Yu-Gi-Oh! Hearts of Darkness [IC/PG-13/Started/Accepting]

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

(NOTE: This first post basically just picks up from just before the end of Takao's bio)

 

A brown-haired boy stood in the center of a cobbled plaza. A few yards away from him, a muscular man with short, jet-black hair stood, panting heavily. Between the two, a few Duel Monsters hovered.

Closer to the brown-haired boy, there were two creatures that looked like they were giant toys—One resembled a shark, and the other was apparently a dog.

Near the muscular man, there was a massive magenta-and-silver ant with the number "20" on one of its mandibles. A sphere of golden light orbited the ant slowly.

"Alright, if you'll allow me to make my move!" the brown-haired boy shouted. "First, I'll activate the effect of my Wind-Up Dog! By winding up his key, I'll increase his level by two and Attack Points by 600 until the end of my turn!" The large wind-up key in the back of the toy dog cranked slowly, causing previously-unseen parts to protrude from its body, such as small guns. "Now, I'll activate my Wind-Up Shark's effect, causing his level to increase by one!" The key in the back of the shark began turning as well, and the creature gnashed its teeth excitedly.

"What exactly is the point of all of this?" the muscular man asked impatiently.

"Now," the boy said, ignoring him. "Let the light of the universe converge and crystallize! The energy of the stars burst forth, and strikes all of my foes!" As he spoke, the two monsters in front of him turned into spheres of blue light and begun swirling around eachother. Something similar to a spiral galaxy opened up in the center of the plaza in which the duel was taking place. The two spheres dove downward into the galaxy, creating a massive, dome-shaped explosion of rainbow energy. "With these two monsters, I form the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon, Number 72: Crystalline Dragon - Thunder Opal!"

From the explosion, a massive cluster of electric-blue crystals emerged. Then, lines of white energy shot through the interior of the cluster, and it exploded violently outward, sending bolts of lightning in all directions. From within the center of the discharge, a dragon with large crystalline protrusions landed on the ground. It let loose a deafening roar, and sparks shot across its body.

"Now, Thunder Opal, attack his Giga-Brilliant with Adamantine Thunder Spire!"

The dragon roared, and the ground shook. Suddenly, a massive blue crystal burst through the ant monster's body, electrocuting it before causing it to explode in a shower of golden sparks.

"NO!!" the muscular man shouted. The meter next to him signifying his remaining LP dropped to 0...

[evilfusion]

(Guess I'll get things rolling a bit more)

 

Lily hovered awkwardly at one side of the local park, shifting her weight from leg to leg restlessly, her eyes staring out towards the kids running around like regular kids. That said, they were out of her age range, so even if she was comfortable joining in, she wouldn't have. Sure, she was getting better at talking and interacting with people, but there was a line between fitting in and being weird by playing with kids half her age.

 

In any case, her mood was prone to changing whenever an opportunity to interact presented itself. Awkward on the outside, but give her a second glance and she'd talk your ear off for the next hour, unless you happen to have the foresight and ability to distract her. It wasn't that Lily was overly chatty, but rather she could never seem to get the message she wanted across using less than six sentences.

 

Intent on finding someone her age, or at least sharing an interest appropriate for her age group, the girl strolled at the park's perimeter, her focus on finding something, but not yet conscious of exactly what she was looking for.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Takao swept his hair back with one hand, held it for a moment, and let it fall back into place. "Well, that looks like two Numbers now...Number 72 and Number 20. Huh. I don't think I'll really be able to use Giga-Brilliant with anything other than my Wind-Ups...Oh well." Takao sighed and looked up toward the sky. "It's better than not getting a Number out of it, I guess..."

Takao soon found himself outside the park he just dueled Number 20's holder in. He looked over to his left, and happened to see a girl about his age walking around. "Hmmm...She looks lost...Should I...?" Takao debated to himself. He knew it would be the right thing to do to go over and help her, but he's always had problems with nervousness..."Ah, screw it! Hey, excuse me!" he called over.

