The taxi dropped the five kids off in the late afternoon on the city's western shoreline, and it was here that they realised the enormity of the task ahead of them. The trackers were sophisticated, but only accurate to within a few hundred metres. This meant that they had the entire coastline, plus several hundred square metres of coastal city to search.
To make matters worse, the signs they were looking for were vague at best. A person acting strangely. A duel in which one of the monsters somehow looked more solid that the others. A glowing symbol on their body, which could easily be hidden by clothes.
Despite the events of the day, Matt took charge as the taxi pulled away. "Ok, we have a large area to search, and not a lot of clues to go on. So I reckon our best plan is to split up." The others nodded, and Matt was glad that they were accepting his decisions. Or perhaps they'd come to the same decision themselves. Not that it mattered, anyway. He went on. "The first one who finds the Number holder, use your D-Gazers to send out a signal to the rest of us, then immediately engage the holder in battle. We'll come running, and offer support if you need it. Any questions?"
The others all shook their heads. "Sounds good to me." Katie said, summing up the mood.
Matt nodded. "Alright then. Let's get going." They all set off in five different directions. Matt and Dan headed down to comb opposite ends of the shoreline, Katie went to check the coastal attractions, and Leah and James headed deeper into the city.
*SOME TIME LATER*
James was simply having no luck at all. He had chosen a particularly busy part of town, and was quickly discovering that trying to examine all these people for signs of Number possession was an almost impossible task. He also couldn't work out why people were being so wary of him - casting him edgy glances, speeding up slightly to get away from him...
It was only when a group of pensioners crossed a busy street to avoid him that he realised what he must look like. An 18-year old kid, wandering unpurposefully around the streets, staring intently at everyone. He must look like either a criminal intent on robbing someone, or just plain weird. As soon as he realised this, he moved to another street and was a lot more careful about openly staring, but once he did this, it became even harder to spot clues. He wanted to scream in frustration.
Leah was having no easier a time. She'd chosen a less busy part of town, but unfortunately, this was because this area had many restaurants, and everyone was packed into them. This meant that she had to walk into one, sit at a table, examine as many people as possible, then leave quickly before a waiter came over to take an order. It was a slow and painful process, and it was getting her nowhere fast.
Katie was also struggling. She had selected the seaside arcade, and the majority of people here were below the age of twelve. The body language of children was even harder to read than that of an adult, and Katie was unable to examine them more closely for signs of a glowing number, for fear of getting arrested. Besides, somehow she believed that kids of this age wouldn't have a Number...
Dan was lost... there was no other way of putting it; he was hopelessly lost in the network of caves that many tourists came to the city to see. They were called the Arcane Caves, and they were very convoluted. He had quickly deduced that no remotely sane Number holder would've come in here, and was now struggling to retrace his steps.
Matt, on the other hand, was simply depressed. He had only come to the beach a few times in his life and he had absolutely loved it. But now, the recent day's events combined with the monotony of his task had put him in a gloomy mood. He was supposed to be looking for a stray Number, but the only Numbers he could think about were his own and Leah's.
'How?' he asked himself. 'How did she do it? How did she overcome her fear to such an extend as to be able to Summon her Number? She must have been scared too. She must have…" Thinking back, he saw the look of terror on her face as she saw the glowing mark on the back of her hand. For some reason, that image had stuck most vividly in his mind. 'Yes, she was scared. The question is, how did she get over it? And why couldn't I do the same? Is she just a stronger person than me?' He clenched his fist in frustration.
"You ok, mate?"
Startled, Matt spun around. Standing behind him, eyeing him with mild curiosity, was a young man dressed in a blue uniform, and shouldering a white backpack. He was about 23-years old, and had striking blonde hair with green highlights that really didn't suit him. Matt assumed he was a staff member from one of the coastal attractions.
"You were looking a little lost in ya thoughts there, pal," the man continued. "Is everything alright?"
Matt was in no mood to bandy words around, and certainly in no mood to be polite. "I'm fine." He said. Then, "Who are you?"
The man smiled and held out a hand. "My name's Mizutsu, nice to meet'cha."
Matt hesitated, then shook Mizutsu's hand. "I'm Matt."
"An interesting name if ever I've seen one," said Mizutsu cheerfully, before turning and looking out to sea. "Don'cha find it great, coming out here to relax? This is about the time that everyone's gone in for supper, so I practically get the place to myself." He turned back to Matt. "Ah, sorry. I haven't seen ya before; ya must be new around these parts. So, what brings ya to the beach at this hour, pal?"
"I'm looking for something..."
"No way, me too!" The man looked at him with renewed interest. "Well, what is it that'cha looking for? Maybe I've seen it."
Matt considered for a moment, but couldn't see the harm in telling him. "I'm looking for a certain card, one that's most likely been used in a duel recently. It has the word 'Number' in its name, and it will-"
The moment Matt said the word 'Number', Mizutsu's expression changed completely. His eyes widened, he started to breathe heavily, and a freakish grin took over his once pleasant smile. "Numbers..." he muttered, his eyes never leaving Matt. Matt gasped and took a step back. "Numbers... must acquire... Numbers..." On his cheek, an aqua-blue glowing symbol etched itself: the number thirty-six.
"What the hell..." Matt muttered to himself. He immediately readied his duel disk and backed away from Mizutsu. He was the Number holder. There was certainly no doubting that.
Mizutsu pointed at him with a shaking hand, the number on his cheek glowing brighter than ever. "You have a Number, don'cha?" he shouted. Matt nodded slowly, which produced an even larger grin from Mizutsu. "Excellent... that means you're what I was looking for."
"And you have was I was looking for!" Matt retorted.
"Ah... then that means only one thing..." Mizutsu reached into his backpack and pulled out a grey duel disk and D-Gazer. "We duel! Winner takes all!"
