Welcome Back Everybody!
First and foremost, I just want to say how much I appreciate the reception the first chapter received. This was even better than what I hoped for!
A sincere thank you to everybody who read the first chapter and showed their support with their comments and favorites.
I hope I can continue to entertain you all with future chapters just as much as I did with the first chapter.
Speaking of future chapters, let's get started with the latest installment.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Diamonds are Forever
Rio lay in her bed, eyes staring at the ceiling, restless and full of stress, all the while glancing back at her deck box on her bedside desk every so often.
The card was still there, the Number. Though the voice she heard earlier was silent, she could still sense its presence. It was too strange. When she touched the card she could feel an intoxicating energy course through her body, the same energy she felt when Tokunosuke commanded the vampiric dragon. It looked into her mind, compelled her to reveal her deepest desire by digging through her most private thoughts, but when she gave her answer, it then became silent.
Now for the past several hours, it merely rested inside her deck, seemingly no different from any other card, but Rio knew better. She wasn't imagining the voice in her head.
"That card is definitely alive," she whispered to herself. "But what does it want? Tokunosuke was out of his mind when he had that Number card in his deck, so why didn't I go crazy when I touched this one?"
"Do not compare me to that vapid, vampiric worm. I have no intention of twisting such a pure desire as yours into a dark obsession. Although, I could help you invent more creative ideas on how to punish the one you call IV once we find him."
Rio jumped, and she almost fell out of her bed. Her eyes darted around the room to look for the woman's voice, but it soon became clear where it was coming from. The voice was in her head, the same voice form before, the voice of the Number.
"NOW you talk again!" Rio was now more annoyed than frightened.
"You seemed to want some alone time to process what was happening to you," Justice explained herself. "I understand Dragulas gave you quite the negative first impression of my kind, but on the other hand, you also witnessed the King of Wishes fight for your friend on his behalf, and he was not corrupted. I wish to help you, Rio. I have no intention of trying to take control of you."
Actually, now that Rio thought about it, why wasn't Yuma corrupted? Was it because not all Number cards wanted to take control of their hosts, or was Yuma able to resist the influence of his Number card the same way she did?
Rio let her mouth curl into an ugly sneer, hoping that Justice could see her face. "You mean because you already tried to do it once, and you failed, right? You aren't going to try to possess me because you realized you can't."
"It is the natural instinct of the Numbers to conform their identities to the desires of their host," responded Justice's calm voice. "To better serve a host, a Number must know their desires. For me not to look into your mind is like asking a human not to breathe. It is simply what my kind are capable of."
"How many of your kind are out there?!" asked Rio. "And why are you here? What could the Numbers have to gain by taking the form of Duel Monster cards and possessing people?!"
"There are one hundred of us, at least I believe that's how many of us exist. I do not remember much before arriving here on Earth, but we were once connected together, like Overlay Units for an Xyz Monster, one hundred materials worth of one creature, the Original Number."
"The Original Number?"
"Yes, but something went wrong when he came here," said Justice. "Something forcibly detached the Overlay Units from the Xyz Monster, if you want me to use that same analogy. We were separated from the Original Number and then scattered. Although, I imagine most of my brethren would not feel the need to travel very far. This is a large city with plenty of human hosts to choose from."
"Meaning Tokunosuke isn't going to be the only person who goes crazy from coming into contact with a Number Monster," Rio sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You're here with me, and Yuma, I think, took both Hope and Dragulas, so there's about ninety-seven other Numbers out there, and they could be corrupting people and persuading them to do horrible things right now. Yay."
"Perhaps," replied Justice. "It depends on the host and what the host wants. You have a very noble goal, Rio Kamishiro. You have a strong sense of right and wrong, and you wish to see a very serious wrong done to your brother made right. This makes you the perfect host for a Number like myself."
"So what do you get out of this?" Rio asked, still apprehensive and not quite ready to trust the talking card. "Let's say I keep you and start using you when I duel. Let's say when I finally avenge my brother and make IV pay for what he did, what happens after that?"
"I get the satisfaction of fulfilling my host's purpose, as well as the satisfaction that a grave injustice has been resolved," Justice explained in a tone that Rio swore almost sounded eager. "While we work together to bring Justice to the one you call IV, there are others of my kind out there who would likely influence their hosts to commit more injustices. We cannot allow that, now can we? Keeping the other Numbers out of the wrong hands will ensure the safety of your city and the humans who live here."
Rio now had a big decision to make, to trust the Number or to not trust the Number. She seemed altruistic, but Rio saw with her own eyes what Tokunosuke was capable of under the influence of his Number. She shuddered to think what she might do to her friends if she let her guard down and Justice proved to be malicious. For all intents and purposes, the prospects that Justice had suggested seemed way too good to be true.
On the other hand, she really needed all the help she could get in order to challenge IV, and if there were other Numbers out there, potentially Numbers even stronger than the one Tokunosuke used, then having a Number of her own in her deck could save her if she was ever forced to duel one of them.
After several minutes of internal debating, she finally made her decision. For the sake of her brother, she would need to take a leap of faith.
"You know, there is a saying we humans have, Innocent until proven guilty," she spoke cautiously and methodically to the Number. "We often say that in our courts when we judge somebody who might be a criminal, but we don't know for sure."
"And now you are judging me, to see if I am honest or a liar?" The Number inquired. "What exactly are you saying?"
"I'm saying, I'll give you a chance," Rio continued. "But you only get one chance. If I even think you're trying to take control of me again, we're done. I don't know how to get rid of you, but I'll find a way."
The voice of Justice was filled with elation. "Oh thank you, Rio! I swear I will not let you down, and I will certainly never betray your trust. I would never commit an injustice against my host–No, my partner! You have my word."
"We'll see about that. Actions speak louder than words," replied Rio.
With the situation between Number and human resolved (for now, anyways), Rio tried to go back to sleep, but she still had too much on her mind. The information Justice gave her only made her even more worried, worried about Yuma.
Was Number 39 the Original Number, or just another piece of it? Even worse, she still could not take her mind off the strange presence she sensed during the entire duel. It felt different from the other Numbers, but somehow familiar. Rio could only pray that whatever it wanted, it wasn't planning to hurt her friend.
"Didn't I tell you to get lost, already?" a half-awake Yuma groaned. "I'm trying to sleep."
"You have done so several times," Astral replied.
"But I do not understand your request. How can somebody purposely get lost? If I choose to go somewhere, then I will know where I am."
Now Yuma was more annoyed than tired. "It means leave me alone! You have to understand the word, leave, right?"
"I cannot leave until you gather all of the Numbers," Astral replied. "Speaking of which, why are you currently inactive when you could be looking for Numbers right now? The probability of the Number cards coming directly to you is exceedingly low."
"It's night time, Astral," Yuma grumbled, not having the patience to explain but knowing full well Astral wouldn't shut up unless he answered his question. "Humans need to replenish their energy at night by closing their eyes and remaining motionless for about eight hours. That's called sleeping, and if you want me to help you get more Number cards, then you better let me do that."
"But I thought you were replenishing your energy when you were sitting with those other two humans and ingesting those strange objects."
"That's eating," groaned Yuma as he slid into a more comfortable position in his bed-hammock. "Humans need to do that too. Now shut up already and let me go to sleep!"
"Observation Number Four. When interrogated or asked to do something, humans behave erratically, especially if they are deprived of this period of time called sleep."
At this point, Astral decided it would be best to remain silent and hope Yuma would be more compliant with his wishes when he was done sleeping. For now, he would simply have to contemplate the mysteries of the Numbers on his own.
His eyes darted to the key still wrapped around Yuma's neck, and out of curiosity, he floated towards the golden artifact, but the moment he reached out to touch it, the jewel on the key began to glow.
"Oh my! What is happening?" Astral exclaimed, but before he could even comprehend it, he felt his body disappear as his essence was sucked inside the key. The flash of light woke Yuma again.
"Didn't I tell you to be…. Huh?" The angry teenager was prepared to yell at Astral again, even if it ran the risk of waking his sister up, only to see that Astral was nowhere to be found.
"Finally, he actually listened to me," Yuma breathed a heavy sigh of relief, although underneath his desire for peace and quiet, there lay a small trace of worry. "Actually, where did he go? I hope he didn't wander off into downtown. He'd get himself lost if he did. Hey Astral, are you still there?"
