The young Number cried out in pain as the older Number shattered one of his gems. He fell to the ground and whimpered, tears welling in his eyes. The other Number teens surrounded him menacingly. They grinned.

"Aww, is the little Number gonna cry?" the one who hurt him teased. "Shame you haven't aquired your overlay units yet, huh?" He chuckled, and the others laughed as well.

"He's such a pansy!" one laughed. "He can't even defend himself! Not with a measly 1000 defense power!"

The others laughed, and the child got up. He made a move to escape, but one of them caught him.

"The little Number's trying to get away!" the one who caught him mocked. "Should we punish him for it?"

The leader of the gang nodded. "Hold him there."

"Yes, boss."

The others chuckled as they made a ring around their leader, blocking everything from view and not allowing any other Number to see what was going on. The small Number tried to wriggle out, but the Number only tightened his grip.

The leader cracked his knuckles and grinned menacingly. He made a fist and punched the small Number's stomach. The child choked a cry of pain, making the others laugh.

The lead Number made a blade out of his hand and stabbed it into one of the small Number's hip gems, and the poor child screamed in pain. Unfortunately, since they were out in the forest, no one could hear them. They laughed more and continued the torture.

~.~.~

They chuckled and left the child on the forest floor, alone. Some of his gems were broken, but most of them were partially broken and cracked. These caused immense pain to his fragile little body, more than he could handle. He was stabbed in many places, his black blood pooling around him. His left eye was mutilated beyond recognition.

Still, he got up. He tried to make his way to the village, but he collapsed on the edge of the forest before he could do so.

Luckily, there was a Number walking around. His name was Number 39 Aspiring Emperor Hope. He was looking for the source of the screaming and crying.

Suddenly, a small body caught his eye. It was barely breathing. Hope walked cautiously over to it.

"By the Numbers," he mumbled. "A Dark Number. Who knew that there was one here? And a child at that." Without hesitation, he picked up the Number and carried him to the orphanage. "Whatever the case, I mustn't allow him to die here. I must tend to him."

~.~.~

The child woke up, confused. Only one eye seemed to be working. He reached up and felt a bandage over his left eye. He tried to get up, but the stab wound in his stomach caused too much pain, so he didn't try.

"Black Mist," a voice said. It was soothing. "You're finally awake."

"Are...you ref-fering to me...?" the young Number asked.

"Yes. I decided to name you Black Mist." The older Number walked toward Black Mist. "I believe you will grow up to be as silent as the mist itself. Now, lay still while I check on your wounds."

Black Mist laid as still as he could while the older Number changed the bandages. He clicked his tongue woefully when he removed the bandage on his eye.

"I fear that you may have lost vision in this eye. Can you see out of it?"

Black Mist closed his right eye, but only darkness remained. He shook his head slowly so as not to cause any pain.

The young Number sighed. He felt the older one sit next to him, and he looked over. The older Number smiled. "Not to worry, young one," he assured. "I am sure that in time, your eye will heal."

Black Mist nodded. "Okay..." he said softly.

The Number nodded. "By the way, my name is Number 39 Aspiring Emperor Hope."

"Hope..." Black Mist mumbled. "Hope..."

"Yes, Hope." Black Mist looked up at Hope and saw the Number smiling. "You are safe now, little one."

"Safe..."

"Yes, safe."

"Daddy!" a small voice called. "Daddy, Sanaji's hurting me!" The voice was a girl's voice.

Is there more Numbers? Black Mist wondered.

Then, light green girl with some pink parts on her arms and legs flew in. When she flew, she had a blue aura around her. Her eyes were baby blue, she had antennae, white, claw-like nails, dark, long green hair, and fangs. She had a white dress that stopped at her knees and white shoes.

"I was not!" another girl yelled. She, too, flew in, and she had a red aura surrounding her. She had pale skin with deep brown eyes. Her ears were kind of large, she had a red tank top and a black skirt, and she had a brown tail. She didn't wear shoes. That was either because she didn't like shoes or they couldn't find any for her. Her hair was light brown and long. It was tied into a ponytail.

"Girls, do not fight!" Hope yelled. "Remember what happened the last time?" He then gestured to Black Mist. "We have a new child here. Please do not cause any trouble while he is recovering."

The two girls stopped hovering and walked over to Black Mist. He had trouble focusing on them since he had one working eye. They looked at him, and the green one looked back at Hope.

"He kind of looks like you," she commented.

"Yes, he does. That is because he is a Number like me," Hope explained.

"Hi!" the one with the tail said cheerily. "I'm Sanaji! I'm a Saiyan."

"My name is Mint," the green one said. "I'm a Namekian." She smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Black Mist didn't answer. He felt nervous around them for some reason. Maybe it was because of his past experiences.

"Sanaji! Mint!" a boy's voice called. He sounded older than the girls. "Where are you?"

Black Mist looked over to the door and saw a boy that looked a lot like Sanaji, except he didn't have a tail. He had short, blond hair with bright blue eyes. His skin was pale, he had a green shirt and jeans, and his shoes were black. He was tall. The boy looked in the room.

"There you girls are," he sighed. He had some kind of accent in his voice. Then, his eyes caught Black Mist. "Eh? Who is this one?"

Hope looked over to the boy. "Sam, this is another child. As you know, he will tell you his name when he is ready, just like you all."

Sam nodded. "Sanaji, Mint, it's time for your bath," he called to the girls with a wave. "Come on."

The girls reluctantly left the room, mumbling something about not wanting to take a bath.

Black Mist looked over to Hope.

"Go to sleep, now," Hope said assuringly. He then started singing a lullaby, and Black Mist started to fall asleep. That song stuck with him forever.

"Can I call you Papa?" he asked as he fell asleep.

"Of course."