The Rise and Fall of History: A Past Unseen

by Medigo

The world of dueling has reached a standstill. Many stories have been told through these cards, and the final story pits every side against each other. It is a game no more. Duelists are divided, and an unknown enemy watches from afar. In the midst of all this chaos is one man who brings a new power that can forever end the conflict; a stranger to this world and to himself.

21. Part of Their World

Annex 021: Part of their World

Alice's LP: 6000 Liza's LP: 7800

Liza was dueling for real now. "The Queen can return monsters to a players deck, up to the number of dead Madolche cards she returns to the deck!" Her XYZ-monster, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu(4/2700/2600), detached one of her XYZ-materials, Madolche Messengelato, to activate her effect. Now she had two cards she could return, Madolche Anjelly and Messengelato. "Say goodbye to your Mermails, sweetie." The Queen waved her scepter around to dismiss both Mermail Abyssnose(4/1500/1500) and Mermail Abysshilde(3/1300/400). "This duel is making me hungry.. Ah! I mean.." Alice focused her mind and flipped one of her set cards. "I use Call of the Atlanteans and bring three level 3 seaserpents back to life!" The quickplay spell could special summon the two Atlanteans and Deepsea Diva from the graveyard, if Liza allowed it. "You should have done that sooner." But Liza countered with a countertrap. "Madolche Teabreak. Your spell is sealed and it is sent back to your hand!" Now that there were no more Madolches in the graveyard, Liza's traps had been reactivated.

"Oh. Can I activate my trap then? Aqua Mirror Cycle!" The Aquamirror returned one water monster on the field to the deck, to recycle two water monsters in the graveyard. Abysshilde was already being forced into the deck, so Alice might as well do it herself. "I take the Atlanteans!" The Atleantean Prince Neptabyss and his Heavy Infantry were placed back in the girls hand. "That is funny, I'll do the same." Because of Madolche Chateau, the returned Messengelato and Anjelly were sent to Liza's hands instead. "By the by, if I control a fairy-type Madolche, Madolche Ticket can special summon a new Madolche from my deck instead of putting it in my hand." With the Ticket spell, which activated after the two cards returned to Liza's hand, Madolche Puddingcess was summoned. A longhaired blonde princess(5/1500/1500) joined her queen. "Puddingcess gains 800 attack and defense points if there are no monsters in my graveyard!" The princess boosted her(2300/2300) own body. "Together, they will launch their assault!" The royal pair attacked with a rain of cakes and puddings."I set three cards in the spell/trap zone. End turn!"

Alice's LP: 1000

"Why couldn't it be real cakes instead?" At least then the damage would be worth it, Alice sighed. "Get back in the game, Alice! You can have cake later!" Emily shouted at her sister. She was already doing bad enough without distracting herself. "You think I still can do it?!" Alice was not as hopeful. Until she entered her drawphase. "Maybe..I can. I see something!" She normal summoned Neptabyss the Atlantean Prince(1/800/0). "That again? You remember what happened the last time, don't you?" Liza had Madolche Nights set. That countertrap would block the Prince again, if she dared to use him. "Yeah. I also remember when and where you placed it." Alice played the spell/trap destroyer, Mystical Space Typhoon. "!" The typhoon spell card claimed the leftmost trap card, which turned out to be Madolche Nights. "Not playing around this time!" Neptabyss was now free to use his ability. It discarded Atlantean Dragoons from Alice's deck to add Mermail Abyssmegalo from the deck to Alice's hand. "Heehee." Dragoons' own effect activated afterwards, as it had been sent to the grave for a water-monster's effect. Alice could choose any seaserpent in her deck, and take it. "Atlantean Heavy Infantry!" She went with a second copy of a card she already had. "Wanna know what happens next?"

"By sending two water monsters out of my hand, I may special summon this big guy in attack mode; Abyssmegalo!" Both Infantry atlanteans were discarded, so that the mighty red shark knight(7/2400/1900) could break to the surface. "I know yeah." This was the second time Liza's opponent had triggered those Atlanteans. With two Heavy Infantry serpents sacrificed, two face-up cards would be destroyed. "The ones that should go are your monsters." Alice targeted the Queen and Princess. They were mashed into a puddle of cake and pudding. Liza could at least return the destroyed Puddingcess back to her hand, but Tiaramisu and her attachment had to go the graveyard. That Madolche lacked a graveyard-recursion effect. And with the effect of Madolche Ticket, Liza added another Madolche to her hand; Madolche Mewfeuille. "You're going for the killing blow?"

