Number Hunters (YGO RP/PG-16) Prologue: Awakening

[ChampionZero]

It's an alternate universe. All the major players --Vetrix, Dr. Faker, the Barians, etc.-- never came into play. They don't exist, as far as we're concerned. The original 100 Numbers are cropping up all over Heartland. Duels between Number-holders are common and extremely dangerous, but shockingly: no-one has been known to defeat a Number-holder, not even if they have their own Number. Before today, you were a relatively normal Duelist. But when you saw that card, when you picked it up, you knew that was going to change, in so many ways. Now, you're a Number Hunter. This is your story.

***

It's a lazy Sunday morning, and everything in Heartland seems A-OK. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the Duelists are Dueling. Life is good.

 

For now, let's check in and see where everyone is on this fine morning, shall we?

 

***

 

[spoiler=OOC: ]Everyone, post where you are right now. We're just going to introduce the majority of you, and get your Numbers given to you. I am amped for this! Also, do not panic if you haven't been accepted yet, I'm still accepting players!

[Durandamon]

In a small park, usually blossoming with youthful cheer and movement, a crowd had formed. The crowd circled around two young men, equipped with Duel Disks and facing each other. In their eyes, Duel Gazers. And between them, to everybody that also had a Duel Gazer on, giant beasts faced off.

 

JACOB ALLISTER LP: 1200

OPPONENT LP: 1700

 

"Now, Koa'ki Meiru Valafar!" Jacob started, commanding a towering bipedal monster, completely covered in red-hot armor. The young man was dressed in a mustard hoodie and had azure hair. A serious expression had taken over his face, stoic, except for his lips, which kept muttering to himself, "Attack his Dracossack! Ember Smash!" With a grunt the red monster extended its wings of fire and flew upwards, only to fall back down with increased momentum, its fists engulfed in flames. Its objective, the monster controlled by the other person: a humongous war machine, akin to the love child of a fighter jet and a dragon. Impacting forcefully, the punch appeared to have completely obliterated the aircraft, "And since your monster was in Defense Position, Valafar deals piercing damage!" The fiery blast engulfed the boy in flames through Augmented Reality.

 

OPPONENT LIFE POINTS: 1700 - (3000-2200) = 900 LP

 

"D-Damn it..." the other boy muttered, having had his field completely obliterated. He was still optimistic, as his hand had enough cards to make a comeback, "Not gonna be enough, kid. Now end your turn and let me show you how it's done!"

 

Jacob grinned, his plan having worked so far. He started his Main Phase 2 and activated a Spell Card he had been saving for this moment, "I activate Koa'ki Ring!" An hexagonal machine surrounded Valafar, as Jacob explained his card, "By revealing an Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru in my hand, I can destroy a face-up monster on the field!" The machinery completely enveloped the red monster before exploding outwards, "And we both take 1000 points of damage!" The radius of the explosion covered the entire field, shrapnel flying out and damaging both players.

 

JACOB ALLISTER LIFE POINTS: 1200 - 1000 = 200

OPPONENT LIFE POINTS: 900 - 1000 = 0

VICTORY!

 

Reading the results of the match on his display, Jacob sighed relieved. And after a short handshake with the other player and the collection of the card he had bet beforehand, a mint condition Cairngorgon, Antiluminescent Knight, he walked away with no particular destination. It sure had been a boring day, but Jacob somehow felt that could change any minute now.

[SpasmicUnitato]

Hirai was attending a dinner to honor his father's 60th birthday, he was obviously bored and he had nothing else to do. After what they considered a 'party', Hirai got home and sat in his living room. He set down a cup of tea and spread his deck out on the table "Hmm... I'll take this out... and add this..." Hirai mumbled to himself as he changed his deck "I still don't know what to fill this last Extra Deck slot up with! Oh well... my deck is already better than any commoners!" Hirai snickered, taking a sip of his now cooled down tea.

