Hunter of Numbersby Golden FlareChaptersPrologueChapter 1: A Duel Heated At Sub-zero DegreesChapter 2: Letting Off Some SteamChapter 3: Friendship Games TryoutsChapter 4: Cooking CalamityChapter 5: Singing A Different TunePrologueHunter of Numbers Prologue Ever since the trading card game, Duel Monsters, had been released and before it became all the rage, you've been playing it nonstop with your friends, Snips and Snails. Your only friends, unfortunately. You were the outcast of Canterlot High School, nobody wanted anything to do with you, other than beat you mercilessly at Duel Monsters, you weren't actually...what's the word? Good. Despite being able to best your friends at the game, everyone else was a different story. After the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands, you were just forgotten, like...nobody even knew you existed anymore. But that would soon change, VERY soon. Outside of your dimension, there exists two worlds; Astral World and Barian World. These two worlds have been at war with each other for centuries, with no hope of victory for either. But little do they know that a power beyond any other will be released upon your world...and with this power, the fate of all three of these worlds will rest on your shoulders. Canterlot High School, 2:03 PM The Duel Fields outside of the building were being put to good use as students from CHS were Dueling each other in Duel Monsters, preparing their skills for the upcoming Friendship Games. You were just watching everyone with your two friends using your Duel Gazers, not willing to suffer a humiliating loss. "Hey, boss, wanna go out there and Duel?" Snips offered. You waved him off, "Nah, not today, pal." "But why?" Snails inquired, "You're the better Duelist out of the three of us." "But everyone else is better than me." Neither Snips nor Snails said anything else as the Duels continued. After a while, things began to wind down on the fields, so you and your friends decided to hang at your place. "Hey! (Y/N)!" You three stop at the voice that called out your name and turned to see who it is; it was none other than Rainbow Dash herself, the self-proclaimed best Duelist in CHS. Alongside her was her posse, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer, the latter of which you heard changed her ways at the Fall Formal event, now she's a better person, or so you heard. Part of you didn't want to believe it, because it could all be a ruse of some sort, some genius plan to double-cross her friends and take back her hold over the school. Rainbow brought your attention back to her as she raised her Duel Pad, "You up for a Duel?" You shake your head, "Not today, sorry." Every time one of them offered to Duel you, you've turned them down, couldn't risk your dignity any further than you already have, right? But Rainbow wasn't pleased with that answer, "Oh, c'mon! Just one Duel! You never Duel anybody anymore!" Your patience was already wearing thin, "Well, maybe it's because I don't wanna lose again, did you ever think of that?!" The girls and even your pals were taken aback by your sudden anger, you realized what you did and mumbled an apology before you ran out of there, with Snips and Snails following you. Rainbow recovered from her shock and tried to go after you, but Sunset held her back. "No, Rainbow, give them some time." she said. "But...!" Rainbow tried to protest. "She's right, Sugarcube," Applejack butted in, "everybody's too tightly wound up right now, let's wait till we all calm down." Rainbow looked like she was about argue again, but realized Applejack and Sunset had a point and sighed, "Alright..." she then looked determined, "But the next time we see (Y/N), we're going to Duel!" Home, 10:47 PM After returning home, you let Snips and Snails stay for dinner before sending them back to their own homes and you heading to bed. You fall asleep and dream... ...... All is quiet. You suddenly find yourself on an extremely narrow stone walkway, trying to keep your balance as you traverse the dream. Unseen winds blow, trying to knock you down as you keep going and keep your guard up in case another one blows through. Now at the end of the road, you see a massive double doors marked with an angry, demonic like face with chained wrapped around them every which way and a single hole in the center. For you, this door raised millions of red flags, practically begging you not to open it. "Beyond this door lies a great power......but to achieve great power, there is always great risk......have you the courage to open the door?......Have you the key?" "The...key?" you ask the voice. "Yes......without the key, the door cannot be opened......have you the key?" "I...don't know..." Just then, something shimmered in your hand, when you looked at it, you saw a weird looking triangle shaped object that had parts of its midsection missing, on top was a green jewel that was in the shape of a perfect sphere. "What is...?" "Have you......the key?" "Could...could this be the key?" you ask no one in particular, "Well, might as well, right? What do I have to lose?" You walk up to the door, despite your common sense's warnings, and insert the object in the hole, which you assumed to be the keyhole. Once you did, it shined brilliantly and forced you back, the doors opened and an even greater light came out, blinding you until you finally woke up in a cold sweat. You looked around frantically and found yourself back in your room, which made you heave a sigh of relief until you saw something on your desk. A Duel Monsters card. "Huh...that's strange, I could've sworn I put away all my cards in my card chest." you say as you get out of bed and make your way to the desk. You pick up the card and turn it around to see the face, but... "This card is blank! I don't have any blank cards." Suddenly, a dark mist seeped from the card and surrounded you, for some reason you felt every muscle in your body restraining themselves as if you were the one doing it, but you weren't. It's almost like...you were being controlled by something...something unnatural. "Yes, (Y/N)...let the Number take hold..." "What...?! Argh...let...go...!" "Yes...let the Number take hold..." "I said...let GO!!" A bright light enveloped the room, covering everything and nearly blinding you, even making you raise your arms to shield yourself. Once it died down, you saw that you were still holding the card, but whatever that mist was when you touched it was gone, the voice was absent as well. You have no idea what happened, but you push it to the back of your mind and read the card that was no longer blank. "Number 61: Volcasaurus...that's a new one." You read its attack and defense points, effect, and how to summon it, it appeared to be an Xyz Monster, but you're certain that there was no mention of any "Number" cards from the internet. You felt something dangling around your neck and saw the gold colored key with a string attached to it, making you jump since you know you've never it on you, except for the dream. "How...?" A knock came from your bedroom door, "Hey, (Y/N)? Are you okay? I heard yelling." It was your mom! You needed an excuse and fast! You couldn't just say, "I was almost possessed by a trading card, no worries". So instead you said... "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream." Your mom was silent for a time, then spoke again, "Okay. Let me know if you need anything before you go back to sleep." "Okay." You heard footsteps fading away from where you stood, it seems your mother had left. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. Crisis averted...for now, anyway. you thought. You had a strange feeling about tomorrow, but you push away your worries for tonight and just get some sleep, this time it was dreamless. Canterlot High School, 11:57 AM You always enjoyed math class, it really helped your Dueling ability since you needed to know basic math for the game. You breezed through questions easily, it wasn't exactly basic math, more advanced like, but you knew the material by heart and was able to finish before the bell rang for lunch. You stood up, walked past the desks, and handed your paper to Miss Cheerilee, who in turn gave you a bright smile. "(Y/N), excellent as usual." she complimented as you return to your desk. As you pass by, Rainbow decided to give you some choice words, "As least you're good at something, since you stink at Duel Monsters." You were about to retort, but Miss Cheerilee beat you to it. "Well, Miss Dash, since you feel that way, you can stay after class for lunch period." You and the rest of the class, except her friends, started to chuckle at her, making Rainbow growl in frustration as you continued on. "Shoulda kept yer big mouth shut, Rainbow." Applejack scolded. Rainbow was about to lash out, but Applejack was, as the age old saying, saved by the bell and everybody, except Rainbow was exiting the classroom in a hurry to grab lunch for the day. You were in no hurry as you carefully organized your belongings in your backpack and began to take your leave. "(Y/N)! Could you wait a second?" You stopped when Miss Cheerilee called to you and walked to her desk, "Yes?" She waved Rainbow over to her, "Miss Dash, could you come here?" Rainbow grumbled and stood up, joining you and your teacher, "Yeah?" "Rainbow, I hate to tell you this, but you are failing this class." "What?! But I always turn my work in on time!" "I understand that, but I don't think you understand the material, I mean, none of the answers on any of your work is correct." Rainbow was about to deny what she said, until she realized that her teacher had a point. "Which leads me to why I called you over, (Y/N)," Miss Cheerilee turned to you, "I would like you to be Miss Dash's tutor." "WHAT?!" Rainbow shrieked, "But (he/she)'s a lose--" "I would strongly advise you to NOT finish that sentence, Miss Dash." Miss Cheerilee advised with a fierce look, making Rainbow cower. "I chose (Y/N) specifically because (his/her) grades are nearly phenomenal in my class, and (he/she) would be the perfect tutor for you. Unless of course...you don't wish to participate in any sports." "Hey! You can't do that!" "I can and I will. If your grades in this class don't improve, I'll have to inform the coach to make you sit out of every sport you're a part of." "But I'm the captain of EVERY team here!" "Then you realize how high the stakes are, Miss Dash." Rainbow gritted her teeth at this and turned to you, it was obvious that you were her only hope of helping her teammates in sports...and she hated that. "Fine...have it your way." Miss Cheerilee smiled, "I'm glad you finally understand. Try and make time for studying, both of you." You both nodded and left the classroom. Rainbow got a little too close for comfort and growled into your ear. "Let's get one thing straight; I don't like you, and you don't like me, but I need your help to pass this class so I can still play sports. So this is how it's gonna work: after school and after hanging out at the Duel Fields, you and I are headed to your place to study up, and make sure you help me understand everything, got it?!" you nod. "Good. Glad we're on the same page. See ya." Rainbow left you in the hallway after storming off, making you ponder to yourself. Guess I don't have a choice here...and I don't want CHS to lose every sport because of me, so my hands are pretty much tied...might as well make the most of it. Immediately, you realized something crucial... "Aw, nuts! I'm gonna miss lunch!" With nothing else on your mind but food, you run as fast as you possibly can to the cafeteria, hoping to snag something good before it was too late. Duel Fields, 2:05 PM Once school was over for the day, you went to the fields to wait for Rainbow Dash and her friends to show up. As the Duels continued and you spectated, Snips and Snails came up to you. "Hey, boss!" Snips greeted, "Where were ya today?" "Yeah," Snails added, "we looked everywhere for ya!" You smile, "Sorry guys, had a lot on my mind." Snips and Snails cocked their heads to the side, "Like what?" Snips asked. You explained to them the situation with you and Rainbow, that you have no choice but to tutor her in math, making your friends gasp in shock. "Are ya serious?!" Snips asked, incredulously. "You're gonna be in BIG trouble if you can't help Rainbow!" Snails warned. "Yeah, don't remind me." you turn away from them and back to the Duel Fields, "The fate of our school's sports teams depends on both of us." Snip and Snails were sad and worried for their friend, you were never this upset about anything other than losing Duels. "Hey!" The three of you turn to see Rainbow and her friends approaching, and Rainbow was the only one with a scowl on her face. "Duel. Now." You sigh, "Rainbow..." "Don't 'Rainbow' me! You owe me this! Right now!" You want to argue, convince her that you don't want to do this, but it doesn't look like she's going to let up on this. Plus, her friends look too nervous to do anything. "...Fine. But I can't guarantee that I'll be any good." Rainbow nodded in finality and guided you to one of the empty Duel Fields and prepared herself for a Duel. "Duel Pad, activate!" Rainbow declared as she attached her sky blue colored device to her wrist and a flap opened out of it, which was the placement for the Monster Card Zones. "Duel Gazer, activate!" she then placed an eyepiece on her left eye and pressed a button on top of it to turn it on. You looked nervous as you went through the same motions and declarations as Rainbow did, only yours were less enthusiastic and your Duel Pad was a flame red color. "AR Vision link established." the automated voice from their Duel Pad droned. "Let's Duel!" you both shouted as your Duel began. Rainbow Dash: 4000 LP (Y/N): 4000 LP Meanwhile... Inside Canterlot High School, Newspaper Production Room... Silver Spoon was waiting for her best friend, Diamond Tiara, to finish reading her report; Silver had just written all the details on all the Duelists in CHS, even their win-loss ratio, and wanted to give it to Diamond, who was also in charge of the school newspaper, so she could get it in print, as per Diamond's ~~demand~~ request. Diamond had just finished reading and turned her attention to Silver. "So this is all of them?" she asked. "Uh-huh." Silver answered. "Even those losers and that loser boss of theirs?" "Yeah." Silver just realized something, "Did you forget their names already? I thought you read it all." "Oh, I did." Diamond tossed the report back into Silver's arms, "Nobody cares to know their names anymore, so why bother?" "Oh...yeah, good point." Silver responded wearingly. "Get this in the paper immediately for tomorrow." Diamond gets up from the chair she was sitting at, "I'm gonna give myself a reward for such a job well done. Since Sunset Shimmer isn't the school bully anymore, this will be our chance to rise. And we'll start with being the best Duelists in all of CHS! It'll be easy, since we now know all of the students' cards and strategies." Diamond laughed haughtily as she left the room, Silver being left behind to oversee the report being added to the newspaper. She walked over to the printing press to begin her job, "...Hmph. That Diamond Tiara, stepping on other people to get what she wants. Why does she have to be so cold? If I was as cold as her, I'd show her a thing or two about being nice." