A caramel-skinned ginger boy sat in front of his computer in a dark room. There was a wicked smirk on his face as he tapped away on the keyboard and clicked with the mouse. “Set and sent,” he said. “This hack should be untraceable. Those idiots will never know who took the data.” After a few minutes, a notice popped up on his computer screen, confirming success. The printer next to him whirred to life and began shooting out cards. “Hmm… Now that’s interesting,” the boy muttered as he began to look at the new cards.
Next morning, the press was all over this. “Chaos in the gaming world last night, as the database of Industrial Illusions was hacked, and data on several unreleased cards was stolen!” a newscaster on TV was saying. “Company president and founder, Mr. Maximillian Pegasus, has already issued a statement saying that the database’s backup was not touched, and the cards will still be released on schedule. His employees are working diligently to find the hacker, and they are offering a cash reward to anyone who has any helpful information.”
The story was all anyone could talk about at school that day. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo in particular had some thoughts about it. “I just don’t understand,” Scootaloo was saying as they all got their books out of their lockers in the morning. “How could someone hack Industrial Illusions? And I mean that in a moral sense and a ‘how is that possible?’ kind of way.”
Apple Bloom shrugged. “Beats me. But it’s not like there’s anything we can do,” she said. “We don’t know who did it, and we’re just kids.”
“Even if there was something we could do, we have other responsibilities. School stuff, social lives,” Sweetie Belle said.
“And Numbers,” Scootaloo added.
Sweetie sighed. “I get that you’re back in the game, but I still feel a little iffy about it. I’m sorry, but I can’t just suddenly decide to be confident again,” she apologized.
“Is there anything we can do to help with that?” Astral asked her. “Anything at all?”
“That ain’t how it works,” Apple Bloom told him. “If we help her too much, then she won’t trust in herself again.”
Astral hummed, then nodded in understanding. “Of course. In that case, I will simply continue to support her.”
As the girls walked away from their lockers, they ran into their friend Button Mash. He was dressed in his usual propeller hat, shorts, unzipped grey hoodie, and T-shirt depicting video game characters. Today, it was Smash Bros. “Oh, hi girls. How are you?” he said with a smile.
Sweetie Belle blushed and began to nervously run her fingers through her hair. “H-hey, Button,” she replied. “It’s see to good you. I mean good to see you!”
Apple Bloom gave her a quizzical look, then shrugged and smiled at Button. “We’re doin’ alright. We were just talkin’ about the reported hack at Industrial Illusions,” she said.
“Yeah, I saw that story on Facebook this morning,” said Button. “One thing’s for sure, though. Whoever the hacker is will have a huge advantage with cards nobody’s seen before.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall and sighed. “I need to get to math class. See you girls later.” On that note, he walked away, leaving Sweetie’s friends awkwardly looking at her.
“What was that?” Scootaloo asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sweetie Belle insisted, her cheeks turning a slightly darker shade of red.
“Ya got all flustered when Button came over here,” Apple Bloom said. Then a look of realization dominated her features. “Holy Faust… You like him, don’t ya?!”
Sweetie Belle squeaked in embarrassment. “N-no way!”
“You totally do!” said Scootaloo, and she began to teasingly sing. “Sweetie and Button, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!”
“Geez, what are you, in the second grade?” Sweetie groaned. “… And I just remembered I’m in the same math class as him. Beautiful…”
“Ya wouldn’t even care if ya didn’t like him,” Apple Bloom teased.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Observation number twelve,” Astral said quietly. “Humans will deny feelings for each other, even when those feelings are painfully obvious.”
“Whose side are you on, Astral?!”
A few minutes later, Sweetie Belle made it to math class and saw Button passing the time by having a tabletop Duel with Rumble. It looked like Button was winning. That was unusual, since Rumble was the better Duelist out of the two of them.
“I’ll go ahead and drop a RAM Clouder,” Button began as the turn was passed to him. “And I equip it with Axe of Despair, then attack Blackwing- Blizzard the Far North for game.”
Rumble frowned. “Nice job on the win, but I haven’t heard of most of those cards,” he said.
Button shrugged. “There are like a million cards out there. Nobody knows all of them besides the guy who made ‘em,” he replied, collecting his cards from the table and shuffling his deck.
