Po-Ni-Oh! ZEXAL: The Crusade

by Master_Birdlion

Episode 7: It's Number Season- Part 2

“What is that…?” Sweetie Belle muttered frightfully as she stared at the dragon looming above her and her friends.

“This is the monster that will be your downfall,” Number Hunter gloated. Though, to be fair, she had a right to gloat right now. “You’ll just be three more successful targets soon. For now, I end the turn.”

Crusaders
LP: 8000
Hand (AB): 2
Hand (SB): 4
Hand (SL): 3
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 0

Apple Bloom drew her next card with a trembling hand. “Ah really hope that thing ain’t as tough as it looks,” she said.

“She was willing to use up two of her Number monsters to summon it,” Astral pointed out, also looking quite afraid. “There must be a reason for that.”

“True. Guess Ah’m gonna have to play a bit defensively,” Apple Bloom agreed. “Ah switch Seed of Flame to defense mode and summon out a Goblindburg!” she declared. Her seed-like monster crouched in a defensive position as a small goblin creature flew a red plane onto the field, carrying a large metal crate underneath it. “Since Ah summoned this guy, Ah can activate his special ability, lettin’ him change to defense mode and bring along another level four monster to join him, like Botanical Lion!” Goblindburg’s metal crate dropped onto the field and fell open, revealing the plant-like feline.

“You can’t just hide behind defensive walls like that,” Number Hunter pointed out.

“Then let’s bring out a better fighter!” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah use mah level four Goblindburg and Botanical Lion to build the Overlay Network! Come to the field, Number 39: Utopia!”

“Interesting,” Number Hunter said to herself with a hum as the white-armored warrior emerged from a starry portal. “So she has a Number like this…”

“Utopia and mah facedowns should protect me,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah’m gonna call it a turn.”

Crusaders
LP: 8000
Hand (AB): 1
Hand (SB): 4
Hand (SL): 3
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 0

Sweetie Belle thought hard about her move after drawing her next card. “I guess I should bring out my ace too,” she decided. “I normal summon my Aquaactress Guppy and activate her special ability, summoning Aquaactress Arowana from my hand! Arowana’s effect now! She adds Tetra to my hand!” She pulled another card from her deck.

“So many monsters that stand no chance against mine,” Number Hunter taunted.

“Shut up!” Sweetie Belle said in frustration. But she was worried that her opponent was right. “I overlay my level six White Aura Dolphin and Aquaactress Arowana to bring out Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice!”

Astral started to look a bit more relaxed as Sweetie’s main Number appeared on the field, but something still unnerved him. If Number Hunter was telling the truth about her dragon’s power, would the Number cards even be enough?

“I can’t do much else now, so I’ll call it a turn,” Sweetie finished.

Crusaders
LP: 8000
Hand (AB): 1
Hand (SB): 4
Hand (SL): 3
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 0

“My go. Draw card!” Scootaloo declared. “I summon Speedroid Terrortop to the field! This guy will bring another Speedroid to my hand! I’ll take a Double Yoyo. Now I activate Level Lifter, discarding my Slot Machine to make my monsters on the field match its level, then build the Overlay Network! Come on out, Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk!” Since she had yet to draw her Shield and Sword, she put her monster in defense mode and ended her turn with that.

Crusaders
LP: 8000
Hand (AB): 1
Hand (SB): 4
Hand (SL): 2
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 0

“Now it’s Number Hunter’s turn again…” Sweetie whispered, quite obviously worried.

“Don’t worry. Ah have some cards ready in case she attacks with her dragon,” Apple Bloom whispered back. “Besides, she can’t destroy our Numbers by battle and has no cards left in her hand.”

Number Hunter declared the beginning of her turn, drew a card, and laughed. “The cards have been kind to me. I activate Card of Sanctity! We all draw until we have six cards in our hands!”

“Okay, that might be a bit of a problem,” Apple Bloom acknowledged before they all complied with the effect of the spell card.

“Now I play Melody of Awakening Dragon!” Number Hunter continued. “By sending one card from my hand to the grave, I can add two powerful dragons to my hand from the deck. I’ll take my other two Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons.” She added the monsters to her hand and grinned at the girls’ nervousness. “But I won’t be summoning them yet. I will, however, activate Heavy Storm!”

“One no!” Scootaloo gasped as her and Apple Bloom’s trap cards were blown away by a tornado. “My Storming Mirror Force…!”

“My next spell card is Upstart Goblin,” said Number Hunter. “You get a thousand extra Life Points, and I draw a card. And since you now have more Life Points that me, I can safely equip my dragon with Megamorph and double its attack points! Now, Galaxy-Eyes, attack Aquaactress Guppy with your photon stream!”

The Crusaders cried out as the massive beam of energy struck Sweetie’s monster, taking away most of their Life Points immediately. “That’s so crazy...!” Scootaloo muttered.

“I end my turn with that,” said Number Hunter, her expression unreadable through the scarf.