 

He piled his deck and got up. He looked behind him "Hmmm..." Hirai looked towards the door of his house. "I guess a little stroll couldn't hurt... heck, mabye I'll even find some commoner to pick on, you never know..." Hirai grinned as he walked towards the door, looking into the room beside said door, his father was sleeping on the couch "Looks like he hasn't made up with mother yet... hmph, not my concern." Hirai opened the door and stepped out of the house, looking at the sky "A bit bright out... nothing to bad." Hirai continued walking, looking around, seeing if there was any commoners to pick on...

 

A few minutes later, Hirai was walking across a bridge, still bored and he hadn't found any commoners, until a boy, slightly younger than him, walked across the street towards him. He saw a duel disk on the boys arm and grinned. He stopped walking as the boy looked at Hirai. Hirai then spoke "I see you're a duelist?" Hirai said, in a tone sounding like he didn't hate the boy... which was a lie "Uh... yeah?" The boy said, "Then how about a duel?" Hirai said, smiling "Uh... okay!" The boy was excited. The boy put on a standard Duel Gazer, while Hirai put on a set of glasses, that doubled as a Duel Gazer, with red-tinted glass. "Lets make this interesting. We both put up our rarest card..." Hirai said, "Uh... okay! Yeah! I can't wait to get a new card today!" The boy said, sounding cocky. Hirai smiled.

 

A few minutes later

 

The boy fell to the ground "Ah!" Hirai walked over, picking up a card on the ground "What a worthless card. Whatever." Hirai threw the card over the railing of the bridge they were on, it fell into the water "No!" The boy yelled, a little bit of tears in his eyes "You really don't know how to play this game, do you? Go back home and cry to your mommy!" Hirai said, in a mocking tone. The boy ran away. Hirai snickered "Man, that was fun."

[Dova]

Retconned.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

---

---

It was a Sunday morning, but already Yuria Kaneko and her best friend, Utemaro Mori, were on an important mission. The night before, someone had the audacity to mug Utemaro of a rare Monster card that he had for his collection, and once she heard about it, Yuria was determined to find the bastard that stole it and get it back from him as soon as she could. The two friends had looked down multiple alleyways; even ones no-one else dared to venture inside, and still there was no sign of this thug for quite some time.

 

Eventually, however...

 

"Hey Yuria, I think I've found him!" Utemaro called out, pointing out a rather shady character who was smoking a cigarette in the distance; he needed a little time to verify that that was the guy, but Yuria quickly arrived to his location by the time he finished observing him from the distance, "...yeah yeah yeah yeah, that's definitely the guy that jumped me last night and stole my Dark Magician of Chaos. Ya think you could get it back for me?"

 

"Easily. Don't you worry about a thing," Yuria smirked as she said this, but quickly donned a more serious tone as she began to approach the man, "Hey jabroni!"

 

The thug looked up lazily, and scoffed at the sight of the two young teenagers that he found just ahead. Understandably, Utemaro kept his distance from the thug, feeling as though this was the only way to maintain his composure, whereas Yuria was the one to advance.

 

"Ooh, feisty," the thug chimed, before looking over at Utemaro, "Hey kid, if you want that card back that badly, why don't we trade it for your lil' girlfriend, hmm?"

 

"No way!" both teenagers protested in unison, before Yuria took initiative, "It wasn't even yours to take anyway. Now give it back before I kick your ass!"

 

"Tch, fine. We'll duel for it," the thug suggested, "If you win, I give it back no questions asked. But if I win... I get to tap that pretty ass of yours for the day."

 

Not surprisingly, Yuria was taken aback by the thug's proposal. She knew exactly what that pig meant by "tapping that ass", and she shuddered at the thought of putting her body on the line like that. On top of that, who knew whether or not he would keep his end of the bargain. Nonetheless, Yuria took a deep breath.

 

"Alright then, you're on!" she armed her Duel Disk as she said this, "But don't get your hopes up; I'm not planning on losing here!"