There was no answer, but Yuma was too tired to contemplate where the strange spirit went. He would deal with it in the morning after a proper night's sleep. Letting out a relieved yawn, he stretched his arms, and went back to bed.
Morning came and then transitioned into afternoon as Yuma went through the motions of a regular school day. Even after school as Yuma waited for his friends to arrive for dueling practice, there was still no trace of Astral. While he hated to admit it, even to himself, he realized he couldn't just let Astral wander off, assuming he simply left rather than vanished. The poor guy not only had no memory of who he was, but he appeared to know nothing about humans at all. How could he even survive out there if he chose to leave? Even worse, how could he ask anybody for help if something happened to him when Yuma seemed to be the only one capable of seeing him and talking to him?
"Ah, I'm sure he's fine. He'll come crawling back to me eventually, or floating."
"Who's going to come crawling back?" Tetsuo asked as he and Kotori walked out of school, once again hoping to join Yuma and Rio.
"I think Yuma's still going on about his invisible duelist friend," teased Kotori. "So how does the relationship between you and your friend work? Does he just show up to give you pointers and then vanish when you win?"
"Kotori, I'm being serious! He's real!" Yuma protested.
"You know, Kotori, maybe Yuma isn't kidding about there being an invisible duelist telling him what to do," argued Tetsuo, and for a moment, Yuma was about to thank his friend for coming to his defense, but then... "After all, that's the only explanation I can think of as to how Yuma actually managed to win against that dragon. He can't duel to save his life, otherwise."
"Hey, if I were you, I'd be thanking me for defeating Tokunosuke and getting your deck back instead of being so ungrateful!" growled an offended Yuma. "If it wasn't for me, he would have burnt your deck!"
"You mean if it wasn't for you getting lucky and pulling out that Number card of your own," Tetsuo drawled, angering Yuma further. "Besides, if you lost, then Rio would have dueled Tokunosuke and she would have beaten him in one turn, just like she beat you in one turn."
"Oh yeah? Then the second Rio gets here, I'll show her she'll never beat me again! She can't handle the power of Hope!" boasted Yuma, before looking around the schoolyard and finding a certain someone absent. "Hey, now that you mention it, where is she? She's almost twenty minutes late."
"Yuma!" scolded Kotori. "Don't be so insensitive. Did you forget today is Friday? Rio goes to the hospital every Friday after school to visit her brother."
"Awwww, but I wanted to use my Number card against her!" whined Yuma, causing Tetsuo to laugh at him again.
"Sorry, Yuma. You're my friend and all, but the truth hurts. Even with that Number card, you still can't beat the Ice Queen. If she was here to duel you right now, you would lose again, and I would laugh."
"Alright, that's it!" Yuma shouted and activated his duel disk, slotting his deck inside in the process. "You wanna go, Tetsuo? Let's duel right now. I'll show you that my duel against Tokunosuke wasn't a fluke!"
"With pleasure!" Tetsuo replied, activating his own duel disk. "I bet you can't even touch my life points without that fancy new Number card."
"If I remember correctly, you couldn't handle Tokunosuke's Number," grinned Yuma, and he reached down into his deck box to show off his own. "So I have a feeling you can't handle my… Huh…." Instead of grabbing Number 39 to show off to Tetsuo, Yuma felt his hands clutching empty air. "Wait a second, where did my Number card go?! What happened to Hope? It was right here yesterday, and I never took it out of my deck! What's going on?"
"What's the matter, Yuma? Are you cracking under pressure?" Tetsuo taunted. "Don't tell me you're going to chicken out and forfeit the duel just because you forgot your precious Number."
"I didn't forget it! It disappeared!" Yuma shouted.
"Right, it just vanished into thin air like your invisible duelist friend," Tetsuo mocked him. "Look, Yuma. I appreciate you saving my deck, but you still have a lot to learn. Without that Number, you're still the same novice who I beat every time."
"Grrrrr, I'll show you!" snapped Yuma. "Bring it on! KATTOBINGU DAZE ORE!"
Yuma tried his best to show bravado to hide the nightmarish levels of panic he was feeling from losing Hope. He knew for sure he never took it out of his deck box. In order to leave it behind, he would have needed to leave his entire deck behind. Instead, it had just vanished.
"Like Astral…" Yuma thought to himself.
Did this mean that if Astral wasn't around, Yuma would lose access to his Number card? Now Yuma was certain he wanted Astral to come back. Yuma could only pray he could pull off a win even without Hope. Unfortunately, like many times in the past, Tetsuo's Tin Archduke proved too much for Yuma, and his lack of focus due to worrying about Astral and his missing Number only made things worse for him. He only lasted three turns before Tetsuo's ace monster attacked him directly and wiped out his life points.
Yuma: 2000 - 2200 = 0 (LOSE)
Winner: Tetsuo Takeda
"And that's another win for me, Yuma!" laughed Tetsuo. "Man, it must suck to get your very first Xyz Monster right when you need it only to lose it the very next day."
"For the tenth time, I didn't lose it!" Yuma groaned. "It disappeared, just like how it randomly appeared in my deck when Astral showed up!"
"And now that he's not here, your Number card isn't here either," Kotori deduced. She seemed to be pondering something, and Yuma grew hopeful she actually believed him. "You know, now that I think about it, maybe Rio was right. There is something strange going on with these Number cards. We have no idea where Tokunosuke got his either, and he loses it the moment he loses to you."
The hope in Yuma's heart grew even though his Number was gone. If Kotori was getting on his wavelength, that had to mean Tetsuo would do the same.
And just like that, the burly-capped duelist was doing just that, putting a hand to his chin.
"Now that you mention it, Kotori, there's been too many weird things happening in the past two days just for it to be a coincidence. I'll admit that much," Tetsuo muttered. "First Tokunosuke goes crazy and summons that scary dragon I've never seen before, then Yuma gets his own Number card and starts talking about some ghost duelist, then Taichi of all people tries to beat me up, and now Yuma's Number Card vanishes without a trace."
Both Kotori and Yuma blinked.
"Wait, what was that last part?" she asked. "Before you said Yuma's Number disappeared…?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys," said Tetsuo, folding his arms. "The weirdest thing happened to me during gym class. Taichi cornered me at my locker and started interrogating me. At first, he was just asking questions about Yuma's duel with Tokunosuke. You know that word's spread around the school already about those strange cards, but then he started getting creepy about it. He started asking what we did to Tokunosuke after Yuma defeated him."
Yuma raised an eyebrow, and Kotori did the same. What more was there to do after a duel? Yuma had beaten Tokunosuke, they'd tried to bury the hatchet, and they'd left on their way.
Tetsuo continued. "He wanted to know if we made him suffer, and when I told him we just let him go, he totally lost it and took a swing at me. Managed to block it, but after that he just stormed off."
Kotori stared at Tetsuo, processing what he had said. "We're thinking of the same person, right? Taichi? Shy Guy Taichi tried to beat you up? Taichi is about as violent as a newborn puppy. He wouldn't hurt a fly. What the heck did you do to get him so angry?"
"Wait a minute, Tetsuo, who are you talking about?" Yuma was completely lost now. "Who's Taichi?"
"Yuma! Why are you so forgetful!?" scolded Kotori. "Don't you remember what happened last year?"
Yuma stared blankly at Kotori before hesitantly replying, "Noooooo?"
"Of course, you don't," Kotori sighed. "Taichi? Shy Guy Taichi? Tokunosuke's favorite victim? I brought him up just yesterday when Tokunosuke tried to give you that Baby Tiragon card. He tried the same trick on Taichi last year, and the poor guy fell for it. The creep took his deck, and he would have gotten away with it if Shark hadn't seen the whole thing."
"Shark stopped him?" asked Yuma.
"Oh, he did more than stop him," chuckled Tetsuo approvingly. "I heard he gave Tokunosuke the scare of his life. Rio told me that Shark kinda took Taichi under his wing. Shark said it was just because he needed a sparring partner to practice for the National Championship, but Rio told me she thinks he developed a soft spot for the kid."
"I didn't even know Shark learned the meaning of the word soft," said Yuma. "What happened after that?"
