58 Chapter 58: Rank Up Chaos!
He existed in a sea of darkness.
He did not know how long he had existed here, but he knew that he had not always been this way.
He could remember another time and other places, from so long ago it had descended from history into legend, into myth, until it was almost lost in the fog of time.
But he remembered.
He remembered marching in front of legions of warriors clad in black iron armour through the crimson tundra's of his homeland, he remembered fighting beings of light among the primeval forests of long ago. He remembered sieges against glass like fortresses and defending ruby crystal castles.
But he could no longer remember his name.
Not his name, his family or anything else before the great war across worlds.
But he remembered his homeland of Barian World.
He once had power, position, riches and fame, as he fought alongside his lord. The strongest of the Seven Barian Emperors who served under the Lord of Barian World. Barian Emperor Nash.
The memories of those days burned bright in the confused haze of his past as he clenched his claws. His deep breaths stirred the darkness around him as it flowed through his fangs.
Those were the days of glory, the armies of Nash were the strongest and fiercest of the Barian battle forces, serving on the front lines in the battles against the armies of accursed Astral World. Those dogs of Order, if not for their champion and the five Guardians that led them then Barian world would have conquered the worlds and united them into the perfect utopia their god would speak of long ago.
They were legion! A legion that swarmed the lands. Yet although the forces of Astral world had always been fewer in number, they were also individually stronger. Of the Seven Barian Emperors only Nash truly had the strength to face a Guardian one on one, his strength was so strong he could face down even their leader Eliphas alone. Only his highness Vector had come close in facing off against the weakest of the Guardians.
In the darkness he could feel the pull of battle elsewhere. Its mighty drum pounded in his soul. Destroy! Destroy! Destroy all that stand in your path, Destroy your enemies utterly! Let there only be Destruction! Let it wash away the past, the pain, the betrayal...
He remembered once facing off against Eliphas terrifying strength, if not for the intervention of his Emperor then his life would have ended that day. He had owed Nash everything, they had had everything one could wish for, so why? Why had Nash thrown it all away?
But soon he would claim it all back, he had forgotten his name but he had a new name now, a new power.
Shark Drake opened its eyes as he heard his new pathetic masters call.
"With Number 47: Nightmare Shark I rebuild the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon Rank 4! Number 32: Shark Drake!"
A hole of light appeared in the darkness, a spiralling door that brought the false hope of warmth and life to the blackness in which the Number now lived. But soon….
He did not know how he came to become a Number, a splintered part of Astral Worlds Champion, nor did he care. It was his chance to rise again.
From the hole fell the offering, the Number Nightmare Shark.
Like the ultimate hunter it now was, Shark Drake swam through the darkness like a missile, it came up behind the monster that would be the sacrifice for his temporary return to the material world and sunk its fangs into the blue beasts neck. It took but moments to drain the helpless beast of its rich duel energy and transform it into a lonely shining star.
The taste of the rich duel energy held the hint of Order energy that all Numbers held and Shark Drake also relished the bitter aftertaste of Chaos energy that came from his master. The taste of home. Only a faint sickly trace of emerald power spoilt the familiar taste of power.
With a powerful sweep of its fins Number 32 dove into the open portal, entering once more the world of light that the people of this world took for granted.
*ROAR*!
His monstrous crimson form appeared on the duel field, eager for this existence and the taste of battle. However he was disappointed by his opponent, nothing but a soulless machine. Incapable of feeling true fear, unable to feel pain or terror. Such a waste of his might. But he would still rip that hunk of junk apart to satisfy its frustrations.
A second Overlay unit appeared to offer its energy to the mighty Number.
Shark Drake could not help but lament about his master, so concerned about his sister, so weak, just like Nash ultimately was… with Marin. Shark did not deserve this power he had inherited.
Shark Drake remembered that day, when Nash had fallen from favour, when he betrayed him and his armies, the day Nash had sought *phat* Peace.
The day he had dared defy Don Thousand. And the day Marin had died.
The day that…. But Shark Drake could no longer remember what else had happened that day, it was something important, be he could not remember what. After that came only the hazy memories of war. The victory of Alabarn, the conquest of Shadle, the defeat at Hazar. But it was no longer important, it was long over and gone.
