, let's turn down the temp! I create the most artistic circuit! Following that, I authorize the link arrows! In order to link summon, I need 2 Pendulum artist monsters! Link the circuit. I Link summon an artist with the freezing kind of artist's eye! Link 2! Ice Carver Chrissy! Her effect now activates. Until the end of this turn, a monster used to summon her comes back in one of the spots her link is pointing to! Return! Digital Artist Sandra! You 2 monsters, attack the coppers with Carving Calamity and Digital Devastation respectively!" As they both attack, I also attack. The fight is ugly. Our opponents are much stronger than we expected but we made quick work of their weapons with ease. I land a swing, get punched back, and then rinse and repeat till the one I'm facing collapses from exhaustion. After that, we are back on the trail. Blaze continues sniffing for the closest dog. Upon reaching them, they let out a quiet howl: "I found them! I found them! Now, let's see. Yes! I smell a lot of dogs in one place! That must be it!" I help Velma navigate around since her glasses are all covered with water and stuff.

After a dull journey of walking and avoiding more collared coppers, we finally make it to Shelter 17. Blaze and Willy bark in excitement while jumping up and down before getting serious looks on their faces. Olaf greets us fearfully: "What?! Outsiders? Mr. Mcleish forbad outsiders! But thank goodness you came, he's gone mad! He thinks everyone is a dog and he took over the city as the self proclaimed Dog King! I have to make sure no one who is caged up dies! All restaurants are closed because he said we are too naughty to deserve the privilege to have any! Everyone important has tried to beat him but he's too strong! Something weird has happened with the air around him too, it's glowing black now!" Velma responds: "We are here to investigate and stop all of that. I'm Velma Dinkley, they are Adam, Blaze, Willy, and B'wana Beast." We all wave to indicate who's who. "Oh good! I thought no one would ever come here successfully! You should go hide before Mr. Mcleish comes back. He'll have you caged up and collared so fast if you don't!" I reply: "That is a very good idea. However, we are not defenseless. Also, don't mind us right now. We'll kick his butt for ya later. Right now, we're going to comb through this place to gather any extra intel we may need. There's no need to watch us. You could do us a favor by watching out for Mcleish instead. We'll talk more after this fiasco is taken care of." With that done, he happily obliges and turns away. Now is the perfect time to enact the plan to meet the Pound Puppies of Shelter 17 once again. I signal the others to slowly move to a specific pen where dogs are typically kept. All there is now is some grass that needs cutting and an unassuming little dog house. B'wana Beast asks: "So how do we meet these Pound Puppies?" "Unfortunately, not all of us will be able to go where they are. Willy and I should go together to them."

"Why just you and Willy?" "I have this device that transforms the user into any animal of their choice so long as that animal is recorded inside its database. Unfortunately, it says that it can only be used by one person. Blaze is too big to fit underground as are you two. Another issue is this device only works on humans. Plus I actually know the layout of their base. Since computers and other animals can't really help us, that is the most logical pairing. Also, please hold onto my belongings, Blaze! I have no idea what would happen if I transformed with them." B'wana Beast, Velma, and Blaze show their full understanding before looking around the rest of the shelter. And Blaze takes my backpack from me. "Okay, Willy. We have to do this as fast as possible in terms of getting in. Now what kind of dog should I be? Should be one that is least likely to be messed up. I should try being a corgi. That should do nicely. *activates the device* Now!" I transform into a corgi and Willy nods in approval with wide puppy eyes. When I try to make words with my mouth, I can't because the structure of the mouth is different from a human's. I think to myself: "Damn it. Should have seen this coming. Until I can talk properly in this form, I will have to use body language." Using my front left paw, I point at the tiny dog house and then down. Willy understood what I meant so they with my help move the dog house out of the way to reveal tunnels. I make sure to put it back where it was before heading down. Lucky the leader of the Shelter 17 Pound Puppies is the first to see us: "Welcome to Shelter 17. I'm not sure how you two managed to get down here, we are facing dark times. I'm Lucky, the wiener dog is Strudel, the boxer is Cookie, the sheepdog is Nimblet, and the chihuahua is Squirt. We're the Pound Puppies. There's a person for every pup and a pup for every person. I'm not sure when you'll be able to be adopted but follow me! Strudel will take care of the rest."

