A few more days come and go steadily for the people of Heartland City, but inside a small stone arena of sorts under the property of someone's home, one individual was about to meet their end in a duel for Numbers.
"Aaaa-uuuooh!"
A young male with shoulder-length, wavy light blue hair is thrown backwards by an attack from his opponent, also male but older and considerably taller, wearing a long black cloak with a deep v-neck and a hood that shadowed some of his face, their skin chalk pale and highlighting his red lips, blue markings under his eyes, kohl black eyeliner and sneaks of orange-yellow hair cut short and styled to show his forehead.
"Your fate has been sealed. It is useless to try and re-write what was already written in the stars many years ago. You believed that you would achieve greatness, but you're nothing more than a pawn in a bigger game beyond comprehension...And now, you will give which that I seek."
The youth with blue hair glances up at the other's Number, which appeared to have the guise of a cylinder cone with one giant gleaming eye and a ring surrounding it like a planet, before struggling to his feet with his last wind of determination.
"This, isn't over! Number 16: Shock Master, Attack!"
His XYZ, which held the appearance of what looks to be a mahogany-coloured, polygonal graphic aviary creature, charges forward to take down the other Numeral, but their wielder only grinned, while the giant eye glowed red...
Moments later, the duel concludes with the bluenette youth sitting under the loser's label, and he asks the other male while slowly pushing himself up from the stone floor,
"Mrh, hey, who are you? Tell me!"
The tall figure, who had a very dark aura ringing around his body, replies mysteriously,
"You need not worry your hapless self about who I am, but who I have sworn allegiance to."
"And who's that?"
"I serve in pleasure of the great Master Kite, and it is for him that I not only take your Number Card, but your very being!"
And much like what happened at the mall to that young punk, the bluenette would become another victim of that ghostly blue hand diving into his torso to take away not only his Number Card, but his very Soul!
"Aaaaaaaaaagh!"
His appearance shifts, reflecting that of a vegetative old man, while the tall male in black chuckles, retracting the card and their holder's very soul to himself, before turning to address a familiar figure sitting in a chair above the little arena.
"Your bidding has been done, my master. Another Number Card has been obtained."
...But was that figure on the throne truly Kite?
Only time will tell us that answer.
Time Skip
"Hah, made it here in record-time!"
We now shift our gaze to the courtyard of the Heartland Dueling Academy, just as Athena, wearing her red/black jogging outfit with white ankle socks and her black sneakers with blue laces weaved in this round, comes running in for a new morning at school. Once she steadies her breath, she reaches into her backpack and pulls out her cased duel deck, opening it up to gaze fondly at the monsters inside.
"Hope you guys are as psyched as I am for some dueling today. Let's get out there and show these other students what we're made of!"
...That was when the girl with red irises noticed her blue-skinned companion looked less than enthusiastic about the prospects of dueling, arms crossed and eyes cast to the ground in a depressive manner.
"...Astral?"
"Uh!"
He snaps his head up to meet his mismatched eyes with Athena, who then asks,
"You alright? You look like one of those kids who knows they did bad on their entrance exam..."
"Um...It is nothing, Athena."
"Hmph, I don't buy that. Come on, spill: What's the matter?"
Before Astral could open his mouth to reply:
"Addy!"
Tiffany, Jamal and Caswell come rushing over to meet with their friend, who waves at them with a casual smirk.
"Mornin', guys. What's up?"
But the expression that reigned on the girl with blue eyes and bobbed black hair reflected an opposite mood.
"Something serious is going down. That's 'what's up'."
"Huh? What're you talkin' about?"
Tiffany grabs Athena's hand and gently pulls her away from the public area of the courtyard to over behind one of the buildings while replying,
"Let's not talk where there's too many possible eavesdroppers. This way."
"Hoh boy, I'm already getting a sinking feeling about this..."
A few minutes later, the girl with long, shaggy black hair tipped copper red was gaping at a police report Tiffany's father allowed his daughter to copy onto her duel disk to show her friends as a precaution to stay vigilant...
"What the frack?! What happened to these people?!"
"No one knows all the details for sure..." Caswell adds after Tiffany,
"They all went missing at some point, and ever since they were found, they seemed to have aged or something, and they just stare off into space!"
Jamal comments with a shiver,
"It's creepy, like they've turned into comatose zombies..."
The boy with pear-green eyes and bowl-cut blue hair then says,
"Athena, these people only have one thing in common: They're duelists."
"And while Dad and his team haven't necessarily made this connection, Caswell and I discovered that before these people went missing, they had each found a Number Card."
Athena's eyes widen:
Damn...!
