The Rise and Fall of History II: Opposing the Present

by Medigo

The world of dueling has reached its climax. Many stories have been told through these cards, and the final story brought everyone together. People are united and yet, an unknown world suffers in their shadow. The fallen one returns in the midst of their peace, pursued and still a stranger to those around. There is not much time to save both his home and his friends.

34. Bird in her Hand

Redux 57: Bird in her Hand

"These people came, told us they knew were our children were, and coerced us to come with them. Didn't take long to figure out they didn't have my daughters or Eric. But by then we were their prisoners." James Brandt summarized the past few days of his tense life before everyone gathered in the palace foyer. "Do you recall anything about your surroundings?" Adamant finally had someone to question, someone who saw the inside the Fusion guild's hideout. "Sorry. Aside from two cells I didn't see much. They blindfolded us each time they moved us, or waited til we were asleep. I didn't even know we were in another... dimension." James was still wrapping his head around that revelation. So was Mrs Stonewell. "Ma. For the millionth time. We can't go back home here.. It's like a mirror universe or something." Her son tried to explain it to her as well as much as he could. "I don't care where it is. What have you been doing all this time?" She was happy to see Eric again of course, she just had her own way of expressing it. "A lot has happened, clearly. But I never knew.. you went through all of this crazyness." James sighed and looked at his daughter, sleeping on the couch. She was the only reason he was here.

"Yes. She has surprised us many times." Adamant would have liked to say more, but it was time to change the subject. "... Eric. Can we leave them in your care?" He requested. "Sure. Why? Are you going somewhere?" Eric asked them back. "The less we say, the better. We have a flight to catch." And they had to catch it soon. "I believe that is already saying too much." Iria shook her head and sighed. "A flight? You mean you're gonna go on one of those fancy new planes? Aw.. I wanted to go one too!" Eric sulked. "And abandon your poor old mother just after she meets her son again? The other one already doesn't want to talk to me, but you are my son." Mrs Stonewell put on the pity and outrage act again. "No.. mom. I'll stay! Eesh." Eric groaned. He would have to put up with it. "But good luck, wherever you're going."

"Thank you, Eric Stonewell." Adamant saluted him and the others. "Mr Brandt, Mrs Stonewell; may your stay be a pleasant one."

...

That same morning, Uno met with his family again. "This is very Troubling news, Brother." Both Marco and Anastasia received news of the attack and of the threat the Circle posed. "I Trusted these people with Everything. Anyone of them could be a Spy?" Due to the way synchronization worked; there could be infiltrators who did not even know what they were doing. "Yes, and I believe they are taking advantage of the templars. That is why I want to go to the place where they're controlled. So I can see who accessed them without going through proper channels." The part about suspecting Inquisitor Silver he left aside for now. "the monument is far from here. that journey would take you outside. you could be attacked again, Uno." Anastasia was quick to counter with concerns. "She is right. I fear I cannot Allow you to Leave. We still have Much to show You." Marco claimed. And he spoke up before Uno could object. "However! I would 'overlook' it If your Friends happened to find a Carrier they can use to Fly to the Monument, Perhaps one in Bay 7 of Floor 23." He mentioned offhandedly. "Huh. You know they just might."

A couple of minutes later, Uno tracked down the others and went with them to the 23th floor. Lo and behold, there was an unguarded cargoplane just standing there. "So your world still uses those old big-nosed planes eh?" Stonewell was there too, lamenting the monochrome, flat and wide-winged design of the vehicle. It was aerodynamic, but it just missed a little style. "Still. If it gets me to where they're keeping Tory, I can stomach it. Better than staying here." He did not plan on skipping this adventure. "I suppose it must be weird to be close to your mother, when she's so different." Uno could understand him wanting to leave the palace too. "What? No. That woman is too much like my mother, that's the weird part. Eric can have her." Stonewell said with a shudder. "Well. I wish I could go with all of you, but Marco and Anastasia have put their foot down again." Today his family was going to give him a tour of the control city. It would be eye-opening, but Uno felt a hint of guilt nonetheless. "We will manage." Iria stated as she and Adamant entered the plane. "If you're that worried. You can use this." Stonewell handed Uno a small communicator. "Oh." It was the same device Tory handed off before her 'defeat'. "You know how it works. Keep in touch. But I wouldn't worry. I have no plans of going down.."