We followed along, having had no choice but to. Willy is really shy and I can't speak in my transformed state yet. Strudel's eyes widen and brighten upon seeing us: "Oh my stars! It's been so long since any new dogs have shown up because Mcleish captured everyone! It's so fascinating that you both managed to get here, unharmed by the dangers outside! How did you manage to pull that off?" No answer comes out of either of us because of the stated problems. "Huh? You must be shy. I'm so sorry to not catch that. Come, let me show you The Free Kid Database. It's a device that matches up dogs like you to their perfect people." If we didn't comply, they would have insisted and convinced us. Now if only I could figure out how to talk in this corgi body, that would be great! I never want to do this transform thing again without learning how to communicate in animal bodies. This is some sci fi shit, shouldn't even be possible to begin with. We pass by quite a few things and get to meet the others along the way. Strudel finally leads us right where The Free Kid Database is and says with a sad look: "I never thought I would miss this so much. Could you help us out after this? We are part of a worldwide organization called the Pound Puppies who secretly help dogs find their perfect people. Here at Shelter 17, we have the best adoption record. Recently, trouble has started here and in London. The organization has sent out reinforcements to here and there. It's not going well, everyone is getting captured. The Kennel Kittens are having the same problem in London." I think as Strudel pulls the machine to figure out my perfect person: "Numbers. Has to be due to number cards." The machine displays nothing for my perfect person. "Lucky! Everyone! Come quick! This is impossible! There is no perfect person for the corgi!" They all come and look on in shock. And as they find out Willy's perfect person, I start trying to form words.

Right as Willy's perfect person is found(me), I finally succeed at speaking. "Ugh! It's so hard to speak in a body you transformed into! Hi! It is I the human listed as Willy's perfect person!" Lucky is stunned: "But how?" "Well now that I figured out how to talk as a corgi, I will explain. This world has seen some shit lately. I doubt you remember me. I'm Adam, a warrior, artist, musician, duelist, and 20 other things. My friend Dr. Dominic Duns made this device that can transform a human to another animal. It has some limits. I'm just glad nothing weird happened besides me struggling to speak till just now. We know everything. Willy here is just very shy, that's why they don't talk. We need to go to the surface and find a better place to go to. Then, we plan, gain intel, and defeat Mcleish. He is possessed by a number card. You may have seen it appear from the sky." Their heads tilt in confusion so I explain what has happened the past months in detail. After that, they indicate they get it now. Lucky even says: "That explains a lot. Well, if we're going to get out of here without being seen, Squirt is the dog for the job." Squirt remarks in a spunky New York like dialect: "Oh yeah. I can easily get us outside without being spotted in a jiffy. Just follow me." No one says anything much as we are all on edge. Squirt leads the way out and we end up in an alleyway: "Mcleish never thought to have anyone guard here so we will be safe. At least until the rats see us." I compose myself, having had some trouble moving with the device that transforms humans into animals. I promptly use it on myself to once again become a human. Sadly, it's still pouring out here and the rats are coming. We can hear them scurry around, sniffing for us with their tiny noses. Lucky reacts strongly: "We will be spotted! Let's get out of here!"

I take the lead by asking nicely for it and state: "Some of our friends and allies are looking around the pound. Olaf shouldn't bother us. I made sure of it. Well actually, he will be so confused. So Willy and I must distract him while you all go back in. Hopefully, Mcleish hasn't returned yet. If he has, violence is the only action that we can take. Willy, you go on ahead to sniff for Mcleish. Be careful of the rain though, you don't want your fur to get soaked. That is if you wish to do such a scouting task." Willy nods and I comfort the Pound Puppies while we wait. The husky returns barking urgently with worry plastered on that fluffy face of theirs. It's time to battle. Mcleish is going to be hard to beat if he's as powerful as we believe him to be. Not wasting time, we rush over to see an angry Mcleish trying to capture Blaze: "Stay still you annoying dog! I won't allow you to be unregistered in my city!" He then calms down after watching them move more and manages to grab Blaze. I play the part of the sacrificial pawn: "Everyone, will you be able to fight off any others? I want to battle Mcleish myself. If I can't win, he'll at least be pretty beat in the end." No one voices any objections and so the fight begins. B'wana Beast appears with a whole army of animals since Mcleish is too busy fighting me. We exchange blows of equal strength for 20 seconds. I look away for a second to see how the others are. They're hanging on but Mcleish punches me square in the face: "Not so tough now, huh dog?!" "Just because you're powerful doesn't mean you already know how strong I am at my limit. Overconfidence will be your doom. Calling someone a dog doesn't change who they are, it just shows what you believe they are." I land my own strong punch. He staggers back. And then we get into it so deeply there's no time to talk. *punch* *kick* *dodge* *pinch* *slash* *cancelled out simultaneous attacks* *punch* *punch* *punch* *punch* *punch* *punch* *kick* 'kick* *kick* *headbutt* *fart* *burp* *cough* *punch* *punch* *punch* *punch* *smack* *kick* *headbutt* *slice* *headlock* *strike in tailbone area* *ground shaking* *smack* *slap* *smack*