Astral's breath hitches on alert, as Caswell summarizes,
"In the end, Addy, since you and Astral possess a few Numbers, it stands to reason that you two are in danger."
"...I know, because I already was in danger in becoming one of these people."
The three other teens widen their eyes in surprise, before Athena draws in a big breath to brace herself in revealing what she knows.
"Listen, all of you: There's, something I had wanted to tell you before...but, I didn't because I felt that 'no news is good news' was a better way of protecting you."
"What do you mean, Addy?"
"What have you been keepin' secret?"
Astral floats down closer to the girl's side and asks uncertainly,
"Athena...are you sure telling them about Kite is wise?"
She nods and replies,
"I'm sure, Astral. (Focuses up front) Hah, okay, let's wait until Lunch before you all start badgering me with questions since class is gonna start soon. Sound good?"
Tiffany, Jamal and Caswell reply in awkward unison,
"Um...okay."
Small Time Skip
Turning our attention now to the roof of one of the Academy's buildings during Lunch hour, Athena would then tell her friends Tiffany, Jamal and Caswell about what happened several days ago involving her encounter with Kite, while also making a mental note to track down her other two friends Flip and Caden to warn them about the Number Hunter as well...
"What?!"
"So, you bent the details of what happened after I didn't see you when the truck barreled past?"
"And that jerk just snagged you into a duel even after witnessing you getting bruised by those Fallen Star punks?! That's dirty!"
Athena, who was sitting in front of the water tower atop a rectangle structure, was quite shocked that her friends weren't bristled by the fact that she had been keeping the truth from them, instead directing their anger at the hardhearted blond of topic.
"So, you guys aren't mad? I mean, I did keep the truth from you..."
Their expressions soften a little, before Jamal, who was sitting with one arm draped across his bent knee, replies with a minuscule smirk,
"Mm, maybe a bit, but we understand that you were doing it to keep us safe. And considerin' what you and Astral went through...it'd make sense you'd need time to gather your thoughts."
Caswell, sitting cross-legged near the boy with dreadlocks, comments with his own smile of reassurance,
"In the end, good friends can never stay angry at one another for too long."
"Guys..."
Tiffany then cuts in with a worried frown on her lips, her seat being Athena's left while lazily kicking her legs over the edge.
"But getting back to topic: This, Kite...he really confessed to being responsible for what happened to that punk at the mall, that he, (gulp) extracted their soul along with the Number?"
Athena's lips form a glaring frown directed at the ground:
"Afraid so, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to say he did in those people in the police reports the same way. I never saw the action, mind you, but...his eyes and tone were screaming all serious."
"I...I see."
Jamal then wonders with a hand under his chin,
"The big question is why is this guy even tryin' to get all the Numbers? They don't exactly do alot of good for anybody but Astral since they're a part of his memory...What's he tryin' to prove?"
That made the other three teens hm in thought, Athena gazing at her friends with a relived and grateful smile.
Thank you, god, for giving me such understanding friends...
She then remarks with some confidence,
"Well, whatever his reasons are, I'm not gonna bother with mullin' around too long trying to figure them out. Next time we meet, Astral and I can, and will put him in his place."
Said being asks in a dulled tone while his back was turned from the girl,
"And how do you propose that we, 'put him in his place'?"
Athena scowls at him before asking back,
"Oh for god's sake, are you trying to tell me you're still scared of that creep?"
Astral flinches from the accusation, confirming her thoughts, before Caswell cuts in with his own.
"You can't really blame him for being so wary, Addy: His life is basically always on the line every time the two of you engage in a duel for Numbers."
"So what? I've shaken hands with Death before and you don't see me crawlin' in a hole to hide."
Jamal argues with a dark-humoured smirk,
"Yeah well, it's not like any of us here can top your daredevil confidence, Addy. It's a wonder you haven't needed bone surgery yet."
Tiffany reaches over to whack him upside the head:
"Jamal!"
"Ouch! What? I'm just sayin'..."
Athena shakes her head in her own amusement, before turning to eye Astral with a lecturing expression.
"Wariness or not, it doesn't give you the excuse to suddenly turn chicken on me, Astral, especially what we've already been through in searching for your lost memories. If you want to recover them all, you're just gonna have to suck it up and prepare yourself for tougher situations like this one involving Kite."
The blue being finally turns around to face the girl, firing back in his own seriousness,
"And what happens if we lose? Kite gets to add your soul to his growing collection, and I will vanish to who-knows-where."
"That's precisely why we shouldn't focus on those thoughts, Astral! It only guarantees the scenario!"
(Click, click)
"Hm?"
Athena stops herself when she hears the sound of shoes coming up the ladder to where she and her friends were sitting, and turns to see the familiar cat-eared, pageboy-cut sandy/gray hair of Caden!