"The big scandal happened, that's what," Kotori continued. "Shark got disqualified from the tournament, and then he had a falling out with Taichi since he didn't believe him when he told Taichi he didn't cheat."
"Falling out? More like a blow up," added Tetsuo with emphasis. "You weren't there to see it, Yuma, but I've never seen Shark so angry. I honestly thought he was going to hit Taichi. He probably would have if Rio wasn't there to keep him under control."
Yuma was still having trouble following the story. "So what does that have to do with today? Why would he get so upset now?" But then Yuma's confusion turned to dread as he remembered his duel with Tokunosuke and the borderline maniacal behavior from his opponent.
"Oh no! You don't think…."
"Don't think what?" asked Kotori. "You look worried, Yuma. I don't like it when you look worried. What is it?"
"You're saying Taichi's the nicest guy in school, and to be blunt, kind of a wimp, but today he acted like a total thug and almost tried to hit you, right Tetsuo?
"Yeah, what are you getting at?" Tetsuo asked.
"Look, I know you guys think what happened yesterday was strange," said Yuma, waving his hands slowly to keep their attention. "Tokunosuke went completely insane and after I beat him and took his Number away, he seemed to calm down, and now today, somebody else is acting crazy! I think Taichi might be possessed by a Number!"
Tetsuo wasn't so sure. "Come on, Yuma. I know Tokunosuke was acting really weird yesterday, but you know how this sounds, right? How could a card change somebody's personality?"
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's the only explanation we have!" said Yuma. "At the very least, we need to find Taichi and check on him. I really hope I'm wrong, but if I'm right, we need to stop him before he hurts somebody!"
"But how do we even find Taichi?" asked Kotori, before turning her head. "Okay, Tetsuo, did Taichi say anything to you? Did he give you any indication that he was going anywhere or planning to hurt anybody?"
"Well, no. Not really. All he said was….." Tetsuo paused for a moment, but then, recalling something horrifying, his eyes widened in shock. "OH NO!"
"What?"
"After he took a swing at me, he changed his mind and left. He said. "'I'll deal with you later, after I pay an old friend of mine a visit'. It's Shark! He's going after Shark at the hospital, and that means Rio is right in his path. We have to warn her!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Kotori immediately called Rio on her phone, muttering "come on, come on, come on, pick up," as she waited, but the call went straight to voicemail.
"She's not picking up!"
"Then we have to get over to the hospital right now and warn her in person!" Tetsuo insisted. "I just hope Taichi is far away from her right now!"
The three friends raced out of the school grounds as fast as their legs could carry them, each of them praying they could reach the hospital before Taichi found Rio.
Oblivious to any kind of danger, Rio got off the Heartland Monorail as it reached her intended destination. Off in the distance, she could see Heartland General Hospital, and on the top floor, bandaged head to toe, lay her brother, unconscious and unchanged since the day of the attack.
"Oh, Ryouga," she whispered to herself. "Every time I walk through those doors and head up to your room, I keep hoping you at least wake up, but you never do. Please get better soon. I need you."
"Your brother," the voice of Justice spoke up. "He is the source of your desire for Justice."
"You probably already read my mind, so what else do you think?" Rio replied bitterly. "Why bring it up?"
"I just wanted to say I am sorry," Justice replied, her voice sounding genuinely apologetic. "I do not know what it is like to have a family the way humans do. I will admit that technically, the other Numbers are kin to me, but not in the way your brother is to you. I don't need to read your mind to understand how much you love him, Rio. Have faith. If he is as strong as you are, and as much as you believe in him, he will awaken."
Rio felt better, and now she was starting to regret her callous attitude towards the Number. She was about to apologize to her, when Justice spoke up again.
"Wait, Rio! Stop!" Justice's frantic tone stopped Rio's voice dead in her throat. "I sense one of the other Numbers very close by."
"What? Where?!" Rio exclaimed.
"Through the doors of that very building."
When Rio realized she was referring to the hospital, she panicked.
"RYOUGA!"
She burst through the doors and entered the lobby of the hospital, but she was certainly not expecting to see what she saw in front of her. An olive skinned boy with messy dark brown hair was arguing with the front desk receptionist. The white school uniform with a red collar identified him as a student from her school, and he appeared to be verbally harassing the receptionist.
"For the last time, young man," the middle aged woman was standing her ground, having none of the boy's hostile attitude. "This patient is not to receive visitors unless approved by one of his immediate family members."
"And I'm telling you, I'm going to pay Ryouga Kamishiro a visit one way or another. Now let me through, or else!" The boy snapped.
"Don't you raise your voice at me, young man. If you threaten me again, I'm going to call the police!"
"You touch that phone, and it will be the last thing you ever do!" growled the boy.
"TAICHI!"
The boy turned around and made eye contact with Rio, and the Ice Queen received her visual confirmation of the Number. Shining through his school uniform was a yellow 52 embedded just at the nape of his neck.
"Do you know this boy?" asked the very annoyed receptionist.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Rio answered. "He's just upset that I wouldn't give him my Number!"
Taichi perked up at the mention of the word, Number. He understood what Rio truly meant.
"You want my new card, don't you? You can't have it!" He snapped, growing rabid at the mere thought of losing it. "It's mine! I found it! It came to me! It's mine! MINE!"
"Taichi, you have to listen to me," pleaded Rio. "That card is messing with your mind. Look at you! You're not yourself. The Taichi I know wouldn't be acting this way."
"You're a liar, Rio, just like your brother!" snapped Taichi. "This card is the gateway to true power. Nobody will ever mess with me again once I send the proper message!"
"It's no use," Justice spoke up again. "The influence of the Number is too strong. The only way for the Number to loosen its grip on the boy is to defeat him in a duel and take the Number away from him by force."
Rio nodded, and then she took her Number card out of her deck box and showed it to Taichi, causing his eyes to glow with hungry greed.
"I have one too, Taichi!" Rio baited the savage boy. "It's yours, but only if you defeat me in a duel."
"Hey, if you kids are going to duel, then for the love of God, take it outside, already! This is a hospital!" yelled the receptionist, who clearly had enough of annoying young duelists for one day.
Rio gestured for Taichi to follow her, and surprisingly, the angry student complied. They exited through the doors and stood outside the hospital parking lot, facing each other like two cowboys in the old west.
"This actually works out a lot better for me," grinned Taichi cruelly. "I was originally going to head to your injured brother's room and finish him off, but instead, I'll do what I was planning to do to you. I can only imagine the look on Shark's face when he wakes up to realize he wasn't there to protect his pretty little twin sister."
"My brother did nothing to you, Taichi!" Rio tried once again to reason with him. Even though Justice had told her it was pointless, she had to keep trying for the sake of the real Taichi. "Why would you even think about hurting him after he protected you from Tokunosuke?"
"He betrayed me when he proved he was no different than the people who made my life a living hell!" Taichi shouted, his face twisted with rage. "Your brother is a hypocrite! He rescued my deck back from that cheater, Tokunosuke, only to cheat himself when he thought he wouldn't get caught. He never cared about me at all. All those times he used me as target practice? He was mocking me just like everybody else."
"My brother did not cheat in that tournament!" Rio yelled, loathing the accusation by instinct. "He was framed!"
"Of course you would say that," Tachi growled. "You're his sister, loyal to your family even when they don't deserve it. Well, now I'm going to prove to the world that I never needed him. I don't need anyone anymore! All I need is my Number card and with it, I'll crush anybody who gets in my way!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" retorted Rio. "Let's duel, Taichi! I'll get you back to your old self if it's the last thing I do!"
Duel Gazer Set
Augmented Reality Vision Online
Rio: 4000 LP
Taichi: 4000 LP
DUEL!
"Ladies first! I draw!" As Rio studied her cards, she grew uneasy by the way her opponent just stared at her with a maniacal grin. If Tachi was going to be anything like Tokunosuke was during his duel with Yuma, then Rio knew her biggest threat was the Number.
The problem was, she had no idea what kind of Number monster it was. She would have to wait for Taichi to summon the Number before she could even think of how to defeat it.
On the other hand, if she could defeat him before he even got a chance to summon the Number, all the better.
"I activate the Continuous Spell, Blizzard Crystal! When I activate this card, I can add a Blizzard Falcon from my deck to my hand, and then I will summon my Blizzard Falcon right away."