"I can't be not-serious if my lifepoints are this low." Alice said as she pulled a spell from her deck. Abyssmegalo could search an Abyss spell or trap card, once it special summoned itself with its own ability. "Abyssmegalo goes for Abysscale of the Mizuchi!" Alice took the magic-negating equip spell and equipped it to her shark knight. Mizuchi's scales added 800 attackpoints to the Mermail(7/3200/1900). "More! Megalo needs to eat a monster, if he wants to attack twice this turn!" The shark devoured the prince Neptabyss whole, and its full potential was unlocked. However Neptabyss could use its own effect, now that it had been sent to the grave for a water-monsters effect. "Neptabyss special summons an Atlantean from the graveyard!" The prince's second power resurrected Atlantean Dragoons, the gold and silver dragon riders(4/1800/0), in attack mode. "Battle time! Go, go, go!" Both seaserpents blasted towards the defenseless Liza.

"8000.." Cassius counted the combined attackpoints from all three upcoming attacks. "Is she going to do it already!?"

"I have other plans!" Liza activated a trap before the first hit landed. "Madolchepalooza! I can special summon as many Madolches from my hand as I want!" With that one card Liza summoned three Madolche monsters in defense mode; Butlerusk(4/2000/1300), Marmailmaid(4/1300/2500) and Messengelato(4/2100/1000). "Whoops.. Abort! Abort!" Abyssmegalo and the Dragoons stopped on a dime and swam right back to their master. "Huh? Why aren't you attacking them at least?" Emily thought she could at least damage these monsters, even if Liza couldn't be hit. "Because Madolchepalooza returns every monster it summons, back to the deck." Alice explained. She had read the full text of that trap before she made her decision. "The field spell will just force them into Liza's hand if I destroy them with attacks." Alice moved out of her battle phase. She placed Call of the Atlanteans back down in a spell zone. "Better to let them leave. That was my turn." So the endphase came, and the deck reclaimed the maid/butler and messenger on the field.

"You are getting too smart for your own good, little Alice. I was going to use that trap for my turn, but you left me no choice." Liza could not afford to take it easy anymore either. She had a lot of lifepoints. However Abyssmegalo could take off entire chunks at once. "No more fancy crap." Liza normal summoned Madolche Anjelly(4/1500/1500) and flipped one of her other trap cards; Jar of Avarice. "With this trap I recycle five of my dead cards to draw one new cards." Madolche Queen Tiaramisu, Hootcake and the three traps were all sent back into their respective decks. "That re-triggers Madolche Ticket." Her continuous spell almost summoned another Madolche from the deck as Anjelly was a fairy-type Madolche. "Oh, not so quick! Abysscale of the Mizuchi stops the first spell that is activated, by destroying itself!" Madolche Ticket fizzled out. The scales were unequiped from Abyssmegalo(2400/1900) and sent to the grave.

"As if I did not see that coming, darling." Liza lost that exchange on purpose. "Now there is nothing in my way. You will not stain my rank in this guild!" Liza tributed Anjelly for the Madolche's own effect. It special summoned a second Madolche Puddingcess(5/1500/1500) from the deck. Though with one monster in the graveyard, the Princess could not enjoy her 800 attackpoint-boost. "I control a level 5 monster, so with XYZ reception I can summon another level 5 monster from my hand." Liza used the spell she had drawn to summon the first Puddingcess(5/0/0). XYZ Reception negated the summoned monsters effects and reduced its stats to nothing. "XYZ-summon!" Liza did not care, she was here for bigger things. Both Puddingcesses were overlayed into one brand new pudding royalty. "Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode!" The princess wore a dark dress and stood on top of a massive chocolate cake. She(5/3000/3000) was not so little anymore.

"Take a good look. Chocolat returns one monster from my grave to my deck. And if one of her attached materials is the original Puddingcess, she detach a card to special summon any Madolche monster from my deck to the field!" The princess poured chocolate sauce on the ground to cleanse the remains of Anjelly. The angel switched places with a monster in the deck. "Madolche Chouxvalier!" A corsair horseman(4/2200/1800) and his tiny horse rode down the roads of the Chateau. Their puzzle piece linked with the Chocolate-princess. "You wont win, Alice. I cant let you." She started the battle phase. "Why not? Is it because of the tournament?" Before she could attack, Uno had to ask her something. Like Meridian before her, Liza seemed to dread the chance of not being chosen for the comperition. Uno just didn't understand. "It's not the money. You wouldn't understand! Now hush!" She declared her attack; the rank 5 Madolche monster unleashed the fiercest storm of cakes and candies yet. The target was Atlantean Dragoons.