Takao ran over to the girl, panting—He always told himself he needed to exercise more, and he decided that, if he survived running a few more yards to this random girl, he'd get right to work on that.

 

♪~*~*~♪

 

Yoki Chūdan sat in a small park, one far away from Takao and the girl. He tapped his deck holster absentmindedly, producing a slow yet catchy rhythm.

"The World Duel Carnival...What the hell kind of name is that? Sounds like a video game based on some kind of anime..." Yoki muttered. "Well, no matter...Maybe if I do well, then something good might come out of it...And what the hell kind of deal is that 'Wish' thing? Sounds like they just didn't know what to give people for a prize..."

[Wave_Sine]

Palir had been continuing his work, maintaining Heartland's garbage disposal crew, and maintaining the equipment that emptied them. His joints groaned and whirred, resulting in a frown, first internally, then a few seconds later on what remained of his face. It was the lag more than anything. It was the lag that his damaged body presented and the fact that he couldn't fix it. However...

 

His job finished for the day, or at least to the point where someone could cover for him, he reached into deck box and pulled out his deck. He felt a sort of kinship to the monsters depicted, drones of clockwork with no real will; that's how his slow, damaged body made him feel occasionally. He left the garbage handling facility, near the center of Heartland, and continued to review his cards. Yes, clockwork, but a few cards with shades of potential beyond mere drones. A shogun here, a turret tank there, and one final card. As Palir directed his full attention to that card once more, he felt the power once more. Wandering the streets of Heartland, and sighing as people avoided him, he placed his other cards back in the box then readjusted his mask. He had already seen improvements in his overall reaction time due to the power this card held, maybe...?

 

The pupil in his undamaged eye glowing purple, stylized numerals '42' appear on his shoulder, as he continued wandering in search of more power...

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Akuma Chishio

 

"Damn it! That's the fifth useless Number I've come across!" Akuma Chishio cursed, as she thrust the back of her hand over a card that had been floating over another Number Holder's defeated body: Number 83: Galaxy Queen, "Grr, supposed 7 is a lucky number after all... currently it's the only Number I've fought that's even remotely useful to me..."

 

Obviously frustrated with this, Akuma left for the park, had trodden over the soulless body while she was at it, in search for another number card that would hopefully serve useful to her. She still had to find a Number for her Frog Deck, as well as one for her Rock Deck, but at least she could still use the first one that she ever made. Plus she had Number 7 to add to her FabledWorld Deck, which she liked to run from time to time. Now all she needed was a new opponent.

 

"Hmm, who to fight next, I wonder?" Akuma muttered, "Ooh, I know! Perhaps this guy has something useful."

 

Dr. Faker

 

​Meanwhile, inside a laboratory that was disclosed in a remote location, Dr. Faker continued to run tests on a strange machine, in search for some more Numbers. Eventually, the machine revealed a list of all the Number Cards on the face of the Earth, only to allow Dr. Faker to realize that five of them must have somehow vanished without a trace.

 

"WWWHAT??!!" he screamed at the top of lungs, "How's that even possible?! Five numbers gone?! Without even...?!"

 

Suddenly, he had an epiphany. Dr. Faker had known all this time that Akuma had the ability to banish Number Cards she didn't want into another realm, where no-one could ever access them again. This epiphany made him furious.

 

"Akuma!" Dr. Faker slammed his fist on the console as he said this, "First Takao declines my offer, and now she of all people betrays me! Tch, wonder who else in the world would dare defy me..."

[Brinolovania]

"Agh..." Jayce sighed, looking at the cards he had spread out on the desk in his bedroom. "What to use for the open slot...Najasho? Darwinos? Or maybe Lagosuchus..." He picked up the three cards he had mentioned and read them over, even though he knew their effects by heart. "Oh, heck with it. Darwinos looks coolest, it's going in." He placed that card on the desk, then gathered all the cards into a pile. "Well, my deck's finally ready for the WDC...hopefully at least. Maybe it would make sense to do a bit more testing..." Jayce slipped the pile of cards into his deck box, and stood up. He left his house, saying goodbye to his mother, and walked down the sidewalk. "There's gotta be somebody else getting ready for the WDC...somebody to duel with." He smiled. "Let's have some fun."

