Annex 001: The Duelist with no Name

Before today there was nothing; no buildings, no faces, no voices. Everyone knew there should have been something, anything. So why could he not see it? It was just him, he was the first to shpw up. Was the rest all misplaced? Yes, every story had to begin somewhere. But the kind of setting they chose, was not a place for beginnings. There were stones all around him, with names carved into them. He did not know these names, he only knew why the stones were there. This was a graveyard, those were tombstones. This was where people came for endings. Why was he here? Did he arrive too late? He hoped not. Perhaps this was a dream? Dreams always missed the first few pages and made one feel like a completely different person now. This was normal right? Except it felt real, and there was nothing before the dream either..

He was not alone. Someone approached, cried out. He tried to answer, but the world around him went dark. "Ah.. I was awake." He thought. Not anymore; he fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

"Whaaahhh!" The first thing he saw and heard when he woke up, was a girl yelling in surprise and backing away. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to..I wasn't going to take it, sir!" The girl stammered before she turned around and scampered out through a door, shouting someone else's name. "What?" That was a lot to absorb. Where was he? On a bed, inside of someone else's house, someone's bedroom. It was a soft bed, not his own. It was too big for just one person. This room had huge closets and a large mirror, nothing that looked familiar. Then again neither did his own clothes, a hoodie and jeans. He did not feel uncomfortable in them. The man saw his own face in the mirror. What did she say earlier? Sir? He didn't look that old. Just a normal teen face, bit of a tan.. quite handsome too he reckoned.

"Look, look! He's awake!" A somewhat familiar voice returned at that moment, with company. "I can see that. What did I tell ya about poking him in his sleep?" Two girls entered the room. "I just wanted to see it. It was pretty." He got a better look at the one from before now. She was short, had shoulder-length blond hair and wore a sleeved summer-dress. She spoke with a peppier tone then the newer taller one. That one was redhaired and wore a shirt with overalls. "Uhh, how are you?" She had noticed rather lingering silent stare. It took Him a while to even process their words, as if his senses were dulled. "He must think we're criminals or anything. I'm so sorry! I wasn't going to steal your necklace!" The one girl apologized again. "Necklace?" He realized now what she had been looking at before. It was something around his neck, a chain-link necklace with a thin jewel pendant attached. "This is mine?" He was as surprised by this item as he was by the sound of his own voice. He expected himself to sound deeper..

"You're making us sound like an underworld gang. Slow down with the imagination Alice." The redhaired one cleared her throat. "Look. I guess this is all very confusing. Let's start with names. Mine's Emily, Emily Brandt. This is my sister Alice." She pointed at the other girl who nodded. "She found you at the cemetery, half-asleep. We took you home, figuring it was better for you to rest here. You were out for about an hour." That explained a lot. This was their place. "Hmhm.. thanks. Nice to meet you, Emily.. Alice." If nothing else, he was grateful for the fact that someone showed up during his dream, if it was a dream at all. "Nice to meet you too mister... Mister...ehr.. mister we don't know the name of." But Alice's response pointed out one of many questions that remained. He had not told them their name. It was the expected courtesy. He would have liked to be courteous too if he could. "Uhm, Well this is going to sound silly.. Buuuut. I kinda don't know either."

"Whaaaaat?" Emily shouted. "How can you not know your own name? Is there something you are hiding?" Suspicion set in almost instantly. "It slipped my mind?" He offered an excuse even he found weak once he had uttered it. "It's just.." The reality however was far more unnerving. " I can't remember. I don't know... who I am." Saying it made it decisive. "..Amnesia?" Alice gasped. "You lost your memories? Did you hit your head?" Emily knew a little about about things like this, trauma to the head could cause brief bouts of amnesia. "Don't think so." He checked himself in the mirror again. He saw no wounds. "Can't find out if it's something on the inside.." Emily started to think. She appeared willing to help. So did Alice. "Do you remember anything? Do you know what year it is? What day?" He just shook his head. "Don't even know where I am."

A few minutes later the three had moved to the living room. For the time being, the nameless man opted to go by the name of 'Bob'. Might as well give the ladies something to use. Emily was doing some research online, about cases like his and who could best aid him. They couldn't take him to the hospital on their own. This town was in the middle nowhere. Meanwhile Alice offered 'Bob' a softdrink. "Not bad." At least his body remembered what he liked. "Hmm.. can you say what your favorite color is? For example, mine is blue and my sister likes green. And who is the president of our country?" The girl gave him new questions for him to consider. "Orange? Maybe? But that's of a feeling than a memory. As for the second question.. this country has a president?" All the information Bob had was factual, and not much at that. He could tell what he was and how to live, not who he was and how he lived.