"But the others, will they be less nice to you if you lose?" Alice almost let the attack connect. Her lifepoints wouldn't weather that damage. "I'm sorry.. I want to go on too! I'm having too much fun to stop!" Alice unveiled her final trap, Impenetrable Defense. "What now?!" That trap prevented the death of her monster for the rest of her turn, by switching it to defense position. "When did you.. Why do you have a card like that?" Liza had forgotten Alice had set that card at the start of the game. "Because it's something my sister gave me a long time ago." It was less a tactical addition to her deck, and more something she did to imitate a nice move she had seen Emily use once. "You think you can afford to duel like that? People like you will be eaten alive at the tournament!" Battle damage was not going to touch her opponent now, but Liza still had burn effects. "Madolche Waltz! Every time a Madolche does battle, you will lose 300 lifepoints!" So by flipping her continuous trap, she could inflict 300 points of damage with Puddingcess' failed attack. Chouxvalier started his own attack on the protected Dragoons to inflict another 300 points of damage.

Alice's LP: 400

Impenetrable Defense, Normal Trap
Target 1 monster on the field, switch it to defense position if it is in attack-position, then activate 1 of the following effects depending on the DEF of that monster.
● Less than 1500 DEF: The monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn.
● 1500 DEF or More: The monster is unaffected by card effect(s) this turn.

"Maybe. At first I thought this would be a bit scary..you were taking it so seriously. But then I told myself that this is just a game. It is a game I like playing and, knock on wood, am pretty good at." Once the battle phase ended, Alice flipped Call of the Atlanteans. "Good enough to know when to use a spell like this. Let's try the Atlanteans again!" With that spell card she could resummon The Atlanteans in her graveyard; Neptabyss and the Heavy Infantry mermen(3/0/1600). She wanted to use this spell on Liza's turn as it shut down a player special summons for one turn. "What are you planning?" Liza herself did not see where this was headed. Atlantean Dragoons gave level 3 or lower seaserpents the permission to attack directly, but those three could barely put a dent in her lifepoints. "If you had synchro monsters, you could have revived Deepsea Diva instead. But you don't." Liza placed a trap card down on her field and ended her turn. "Nobody has ever won a tournament without an extra deck!"

"I wont know about that, until I try. And if I never try, like Emily did. I wont like myself." Alice drew her card. "And what I want to do now is.. this." She activated Abyssmegalo's effect again. It sacrificed a water-monster to give itself a second attack for the next battlephase. The sacrifice was Atlantean Dragoons. "I use the effect of the Dragoons!" Alice repeated what she did the last time the dragonriders were sent to the grave; finding a seaserpent in her deck and giving it to herself. "I choose, Poseidra the Atlantean Dragon!" Her choice was obvious. Her gameplan became obvious. "You have that card?!" Liza was amazed that any duelist still used the Atlantean King. Most decks worked better without it. But Alice could not let this one go. She was glad she hadn't. "Yup! I can tribute three level 3 or lower seaserpents to special summon Poseidra!" Neptabyss and the Infantry Atlanteans were swallowed by a large wave, and the ocean released the mighty blue-scaled and gold-spiked dragon Poseidra(7/2800/2600).

Of course, the sacrificed Atlanteans reproduced their effects as well. Neptabyss special summoned Atlantean Dragoons from the graveyard. The Infantry mermen destroyed Madolche Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode and Madolche Chouxvalier. "Poseidra has a power too! He returns all spells or traps on the field to a players hand!" The Atlantean king created an even bigger wave to wash the field clean. The chateau was reduced to a puddle of soggy cake. Madolche Ticket, Waltz and Liza's set trap card were swept away. "You did. You actually did it." The writing was on the wall for the XYZ-duelist. There was no defending against this. "You were strong too Liza. But nobody wins them all." Alice had a big grin on her face. That was what victory felt like. "Just get it over with." Liza could not share her mentality. "Yes sir!" Four attacks came. Abyssmegalo struck twice with his chompers. The Dragon rider charged in with their lances. And the finishing blow was made with Poseidra's large claws. It was a total blowout.