Crusaders
LP: 3400
Hand (AB): 6
Hand (SB): 6
Hand (SL): 6
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 4

“Mah turn then. Draw card!” Apple Bloom said.

Astral, who was mostly faded already, drifted in to give her some advice. “Now that you have less Life Points, Megamorph is decreasing her monster’s attack power,” he said. “Now is the perfect time to destroy it.”

“Ah plan to, but first Ah’m equippin’ Utopia with two copies of Malevolent Nuzzler!” Apple Bloom declared with a confident grin. “That’s a total boost of fourteen-hundred attack points! Utopia, attack Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon with rising sun slash!” Her powered-up warrior unsheathed one of his swords, and a golden haze surrounded the blade as he charged forward.

“I activate Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon’s special ability!” Number Hunter retaliated. “Counterattack, now!” Her monster blasted another beam from its mouth at Utopia, causing a bright flash.

Apple Bloom shielded her face from the light. “What good is that gonna do…?” she grunted. Then she went wide-eyed when she saw that the battling monsters were gone. “What in the hay?!”

Number Hunter sneered. “That’s my dragon’s power. When it battles another monster, it can banish itself and that other monster. Not only that, but they both come back during the end of the battle phase,” she explained.

“And all the equip cards are gone, so it’s gonna be stronger than us again,” Apple Bloom realized. “Okay, main phase two.” True to her opponent’s word, the monsters returned, but something on the Duel Blade’s display screen caught her eye. “That big lizard’s even stronger than before!”

“Oh, I must’ve forgotten to mention,” Number Hunter said. “When Galaxy-Eyes uses its ability on an Xyz monster, it gains 500 attack points for each overlay unit that monster had. You see now why Galaxy-Eyes is my Number-fighting monster? It makes itself stronger by turning a Number's power against it.”

Apple Bloom scowled. “Ya ain’t scarin’ me. Ah’ll slap down two facedowns and end,” she said, but even though she said she wasn’t afraid, she was quaking with fear on the inside.

Crusaders
LP: 3400
Hand (AB): 3
Hand (SB): 6
Hand (SL): 6
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 4

Sweetie Belle had to be snapped out of her shock by Astral before she could begin. “Sweetie Belle, the team is depending on you. Take your turn,” he said.

“R-right,” Sweetie replied, shaking her head and drawing a card. “I activate Moray of Greed, shuffling two water-attribute monsters in my hand back into the deck to draw three cards,” she began.

“Anything good?” Scootaloo asked as her friend picked up a few more cards.

“I can at least reinforce our defenses with three facedown cards,” said Sweetie Belle. “But that’s all I can do.”

Crusaders
LP: 3400
Hand (AB): 3
Hand (SB): 4
Hand (SL): 6
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 4

Scootaloo frowned at her next draw. “Not the best card for this situation, but it could help. I activate Hand Destruction!” she said. “We all discard two, then draw two!” Her next cards were even more disappointing. “I can’t even do anything else right now. Guess I have to end it.”

Crusaders
LP: 3400
Hand (AB): 3
Hand (SB): 4
Hand (SL): 6
Number Hunter
LP: 8000; Hand: 4

Number Hunter shook her head, sighing. “For Number card holders, you’re such weak Duelists,” she said. “It’s time for me to end this. I draw!” She glanced at the new card and cackled. “Beautiful! I summon a new Photon Cerberus, preventing the activation of traps this turn! Next, I play Photon Sanctuary, summoning two tokens with 2000 attack points to my side of the field! However, now I can only summon light-attribute monsters this turn, but that won’t effect me too much. I tribute the tokens to summon a second Galaxy-Eyes!”

“Another?!” Scootaloo shrieked.

“And with our traps nullified, how can we even stop them?” Astral breathed.

“Even Utopia can’t do anything. Not without his overlay units,” said Sweetie.

“You don’t have to worry too much about my dragons,” Number Hunter said with a falsely comforting tone. “They’re not staying around. I’m using them to build the Overlay Network!” Another Number portal opened on the field, absorbing the two dragons into it. Then, a much more ferocious version of them emerged. It had multiple tails, all long and covered in armor. Its wings were huge, and a red 62 blazed on one of them. “My mightiest Number! I Xyz Summon Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!” Number Hunter shouted. She then winced and grunted in pain as more photon energy sparked all around her body.

Apple Bloom noticed her pain. “Girls, look. She’s hurt,” she pointed out. “That card must be too strong.”

“We need to help her!” Sweetie cried.

“No! I don’t need your help!” Number Hunter growled. “I activate Number 62’s special ability by removing an overlay unit!” Her dragon absorbed a unit and roared. “It now gains attack points equal to the combined ranks of all Xyz monsters on the field times 200 until the end of the turn!”

Astral gasped, floating back quite a bit. “Nine-thousand…”

“Looks like this is it,” said Scootaloo.

“Astral… Ah’m sorry… we failed,” Apple Bloom said, holding back tears.

“Apple Bloom…” Astral whispered. “My time on Earth may have been brief, but you girls made it meaningful. That is not a failure to me. Thank you.”

“Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!” Number Hunter bellowed, wincing as her energy sparked again. “Finish this Duel!” The dragon roared, charging up a beam in its mouth, and…

… The Duel holograms suddenly vanished, and Number Hunter’s Duel Blade beeped a warning signal as her coat turned back to grey. “Alert. Vitals unstable. Duel aborted,” a female AI voice said from her device.

“What does that mean?” Sweetie asked.

“It means she’s hurt so bad that the Duel had to stop before it got worse!” said Apple Bloom. “Come on, Number Hunter, let us help you!”

“I refuse to accept help from you,” Number Hunter said. “Remember this: you only escaped this time because we were interrupted. When I recover, you won’t be so lucky.” She strapped her Duel Blade to her back, and it morphed into a jet pack that carried her away over the buildings.

Time resumed, but the Crusaders stood frozen in shock. They didn’t even move when the out-of-control bike from before the Duel zoomed past right behind them. “Who was she?” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Someone who’s doing the same thing we are,” said Apple Bloom. “But she’s a whole lot stronger.”

“How is that even possible? I thought the key was the only way to be protected from being taken over by Numbers,” said Scootaloo.

“But she has a mysterious power and cards we’ve never even heard of,” Apple Bloom replied. “There must be more to this whole thing than any of us know.”

Astral shook his head slowly. “I know I’ve seen that Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon before, but I do not know where. Only that it invoked great fear back then as well. If I could only remember more, we might be able to think of something,” he said.

“In order for you to remember, we would need to get more Numbers,” Sweetie Belle murmured. “But with how weak we are…”

“Can we even compare to them?” Apple Bloom said, finishing the thought.

Observation number ten… Astral thought. Defeat and despair can be just as powerful as hope and friendship, sometimes even more so. Despair consumes hope until it is completely diminished…

Not much later, Starlight arrived at an apartment. She threw open the door, tore off her Number Hunter scarf and voice changer, cast them aside, and leaned against the doorframe, breathing heavily.

“Starlight!” Trixie cried out, running forward to hug the lavender girl. “What happened out there?”

“Had to abort the Duel just before I could win. Looks like that Galaxy-Eyes Number uses up too much of my power to sustain itself in this world. Really messed up my body” Starlight answered. “But it’s not a total bust. I got some info. Those girls were a lot different. Their behavior didn’t line up with other people possessed by Numbers, and they kept talking to something called Astral, even though there was nobody there.”

Trixie frowned, her brow furrowing. “Then what are we gonna do?” she asked.

“Wait and observe,” said Starlight. “And keep an eye out for other Number cards as usual.”

“Right. Just try to be more careful out there,” Trixie replied, hugging Starlight again. “I love you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I love you, too,” Starlight whispered. “And I promise, I’ll end the threat that the Number cards pose against this world that we call home. Nobody will be hurt after that.”

Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara was arguing with Silver Spoon in her lavish living room. “Don’t you want the power from those cards back?!” she shouted.

“Diamond, we’ve been over this a million times,” Silver Spoon said, exhaling through her nose. “We weren’t ourselves when we had those cards. You’ve become obsessed.” She stood up and walked over to the front door, which the butler opened. “And I want no part of it. Come talk to me when you’re not crazy.” With that, she left, the door slamming with finality behind her.

Diamond Tiara yelled and slammed her fist on the table. Her eyes stung with the threat of tears. “I’ll show her. When I have that Number back, she’ll see how wrong she was. And Apple Bloom will pay.” She looked through her deck again to see what upgrades she could make, but the Monarch cards just didn’t seem right for the job. She wanted to get revenge and take back her Diamond Crab King, but she would have to get better cards to do it.

Then a dark aura enveloped her body when she came to a card that hadn’t been there before. A blank one. “Yes, Diamond Tiara…” a disembodied voice said with a dark purr as the card changed. “Use your anger to get revenge, and let the Number take hold…” A glyph in the shape of a 98 appeared on her cheek, and she sneered, a madness lurking in her eyes.

"This is so much better than the last time!" the rich girl cackled. "But it's not enough. I need more power if I want to accomplish my goals..."

Author's Note:

This has been the conclusion of Starlight Glimmer the Number Hunter versus the Canterlot Crusaders Number Card Collectors! I know it's not my best written Duel (or chapter in general), but I had to simultaneously make the Crusaders helpless against Starlight's deck while at the same time making it so that neither side lost. I worked with what I could for that. Yes, for those who didn't catch it last time, I'm shipping Starlight and Trixie. As for the bit at the end with Diamond Tiara, I'm gonna have to leave y'all in suspense on that for a while and be evil. Don't worry, she will be back in a little while. No spoilers! In the next episode, I'll finally be featuring an OC submitted by one of you lovely readers! Remember to leave a like, fave and follow, drop a comment, happy belated New Year, and be sure to tune in next time!

Numbers Collected/Revealed
Starlight Glimmer/Number Hunter (14 total)-
Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon