#((Piper only gets to apologize near the end of the school arc..))

[antihibikase-archive]

Ashe and I were talking about putting Slater and Piper in other YGO series, and. I thought of reworking Numeron Code to include certain plots from every series pre-Zexal; Duel Monsters' Battle City + Virtual World arc, GX's setting in a school + the presence of a cult, 5Ds' world elements like the presence of speed duels, criminal marks, etc.

It still keeps the whole "number hunt" thing a plot point though, as well as the presence of D Gazers!

Here's the initial plot outline for reference!

Piper meets Slater in a similar way as in the original NC; Slater was a fan of his, and they became friends. In addition, Piper is an upcoming student at Liberty Garden's Duel Academy; while hes waiting for the new school semester to start, he decides to pad out his dueling record by partaking in tournaments

Slater is also an upcoming student in the duel academy- he chooses to attend Unova's branch instead of Hoenn's in hopes of spending more time with his brother.

They meet and befriend each other the same way as they did in the original NC. Piper is eventually recruited by Plasma, but one of his number hunts was a speed duel in Nimbasa City; Piper and his opponent go off-course, and Piper accidentally hits Slater, who was waiting for him in their waiting spot.

Piper is arrested while Slater is comatosed. Saddled with guilt, Piper agrees to being one of the many criminals handed over by the government to Colress' virtual world project. Ghetsis goes in the virtual world to monitor Piper's progress, as all the criminals handed over to Colress are all number holders.

Funding for the virtual world project is done through both Grimsley (who was told this would ensure his brother's recovery) and through The Herald's Guidance under Team Plasma; they promise to fund Colress' project not only for Ghetsis' interests, but also because Colress promises to hand over Slater once he gets what he wants; Zinzolin is convinced that Slater is the Diviner of The Herald as he shares their appearance and didn't immediately die during that accident.

Slater didn't immediately die due to being in possession of Number 7.

Upon being uploaded in the virtual world, Piper has no recollection over the accident- or of his and Slater's friendship. Similarly, Slater doesn't remember Piper.

Piper and the rest of the criminals wake up in one part of the virtual world, where a tournament is held between them, with the prize being their freedom; Ghetsis does not participate, but he stays in a castle, watching over Piper's progress and occasionally rigging the tournament by steering certain duelists to go after him.

Slater is kept in a separate part of the virtual world; in a tower surrounded by water. However, security measures are left unchecked, and Piper ends up climbing his tower and finding Slater. He immediately pieces together that Slater is the key to getting out, as he's not part of the tournament and is the only one there without the mark of a criminal. His possession of Number 7 is masked by Colress as to not make him a target amongst the other duelists.

The first part of this Numeron Code is basically a tournament arc, as its narrated immediately as soon as they're in the simulation; the reveal that Piper and Slater knew each other, as well as their reasons for being there, happens much later. Piper duels others for their numbers, erasing them from the tournament, while he aims to escape, initially only using Slater as a way to get out- before he grows fond of him, and eventually, remembers him and their friendship.

They have a little falling out near the end of the tournament when Slater finds out; hes not angry because of the accident, but angry because Piper found out and was trying to keep it from him. During this, Slater is captured and Piper has to battle the last few duelists (one of which is a speed duel), and eventually, Ghetsis. When Piper wins, this sends Ghetsis into a shock, and hes comatosed.

Piper gets out, but when he tries looking for Slater, he realizes Slater's pod isn't in the room. Colress escapes, Grimsley finds out about what he's been funding, and N and his sisters take Ghetsis to a hospital to recover; though N encourages Piper to try to live normally for now, while they look for the culprit and find Slater's body. Piper's involvement in the initial accident, as well as the simulation, is kept under wraps- the numbers he had collected are taken by N and his sisters for monitoring, but they promise to not hand them over to Ghetsis once he awakens.

Piper starts his first year in duel academy, trying to evade rumors, especially those that claimed he looks just like the duelist that was in an accident in Nimbasa City.

Piper is baffled, as he's placed in Slifer Red despite him excelling the entrance exam; he finds out later his score was swapped with someone else, an unknown duelist in Obelisk Blue- later revealed to be Slater, who is being touted as The Diviner of The Herald, and is influencing the students of the school.

Arc 2 of Numeron Code is reworked into being a school arc- the dueling academy is actually run by Zinzolin, still working under Ghetsis' orders, and utilizing the academy to expand the reach of The Herald's Guidance; Piper, like in regular Numeron Code, rebels from the inside and tries to rescue Slater, but also tries to keep whats going on a secret, in fear that Zinzolin may try to stifle his attempts otherwise.

The rest of the arc carry on as normal, with Zinzolin being the main antagonist of this arc; he attempts to escape with Slater, the school is set ablaze, and Duel Academy is exposed, with the rest of the school year being put on hold as investigations occur.

The rest of Numeron Code carries on as normaal with slight plot changes. Colress is still eventually the "final" boss of Numeron Code, having used the simulation and duel academy as a way to push Piper to his limits and achieving true strength. Slater is still put into The Hearld of Ultimateness' armor, and they still have their ceremonial duel at the end.