[JonahHex125]

"And now, my Hannibal Necromancer can finally destroy your Mermaid Archer!" The nightmarish magician struck the killing blow upon the mermaid, bringing Leslie down to 1400 Life Points. He scowled, as his opponent still had a hefty 2500. "Now I end my turn." he said, making way for Leslie's turn. He drew, and allowed himself a small smile when he saw what he drew. "Time for me to summon up the Deep-Sea Diva!" A pink mermaid appeared before him, softly singing a melodic tune. "With her summon, I can special summon from my deck the Legendary Atlantean Triton!" Beside the Deep-Sea Diva, a fearsome blue sea serpent took shape, growling menacingly. "And now," Leslie said, gesturing to his opponent, "It's time you got grannied, ya fud! Triton lets me sacrifice both him and my Diva."

 

Both monsters disappeared in a white light, as a larger light took to the field. "Their sacrifice lets me Special Summon from my deck Poseidra, The Atlantean Dragoon!" The light took form, as the massive blue serpent eyed the Hannibal Necromancer. "In addition, Tridon's ability also weakens your monster by 300 attack points!" Hannibal Necromancer began to pale as its attack became 1100. "Now Poseidra, rip 'em a new one!" Poseidra obliged as it smashed the enemy Spellcaster out of existence and reduced his opponent to a mere 800 Life Points. From across the field, his foe grit his teeth. "And with that, I set one card facedown." Leslie set the card and ended his turn.

 

His opponent drew, and slowly formulated a plan with his new card. Taking the card he just drew and setting it face-up on the field, he stated "I summon the Blast Magician." A red imitation of the famed Dark Magician came to life. "I next activate the Magical Citadel of Endymion!" The field's surroundings changed into that of a massive fortress-like structure, and the Blast Magician gained a Spell Counter. The other duelist smirked. "And now, the coup de grace!" he exclaimed as he activated the last card in his hand. "Spell Power Grasp! I can place one Spell Counter on a monster I control. However, the activation of the spell also puts Spell Counters on Blast Magician and the Magical Citadel, meaning I have just enough counters to destroy your Poseidra!" As he pointed at the Dragoon, the various Spell Counters across the field were collected by Blast Magician, as he directed their power towards Poseidra, ending the behemoth. "And now, Blast Magician can attack directly!" Leslie, who had been quite for this turn up until this point, smirked right back. "Knew it. I activate The Call of The Atlanteans!" He flipped up his facedown card.

 

Suddenly, the door to the spare room burst open, and the one of the hall's residential advisor strode through. "Sorry guys, but Alec here still has an appointment I'm sure he'd rather not miss. The student's eyes widened, and he quickly packed up his cards and left, muttering an apology to Leslie. Leslie sighed as he watched his opponent leave. "Finally had 'em on the ropes, too.." he muttered as he began to pack his cards too. The advisor began to leave, then turned back. "Oh yeah, Leslie. You got a package in the mail. Order a new card?" Leslie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the advisor left. He shrugged, then went down to the dorm's ground floor to pick up his mail.

[ChampionZero]

 

[spoiler=Leslie (47)]When Leslie found his mail, there was a single card, sitting on the inside of the mailbox. It was a Duel Monsters card, laying face-down.

 

[spoiler=Jacob (41)]

Jacob saw something fall, as though from the sky, right into his path. It looked to be a Duel Monsters card, and it had fallen face-down in front of him.

 

[spoiler=Hirai (10)]As Hirai walked away from his latest conquest, he noticed a Duel Monster's card, sliding through the air like a paper airplane, before settling to the ground in front of him.

 

 

[spoiler=Yuria (28)]Before the Duel could begin, Yuria felt something strike her chest, like someone had thrown a punch and hit her directly below her neck. Looking down, a Duel Monsters card had lodged in her shirt collar.

 

[spoiler= OOC:]Nobody post anything beyond your character picking it up and the card beginning to glow.

[SpasmicUnitato]

Hirai walked away from the bridge he had ruined a child's day as he saw a card landing in front him, he looked at the card, eyeing it as if it was a flying pig, wondering how it even got here, he looked around, seeing no open windows, this wasn't the place a extremely rare card would be "A free card? Don't mind if I do... hope it's something good!" Hirai smiled as he picked it up "A blank card?! Damnit, and I was hoping for something good too." Hirai frowned, staring at the unusual card.