A giant snowflake resting on top of a block of ice appeared on the field. The snowflake flashed with white light and heralded the arrival of Rio's blue falcon, who emerged out of the snowflake and took flight in the air like a ghost walking through a wall.
Blizzard Falcon: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1500 ATK/1500 DEF
"Now that I've summoned my Falcon, I can activate the effect of my Blizzard Crystal. Once per turn, I can increase the attack power of one water monster I control by five-hundred until the end of the turn!"
Blizzard Falcon ATK: 1500 + 500 = 2000 ATK
"What's the point of that?" taunted Taichi. "It's the first turn, so powering up your monster is pointless if you can't battle with it!"
"You've forgotten about my Falcon's effect!" Rio countered. "Once per turn, while his current attack power is higher than his original score, your life points will go down by fifteen-hundred!"
Feeling a surge of energy, Blizzard Falcon shrieked and began to beat its wings, summoning a mighty blizzard and sending it thundering towards Taichi, who shielded his arms from the biting wind.
Taichi: 4000 - 1500 = 2500
"I set two cards face-down and end my turn. Now my monster's attack points return to normal."
Blizzard Falcon ATK: 2000 - 500 = 1500 ATK
While Rio felt more comfortable now that she had an early lead, she knew she wasn't in control of the duel yet, especially since Taichi didn't appear to be bothered by losing almost half of his life points.
Instead, the boy was grinning maniacally as he began his turn.
"My turn, draw! First, I will summon my Diamond Doberman to the field. When this faithful canine is summoned, he can call forth another member of the Diamond Pack! So here comes my Diamond Dalmatian to join him!"
Two large dogs appeared on Taichi's field, a Doberman Pincher and a Dalmatian. Both canines possessed brilliant white gemstones for eyes, and several spikes of crystal were growing out of their paws and their backs. The only way to tell them apart was by breed and build.
Diamond Doberman: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1800 ATK/1400 DEF
Diamond Dalmatian: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1500 ATK/1200 DEF
Just as they settled onto the field however, Diamond Dalmatian let out a loud howl, and suddenly a large crystal statue of a dog burrowed its way out of the ground to join the two canines on the field.
Diamond Dog Token: Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF
"What's with the dog statue?" asked Rio, blinking her eyes.
"That is a little party favor courtesy of my Diamond Dalmatian," Taichi answered. "If I summon it while I control another Diamond Dog monster, I can special summon a Diamond Dog Token, but I wouldn't worry too much about the token. What you should worry about is what happens when I overlay my Diamond Doberman and my Diamond Dalmatian! With these 2 Level 4 Monsters, I build the overlay network!"
"XYZ SUMMON! JOIN THE FIGHT, DIAMOND DIRE WOLF!"
The two canines vanished into the crimson summoning portal and a new canine pounced out of the overlay network and landed on all fours. It was a massive wolf, and unlike the smaller dogs, this canine's fur was composed entirely of crystal. Metal plates of armor adorned the wolf's four legs and two large blade-like spines of pure diamond rested on its back.
Diamond Dire Wolf: Rank 4/EARTH/Beast/Xyz/2000 ATK/1200 DEF
"Diamond Doberman's effect now activates!" Taichi declared. "When it is used as material to Xyz Summon a monster, I can Special Summon another Diamond Dog Token, but why should I stop at two? I activate the Continuous Spell, Diamond Dog House! This card lets me special summon a third token to my field!"
The wolf let out a howl of its own, and two more statues erupted out of the ground to accompany the first.
Diamond Dog Token: Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF
"How many statues do you plan on summoning?" asked Rio, her mouth agape at how quickly Taichi had built up his field.
"Just one more, with this other Continuous Spell card, called Diamond Dynamite! This card lets me special summon a fourth token to my field!"
A fourth statue emerged from the ground, but as it did, it was followed by a large rock with five diamond spikes resting on top of it.
Diamond Dog Token: Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF
"Now that I've maxed out my field, I can finally use the tokens to my advantage!" said Taichi. "Once per turn, my Dynamite spell card can hit you with three hundred points of damage for every EARTH monster I control, and since I have five EARTH monsters out, you take fifteen-hundred points of damage! I think that just about evens the score!"
The orb floated in the air, orbiting around the statues before pointing the five spikes at Rio. Then, like the turret of a military tank, all five spikes fired out of the rocket and exploded in Rio's face. She recoiled from the blast and grunted in pain as her life points took a massive hit.
Rio: 4000 - 1500 = 2500
"And now the effect of my Dog House will activate!" Taichi continued. "I can increase my Direwolf's ATK by five hundred for every token I currently control. I control four, so my wolf gains two thousand Attack Points!"
The four statues suddenly came to life and began to howl alongside the wolf as the crystal canine drew power from the magic statues.
Diamond Dire Wolf ATK: 2000 + 2000 = 4000 ATK
"Finally, I will activate the effect of my direwolf. By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can destroy any one of my tokens, along with any other one card on the field! I think I'll choose to destroy your Blizzard Falcon, and afterwards, I'll attack directly and win the duel without even summoning my Number Monster!"
The two blades on the wolf's back suddenly detached themselves and fired off into the air like rockets. One of them struck the statue closest to the wolf, blowing it to bits in the process, while the other one thundered towards Rio's falcon, but the Ice Queen was ready for it.
"I activate my face-down card, Swallow's Nest! By sending my Blizzard Falcon to the Graveyard, I can special summon a different Winged-Beast monster from my deck as long as it has the same level, like my Aurora Wing!"
The falcon suddenly vanished, dodging the incoming diamond missile, and a new monster appeared to take its place. It was a strange looking bird with an elongated white neck and wings which resembled a blue cloth curtain. Each flap of its wings produced a rainbow flash as if the northern lights existed inside the bird's wings.
Aurora Wing: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1200 ATK/1600 DEF
"Fine, but that's the only monster protecting your life points! Battle! Direwolf, attack and destroy her Aurora Wing with Diamond Dire Claw!"
With an aggressive growl, the wolf pounced, landing on top of the bird and crushing it underneath its massive paws. However, Taichi's moment of triumph was short lived as the bird reappeared as quickly as it vanished, squawking defiantly at the wolf.
"When my Aurora Wing is destroyed, it immediately returns to the field, like a phoenix rising from the ashes! Rio explained, further angering Taichi.
"You think you're so clever, hiding behind that little birdie, but I'll break through your defenses soon, while you won't even be able to touch me! I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"RIO!"
The Ice Queen turned around at the sound of Yuma's voice and saw him, Kotori, and Tetsuo, frantically racing towards her.
"Rio, you have to listen to me! It's Taichi! He's gone crazy and we think he's possessed by a….. OH!" Yuma stopped when he realized what was going on, his panicked voice deflating as the situation sank in. "You… already know that."
"Just look at Taichi's field," gasped Kotori. "How is Rio going to be able to defeat that many monsters?"
"I've seen her deal with worse," said Tetsuo with an assured tone. "Rio's the best duelist we know. She'll be fine."
"But Taichi hasn't summoned his Number yet!" Yuma protested. He was about to inquire further to Rio about Taichi's Number, when the jewel on the Emperor's key began to glow, and in a flash of blue light, Astral materialized next to him.
"That human bears the mark of a Number."
"What? Astral?! What are you doing here? I thought you went back to Saturn or something!" exclaimed Yuma.
"You were incorrect. I was never very far away from you," Astral replied.
Yuma looked at the alien spirit. "What do you mean? Where the heck have you been all this time?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that I discovered a small pocket dimension inside the core of your Emperor's Key, which seems to contain a strange apparatus that houses the two Numbers we have collected so far?" Astral answered.
The spirit took the dumbfounded look on Yuma's face as a sign that he didn't.
And right now, everyone, including the possessed Taichi, were looking at Yuma as if he'd grown a second head.
"Oh noooo…" groaned Tetsuo. "Yuma's talking to himself again."
"N-no, his invisible duelist friend must have come back!" said Kotori, though she didn't sound quite so sure.
"Come on. I still find it hard to believe that there's actually an invisible floating duelist," Tetsuo grumbled.
"Tsukumo's just cracked!" Taichi cackled, having heard everything. "Just you wait, when I'm done with her, I'll crush him and his stupid cat-playing-bingo trash! I wonder how badly I can compact him! Into a cube? A pyramid? Or maybe rearrange him into something looking like a sea urchin?"