Liza's LP: 0

"Woo-hoo! Yes! Did you guys see that!?" Alice psyched herself out as the duel finally concluded. "We sure did. Great work, Alice!" Cassius was the first to congratulate her. "I couldn't have done it better myself, Alice." Uno had been so enthralled with the duel itself that he nearly forgot what she dueld for to begin with. But that could wait. "Em? What did you think?" Alice wanted to hear from her sister the most. She always had something to say about anything, yet she was seemingly awestruck into silence now. "I.. wow. I can see I worried too much. That went.. I knew you could do it, but still I.." Every time it looked like things would go south, Emily felt a heavy lump in her throat. That feeling was all gone now. Perhaps she had been underestimating her little sister. "I get it, Em. You just wanted to protect me. And maybe I would have done better if I did have synchro monsters. Maybe I wouldn't almost have lost. But this way it was more exciting, you know? Like, I really fought for it."

"You did. So here." Liza broke up their chat and handed Alice the medal with the XYZ-guilds symbol on it. "That was what you wanted. You also get to take whatever you want from my deck since." Liza had not pressed the issue before since he did not imagine it would get to this point. "But I already told you that I only want what you won't miss. If you have to give something away at all." Alice already had what she came for. However the XYZ-guild was strict about their rules. "Suit yourself." Liza tossed a card her way. "Oh!" Alice caught a trap card; Jar of Avarice. "Thank you. I'll be sure to use it!" A card of this nature could easily fit in any deck. "Hmm. How far set back were you?" Now Uno wanted to sate his own curiosity. "Not far enough to be knocked out of the running. I just have to do more work now." Liza was not completely enraged for a reason. "Oh so you get to duel more. That's not that bad, is it?" In fact Alice saw an upside to it. "There is a limit to how much sugary sweetness I can take.. darling. Get outta here before I start to hurl. If one of your friends wants a challenge, they can pick someone else."

"No thanks, we're good." Said Emily. The trio of duelists needed nothing else from this guild. "We'll go."

"So.. we have three of these, together. How do we start a guild with them?" Uno could not see it being a simple process, not in this crazy world. "Don't ask me. I run my own guild." Cassius was quick to say. "If it is anything like mine, you need to run it by dreamworlds people, before it becomes official. They can provide you with better cards afterwards. Also you two would still need to have a few more duels if you want to rank high enough to enter the tournament. Now personally I'd prefer it if you did not duel my people. We have little representatives as is." If Uno and Alice defeated duelists from the Fusion or XYZ-guild instead, at least they would remove a few of them from the overall bracket. "Only 64 people can enter.." It was not going to be easy. "Maybe we can let Eric in our guild too? He would like that!" Eric could get better cards that way, for free. "He can only join an independent guild if he beats one of you though, Alice. Or he can slide in if he has a Fusion or Synchro medal already. I think. Again, I am not an expert." They would have to tell Eric about it first and see what he thought about it.

Except... Eric was gone by the time they got back. He was nowhere in the castle. "He did not wait for us?" Uno wished he had gotten the chance to say goodbye to him. "We did leave him all alone." Alice wondered if he had felt betrayed somehow. "He wanted to stay behind! Ugh, if he felt lonely he should have come with us!" Emily grumbled. Sometimes that kid could be so frustrating. "I checked with Akai, she was the one to give him a ride home. He didn't say anything to her either, just that he wanted to go. Maybe he was out of time? I am sorry either way." Cassius figured this was just inevitability, Eric had to leave regardless. "He will call us I am sure. You three need to focus on tomorrow. That big presentation of Dreamworld is gonna be given at the capitol. That is probably the perfect time to approach them about your guild." Reaching the capitol would require a few hours worth of driving, so they would need to wake up early. "Maybe then we can see dad?" Alice and Emily's father would be off that day. "I was gonna call him and mom in any case. But yeah, we have done what we can." Emily looked at Uno. "Tomorrow is the big day."

"Yeah." Uno nodded. "The Capitol; dreamworld's center. That is where the 'Other UNO' is supposed to be. Now I should finally have everything they asked for."

(To be Continued in Annex 022: Showtime)

New Cards used by Alice Brandt
Mermail Abyssmegalo
Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon

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Call of the Atlanteans
Mystical Space Typhoon

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Impenetrable Defense

New Cards used by Liza
Madolche Puddingcess
Madolche Chouxvalier

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Madolche Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode

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XYZ Reception

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Madolche Teabreak
Madolchepalooza
Jar of Avarice
Madolche Waltz