[AkatsukiPride!]

"CRAAAAP!" Taio yelled, running through the streets. "LATE! LATE! HOW COULD I BE LATE?!?" He dashed through the street, pushing people and trash-bots aside.My life depends on when I get there! he thought to himself. He had been waiting for this for weeks. How he lost track of time was beyond his comprehension. Ok, he was whiling away the hours building some of his machines, but that was against the point. The only reason he was working on them was to waste time until he had to leave.

--It is truly your own fault, Human--

And there it was. The creepy voice in his head. He wasn't even gonna bother responding at this point.

--I do admire your passion, though--

God, was that thing annoying. He turned a corner and saw it. Finnaly! He was here! He barged through the doors of the building.

"Do you still have any of those new rare cards?" he shouted at the card shop's clerk.

[Cosmic Angel]

Across the park at a near by department store, a small crowd began to form. The crowd of people started pushing and shoving others just to get inside the store. Within the store the sounds of cheering could be heard, which was occasionally followed by the sound of oohs and awes. The crowd seemed to be growing with excitement as time progressed.

 

Asuka stood in the department store with a slight frown upon her face. A crowd of people manifested around her, but she did not seem bothered by that. Her gaze remained fixed solely on a man, who was groveling on the ground. A cluster of duel monster cards was scattered about around the man. Asuka's icy stare was intense and it looked as if she was peering into the man's soul. Asuka made her way towards the man.

 

"Mercy ... ah please show mercy." The man on the ground cried out.

 

"You want what?" She replied in a harsh voice.

 

Asuka drove the heel of her stiletto into one of the duel monsters cards , which rested on the ground.

 

"Your pathetic!" she yelled out.

 

The man cringed at her words. Even the roaring crowd began to settle and draw silent.

 

" You dare to challenge me the great duelist Asuka Komachi. You boasted about your precious number card, now look at you. Your entire strategy revolved around that one card and now you are broken. Allow me to reiterate you are nothing more than a low life bottom feeder, who can never hope to surpass me."

 

Asuka retrieved the card that was placed under her stiletto. She held the card up to her face and gazed at it for a brief moment. The card was black and had a strange set of numbers printed on it.

 

"Phff, number cards." She said in a dull tone.

 

Without any hesitation Asuka ripped the black duel monsters card in half. She held no emotion on her face as she ripped the mans card in half. Unlike Asuka's cold exterior the man became very animated and tears shot out from his face as he lost his card. Asuka looked away from the man and stared at the crowd of people.

 

"Let it be known, I will crush any and all duelist who possesses number cards." She stated in a very confident tone.

[AkatsukiPride!]

Taio walked away in dismay. The shop had sold out of the new cards only five minutes before he arrived! How could he let this happen?

--Why was this so important to you?--

"Because!" Taio said. "I need to cards to compete in the WDC!" "And I-" he cut himself of when he looked to his side. A huge crowd was gathered at a department store. "What's this..." he said. He walked over the store and saw a man laying on the ground, most likely in shock or injured. "Don't just stand there!" Taio said. "Get help!" The man was crying, and two halves of a black Duel Monster card lay next to him. "What happened?" he asked. The man coughed. "The Number Destroyer. The killed it! She killed my Number!" Ok, not in shock. Just upset. Taio picked up the two halves of the cards. The man rolled over an continued crying.

--The shadow realm--

Taio stood up. "Say what now?" he whispered.

--What you humans may call...Hell...That is where this cards spirit has gone--

Taio walked away. "Weird," he said. "How do you know that?"

--I am one--

Now this was weird. "What? You mean a number?"

--Yes...You remember me. 44. Does that ring a bell?--

Taio nodded. "Yea...Your...Mashiman, right?"