 

"People need to stop making these cards and start doing something with their lives... They have literally NO purpose!" Hirai felt like dropping the card, but noticed as it glowed a white with a hint of yellow "What the...?" Hirai eyed the card, looking at it closer...

[Durandamon]

"Maybe if I hadn't gotten Valafar with Diamond Core, I could have gotten any Level 4 and Xyz Summoned with my Overload..." As he walked down the street, Jacob muttered to himself about the previous duel. He didn't like taking risky moves, and felt as if he hadn't played his cards efficiently.

 

Looking up before crossing the street, Jacob saw something fall, as though from the sky, right into his path on the curb of the street. After looking up and around, to make sure nobody had dropped it, he squatted to inspect the object more up-close. It looked to be a Duel Monsters card, and it had fallen face-down in front of him. Picking it up with two fingers, he turned it around, "Blank...?" The front of the card was, much to Jacob's disappointment, completely white. He pondered for a couple of seconds, before concluding somebody just probably used it for Tokens.

 

"Well, I already have some Token cards so..." Jacob dragged his feet to the nearest garbage bin and, just when he was about to throw the card altogether, jumped back surprised: the card started glowing! A white light enveloped it on Jacob's hand, a slight warm feeling creeping up on him. 

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

The beeping woke her up, as it usually did nowadays. It used to be that she never had to hear that sound, except in emergencies. But the beeping that her pacemaker's battery gave when it had an hour of reserve power left was her alarm now. It had been like this for almost a month now, now that she was away from home, where she could get the customized power pack replaced. But the biannual upgrading of her various systems by her father was supposed to have been 2 weeks ago. Her battery was dying, and the only way she could get it replaced was to go home, something she wasn't quite willing to do, especially now that she had a source of power to back it up. It was Sunday, so not much dueling going on, so going out and trying to charge the battery using the collector plate wouldn't accomplish much, and going out and dueling a lot would get her noticed.

Fortunately, her escapades at night, in places only seen by a select few, had allowed her to purchase an industrial-strength backup battery, intended for server farms if they went down. It would suffice to help recharge for a bit. She groggily and weakly reached over to the output cord and, with some difficulty, hooked it up to the metallic section carved out of the left side of her left breast, where a cover was removed to let the specially-crafted plug insert. After a shiver of a jolt from the contacts going into her, she felt the beeping stop as the battery greedily drank its fill of energy. The good news was that the array of cells inside of the fatty tissue of her breast were built to last, and wouldn't corrode for several years to dump acid inside of her torso. The bad news was that they would just keep becoming more and more inefficient until she needed a constant power supply to keep her alive.

 

She figured she had a few more months until that.

 

As she lay in her bed, charging like some sort of appliance, she used her AR glasses to check on things. Her hotel bill for the next week had already been paid off of her new balance, giving her another weeks' worth of spending money until she was needed in a few days to duel again. After the Battle Royale last night, Fred was giving her some time off, which seemed uncharacteristic of him. The money-grubbing slime was probably too preoccupied with spending his take to bother his "most favorite client". Now she knew why there seemed to be such a contempt for agents in the media. Finally, after hearing the trill of a chime telling her she was charged, she carefully unplugged and set the cord aside. This hotel, while a bit seedy, was the kind where a bit of extra payment allowed for some discretion among the staff, such as why one room had the mechanical equipment in it to create an albeit crude set of military-grade powered armor.

