Chapter 22: Players and Pieces.

"Arrghh!"

Shark cried out as the Seal closed in on him. Kite was watching with a smirk on his face as Shark faced his doom, this victory was for Dextra. He would enjoy seeing the fool fall to his own card, a fate well deserved.

But Wyvern would not stand by and allow this.

She moved quickly and thrust the silver sceptre in her hand into the ring of runic light.

"By the authority of the Orichalcos King, I now unlock the Seal!" She shouted out.

*SSCCRRRREEEECCCHHHHH!*

A loud screeching sound was emitted from the Seal of Orichalcos, like nails dragged across a chalk board. Kite was force to block his ears with his hands, this sound was pure torture but Wyvern did not stop.

*BOOM!*

In a blinding explosion of light, the magical ring of the Seal and the silver sceptre both shattered into countless shards of light. Leaving Shark to fall into Wyverns arms, but Kite was not done.

"So the Seal is not as powerful as you would have people believe. But it won't change his fate. Go Photon Hand!"

If the Seal could not take Sharks soul, then Kite would take great pleasure in taking it himself!

The ghostly white hand emerged from Kites palm and reached out towards Shark, but Wyvern was no push over herself. Darkness flashed in her eyes as the shadows around her came alive and trapped the approaching energy hand in chains of darkness and crushed it.

"MASTER KITE! THE TIME FIELD IS DESTABILISING! COLLAPSE IS IMMINENT!" Orbitals mechanical voice cried out.

The Time Freeze field technology was experimental and difficult even at the best of times and now it had to deal with not only the energy released by a Number duel, but also the Seal of Orichalcos, Kites new and improved Cipher Dragon, Sharks release of Chaos energy and the breaking of the Seal.

With so many different and powerful forms of energy being released it was no wonder the field was breaking down, especially since Kite had triggered the field before Orbital had fully charged the generators.

The air started to flicked crimson, in and out, faster and faster before it suddenly… vanished.

Time returned to normal and the previously frozen New Order members began to move again, those nearest to the trio were shocked at the scene that to their eyes had appeared out of nowhere in the blink of an eye.

"Surround him!" Wyvern ordered her minions as Kite pulled out his Photon staff to defend himself.

As they moved to surround the Number hunter, Kite tried to slowly back away and place the wall against his back, any New Order member who got too close would receive a nasty shock. Without the Time Field to hinder his foes he was in a bad position. But then…

"General! The perimeter team report we have been surrounded by City Security forces!"

Wyvern knew they were out of time, while she had the forces to eventually deal with Kite, they no longer had the opportunity to do so. Calling back her forces she settled for giving Fakers son one last look after handing Shark over to her men to carry.

"You've caught my interest Kite. You may have won this time but there will be others, till then."

With a wave of her hands the shadows beneath her feet came alive and spread out engulfed her entire group before sinking into the ground and vanishing, taking Wyvern, Shark and the members of New Order away with them.

Kite rushed over to Dextra's body that had been earlier flung against the corridors wall and held it close as the Security forces outside made their way in, tears of rage, helplessness and loss running down his face.

"You will pay for this New Order. I swear I will hunt you down till each and every one of you have paid. And you will pay most of all Shark, I promise."

---

Later in a chamber in New Order Headquarters the Orichalcos King sat alone on top of one of this thrones, of course he almost always sat on some kind of throne, that was the privilege of a king. Each chamber where the King would meet his followers had its own throne, the Room of Souls, the Audience Chamber, the Place of Worship and others. Each throne similar but different to suit the purpose of the room he was using.

Tonight he was in the War Room, the room was mostly covered in shadow with only two lights, one above the throne and the other over the advance round computer table below where the Generals of Order would one day soon plan the conquest of the world. On that day they would rise and conquer in the name of New Order and the power of the Orichalcos. But not today.

Besides his throne was a table with an empty chess board, next to it lay exquisitely carved pieces made of white ivory, black onyx, green jade and red bloodstone. In his hand he twiddled with the jade King.

"Did you want something Umbral?" The Kings lazy voice echoed through the chamber.

At his words a cloaked figure materialised from the dark shadow beside the throne. This was Umbral, Spymaster of New Order, the only person that stood on an equal footing to the Generals of Order under the Orichalcos King.

"My liege, Generals Black and Blue have returned they-"

"I know."

"My King?"

"The Orichalcos has told me all."

Umbral was amazed once more at the powers his King wielded.

"Then what should be done my lord?" he asked.

"The games grow every more complicated everyday, does it not Umbral?"

"My Lord?"

"The game, the contest that will determine the future of this world. The players and their pieces have all begun to gather and make their opening moves."

He placed the jade King onto the board before him.

"First there is us, the servants of the Orichalcos and my pieces, the Generals of Order and you my Spymaster…"

He placed down the jade knights, bishops and rooks.

"…and of course, my mass of loyal acolytes…"

He placed down four pawns to join the other jade pieces. Holding the Queen in his hands he murmured as he put it down to one side of the board.

"A pity the Fenris still slumbers…"

"And the others lord?" Asked Umbral.

One by one the Orichalcos king placed down the other kings on the board, White, Red and Black.

"The first is Astral World, then next is Barian World and finally Dr Faker, although Barian World would likely consider him but one of their pieces, but to underestimate the man would be a grave mistake. He is a player in his own right."

Umbral agreed, Fakers powerful Photon technology and the manpower under him made Faker a potent independent force. The Orichalcos King took a moment to consider before he continued to place down various pieces.

"As far as we can tell the weakest force would be Barian World, locked behind the world seal its impressive they were even somehow able to achieve an alliance with Faker in the first place. I still wonder how they managed that."