Kotori elected to ignore Taichi. "Well, Yuma didn't start talking to himself again until we found Taichi, who just so happens to have a Number Monster. That can't be a coincidence."
"Wait a minute, Number?" Yuma grew excited and he checked his deck to see if the gut feeling he was developing was correct. Sure enough, hidden among the rest of his cards were two Xyz Monsters, Hope and the Vampiric Dragon.
"Yes!" Yuma cheered. "My Number cards are back!"
"And now you must use them to defeat this boy and take his Number as well," instructed Astral.
Yuma gave Astral a look. "Uh, I hate to burst your bubble, Astral, but Rio beat me to it. She's dueling him instead."
Astral turned his attention back to the duel, and he grew intrigued. "Interesting. I'm quite curious to see how your friend can handle herself in a duel against a Number card. Perhaps she can produce even better results than you, Yuma."
"Hey!"
Rio, for her part, had listened to the side conversation, but was trying her best to tune it out in favor of focusing on her opponent, even more so if Taichi beat her. She did not want Yuma dueling him; even without using the Number, Taichi actually knew what a strategy was, and Yuma barely stood a chance against something as simple as a Mystical Space Typhoon. He would stand no chance against Taichi's methodical, and now brutal, destruction-to-burn combos.
"My draw!" Rio studied her hand and looked at the tokens. There was no way she could reach Taichi's life points with those statues in the way. Three thousand defense points on four tokens created an almost impenetrable wall.
Her only option was to attack Diamond Dire Wolf, and she had just the monster she needed to overpower it.
"I summon Blizzard Thunderbird!"
Rio's next monster resembled a fairy far more closely than a bird. While its blue face contained an avian beak, the rest of its body was humanoid and covered in blue armored crystals with skinny needle-like limbs. Several jagged pairs of golden thunderbolts adorned the monster's back like a crooked set of butterfly wings.
Blizzard Thunderbird: Level 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/1600 ATK/1400 DEF
"And now that I have two monsters, I think I'll challenge your big bad wolf with an Xyz Monster of my own! I overlay Blizzard Thunderbird and my Aurora Wing! With these 2 Level 4 Monsters, I build the overlay network!"
"XYZ SUMMON, DESCEND FROM THE SKY, ICE BEAST ZEROFYNE!"
The overlay network appeared again, absorbing the two avians. Dashing out of the portal emerged a beautiful armored fairy with transparent blue skin and dark navy blue plates covering her face and wrapping around her waist like a skirt. Two dark blue armored fins extended from her back like a pair of angel wings, while another pair rested on her wrists.
Ice Beast Zerofyne: Rank 4/WATER/Winged-Beast/Xyz/2000 ATK/2200 DEF
"Ice Beast Zerofyne's effect activates!" declared Rio. "By detaching one overlay unit, I can negate the effects of every face-up card on your field, and after that, my Ice Beast will gain three hundred attack points for every other face-up card on the field! I count your wolf, your house, your dynamite, my crystal, and all three of your tokens. That's seven cards, so my Ice Beast gains twenty-one hundred attack points and my Blizzard Crystal will give her five hundred more! GO, PERFECT FREEZE!"
Heeding her master's call, Zerofyne kicked up her legs and began spinning like an olympic ice skater. The wind from her spinning grew into an icy blizzard, and soon all of Taichi's cards, including his wolf, were frozen solid inside blocks of ice.
Ice Beast Zerofyne ATK: 2000 + (300 X 7) + 500 = 4600 ATK
"Not only that, but with your Doghouse negated, your Diamond Dire Wolf is IN the doghouse now, since without that spell card, its attack points go back to normal."
Diamond Dire Wolf ATK: 4000 - 2000 = 2000 ATK
"He only has twenty-five hundred life points left!" Yuma commented excitedly, fist pumped in triumph. "If Rio attacks, then that's enough damage to win the duel!"
"BATTLE! Ice Beast Zerofyne, attack his Direwolf now with ICICLE STORM!"
Taking flight and hovering over the wolf, Zerofyne extended her arms and unleashed a rainstorm of thousands of frozen needles. The ice crystals pierced through the wolf's diamond fur coat and destroyed it instantly.
"WOO-HOO!" cheered Yuma. "She won, and he didn't even get the chance to use his Number card!"
Astral however, wasn't so sure. "Wait," he warned. "It is not over yet."
And Taichi confirmed it with one face-down card he had left.
"I activate my trap card, Diamond Cutting!" the possessed boy declared. "It seems like in your haste to negate all my face-up cards, you forgot I had one face-down card, which won't be negated by your Ice Beast! Diamond Cutting, rather appropriately, cuts the damage I would take from the battle in half. Furthermore, since my wolf was destroyed, I can special summon two more faithful canines from my deck to take its place, so I Special Summon two copies of Diamond Great Dane!"
Taichi: 2500 - 1300 = 1200
Diamond Great Dane: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1900 ATK/1300 DEF
As the two new dogs modeled after their namesake growled at Rio, the Ice Queen growled in annoyance. Even worse, she could now hear the voice of Justice in her head again.
"Take care, Rio. While you failed to win the duel, you backed your opponent into a corner. Under pressure, the host will certainly summon his Number."
Rio sighed, having to accept what was to come. "I end my turn, and now the effect of Blizzard Crystal expires. However, my Ice Beast will keep the attack points it gained from its own effect until the beginning of my next turn. Your move, Taichi."
Ice Beast Zerofyne ATK: 4600 - 500 = 4100 ATK
"Then it's my turn again. I draw!" Taichi said immediately, clearly excited about his upcoming move. "I activate the effect of Diamond Great Dane! By destroying one card I control, I can add a 'Diamond' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand, and since I have two Great Danes, I can use this effect twice! Since my Doghouse and Dynamite cards are useless to me thanks to your Ice Beast, I will destroy them both to add duplicate copies of both cards from my deck to my hand!"
The Great Danes howled, causing the frozen Spells to shatter. The instant they did, Taichi's duel disk ejected two cards, which the possessed duelist quickly added to his hand, before gesturing to his monsters with maddened glee.
"Now, I overlay my two Great Danes! With these 2 Level 4 Monsters, I build the overlay network!"
The two dogs disappeared, summoning forth the golden overlay network and out of the portal rose another strange apparatus akin to the coffin of the vampiric dragon or the folded metal wings of Hope, the sealed form of a Number. This one resembled a giant blue egg covered in crystalline spikes.
"XYZ SUMMON! NUMBER FIFTY-TWO, DIAMOND CRAB KING!"
Hearing its name being called, the egg hatched, revealing the true form of the Number, a giant blue crab as large as a car with a mountain of diamonds resting on its back. A yellow 52 appeared on the crab's left claw, and the massive crustacean snapped both claws together as a show of aggression, causing the spectators to jump back in shock.
Number 52 - Diamond Crab King: Rank 4/EARTH/Rock/Xyz/0 ATK/3000 DEF
"That's Taichi's Number?!" Tetsuo exclaimed. "That thing is huge!"
"How is Rio going to destroy that thing?" Kotori wondered. "Look at those defense points!"
"B-but it doesn't have an attack score!" pointed out Yuma, though he too was nervous. "That's good, right? It can't damage Rio's life points with zero attack points."
"Perhaps," mused Astral. "Yet if that is the case, then that monster should be in Defense Mode. Instead, Taichi has summoned it in Attack Mode."
Yuma looked, and indeed, the position of Diamond Crab King on Taichi's duel disk was vertical, not horizontal. The boy was puzzled, tempted to say that Taichi had made a mistake, but his instincts were warning him of the possibility that Taichi did it on purpose. If he did, then why?
"You traded in your dogs for a crab?" a confused Rio inquired. After seeing nothing but dog-like monsters from Taichi, she was expecting another canine.
"Pay attention to how life works in the ocean, and you might notice a few things," Taichi explained, his voice rough with depression mixed into his rage. "The crabs are always living in the shadow of the shark. They have to watch helplessly as the sharks feast on the biggest prizes while they can only scuttle about on the ocean floor picking at the scraps and leftovers."
"That was not the relationship between you and Ryouga and you know it!" protested Rio. "My brother may have been hard on you, but that's because he believed you could be strong if you stood up for yourself. He believed you wouldn't get stronger if he babysat you. That's why he was hard on you. He knew you had potential!"