"Uh...hello, Addy, a-and everyone else."
"Whoa! Cade, hey...When'd you get up here?"
"(Blush) You, remember my name...U-Uhm, and to answer your question, two minutes ago."
"With help from me!"
Flip's face suddenly pops up beside Caden with a beaming smile, his outburst causing everyone on the roof to jump a little.
"Yipe!" "Flip!"
"Wait...since when do you two know eachother?"
Once the two additions to the group pull themselves onto the rooftop, the cat-like boy with sharp brown irises answers Jamal's question while rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile.
"Heh, well, actually, Flip and I are partners in Science Class."
Said shorter male with the round spectacles chimes in,
"And Caden here's a savant at the subject too, especially with Biology!"
"Oh come on now, I'm not that good..."
"Hah, there you go again, bein' Mister Modesty...But moving onto why we came here: We overheard you guys talking about something to do with those Number Cards and got curious."
Tiffany shoots Flip an annoyed and scolding expression:
"It's not nice to eavesdrop, Flip."
"Hey! We've got the right to know what's going on, don't we? Cade and I are Addy's friends too!"
Said girl with red irises holds her hands up in a call-for-peace manner and says,
"Alright, settle down, you two...He's right, Tiff: Flip and Cade have the right to know about Kite and the Number Hunting activity."
Caden quirks his head to the side in a confused manner:
"Huh? Number Hunting?"
"It's kind-of a long story. Here, lemme start from the beginning..."
...We now cut briefly to the inside of an old, castle-like manor built smaller than the Katherine Residence, where that same cloaked man from before was supposingly speaking with the Number Hunter of subject, kneeling on the stone ground of the area below the seated.
"Master Kite, I present to you my latest conquest. Number 16: Shock Master...Now, let us find out what fate holds next. I bring forth, my fortuneteller's deck..."
The tall figure spreads out a deck of cards, and began to glimpse into the future...
"The deck is showing me the signs: Stray Lambs in the dark...Their shepherd will come looking for them. She will bring us another Number."
He chuckles darkly as his body is wrapped in that shadowed aura, his hand holding his own signature Number (11) between fingertips with sharp blue nails...
Tiffany's POV
It's now afterschool, and my friends Jamal and Caswell are just exiting the classroom with me while we watch Athena move on ahead of us, throwing a casual wave.
"Well, I got a few errands to run for gramps, so I'll catch you guys later!"
We all wave back...and as soon as I couldn't see my gal pal anymore, I let out a worried sigh while muttering,
"I dunno how she isn't so concerned about that Number Hunter, but then again, Addy's always been fearless..."
"...Say, Tiff."
"Hm?"
I turn to Jamal, and he and Caswell exchange glances with nods before he says to me,
"Me and Cas have an idea that might help in easing all our minds in this new Number business..."
They lead me out of the hallways to a quiet part of the outside area, before telling me about their new idea...
"...Number Seekers Anonymous?"
"Yeah! Heh, I know the title sounds kind-a silly, but it's better than the first name we came up with..."
I'm not even gonna ask about that...
Caswell holds up one of his pointer fingers in a matter-of-fact fashion before alliterating,
"The point remains: If Addy isn't going to make herself more cautious, we'll just have to make up for her ourselves, and uncover more of the mystery behind these Number Cards."
(Rustle)
"Did someone say mystery~?"
"Gah!"
I jump as Flip suddenly pokes out from the cover of one of the trees, before hopping down to the ground while chiming,
"I lo~ve a good mystery. I am requesting membership in your club."
The boys and I look to one another for a moment, before Jamal turns to nod at Flip.
"Sure, why not? Hey, come to think of it, Flip, weren't you under the Number's influence at one point?"
Oh! That's right: He stole Utopia and Leviathan away during his and Addy's duel.
Our bespectacled friend nods as he confirms,
"I was! And I'd be more than happy to tell you what I remember from my experience."
I urge,
"And? What can you tell us?"
"The truth is I remember, absolutely nothing!"
...Jamal, Caswell and I flop over in exasperation as the former comments with a chagrin,
"Gee, thanks, man. That helps."
"Um, hello."
"Hm?"
We turn to the right and saw Caden had arrived, politely requesting,
"I would like to join your new secret club as well, i-if that's alright."
Given that he was given the full story with the rest of us on the rooftop at lunchtime, it was only fair that we let him in on the new plan as well.
"(Nod) No problem, Cade."
We then moved to walk out of the campus area, just as he brings up something regarding the influencing power of the Number Cards.