Now! Now was the time! It was the time to battle, time to fight, to DESTROY!
Through his connection to the mortal behind him, who had been lucky enough to awaken the power of the strongest Emperor, Shark Drake could feel the building Chaos energy, it was rising, overflowing! Compared to what meagre energy he had drank from the offering but moments ago, it was like comparing a drop of water to an ocean. At least the boy was good for something.
The familiar power of home was like a beacon to his senses.
"And lastly, prepare to face a terror like no other! I activate <Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force>!" cried his master.
Behind Shark Drake rose the Gates of Chaos, the sealed entrance to Barian worlds greatest power. Power that would now be his!
"Go Rank-up Chaos Xyz Evolution!"
The sealed gates blasted open, its chains and locks snapping instantly under overwhelming power, and Shark Drake allowed himself to be pulled into its depths, allowed the energy within to surge through him, to empower him, change him, evolve him into an even more perfect form.
Finally! Finally this power was his! And soon, not only this power, but the power of Nash himself would be forever in his claws!
---
[Turn 9 – Shark LP:1400 Hand:0, Buster Blader LP:2000 Hand:3]
The air turned heavy as all attention was drawn to the great gate. As a duel bot, Buster Blader the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman, was unaffected by such instinctual pressure. But those duellists of New Order that followed Shark could feel it.
A murderous intent, a destructive force, it pressed down on them unlike anything they had ever felt. Even the power of the Seal of Orichalcos seemed to pale before this impending calamity. A great silver claw gripped the gateway, it was so massive the claw barley fit through the opening. Its claws glistened like polished steel, its edges like the sharpest blades.
A second claw forced its way besides the first, gripping the other side of the gate, the two hands filling the entirety of the portal. Then they began to push.
The frame of the gates stretched outwards for a moment before it snapped, ripping away at the fabric of reality, chaos spread and expanded under the force of Numbers claws, forming a great rift in the air.
Once it was big enough a black nightmarish face pushed through, with crimson bloodthirsty eyes its triple rows of sharp steely teeth gleamed in the sunlight. Behind its head followed a hulking body almost eight stories high. From its back rose six pairs of wing like fins and on its chest was emblazed the crest of Barian World in gold and purple, surrounding a glowing ruby crystal. Its body was like heavy black armour with razor edges and jutting spikes.
A true titan of the deep.
"Behold! Rank 5! Chaos Number 32: Shark Drake Veiss H!"
[Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss H -Rank 5 ATK:3000/DEF:3000 OU:3]
"Thanks to Buster Dragons effect, your monster now becomes a dragon and switches to defence due to Dragon Destroying Swordsmans effect." Declared the unflustered duel bot.
"Wrong! Chaos Number 32 Veiss H is unaffected by my opponents card effects, now prepare to be scrapped!" Shark cried.
All he wanted was to tear this puppet apart so that he could continue on his path to revenge.
"Battle! At the start of the battle phase I activate Shark Drakes effect! I banish Hammer Shark from my graveyard, this increases my Numbers attack by the same amount as my banished monsters attack. Giving Shark Drake an extra 1700 Attack until the end of turn. Tyrants Prey!"
[Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss H - ATK:3000 > 4700]
Sharks hammer headed shark appeared in front of the giant monster that Shark Drake had become, with a fearsome snap the monster was swallowed whole by the Chaos Number in one bite of its wicked jaw.
"Now Shark Drake Veiss H attack! Destroy Buster Dragon with Chaos Terror Stream!"
Runes of crimson light lit up all across Shark Drakes body, words written in lost Barian script, the glowing energy was then channelled into the gem set in the Barian crest on its chest. With a mighty roar the Number released its energy in a beam of black and red energy, a torrent that smashed into the black dragon.
[NC32H ATK:4700 > BD DEF:2800]
Buster Dragon was obliterated by the power beam, the stream continuing onwards until it hit the statue of Slifer that stood behind the throne. It then shattered the statue into rubble and blasted a hole through the wall.