Matt nodded again.
"Duel disk, set! D-Gazer, set!" Bother players readied themselves. The D-Gazers linked with each other, and the augmented reality rose up around them.
"AR Vision – link established."
Matt raised a hand to his D-Gazer, his hand hovering over the button that would call the others to his location. He hesitated there for only a second, then lowered his hand.
This was his fight. No-one else's.
"DUEL!"
Mizutsu LP: 4000
Matt LP: 4000
"I'll begin, if ya don't mind. Draw!" All of Mizutsu's initial friendliness seemed to have disappeared by this point. He didn't have to consider his move for long. "I activate the Spell Card, Terraforming! This lets me add any Field Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. I'll get Umi." His duel disk extracted the card, which he immediately activated. "I activate the Field Spell, Umi!" There was a rumbling noise. Matt turned his head towards the sea, and noticed that it was rising up the beach at an alarming rate. It washed over his feet, and continued rising up to knee level. "Next, I Set one monster, along with two Spell or Trap cards, and end my turn." All three of his face-down cards appeared, rising and falling slowly with the waves.
Refusing to give himself time to think, Matt dove straight in. "My turn, draw! I Summon Paladin of Eoseuleum - Kishi!" One of the two Eoseuleum twins appeared. It was coloured black and white in swirling patterns, with a streak of dark orange – the Eoseuleum's crest - on its left shoulder. It stood on the water, producing only the slightest ripple.
Paladin of Eoseuleum – Kishi: Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 1000
"Go, Kishi! Attack the face-down monster!" The Knight splashed its way forward and sliced the face-down card in two. The monster appeared briefly – Drill Barnacle – before dissipating.
Drill Barnacle: Aqua-Type/WATER/Level 3/ATK 300/DEF 0
"Next I'll activate Kishi's effect. When he destroys a monster by battle, I can add any card with Candlelight in its name from my Deck to my hand." Just as Mizutsu's had done, Matt's duel disk extracted a card for him. "I choose Candlelight Flare. Then, I'll Set two cards and end my t-"
"You're not done until I say ya done!" Mizutsu retorted. "Trap Card, activate! Abyss-strom!"
The Trap Card activated and, without warning, a mighty wind was whipped up. Water was pulled from the surface of the sea, creating a raging maelstrom. Matt braced himself and covered his face, the water and wind pummeling him. It was like being pelted with thousands of insects, rather than droplets of rain. Mizutsu had to shout to make himself heard. "With this card, by sending Umi from my field to my Graveyard, all of yer Spell and Trap Cards are destroyed!"
Both of Matt's face-down cards, unable to activate, were blown away by the gale. As Matt watched them fly away and dissipate, he also noticed the water around his feet rushing back into the ocean. Within a few seconds, it had all disappeared. Both duelists were standing on sand once more, and both of their fields were looking quite bare, aside from Matt's Paladin.
"Anythin' else, pal?" Mizutsu grinned.
Matt knew his opponent was mocking him. He was already in the End Phase; he couldn't do anything at all. "I end my turn."
"Don't look so glum, pal. That was just the first level. My turn then, draw! I activate the effect of Warrior of Atlantis from my hand." A faint image of the card appeared behind him. "By discarding it, I can add A Legendary Ocean from my Deck to my hand. Now, I'll activate it! Go, A Legendary Ocean!"
The same rumbling again. Matt observed the water rise to the same level as before. Looking towards the sea on his right, however, Matt saw that the water had become much clearer. Through it, he could see the seabed drop away in a sheer cliff, ending in a pit several metres down. In that pit was a dilapidated underwater city.
Mizutsu grinned wildly. "Welcome to the second level. I say we should kick off the festivities right away. I Normal Summon Codarus!" A small blue serpentine monster appeared, with six external gills and a finned tail.
Codarus: Sea Serpent-Type/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1400/DEF 1200
"And don't forget, my Field Spell drops the Level and raises the ATK and DEF of all my WATER monsters."
Codarus: Level 4 → 3/ATK 1400 → 1600/DEF 1200 → 1400
"Next I activate my other Trap Card, Forgotten Temple of the Deep." The Trap Card flipped up and flashed, to signify activation. "And now I'll use the effect of Codarus! By sending Umi from my field to the Graveyard, I can destroy up to two cards you control." He grinned again. "And since both Legendary Ocean and Forgotten Temple count as Umi, I can use either of them... I send Forgotten Temple to the Graveyard to destroy your Paladin of Eoseuleum – Kishi!" The Trap Card dissipated, and the particles of light flew into Codarus' mouth. The serpent glared at Matt's monster, then unleashed a mighty pulse of water. Kishi didn't stand a chance; it was simply washed away.
"GAH!" Matt cried at the shockwaves hit him. Once they subsided, he looked up briefly. "No..."
"That's right pal!" Mizutsu said, starting to laugh. It was a very unsettling sound. "Codarus, direct attack!" The monster let loose another pulse of water. This one sent Matt flying backwards. He landed heavily, wincing and struggling to get up.
Matt LP: 4000 → 2400
Mizustu laughed again, watching Matt laying in the water with a twisted glee. "C'mon pal, up you get. Ya can't be finished already. Things're just starting to get interesting..."
Author-made cards:
Paladin of Eoseuleum - Kishi
Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 1000
If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell Cards until the end of the Damage Step. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can add 1 "Candlelight" card from your Deck to your hand.
Fun Fact #15: Mizutsu's name is a vaguely clever combination of the words mizu and ansatsu, meaning 'water' and 'assassin' respectively
Fun Fact #16: Yes, Mizutsu's Deck is in fact a Umi-based Deck, why do you ask?
Fun Fact #17: Remember those Arcane Caves. They'll be relevant later. Maybe.