//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A Duel Heated At Sub-zero Degrees // Story: Hunter of Numbers // by Golden Flare //------------------------------// Previously 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...