She got dressed, the smart fabric top and shorts that doubled as her bra and panties being traded for a new pair, and putting on a casual set of jeans, socks, and a T-shirt, then, through a slight hole in the side of the T-shirt, connecting a wire to her battery to the mini-capacitor plate that would go over the T-shirt. This piece of hardware, unlike the more aerodynamic plate she wore while on the job, wouldn't give her away as her alter-ego. She made sure it was secured and hooked up, the circular dynamo of the capacitor above her breasts whirring to life to show a rainbow-colored ring of Ener-D and the spinning miniature planetary gears within the micro reactor. It would collect Ener-D, otherwise known as dueling energy to some that truly understood what it was, from the environment around her as she went about her business, hopefully staving off her death for a day or so before being forced to do a more complete recharge with a duel or three. She then covered it with a simple sports jacket, and tied her hair back into a braid that extended down to her belt. The housekeeper that saw her saw a young woman with black hair and red highlights, a pale complexion, and sharp blue eyes, but otherwise looked normal.

 

If only she knew what Haruka Aizen was dealing with, and how UN-normal her situation was.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

---

---

Just as Yuria was prepared to kick things off, something seemed to have smacked her in the upper chest, causing her to recoil backwards. It took her a while to regain her bearings, and she'd yet to note that a card had been sticking out from the top of her shirt, her right breast of all things holding it in place.

 

"Yuria!" Utemaro called out, having seen the girl stagger for balance, "Are you alright?!"

 

"I... think so? I don't eve-OH sheet!!" as she trailed on about not recalling what happened, she shrieked at the card sticking out from wherever it was, but found herself scratching her head in confusion, "Did someone just throw a card at me with enough force to hit me there of all the possible places?"

 

She fished it out from her top and examined it, but what Yuria was currently looking at was a blank card. Something that some crazy person probably would chuck at another innocent duelist just going about his or her usual business. Supposing it was their loss, Yuria shrugged her shoulders and placed the card in one of her back jeans pockets, before returning her attention to the duel that, in her mind at least, would get her Utemaro's Dark Magician of Chaos back.

 

"Now where were we?" she asked rhetorically, unaware that this same card she'd just pocketed moments ago had begun to glow brightly from the back pocket.

[JonahHex125]

After some struggle with his key, Leslie opened his mailbox to find a single, facedown card. He frowned. "What kinda mince is this?" he muttered as he picked up the lone card. He flipped it over, only to be greeted with a blank surface. He groaned and pocketed the card. "No point in throwing it out. Maybe the mail got mixed up." He took an elevator back up to his dorm room, fourth floor, room 411. He opened his door to be greeted with a helluva mess on his bed, and the other bed empty. His roommate was one of those foreign exchange students, and he moved back to his country when his program was over, leaving Leslie a two-man bedroom all to himself. To be fair, though, these rooms were really one and a half people, not two.

 

Leslie hopped into bed and threw out his laptop. He was immediately greeted by another message for a duel. Heartland University had this neat program called the Duel Tracker. After installing the proper components to your Duel Disk, the results of these duels would be tracked, and the scores would rank the duelists. Leslie had been sitting pretty at #1 for a good couple of months, but back at the beginning, it was a different battlefield. Duels nearly everyday, an ever-changing leaderboard, and some of the most aggressive duelists seen on campus suddenly became celebrities. It took the second quarter for the decks with real staying power to rise to the top, and all the one-trick ponies that had ruled the leaderboard fell into obscurity.

 

Even now, in the third quarter, Leslie would sometimes lose to the other top 10, but he usually bounced back. Today, however, some upstart challenged him outright, despite his profile stating he had minimal experience on campus. Leslie chuckled, and clicked the "deny" button. And that's when he noticed the glowing in his pants...

[ChampionZero]

As Haruka found herself crossing the river in Heartland's suburbs, walking across a bridge, she saw a man standing at the far end, leaning against one of the posts. Something else wandered into her vision, however. A falling Duel Monster card? It fluttered gently to the ground in front of her, landing face-up, revealing itself to be blank. Then, the card glowed a white-gold color, filling her vision...

 

(OOC: Will post other details in a lump post later, just hang on.)

[ChampionZero]

 

[spoiler=Leslie (47) ]

Oy! Finally!

 

Leslie's card suddenly seems to melt in his hands. But it's just the glowing white surface becoming that of an Xyz Monster. Number 47: Nightmare Shark.