“Yeah, but I don’t think a whole new deck would pop up without anyone hearing about it,” said Rumble.
Sweetie hummed as she watched this exchange take place. Behavior like that was weird for Button. She would have to look into this further. She took her phone out of her pocket and used it to google “duel monsters ram clouder.” The top result was an article from a few weeks ago. The headline read “New Duel Monsters cards announced to be released in December! Brand new Cyberse-Type: Draconnet, Bitron, RAM Clouder!”
“December?” she muttered. “But it’s the middle of October… No. It can’t be…!” There wasn’t much time to think about it, though, sine the teacher entered the room right then to begin the class.
Later, during lunchtime, Sweetie noticed that Button was on his way to the computer lab instead of the cafeteria. Frowning in confusion, she followed him secretly. Some might find it creepy the way she was stalking him, but she couldn’t think about that right now, even though it brought a red tint to her cheeks.
Button stopped right outside the computer lab and sighed. “Sweetie Belle, you’re not stealthy. I know you’re there.”
Sweetie let out an embarrassed squeak and emerged from her hiding place behind a trash can. “So, uh… any reason you’re here and not getting lunch?” she asked. “Or why you have a card that shouldn’t be released for two more months?”
“So, you looked it up, huh?” Button replied. “I did it for you, you know. You would definitely notice me if I was the strongest Duelist in the school.”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes went wide. “Don’t tell me you’re the hacker!”
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Button said. “Why don’t you Duel me and find out?”
After a moment of consideration, Sweetie nodded. “Alright, fine. But if I’m right, you get rid of the stolen cards if I win.”
“It’s a deal,” Button agreed, activating his Duel Blade. “Let’s Duel!”
Sweetie gasped when she saw something on the back of his hand: a red 34. He had a Number. “Wait, I changed my mind!”
“Too late! You’re not going anywhere until this Duel is finished!”
There was no way out. Sweetie was trapped. She growled in frustration. “How did I not see this coming…?”
Button laughed. “I haven’t even decided what I get when I win. How do your Number cards and silence sound? Now, as I was saying, let’s Duel.”
Sweetie Belle
LP: 8000; Hand: 5
Button Mash
LP: 8000; Hand: 5
“Ladies first,” said Sweetie Belle. “I summon Aquaactress Guppy and use her special ability to summon Aquaactress Tetra from my hand!” Her monsters swam into place elegantly through the air. “Tetra’s effect now, I add Aquarium Stage to my hand!” Her Duel Blade ejected the card for her and she grabbed it. “Next, I activate Aquarium Stage and Aquarium Lighting! With this combo of spells, my Aquaactress monsters’ attack and defense points double while they’re battling, my water monsters can only be destroyed in battle by other water monsters, and my Aquaactresses are immune to your monster effects.” The area around them began to take the form of what looked like an underwater concert hall. “With that, I’m gonna call it a turn.”
Sweetie Belle
LP: 8000; Hand: 2
Button Mash
LP: 8000; Hand: 5
Button smirked at her. “Not a bad first turn setup, but it won’t do you any good. Draw!” He kept a pretty decent poker face as he glanced over his hand. “Since I have no monsters out, I’ll Special Summon my Linkslayer in attack mode!”
Sweetie gasped as the monster emerged. “A cyberse monster…!”
Button nodded. “And since I have one of those on the field, I can also Special Summon a Backup Secretary!” A digital-looking woman appeared next to his Linkslayer. “For my normal summon, I’ll bust out a Draconnet! And since he was normal summoned, a level two or lower normal monster from my hand or deck can log on as well! I’ll bring Bitron out from my deck in defense mode!” A bat-like creature and a small monster that looked like it was mostly computer both emerged in flashes of light. “I’ll set two cards facedown. Now Linkslayer, Draconnet, and Backup Secretary attack Tetra!”
“Aquarium Lighting doubles her attack and defense, and Aquarium Stage prevents her from being destroyed!” Sweetie reminded him.
“But you still take damage!” Button countered.
As the damage was dealt, Astral gasped as he felt himself begin to fade. He was in line at the cafeteria with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo at the time. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong, Astral?” Apple Bloom asked, turning to look at him. “You’re lookin’ more see-through than usual.”