--Yes--

Next something weird happened. Something came to Tiao's mind. And it wasn't 44 talking. "Number Repair-Astral Mending..." he whispered to himself. And just like that, the two halves began to glow. They moved toward each other and reformed. Taio's eyes widened as this happened. Wondering how he did it, he held the card to his face. As he did it, the number 16 carved itself into his left hand, while 44 engraved itself into his right. "Number 16: Shock Ruler," Taio said. "Well that's just nifty. Another one for me."

--Was that...sarcasm?--

[evilfusion]

Lily's attention snapped back to reality when she heard someone call, and she turned towards the source, spotting a boy, maybe roughly around her age, heading her way. She blinked once, but remained where she was, unsure what to say, or whether to approach him to at least cut his travel distance by a few more feet. Shifting her weight to her other leg, she took two or three steps nearer, then stopped and waited for him to cover the rest.

 

Considering that he seemed to be calling her, she said nothing, letting him start the conversation. She didn't know what he wanted, after all, and didn't recognize him off-hand.

[Brinolovania]

Jayce rounded a corner, and saw a crowd gathered around the local card shop down the street. "There are probably duelists over there..." He sped up, and jogged the last meters to the shop, pulling out his duel disk as he went. "Hey guys! Any of you have time for a du-" his voice trailed off as he saw a man lying on the ground, and a boy standing near. He rushed over, and addressed the boy. "Hey! What happened to this guy?! Has anybody called an ambulance?" Jayce suddenly noticed that the boy was holding a card, and looking at it strangely. But he dismissed if as nothing.

[Wave_Sine]

Palir was still walking aimlessly around the city. With the bizarre glowing, even more people than before were avoiding the masked man. However, a commotion outside a storefront in one of business areas attracted his attention. Still intent on his poorly-devised goal, he wandered mechanically towards the site of the apparent problem, unconsciously handling 'that' card in his deck box as he walked.

[AkatsukiPride!]

Taio looked up at a boy who had just adressed him, then back at 16, then back at the boy. "He, uh, lost a duel to a, um, creepy person," he said. "I don't know if his hurt or what..." his voice trailed off. He shoved 16 into his pocket, then looked around aimlessly. He didn't want to tell the kid about the whole number thing. "You seem familiar...you go to the same school as me, right?"

 

--Clean soul...no number...he is a good person--

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Dr. Faker

 

Suddenly, something blipped on the machine's screen, just as Dr. Faker was about to run it and locate the banished Numbers.

 

"What is it now?" he asked spitefully, before he pressed the blipping something with his finger, only to see the recording of a young woman ripping a Number in half, "God, damn it! Why's it always the women that stifle my plans? No wonder I never married."

 

The recording continued, with the woman tearing away from her opponent, and looking at the crowd.

 

"Let it be known, I will crush any and all duelists who possess Number Cards," suddenly, the recording ended with a raised eyebrow from Dr. Faker. However, the expression didn't last long before he returned to his business.

 

"Pfft, show-off," he muttered as he did so.

 

Akuma Chishio

 

Unaware that a woman that wanted to shred Number Cards was on the loose, Akuma approached the lone guy in the park (Yoki), having decided what deck she was going to run this time. She was growing tired of the FabledWorld Deck that she used to beat Number 83's holder, so she decided to run the only other deck that contained a Number Card... her original one. It wasn't until she walked right up to the main that she heard him muttering about this... World Duel Carnival? Whatever it was, it sounded suspicious. Perhaps all the Number Cards would be gathered there. But from what Akuma could deduce right now, this guy in front of her was considering entering, and could maybe use some practice for it.

 

"Excuse me, couldn't help but notice you looked bored," Akuma told the young man, a friendly smile on her face, "I suppose you won't mind if I challenge you to a duel? Oh, by the way, my name's Akuma."

 

Akuma held out her hand, as if prepared for the young man to shake it and introduce himself.

[Cosmic Angel]

By the time the young man (Taio) reached the department store, Asuka had already left. There might have been a chance that the two crossed paths, while Asuka was leaving, however the man did not stick out to her in any way. She continued on her way until she reached outside. A couple of people asked for an autograph but Asuka turned each one down. It seemed as if her mind was already preoccupied with something.