This was a stain on Umbria's record as a spy master. New Order had gathered a lot of information on Barian World and Astral World, after all their ambitions did not stop at control of just the human world but all worlds. However both Astral world and Barian World were sealed away by powerful forces, one meant for protection and another to imprison. It should be impossible for Dr Faker to have come into contact with Barian World yet somehow he had, and they didn't know how.

"Of the three Dr Faker obviously has the strongest forces, he controls the government of the city, the Security Forces and let's not forget about his impressive son, the Number Hunter. Which just leaves Astral World and their sole piece, their emissary, the Original Number. I wonder just who was responsible for so effectively dealing with him?"

"What do you mean my king?" Umbral asked.

He knew the story of course, that when the Original Number had arrived in their world his power and memory had been shattered and cast across the city in the form of the Number Cards leaving him a mere shell of what he should have been. Had it not been an accident?

"I think it stretches coincidence too far to expect that Astral Worlds greatest hope, their champion, should suffer an accident upon his very arrival. But with Barian World sealed away and neither us nor Faker being aware of the Original Numbers arrival at first, who would make such a move?"

"You mean there is another party Highness? One we don't know about?"

"Exactly, which is why I am interested in this Drake. He has appeared out of nowhere and immediately attaches himself to the host of the Original Number. He seems to have some sort of power we are unaware of and his motives are a mystery."

"Could he not be from Barian world? Or another agent like Dr Faker?" Umbral asked.

"Possible, but unlikely. If Barian World could send operatives over then they would not be so dependent on Faker and if he was just an agent then there should be some prior record of his existence."

"Then… could he be reinforcements from Astral world for the Original Number?"

The Orichalcos King took a few moments to consider this possibility, but in the end dismissed it. The wild card was a mystery that would have to wait for now.

"Assign Black to aid Silver's operation and take the Seal away from Blue."

"Sir?"

"Shark has cost us a lot in this operation. Man power, resources and even a valuable Orichalcos Key. If he hadn't awakened his own power then I would consider this mission a failure and I don't tolerate failure. So strip him of the Seal as punishment and instruct him to continue with World Duel Carnival on his own. Once he proves himself, I will consider returning the Seal to him as well as proving the information we have extracted from that woman's soul. Have White watch him in case Faker makes a move but I don't think he will just yet."

"With his new power will Shark even want to remain with us if you do this?" Umbral asked doubtfully.

"Of course he will, you should have more faith in Tempest's art and the power of the Seal. Now prepare the ritual chamber, the time of convergence approaches."

---

In Dr Fakers top secret laboratory preparations were also underway.

"The alinement is fast approaching, raise the Chaos Crystal." Dr Faker ordered the robotic workers that scurried around.

He was in a control room with a huge wall window that looked out to an empty circular reinforced room. Under the operation of Fakers trusted robotic assistants the centre of the room opened up and from beneath rose a fist sized purple and ruby jagged crystal on a mechanical pedestal.

This was the crystallised Power of Chaos the Faker had extracted from Rio Kastle almost a year and a half ago. It was the heart of one of Fakers greatest creations.

"Ready the Numbers."

At the flick of several switches a number of mechanical arms emerged from the walls, celling and floor. Each held a Number card in its grasp as the arms moved the cards around the crystal into a moving formation that Faker had designed. As they did so the crystal in the centre began to emit a pulsating light. The resonance between the power of the Numbers and the power of Chaos was building like a positive feedback loop.

The air was charged with energy and a heavy feeling as Faker waited. The time was almost upon them as the power continued to build. Lightning began to spark from the crystal, striking the room in unpredictable patterns, yet whenever a bolt threatened to strike a Number card it would bend around it as if it had hit an invisible forcefield.

Meanwhile at the top of the room, space seemed to warp and change, slowly transforming into a starry sky unlike anything that could be seen from face of earth. This was what Dr Faker was waiting for, the moment when the barriers between this world and Astral world weakened.

"Begin charging the Chaos Cannon and prepare to fire!"

---

Earlier at Yuma's house, Drake was sitting atop of the roof watching the night time sky. He was waiting for someone, someone who had just arrived.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Astral asked.

Drake had secretly asked Astral to see him alone tonight on the roof once Yuma had gone to sleep.

"Here." Drake replied as he tosses a bunch of cards to Astral, each one was a Number card. In fact they were all of the Number cards Drake had collected so far.

Astral was surprised.

"Do you not require the Number anymore?" According to their prior agreement Drake was suppose to keep any Numbers he collects until he had finished with them before returning them to Astral. But it this had happened so quickly Astral was unsure about Drakes intentions.

"I only wanted the Numbers to attract the users of the Orichalcos, these New Order people. Now that they know about me there really isn't any reason to keep them anymore."

Drake had earlier told Yuma and Astral all about what had happened that day, about Hopkirk and New Order.

"But you are against such a powerful force, will you not need the power of the Numbers?" Astral asked. It just seemed illogical to him to give up such an advantage just like that.

"I have faith in my own power and the Numbers are your power. I don't need them."

With the power of Critias he really didn't think he needed the Numbers. Besides, the more power Astral had the safer he and Yuma would be. It was at this point that Drake felt a sudden change in the air, and he wasn't the only one.

Both he and Astral looked up at the changing night sky.

With his enhanced sense Drake knew almost immediately what was happening, that two different worlds were drawing close to each other. That the barriers between them were weakening. It was quite a sight.

Ordinary people wouldn't be able see this sight no matter how hard they looked. Even Dr Faker couldn't see this kind of sight the two of them watched except at the point were the walls between worlds was thinnest, where he had built his lab and was now preparing his Chaos Cannon.

Few people knew it but the reason Heartland city was even built where it was, was because Faker had long ago identified this area as a cross roads, a place where different worlds could meet.

Like a sea of stars, the sight was an indescribable beauty.

Then it began to burn.