Mcleish is too strong for me alone. His underlings get crushed by the others so they all join in to help. "You may have me beat so far but my comrades and I will do our best to put you down! Darkeye Slash!" "You're all dogs! How could you be so powerful?!* "Terrible Tail Swipe!" "Bark!" "Go, my animal friends and swarm him!" These attacks do so critical damage but our foe is far from done. "If that's how you want to be then I will be finished soon! Try to play fai-" A green 109 symbol appears on his forehead. It's glow radiates throughout Mcleish's veins. It gets even worse after that. Mcleish swells up in size and a dark aura consumes him. He emerges out of it scarred and wearing a dark outfit as its features grow right out of his skin. An obsessed grin appears on his face: "All of you are my dogs! And my ultimate form has arisen! Number 109: Deep Despair Seahorse has merged with me! I am it, it is me! We are one! Now lose so I can capture and collar all of you with restraining collars! That way, you won't ever resist my righteous and caring acts ever again!" He forms an energy blast and sends it right for us. I have other intentions. "Risky Spin Slash!" With my sword and my body, an air current is created with flames within. The friction force I created is so great, the rain drops around us went bye bye. "This is what happens when I take my body to its upper limit! If I still controlled fire, I wouldn't need to do something so dangerous that requires so much chemical energy! Everyone, you have to move. Getting in the way will only get yourselves hurt! I will take him on by myself even though I will lose! After that, you can beat him! I shall expose every weakness I possibly can! Perhaps the tailbone area is extra sensitive now!" Blaze protests: "But you need our help!"

"Yes I do but it can't be through you fighting him right now. These winds and flames are unstable. If I'm not careful, I could be swept away or burnt to a crisp. To maintain this attack requires a lot of energy, concentration, and muscle power." Mcleish exclaims: "I won't let you win! Chaos Xyz evolution!" "Did you just say what I think you said?" The normally just cranky but secretly caring man flies into an overlay network up above. Instantly, he transforms into a full humanoid seahorse with dark power surrounding him on all sides. My move saved us from that energy but now, I must use it to its fullest potential before I build up so much lactic acid my muscles get seriously burned or whatever. "Mcleish! I don't care what you look like or how strong you are! In this body I am in, I have so much to lose but so much to gain! But if I have to, I will return here in my original body. I can't do much with it in my world right now but here is a different story!" "We'll see who's strongest right now, dog!" Lactic acid starts to build in my muscles. He surrounds himself in violent energy and comes at me head on: "Take this! I will own every dog in this city! Ownership Setter!" "That's a dumb name but that doesn't matter right now! I'm going to be sore for a day and a half at least after this but it'll be worth it!" Our attacks clash and cancel each other out. I breathed heavily as that took a lot out of me before blocking a few blasts from him. His shocked reaction gives me the time to punch him right in the stomach. He is sent backward and the impact bends/destroys every nearby empty dog cage. Mcleish yells: "You destroyed the cages I was supposed to put you all in! It was destiny for me to capture and cage you dogs at this very site! Ownership Setter!" "I don't think so! Darkeye Slash and also Super Spin Slash!" My combo overpowers the attack, sending him back again especially since I punched him in the no no zone. He comes at me: "I use Chaos Number 109's power! It makes me even stronger! I will wrangle you into a cage soon enough!"