"Maybe it will help if you look at your own stuff.." The girl was still hopeful that the memories would come back sooner or later. "That might work." He was willing to give it a shot. Not much else to do. "Well these clothes could have been bought anywhere." Bob pulled a set of red-tinted shades out of his pockets. "...but this is neat." He said with a big grin as he put the shades on. "Heehee. I like it!" Alice giggled. "Nothing else? No ID or wallet?" Those could have been very illuminating. Alas, the man found no such items on his person. Besides the necklace, there was only one other object to inspect. "Hey now." He took out a pair of devices with screens on them. "Are those.." Alice's eyes lit up. "Dueldisks?" Upon her words, one of the devices activated and unfolded. Energy shot out to form a blade. "Whoa." Emily was equally speechless. "You know what this is?" Bob asked. "Do you?" Emily wondered the same thing. He had not flinched at all when that tiny thing transformed.

Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Alice ran off to open it. "Heya. Is the dead guy still around?" In came a rather thuggish-looking boy with short black hair. He wore a college jacket, but he did not look old enough to be in college. "He wasn't dead, he was just at the graveyard..." She corrected him and let him inside the house. "Uh. This is our neighbor, Eric. Eric this is..mister Bob. ... He can't remember who he is." She added quickly before the situation got confusing. "Greetings, Eric." It already was, but Bob was just happy to see another face. "Yeah Hi. Just came by to make sure no.. No way." Eric's priorities quickly shifted. "What is that dueldisk? He's a duelist? But that model, I have never seen one so advanced.." His mouth was wide-open with awe. "Hey, maybe he's from the guilds?" He snapped back with an inexplicable epiphany. "Guilds?" Bob had no idea what Eric was talking about. Allthough to his own amazement,he understood everything else.

"Okay calm down. This guy does not need a million headaches. We need to take it slow." Emily butted in before Eric could get near. "I have an idea. Let's retrace your steps. Maybe we can figure out how you got here." It was the best solution she could offer. "Sounds like a plan. Wanted to take a walk around anyway." The world Bob knew was so very tiny. Any expansion was welcome.

So the girls and Eric showed Bob around town. 'In the middle of nowhere' indeed; there were a few streets and several dozen homes. That was about it. This village rested on hills far from civilization. It was a miracle that they even had their own public school. Eric did most of the talking, while Alice just walked by his side and waited for a sign of recovery. The man had to admit that it was pleasant to learn how much he still knew. Simple things like crossing the street and reading signs. He just wished something else would come back to him. Or someone in the streets to recognize him. No luck. Not even their last stop, the cemetery, seemed to jog his memory. He had not left a trail of any kind, as if he simply appeared on the spot. "Darn. What else can we do?" Alice sighed as they made their way back home. "Alice, maybe we should just get him to a doctor." Emily did not want to worry their guest, but she had read that the longer the amnesia lasted, the harder it was to undo it.

"No way. You can't let this beat you!" Eric shouted. "Isn't it clear what we should do? He's a duelist, we need to bring back his dueling spirit!" He sounded so confident in his own suggestion, that the girls had nothing to say against it. "Heh? You're telling me you are duelists too?" Bob was not too surprised somehow. Didn't look like you had much else to do around here. "We play a little here and there. Never with dueldisks though." Alice explained before trailing off. She did not want to overwhelm him with too much information. "Maybe it can work. Maybe you were dueling.. when it happened." He had two disks, they could duel with them if they wanted. "You know what? I kinda want to do this." Now that the idea was in Bobs head, it would not let him go. That had to mean something. "Alice, do you want to duel with me?" He handed her his other disk. "M-me?" She could not believe it. "You were the one who found me. I owe you." He smiled. "Oh..well then.. okay!" She said as her face turned red. "Of course you wouldn't say no, would you sis?" Emily just stepped aside and dragged Eric with her. "Wha.. She gets to go first? But, it was my idea." He was burning with envy.

"How do I turn this on? Like this?" Alice found the biggest button on the disk and pushed it.