 

G'day! How ya doin'? Name's Forty-Seven. Pleasure to meet'cha. I'll be your Number, here to take a bite out of whatever problem comes your way. So, where we off to now, chum?

 

 

 

[spoiler=Jacob (41)]

 

 The card's surface suddenly lights up a Koa'ki Meiru symbol before burning away to reveal an Xyz Monster.

Hi! My name is Number 41: Koa'ki Meiru Reactor Axiom. But, uh... you can call me something shorter if that's too much of a mouthful.

The voice seems to come from all around you, and yet, it doesn't carry much confidence. It sounds like a kid, almost.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Hirai (10) ]

Hirai was startled to hear a voice through his headphones. Why? He wasn't wearing any.

 

Hello, sire. I couldn't help but notice your Duel.

 

The voice sounded... well, it was polite at the very least. It had a faint British accent.

 

I've not seen someone wield such power with such finesse in a long time. And well... It has been a similarly long time since I pledged my allegiance to anyone.

 

The glowing layer atop the front of the card glows brighter before crumbling away like flakes of paint in a time-lapse. The card depicted an Xyz Monster, a knight in black armor, riding a black horse, with a black sword in his hand. Red eyes glowed behid a curtain of wild black hair. Its name said "Number 10:" and then a blank space.

 

My name is Number 10. If you would have me, sire...

 

The card's name added letters onto it, all on it's own, spelling "Ignoble Knight Mordred"

 

I would pledge my allegiance to you.

 

[spoiler=Haruka (52)]

Finally.

 

 A voice groans, as though its owner was stretching.  The voice was gruff, but informal, like a tired soldier.

 

Honestly, I was getting bored looking for someone. Nice to meet you. I'm here to help. With... whatever it is you're doing.

 

The card's surface turned red and spiraled inwards, an image forming from the edges inward. An Xyz Monster. A dragon, looking right at home with Haruka's Crimson Momentum monsters.

 

Number 52: Crimson Momentum Crisis Dragon, reporting for duty, ma'am.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Yuria (28)]

Yuria feels  a strange sensation, but the other Duelist looks very disturbed, as a black, smoke-like miasma rises around her, forming a four-limbed being with a trio of glowing eyes on one side of it's face.

 

YESSS. LET THE NUMBER TAKE HOLD.

 

The shadow growls, sounding like a knife sliding through freshly cured leather. It stirred Yuria's desire for justice even further, kicking her up into a frenzy that didn't allow her time to contemplate what she just heard.

 

DECIMATE HIM.

 

 

***

Now for the fun part.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

---

---

All of a sudden, what looked to be thick, coal-black smoke erupted from Yuria's back jeans pocket, collecting from behind the young girl and slowly taking form as a shadowy miasma. A trio of glowing, blood-red eyes shone from the being's temple, instilling fear into the thug that stood before them. It had only revealed four limbs thus far, but this was likely because it had yet to fully form. One of these limbs rested on Yuria's right shoulder, pressuring it as though it was ready to be cut off. A chill ran down her spine as she saw cold, scythe-shaped metal right in front of her. Another scythe-ending appendage was off to one side, and two gargantuan claws rose above the both of them.

“Yeeesss,” the creature hissed, its voice coarse and cutting into Yuria's ears, “Let the Number take hold.”

Yuria wasn't sure what to think. She'd encountered more than her fair share of evil in her life, and on the surface, this... thing felt no different in that regard. But something was amiss about the entity, and its presence was stirring up her natural instinct for justice like never before. However, on the other side of the alleyway, the thug put on a brave face now that he no longer had eyes on him, and started convincing himself that the being was nothing more than an illusion.

“So are we duelin', or what?” he asked rudely. This seemed enough to snap Yuria out of her train of thought, though she was not amused by the rude awakening in the slightest.

“Hey, shut up!” Yuria retorted, before drawing the first five cards that would make up her initial hand, “You're going down; right here and now!”

The creature chuckled sinisterly as it heard this from its subject. The seeds had already been planted; now it was time to watch them bloom into fruition.

“Decimate him,” it whispered into Yuria's ears, before vanishing in its entirety.