"That's not going to happen! Even if I have to burn all remaining fat in my body to stop you, I will try! I have friends who can make sure any exhaustion based injuries I get will be removed! It will take some time to heal but I will survive if you don't completely finish me off or capture me for good! I won't even use the power of my own number to stop you, I want to fight hard on my own right now! Saving everyone is my top priority and I want to do it my way! Now it's time to put F=ma to good use!" I focus on the knuckle he is about to punch me with before catching it and head butting him. I have a helmet on so I don't get skull or brain damage. That shit is pretty difficult for any members of BRAINS to heal. With that successful attack, I continue on by punching fast and hard. My sword is away again for now. Blaze gave me my stuff back earlier so that's no worry. "Gah! How are you still going? You should be begging for me to not punish you as I put a collar around your neck and pull you along on a leash by now!" "You underestimate the limits and reserves of the human body! Shouldn't you have learned from your number about things like that? *laughs* This is a real pain to keep doing. But my heart is pumping too fast for me to want to stop! Adrenaline is coursing through my veins! I will now try to beat you before it wears off! It won't be much longer. I have enough for one attack fueled by it. Coordinated Blade Strike!" My mind is racing with thoughts and emotion as my nervous system becomes numb for the moment. The signals to my brain from it are being ignored. I move in too fast for Mcleish to counter. My sword stabs right through his small intestine and makes it out the posterior side of his body. I pull my blade back and watch as instead of stuff coming out of him, Mcleish starts automatically regenerating!

That's when I realized out loud: "Holy shit! This means the only way to beat him is to destroy every single bit of his body or to extract the number! He does seem to be a little exhausted at least. I won't quit! My heart rate is slowing down, my nerves are tingling again, my body is on fire. But I'm still here and conscious. Learning to fend for myself without using Duel Monsters cards or super powers has been very tough but at least I can perish knowing I did my best when it counted so very much. I will fight on till I can't anymore! Being a willing sacrificial pawn is one hell of a way to go out. My return will come after I boost my other body greatly. It's out of shape but I can slowly get it to work better. Walking a half mile every day will be the beginning." Willy and Blaze are especially shocked at my words. "Ha! Are you ridiculous? Did you really think strong words will keep me from being your new master? This is so much better than hating my brother behind his back and doing what I could to become rich and powerful! I hate dogs, I want to control them all! All dogs are naughty, they must be taught a lesson! Obligatory Obedience!" He focuses violent energy onto his right fist and lunges at me with it outstretched. I do basically the same with my sword and wait for him to come closer: "Damn it! This is all I have left! I fight for the safety of people who identify as their true selves even if their world is against them. I fight for the individuals I care about. I fight for the oppressed. I fight to survive as long as I can. My intent is to not kill if I can avoid doing so. Once my final attack hits, I will have just enough strength to pull the number card from inside of you! I know it's there! *heavy breathing* I'm smirking even though I'm exhausted. My Steel Air Swipe will give me the opening to at least turn you back into your human self!"

Mcleish widens his eyes in horror as I gain the upper hand and break through his attack. I didn't even have to change my position. My sword sent a wave throughout the air that shattered the energy in his palm before sending him plunging into the ground. With him struggling to recover and to get back up, I jump down from the roof I was on and run to his location. Once there, I spotted the number exposed in his forehead right where the symbol was. "Checkmate, my friends/comrades will stop you, which I myself failed to do. Say your prayers for this is going to hurt almost as much as I feel hurt right now! Because I stood a chance fighting you even for just a short time, I had the courage to risk everything." My hands feel weird and weak as I attempt to pull out the card as Mcleish slowly self heals that spot and other areas of his body. I start to successfully yank it out until he grins and punches me through the heart with incredible strength. My body falls backwards as I start to become even weaker. Blaze dashes in front of me, protecting me from anymore harm: "I will not allow Adam to be pulverized! If they have to die then they must have time to say goodbye! Awoo!" I respond with a raspy and tired voice: "Thank.. you, Blaze. Tell the others I love and miss them. I will return if this crisis isn't stopped by you all. If it isn't stopped, then I will die a 2nd time this year after this first time right now. It's strange. My mom passed away just months ago and one of my uncles not too long before her. I guess capitalism isn't what did me in here. My cells are dying, I am losing functionality everywhere." Blaze cries as Mcleish suddenly interrupts by hurting Blaze the same way as he did with me.

No one around here is a healer, not even medical staff at a nearby hospital can save us. He then turns around, ready to destroy all of Shelter 17: "You refuse to be my dogs. So I will eliminate you to save me the trouble from having to continue fighting all day. I hate dogs, especially ones like you! Obligatory Obedience!" A green light stops him before he can pull it off. My vision starts to begin to fade away. But before I lose all of my cells, that same green light rejuvenates me. The rain pouring down was a perfect backdrop to the desperation of the situation. My heart begins to beat at an increasing rate. I turn and see none other than Bray rejuvenate Blaze as well! "Who dares act like a bad dog to save other bad dogs? I hate all of you!" Bray puts up a protective barrier around everyone with ease: "I am Great Sage Bray, formerly Brayden. I shall now be your opponent. The words of Adam are ones I resonate with. If I don't beat you, someone else will."