"I'm standing up for myself right now…" Taichi growled quietly. "And don't make me laugh. Shark only saw me as another punching bag, a stepping stone to use on his way to the top, and when he realized he wasn't strong enough, he just cheated his way to victory."
His hands were visibly shaking and his voice grew more distressed. "He didn't care about me. NOBODY cares about me! Well I don't need him anymore. I don't need anybody. I'm invincible now, tough as a diamond, and if anybody gets in my way, I'll crush their bones and feed them to the crab!"
"Is that why you were planning on sneaking into the hospital to hurt my brother while he's incapable of defending himself?" Rio shot back. "Or are you scared to actually face him in a duel? You knew that even with your precious Number monster, you're still no match for him, so you decided to kick him while he's down!"
"SHUT UP!" Taichi shouted defensively. "I'm not scared of anybody! Not anymore! You should be scared now that my Diamond Crab King is on the field! You'll never get past him."
"Maybe, if you hadn't just made a huge mistake with your summoning," Rio said, pointing at the Number Monster. "Your Crab has zero attack points and three thousand defense points, but you summoned it in Attack mode. That's a mistake I would expect from Yuma, not from you, Taichi."
"HEY!" whined Yuma. "I'm standing right here!"
"I guarantee you I didn't make a mistake," Taichi sneered. "Just watch. I activate my Crab King's effect! By detaching one overlay unit, Diamond Crab King can swap its attack points with its defense points, giving it zero defense points and three thousand attack points!"
Like a migrating colony of ants, the collection of diamonds moved away from the crab's back and onto its claws, transforming into blade-like gauntlets.
Diamond Crab King: 3000 ATK/0 DEF
"Next, I activate my new copies of Diamond Dog House and Diamond Dog Dynamite. Not only will this allow me to Special Summon a fourth token, but now that I have four Tokens and a fresh copy of my Dog House, I can increase the attack power of my crab king by five hundred for each one!"
Diamond Dog Token: Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF
Diamond Crab King ATK: 3000 + 2000 = 5000 ATK
"FIVE THOUSAND ATTACK POINTS?!" Rio exclaimed.
"And it's going to use all those points to crush your Ice Beast and your life points!" Taichi roared. "Battle! Diamond Crab King, attack Ice Beast Zerofyne now with DIAMOND CRAB HAMMER!"
The crab leaped into the air with a surprising level of acrobatics before catching the ice beast in its left claw and smashing it into the ground of the battlefield. The incoming shockwave from the attack forced Rio backwards, but she stood her ground, bracing herself with her arms.
Rio: 2500 - 900 = 1600
"But I'm not done with you yet. Did you forget about my Dynamite spell card? It inflicts three hundred points of damage for every earth attribute monster I control, and since I once again have five such monsters out, that's another fifteen hundred coming your way."
Another spiked rock materialized on the field and fired its contents at Rio. The five diamonds exploded in Rio's face and this time the force was more than enough to knock Rio off her feet. She screamed in pain as she fell to the ground on her back.
Rio: 1600 - 1500 = 100
"RIO!" cried all three of her friends at once. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she grunted as she staggered back to her feet. "Annoyed, but fine. I'm not quitting just because he outplayed me with one move. Besides, that crab won't have his attack points for long. They go back to normal during the End Phase."
"You might as well quit!" Taichi taunted with a cruel sneer, the 52 on his neck pulsing with dark energy "My crab switches to Defense Mode at the end of the Battle Phase, so I don't have to worry about his attack points switching back!"
The cluster of diamonds crawled off the crab's claws and back onto its back, and then the crab assumed a defensive posture, covering its face with its claws.
"It's your turn, Ice Queen, and you'd better make it count because this is going to be your last turn. You will never get past my wall of diamonds in one turn, and once I start my next turn, your life points will be gone, and after that, your life!"
Yuma, Kotori, and Tetsuo's blood ran cold at that declaration. Was Taichi that far gone now?
Rio drew her card, but before she could decide what move to make next, the voice of Justice spoke to her again.
"Rio, listen to me. I know you are still reluctant to trust me, but this is a duel against a Number. You promised you would give me one chance, and this is that very chance. Summon me, or you will lose this duel and myself along with it. Please!"
Rio apprehensively glanced down at her deck box, where the Number card rested, then back at her hand, and then back on the field. This was her leap of faith, and she knew her brother wouldn't hesitate to jump if he was in this position, so she would jump as well. She made her decision.
"You're still wrong about my brother, Taichi," she called out to her opponent. "But you are right about one thing. This is my last turn because you won't be getting another turn! Since you control two cards in your spell and trap zone, I can special summon Escher the Frost Vassal from my hand!"
A small, jagged platform of ice appeared on the field, and Rio's new monster, an armored monk in ice blue robes and a dark blue sun hat floated down from the sky and sat on the platform in a meditative stance.
Escher the Frost Vassal: Level 4/WATER/Aqua/800 ATK/1000 DEF
"Oh? Not another little birdy?" asked Taichi in a mocking tone.
Rio elected to ignore his remark and continue with her turn. "Next, I will sacrifice my vessel in order to perform a tribute summon and call forth one of my favorite monsters. Say hello to the king of cold, Mobius the Frost Monarch!"
Escher pressed his hands together in a prayer and vanished, calling forth Rio's new monster to take its place. A massive blizzard swirled around the field as Rio's new monster appeared, a tall white knight with large frozen gauntlets and a blue cloak on its back which billowed in the growing storm.
Mobius the Frost Monarch: Level 6/WATER/Aqua/2400 ATK/1000 DEF
"A tribute summoned monster?!" Taichi exclaimed.
"Yes, and now, Mobius the Frost Monarch's effect activates! Since he was Tribute Summoned, I can destroy two spell or trap cards on the field, and I choose your Dynamite card and your Doghouse. GO! IMPERIAL BLIZZARD!"
Mobius extended his arms forward, his gauntlets changing from white to blue, and the monarch unleashed a torrent of ice and snow from his arms, freezing Taichi's two spell card solid and then shattering them instantly.
"YES!" cheered Yuma. "Now with the Dynamite card off the field, Taichi can't damage Rio's life points!"
"Big deal!" Taichi argued. "You still can't get past my Diamond monsters, and you still have my Crab King to deal with. Keep in mind, on my next turn, I can make his attack points three thousand again and then flatten your Monarch like a pancake!"
"I'm not done!" replied Rio. "I activate my trap card, The First Monarch! This card trap card transforms into a level six monster, and then by discarding one card from my hand, I can change its attribute into anything I want. I choose to transform the First Monarch into a WATER monster."
Rio's trap card revealed itself and a dark shadow oozed out of the card before taking the shape of a jet black doppelganger of Mobius. At the command of Rio, the color of the shadow's body changed from black to blue.
The First Monarch: Level 6/WATER/Fiend/1000 ATK/2400 DEF
"Alright! Two level six monsters!" Yuma cheered. "Now you can summon Ice Princess Zereort!"
"Yuma, pay attention!" scolded Kotori, facepalming. "Ice Princess Zereort is a Rank Five, not a Rank Six."
"Oh yeah that's right," Yuma said, deflating, before a lightbulb went off in his head. "Wait a minute, does Rio even have a Rank Six Monster?"
"I do now!" the Ice Queen announced.
Yuma grew excited at the prospect of Rio summoning a monster he had never seen before. Astral, on the other hand, grew nervous. He could sense a familiar power coming from the girl, and if she was going to summon what he thought her monster was, then he and Yuma would have a new problem to deal with when the duel was over.
"I now overlay Mobius the Frost Monarch and the First Monarch! With these 2 Level 6 monsters, I build the overlay network and call forth a Number Monster of my own!"
The overlay network appeared one final time, this time appearing as a galaxy-style portal and once it absorbed the twin monarchs, Astral's fears were confirmed as the portal conjured another sealed Number form, a brilliant set of ice-covered balancing scales with the pillar in between the scales resembling a sword.
"XYZ SUMMON, RISE UP, NUMBER TWENTY-ONE, FROZEN LADY JUSTICE!"
