Red reached out to blue.
Close, he was so close. But their hands never meet and down he fell.
Through the air.
Through the stars.
Through the worlds.
Nature itself dug into him, push and pulled his mind. But Chaos is not so easily shaped.
And thus it scattered.
(-.-)
As the first sunlight hit his motionless form, the boy's red eyes opened to a desolate alleyway. Slowly he commanded his numb limbs to move. Rubbing his temple the boy winced as he leaned onto the nearby wall to support himself.
The first thought that entered his mind was pain before confusion settled in.
Who was he?
Where was he?
What was going on?
The confusion lasted for what felt like an eternity. Even as he stepped out the alley's shadow and into the light of day, his mind remained a tangled mess.
The road was empty in the early morning, leaving the boy to stumble around alone. Dazily, he wasn't sure where he was heading. Just a constant feeling that he needed to move forward.
One step after another, he walked until arrived at the end of the road. An old man with spiky hair tamed by a bandana on his head in green overalls and button up shirt. He was bending down to pick a blank card.
Suddenly something clicked within the boy.
"Wait! Don't touch it."
The warning came too late. The moment the old man touched the blank card, a golden number 17 appeared on his forehead.
"That card. It's very powerful, you have to let it go."
"I don't think so, sonny." The old man replied. "If you want this card you have to beat me in a game. Let's say…..Duel Monster."
Wasting no time the old man tossed aside the broom in his hand and activated his hard light duel disk.
For a few seconds the boy searched himself before producing a strange looking Duel Disk and deck. There was something missing but he wasn't quite sure what.
"Let's duel!"
Old Man's LP: 4000
?'s LP: 4000
" Age before beauty." The man declared. " And I'll start with the spell Opening of Ancient Door. By sending one Ancient card to the Grave to call out my Ancient Giant!"
[Ancient Giant/EARTH /Lv5/Rock /ATK:2200]
The gold numbers upon the man's forehead glowed once more. "Next, Ancient Key! Calling out the rest of my Ancient Giant from my deck!"
[Ancient Giant/EARTH/Lv5/Rock/ATK:2200]
[Ancient Giant/EARTH/Lv5/Rock/ATK:2200]
Three identical rock golem fell down onto the man's field with a thump before a black hole opened up underneath them. " I overlay my three level 5 Ancient Giant in order to Zyx summon! Join me Number F17: Ancient Forbidden One!"
[Number F17: Ancient Forbidden One/DARK/Rank 5/Spellcaster/ATK:3000]
Three beams of light slammed down into the black hole and from it a bulking giant crawled out. With armor that looked like it had been carved from rock, the monster stood tall over both of the duelists. Turning its mummified face, The Forbidden One dead red eyes bored into the boy facing its master.
The boy for his part returned the stare. The monster's teeth, forged into a permanent smile by its stretched out skin, shifted into an expression of wicked glee.
" Consume an overlay unit Ancient Forbidden One and let's see what we get!"
Opening its mouth, revealing the rotten flesh between, the monster bite down on one of the glowing orbs surrounding it. The giant appeared to chew on it before spitting out five dice. The dice rolled in mid air before coming to a stop at…..
"Six, six, six, six, and two" The boy said out loud, not quite sure what it meant.
"Ahh, drat. I was so close." The old man scowled. " Ancient Forbidden One's effect allows him to roll the same number of dice as his rank. If all of them land on six, I automatically win. That being said,"
The Number's body was engulfed with a golden aura. " For every time Ancient Forbidden One uses this effect it ranks lowered by the amount of overlay unit it has left. "
[Number F17: Ancient Forbidden One/DARK/Rank 5-Rank 3/Spellcaster/ATK:3000]
Old Man's LP: 4000
?'s LP: 4000
Quietly, the boy took his turn. Confusion once reign over him had now parted ways for pure instinct. With a thumping heart, he performed his first move. " When you have a Number and I don't, Dododo Buster gets to join the field in exchange of lowering his level by 4. Next, Gagaga Magician."
[Dododo Buster/EARTH/Lv6-Lv4/Warrior/ATK:1900]
[Gagaga Magician/DARK/Lv4/Spellcaster/ATK:1500]
"I," the boy blinked and for a moment he could see it, the shining beacon. " overlay level 4 Dododo Buster and level 4 Gagaga Magician to form the overlay network. Come one out, Rank 4 Gagaga Cowboy!"