Earlier in the Miitopia BRAINS base. After giving Adam the device and seeing them and the others off, Dominic's eyes become heavier: "I'm so so tired. Ugh. This is what I get for getting up early to use the bathroom and then getting distracted with a side hobby of mine. Coffee would keep me awake but caffeine is one hell of a drug I don't want to tangle myself with ever again." Before he can finish his thought, his head slowly hits the meeting room table and he dozes off. A little while passes and Bray returns to the base after a 2 day mission investigating what happened the day Beerus, Goku, Vegeta, and Whis crossed over into Equestria. She is in the meeting room and sees Dominic fast asleep, All it takes to wake him is one poke from her: "Dominic. I'm back! I must ask, did you get up early again?" He yawns and groans: "I did. I'm so groggy. Bleh. I just want a day off." "Has anyone else gone on any new missions since I left 2 days ago? I found a lead about what we're looking into you have to see later." "Well, Adam and Blaze went with Willy and 2 others to where was it? I can't remember. My mind is clear. Oh yeah, Pound Puppies universe. To make it short, Willy is now a member of the Miitopia, Kohnanix, and Minecraftia BRAINS branches. We did the fast initiation. Now can I continue sleeping? I can't invent in the state I'm in. Sorry to sound rude, I'm just exhausted." "You mean the husky plushie is alive in another universe? Kohnanix then. One more thing, do you have the life monitor up on the computer? We should see how they're doing." "Fine. Computer on. There it is right on the screen."

Dominic points and then widens his eyes, becoming fully attentive and awake: "Adam and Blaze are dying! I don't know what's going on but you have to get there now! No butts! I would ask you properly but this is really serious! Don't worry about my sleepiness, that doesn't matter anymore now! I will follow you and observe in case they need more help." Bray nods and so the two teleport instantly to Shelter 17.

"How amusing, another pesky dog to collar and cage! Perfect! Hold on, you're different somehow. You sound like a female but I can tell your body is male. That's not possible! How disgusting!" Dominic appears to our shock and interjects: "Chill out! I'd rather be napping but you tried to kill 2 of my best friends! I've snapped! If Bray doesn't beat you, you'll get a piece of me too. Being transgender is a perfectly normal and natural thing. Biological sex and gender identity are 2 very different things. One is based on chromosomes, the other is more rooted in the brain and such. I calculate your odds of defeating Bray at around 30% considering you managed to beat both Adam and Blaze. Everything has to be perfect and up to standard for people like you. Very lame. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to stretch my muscles while our friend kicks your ass." Mcleish fires a projectile version of Obligatory Obedience but Bray gets in the way and blocks it without struggle, leaving Dominic safe and sound. She then firmly stares at our opponent and asks me: "Adam, can you get back up?" I try to get up but can't, my body hurts and is sore all over: "Save all your energy for him. Don't heal my muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons yet. Mcleish is a much tougher customer than expected. I concur on Dominic's statement." A showdown occurs as Mcleish and Bray stare at each other with fierce but calm expressions. Blaze recovers from almost dying and moves just to see the next fight better. The Pound Puppies hide behind the nearest bush, having not nearly enough strength to stand a chance. Velma hides too while Willy is confused on what to do and B'wana Beast sent away the animals. He's ready to go in if he's needed. Olaf is hidden inside Mcleish's office with the door to it locked. He doesn't want to be stopped by his boss-turned-humanoid enemy. Find out what happens in the next chapter of Veil Of Greed: Hunt For The Numbers.

Outro: Hi there! Thank you for reading the first main story I've made in many months! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter no one could have predicted the plot of unless they were me. Pound Puppies, Miitopians, and more together?! This is a combination that worked really well. I expect to be spending hours for a lot of months, maybe more than a year writing this story. It's going to be longer than A Calamity In Time! Also, the big battle was inspired by the Dragon Ball franchise, it has helped me understand fighting a lot better. So there you go, better fights with better dialogue for now on! I will see ya next chapter! Bye bye!