“I believe Sweetie Belle is in a Duel with another Number holder,” Astral warned. “We have to find her now.”
Scootaloo groaned. “Now? Really? But it’s taco Tuesday!” she protested.
Apple Bloom gave her an incredulous look. “Really, Scoots?! For cryin’ out loud, get your priorities straight!” She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her away.
“No…! Must... have… tacos!” Scootaloo whined.
Back with the Duel, Button was laughing. “I end my turn. Let’s see you get past this.”
Sweetie Belle
LP: 5200; Hand: 2
Button Mash
LP: 8000; Hand: 1
Sweetie shivered nervously as she began her turn. “I draw! Now, Tetra’s special ability adds Aquarium Set to my hand, and I’ll activate it!” The underwater theater setup was completed as the new spell was activated. “Now all my water monsters get an attack and defense boost of 300, and Aquaactresses get 300 extra! Now I’ll summon an extra Guppy to the field. Tetra, attack the Draconnet!”
“I activate my facedown quick play spell Cynet Backdoor! I can banish a cyberse monster until my standby phase and add a weaker one to my hand!” Button countered, causing his Draconnet to vanish into a red hole made of data. “Draconnet is logging out for now, and I’ll be grabbing another Backup Secretary.”
“Alright, then Tetra will attack the Secretary on the field!” Sweetie said. “Now my Guppies will attack Bitron and Linkslayer!”
Button didn’t even flinch. “Go ahead and clear my field. It won’t do you any good.”
Sweetie glared. “I end my turn.”
Sweetie Belle
LP: 5200; Hand: 2
Button Mash
LP: 7000; Hand: 2
“My turn! Draw!” Button declared. “And like I said, Draconnet will relog.” His monster flew back through the data gate as he cackled. “Since there’s a cyberse monster on the field, I can Special Summon a new Backup Secretary from my hand! And now I activate my trap card Powerful Rebirth!”
“Uh-oh…!” Sweetie muttered, her eyes widening slightly.
“I can tell you’ve seen this card before,” said Button.
Sweetie Belle nodded. “You can revive a level four or lower monster in your Graveyard, then boost its level by one and its attack and defense by a hundred,” she remembered.
“That’s right, and I’m using it on Bitron!” said Button. “And with my level three Draconnet, Backup Secretary, and Bitron, I build the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon!” His monsters flew into the black portal, and his smirk grew wider. “Let’s crush this scrub! Number 34: Terror-Byte!” The monster that emerged was very unusual. It was some sort of yellow and blue beast made almost entirely of giant computer chips and data. Its red eyes and electrical horn glowed with a sinister light as its 34 mark lit up, and it let out a mechanical roar.
“Okay, that it one scary pun creature,” Sweetie Belle murmured.
Button nodded, humming slightly. “But it doesn’t have any attack points, so I’ll put it in defense mode,” he said. “Up next is the spell card Harpie’s Feather Duster! It’s gonna sweep all those Aquarium cards off your field!”
“Oh no!” Sweetie Belle cried. “Without those spells, my monsters are vulnerable…!”
“Which means it’s time to start clearing!” said Button. “I activate Number 34: Terror-Byte’s special ability! By detaching one of his overlay units, I can take control of Aquaactress Guppy!”
“What?!”
Terror-Byte’s horn lit up and sparked, sending a tendril of electricity at its target. One of the Guppies was dragged over to Button’s field, and the boy smirked. “For my normal summon, I’ll bring out a Cyberse Wizard in attack mode! I’ll use Guppy to destroy Tetra and my Cyberse Wizard to take down your other Guppy!”
Sweetie cried out in fright as the attacks made contact, clearing her field completely. “In just one turn, he managed to make it so that I’m wide open,” she breathed.
“I’ll end my turn there,” said Button. “Due to the effect of Terror-Byte, you get your Guppy back.”
Sweetie Belle
LP: 3700; Hand: 2
Button Mash
LP: 7000; Hand: 0
Sweetie Belle looked down at the Life Point meter and sighed hopelessly. “He’s almost four-thousand ahead after only a couple turns. There’s nothing I can do. I really am too weak for this job,” she muttered, reaching to place a hand on top of her deck in submission. “I surren—.”