 

"Dam number cards, every day I find another duelist wielding one. Where are theses cards coming from," she thought to herself.

 

Asuka grabbed her cell phone and shot a quick text for her driver to come pick her up. She stood in front of the department store pondering the source of the number cards.

[Brinolovania]

Jayce nodded. "Yeah, I think we have math together." He looked down at the man again. "You know, it really does look like it'd be a good idea to call 911...somebody do that!" he called to the crowd. A random person pulled out their D-Gazer to make the call. Jayce turned back to the boy. "You said he lost a Duel to somebody and ended up like this? You know...this is gonna sound a bit crazy, but have heard the rumors and news about mythical cards appearning? Cards with special powers? Maybe even the ability to inflict real damage instead of just virtual?"

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Takao finally reached the girl. "Hey there," he said, panting. "Are you"--huff--"lost or"--huff--"something?" Takao finally got a good look at the girl. She was in her early teens, no doubt. Probably attends Heartland Duel Academy...I keep asking myself if I should enroll, but...Nah. I'd draw too much attention.

 

"So, uh," he said nervously. "My name's Takao. Takao Henjin. May I ask what yours is?" Takao extended his hand toward the girl.

 

*~♪~♪~*

 

Yoki looked up at the girl, an expression of total apathy enveloping his previously quizzical face. "Yeah. I am. And sure, why not. It'll help me prepare for the WDC."

 

Yoki looked briefly at Akuma's hand, then stared at her. "My name's Yoki Chūdan." He turned away from her and walked over to the other side of the path that cut through the park. All the paths in the park were specially designed to accommodate both duelists and pedestrians simultaneously. "So, should we start with 6000 life points, like they're gonna do in the WDC? And I'll let you pick who goes first."

 

Yoki pulled out his D-Pad from its holster and strapped it onto his arm, causing the blades of the Duel Disk to jut out at angles. He casually placed his D-Gazer on his left eye and turned it on.

 

"AUGMENTED REALITY VISION LINK ESTABLISHED. SEARCHING FOR OPPONENT..."

[evilfusion]

Lily blinked, and in spite of herself, smiled in incredulous amusement. He ran over to her just because he thought she was lost? That was...odd, to say the least. But also really flattering. He must be a nice guy, she thought.

 

"Lost?" she repeated, but shook her head. "No, I'm not really lost, per se, I'm just kind of wandering. But not wandering because I don't know where I am, it's really just not knowing where I'm going. No wait, I know my way around, but I'm not doing anything. I mean..."

 

She actually rambled on like this for a few moments, uninterrupted, no doubt, due to her company's shortness of breath, if not bewilderment. She abruptly paused, realizing just how badly she was jabbering, and cleared her throat, her brain catching up with her mouth soon after.

 

"I'm Lily," she managed, blushing a little, but extending her hand to shake. "Nice to meet you."

[AkatsukiPride!]

Taio blinked. "Um.." he started.

--Tell him not. Don't get an innocent man involved--

--He'll tell him if he wants too!--

A second voice. That was new. He'd have to confront that later. "Um...Yeah. Numbers, right? I hear, uh--"

--There are 99 of us, to start--

"--that there are 99 of them. I don't know that much about them though." Taio stuck his hand out. "By the way," he started, "My names Taio. Taio Yasulu. Whats yours?"

[Wave_Sine]

Numbers? Palir clanked closer to the crowd, specifically towards where he had heard "Numbers". Straining to hear over his own gears, he managed to also hear "99". Numbers? 99? Is that how many there are? Seems like getting the power I need will be easier than I thought... More grinding and whirring, and Palir was standing closer, about 3-4 feet away. No longer only toying with 'that' card, his hand was ready to place his deck into his Disk, if necessary.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Takao smiled brightly. "Lily, eh? That's a nice name. And don't worry about explaining yourself, I get it—You just were wandering 'cause you were bored. I do that all the time." Takao's smile lessened, but it was noticeable still nonetheless. "So, would you mind terribly if I hung out with you for a while? You seem like a nice person."