"Building on the conversation we had on the rooftop at lunch, during Duel Period, I spoke with Mister Kay, and the boy Nelson Andrews via duel gazer (don't ask me how I got the contact info...) who also possessed Numbers to inquire about what they might remember during their time as holders of said cards."
"You did?"
"Mhm, and their stories checked out the same as Flip's: Neither of them remember what happened after touching the Number Cards."
Interesting...and yet, from what Addy described, it seems Kite is immune to the influence.
Caswell hums my thoughts similarly:
"So it would seem that their power is great enough to wipe away the memories of their hosts after they've been defeated. Yet somehow, Kite's will is stronger...I wonder if the people who lost their souls could tell similarly?"
Flip pipes,
"Not like we can really ask them since they can't talk, or even acknowledge the world for that matter..."
We all nod grimly in agreement, before Jamal concludes,
"Okay, this is a good start, but maybe now would be a good time to track more leads."
I form a determined smile and reply,
"Sounds like a plan to me. We can do this, you guys, as Number Seekers Anonymous!"
We all cheer,
"Alright! Let's go, for Addy and Astral!"
Time Skip, No POV
So for the next few days, our group of five amateur investigators would be combing throughout Heartland City during after school hours for clues of any kind that could help paint a clearer picture to the mystery surrounding the Number Cards and why individuals such as Kite are beginning to surface...
In Caden's case, he would employ the assistance of his feline companions, meeting with a clowder of them in a construction area.
"Some argue that dogs have the best senses for tracking...Heh, I think it's high-time we disprove that claim, wouldn't you agree?"
"(Mew, mreow...)"
For Caswell, his method involved doing a mass data search over the World Wide Web using one of the school library's computers, his eyes glued to the screen while his fingers moved at near-lightning speed over the keyboard.
There is certainly alot of mysteries surrounding these Number Cards...but in the end, everything has a logical explanation.
Then we have Flip, magnifying glass in hand, whose own investigations took him to places most would least expect to find any viable information, even turning over manhole covers.
A mystery is just a puzzle. A puzzle has pieces. Pieces fit together...but how?
And what if we don't have all the pieces, or the box that tells you what the puzzle is even suppose to look like?
Very curious...
As for Jamal and Tiffany, they would split off in their own directions using the same tactic of simply asking random strangers they deemed to look intelligent enough to possibly know something from street conversations...
In the latter's case, today's route took her to the courtyard of the main monorail station.
"Um, excuse me! Uh...Haah..."
This is getting to be more of a chore than I thought it'd be. Hopefully, the others are having better luck today than I am...
"Why are you running around and asking people about Number Cards?"
"Hm?"
Tiffany straightens from her exasperated bend to turn around to the addressing voice, and found Shark standing a few feet away from her, he dressed in his casual outfit contrasting her academy uniform.
"Oh, Shark! Hi. Been a while since I last saw you...Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Numbers, would you? I-er, myself and some of the others, are trying to see about gathering some data Addy and Astral might not know already."
The boy hms, before replying a bit bluntly,
"All I know is that they're bad news, and you shouldn't go askin' random strangers about them."
"Uh...! Mm...If you're referring to when people act out under their influence, we already knew that...And if I may be frank, I don't think the Numbers are necessarily doing it on purpose. They just, feel lost without Astral..."
Shark pivots his head to glance at the girl whose cornflower blue irises were shielded by her lemon yellow glasses today with a raised brow of surprise from her innocent-sounding theory. He then shakes his head and replies,
"This isn't a game you wanna be playing, Tiffany. Leave it alone; go home, and it's best the others do the same."
With that, he turns to walk away, leaving the girl to call his name softly with a sad expression...
Later, when sunset begins to hit the skies in its blazing orange glory, we find the members of Number Seekers Anonymous reporting back their findings to one another by the clock in the park area, which unfortunately, was little to squat.
"So, did any of ya have luck today?" Caden sighs and says to Jamal,
"I tried to speak with some possible witnesses of the duelists who got hit by Kite, but didn't get anymore than the police already did."
Caswell nods with a frown of regret:
"Same story for me: No new leads."
"Damn, you guys are killin' me...as I'm killing myself. I got zip."
"In the end, this mystery may remain a mystery."
Tiffany puffs out her own sigh of disappointment...
"Have no fear: Flip is here!"
The four teens turn to see that their fifth secret club member had arrived, with a grin on his face nonetheless.
"Sometimes, you just gotta look in unlikely places, which is exactly what I did!"
He then leads the group to the front, vine-covered gates of a medium-sized old architecture townhouse...
"Um, where exactly did you lead us, Flip?"
He replies to the unsure Tiffany,
"I was told that this place belongs to a world-renowned fortuneteller."