Alice's LP: 8000

"Yay, nailed it! And now.. oh wait, I didn't bring my cards. Just a sec!" She dashed off into the house and came back out with a full deck. "Okay, now I'm ready! Are you?" Alice wondered if she had to explain some rules to him. "I'm good. I will go second." There was no need, his Disk already had cards inserted, five of which had been drawn. His lifepoints were set, No name was registered to this device, so he typed it down himself.

Bob's LP: 8000

"Then let's go!" Alice drew her cards too, five of them. The one who started the duel did not get a drawphase. "I..summon this guy! Mermail Abysspike!" She had plenty of monster cards to put on the disk's blade section which held the monster slots. And the device itself created a three-dimensional image of light afterwards, forming a muscular merman(4/1600/800) with long blonde hair. "Ooooooh." Alice had heard of the disks visual abilities, but she had never imagined it would make cards look this real. "Okay, enough ogling.. Bob, do you know what Abysspike can do?" She asked Bob a different question. "It discards a water card from your hand to claim a level 3 or lower water-type monster from the deck..right?" His answers remained astonishing. "Y-yeah." Alice discarded a seaserpent, Atlantean Dragoons. "And when that monster, Dragoons, is sent to the grave for a water monsters effect; you can add another Atlantean from the deck to your hand." Bob continued, while Alice took her two new monsters; an Atlantean Markmans and Atlantean Heavy Infantry. "You are.. you know a lot. But what about your cards?"

Alice finished her turn. Control moved to the other player. "My cards?" Bob drew his sixth card. "Well.. they're quite exotic." A glimpse at his hand made him snicker. They would be surprised no doubt. "I summon.. Performapal Whip Snake!" What he brought out was a purple cobra(4/1700/900) of a most unusual kind. "Wh-wh-wha? Does that snake have a top-hat? And a bow-tie? And stars on his cheeks?" Eric was not entirely sure his eyes were working properly. "Sure looks like it." Emily just laughed while the snake did a little happy dance. "Ohmigosh that's so cute! What does it do?" Neither Alice, nor the others had ever heard of this card before, or any card like it. "I'll show you! My Pal here can switch the attack and defense points of another monster. Behold!" The snake used its heart-tipped tail to hypnotize Mermail Abysspike, lulling him(800/1600) into a more submissive stance. "My first performance, Whip Snake will tango with the Mermail!" The cobra lunged forward and stomped down on the Mermail with its body coiled up like a screwdriver. "How was that?" Bob then ended his turn, after he placed a card down in his spell/trap zone.

Alice's LP: 7100

"I love it! It's so.. I don't know what to call it." Alice could barely contain herself, a whole new world was opening up. "Huh? Oh right, my turn!" She normal summoned a new merman monster, the lungfish merman, Mermail Abysslung(4/1400/1800). "Well.. Abysslung gives 200 attackpoints to all water monsters." The Mermail (1400/1800) bolstered its own powers with its effect. "That wont be enough, Alice." Eric pointed out. "I know I know. I am gonna use a spell too! It's an equip card; Abysscale of Mizuchi!" Abysslung(2200/1800) donned new silver plate armor with aquagreen fins. "This gives a Mermail 800 more points of attack, so.. I am gonna attack your monster now Mr. Bob." Alice found the appropriate button on her screen and made her monster act on her command. Abysslung tore through Whip Snake with the metallic blades on its arms. The snake looked quite frightened as it was destroyed. "Aw. It even has its own little death animation." Now she felt sad for it.

Bob's LP: 7500

"Don't mind that, what about him? Bob, anything come back yet?" Emily still did not see any changes because of this duel. "Not yet. But let's keep going. This feels right.. and fun!" He could not say why, but he was getting psyched. He couldn't quit now. "Then it's your turn." Alice was done. Bob accepted. He entered his draw phase "I set one monster face'down and.." Bob switched his earlier face-down card face-up. "I activate the continuous trap: Ultimate Offering. While it is on the field, I can pay 500 lifepoints to normal summon a second monster!" The next monster was summoned face-up, it was a pink hippo(3/800/800), also with top-hat and bow-tie. His deck was starting to approach a theme.