[Gagaga Cowboy/EARTH/Rank 4/Warrior/ATK:1500]
" I set a card and end my turn."
Old Man's LP: 4000
?'s LP: 4000
"Then it's my turn!" The old man declared, drawing his turn. " Ancient Forbidden One spit out three dice this time. One by one they came to a stop.
Six, six, five.
[Number F17: Ancient Forbidden One/DARK/Rank 3-Rank 2/Spellcaster/ATK:3000]
" So very close again." The old man frowned, scratching his chin. "But I still have my battle phase. Ancient Forbidden One, destroy Gagaga Cowboy. Obliterated Hellfire!"
Black flames shot out from the monster's hanging jaw, all aiming for the much smaller Gagaga Cowboy.
"No way, trap active Half Unbreak!"
Bubbles flowed out of the purple card, enveloping Gagaga Cowboy, shielding it from the flames. "Not only does Gagaga Cowboy can't be detroyed by battle, any battle damage I took with him is halves."
The man set a card and ended his turn.
Old Man's LP: 4000
?'s LP: 40003250
"Come on out Dododo Witch and bring with you Dododo Driver!"
[Dododo Witch/EARTH/Lv4/Warrior/ATK:1200]
[Dododo Driver/EARTH/Lv4/Warrior/ATK:1800]
"I overlay my level 4 Dododo Witch along with my level 4 Dododo Driver!" A familiar galaxy cyclone appeared on the boy's field. " Xyz summon! Let's end this Gagaga Samurai!"
[Gagaga Samurai/EARTH/Rank 4/Warrior/ATK:1900]
"Impressive, two Xyz monsters. However neither of them are strong enough to defeat my ancient Forbidden One." The old man pointed out.
"Then this should even the field. Gagaga Tag!"The symbol of the Gagaga glowed underneath the two Xyz monsters, empowering both. "All Gagaga monsters on my field gain 500 ATK for each Gagaga monster I control. Next Blustering Wind! Giving my Gagaga Cowboy even more ATK to take down that Number."
[Gagaga Cowboy/EARTH/Rank 4/Warrior/ATK:1500 - 3500]
[Gagaga Samurai/EARTH/Rank 4/Warrior/ATK:1900 - 2900]
"And why stop there? By consuming an overlay unit, Gagaga Cowboy can raise his own ATK by 1000 and lower Ancient Forbidden One's by 500."
An overlay unit entered the cowboy's gun, making him glow gold before it was shot at the giant mummified monster on the other side of the field.
[Gagaga Cowboy/EARTH/Rank 4/Warrior/ATK:3500 - 4500]
[Number F17: Ancient Forbidden One/DARK/Rank 2/Spellcaster/ATK:3000 - 2500]
"You turn next, Gagaga Samurai! Use your special abilities and give Gagaga Cowboy an extra attack!"
Nodding, the samurai directed an overlay unit with his sword. Guiding it toward his partner.
"Everything is in place, all that left is to ATTACK!" The boy declared, pointing straight at Number F17.
"Not so fast, sonny. I activate my trap Ordeal of a Traveler!" The old man laughed as he held up the only card in his hand. "Unless you can correctly guess what kind of card this is, your Gagaga Cowboy is going right back to the deck."
Biting his lips, the boy paused. Trap, spell or monster. One of the three. Testing his luck, he chose at random. "It's a trap."
The man's eyes widened in surprise before turning his last card around, revealing the trap The Legendary Gambler.
Gagaga Cowboy continued his attack, firing two shots at Number F17: Ancient Forbidden One. The bullets hit the rock armor head-on, but Ancient Forbidden One didn't blink, his own effect protecting him from being destroyed. The old man's LP however…..
Old Man's LP: 0000
?'s LP: 3250
As the duel ended, the hologram faded away. Holding up his hand the boy pulled at the Number, claiming it as his own. The card pulled from out of the old man's Duel Disk and into the boy's waiting hand. The moment it landed, the boy froze.
A light flickered through his eyes and then darkness consumed him.
(-.-)
He woke up to a white room, hushed whispers echoed throughout the room. Blinking, he slowly sat up from the white mattress to the old man he dueled and another man in a white coat.
"How are you feeling?" The man in white, Takahashi, his name tag read, asked.
"Fine, I think." To be honest he wasn't sure what he was feeling.
"Can you tell us your name?"
"It's…" The newly won memory came to him. "Yuma Tsukumo."