The scales separated from the sword and stuck themselves together before their shapes twisted and bent into their new form. Within seconds, the Number's true form appeared, a stunningly beautiful woman clothed in the blue and yellow skin-tight body armor of a roman centurion with shoulder length white gloves and thigh high white boots. Adorned on her back was a transparent white cape and strapped at her hip was an enormous crystalline broadsword. The woman touched down on the field, unsheathed her sword and gave a loud battle cry of "JUSTICE!"
Number 21 - Frozen Lady Justice: Rank 6/WATER/Aqua/Xyz/500 ATK/500 DEF
"Wait a minute, WHAT?!" Yuma was shocked beyond belief at the sight of the second Number. "Rio, where the heck did you get a Number Monster?!"
"It's a long story," Rio replied, impatient and wanting to focus on her fight. "I'll explain after I win the duel."
"Interesting…" Astral commented. "I do not see the mark of a Number on her body, and she appears to be of sound mind. It seems that like you, she can resist the influence of her Number. The factor to determine now is whether or not she can win the duel with it."
"Win the duel with that monster?! That's too weak!" Taichi laughed. "All that effort to summon a Number, and she only has five hundred attack points? You'll never get past my wall of diamonds with a weak monster like that."
"I wouldn't be so quick to write my monster off, Taichi," scolded Rio. "Let me show you how Frozen Lady Justice works. Her first effect allows her to gain one thousand attack points for each of her overlay units. Two overlay units means two thousand extra attack points."
Frozen Lady Justice ATK: 500 + (1000 X 2) = 2500 ATK
"Even if she can get stronger, she still isn't strong enough to destroy my Crab King or any one of my Diamond Tokens."
Taichi then saw a smirk appear on the face of Justice, and the diamond duelist began to grow nervous looking into the eyes of the Number, who appeared to be mocking him.
"It's funny you say that, Taichi," said Rio, a smirk of her own appearing on her face. "Justice won't be destroying one of your monsters. She will be destroying ALL of them."
"You're bluffing!"
"I'm not bluffing," Rio rebuffed. "If you don't believe me, then let me show you! Frozen Lady Justice activates her effect! By detaching one overlay unit, she can destroy every single monster on the field in Defense mode. Every! Single! One! GO, SUB-ZERO SENTENCE!"
Justice pointed her sword at the sky. The wind heeded the Number monster's command and transformed into a violent hurricane of ice and snow above the heads of the duelist. Justice brought her sword down, pointing at the crab, and the blizzard descended onto Taichi's field. One by one, ice crystals crept up the bodies of the statues and the crab before freezing them solid, and with one final slashing motion of the blade, all five monsters shattered into pieces.
Frozen Lady Justice ATK: 2500 - 1000 = 1500 ATK
Taichi was devastated. "NO! My tokens! My Crab King! My power!"
"All gone, and your life points are next," declared Rio, her eyes now as hard as the ice she commanded.
"While using her effect does cause her attack points to drop by one thousand, she still has more than enough power to finish you off."
"Battle! Frozen Lady Justice, attack his life points directly! POLAR NIGHT SLASH!"
Justice charged forward, her sword unsheathed, and the tip of the blade aimed directly at the Number mark on Taichi's neck. With a single diagonal slash, Justice sent Taichi crashing to the ground and shattered the Number on his neck.
Taichi: 1200 - 1500 = 0 (LOSE)
Winner: Rio
"Alright, way to go, Rio!" cheered Kotori.
"Somebody grab some butter sauce! You turned that crab into a seafood appetizer!" added Tetsuo.
"Excellent work, partner," an elated Justice praised Rio. "Now it is time to claim our prize. Take the Number. The Crab King shall serve Justice instead of his own inflated ego."
Seeing the card float out of Taichi's body, Rio extended her hand to manually grab it, but she hadn't taken so much as a single step when an electric sensation coursed through her arm. What happened next was something nobody expected. Astral extended his own hand in an attempt to take Number 52 for himself, but then a ghostly hand of rose colored energy shot out of Rio's arm and grabbed the floating card before Astral could even try. Pulling it back like a fishing line, the mysterious hand retreated back into Rio's body, and now the Number card rested in her possession.
"How…. How did I just do that?" Rio asked herself as she stared at the card in surprise.
"Great Job, Rio! You did it!" Yuma cheered as he raced over to congratulate his friend. "But seriously though, where did you get that Number? That Justice card is amazing!"
"Thanks, Yuma. Anyway, that Number card just….. AAAAAAH!" Rio turned around to address Yuma, only to scream when she saw the glowing blue ghost floating next to him. Both Astral and Yuma shared Rio's shock once they realized she could see him.
"Who the hell is that?!" Rio shrieked.
"You can see Astral?!" Yuma screamed equally loudly. "I thought I was the only one who could! You see guys, I told you I'm not crazy!"
"Perhaps coming into contact with the Number created a connection with me," Astral deduced before looking down at Rio with a stoic but apprehensive stare. "Your name is Rio, correct? My name is Astral, as Yuma has already told you. If you would be so kind as to hand over the two Numbers in your possession, I would very much appreciate it."
"Wait, wait, hold on. Time out," Tetsuo broke the unheard conversation up. "First Yuma sees the invisible duelist, and now you can see him too? Rio, what's going on? You couldn't see this Astral dude before, but now you can, and what was with that glowing red hand a few seconds ago?"
"Maybe anybody who gets a Number and doesn't go crazy gains the ability to see Astral," Kotori deduced, and Tetsuo stared at her like she had grown a second head.
"What? It's the best explanation I can think of."
"You're way too accepting of all this, Kotori," Tetsuo sighed, rubbing his head.
"I'm all for it!" Yuma called, relief in his voice. "I need someone else to believe in a time like this!"
Rio could feel a headache developing. Too many people were speaking at once. She already had some very serious questions she needed to ask this strange glowing man, and she couldn't do it with everybody commenting and gossiping at the same time.
"Kotori, could you and Tetsuo check on Taichi please?" she asked. "He could be hurt. I need to have a private chat with Yuma and his… new friend."
Kotori and Tetsuo noted Rio's icy tone in her voice. She wasn't asking them. She was telling them, and the two friends agreed they would rather make sure Taichi was back to his old self instead of watching Rio and Yuma have one way conversations with thin air.
Rio looked at Justice and then back at Astral. Just making eye contact with the ghost sent chills up the Ice Queen's spine. She never felt more uneasy in her life, and even though this was the first time she ever met this strange glowing spirit, she couldn't shake the feeling she had seen those yellow eyes somewhere before, a shadow of a forgotten horror creeping in the back of her mind.
"Please don't give me to him. I want to stay with you," she heard Justice beg in her mind.
"You're the Original Number, aren't you?" Rio asked, causing Astral to float backwards, his normally expressionless face full of confusion.
"The Numbers originally belonged to me, yes, but I have never been called that before," he answered cautiously.
"So that means this is all your fault!" Rio pointed an accusing finger at Astral. "You brought the Numbers here, and now they're causing innocent people to act like psychopaths! Taichi would never hurt a fly if that Number wasn't controlling him, and my brother could have been killed if I hadn't been here to stop him!"
"None of this was intentional," replied Astral, voice still mostly calm, but now starting to sound rather offended. "I was sent to this planet to fulfill an important mission, but something went wrong, and now the Numbers are scattered."
"And what exactly is your important mission?"
"I do not remember," admitted Astral.
"How convenient," the ice queen muttered darkly.
"Rio, Astral, come on! We just won ourselves another Number. We should be celebrating, not arguing!" but Yuma's pleading fell on deaf ears.
"What do you mean by convenient?" Astral asked, ignoring Yuma.
"If a glowing man from another dimension appeared out of nowhere and started telling me what to do, I wouldn't be so quick to do what he says without question," Rio explained, an accusing tone in her voice. "It's a very convenient excuse to just say 'you don't remember' if Yuma asks any questions and you know he may not like the answers."
"Please, stop!" Yuma begged again, but to no avail.
"Are you suggesting I am being dishonest with Yuma?" Now Astral was finally raising his voice, albeit barely. "I would never do such a thing. I believe we should ask if you, in turn, are being dishonest. Why do you wish to keep those Numbers for yourself? Perhaps they have a stronger influence over your mind than I initially thought."
"I'm suggesting I can't take your word that you don't remember," retorted Rio. "Excuse me if I decide not to leave one of my best friends alone with somebody responsible for bringing cards that possess people into the city."
"Come on, I said stop!" Yuma begged, louder this time.
Astral however, turned his head. "Yuma, if she will not listen to reason, then you must defeat her and take her Numbers by force."
"I'd like to see you try!" Rio shot back, readying her duel disk for another fight.
"Hey, that's enough!" Yuma shouted, finally catching Astral and Rio's attention. "Astral, please! Rio is my friend, and she was in total control during that duel. We can trust her to hang on to whatever Numbers she finds."
"But Yuma….."
"You said there are one hundred Numbers out there, right?" Yuma continued. "Meaning, it's going to take a really long time to collect them all if we're the only ones looking for them. I'll have to duel more than ninety times at this rate, and each one puts your life at risk. If somebody else is helping us collect the Numbers, then it would speed up the process, right? Even better, you won't be at risk of disappearing forever if she's the one dueling, right?"
"... Perhaps…." Astral muttered after a few seconds of deliberation.
"Maybe it's a good thing if he disappeared forever," Rio muttered under her breath, but Yuma heard her.
"Rio, stop antagonizing him! I know I never listen to you when you ask me to do things, and I'm really sorry about that, but I'm begging you to listen to me right now. Please?"
Rio shot one final icy glare at Astral before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"Okay, Yuma. I'm listening."
"If it wasn't for Astral, I would have lost that duel against Tokunosuke, and then I would have lost both my deck and Tetsuo's deck!" Yuma said. "I could never forgive myself if that happened! I know we don't know anything about Astral, and yes, he's a really big pain in the neck, but I genuinely think he wants to do good, and I believe him when he says he lost his memory. Even if you don't trust him, I'm asking you to trust me! Let's work together to collect the Numbers, and hopefully we can find out the real reason why Astral came here in the first place."
Rio still looked unconvinced, causing Yuma to panic and grow fearful that the arguing would start again. "Uh…. and…. Besides, you know how the old saying goes. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?"
Yuma was just making a joke to lighten the mood, as he couldn't think of any other way to convince Rio to trust Astral, but Astral listened to the expression and gave a firm nod of approval.
Rio sighed and placed her hands in the air, admitting defeat. "Alright, Yuma. I'm choosing to trust you on this one, but I'm doing this to protect my brother from the Numbers, not to help him," The Ice Queen then turned her attention back to Astral. "Truce?"
Astral's face remained unmoving for several seconds before he finally replied. "Very well. We shall cooperate, but in order to completely recover my memories and understand my mission, I will require all one hundred Number Cards. While I understand the benefit in us working to keep the Numbers out of the wrong hands, eventually there will come a time where the only Number Holder left other than Yuma is you. What will happen then?"
"Let's cross that bridge when we get there!" Yuma insisted, not wanting any more conflict. "The important thing now is we work together and pool our Numbers until that happens."
Rio was about to continue the debate when a groaning noise came from behind them.
"Oh my head…" Taichi complained as he staggered back to his feet.
"Easy there, Taichi. Get up slowly," Kotori soothed him as she and Tetsuo helped him to his feet.
"Are you alright?"
"What a weird nightmare, something about crabs, and numbers and….." he paused when he saw Rio, and then his eyes filled with panic and horror.
"Oh no. It wasn't a dream at all. I was really going to…" the dam finally broke and his eyes filled up with tears. Rio breathed a sigh of relief knowing Taichi was definitely back to his timid self.
"Oh, Rio, I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened. I remember feeling so angry at all the times I got bullied, and then I found this card, and I heard a voice, and then….."
"Taichi, Taichi, it's okay!" Rio soothed him as the shrinking violet of a boy wilted from the touch of her hand on his shoulder.
"No, it's not!" he wailed. "I was such a bad friend to your brother! I should have had his back after everything he did for me, but instead I repaid him by thinking he cheated in that stupid tournament!"
"Taichi, I forgive you! Please stop crying," Rio said as she pulled him into a hug. "You know what I think? I think it was that low self esteem talking again. Some kind of voice in your head was telling you that maybe Shark defending you from Tokunouske and getting your deck back was too good to be true, that he didn't care about you. Well, I know my brother. He can be a pain in the neck sometimes, and talking about his feelings is the last thing he'd want to do, but he wouldn't have agreed to duel you all those times if he didn't see potential in you."
Taichi started to calm down. "Really?"
"Of course, and I see a lot of potential in you too. You almost beat me, so you should feel really proud of yourself. I'm already teaching Yuma and Kotori. I'd be more than happy to give you some lessons too, and then you'll never be bullied again because you'll be one of the Ice Queen's students."
"And nobody messes with the Ice Queen!" laughed Yuma.
Taichi dried his eyes with his arm and tried his best to smile. "I wish he was awake right now so I could tell him I'm sorry."
Rio now had to resist the urge to tear up herself. "Me too, Taichi. Me too."
She turned back to her hyperactive friend. "Yuma, let's continue talking about the Numbers another time. It's been a long day and right now, I just want to visit my brother."
As Rio walked through the doors of the hospital, Astral floated behind the five humans, contemplating the entire confrontation with the Ice Queen.
"Observation Number Five. The human expression, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' seems to be quite true. I shall have to keep a close eye on the human known as Rio Kamishiro. Only time will tell if she is truly Yuma's friend, or a deadly enemy."
Author Made Cards:
Diamond Great Dane: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1900 ATK/1300 DEF
Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, You can destroy 1 face-up card you control, and if you do, add 1 "Diamond" Continuous Spell/Trap or 1 "Diamond" Beast Monster from your Deck to your hand. If this card is destroyed and sent to the GY, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower EARTH Beast Monster from your Deck, except "Diamond Great Dane."
Diamond Doberman: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1800 ATK/1400 DEF
Effect: You can Normal Summon 1 "Diamond" Beast Monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) If this card is used as material to Xyz Summon an EARTH Xyz Monster: You can Special Summon 1 "Diamond Dog Token" (Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF) to your field in Defense Position.
Diamond Dalmatian: Level 4/EARTH/Beast/1500 ATK/1200 DEF
Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned while you control a "Diamond" Beast Monster with a different name from this card: You can Special Summon 1 "Diamond Dog Token" (Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF to your field in Defense Position. If this card is used as Xyz Material to Xyz Summon an EARTH Xyz Monster: You can add 1 "Diamond" Continuous Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand.
Diamond Dog House: Continuous Spell Card
Effect: During your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 "Diamond Dog Token" (Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF) to your field in Defense Position. You can target 1 EARTH monster you control; it gains 500 ATK/DEF for each token you currently control until your opponent's End Phase. You can only use each effect of "Diamond Dog House" once per turn.
Diamond Dynamite: Continuous Spell Card
Effect: During your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 "Diamond Dog Token" (Level 8/EARTH/Beast/0 ATK/3000 DEF) to your field in Defense Position. Once per turn: You can inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each token you currently control. You can only use each effect of "Diamond Dog Dynamite" once per turn.
Diamond Cutting: Normal Trap Card
Effect: Halve all damage you take for the rest of this turn. During the End Phase, if an EARTH Beast Monster you control was destroyed this turn and this card is in your GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 EARTH Beast Monster from your Deck, but if the destroyed monster was an Xyz Monster, you can Special Summon 2 such monsters instead, but with the same name. You can only activate 1 "Diamond Cutting" per turn.
Blizzard Crystal: Continuous Spell Card
Effect: When this card is activated: Add 1 Level 6 or lower WATER Winged-Beast Monster from your Deck to your hand. During your Main Phase: You can target 1 WATER Monster you control; it gains 500 ATK until the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Blizzard Crystal" once per turn. You can only activate 1 "Blizzard Crystal" per turn.
There you have it, the Ice Queen's first duel of Ice Queen Cometh.
You may recognize Taichi (or Spencer in the English Dub) from Tokunosuke's debut episode (Flip in the Dub) and that's why I actually had quite a bit of fun turning this background character into a serious threat while also throwing in some juicy drama between Rio and Astral getting to know each other and designing the Diamond Dog Custom Cards for Taichi to use.
So, what did you all think of the chapter? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Whatever your opinion is, I would love to hear it, so feel free to leave a review or a comment and let me know!
Until Next Time, this is NOX Signing Out!