 

Takao shook her hand gently; he made sure not to grip her hand too tightly, as she looked delicate. Suddenly, a flash of white light was all he could see, and searing heat was all he could feel. What the hell...?!

 

Suddenly, Takao found himself hovering in a white void. Inside the void, there were three large light-grey orbs hovering in random locations. On the orbs, he saw numbers...

 

"20, 72, and 39..." Takao said slowly, squinting to read the numbers. "Wait a moment! Giga-Brilliant is Number 20, and Thunder Opal is Number 72! But, wait...Number 39? I don't own that one...Unless...Is there a Number inside me, and it hasn't been awakened? Hmmm...But...Where is this place?"

 

And, just like that, he was back out of the void. To him, it looked as though nothing had changed. "Ugh...That was odd..."

[evilfusion]

Lily considered for a moment, then nodded, breaking into a wider smile. "Sure, you can- " she paused, noticing that for a split second, he seemed completely absent from the surroundings, as if his body was just standing there, devoid of the mentality behind the boy. The next moment, he seemed fine, if a bit disoriented. She studied him with a flicker of anxiety, about to ask if he was okay, but ultimately decided to take it easy. She had no idea whatsoever what she would do if someone she just met randomly collapsed or something, and she wasn't even sure if she had seen anything unusual.

 

"You can hang around if you want. I'd like company, really. Depends on what you want to do."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"The WDC?" Akuma asked, "I can't say that I've ever heard of it, although starting with 6000 Life Points is an interesting prospect. Much better than 4000 Life Point duels. I'd like to know more about this WDC."

 

In the meantime, Akuma had activated her Duel Gazer, which didn't take long to find her opponent in Yoki. She then drew 5 cards, but decided against drawing a sixth, preferring Yoki to start things off for the first turn.

 

"You can go first, if you like," Akuma stated in a motherly, happy tone.

[Brinolovania]

Jayce raised an eyebrow. "Numbers? That doesn't sound too dangerous...what are they gonna do, math people to death or something? And my name's Jayce Pearson." He reached out, and shook Taio's outstretched hand. "So...are you going to be in the World Duel Carnival, by any chance? Because if you are, I'd really like a duel to give my deck a little but more testing." He once again glanced down at the ground, to see that the man was gone. "Hm...wonder where he got off to. But anyway, I'm talking too much. So are you in the WDC?"

[Cosmic Angel]

After about a five minute wait a black limousine pulled up in front of the department store. The limo placed itself a few feet from where Asuka stood. As the limo stopped in front of her, she remained perfectly still as if she was waiting for something. The door on the driver's side of the limo suddenly swung open. A well groomed elderly gentleman, with snow white hair, emerged from the limo. The elderly man exited the limo with a haste. He quickly made his way towards Asuka, he soon stood in front of her and greeted her with a slight nod of his head.

 

" Madam Komachi, please forgive my tardiness. I did not mean to.." Before the man could finish speaking Asuka lifted her hand up in a dismissive manner.

 

"There is no need for you to explain yourself Hine. It's ok I not angry at all, to be honest im in a rather good mood." Asuka said in a calm manner.

 

"Oh splendid and what could have ma lady in such a livid mood." Hine said as he opened the door to the limo."

 

"Well Hine, I came across another number user today." A smile appeared on Hine's face.

 

"Well I am sure he posed little to no treat." Hine said in a smug manner.

 

Asuka entered the limo in an elegant manner. Hine closed the limo door behind her and made his way to the driver side of the limo.

Hine reentered the limo and stared into the rear view mirror to look at Asuka.

 

" I trust you signed me up for the big tournament Hine." Asuka said with a raise of her eyebrow.

 

"Of course Ma lady, oh and before I forget I saw a few duelist within the park on the way here."

 

"Oh and is that so? I guess I will have to take a look for myself."