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a card on the floor next to the printing press, she stopped what she was doing and decided to check it out. "Is that...a Duel Monsters card?" Silver picked it up, "Nowadays, you don't just leave any lying around." After she said that, a sinister mist was seeping from the card and surrounded her, unable to escape. Then, she started hearing an ominous voice. "Yes, Silver Spoon...let the Number take hold..." "N-Number?! What are you...?! Why are you...?! AHHHHHHHH!!!" Silver tried to struggle out of the card's control, but it was no use, it had a firm grip on her. Then, she stopped as the mist fully seeped inside her, she was just standing there with a glare coming from her glasses, blocking her eyes. Below her right eye, a number 19 appeared and marked her, just before Diamond came back with an agitated look in her features. "Silver Spoon! I didn't order you to scream! I ordered you to get that report in print!" she yelled. Silver chuckled at her shouting, finding it funny for some reason. "Hey! Why are you laughing?!" Silver slowly turned around to face her so called friend and glare left her glasses, revealing an empty look in her eyes as she grinned maliciously. Diamond took a step back, obviously not expecting such a look from her gal pal. "Okay, Silver...if you're trying to scare me, you win...just stop looking at me like that." Her words only proceeded to make the number on Silver's face glow as she pulled out her Duel Pad, "You wanna be the best Duelist in CHS, eh? Do you really think no one else knew what your Deck contained? Well, I do, and I'm challenging you to a Duel! And the winner gets to do whatever they want with Canterlot High!" Diamond quickly regained her bearings and brought out her own Duel Pad, "Fine then! I never expected you to betray me like this, but you'll regret it soon enough!" Silver sneered, "Quite the contrary, you'll regret learning the hard way that anyone can be as cold as you, maybe even colder." The two readied their Duel Pads, Duel Gazers, and each drew five cards. "Let's Duel!" Silver Spoon: 4000 LP Diamond Tiara: 4000 LP 20 Minutes Later... Duel Fields Rainbow Dash just finished off your Life Points with her most powerful monster, knocking you flat on your back. Rainbow Dash: 4000 LP (Y/N): 500 - 2500 = 0 LP WINNER: Rainbow Dash The Augmented Reality dissipated as you got up into a sitting position, Snips and Snails came to your aid, but you waved them off, saying you were fine. Rainbow and her friends walked over to your sitting form with looks of skepticism on their faces. "What?" you ask. "Dude...were you even trying?" Rainbow asked you. "Huh?" "Seriously, you had a bunch of chances for attacks, combos, everything that could've beaten me! So why take the beating I dish out when you could've won?" "...Because I stink at this game. There's no point in trying." Rainbow sighed, "...Okay, how about this? After we study tonight, I'll teach you some pointers on your Deck and give you a little confidence boost." You look up at her, suspicion written all over your face, "Why?" "Because...you have potential, and I'm sorry for giving you a hard time, really I am." You continue to stare at her, searching for any kind of deception, but you couldn't find any. With a sigh from yourself, you stand up and hold your hand out, prompting her to shake it, which she did, sealing the deal between you two. "AHHHHHHHH!!!" You let go of her hand and look around frantically, "What was that?!" "It sounded like it came from inside the school!" Fluttershy said. You ran past them, "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Snips and Snails ran after you, desperately trying to keep up, "Wait for us, boss!" The girls snapped out of their stupor from your sudden courage and rush inside the building, looking for whoever screamed. Back to the Duel inside the Production Room, Diamond Tiara was staring at the monster Silver Spoon summoned in fear, "W-What the heck IS that thing?!" "The instrument of your demise!" Silver declared, "Go, Freezadon! ATTACK!" The monster blasted the pink skinned girl with a ray of freezing wind, forcing her to the floor with scream. Silver Spoon: 4000 LP Diamond Tiara: 1000 - 2000 = 0 LP WINNER: Silver Spoon The AR vision link faded away as Silver removed her Duel Gazer and looked over at a nearby computer. She sneered as she had a wicked idea, she walked over to the computer and ripped a disk tower out from the cords it was attached to and went over to Diamond's crumpled form. Diamond herself looked up and saw what Silver was doing. "H-Hey! You won! Don't do anything crazy!" That only made Silver grin devilishly as she raised the disk tower over her head, ready to smash Diamond's head in. "What are you doing?!" "Getting rid of one potential problem in this world!" she prepared to drop the tower on Diamond, "DIE!" Diamond braced herself for the assault as Silver brought the disk tower down... BANG!! ...Until the door slammed open and you grabbed the tower out of her hands, then body slamming her away from Diamond. "What are you, crazy?!" you shouted as a tossed the tower aside, "You're gonna hurt somebody doing something like that!!" Silver growled, "This has nothing to do with you! Diamond's getting what's coming to her!" she then looked like she just realized something and chuckled, "Oh, I know you...you're that loser of a Duelist." You just glare at her. "I think I know what to do, how about a Duel? If I win, I get to do with Diamond Tiara whatever I please! And if you win, I'll stop. Deal?" "Don't agree to that! You stink, remember?!" Diamond said to you. You spare an unamused glance at her, "Thanks for the vote of confidence..." you turn back to Silver, "And I accept your terms, because I'm not losing this time." Silver laughed and put her Duel Gazer back on, "Oh, really? You should've been a comedian, because THAT was funny!" You snort at her mocking words and ready your Duel Pad and Duel Gazer. "AR Vision link established." "Let's Duel!" you both declared as you and her drew five cards. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 4000 LP To Be Continued... Author's Note Key: (Y/N) = Your name (his/her) = his or her, whichever gender the reader is (he/she) = he or she, whichever gender the reader is My writing style on this story was adapted from DeviantArt. Chapter 1: A Duel Heated At Sub-zero DegreesPreviously on Hunter of Numbers... A brand new card game has taken Canterlot by storm and it's called, "Duel Monsters". It has become so popular that technology has somewhat evolved to assist this trading card game; Duel Pads, which are really modified tablets, can transform into devices that can make the monsters come to life virtually, with the help of the Duel Gazer eyepieces to see the Duels that take place with AR (Augmented Reality) Vision Link. This game was loved and played by many people, it usually became good, friendly competition...that is, until, something happened. One night, after your usual spectating of the Canterlot High Duel Fields, you had a strange dream, that immediately afterwards, you found a weird Duel Monsters card that nearly possessed you, but somehow, you were able to resist its influence. Now, you were facing off against Silver Spoon, who had eerily done a complete 180 on her personality, nearly killed her best friend, Diamond Tiara, and plans to rule CHS with an iron fist! But are her actions truly her own, or is someone or something pulling the strings...? The sun was close to setting as the day began to wind down, Duelists leaving the school having finished their fun for today. But there is still activity going on within the school, Silver and yourself were beginning a soon to be fierce Duel, and the stakes were pretty high at the moment. "Since you challenged me, I'll go first. I draw!" you declared as you drew a card from your Deck. You looked over your hand and pulled out a card, placing it on Monster Card Zone vertically, "I play Darkfire Soldier #1 in Attack Mode!" a large holographic image of the card appeared in front of you and out came a man with long blonde hair, wearing shoulder pads held up by two white straps, a red bandana wrapped around his forehead, an arm brace on each arm, holding a scimitar, and wearing nothing else other than the fire cloaking the rest of his body (Darkfire Soldier #1: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1150), "Then I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn!" you did so, and two holographic facedown cards appeared behind your monster. Silver sneered, "That's it? Alright then, I draw!" she drew a card and her sinister smile grew, "I play Ice Hand in Attack Mode!" she placed a card on her own Monster Card Zone vertically and an image of that card appeared and a hand made out of ice and metal appendages with a vein at the end having a smaller hand came up (Ice Hand: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1600). The girls and your pals showed up before the Duel started and put on their Duel Gazers along with Diamond Tiara to watch everything unfold, but something troubled Applejack, "Ah don't get it, why would Silver play a monster weaker than (Y/N)'s own monster?" "...To draw (him/her) in for an attack." Diamond said, shocking the group, "She did the same thing with me, tricking me into attacking so she could play her combo." "So let's warn (him/her)!" Pinkie suggested. "No." Rainbow stopped her, "(Y/N) has to figure it out for (himself/herself), this Duel will prove that when the stake are high, (he/she)'ll start getting real...and the stakes have never been higher than this." Diamond gulped, "You don't have to tell me twice." she looked back at you and thought, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I hope you win, (Y/N). You stare at Silver's monster, What's the deal? Her monster's weaker than mine, so why summon it? your stare then intensified, This is a trap just waiting to be sprung. I gotta be careful. "I'll end my turn with a facedown card!" Silver placed a card facedown in one of her Spell/Trap Card Zones, making it appear behind her monster like yours did. "Fine then, I draw!" You drew another card and got a good look at it, Raigeki Break! One of my favorite Trap cards! If I activate it, I can destroy one card on the field as long as I discard a card from my hand...this could be useful, better hang on to it till the time is right. "I place another card facedown!" you did so in your Spell/Trap Card Zone and made the hologram one appear, "Then, I summon Fire Hand in Attack Mode!" once you played the monster card vertically, the card showed up on the field and a hand appeared similar to the one Silver had out, only it has fire rather than ice (Fire Hand: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000), "With that, I'll end my turn." "Two Level 4 monsters? And (he/she) just ended (his/her) turn?!" Rainbow asked, incredulously. "Now, hold on there, Dash," Applejack quelled, "(Y/N) might be plannin' somethin'." Diamond looked anxious, "I hope you're right..." "No attacks?" Silver asked you, then sneered, "You're on to me. You think that my monster has a special ability that will activate if you destroy it, right?" you nod. "Well, you guessed right! But that won't help you in the long run! Now, I draw!" Silver pulled out a card from her Deck, "And I'll activate the card I drew, Graceful Charity! It allows me to draw three cards as long as I discard two!" Silver did exactly as she said and drew three cards while discarding two, "Before I do anything else, I'll set another facedown card! Next, I play the Spell card, Monster Slots from my hand! To use it, I have to select a monster I have on my field and a monster in my Graveyard, then I remove the monster in my Graveyard from play, and I draw a card, if it's a monster with the same level as the two I chose, I get to Special Summon it!" "What?!" you shout. "First, I choose the only monster on my field: Ice Hand! Then, I choose a monster in my Graveyard to banish from the game, and I choose...a copy of my Ice Hand that I discarded thanks to Graceful Charity!" "Seriously?! You have more than one?!" But Silver ignored your exclamation, "Now...I draw!" Silver drew her next card smiled evilly, "Yes! I Special Summon...yet another Ice Hand!" a copy of her first monster appeared on the field next to it. "OH, C'MON!" "But guess what? I'm still not done! I Normal Summon my Changer Synchron in Attack Mode!" Silver placed a monster card on her Duel Pad and its card appeared on the field, coming out of it was a short little robot with wings and a flip-switch on its head (Changer Synchron: Lv. 1 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0). "Wait...that's a Tuner monster!" "Right again! Now I'll tune my Level 1 Changer Synchron with my Level 4 Ice Hand to Synchro Summon...Frozen Fitzgerald!" Silver sends two of her monsters to the Graveyard, then reaches into her Extra Deck and summons it, calling forth a sinister looking pillar-like creature with icicles protruding out of it (Frozen Fitzgerald: Lv. 5 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2500), "Then, I'll tribute my other Ice Hand to Tribute Summon...Dragon Ice!" she put her weaker monster in the Graveyard and replaced it with a new monster, which looked like a bipedal ice like dragon complete with wings and tail (Dragon Ice: Lv. 5 / ATK: 1800 / DEF: 2200), "Next, I'll activate my Changer Synchron's ability from my Graveyard! When it's sent there via Synchro Summon, I can change the battle position of one of your monsters! And I choose Darkfire Soldier #1!" your monster went from an offensive position and a defensive position, since you were forced to turn your monster card from vertically to horizontally. Diamond's went wide in horror, "Oh no..." "What is it?" Sunset asked. "She's gonna Xyz Summon!" "But I don't remember Silver Spoon having any Rank 5 Xyz monsters." Snips said. "And we should know, we lost to her many times!" Snails added. Diamond shook her head, "Trust me, she does...and it's a killer." Silver suddenly began to smile even creepier, "Ahahahahaha!! I overlay my Level 5 Dragon Ice and Frozen Fitzgerald to build an Overlay Network!!" the portal for Xyz Summoning appeared, but instead of the usual red portal, this one was more galactic-like, as if it were another galaxy, "I Xyz Summon...Number 19: Freezadon!!" just as she said that, the portal exploded and revealed a giant frozen spear, then it began to transform into a massive bipedal dinosaur with two wingspans. Number 19: Freezadon Rank: 5 Attribute: Water Type: Dinosaur/Xyz/Effect ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500 Description: 2 Level 5 monsters Once per turn, if an Xyz Monster you control would activate an effect by detaching an Xyz Material(s), you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead of 1 of those Xyz Materials. "Now, I have the most powerful monster in the world at my command!! And all of CHS shall bow before me!!" Silver declared as she cackled like a madwoman. This girl has lost her marbles. you thought, Still...I got a bad feeling about that card, almost like I've seen something like it before... "Wait a second!" Rainbow interrupted, "Frozen Fitzgerald had more Attack Points than that...thing over there! What's she thinking?! This Duel is getting weirder by the minute!" "Not to mention scary..." Fluttershy mumbled, noticing Silver's abnormal behavior. "Now! Freezadon, attack (his/her) Fire Hand!" As she said that, her Number monster charged up an attack and blasted it toward your Fire Hand, but little did she realize that you still had three facedown cards on your field. "I activate the Trap card, Magic Cylinder! With this card, I can negate your attack and send all of Freezadon's attack back to you, dealing its total number of Attack Points as damage!" Freezadon's blast went inside one of the two cylinders that appeared from your Trap card and it left out the other back to Silver Spoon, the force of the onslaught knocking her off her feet. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 4000 - 2000 = 2000 LP Silver stood up, hardly fazed by the blast, "Urg...cheap shot..." she pressed a button on her Duel Pad and declared, "I'll see your Trap and raise you with one of my own! Breakthrough Skill! This card allows me to select one Effect Monster card on your side of the field and its abilities are negated until the end of this turn!" suddenly, Fire Hand looked like it was weak, "And since Fire Hand is the only Effect Monster on your field, I choose that!" "But your turn's just about over! Why activate it now?" you ask. Silver sneered even more, "So I can play this!" she activated another Trap card, "Needle Wall! Now, I have to roll a six-sided die, and I count by ones on your Monster Card Zones from my right to my left, then whatever number the die lands on between 1 and 5, I get to destroy a monster on that spot! But if it's a 6, I have to roll again." "WHAT?!" everyone shouted. Just then, a big hologram six-sided die appeared above Silver's head, "Go, dice roll!" the die rolled onto the field and landed on 4, "Let's see...1..." no monster was there, "2..." there stood Darkfire Soldier #1, "3..." no monster there either, "...and 4!" and there stood Fire Hand, which shattered into shards of light, "I knew that Fire Hand had an ability that activates whenever it's destroyed by battle or card effect, that's why I got rid of it's abilities, so I could destroy it without suffering the penalty!" You growled. "And I'll end my turn there for now." "Grr...alright, I draw!" you did so and made your move, "I'll start by switching my Soldier back into Attack Mode!" you switched the card from horizontal to vertical and the monster changed its battle position, "Then, I'll have him attack your Freezadon!" your monster charged forward for an attack. "Dimwit!!" Rainbow yelled, "Your monster is weaker than hers!!" "Not for long, if I play the Spell card, Ego Boost! I can only activate it when my monster attacks, and that monster gains 1000 Attack Points until the End Phase!" your Soldier began glowing with light green energy flowing into it (Darkfire Soldier #1 / ATK: 1700 + 1000 = 2700), "Now destroy her Freezadon!" Your monster sliced the frozen behemoth with its scimitar, creating an explosion with hologram smoke covering the battlefield. "Uh, yeah! That's right! I, uh, totally knew you had that card, heh-heh..." Rainbow nervously said as her friends gave her deadpan looks, completely unconvinced by her words. Silver just began chuckling, then cackling once more, "Ahahahahahahaha!! You really thought it was gonna be THAT easy?!" "What?" you ask. "Just look!!" Silver pointed at the smoke cloud that began to dissipate... ...to reveal that Freezadon was still on the field. "Hey! That's not fair!" Applejack accused, "(Y/N) destroyed that thing!" "Yeah, what gives?!" Snips asked. Silver turned to her viewers, "You really wanna know? Alright, I'll tell you. A Number monster can only be destroyed...by ANOTHER Number monster." "But...our boss doesn't have a Number monster..." Snails said, dejectedly. "Exactly!! And even though my monster wasn't destroyed, I still took damage from that attack." Silver looked at her Life Points as a good sized chunk diminished from it. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 2000 - 700 = 1300 LP "Where did Silver Spoon get a powerful monster like that?!" Sunset asked. You glare at Freezadon, I have a bad feeling that I think I know, Sunset... then you looked at Silver, The same thing almost happened to me when I picked up...wait! you pull out the Xyz Monster that you received last night, Number 61: Volcasaurus...maybe it could work, but I need two Level 5 monsters to Xyz Summon it... you look at your hand, which consisted of Graceful Charity and Ancient Rules, I hope this works... "I play my own Graceful Charity Spell card!" you drew three cards; Aitsu, Monster Reborn, and Star Changer, then discarded Ancient Rules and Aitsu, "Now, I'll activate Monster Reborn, and bring back the monster I discarded: Aitsu!" a purple portal appeared from the floor and out came a red bipedal faceless figure standing on a paper airplane (Aitsu: Lv. 5 / ATK: 100 / DEF: 100). "Are you crazy?!" Rainbow shouted, "That thing's weak!" You smile, "You'll see." you continue with the rest of your turn, "Next, I activate the Quick-play Spell card, Star Changer! And with it, I can change my Soldier's Level from 4 to 5!" your monster's Level appeared in front of it and it had another star added to it. "Hang on! Boss doesn't have a Rank 5 Xyz Monster, what is (he/she) thinking?!" Snips said. "Now I overlay my Level 5 Aitsu and now Level 5 Darkfire Soldier #1 to build an Overlay Network!" your monsters turned into orbs of energy and floated into a galaxy portal much like Silver's, "Sorry guys, but I have to do this!" "Huh?" everyone uttered. "I Xyz Summon...Number 61: Volcasaurus!" the portal exploded and revealed an orb with two spikes sticking out of the top and bottom, the orb hatched open and out came a dinosaur like Freezadon, except it was red and orange with spears for hands and its own fiery wingspan. Number 61: Volcasaurus Rank: 5 Attribute: Fire Type: Dinosaur/Xyz/Effect ATK: 2500 DEF: 1000 Description: 2 Level 5 monsters Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; destroy that opponent's monster, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK. This card cannot attack your opponent directly during the turn you activate this effect. Silver suddenly wasn't looking so confident, "What?! But how?!" she shook her head, "It doesn't matter! I can still beat you!" You smirk, "Don't count on it, because I'm activating my monster's special ability!" Volcasaurus devoured one of its Overlay Units, "You see, when I remove one of Volcasaurus's Overlay Units, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field and inflict damage to you by the complete total of your monster's Attack Points! And I choose Freezadon!" "What?! No way!!" "Yes way! Now Volcasaurus, let's save Miss Tiara, shall we? Blast Silver Spoon's Life Points away and end this Duel!" Volcasaurus had a spike on both its sides that opened up and shot out two fiery beams that destroyed Freezadon and went for Silver, knocking her off her feet. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 1300 - 2000 = 0 LP WINNER: (Y/N) As the AR Vision Link disconnected, Snips and Snails came barreling towards you frantically, but you stepped to the side so they wouldn't knock you down. "Boss, that was amazing!" Snips said. "Yeah, you beat a powerful monster like it was no sweat!" Snails agreed. "Yeah, well..." you rub the back your head, "A life was at stake, so I had to step up." Suddenly, a light came from Silver chest and out came an orb that floated above her. "...You guys are seeing this, right?" Snips and Snails just nod dumbly, as if entranced by the orb. It hovered over to you and raised your hand up to touch it, only for it to take form of a card, the light died down to reveal Silver Spoon's Number card, Number 19: Freezadon. "Coooool." Snips and Snails said in awe. Just then, Silver struggled to sit up as she looked at you, "Thank...you...(Y/N)..." with that, she passed out. Diamond walked over to you three, staring Sliver's unconscious body, "What was that about?" "I don't think she was in control of her own actions." you said. "What? You mean...someone MADE her do this?" "Ehh...something like that. Right now, it's just a hunch." you point to Silver, "Boys, get her to the infirmary." Snips and Snails saluted, "Got it, boss!" They went to pick up Silver and took her out of the printing room and to the aforementioned infirmary. Diamond went to follow them, "I'll go with them, just to make sure she's okay." she stops, "And (Y/N)..." she turns to face you with a smile, "...Thanks." You smile back as Diamond continued to go after her friend. You proceed to leave since your job was done. "Welp, no reason to stick around here." you pass the girls, who were still dumbstruck over the whole thing, "Shall we?" Rainbow recovered quickly, "...Hold the phone." she went after you as the rest of them recovered and followed, "Whoa, hold up!" "What?" "Whataya mean, 'what'?! Back there, that was amazing! When did you finally get serious?!" "To be honest...I really don't know." "Well, it doesn't matter, you're still tutoring me tonight, and I gotta show ya some combos you can use for your Deck!" "Really, Rainbow, you don't have to..." "I WANT to." You hesitate, but give in, "Okay, you're on." "Great! Let's go!" Rainbow drags you by the arm to your place as the other girls went home. And this was how your days as a Number Hunter began... Chapter 2: Letting Off Some SteamAuthor's Note This chapter's mainly about relaxing after a hard fought Duel last chapter, so there may not be much, it'll also introduce two new characters near the end of it. The chapter after this one will be back to business as usual, so be on the lookout! Chapter 2: Letting Off Some Steam After your first run-in with a "Number Keeper" as you now called those who wield Number cards, you tutored Rainbow for the next few days to help her understand the material, and as promised, she taught you some combinations you could use in the future. You honestly thought you might need them, since there may be more Number Keepers out there, your theory of the cards possessing the people who hold them still fresh in your mind. You decided that this was too much on you and that you need to use the weekend to decompress yourself and unwind for a bit. During one of your tutoring sessions with Rainbow, Silver Spoon came and apologized for her behavior, as a token of her apology and friendship, she gave you one of her many copies of her Ice Hand monster card. You thank her and ask if she could join you two, she agreed, of course, Rainbow was hesitant after what happened, but eventually let her guard down when she saw that Silver was back to her old self. After her parents picked her up, you began to have a chat with Rainbow about the Numbers you've collected. "...I can't read that." Rainbow said, looking at Volcasaurus in your hand. "I know, but I can. It's weird, right?" you ask. "Very weird, I mean, nobody's even heard of these cards, and yet, here they are. Also, why make cards that only certain people can read? It doesn't make sense!" "Yeah..." you know Rainbow has a point, you're even starting to believe that they aren't from this world. Rainbow noticed you deep in thought and roused you out of it, "Hey, maybe we should take a break for today," she stood up, stretching, "besides, I'm meeting my friends at the mall today, you wanna come with?" "Well...Snips and Snails are busy today...okay, I'll come." "Great! I'll get my things together and we'll get going!" After helping Rainbow pack up her studying supplies, you two made a quick stop at her home to drop off her things, then head to the mall, where her friends are waiting. Not long after arriving, the girls immediately went to shopping; Rarity and Sunset into a fashionable clothing store, Fluttershy and Applejack to a pet store, Rainbow a sports store, and Pinkie to a party store. You? You went to a shop that sold Duel Monster cards so you could amp up your Deck with ice cards along with the Ice Hand Silver Spoon gave you. You prefer the FIRE attribute, but if you're going to use Freezadon in future Duels, you're going to have to adapt to other attributes. You bought a couple booster packs from the shopkeeper and opened them to see what you got; in the first pack, you got Penguin Soldier, Cold Enchanter, Snowdust Dragon, Snowdust Giant, and Caravan of the Ice Barrier, next was the second pack, inside was Fortune Lady Fire, Fortune Lady Water, Future Visions, Terraforming, and Slip of Fortune. After you collected your new cards, you exited the shop only to see that the girls weren't done yet. You decide to chill at the food court and order your favorite food. Once you paid the cashier, you sat down at a nearby table to wait for your food, soon enough, the girls finally finished their shopping and joined you at your table after ordering their own meals. Rainbow spoke to you first, "So, didja find anything ya like?" "Yeah." you answered as you showed her your new cards. Rainbow whistled, "Nice selection, but I thought you liked FIRE attributed monsters." "I do, but I think it's time I adapted a little bit." "Sounds like a good idea, since the Friendship Games are coming up," Sunset added, "I even heard there's going to be a section for Duel Monsters this year." "Really?" you asked, interested. "Eeyup," Applejack mimicked her brother, "We all plan ta tryout fer the Games, you in?" "Well..." "An' don't even try ta be coy about Duelin', y'all have shown us that yer better than yer lettin' on." You hum in thought, then sigh, "...Okay." The girls cheered in victory as Pinkie spoke up, "Oh! And you might wanna not use those creepy Number thingies! If they've never been heard of, then people will think you're cheating!" "No problem, I'll hold off on them." you thought of something before adding, "But if the students of Crystal Prep has any of those Number cards, all bets are off." "Fair enough," Sunset agreed, "Maybe we should look over our Decks before trying out when the weekend's over." "Uh-huh!" the girls chimed in. We all decided to look our Duel Monster Decks over until our food was delivered to us, then we stopped and ate before we figured we'd been here long enough and went our separate ways for the day. "Hey, (Y/N)!" Rainbow called as you walked away, "Same time tomorrow?" "Yeah! See you then!" you call back. With that, you continued on your way back home, once there you washed up and got ready for dinner, afterwards you retired to your room and added your new cards to your Deck, especially the Ice Hand card Silver gave you. Meanwhile... In the darkness of the night, a hooded person that appeared to be a male was running through the streets, desperate to get to his destination. Once he did, he looked up at it in anticipation; a rundown old warehouse just near the pier of Canterlot. With a sneer, he entered and went through the area as if he knew the layout, and finally reached the room he was looking for, which was filled with computers, maps marked with numbers, and pictures of people on corkboards. He walked up to the large chair facing away from him and kneeled, "Master..." "Did you get it?" a soothing voice spoke. "The child was trouble, but I got it." he pulled out a Duel Monsters card, more specifically, an Xyz Monster card, and handed it to the being known as "Master". "Hmm..." the being stroked their chin and pocketed the card, "...Well done. You may take the night off." He stood up and bowed, "Thank you, Master, I shall take my leave." "Wait." He stopped before he could exit. "Before you go, I want to make a point: when the other Number Hunters aren't here, I don't want you to refer to me as 'Master', too formal for a loyal person like you, Cosine." "Then...what shall I refer you as?" The being spun around to look at Cosine with a piercing cat-like eye, "Just Gazing. Gazing Eye." Chapter 3: Friendship Games TryoutsSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 4: Cooking CalamityAuthor's Note I forgot to mention, the Duels in this fanfic will ignore the new rule I've heard of: on the first turn you can't draw as well as battle. Apparently it was made in 2014, but I'm not abiding that rule in this story Chapter 4: Cooking Calamity Canterlot High School, 11:34 AM After the first half of school was done and over with, you were now on your way to lunch to see what you can snag to eat. Before you left your math class, you heard from Miss Cheerilee that Rainbow's grades are getting better and that she'll be able to participate in the Friendship Games at the end of the week. You felt a little pride in yourself for helping Rainbow pass, you two were at each other's throats at first, but became good friends in the end, unfortunately she wasn't out of the woods just yet, Rainbow has a test at the end of the Friendship Games that you need to prepare her for, since it counts as half of her final grade, you hope that she can ace it, especially with all the studying you two went through. Before you knew it, Rainbow and the rest of the girls joined you in your walk to the cafeteria, but you wondered where Snips and Snails were today. "Hey, (Y/N), did you hear? There's new food being released in the cafeteria and a lot of people were chosen to be taste testers for it." In your mind, that would explain where your buddies went. "Really? Hmm..." "Ah, don't think too much on it," Rainbow said, "I'm sure Granny Smith is planning something big for the students." "But the weird thang is, Granny never told me 'bout this, and she tells me everythang!" Applejack countered. You get two feelings at this moment; deja vu and a gnawing pit in your stomach, and not from being hungry, you can't help but sense something is very wrong. "Lunch?! They call THAT lunch?!" You look in front of you to see a bunch of disappointed students walking away from the cafeteria, even Trixie Lulamoon, who was the one who spoke among the dissatisfied students. You stopped her with a hand, "Hey, what's going on?" "What's going on is that fool of a cafeteria volunteer cooked up the worst lunch Trixie has ever tasted! Trixie is going to the principals about this!" With that, she stomped off, ready to inform the principals of this development. "Wonder what that was all about?" Sunset said. "Boss!" You looked to see Snips and Snails rushing towards you, "Guys, what's wrong?" "Some guy is cooking terrible food, and...and..." Snips stuttered. "Then let's tell Granny Smith." you suggested. "But that's just it!" Snails took over, "He's not letting her in the cafeteria!" "WHAT?!" Applejack screeched before running off. You sigh, "Better go after her before she does something drastic." You dash towards the cafeteria with your pals right behind you, hoping that your gut feeling was wrong... CHS Cafeteria, 11:40 AM You barge in the double doors, letting in Granny Smith, who was locked out of the employee entrance, and seeing a strange sight; a guy wearing a chef's hat and an apron over his clothes, cooking something that smells disgusting from where you stood with his bangs covering his eyes and a crazed smile. Applejack came in behind you since you beat her to the cafeteria as the others arrived and held their noses to protect themselves from the stench. "Sweet Celestia, what is that smell?!" Sunset exclaimed. "I don't know, but it's quite horrid!" Rarity added. "Ma Granny would never allow food ta smell like this!" Applejack said. But the "chef" didn't take kindly to your friends' choice of words, "You peons couldn't even begin to appreciate the quality of my cooking!" "Like your taste testers did?" Rainbow questioned. "Bah! I just had a misjudgment with my choice in taste testers, that's all." "Maybe you should get a new cookbook, cause even I don't burn cupcakes that smell THIS bad!" Pinkie stated. "Hang on. Look." you point at the side of the chef's neck, which showed the number 59. "Do you think—" Sunset began. "—This miserable excuse of a cook has a Number card." you finished. "MISERABLE?!" a dark aura shrouded the guy as he grew angrier, but calmed down as an idea popped into his head, "...How about a Duel?" "Huh?" you and your friends all said, confused. "If I win, you'll be my guinea pig for my next batch of food, and if you win, I'll let Granny Smith take back over. Deal?" "Don't do it, (Y/N), it's not worth it." Snips tried to talk you out of it. But you knew you had no choice, if what's happening to this guy is what you think, then this is something you have to do. "...You got yourself a deal." you say to your opponent, making everyone even Granny Smith gasp. He grins wide as he prepares his Duel Pad and Duel Gazer as you do the same. "May I ask for the name of my opponent?" "Name's Shining Spoon." he said. "Alright, now..." "Let's Duel!" you both declared. (Y/N): 4000 LP Shining Spoon: 4000 LP "The chef gets first taste, I draw!" Shining said, beginning the Duel, "And I think I'll start by placing a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." "That's it? Well, in that case, I draw!" you drew your card and played your new monster, "I summon Fortune Lady Fire in Attack Mode!" the monster that came out looked like a sorceress wearing a black and blue body suit with a red blouse and skirt holding a staff-like cane with a fiery blossom within the curled tip (Fortune Lady Fire: Lv. 2 / ATK: ? / DEF: ?), "Then her ability activates! Her Attack and Defense Points are equal to its level times 200!" Fortune Lady Fire began to glow in a warm light (ATK: 400 / DEF: 400), "And for every one of my Standby Phases, its level increases and so do its Attack and Defense Points! But my monster's too weak to risk an attack, so I'm done for now." "Fine then, I draw!" Shining took his turn, "And I'm bringing out Flamvell Magician!" out came a man with purple skin, bald head except for the red ponytail on its head, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, tight black pants, black boots, holding a staff made out of pure fire (Flamvell Magician: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 200), "Now attack Fortune Lady Fire!" the man charged forward at your monster. "Nice try, I play the Spell card, Block Attack, and force your monster from attacking to defending!" the man halted its attack and went into a defensive position. "Grr, fine! I'll end my turn with one facedown!" he sets a card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone. "My turn then," you drew your next card and looked over your hand; you had Salamandra, Ookazi, Fortune Lady Water, Darkfire Soldier #1, and Ice Hand, "For starters, Fortune Lady Fire gains a level and 200 extra Attack and Defense Points!" your monster glowed once again as its power increased (Lv. 2 > 3 / ATK: 400 > 600 / DEF: 400 > 600), "Then I'm gonna have her attack your magician!" Fortune Lady Fire spun its staff and cast a wave of fire at the man. "Not so fast! I activate my Trap card, Negate Attack!" the fire attack was absorbed into a vortex, "Which stops your attack cold!" "Alright then, but I'm still gonna do some damage! I play the Spell card, Ookazi! When it's played, it deals my opponent 800 points damage!" A blast of fire erupted around Shining, making him scream as if the flames were actually burning him. (Y/N): 4000 LP Shining Spoon: 4000 - 800 = 3200 LP "I'll end my turn from there." Shining takes a deep breath to calm his burning nerves, "Alright..." he growls, "I draw! I place one card facedown, then I summon Flamvell Firedog in Attack Mode!" with that, a dog made out of molten rock with horns on its head and magma bones protruding out of both its shoulder appeared (Flamvell Firedog: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1900 / DEF: 200), "Now I Overlay my Flamvell Magician and Flamvell Firedog to build the Overlay Network!" a galaxy portal was built, just like in your last Duel with a Number Keeper, "Ahahahahaha! I Xyz Summon...Number 59: Crooked Cook!" The portal exploded and out came a man wearing a chef's outfit made for combat with cooking utensils attached to the belt, a fancy-looking chef's hat, with a canister full of gas strapped to his back hooked up to a flamethrower on his wrist, and frying pan blazing with flames. Number 59: Crooked Cook Rank: 4 Attribute: Fire Type: Warrior/Xyz/Effect ATK: 2300 DEF: 200 Description: 2 Level 4 monsters While you control no other cards on the field, this card is unaffected by other cards' effects. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; destroy as many other cards you control as possible, then this card gains 300 ATK until the end of this turn for each monster destroyed by this effect and sent to the Graveyard. "I knew it." you mutter. "Now I activate its ability! By removing one Overlay Unit, I can destroy as many cards on my field as I can, and Crooked Cook gains 300 Attack Points for every monster destroyed by this effect!" an Overlay Unit disappeared within the man as he got ready to blast away his own monster comrade (OLU: 2 - 1 = 1), "Now destroy my facedown monster!" Crooked Cook then blasted the set monster with his flamethrower and it burst into fragments of light, he then became slightly muscular (Number 59: Crooked Cook: ATK: 2300 + 300 = 2600), "And then I'll attack your Fortune Lady Fire!" the man swung his frying pan at the woman on your side of the field and she burst into pieces of light. "Ahhhh!" you scream as the force of the attack flung you on your back. (Y/N): 4000 - 2000 = 2000 LP Shining Spoon: 3200 LP "Hahaha! No critic can stop my delicious dishes!" Shining declared. You groan as you get back on your feet, "Are you done?" Shining snickers, "Yeah, your turn." "Alright then," you drew the Spell card Star Changer, Where is it? Where's the card I need? "I'll play two cards facedown," you set Star Changer and Salamandra, "Then I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." you set Ice Hand. Shining sneers, "Going on the defensive? It won't help you! Because after I draw, I'm activating my Trap card, Acid Trap Hole! It allows me to target a set monster on the field and flip it face-up, if it's equal to or lower than 2,000 Defense Points, it's automatically destroyed, but if it's higher than that, it goes back facedown. And I choose your only facedown monster!" Ice Hand was revealed and was destroyed. You smirk, "Thanks, cause now I can activate Ice Hand's effect! When it's destroyed by battle or card effect, I can destroy one Spell or Trap you control, but since you used your only one, I won't, so I'll continue its ability, it allows me to Special Summon Fire Hand from my Deck!" Fire Hand was summoned to the field after you pulled it from your Deck (Fire Hand: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000), "And I'll play it in Defense Mode!" "Fine then, I'll attack it with Crooked Cook!" the man charged forward and destroyed Fire Hand, "I'll end my turn with that." "Okay, my draw!" you drew a Trap card called Inverse Universe, This could be useful. "I set a card facedown, then I play Darkfire Soldier #1 in Attack Mode!" the soldier was then summoned to the field, ready for action (Darkfire Soldier #1: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1150), "And I'll end my turn." "Ahahahahaha!! You've left yourself wide open for an attack!! I draw! Crooked Cook, burn him away!" Shining's monster went towards your soldier. "And YOU walked into my trap! Inverse Universe! Now the Attack and Defense of all Effect Monsters are switched!" "WHAT?!" The Trap card did its job and swapped Crooked Cook's attack and defense (ATK: 2600 > 200 / DEF: 200 > 2600), he slammed his frying pan into your soldier's scimitar and your soldier sliced through him, but he wasn't destroyed, instead Shining took damage from your comeback as he yelled and fell backwards. (Y/N): 2000 LP Shining Spoon: 3200 - 1500 = 1700 LP "Looks like this is anyone's Duel now." Sunset said. Shining stood up and growled, "I end my turn." After he did, your trap went to the Graveyard and Crooked Cook's power returned to normal (ATK: 200 > 2600 / DEF: 2600 > 200), "I draw!" you drew Draining Shield, Almost there... "I set a card facedown, then activate one of my other facedown cards, Salamandra, and increase my soldier's Attack Points by 700!" your monster had a new sword in its empty hand and the flames around it grew stronger (ATK: 1700 + 700 = 2400), "And I'll end my turn." "I draw, and Crooked Cook, roast his soldier!" his monster charged again. "I activate the Trap card, Draining Shield! And with it, I stop your attack and my Life Point increase by your monster's Attack Points!" A barrier appeared around you and your soldier and blocked the cook's attack as your Life Points recovered. (Y/N): 2000 + 2600 = 4600 LP Shining Spoon: 1700 LP "Grrr! Didn't your mother teach you not to play with your food?!" Shining demanded to know. "Yeah, she did, but I'm not eating anything right now, am I?" you quip. "...I end my turn." "Good, I draw!" you drew Kunai With Chain, Sweet! "I place one card facedown, then I summon Fortune Lady Water to the field!" out came another woman similar to the last one, except she was wearing blue instead of red and the top of her staff had a splash of water within it rather than fire (Fortune Lady Water: Lv. 4 / ATK: ? / DEF: ?), "And she goes by almost the same rules as my last Fortune Lady! You see, you know what my Fortune Ladies do after each of my Standby Phases, but this one has her Attack and Defense raised by 300!" the woman on your field glowed with a cooling blue light (ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1200), "With that, I end my turn!" Shining began laughing maniacally again, "Ahahahahaha!! You're finished!! Crooked Cook!! END THIS!!!" his monster went in for the kill, weapons blazing. You smirk, "I activate my Trap Card! Kunai With Chain! And it has two abilities! I force your monster into Defense Mode for as long as my trap is on the field, AND I can increase one of my monsters Attack Points by 500! And I choose my soldier!" a blade attached to a chain lashed out at the cook, wrapping itself around him and halting his attack, not only that, but your soldier is holding the chain to keep the cook in place (Darkfire Soldier #1: ATK: 2400 + 500 = 2900). "GRRRRR!! FINE!! I'LL END MY TURN! AGAIN!!!" Shining yelled, angry at the fact that you keep 1-uping him. "I draw!" you drew another Ookazi, "For starters, Fortune Lady Water gains an extra level and more Attack and Defense Points!" once again, the woman glows in a blue light, (Lv. 4 > 5 / ATK: 1200 > 1500 / DEF: 1200 > 1500), "Secondly, I activate another Ookazi Spell Card, dealing you another 800 points of damage!" Once again, a rush a fire enveloped Shining, making him scream in agony again. (Y/N): 4600 LP Shining Spoon: 1700 - 800 = 900 LP "Thirdly, I activate my facedown card, Star Changer, and change my soldier's level from 4 to 5!" four stars appeared in front of your soldier, which changed to five (Darkfire Soldier #1: Lv. 4 > 5). "(he/she)'s gunna Xyz Summon!" Applejack figured out. "And lastly, I overlay my Level 5 Darkfire Soldier #1 and Fortune Lady Water to build the Overlay Network!" your soldier and woman transformed into separate red and blue light respectively and flew into a galaxy portal, "I Xyz Summon...Number 61: Volcasaurus!" the portal exploded and a red bipedal dinosaur with number 61 and two swirling lights appeared (Number 61: Volcasaurus: Rank 5 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 1000), "And now I activate its ability! By using one of its Overlay Units, I can destroy one of your monsters and you take damage equal to its original Attack Points!" the dinosaur devoured one of its lights as its eyes glowed (OLU: 2 - 1 = 1), "And now you'll be hit with 2300 points of damage!" the dinosaur's sides opened up and blasted the cook with a fiery magma ray and destroyed him, forcing Shining to yell as he flew off the floor and onto his back. (Y/N): 4600 LP Shining Spoon: 900 - 2300 = 0 LP WINNER: (Y/N) You fist-pump as the AR link dissolved, "And that's all she wrote!" "Actually, the person writing this fanfiction is a guy." Pinkie said, her words making no sense to the others. Soon enough, a ball of light phased out of Shining and flew over to you as you held out your hand to catch it, when you did it turned into the card Number 59: Crooked Cook. "Well, that's that." you said as Shining regained consciousness. "Ugggh...what happened?" he asked. You walked over and helped him up, "You just had a rough go, that's all. Now let's give these students a REAL lunch!" After your Duel with Shining Spoon, he called all of his taste testers back to the cafeteria to apologize for his behavior and terrible cooking, the students felt he sounded sincere and accepted his apology, but Trixie still seemed to hold a grudge against him...like anyone else would care what she thinks. Once that was done, Granny Smith took back over and gave everyone the most delicious lunch CHS had ever had, and everybody had never been happier. But you still had this gnawing pit in your stomach, you felt, no, you KNEW something bad was going to happen. Again. Somewhere on the other side of campus, a male white skinned student with green hair and a blue stripe in the center, green eyes, blue t-shirt, tan khaki pants, and gray sneakers, was walking to his locker to gather his belongings before going home, he was one of the best singers in CHS Choir class and the choir teacher appreciates his talent, but the praise he gets makes him nervous since he is a shy person, and his name is Bright Star. The moment he opened his locker, a card fell out of it, making him curious. "Huh? Who could've left this here?" he said. As he went to pick it up, his thoughts were at the forefront of his mind. I know I'm one of the best singers in school, other than Rainbow Dash and her friends, but I can't help but feel I could do better, I mean... But his thoughts grinded to a sudden halt as soon as he touched the card, a dark mist coming from it. "Yes, Bright Star...let the Number take hold." a creepy voice spoke in his head. "What the?! Who are you?! Let me...AGGGGHHH!!!" But it was too late, the mist phased into his body and the number 49 appeared on his left cheek as he smiled sadistically. "Yes...I can do better...even if it means crushing those who threaten my talent...ahahahaha..." Bright left his open locker unattended as he walked off, a sinister plan to make it to the top forming in his now-corrupted mind... Chapter 5: Singing A Different TuneSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