Jamal exclaims with a 'hah?' expression,
"A what-now?"
Flip replies in an obvious tone,
"Uh, a fortuneteller is someone who is magical and all-knowing..."
Caden looked up at the gates with a narrowed expression, recalling,
Hang on...I remember: A duelist was recently found a couple blocks from here on the sidewalk in that elderly state.
Previously missing a few days...and he supposingly had a Number...
...Something's not right. I can feel it.
(Crrreeeeak...)
Suddenly, the gates open automatically, and the one who came to greet the five teens...was noneother than the black-cloaked man who held a fortuneteller's deck and two Number Cards (possibly more depending on how long his own hunt has been going on)!
"And what have we here? Stray little lambs looking for answers and guidance? I have been expecting you. Follow me and I will lead you to the enlightenment which you are all seeking..."
Though reluctance bubbled in their hearts, the quintet follows him inside the home, and were now filing down a cobweb-dusted hallway lit ominously by several gas lights. Jamal mutters with a shiver,
"I've got a major danger alarm ringing in me, you guys..." Flip dismisses his worries:
"Probably the burrito you had for lunch."
The other three shush the two, before Tiffany quietly comments,
"This place reminds me of the medieval exhibit they had at the museum a couple months back."
"Really, 'cause this place reminds me of a haunted castle."
She elbows Jamal with an annoyed smirk for his comment, to which he'd cheekily if nervously grin back...The five were soon descending down a spiral staircase behind the supposed fortuneteller, Caswell wondering in his own bundle of nerves,
"Where's he taking us...?"
(Ka-chank, rumble...)
The heavy metal doors at the bottom give way to the man's shove, before he leads the younger ones into that same little arena from before, which we see to be made with stone tiling for the floor, a strange, round rune-like symbol in the middle, and a gigantic crystal ball sitting on a pedestal set up ahead, matching a few smaller ones acting as the light source all around the area, casting a mysterious light blue glow...
Jamal coughs and awkwardly comments while scratching the back of his dreadlocks,
"Uh, must get a good ambiance here, huh?"
Thankfully, the fortuneteller gets to the point and saves the boy from anymore possible embarrassment.
"...I know why you're here. (Turns to face them) You seek to get knowledge about something that is, troubling you."
Tiffany asks,
"Yes. How did you know?"
He holds his arms up and claims as if it were the weather,
"I see everything. What you're looking for is...Let's see..."
He holds his palms flat with one a foot above the other...just a strange, ghostly sphere manifests!
"I'm seeing, a rectangle. I'm seeing something thin...I'm seeing, a card."
The teens gasp and widen their eyes, and the fortuneteller continues.
"Not just a normal card: A powerful card. It's-no! It's not one specific card, but a type of card...I'm seeing visions of, Numbers."
The man's jade green irises blink open to reveal a clouding of neon blue energy, but Jamal was more pressed with their all-knowing ability.
"But, how'd he-We didn't even mention those digits once and he somehow got it?"
Caswell whispers back in a skeptical manner,
"It's gotta be some kind of trickery," causing Flip to scold,
"Show some respect: There's no trickery in fortunetelling!"
Tiffany shakes off her surprise and steps closer to the fortuneteller to inquire more information, her determination to help her friends weighting over her nerves.
"What else does your vision foretell?"
"...These Numbers contain a great evil."
"Huh? Evil?"
"They seek to possess those who hold them. They invade their hearts and corrupt their spirits."
The girl cringes, but frowns before asking insistingly,
"But is there a reason why they're doing that? Why do they want to bother with others when, they belong to someone else's being? I need to know...so I can help Athena..."
"Hm...Tell me, who is this Athena?"
Suddenly, before she could comprehend it, Tiffany felt her will drop and her eyes glaze over from being caught under the power of the fortuneteller, before replying monotonously,
"She's our friend...and, she's been collecting Numbers for another friend, Astral, who needs them for his memory. We want to help them anyway we can, even though, she, or they, seem reluctant to accept our help, worried for us like we're worried for them..."
It was then the man cancels out the energy sphere:
"Unfortunately, my vision ends here."
"...Your vision ends here."
He steps forward and places a sharp-nailed hand on the hypnotized girl's shoulder while telling her,
"You have given me what the stars said you would, my dear little lamb. (Grin) My master is going to be most grateful."
Having watched the whole scene, the boys had become concerned for their friend and all the more alert of this fortuneteller's presence.
"Hey, Tiff, we should get goin'!...Tiff?"
"Actually, I was hoping you could stick around a little..."
With that said, the man hops backwards away from the center area of the stone floor...
(Crick, crack, RUMBLE)
And just as Tiffany awoke from her stupor, she would find herself falling down a sinkhole with the others!