[SpasmicUnitato]

Hirai looked at the card, his eyes widened "W-What are you?! What the actual hell is a Number?!" Hirai was pretty sure his eyes were playing tricks on him "Y-You're not real, I know you're not real, you can't be!" Hirai looked at the card, it was just blank, then it glowed, and now he is hearing someone who calls themself 'Number 10' "How do I know this card actually works? I doubt you are compatible with the duel disk software." Hirai laughed to himself, staring at the card, then noticing a glow on his hand. He looked at his hand, a cracked 10 was on his hand, the cracks in the number started the clear

 

[spoiler='The Number']

 

 

"Explain what this is, now!" Hirai pointed at the number that was now on his hand.

[ChampionZero]

The voice spoke again.

 

I apologize sire. It is simply my mark, saying that you are indeed my current holder. Have you not heard of Number cards? There are 100 Numbers in existence. Unfortunately, we cannot take our proper forms in this environment, But since we take the form of cards, I should be able to aid you in a Duel. If we are to learn more, we must unite with other Number holders, or obtain my fellow Numbers by defeating their holders. I'm afraid that's... all I can remember.

 

The voice paused, as though unsure.

 

Forgive my forwardness, sire, I'm aware how much of a shock this must be. But perhaps it would lessen it if you could see me... Oh, but I can't take a form beyond this card! Damn it all!

[JonahHex125]

The room was silent. Leslie looked up, hearing the strangely Australian voice reverberate through his room. Then he looked back down at the card, now in his hand, looking far from blank. The card was now adorned with what seemed like a winged shark, with the name Number 47: Nightmare Shark. "Uh huh..." Leslie trailed off. Then he went back to his laptop. Silence filled the room once again as he searched the term 'XYZ Number' and only found vague blog posts from his school's search engine. No professional articles were found, only rumors.

 

The cards came from nowhere. Sketchy duels. Supposedly unbeatable. Then he saw the term. Number Hunter. Leslie looked at his new card again. It was a good card, that was certain. But would it really be worth all this? For a game he participated in very little. Exasperated, he pocketed the card and laid down on his bed. "I really don't have time for this..."

 

Then the right side of his neck started to burn. It wasn't intense, but it was enough to get his attention. He scrambled out of bed and ran to his mirror. Just as the sensation ended, he noticed that his neck was now marked; 47. Leslie gulped  nervously, then picked up his laptop again to do more research.

[Durandamon]

 The card's surface suddenly lights up a Koa'ki Meiru symbol before burning away to reveal an Xyz Monster. Giving it a closer yet skittish inspection, Jacob could read the words...

Hi! My name is Number 41: Koa'ki Meiru Reactor Axiom. But, uh... you can call me something shorter if that's too much of a mouthful.

 

A voice interrupted Jacob in his examination, as he froze in place, "Oh great. I'm hearing voices now." His head operating at mach speed, Jacob tried to find a logical explanation to the occurrence, hopping onto a train of thought that led him nowhere. After a minute or so, he stopped himself and addressed the voice directly, whispering, "So, care to tell me what's going on? Are you really..." He sighed, "I'm seriously asking a voice in my head for answers. Just...what the hell is a Number anyways?" 

 

As he spoke with the Number, Jacob kept walking in a random direction, not noticing the glowing orange 41 that glew on his forehead, which after a couple of seconds faded off, "Do you like Axiom? I might just call you Axiom for short."

[ChampionZero]

***

No time?

Nightmare Shark sounds suddenly amused.

Mate, how can you have no time to save the human world as you know it?

 

***

Axiom is totally cool! Heck, you can drop the "om" if you want and call me "Axi." Wait a minute.

You can't see me, can you? Oh thank god, that face I made was so...

Suddenly, Axiom stops talking.

Oh my god.

 

***

Number 10 makes a choking sound, as though he just noticed something.

Sire, I must insist that you don your Dueling apparatus at once, it is very important.

 

***

Oh. Scheisse. We need to move, lady. Duel Gazer on, STAT.