This was no virtual image, this was the true power of a Number. Power that can materialise into reality itself.
Sharks followers trembled in fear as they back away from the titan. Their terror and awe cementing their loyalty to their General Blue.
"Since Shark Drake Veiss H destroyed a monster, it can now activate its second ability. Because it has a 'Shark Drake' attached to it as an Overlay Unit I can now use one of its Overlay Units to attack again! I now attack Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman! Chaos Frenzy!"
[Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss H – OU:3 >2]
[CN32H ATK:4700 > BBDDS ATK:2800 – Buster Blader LP > 100]
With a massive swipe of its great claw it flattened the armoured warrior and demolished the right hand side of the staircase like it was nothing.
"And again! Chaos Frenzy! Finish this now!"
[Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss H – OU:2 >1]
[Buster Blader LP > 0]
Reaching forward with its great head the Number took a great bite out the duel bot, swallowing the machine, the throne behind it and a good portion of the floor at the same time. One could hear the crunch of concrete and metal as Shark Drake chewed up its unfulfilling meal. Its crimson eyes glowed as it looked down at its master, it was unsatisfied at the lack of flesh, bone and blood, but he knew it was only a matter of time.
Only a matter of time till it claimed everything it deserved…
<<SHARK WINS ….>>
---
Back in the staff rest room of the Maze of the Minotaur, Drake and his duel spirits were finally finished.
With a satisfied smile Drake put the duel disk back on his arm and booted it up. It seemed like everything was working just fine again.
It had taken some time but Drake was now confident that all the booby traps in his duel disk (both in the Hardware and software) had been removed or else rendered ineffective, but in such a way that it would not be immediately noticeable to Fakers systems once he was back on the Network. He had left the sensor equipment alone afraid that forging false data would be too obvious when he did not know just what readings they had already taken on him, but the biggest change was its replacement power source that had been cobbled together from the equipment lying around.
Because in his hand he was holding that single small sliver of Baria crystal. Its red glow slowly fading away as Drake syphoned its energy away and he refined it back into pure chaos energy with the help of Critias.
Drake thought that perhaps he should do an investigation into Dr Fakers facilities, if Faker could afford to install a crystal in his duel disk then he must have even more of them, perhaps a lot more. And if Drake could find some of these crystals then he would no longer have to worry so much about duelling to gather energy for his conflict with New Order. But that would have to wait for another day.
Recalling his duel energy the Duel Spirits were returned to the Spirit world they had come from and Drake made his way back to the colosseum where he had faced the King of the Maze, a normal contestant would not have left though the audience exit like he did, they would have gone through the gate at the other end.
There might even be something good at the end.
---
Meanwhile in the high tech zone of Megaroid City, Number 96 was closing in on his prey. It had taken a while, this zone was at times a real maze of passages, street, bridges and different levels that had be specially divided up by temporary barriers for this competition. Sometimes one had to go down three levels go back two streets and up a couple of levels again just to cross one street forwards from where you started.
And several times Number 96 had to deal with unexpected obstacles, such as other contestants, Duel hunters and even a couple of New Order agents. Each was just a distraction from his real purpose of Number Hunting. In fact it didn't even matter too much to him if he advanced to the finals or not because all the Numbers should already have been gathered on this island.
Why wait for the finals when he could simply take them all in this round.
Which was why he had such anticipation. It was time to add a new Number to his collection and as an added bonus, he would have a chance at a more personal revenge. Who would have thought that the brat would be here, and with a Number card as well. Heh. All the better for him then.
And by now Number 96 was sure that Drake, that dangerous guy, was nowhere nearby.
Turning a corner Number 96 quickly pulled back with his stolen body before peeking back round the corner. He could see a duel in progress.
"I activate the effect of Machine Assembly Line, by sacrificing it I can return Green Gadget to the field, which allows me add Red Gadget to my hand. Then I summon it! With my Red, Green and Yellow Gadgets on the field my Stronghold the Moving Fortress now gains 3000 ATK!" a familiar boy said.
"Found you Bronk, and soon your Number and your life, will be mine." Number 96 smirked.