"Aaaaaiiiieeeee!" "Aaaaauuuuuh!"
"Gaaaah!" "Whaaaaaa!"
Thankfully, one of the five teen sleuths was light on their feet with cat-like reflexes, and Caden would hop from piece to piece out of the new giant hole before running back the way the group came, the others crying out,
"Cade, go get help!"
The fortuneteller's grin does not falter as he thinks,
Yes, go get help...
Athena's POV
Sheesh, on my own again excluding Astral. Where has everyone been goin' lately?
It's approaching another end of a day of learning at the Academy, and for the third time in a row, Tiffany, Jamal, Caswell, Caden and even Flip went AWOL on me for their own plans, whatever they are...
I'm now laying on the grass knoll bordering the river, wracking my brain for an answer to what could be going on.
Hm...ever since I revealed what happened with Kite, the others seem more tense than I do...
"Haah..."
I wonder...is it possible they could be trying in their own circles to find more clues about the Numbers and that hunter?
"Haah..."
If they are, why aren't they letting me in on it? After all, I'm the one doin' the main collecting mission for Astral.
"Haah..."
...And speaking of that blue pain in the neck.
I crane my neck up towards where he was floating, and call to him annoyed,
"Oi, cut the sighing, would you? That bit's getting real old real fast."
He just lets out another in reply, making me growl slightly before exclaiming while sitting up,
"Keep that up and I'll find a way to duct-tape your mouth shut!"
"...Addy!"
"Huh?"
I turn to the right upon hearing my name called, and would see Caden rushing towards me with a frantic expression on his face.
"Addy!"
What the hell...?
I stand up and walk onto the pathway just as he meets with me, before he urges me,
"You have to do something, fast!"
"What're you talkin' about? What's going on, Cade?"
"It's Tiffany and the others: They-Uh!"
He suddenly cuts himself off and dips his head down in an almost limp manner, making me raise a brow before asking,
"They what? What's wrong?...Cade!"
...His head rose to reveal a stoic, puppet-like expression.
"Cade cannot hear you right now."
My eyes bulge when I catch the sound of another male's voice melding over Caden's, before I narrowing them as I demand,
"Then who am I speaking to? Identify yourself!"
"My name is Fortuno. I am a seer of all things and bring you a message on behalf of my Master, Kite."
Kite?!
I hear Astral mutter in his own exclaim,
"Oh dear!"
"We have your friends, Athena. If you want to see them again, you must come to my mansion and duel me. If you refuse my request, your friends will be..."
I don't get anymore out of this 'Fortuno', when he suddenly cuts his hold over Caden, and I rush to catch him before he could collapse.
"Whoa, Cade!"
"Th...They'll be-Oh!"
He snaps back to normal and shoves himself off me to stand on his own again, clearly unaware of what he was forced to convey.
"Wh-What happened?! Did I black out?"
"More like you were being possessed, but that's the least of our priorities right now. Caden, can you lead me back to where you just came from?"
"Uh, right, of course. This way."
But just as the two of us were about to move out, I was called to a halt by Astral.
"Wait."
"Hm?"
"I do not like this. We cannot simply go running headfirst into what is clearly some sort of ambush."
...Okay, that's it: I've had it up to here with his overcautious attitude.
Grinding my teeth, I whirl around to shout back at him with a glare,
"And just what the hell do you expect me to do, stand on the sidelines like an idiot?! Hell no; not happening! Astral, everyone is in trouble 'cause of another Number! That's not something to simply ignore!"
"You cannot save them if you cannot defeat Kite!"
"Uh...!"
That's his focus? Seriously?!
"Kite is skilled beyond anyone I have ever encountered. He is cunning and clever in ways that elude me."
...Oh god, he's really let that duel get to him.
"There is no guarantee that we can defeat him, Athena."
Frowning, I ask him in a sarcastic manner,
"So, what, are you saying that you only want me to duel if there's a hundred-chance of a win on my end?"
"That is correct."
...Astral...
"My very existence in on the line when you duel, Athena. Why would I encourage you to duel someone when I know you will lose to them?"
H...How dare he. How dare he!
"What the hell are you-"
"If we run into Kite's ambush right now, you will lose, and you will have failed to save your friends, and then I will-"
I heard all I could take, and in a burst of anger, my fist goes flying straight at the being before me!
"You can't know a damn thing before it even happens!"
...Of course, my hand, as well as a bit of my body, just went right through him...but I didn't care. I just went with the trajectory and braced myself to fall to one knee, my knuckles connecting with the concrete...I felt nothing, except anger and hurt of the emotional kind towards the one person who I assumed would have my back through these situations.
But, then again...I did just assume.
"...Athena?"
My voice comes out in a cold, hard bite:
"Screw off."
I hear Astral take in a sharp breath of surprise, while I moved to slowly get back on my feet, before turning to shoot him a disgusted glare.
"It's plainly obvious that you don't wanna offer your help...and you know what? That's fine..."
Walking over so that I was only a foot away from him, I lock my blazing red irises with his mismatched gold and white.
"Because I can do without the weight of a coward dragging me down."
That harsh comment caused his eyes to widen considerably, while I just tched and walked off, sending over my shoulder as I moved to join Caden to head off and play hero,
"And think about this while I'm gone: How do you expect to restore your memory if you're just gonna run off scared from the duelists holding them hostage?"
...I hear no reply, and just kept my eyes forward, slowly building a jog with the boy beside me, who was looking at me with some concern for my shift of mood.
"Addy...are you okay?"
"I'm fine...Sorry you had to hear that, Cade. Let's just focus on getting to the others, alright?"
"Um...okay."
Sideglancing at my friend, my lips then curve into a semi-mean smirk before I added,
"By the by, you lot will be getting a lecture from me later for playing detectives and somehow not botherin' to mention anything to me beforehand."
He cringes slightly, before muttering with a nervous smile,
"Eh-heh, right."
Small Time Skip, No POV
Our view now casts over what appears to be a large magma pit underground the stone arena of Fortuno's manor, with the other four members of Number Seekers Anonymous trapped atop a small-diameter stone pillar. Caswell nervously stutters,
"N-Nobody breathe. Nobody sneeze. Nobody panic. Nobody move!"
Unfortunately, the shortest boy of this quartet was feeling anything but calm.
"Somebody save me! Gaaaaaah!"
Tiffany chides to him,
"Flip, easy! Take a few deep breaths..."
"...Tiff! Guys!"
"Uh! That sounded like Addy!"
Shifting to the chamber itself, we see said girl with red irises hurry down the staircase with Caden, only to discover the faces of their friends being reflected from inside the giant crystal ball.
"W-What the-Everyone!...Oh god, is that magma?! Are you all okay?!"
Unfortunately, while the two had a good visual of the trapped four, there wasn't any audio provided, as noted by Caden.
"Shoot. They might be hearing us, but we can't hear them."
They walk a bit closer to the crystal until they were standing on the same spot the others fell through a little while ago, just as Fortuno makes his entrance.
"Welcome, Athena. So glad you could make it."
"Rgh! So you must be Fortuno...Release my friends right now, (knuckle-crack) unless you wanna answer to my fist!"
"(Chuckle) I will gladly release them if you can defeat me in a duel."
Fortuno gestures a hand towards the figure sitting atop that throne off to the high side.
"And I hope you don't mind, but my Master Kite will be spectating..."
Athena looks over to see the figure, but instead of nerves, she felt this wave of...suspicion.
Hmm...
"Kite...!"
"Huh?"
She then looks up above Caden, and spots Astral!
"What? Astral?...Hmph, so you had the balls to show up after all."
...But upon noticing the facial features of fear written all over the blue being, Athena breathes out a sigh with a head shake, thinking to herself,
Guess this is as far as his nerves will allow him to go. A shame, really...
"Master Kite. I, your humble servant will defeat this girl and cease her Number."
Athena turns to retort back to Fortuno,
"That's what you think, weirdo!"
"Soon your soul will belong to my master!"
"Wrong again: By the end, your battered and bruised body's gonna be sprawled on the floor with no Life Points, and I'll be walkin' out of here with my friends to laugh about your big mistake in crossing the likes of me!"
With that threat in the wind, the girl readies her dueling equipment:
"Duel Disk: Go! Duel Gazer: Show me the impossible!"
Augmented Reality Vision Link Established.
"(Both duelists) Let's Duel!"
Fortuno would start the battle:
"I'll take the first move. Prepare yourself. I Draw! First, I summon Orange Shaman in Attack Mode!"
A puff of violet smoke explodes into the area in front of the man, before an orange-schemed monster in the guise of thin-bodied, floral medicine man, Level Four with 0 Attack Points appears to attention. Astral wonders to himself,
A monster with no Attack Points?
"I then place one card face-down and end my turn."
Athena does not hesitate to start her own first move:
"You're goin' down, freakshow! I Draw! I summon Gogogo Golem in Attack Mode! (Smirk) That shaman of yours is lookin' like a good target..."
"Hmph! I activate Orange Shaman's special ability: Since you summoned Gogogo Golem, Orange Shaman can usher another shaman to my field! Appear before me, Red Shaman!"