Bob's LP: 7000

"When I normal summon Performapal Hip Hippo, I can normal summon a level 7 monster afterwards!" He removed the Hip Hippo and his set monster from the board. "Tribute summon!?" And the others watched as the tributes made way for a far bigger monster, a great red dragon(7/2500/2000) with spikes on its back. "Alice say hi to Odd-Eyes Dragon! He's gonna attack! When he overpowers another monster..." The dragon smacked Abysslung away into the distance with its tail. "..he inflicts damage equal to half that monsters original attackpoints!" The attack shook the digital field, cutting life away from Abysslung's owner. "This one is less adorable." Alice said. "Yeah. This is what I'd call the showstopping number. It's mine, I am sure of that." Bob placed another trap card down and ended his turn.

Alice's LP: 6200

"Ooh, tribute summons are a big deal. But.." Alice grinned. "I have some big deals too!" For her normal summon, Alice summoned the Spined Gillman(3/1300/0). The trident wielding seaserpent's effect would give 300 attackpoints to all fish/aqua and seaserpents she controlled, including itself(1700/0). "Ooooh, wanna see a special summon?" Out of nowhere, she discarded her two Atlanteans and a Mermail Abyssgunde from her hand and summoned her highlevel monster. "Mermail Abyssleed! He can call himself out if I send three water monsters away from my hand!" A large jurrasic fishman(7/3000/1000) in red armor made his entrance wit a big splash.

The waves were so big that they wiped out his set trap card and Odd-Eyes Dragon. "You destroyed my cards? Nice moves." At the same time Abysslung(1700/1800) returned to the surface, further enhancing the stats of Alice's legion. (Abyssleed: 3200 atk, Gillman: 1900 atk). "Discarding those Atlanteans triggered their effects." Emily had seen that combo before. When they were sent to the graveyard for the effect of Abyssleed, Marksman destroyed a set card and Heavy Infantry destroyed a face-up card. Mermail Abyssgunde meanwhile could revive any Mermail if she were sent from the hand to the graveyard. "Hey, I know how those cards work. You don't have to tell me that she has this in the bag. Go for it Alice!" Eric cheered her on. He had already forgotten why she was dueling Bob in the first place. "I would like to, but.." Alice had not however. "Mister?" In fact she was not focusing on the duel anymore. Something was wrong with Bob now. "Can you hear me?"

He couldn't. He was in another world again. Now it looked the same, same mountain, same trees, same ground. Only the voices of those around him were far and away. What he felt besides distress, he did not know. He wanted to run yet couldn't. What pulled him to this state? Was it the destruction of his monster or his imminent defeat? Did it matter that much? No, not them. They were not the danger. There was something else behind him, getting closer and closer. Was He what came before? Was he a figment from the past? If so, was it worth remembering? It was speaking to him now, calling out to him. Calling... "There may not be much time, for anyone, and they will hunt you. But I cannot run anymore. Keep it, ***, until..." He wanted to listen, to stay. However, the darkness did stay with him for long.

"Eh?" He snapped back to consciousness, still standing upright. A bright light had woken him up. "The jewel?" The light came from the pendant. It was emitting a warm white glow. "Everyone is seeing this, ri.." Though as soon as Bob touched it he began to feel a little lightheaded and nearly took a tumble. "Easy there pal. I got ya." Emily caught him just in time. "Oh. That's some strong arms you got there, Em." He managed to put up a sly smirk as he was held in her arms. "Watch the flattery, or I might just drop ya." She returned the words with a frown, she was not in the mood. "Mister, what happened? What was that light?" Alice came to his side as well. She saw that the jewel was cold and dim by now. "Hey, what about the duel? You were winning!" Eric stayed where he was. He wanted to see the damn finisher. "This is a bit more important, Eric." Emily hissed. "The game did something alright. It didn't look good tho."

"No..It did help. Emily, Alice.." Bob sat down. He did not have the strength to stand, but he was satisfied in spite of that. He had regained something. "Now I know a name...Uno." He heard it, inside that dream. "Uno? Is that tour name?" Emily wondered. "Who knows? I'm keeping it.. sounds better than Bob eh?"

(To be Continued in Annex 002: First Ripples then Waves)

Cards used by Bob/Uno
Performapal Whip Snake
Performapal Hip Hippo
Odd-Eyes Dragon

-
Ultimate Offering

Cards used by Alice Brandt
Mermail Abysspike
Atlantean Dragoons
Mermail Abysslung
Mermail Abyssleed
Atlantean Attack Squad
Atlantean Heavy Infantry
Mermail Abyssgunde
Spined Gillman

-
Abysscale of the Mizuchi