PrologueHunter of Numbers Prologue Ever since the trading card game, Duel Monsters, had been released and before it became all the rage, you've been playing it nonstop with your friends, Snips and Snails. Your only friends, unfortunately. You were the outcast of Canterlot High School, nobody wanted anything to do with you, other than beat you mercilessly at Duel Monsters, you weren't actually...what's the word? Good. Despite being able to best your friends at the game, everyone else was a different story. After the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands, you were just forgotten, like...nobody even knew you existed anymore. But that would soon change, VERY soon. Outside of your dimension, there exists two worlds; Astral World and Barian World. These two worlds have been at war with each other for centuries, with no hope of victory for either. But little do they know that a power beyond any other will be released upon your world...and with this power, the fate of all three of these worlds will rest on your shoulders. Canterlot High School, 2:03 PM The Duel Fields outside of the building were being put to good use as students from CHS were Dueling each other in Duel Monsters, preparing their skills for the upcoming Friendship Games. You were just watching everyone with your two friends using your Duel Gazers, not willing to suffer a humiliating loss. "Hey, boss, wanna go out there and Duel?" Snips offered. You waved him off, "Nah, not today, pal." "But why?" Snails inquired, "You're the better Duelist out of the three of us." "But everyone else is better than me." Neither Snips nor Snails said anything else as the Duels continued. After a while, things began to wind down on the fields, so you and your friends decided to hang at your place. "Hey! (Y/N)!" You three stop at the voice that called out your name and turned to see who it is; it was none other than Rainbow Dash herself, the self-proclaimed best Duelist in CHS. Alongside her was her posse, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer, the latter of which you heard changed her ways at the Fall Formal event, now she's a better person, or so you heard. Part of you didn't want to believe it, because it could all be a ruse of some sort, some genius plan to double-cross her friends and take back her hold over the school. Rainbow brought your attention back to her as she raised her Duel Pad, "You up for a Duel?" You shake your head, "Not today, sorry." Every time one of them offered to Duel you, you've turned them down, couldn't risk your dignity any further than you already have, right? But Rainbow wasn't pleased with that answer, "Oh, c'mon! Just one Duel! You never Duel anybody anymore!" Your patience was already wearing thin, "Well, maybe it's because I don't wanna lose again, did you ever think of that?!" The girls and even your pals were taken aback by your sudden anger, you realized what you did and mumbled an apology before you ran out of there, with Snips and Snails following you. Rainbow recovered from her shock and tried to go after you, but Sunset held her back. "No, Rainbow, give them some time." she said. "But...!" Rainbow tried to protest. "She's right, Sugarcube," Applejack butted in, "everybody's too tightly wound up right now, let's wait till we all calm down." Rainbow looked like she was about argue again, but realized Applejack and Sunset had a point and sighed, "Alright..." she then looked determined, "But the next time we see (Y/N), we're going to Duel!" Home, 10:47 PM After returning home, you let Snips and Snails stay for dinner before sending them back to their own homes and you heading to bed. You fall asleep and dream... ...... All is quiet. You suddenly find yourself on an extremely narrow stone walkway, trying to keep your balance as you traverse the dream. Unseen winds blow, trying to knock you down as you keep going and keep your guard up in case another one blows through. Now at the end of the road, you see a massive double doors marked with an angry, demonic like face with chained wrapped around them every which way and a single hole in the center. For you, this door raised millions of red flags, practically begging you not to open it. "Beyond this door lies a great power......but to achieve great power, there is always great risk......have you the courage to open the door?......Have you the key?" "The...key?" you ask the voice. "Yes......without the key, the door cannot be opened......have you the key?" "I...don't know..." Just then, something shimmered in your hand, when you looked at it, you saw a weird looking triangle shaped object that had parts of its midsection missing, on top was a green jewel that was in the shape of a perfect sphere. "What is...?" "Have you......the key?" "Could...could this be the key?" you ask no one in particular, "Well, might as well, right? What do I have to lose?" You walk up to the door, despite your common sense's warnings, and insert the object in the hole, which you assumed to be the keyhole. Once you did, it shined brilliantly and forced you back, the doors opened and an even greater light came out, blinding you until you finally woke up in a cold sweat. You looked around frantically and found yourself back in your room, which made you heave a sigh of relief until you saw something on your desk. A Duel Monsters card. "Huh...that's strange, I could've sworn I put away all my cards in my card chest." you say as you get out of bed and make your way to the desk. You pick up the card and turn it around to see the face, but... "This card is blank! I don't have any blank cards." Suddenly, a dark mist seeped from the card and surrounded you, for some reason you felt every muscle in your body restraining themselves as if you were the one doing it, but you weren't. It's almost like...you were being controlled by something...something unnatural. "Yes, (Y/N)...let the Number take hold..." "What...?! Argh...let...go...!" "Yes...let the Number take hold..." "I said...let GO!!" A bright light enveloped the room, covering everything and nearly blinding you, even making you raise your arms to shield yourself. Once it died down, you saw that you were still holding the card, but whatever that mist was when you touched it was gone, the voice was absent as well. You have no idea what happened, but you push it to the back of your mind and read the card that was no longer blank. "Number 61: Volcasaurus...that's a new one." You read its attack and defense points, effect, and how to summon it, it appeared to be an Xyz Monster, but you're certain that there was no mention of any "Number" cards from the internet. You felt something dangling around your neck and saw the gold colored key with a string attached to it, making you jump since you know you've never it on you, except for the dream. "How...?" A knock came from your bedroom door, "Hey, (Y/N)? Are you okay? I heard yelling." It was your mom! You needed an excuse and fast! You couldn't just say, "I was almost possessed by a trading card, no worries". So instead you said... "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream." Your mom was silent for a time, then spoke again, "Okay. Let me know if you need anything before you go back to sleep." "Okay." You heard footsteps fading away from where you stood, it seems your mother had left. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. Crisis averted...for now, anyway. you thought. You had a strange feeling about tomorrow, but you push away your worries for tonight and just get some sleep, this time it was dreamless. Canterlot High School, 11:57 AM You always enjoyed math class, it really helped your Dueling ability since you needed to know basic math for the game. You breezed through questions easily, it wasn't exactly basic math, more advanced like, but you knew the material by heart and was able to finish before the bell rang for lunch. You stood up, walked past the desks, and handed your paper to Miss Cheerilee, who in turn gave you a bright smile. "(Y/N), excellent as usual." she complimented as you return to your desk. As you pass by, Rainbow decided to give you some choice words, "As least you're good at something, since you stink at Duel Monsters." You were about to retort, but Miss Cheerilee beat you to it. "Well, Miss Dash, since you feel that way, you can stay after class for lunch period." You and the rest of the class, except her friends, started to chuckle at her, making Rainbow growl in frustration as you continued on. "Shoulda kept yer big mouth shut, Rainbow." Applejack scolded. Rainbow was about to lash out, but Applejack was, as the age old saying, saved by the bell and everybody, except Rainbow was exiting the classroom in a hurry to grab lunch for the day. You were in no hurry as you carefully organized your belongings in your backpack and began to take your leave. "(Y/N)! Could you wait a second?" You stopped when Miss Cheerilee called to you and walked to her desk, "Yes?" She waved Rainbow over to her, "Miss Dash, could you come here?" Rainbow grumbled and stood up, joining you and your teacher, "Yeah?" "Rainbow, I hate to tell you this, but you are failing this class." "What?! But I always turn my work in on time!" "I understand that, but I don't think you understand the material, I mean, none of the answers on any of your work is correct." Rainbow was about to deny what she said, until she realized that her teacher had a point. "Which leads me to why I called you over, (Y/N)," Miss Cheerilee turned to you, "I would like you to be Miss Dash's tutor." "WHAT?!" Rainbow shrieked, "But (he/she)'s a lose--" "I would strongly advise you to NOT finish that sentence, Miss Dash." Miss Cheerilee advised with a fierce look, making Rainbow cower. "I chose (Y/N) specifically because (his/her) grades are nearly phenomenal in my class, and (he/she) would be the perfect tutor for you. Unless of course...you don't wish to participate in any sports." "Hey! You can't do that!" "I can and I will. If your grades in this class don't improve, I'll have to inform the coach to make you sit out of every sport you're a part of." "But I'm the captain of EVERY team here!" "Then you realize how high the stakes are, Miss Dash." Rainbow gritted her teeth at this and turned to you, it was obvious that you were her only hope of helping her teammates in sports...and she hated that. "Fine...have it your way." Miss Cheerilee smiled, "I'm glad you finally understand. Try and make time for studying, both of you." You both nodded and left the classroom. Rainbow got a little too close for comfort and growled into your ear. "Let's get one thing straight; I don't like you, and you don't like me, but I need your help to pass this class so I can still play sports. So this is how it's gonna work: after school and after hanging out at the Duel Fields, you and I are headed to your place to study up, and make sure you help me understand everything, got it?!" you nod. "Good. Glad we're on the same page. See ya." Rainbow left you in the hallway after storming off, making you ponder to yourself. Guess I don't have a choice here...and I don't want CHS to lose every sport because of me, so my hands are pretty much tied...might as well make the most of it. Immediately, you realized something crucial... "Aw, nuts! I'm gonna miss lunch!" With nothing else on your mind but food, you run as fast as you possibly can to the cafeteria, hoping to snag something good before it was too late. Duel Fields, 2:05 PM Once school was over for the day, you went to the fields to wait for Rainbow Dash and her friends to show up. As the Duels continued and you spectated, Snips and Snails came up to you. "Hey, boss!" Snips greeted, "Where were ya today?" "Yeah," Snails added, "we looked everywhere for ya!" You smile, "Sorry guys, had a lot on my mind." Snips and Snails cocked their heads to the side, "Like what?" Snips asked. You explained to them the situation with you and Rainbow, that you have no choice but to tutor her in math, making your friends gasp in shock. "Are ya serious?!" Snips asked, incredulously. "You're gonna be in BIG trouble if you can't help Rainbow!" Snails warned. "Yeah, don't remind me." you turn away from them and back to the Duel Fields, "The fate of our school's sports teams depends on both of us." Snip and Snails were sad and worried for their friend, you were never this upset about anything other than losing Duels. "Hey!" The three of you turn to see Rainbow and her friends approaching, and Rainbow was the only one with a scowl on her face. "Duel. Now." You sigh, "Rainbow..." "Don't 'Rainbow' me! You owe me this! Right now!" You want to argue, convince her that you don't want to do this, but it doesn't look like she's going to let up on this. Plus, her friends look too nervous to do anything. "...Fine. But I can't guarantee that I'll be any good." Rainbow nodded in finality and guided you to one of the empty Duel Fields and prepared herself for a Duel. "Duel Pad, activate!" Rainbow declared as she attached her sky blue colored device to her wrist and a flap opened out of it, which was the placement for the Monster Card Zones. "Duel Gazer, activate!" she then placed an eyepiece on her left eye and pressed a button on top of it to turn it on. You looked nervous as you went through the same motions and declarations as Rainbow did, only yours were less enthusiastic and your Duel Pad was a flame red color. "AR Vision link established." the automated voice from their Duel Pad droned. "Let's Duel!" you both shouted as your Duel began. Rainbow Dash: 4000 LP (Y/N): 4000 LP Meanwhile... Inside Canterlot High School, Newspaper Production Room... Silver Spoon was waiting for her best friend, Diamond Tiara, to finish reading her report; Silver had just written all the details on all the Duelists in CHS, even their win-loss ratio, and wanted to give it to Diamond, who was also in charge of the school newspaper, so she could get it in print, as per Diamond's ~~demand~~ request. Diamond had just finished reading and turned her attention to Silver. "So this is all of them?" she asked. "Uh-huh." Silver answered. "Even those losers and that loser boss of theirs?" "Yeah." Silver just realized something, "Did you forget their names already? I thought you read it all." "Oh, I did." Diamond tossed the report back into Silver's arms, "Nobody cares to know their names anymore, so why bother?" "Oh...yeah, good point." Silver responded wearingly. "Get this in the paper immediately for tomorrow." Diamond gets up from the chair she was sitting at, "I'm gonna give myself a reward for such a job well done. Since Sunset Shimmer isn't the school bully anymore, this will be our chance to rise. And we'll start with being the best Duelists in all of CHS! It'll be easy, since we now know all of the students' cards and strategies." Diamond laughed haughtily as she left the room, Silver being left behind to oversee the report being added to the newspaper. She walked over to the printing press to begin her job, "...Hmph. That Diamond Tiara, stepping on other people to get what she wants. Why does she have to be so cold? If I was as cold as her, I'd show her a thing or two about being nice." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a card on the floor next to the printing press, she stopped what she was doing and decided to check it out. "Is that...a Duel Monsters card?" Silver picked it up, "Nowadays, you don't just leave any lying around." After she said that, a sinister mist was seeping from the card and surrounded her, unable to escape. Then, she started hearing an ominous voice. "Yes, Silver Spoon...let the Number take hold..." "N-Number?! What are you...?! Why are you...?! AHHHHHHHH!!!" Silver tried to struggle out of the card's control, but it was no use, it had a firm grip on her. Then, she stopped as the mist fully seeped inside her, she was just standing there with a glare coming from her glasses, blocking her eyes. Below her right eye, a number 19 appeared and marked her, just before Diamond came back with an agitated look in her features. "Silver Spoon! I didn't order you to scream! I ordered you to get that report in print!" she yelled. Silver chuckled at her shouting, finding it funny for some reason. "Hey! Why are you laughing?!" Silver slowly turned around to face her so called friend and glare left her glasses, revealing an empty look in her eyes as she grinned maliciously. Diamond took a step back, obviously not expecting such a look from her gal pal. "Okay, Silver...if you're trying to scare me, you win...just stop looking at me like that." Her words only proceeded to make the number on Silver's face glow as she pulled out her Duel Pad, "You wanna be the best Duelist in CHS, eh? Do you really think no one else knew what your Deck contained? Well, I do, and I'm challenging you to a Duel! And the winner gets to do whatever they want with Canterlot High!" Diamond quickly regained her bearings and brought out her own Duel Pad, "Fine then! I never expected you to betray me like this, but you'll regret it soon enough!" Silver sneered, "Quite the contrary, you'll regret learning the hard way that anyone can be as cold as you, maybe even colder." The two readied their Duel Pads, Duel Gazers, and each drew five cards. "Let's Duel!" Silver Spoon: 4000 LP Diamond Tiara: 4000 LP 20 Minutes Later... Duel Fields Rainbow Dash just finished off your Life Points with her most powerful monster, knocking you flat on your back. Rainbow Dash: 4000 LP (Y/N): 500 - 2500 = 0 LP WINNER: Rainbow Dash The Augmented Reality dissipated as you got up into a sitting position, Snips and Snails came to your aid, but you waved them off, saying you were fine. Rainbow and her friends walked over to your sitting form with looks of skepticism on their faces. "What?" you ask. "Dude...were you even trying?" Rainbow asked you. "Huh?" "Seriously, you had a bunch of chances for attacks, combos, everything that could've beaten me! So why take the beating I dish out when you could've won?" "...Because I stink at this game. There's no point in trying." Rainbow sighed, "...Okay, how about this? After we study tonight, I'll teach you some pointers on your Deck and give you a little confidence boost." You look up at her, suspicion written all over your face, "Why?" "Because...you have potential, and I'm sorry for giving you a hard time, really I am." You continue to stare at her, searching for any kind of deception, but you couldn't find any. With a sigh from yourself, you stand up and hold your hand out, prompting her to shake it, which she did, sealing the deal between you two. "AHHHHHHHH!!!" You let go of her hand and look around frantically, "What was that?!" "It sounded like it came from inside the school!" Fluttershy said. You ran past them, "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Snips and Snails ran after you, desperately trying to keep up, "Wait for us, boss!" The girls snapped out of their stupor from your sudden courage and rush inside the building, looking for whoever screamed. Back to the Duel inside the Production Room, Diamond Tiara was staring at the monster Silver Spoon summoned in fear, "W-What the heck IS that thing?!" "The instrument of your demise!" Silver declared, "Go, Freezadon! ATTACK!" The monster blasted the pink skinned girl with a ray of freezing wind, forcing her to the floor with scream. Silver Spoon: 4000 LP Diamond Tiara: 1000 - 2000 = 0 LP WINNER: Silver Spoon The AR vision link faded away as Silver removed her Duel Gazer and looked over at a nearby computer. She sneered as she had a wicked idea, she walked over to the computer and ripped a disk tower out from the cords it was attached to and went over to Diamond's crumpled form. Diamond herself looked up and saw what Silver was doing. "H-Hey! You won! Don't do anything crazy!" That only made Silver grin devilishly as she raised the disk tower over her head, ready to smash Diamond's head in. "What are you doing?!" "Getting rid of one potential problem in this world!" she prepared to drop the tower on Diamond, "DIE!" Diamond braced herself for the assault as Silver brought the disk tower down... BANG!! ...Until the door slammed open and you grabbed the tower out of her hands, then body slamming her away from Diamond. "What are you, crazy?!" you shouted as a tossed the tower aside, "You're gonna hurt somebody doing something like that!!" Silver growled, "This has nothing to do with you! Diamond's getting what's coming to her!" she then looked like she just realized something and chuckled, "Oh, I know you...you're that loser of a Duelist." You just glare at her. "I think I know what to do, how about a Duel? If I win, I get to do with Diamond Tiara whatever I please! And if you win, I'll stop. Deal?" "Don't agree to that! You stink, remember?!" Diamond said to you. You spare an unamused glance at her, "Thanks for the vote of confidence..." you turn back to Silver, "And I accept your terms, because I'm not losing this time." Silver laughed and put her Duel Gazer back on, "Oh, really? You should've been a comedian, because THAT was funny!" You snort at her mocking words and ready your Duel Pad and Duel Gazer. "AR Vision link established." "Let's Duel!" you both declared as you and her drew five cards. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 4000 LP To Be Continued... Author's Note Key: (Y/N) = Your name (his/her) = his or her, whichever gender the reader is (he/she) = he or she, whichever gender the reader is My writing style on this story was adapted from DeviantArt.
Chapter 1: A Duel Heated At Sub-zero DegreesPreviously on Hunter of Numbers... A brand new card game has taken Canterlot by storm and it's called, "Duel Monsters". It has become so popular that technology has somewhat evolved to assist this trading card game; Duel Pads, which are really modified tablets, can transform into devices that can make the monsters come to life virtually, with the help of the Duel Gazer eyepieces to see the Duels that take place with AR (Augmented Reality) Vision Link. This game was loved and played by many people, it usually became good, friendly competition...that is, until, something happened. One night, after your usual spectating of the Canterlot High Duel Fields, you had a strange dream, that immediately afterwards, you found a weird Duel Monsters card that nearly possessed you, but somehow, you were able to resist its influence. Now, you were facing off against Silver Spoon, who had eerily done a complete 180 on her personality, nearly killed her best friend, Diamond Tiara, and plans to rule CHS with an iron fist! But are her actions truly her own, or is someone or something pulling the strings...? The sun was close to setting as the day began to wind down, Duelists leaving the school having finished their fun for today. But there is still activity going on within the school, Silver and yourself were beginning a soon to be fierce Duel, and the stakes were pretty high at the moment. "Since you challenged me, I'll go first. I draw!" you declared as you drew a card from your Deck. You looked over your hand and pulled out a card, placing it on Monster Card Zone vertically, "I play Darkfire Soldier #1 in Attack Mode!" a large holographic image of the card appeared in front of you and out came a man with long blonde hair, wearing shoulder pads held up by two white straps, a red bandana wrapped around his forehead, an arm brace on each arm, holding a scimitar, and wearing nothing else other than the fire cloaking the rest of his body (Darkfire Soldier #1: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1150), "Then I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn!" you did so, and two holographic facedown cards appeared behind your monster. Silver sneered, "That's it? Alright then, I draw!" she drew a card and her sinister smile grew, "I play Ice Hand in Attack Mode!" she placed a card on her own Monster Card Zone vertically and an image of that card appeared and a hand made out of ice and metal appendages with a vein at the end having a smaller hand came up (Ice Hand: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1600). The girls and your pals showed up before the Duel started and put on their Duel Gazers along with Diamond Tiara to watch everything unfold, but something troubled Applejack, "Ah don't get it, why would Silver play a monster weaker than (Y/N)'s own monster?" "...To draw (him/her) in for an attack." Diamond said, shocking the group, "She did the same thing with me, tricking me into attacking so she could play her combo." "So let's warn (him/her)!" Pinkie suggested. "No." Rainbow stopped her, "(Y/N) has to figure it out for (himself/herself), this Duel will prove that when the stake are high, (he/she)'ll start getting real...and the stakes have never been higher than this." Diamond gulped, "You don't have to tell me twice." she looked back at you and thought, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I hope you win, (Y/N). You stare at Silver's monster, What's the deal? Her monster's weaker than mine, so why summon it? your stare then intensified, This is a trap just waiting to be sprung. I gotta be careful. "I'll end my turn with a facedown card!" Silver placed a card facedown in one of her Spell/Trap Card Zones, making it appear behind her monster like yours did. "Fine then, I draw!" You drew another card and got a good look at it, Raigeki Break! One of my favorite Trap cards! If I activate it, I can destroy one card on the field as long as I discard a card from my hand...this could be useful, better hang on to it till the time is right. "I place another card facedown!" you did so in your Spell/Trap Card Zone and made the hologram one appear, "Then, I summon Fire Hand in Attack Mode!" once you played the monster card vertically, the card showed up on the field and a hand appeared similar to the one Silver had out, only it has fire rather than ice (Fire Hand: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000), "With that, I'll end my turn." "Two Level 4 monsters? And (he/she) just ended (his/her) turn?!" Rainbow asked, incredulously. "Now, hold on there, Dash," Applejack quelled, "(Y/N) might be plannin' somethin'." Diamond looked anxious, "I hope you're right..." "No attacks?" Silver asked you, then sneered, "You're on to me. You think that my monster has a special ability that will activate if you destroy it, right?" you nod. "Well, you guessed right! But that won't help you in the long run! Now, I draw!" Silver pulled out a card from her Deck, "And I'll activate the card I drew, Graceful Charity! It allows me to draw three cards as long as I discard two!" Silver did exactly as she said and drew three cards while discarding two, "Before I do anything else, I'll set another facedown card! Next, I play the Spell card, Monster Slots from my hand! To use it, I have to select a monster I have on my field and a monster in my Graveyard, then I remove the monster in my Graveyard from play, and I draw a card, if it's a monster with the same level as the two I chose, I get to Special Summon it!" "What?!" you shout. "First, I choose the only monster on my field: Ice Hand! Then, I choose a monster in my Graveyard to banish from the game, and I choose...a copy of my Ice Hand that I discarded thanks to Graceful Charity!" "Seriously?! You have more than one?!" But Silver ignored your exclamation, "Now...I draw!" Silver drew her next card smiled evilly, "Yes! I Special Summon...yet another Ice Hand!" a copy of her first monster appeared on the field next to it. "OH, C'MON!" "But guess what? I'm still not done! I Normal Summon my Changer Synchron in Attack Mode!" Silver placed a monster card on her Duel Pad and its card appeared on the field, coming out of it was a short little robot with wings and a flip-switch on its head (Changer Synchron: Lv. 1 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 0). "Wait...that's a Tuner monster!" "Right again! Now I'll tune my Level 1 Changer Synchron with my Level 4 Ice Hand to Synchro Summon...Frozen Fitzgerald!" Silver sends two of her monsters to the Graveyard, then reaches into her Extra Deck and summons it, calling forth a sinister looking pillar-like creature with icicles protruding out of it (Frozen Fitzgerald: Lv. 5 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2500), "Then, I'll tribute my other Ice Hand to Tribute Summon...Dragon Ice!" she put her weaker monster in the Graveyard and replaced it with a new monster, which looked like a bipedal ice like dragon complete with wings and tail (Dragon Ice: Lv. 5 / ATK: 1800 / DEF: 2200), "Next, I'll activate my Changer Synchron's ability from my Graveyard! When it's sent there via Synchro Summon, I can change the battle position of one of your monsters! And I choose Darkfire Soldier #1!" your monster went from an offensive position and a defensive position, since you were forced to turn your monster card from vertically to horizontally. Diamond's went wide in horror, "Oh no..." "What is it?" Sunset asked. "She's gonna Xyz Summon!" "But I don't remember Silver Spoon having any Rank 5 Xyz monsters." Snips said. "And we should know, we lost to her many times!" Snails added. Diamond shook her head, "Trust me, she does...and it's a killer." Silver suddenly began to smile even creepier, "Ahahahahaha!! I overlay my Level 5 Dragon Ice and Frozen Fitzgerald to build an Overlay Network!!" the portal for Xyz Summoning appeared, but instead of the usual red portal, this one was more galactic-like, as if it were another galaxy, "I Xyz Summon...Number 19: Freezadon!!" just as she said that, the portal exploded and revealed a giant frozen spear, then it began to transform into a massive bipedal dinosaur with two wingspans. Number 19: Freezadon Rank: 5 Attribute: Water Type: Dinosaur/Xyz/Effect ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500 Description: 2 Level 5 monsters Once per turn, if an Xyz Monster you control would activate an effect by detaching an Xyz Material(s), you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead of 1 of those Xyz Materials. "Now, I have the most powerful monster in the world at my command!! And all of CHS shall bow before me!!" Silver declared as she cackled like a madwoman. This girl has lost her marbles. you thought, Still...I got a bad feeling about that card, almost like I've seen something like it before... "Wait a second!" Rainbow interrupted, "Frozen Fitzgerald had more Attack Points than that...thing over there! What's she thinking?! This Duel is getting weirder by the minute!" "Not to mention scary..." Fluttershy mumbled, noticing Silver's abnormal behavior. "Now! Freezadon, attack (his/her) Fire Hand!" As she said that, her Number monster charged up an attack and blasted it toward your Fire Hand, but little did she realize that you still had three facedown cards on your field. "I activate the Trap card, Magic Cylinder! With this card, I can negate your attack and send all of Freezadon's attack back to you, dealing its total number of Attack Points as damage!" Freezadon's blast went inside one of the two cylinders that appeared from your Trap card and it left out the other back to Silver Spoon, the force of the onslaught knocking her off her feet. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 4000 - 2000 = 2000 LP Silver stood up, hardly fazed by the blast, "Urg...cheap shot..." she pressed a button on her Duel Pad and declared, "I'll see your Trap and raise you with one of my own! Breakthrough Skill! This card allows me to select one Effect Monster card on your side of the field and its abilities are negated until the end of this turn!" suddenly, Fire Hand looked like it was weak, "And since Fire Hand is the only Effect Monster on your field, I choose that!" "But your turn's just about over! Why activate it now?" you ask. Silver sneered even more, "So I can play this!" she activated another Trap card, "Needle Wall! Now, I have to roll a six-sided die, and I count by ones on your Monster Card Zones from my right to my left, then whatever number the die lands on between 1 and 5, I get to destroy a monster on that spot! But if it's a 6, I have to roll again." "WHAT?!" everyone shouted. Just then, a big hologram six-sided die appeared above Silver's head, "Go, dice roll!" the die rolled onto the field and landed on 4, "Let's see...1..." no monster was there, "2..." there stood Darkfire Soldier #1, "3..." no monster there either, "...and 4!" and there stood Fire Hand, which shattered into shards of light, "I knew that Fire Hand had an ability that activates whenever it's destroyed by battle or card effect, that's why I got rid of it's abilities, so I could destroy it without suffering the penalty!" You growled. "And I'll end my turn there for now." "Grr...alright, I draw!" you did so and made your move, "I'll start by switching my Soldier back into Attack Mode!" you switched the card from horizontal to vertical and the monster changed its battle position, "Then, I'll have him attack your Freezadon!" your monster charged forward for an attack. "Dimwit!!" Rainbow yelled, "Your monster is weaker than hers!!" "Not for long, if I play the Spell card, Ego Boost! I can only activate it when my monster attacks, and that monster gains 1000 Attack Points until the End Phase!" your Soldier began glowing with light green energy flowing into it (Darkfire Soldier #1 / ATK: 1700 + 1000 = 2700), "Now destroy her Freezadon!" Your monster sliced the frozen behemoth with its scimitar, creating an explosion with hologram smoke covering the battlefield. "Uh, yeah! That's right! I, uh, totally knew you had that card, heh-heh..." Rainbow nervously said as her friends gave her deadpan looks, completely unconvinced by her words. Silver just began chuckling, then cackling once more, "Ahahahahahahaha!! You really thought it was gonna be THAT easy?!" "What?" you ask. "Just look!!" Silver pointed at the smoke cloud that began to dissipate... ...to reveal that Freezadon was still on the field. "Hey! That's not fair!" Applejack accused, "(Y/N) destroyed that thing!" "Yeah, what gives?!" Snips asked. Silver turned to her viewers, "You really wanna know? Alright, I'll tell you. A Number monster can only be destroyed...by ANOTHER Number monster." "But...our boss doesn't have a Number monster..." Snails said, dejectedly. "Exactly!! And even though my monster wasn't destroyed, I still took damage from that attack." Silver looked at her Life Points as a good sized chunk diminished from it. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 2000 - 700 = 1300 LP "Where did Silver Spoon get a powerful monster like that?!" Sunset asked. You glare at Freezadon, I have a bad feeling that I think I know, Sunset... then you looked at Silver, The same thing almost happened to me when I picked up...wait! you pull out the Xyz Monster that you received last night, Number 61: Volcasaurus...maybe it could work, but I need two Level 5 monsters to Xyz Summon it... you look at your hand, which consisted of Graceful Charity and Ancient Rules, I hope this works... "I play my own Graceful Charity Spell card!" you drew three cards; Aitsu, Monster Reborn, and Star Changer, then discarded Ancient Rules and Aitsu, "Now, I'll activate Monster Reborn, and bring back the monster I discarded: Aitsu!" a purple portal appeared from the floor and out came a red bipedal faceless figure standing on a paper airplane (Aitsu: Lv. 5 / ATK: 100 / DEF: 100). "Are you crazy?!" Rainbow shouted, "That thing's weak!" You smile, "You'll see." you continue with the rest of your turn, "Next, I activate the Quick-play Spell card, Star Changer! And with it, I can change my Soldier's Level from 4 to 5!" your monster's Level appeared in front of it and it had another star added to it. "Hang on! Boss doesn't have a Rank 5 Xyz Monster, what is (he/she) thinking?!" Snips said. "Now I overlay my Level 5 Aitsu and now Level 5 Darkfire Soldier #1 to build an Overlay Network!" your monsters turned into orbs of energy and floated into a galaxy portal much like Silver's, "Sorry guys, but I have to do this!" "Huh?" everyone uttered. "I Xyz Summon...Number 61: Volcasaurus!" the portal exploded and revealed an orb with two spikes sticking out of the top and bottom, the orb hatched open and out came a dinosaur like Freezadon, except it was red and orange with spears for hands and its own fiery wingspan. Number 61: Volcasaurus Rank: 5 Attribute: Fire Type: Dinosaur/Xyz/Effect ATK: 2500 DEF: 1000 Description: 2 Level 5 monsters Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; destroy that opponent's monster, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK. This card cannot attack your opponent directly during the turn you activate this effect. Silver suddenly wasn't looking so confident, "What?! But how?!" she shook her head, "It doesn't matter! I can still beat you!" You smirk, "Don't count on it, because I'm activating my monster's special ability!" Volcasaurus devoured one of its Overlay Units, "You see, when I remove one of Volcasaurus's Overlay Units, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field and inflict damage to you by the complete total of your monster's Attack Points! And I choose Freezadon!" "What?! No way!!" "Yes way! Now Volcasaurus, let's save Miss Tiara, shall we? Blast Silver Spoon's Life Points away and end this Duel!" Volcasaurus had a spike on both its sides that opened up and shot out two fiery beams that destroyed Freezadon and went for Silver, knocking her off her feet. (Y/N): 4000 LP Silver Spoon: 1300 - 2000 = 0 LP WINNER: (Y/N) As the AR Vision Link disconnected, Snips and Snails came barreling towards you frantically, but you stepped to the side so they wouldn't knock you down. "Boss, that was amazing!" Snips said. "Yeah, you beat a powerful monster like it was no sweat!" Snails agreed. "Yeah, well..." you rub the back your head, "A life was at stake, so I had to step up." Suddenly, a light came from Silver chest and out came an orb that floated above her. "...You guys are seeing this, right?" Snips and Snails just nod dumbly, as if entranced by the orb. It hovered over to you and raised your hand up to touch it, only for it to take form of a card, the light died down to reveal Silver Spoon's Number card, Number 19: Freezadon. "Coooool." Snips and Snails said in awe. Just then, Silver struggled to sit up as she looked at you, "Thank...you...(Y/N)..." with that, she passed out. Diamond walked over to you three, staring Sliver's unconscious body, "What was that about?" "I don't think she was in control of her own actions." you said. "What? You mean...someone MADE her do this?" "Ehh...something like that. Right now, it's just a hunch." you point to Silver, "Boys, get her to the infirmary." Snips and Snails saluted, "Got it, boss!" They went to pick up Silver and took her out of the printing room and to the aforementioned infirmary. Diamond went to follow them, "I'll go with them, just to make sure she's okay." she stops, "And (Y/N)..." she turns to face you with a smile, "...Thanks." You smile back as Diamond continued to go after her friend. You proceed to leave since your job was done. "Welp, no reason to stick around here." you pass the girls, who were still dumbstruck over the whole thing, "Shall we?" Rainbow recovered quickly, "...Hold the phone." she went after you as the rest of them recovered and followed, "Whoa, hold up!" "What?" "Whataya mean, 'what'?! Back there, that was amazing! When did you finally get serious?!" "To be honest...I really don't know." "Well, it doesn't matter, you're still tutoring me tonight, and I gotta show ya some combos you can use for your Deck!" "Really, Rainbow, you don't have to..." "I WANT to." You hesitate, but give in, "Okay, you're on." "Great! Let's go!" Rainbow drags you by the arm to your place as the other girls went home. And this was how your days as a Number Hunter began...
Chapter 2: Letting Off Some SteamAuthor's Note This chapter's mainly about relaxing after a hard fought Duel last chapter, so there may not be much, it'll also introduce two new characters near the end of it. The chapter after this one will be back to business as usual, so be on the lookout! Chapter 2: Letting Off Some Steam After your first run-in with a "Number Keeper" as you now called those who wield Number cards, you tutored Rainbow for the next few days to help her understand the material, and as promised, she taught you some combinations you could use in the future. You honestly thought you might need them, since there may be more Number Keepers out there, your theory of the cards possessing the people who hold them still fresh in your mind. You decided that this was too much on you and that you need to use the weekend to decompress yourself and unwind for a bit. During one of your tutoring sessions with Rainbow, Silver Spoon came and apologized for her behavior, as a token of her apology and friendship, she gave you one of her many copies of her Ice Hand monster card. You thank her and ask if she could join you two, she agreed, of course, Rainbow was hesitant after what happened, but eventually let her guard down when she saw that Silver was back to her old self. After her parents picked her up, you began to have a chat with Rainbow about the Numbers you've collected. "...I can't read that." Rainbow said, looking at Volcasaurus in your hand. "I know, but I can. It's weird, right?" you ask. "Very weird, I mean, nobody's even heard of these cards, and yet, here they are. Also, why make cards that only certain people can read? It doesn't make sense!" "Yeah..." you know Rainbow has a point, you're even starting to believe that they aren't from this world. Rainbow noticed you deep in thought and roused you out of it, "Hey, maybe we should take a break for today," she stood up, stretching, "besides, I'm meeting my friends at the mall today, you wanna come with?" "Well...Snips and Snails are busy today...okay, I'll come." "Great! I'll get my things together and we'll get going!" After helping Rainbow pack up her studying supplies, you two made a quick stop at her home to drop off her things, then head to the mall, where her friends are waiting. Not long after arriving, the girls immediately went to shopping; Rarity and Sunset into a fashionable clothing store, Fluttershy and Applejack to a pet store, Rainbow a sports store, and Pinkie to a party store. You? You went to a shop that sold Duel Monster cards so you could amp up your Deck with ice cards along with the Ice Hand Silver Spoon gave you. You prefer the FIRE attribute, but if you're going to use Freezadon in future Duels, you're going to have to adapt to other attributes. You bought a couple booster packs from the shopkeeper and opened them to see what you got; in the first pack, you got Penguin Soldier, Cold Enchanter, Snowdust Dragon, Snowdust Giant, and Caravan of the Ice Barrier, next was the second pack, inside was Fortune Lady Fire, Fortune Lady Water, Future Visions, Terraforming, and Slip of Fortune. After you collected your new cards, you exited the shop only to see that the girls weren't done yet. You decide to chill at the food court and order your favorite food. Once you paid the cashier, you sat down at a nearby table to wait for your food, soon enough, the girls finally finished their shopping and joined you at your table after ordering their own meals. Rainbow spoke to you first, "So, didja find anything ya like?" "Yeah." you answered as you showed her your new cards. Rainbow whistled, "Nice selection, but I thought you liked FIRE attributed monsters." "I do, but I think it's time I adapted a little bit." "Sounds like a good idea, since the Friendship Games are coming up," Sunset added, "I even heard there's going to be a section for Duel Monsters this year." "Really?" you asked, interested. "Eeyup," Applejack mimicked her brother, "We all plan ta tryout fer the Games, you in?" "Well..." "An' don't even try ta be coy about Duelin', y'all have shown us that yer better than yer lettin' on." You hum in thought, then sigh, "...Okay." The girls cheered in victory as Pinkie spoke up, "Oh! And you might wanna not use those creepy Number thingies! If they've never been heard of, then people will think you're cheating!" "No problem, I'll hold off on them." you thought of something before adding, "But if the students of Crystal Prep has any of those Number cards, all bets are off." "Fair enough," Sunset agreed, "Maybe we should look over our Decks before trying out when the weekend's over." "Uh-huh!" the girls chimed in. We all decided to look our Duel Monster Decks over until our food was delivered to us, then we stopped and ate before we figured we'd been here long enough and went our separate ways for the day. "Hey, (Y/N)!" Rainbow called as you walked away, "Same time tomorrow?" "Yeah! See you then!" you call back. With that, you continued on your way back home, once there you washed up and got ready for dinner, afterwards you retired to your room and added your new cards to your Deck, especially the Ice Hand card Silver gave you. Meanwhile... In the darkness of the night, a hooded person that appeared to be a male was running through the streets, desperate to get to his destination. Once he did, he looked up at it in anticipation; a rundown old warehouse just near the pier of Canterlot. With a sneer, he entered and went through the area as if he knew the layout, and finally reached the room he was looking for, which was filled with computers, maps marked with numbers, and pictures of people on corkboards. He walked up to the large chair facing away from him and kneeled, "Master..." "Did you get it?" a soothing voice spoke. "The child was trouble, but I got it." he pulled out a Duel Monsters card, more specifically, an Xyz Monster card, and handed it to the being known as "Master". "Hmm..." the being stroked their chin and pocketed the card, "...Well done. You may take the night off." He stood up and bowed, "Thank you, Master, I shall take my leave." "Wait." He stopped before he could exit. "Before you go, I want to make a point: when the other Number Hunters aren't here, I don't want you to refer to me as 'Master', too formal for a loyal person like you, Cosine." "Then...what shall I refer you as?" The being spun around to look at Cosine with a piercing cat-like eye, "Just Gazing. Gazing Eye."
Chapter 3: Friendship Games TryoutsSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 4: Cooking CalamityAuthor's Note I forgot to mention, the Duels in this fanfic will ignore the new rule I've heard of: on the first turn you can't draw as well as battle. Apparently it was made in 2014, but I'm not abiding that rule in this story Chapter 4: Cooking Calamity Canterlot High School, 11:34 AM After the first half of school was done and over with, you were now on your way to lunch to see what you can snag to eat. Before you left your math class, you heard from Miss Cheerilee that Rainbow's grades are getting better and that she'll be able to participate in the Friendship Games at the end of the week. You felt a little pride in yourself for helping Rainbow pass, you two were at each other's throats at first, but became good friends in the end, unfortunately she wasn't out of the woods just yet, Rainbow has a test at the end of the Friendship Games that you need to prepare her for, since it counts as half of her final grade, you hope that she can ace it, especially with all the studying you two went through. Before you knew it, Rainbow and the rest of the girls joined you in your walk to the cafeteria, but you wondered where Snips and Snails were today. "Hey, (Y/N), did you hear? There's new food being released in the cafeteria and a lot of people were chosen to be taste testers for it." In your mind, that would explain where your buddies went. "Really? Hmm..." "Ah, don't think too much on it," Rainbow said, "I'm sure Granny Smith is planning something big for the students." "But the weird thang is, Granny never told me 'bout this, and she tells me everythang!" Applejack countered. You get two feelings at this moment; deja vu and a gnawing pit in your stomach, and not from being hungry, you can't help but sense something is very wrong. "Lunch?! They call THAT lunch?!" You look in front of you to see a bunch of disappointed students walking away from the cafeteria, even Trixie Lulamoon, who was the one who spoke among the dissatisfied students. You stopped her with a hand, "Hey, what's going on?" "What's going on is that fool of a cafeteria volunteer cooked up the worst lunch Trixie has ever tasted! Trixie is going to the principals about this!" With that, she stomped off, ready to inform the principals of this development. "Wonder what that was all about?" Sunset said. "Boss!" You looked to see Snips and Snails rushing towards you, "Guys, what's wrong?" "Some guy is cooking terrible food, and...and..." Snips stuttered. "Then let's tell Granny Smith." you suggested. "But that's just it!" Snails took over, "He's not letting her in the cafeteria!" "WHAT?!" Applejack screeched before running off. You sigh, "Better go after her before she does something drastic." You dash towards the cafeteria with your pals right behind you, hoping that your gut feeling was wrong... CHS Cafeteria, 11:40 AM You barge in the double doors, letting in Granny Smith, who was locked out of the employee entrance, and seeing a strange sight; a guy wearing a chef's hat and an apron over his clothes, cooking something that smells disgusting from where you stood with his bangs covering his eyes and a crazed smile. Applejack came in behind you since you beat her to the cafeteria as the others arrived and held their noses to protect themselves from the stench. "Sweet Celestia, what is that smell?!" Sunset exclaimed. "I don't know, but it's quite horrid!" Rarity added. "Ma Granny would never allow food ta smell like this!" Applejack said. But the "chef" didn't take kindly to your friends' choice of words, "You peons couldn't even begin to appreciate the quality of my cooking!" "Like your taste testers did?" Rainbow questioned. "Bah! I just had a misjudgment with my choice in taste testers, that's all." "Maybe you should get a new cookbook, cause even I don't burn cupcakes that smell THIS bad!" Pinkie stated. "Hang on. Look." you point at the side of the chef's neck, which showed the number 59. "Do you think—" Sunset began. "—This miserable excuse of a cook has a Number card." you finished. "MISERABLE?!" a dark aura shrouded the guy as he grew angrier, but calmed down as an idea popped into his head, "...How about a Duel?" "Huh?" you and your friends all said, confused. "If I win, you'll be my guinea pig for my next batch of food, and if you win, I'll let Granny Smith take back over. Deal?" "Don't do it, (Y/N), it's not worth it." Snips tried to talk you out of it. But you knew you had no choice, if what's happening to this guy is what you think, then this is something you have to do. "...You got yourself a deal." you say to your opponent, making everyone even Granny Smith gasp. He grins wide as he prepares his Duel Pad and Duel Gazer as you do the same. "May I ask for the name of my opponent?" "Name's Shining Spoon." he said. "Alright, now..." "Let's Duel!" you both declared. (Y/N): 4000 LP Shining Spoon: 4000 LP "The chef gets first taste, I draw!" Shining said, beginning the Duel, "And I think I'll start by placing a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." "That's it? Well, in that case, I draw!" you drew your card and played your new monster, "I summon Fortune Lady Fire in Attack Mode!" the monster that came out looked like a sorceress wearing a black and blue body suit with a red blouse and skirt holding a staff-like cane with a fiery blossom within the curled tip (Fortune Lady Fire: Lv. 2 / ATK: ? / DEF: ?), "Then her ability activates! Her Attack and Defense Points are equal to its level times 200!" Fortune Lady Fire began to glow in a warm light (ATK: 400 / DEF: 400), "And for every one of my Standby Phases, its level increases and so do its Attack and Defense Points! But my monster's too weak to risk an attack, so I'm done for now." "Fine then, I draw!" Shining took his turn, "And I'm bringing out Flamvell Magician!" out came a man with purple skin, bald head except for the red ponytail on its head, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, tight black pants, black boots, holding a staff made out of pure fire (Flamvell Magician: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 200), "Now attack Fortune Lady Fire!" the man charged forward at your monster. "Nice try, I play the Spell card, Block Attack, and force your monster from attacking to defending!" the man halted its attack and went into a defensive position. "Grr, fine! I'll end my turn with one facedown!" he sets a card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone. "My turn then," you drew your next card and looked over your hand; you had Salamandra, Ookazi, Fortune Lady Water, Darkfire Soldier #1, and Ice Hand, "For starters, Fortune Lady Fire gains a level and 200 extra Attack and Defense Points!" your monster glowed once again as its power increased (Lv. 2 > 3 / ATK: 400 > 600 / DEF: 400 > 600), "Then I'm gonna have her attack your magician!" Fortune Lady Fire spun its staff and cast a wave of fire at the man. "Not so fast! I activate my Trap card, Negate Attack!" the fire attack was absorbed into a vortex, "Which stops your attack cold!" "Alright then, but I'm still gonna do some damage! I play the Spell card, Ookazi! When it's played, it deals my opponent 800 points damage!" A blast of fire erupted around Shining, making him scream as if the flames were actually burning him. (Y/N): 4000 LP Shining Spoon: 4000 - 800 = 3200 LP "I'll end my turn from there." Shining takes a deep breath to calm his burning nerves, "Alright..." he growls, "I draw! I place one card facedown, then I summon Flamvell Firedog in Attack Mode!" with that, a dog made out of molten rock with horns on its head and magma bones protruding out of both its shoulder appeared (Flamvell Firedog: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1900 / DEF: 200), "Now I Overlay my Flamvell Magician and Flamvell Firedog to build the Overlay Network!" a galaxy portal was built, just like in your last Duel with a Number Keeper, "Ahahahahaha! I Xyz Summon...Number 59: Crooked Cook!" The portal exploded and out came a man wearing a chef's outfit made for combat with cooking utensils attached to the belt, a fancy-looking chef's hat, with a canister full of gas strapped to his back hooked up to a flamethrower on his wrist, and frying pan blazing with flames. Number 59: Crooked Cook Rank: 4 Attribute: Fire Type: Warrior/Xyz/Effect ATK: 2300 DEF: 200 Description: 2 Level 4 monsters While you control no other cards on the field, this card is unaffected by other cards' effects. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; destroy as many other cards you control as possible, then this card gains 300 ATK until the end of this turn for each monster destroyed by this effect and sent to the Graveyard. "I knew it." you mutter. "Now I activate its ability! By removing one Overlay Unit, I can destroy as many cards on my field as I can, and Crooked Cook gains 300 Attack Points for every monster destroyed by this effect!" an Overlay Unit disappeared within the man as he got ready to blast away his own monster comrade (OLU: 2 - 1 = 1), "Now destroy my facedown monster!" Crooked Cook then blasted the set monster with his flamethrower and it burst into fragments of light, he then became slightly muscular (Number 59: Crooked Cook: ATK: 2300 + 300 = 2600), "And then I'll attack your Fortune Lady Fire!" the man swung his frying pan at the woman on your side of the field and she burst into pieces of light. "Ahhhh!" you scream as the force of the attack flung you on your back. (Y/N): 4000 - 2000 = 2000 LP Shining Spoon: 3200 LP "Hahaha! No critic can stop my delicious dishes!" Shining declared. You groan as you get back on your feet, "Are you done?" Shining snickers, "Yeah, your turn." "Alright then," you drew the Spell card Star Changer, Where is it? Where's the card I need? "I'll play two cards facedown," you set Star Changer and Salamandra, "Then I'll set a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn." you set Ice Hand. Shining sneers, "Going on the defensive? It won't help you! Because after I draw, I'm activating my Trap card, Acid Trap Hole! It allows me to target a set monster on the field and flip it face-up, if it's equal to or lower than 2,000 Defense Points, it's automatically destroyed, but if it's higher than that, it goes back facedown. And I choose your only facedown monster!" Ice Hand was revealed and was destroyed. You smirk, "Thanks, cause now I can activate Ice Hand's effect! When it's destroyed by battle or card effect, I can destroy one Spell or Trap you control, but since you used your only one, I won't, so I'll continue its ability, it allows me to Special Summon Fire Hand from my Deck!" Fire Hand was summoned to the field after you pulled it from your Deck (Fire Hand: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000), "And I'll play it in Defense Mode!" "Fine then, I'll attack it with Crooked Cook!" the man charged forward and destroyed Fire Hand, "I'll end my turn with that." "Okay, my draw!" you drew a Trap card called Inverse Universe, This could be useful. "I set a card facedown, then I play Darkfire Soldier #1 in Attack Mode!" the soldier was then summoned to the field, ready for action (Darkfire Soldier #1: Lv. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1150), "And I'll end my turn." "Ahahahahaha!! You've left yourself wide open for an attack!! I draw! Crooked Cook, burn him away!" Shining's monster went towards your soldier. "And YOU walked into my trap! Inverse Universe! Now the Attack and Defense of all Effect Monsters are switched!" "WHAT?!" The Trap card did its job and swapped Crooked Cook's attack and defense (ATK: 2600 > 200 / DEF: 200 > 2600), he slammed his frying pan into your soldier's scimitar and your soldier sliced through him, but he wasn't destroyed, instead Shining took damage from your comeback as he yelled and fell backwards. (Y/N): 2000 LP Shining Spoon: 3200 - 1500 = 1700 LP "Looks like this is anyone's Duel now." Sunset said. Shining stood up and growled, "I end my turn." After he did, your trap went to the Graveyard and Crooked Cook's power returned to normal (ATK: 200 > 2600 / DEF: 2600 > 200), "I draw!" you drew Draining Shield, Almost there... "I set a card facedown, then activate one of my other facedown cards, Salamandra, and increase my soldier's Attack Points by 700!" your monster had a new sword in its empty hand and the flames around it grew stronger (ATK: 1700 + 700 = 2400), "And I'll end my turn." "I draw, and Crooked Cook, roast his soldier!" his monster charged again. "I activate the Trap card, Draining Shield! And with it, I stop your attack and my Life Point increase by your monster's Attack Points!" A barrier appeared around you and your soldier and blocked the cook's attack as your Life Points recovered. (Y/N): 2000 + 2600 = 4600 LP Shining Spoon: 1700 LP "Grrr! Didn't your mother teach you not to play with your food?!" Shining demanded to know. "Yeah, she did, but I'm not eating anything right now, am I?" you quip. "...I end my turn." "Good, I draw!" you drew Kunai With Chain, Sweet! "I place one card facedown, then I summon Fortune Lady Water to the field!" out came another woman similar to the last one, except she was wearing blue instead of red and the top of her staff had a splash of water within it rather than fire (Fortune Lady Water: Lv. 4 / ATK: ? / DEF: ?), "And she goes by almost the same rules as my last Fortune Lady! You see, you know what my Fortune Ladies do after each of my Standby Phases, but this one has her Attack and Defense raised by 300!" the woman on your field glowed with a cooling blue light (ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1200), "With that, I end my turn!" Shining began laughing maniacally again, "Ahahahahaha!! You're finished!! Crooked Cook!! END THIS!!!" his monster went in for the kill, weapons blazing. You smirk, "I activate my Trap Card! Kunai With Chain! And it has two abilities! I force your monster into Defense Mode for as long as my trap is on the field, AND I can increase one of my monsters Attack Points by 500! And I choose my soldier!" a blade attached to a chain lashed out at the cook, wrapping itself around him and halting his attack, not only that, but your soldier is holding the chain to keep the cook in place (Darkfire Soldier #1: ATK: 2400 + 500 = 2900). "GRRRRR!! FINE!! I'LL END MY TURN! AGAIN!!!" Shining yelled, angry at the fact that you keep 1-uping him. "I draw!" you drew another Ookazi, "For starters, Fortune Lady Water gains an extra level and more Attack and Defense Points!" once again, the woman glows in a blue light, (Lv. 4 > 5 / ATK: 1200 > 1500 / DEF: 1200 > 1500), "Secondly, I activate another Ookazi Spell Card, dealing you another 800 points of damage!" Once again, a rush a fire enveloped Shining, making him scream in agony again. (Y/N): 4600 LP Shining Spoon: 1700 - 800 = 900 LP "Thirdly, I activate my facedown card, Star Changer, and change my soldier's level from 4 to 5!" four stars appeared in front of your soldier, which changed to five (Darkfire Soldier #1: Lv. 4 > 5). "(he/she)'s gunna Xyz Summon!" Applejack figured out. "And lastly, I overlay my Level 5 Darkfire Soldier #1 and Fortune Lady Water to build the Overlay Network!" your soldier and woman transformed into separate red and blue light respectively and flew into a galaxy portal, "I Xyz Summon...Number 61: Volcasaurus!" the portal exploded and a red bipedal dinosaur with number 61 and two swirling lights appeared (Number 61: Volcasaurus: Rank 5 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 1000), "And now I activate its ability! By using one of its Overlay Units, I can destroy one of your monsters and you take damage equal to its original Attack Points!" the dinosaur devoured one of its lights as its eyes glowed (OLU: 2 - 1 = 1), "And now you'll be hit with 2300 points of damage!" the dinosaur's sides opened up and blasted the cook with a fiery magma ray and destroyed him, forcing Shining to yell as he flew off the floor and onto his back. (Y/N): 4600 LP Shining Spoon: 900 - 2300 = 0 LP WINNER: (Y/N) You fist-pump as the AR link dissolved, "And that's all she wrote!" "Actually, the person writing this fanfiction is a guy." Pinkie said, her words making no sense to the others. Soon enough, a ball of light phased out of Shining and flew over to you as you held out your hand to catch it, when you did it turned into the card Number 59: Crooked Cook. "Well, that's that." you said as Shining regained consciousness. "Ugggh...what happened?" he asked. You walked over and helped him up, "You just had a rough go, that's all. Now let's give these students a REAL lunch!" After your Duel with Shining Spoon, he called all of his taste testers back to the cafeteria to apologize for his behavior and terrible cooking, the students felt he sounded sincere and accepted his apology, but Trixie still seemed to hold a grudge against him...like anyone else would care what she thinks. Once that was done, Granny Smith took back over and gave everyone the most delicious lunch CHS had ever had, and everybody had never been happier. But you still had this gnawing pit in your stomach, you felt, no, you KNEW something bad was going to happen. Again. Somewhere on the other side of campus, a male white skinned student with green hair and a blue stripe in the center, green eyes, blue t-shirt, tan khaki pants, and gray sneakers, was walking to his locker to gather his belongings before going home, he was one of the best singers in CHS Choir class and the choir teacher appreciates his talent, but the praise he gets makes him nervous since he is a shy person, and his name is Bright Star. The moment he opened his locker, a card fell out of it, making him curious. "Huh? Who could've left this here?" he said. As he went to pick it up, his thoughts were at the forefront of his mind. I know I'm one of the best singers in school, other than Rainbow Dash and her friends, but I can't help but feel I could do better, I mean... But his thoughts grinded to a sudden halt as soon as he touched the card, a dark mist coming from it. "Yes, Bright Star...let the Number take hold." a creepy voice spoke in his head. "What the?! Who are you?! Let me...AGGGGHHH!!!" But it was too late, the mist phased into his body and the number 49 appeared on his left cheek as he smiled sadistically. "Yes...I can do better...even if it means crushing those who threaten my talent...ahahahaha..." Bright left his open locker unattended as he walked off, a sinister plan to make it to the top forming in his now-corrupted mind...
Chapter 5: Singing A Different TuneSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