Appearing out of another cloud of dark purple smoke, was a shaman monster with a red scheme, also Level Four with 0 Attack Points.
"Zero Attack Points again. You must not attack him!"
Athena shoots down Astral's warning in a cool air, still angry with him for earlier.
"I'm not playing the chicken just 'cause you're hesitant. Gogogo Golem, Attack!"
Fortuno's lips curve into a grin before he calls out,
"I reveal the Trap, Dance of the Guardian! This allows me to choose one card in your hand, and if it just happens to be a monster, then your attack will be nullified! And I already know what you're holding."
"Tch, a bluff if I ever heard one. Fortuneteller or not, I've never known psychic abilities to be real."
Caden calls in warning from the sidelines,
"But Addy, he does have the power!"
"You have five cards in your hand. There's only one monster card among them...That would be the second card from the right."
Athena's eyes widen, before she grumbles out,
"Lucky guess," watching as her golem's fist is stopped by a circle-shaped shield...
"At this moment, Dance of the Guardian sends the card I selected to your Graveyard, and I'm able to draw a new card from my deck!"
Cursing as her spellcaster vanishes, the girl with red irises thinks to herself,
I dunno how he did that, but if his luck holds out with these so-called psychic powers, this duel will be more difficult than I anticipated.
Meanwhile, Astral felt his anxiety rise some:
Nothing that I learned before about the human mind would lead me to believe that a man is capable of this power...
Does Kite also have this ability? If so, stopping him may be impossible.
He hears Athena mutter,
"Ugh, talk about an unfair advantage," before floating down some to inform her,
"Now, Athena, defend. You must fortify with that Trap in your hand."
"...Yeah, that would be the smart move, wouldn't it? I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
Fortuno makes his next move:
"It's my turn then! I Draw! I activate the Spell, Shaman Call! When I have two spellcasters with zero Attack Points, Shaman Call grants me the power to summon another shaman from my deck! I summon Green Shaman to the field!"
Said monster in the guise of a green-schemed medicine man appears, once again being a Level Four with 0 Attack Points.
Athena notes how many monsters of the same level her opponent has now:
"Three Level Fours...Hoh boy..." Astral mutters,
"This is why he consecutively summoned two monsters with zero Attack Points..."
"Witness the power of those who see beyond time! Watch in wonder as I overlay Orange Shaman, Red Shaman and Green Shaman!"
The three shamans form into purple streams of light that go diving into the summoning vortex...
"With these three monsters, I build the Overlay Network! I XYZ Summon, Number 16: Shock Master!"
And we would soon be seeing the very same Number Fortuno recently obtained from another Number Holder only a few days ago, Rank Four with 2300 Attack Points! Athena comments,
"Here's the Number, and this one's definitely the strangest-looking one I've seen...so far..."
"Behold, Shock Master's special ability! Once a turn, I can use an Overlay Unit to negate the effect of a card type of my choosing!"
"Aw come on!"
"Heheheh, oh yes, my dear, and the card type I choose can't be used for two turns. I can see it right now: The exact type of your face-down card."
Astral exclaims,
"He knows!" Athena replies stubbornly,
"He can't! I refuse to believe it!"
"My vision grows clear: Your face-down card is a Trap!"
Rgh, dammit, he guessed right again!
...How is he doing that?
Shock Master's eyes cast a transparent-strong spotlight over Athena's face-down card, revealing Bye-Bye Damage...
"I declare that Trap Cards cannot be activated!"
The Number then shoots a giant thorn to stab the face-down, making it inaccessible for use!
"I do hope that you weren't planning on using that card to stop my attacks."
Athena growls in response, making Fortuno laugh aloud before he calls out,
"Shock Master, take out Gogogo Golem!"
Said Number monster charges forward and knocks the golem off their feet before they blow apart in an explosion of pixels, leaving their wielder to be thrown to the ground on her backside as her Life Points drop to 3500...
But that was least of the girl's worries, when she sees a piece of the stone pillar her trapped friends were standing on break off!
"Auh! No!"
"Oh, did I forget to mention? Your friend's safety depends on you: The more Life Points you lose, the more the rock on which they stand will crumble!"
"Grh! You son-of-a-!"
"Are you prepared to bow before my power and before my Master Kite?!"
Glancing over at the figure sitting on the high throne, Athena barks back,
"You wish! If anything, you're giving me more reasons to beat the living daylights out of you once this duel's over with!"
But while she maintained a brave front, past and present pressures were closing in on Astral's mind, recalling the helpless feeling of defeat during that moment which could've meant the end for him...
This feeling I have...this trembling in my spirit...
I think I now understand what it means to-...be afraid.