Number 52 sounds anxious all of a sudden.

 

Number 28EE82EE;"> ​has awakened.EE82EE;"> We haveEE82EE;"> to go.

 

 

[SpasmicUnitato]

"Number 28?" Hirai snickered "Who the hell is that? Some bs trickery like you? You're probably that kid playing a trick on me. News flash; it doesn't work." Hirai laughed, about to throw the card off the bridge, but decided not to "But then again... that kid didn't seem like someone who could come up with this and set it up so quickly... so... anyways, who is this 'Number 28'?" Hirai asked, staring at the card in his hand, he hadn't seen something like it ever. Not even on the internet, where the most obscure stuff comes from! He laughed, staring at Number 10 card.

 

[spoiler='Number 10']

 

[ChampionZero]

Another Number, like me.

 

Number 10 begins to speak with difficulty, like he's in pain.

 

But much less pleasant. Number 28 was... Damn it, why is it so... blank? Why can't I remember?! Sire, please! I cannot move in my current form! We must investigate at once! If you have a Dueling Apparatus, we must employ it post-haste!

 

It slowly begins to dawn that he may be talking about your Duel Disk/Gazer.

 

***

 

For those who put on their Duel Gazers as their Numbers requested, (I wanted the post to look better, but just assume they all do) they see that the sky (in AR) has formed a black vortex above a certain area. And in that vortex is the faint shape of a dark maroon Number, like the ones you have...

 

 

28

[Durandamon]

Axiom is totally cool! Heck, you can drop the "om" if you want and call me "Axi." Wait a minute.

You can't see me, can you? Oh thank god, that face I made was so...

Jacob snorted, "I think Axiom's fine. Axi makes you sound like a kid...In retrospective, you do kinda sound like a kid! Despite looking so..." Jacob inspected the card and the lava-breathing beast portrayed in it with a raised eyebrow, "...menacing. Are you sure this is your card?"

 

Oh my god. Number 28 has awakened. We have to go.

 

"Something wrong there buddy?" Jacob inquired, given the sudden change of tone in Axiom's voice, "Number 28? Another 'sentient' card like you? I mean, I think you've still got a lot of explaining to do, but for now..." A chill travelled down Jacob's spine, having a bad feeling about all this, "Where are we going?"

 

[spoiler=Number 41]

[JonahHex125]

Leslie stared at the card with wide eyes. Then, he squinted and folded his arms. "Prove it."  Just put on your Duel Gazer and look outside.  Leslie sighed as he grabbed his Gazer and put it on.  "I don't see why I need my Gazer... to... Leslie's eyes widened, as he centered in on the massive vortex. "That, uh, well then... I guess you, got me there..." The card was silent, but Leslie could feel a smug air around the shark monster. Leslie ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess I'm wrapped into this bizzo. And that'll just eat into my studyin'. At any rate, I most be goin' radge with all of this nonsense." He threw his hands up in exasperation.

 

Never mind that, mate! We got moving' to do!

 

Leslie threw his hands in the air. "Oh ya, sure thing with that! First the black tornado, now we're gawn out 'fern adventures! Fine!" Leslie picked the card up again. "What do I need?"

[ChampionZero]

Same things you need for a Duel, really. Maybe bring a snack, this might take a little while. You've got to understand, Number 28 is basically acting like a sonar. His--

 

***

--entering into this world is going to produce a wave that's going to ping off the rest of us Numbers and alert everyone to our locations, so if you don't put on your eye-piece thing and get to him--

 

***

--Then we're screwed worse than Allies of Justice against a Pilgrim Reaper. And that is to say: Really f***ing screwed. But if we get there first--

 

***

--Not only do we get an idea of how powerful Number 28 is, then we can get an idea of how many Numbers there are in our immediate area and which ones they are AND if there are multiple in close proximity, that means that they belong to a Number Hunter. Does that make this whole thing clearer?

 

 

[spoiler=OOC]Yes, they all basically said the same thing, but in their own ways. Fill in the blanks how you like, I'm taking a funking nap.