“Don’t ya dare finish that sentence!” Apple Bloom interrupted as she and Scootaloo sprinted up behind her, Astral hovering close by.
“Girls? Astral? What are you doing here?” Sweetie asked in surprise.
“We came to cheer you on!” Scootaloo said. “You took down Vice Principal Luna! Compared to her, Button is a piece of cake!”
“Yeah! You’re a great Duelist!” Apple Bloom asserted. “And no matter what, we’ll always be right here beside ya!”
Astral nodded. “We believe in you. Trust in your own skills now.”
Sweetie wiped a few joyful tears from her eyes. “If you all believe in me… then I believe in me too!” she proclaimed. “My turn! DRAW!”
Button chuckled and shook his head. “You’re definitely dramatic, I’ll give you that,” he said. “But it’s not gonna help.”
“I can see how you’d think that,” Sweetie replied. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you you’re wrong, though. I activate my spell, Pot of Greed, letting me draw two extra cards! And then another Pot of Greed!” She smiled when she looked at her resulting hand.
“That won’t do you any good!” Button taunted.
“Wrong again,” Sweetie replied. “I summon Deep Sea Diva and activate her special ability, summoning a level three or lower sea-serpent monster from my deck! Come on out, Legendary Atlantean Tridon!”
Button went wide-eyed as the serpent swam into position. “Y-you’re planning on summoning…!”
“Exactly! I activate my Tridon’s special ability!” Sweetie continued. “By tributing him and another sea-serpent, I can bring out Poseidra the Atlantean Dragon and make all your monsters lose 300 attack points!”
“NO!” Button growled as his Cyberse Wizard was weakened and the massive sea monster crashed onto the field.
“And now, it’s time to close the curtains on this Duel!” Sweetie said, smiling confidently. “I activate Monster Reborn to bring back a Guppy, then activate the effect of my first Guppy to Special Summon an Arowana from my hand! Arowana can add another copy of herself to my hand, and my second Guppy will summon her! Then I overlay my Arowanas for Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice!”
Apple Bloom cheered. “Yes! Your ace Number!”
“Even with that thing out, you can’t defeat me!” Button shouted.
“Oh, can I?” Sweetie said. “I activate my equip card Psychic Blade on Poseidra! By paying up to 2000 Life Points, I can give him that many attack points! Then I use my Smashing Ground, destroying your monster with the highest defense! In this case, it’s Terror-Byte!”
Button stared in disbelief as his monster was smashed. He did the math in his head and came to a realization. “Is this it…?”
“This is the end!” Sweetie Belle confirmed. “Poseidra, take down his weakened Cyberse Wizard! Guppies and Frozen Lady Justice, attack directly and finish this Duel!”
Winner: Sweetie Belle
Button was thrown back by the attacks, and Astral quickly absorbed his Number card. “Excellent job, Sweetie Belle,” the ghostly man praised.
Sweetie took a bow like she had just finished a performance. “Thank you! Thank you, I’ll be here all week!” She then looked over at her friends with a sincere smile on her face. “Seriously, though. Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Hey, we may have helped you with your confidence issues, but those plays were all you,” Scootaloo said, giving her a friendly punch on the arm.
“I wouldn’t have been in there long enough to make the plays if you didn’t show up and stop me from surrendering,” Sweetie pointed out. “This is just as much your victory as it is mine.”
“Observation number thirteen,” Astral whispered. “Belief in one’s self can be strengthened by the support of those they care about.”
“By the way, what was that wizard thing Button had?” Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie gasped when she suddenly remembered. “That’s right! He was the hacker!” she said. “That was one of the cards he stole!”
“What are we supposed to do about that? We can’t turn him in, it wasn’t his fault,” said Scootaloo. She looked over at the fallen boy… and frowned in confusion, seeing that he was gone. “Where did he go?”
While the Crusaders were talking to each other, Button had run away and hid behind the school. His mind was in a jumble at the moment. Had he really hacked Industrial Illusions?
“Young one.”
Button gasped and looked to the source of the voice. Standing a few feet away was a golden-haired man in a white collared shirt and a tan vest.
“I sense you are in need of refuge,” the man said. “I can help you in exchange for a small favor.”
“Okay…? And what’s that?” Button asked.
“Assist me in the collection of Number cards.”