Once Stonewell boarded, the trio took off. The cargo jet quietly hovered away with just a push of the button and without the need for a runway. Uno waved at them, even as they turned into a dot on the horizon pretty quickly. "I set it to fly on an automatic course to the facility. We should be there in less than an hour." Adamant reported after a few minutes. "Well. It's going smooth, I guess. But can't this thing fly any faster?" Stonewell gazed through the window. The cars below were going faster than them. "I would prefer it if we could fly this manually as well." The disciple confessed. Machines were not always that dependable. "Unless any of us can steer the machine, I do not see us getting there any earlier." The controls on the bridge were somewhat more complex than what Adamant was used to flying. "How hard can it be?" Stonewell walked up to the controls. "Forget I asked." There were more screens and buttons than stars in the sky on this thing. "Well, I recognize some functions.. and displays for the coordinates, altitude and pressure." Iria figured she could at least control the thing, in a pinch. "There is the map and radar..."

"There's another light on there." The radar had two blips, one for the plane and one for an unknown party.. "We're being followed." Adamant concluded. "What? Who would be insane enough to.."

"... I think she'd be!" Stonewell shouted as he looked out the side window. "There is no way." In all her life, Iria had never seen anything this wild. "Dame Phoebe!" The two-faced duelist was pursuing them in mid-air, riding the fusion dragon like a winged steed. "Does she want to die?" Iria growled while the dragon spat out a blast of bloodred energy that narrowly missed them. "I think she wants us to die!" Stonewell latched on to the walls as the vessel shook on all sides. "She is aiming for the cargo doors." Adamant rushed to the back section of the plane. "Stay there." He ordered as he sealed the doors behind him. After that he pushed a button to open hatches on the floor of the plane. "What are you doing?" Even at their current speed and elevation, they risked getting sucked out and falling to their deaths below. "We cannot outrun her. We must confront her before she does any damage." Right on cue the guild woman flew in through the opening and stepped down inside the cargo bay. "I got you now, you naughty kids!"

"Dame Phoebe." Adamant held his hand above his dueldisk. "Sir Adamant, you're using my name! I am honored. Lovely day isn't it? The sun is shining, and I feel good." Dame Phoebe pulled back the hologram of the dragon into her dueldisk. "I understand why you XYZ-guilders love solid vision so much. Though I bet you never tried using monsters this way! That was a rush!" She let out a impassioned cry. "Now what do I see? Three very serious faces, and no little Alice, or cute Eric? Hmmm. You'll have to do.. You see..I lost a couple of birdies this morning. Luckily you can replace them!" She then reshuffled her deck and drew five cards. "Come on Adamant, I know you always wanted to have a duel to the death with me! Here I am! I challenge you!" She placed one monster down and one trap card.

Adamant's LP: 8000 Phoebe's LP: 8000

"How did you find us?" Adamant asked as he also placed one monster and one trap card down on the field. "We know a looot, XYZ-leader. We got to this world first. But now you want to get our secrets, without anything in return? Tsk tsk." Phoebe flicked her finger. "Anyway, why are you so shy? Are you scared? You should be. It's my turn!" She flipped Edge Imp Frightfuloid(4/1300/1300) face-up. "I activate Frightfur Sanctuary!" A twisted fusion of spikes, blades, castles, train tracks and green lamps covered the inside of the plane, springing out from a continuous spell. "I can discard one card to send two Frightfurs from my extra deck to the graveyard!" Dame Phoebe discarded an Edge Imp Chain card and threw away the Frightfurs Bear and Frightfur Wolf. "And since Edge Imp Chain is sent to the graveyard.." Phoebe could also relieve a Frightfur card from the deck. "I will take Frightfur Fusion, thank you!" She added the fusion spell to her hand.. and activated it. "I banish three Frightfurs, to fusion summon my ultimate killer! Frightfur Chimera!"

"Gah! She's bringing out the big ugly guns " Stonewell winced. Frightfuloid, who counted himself as a Frightfur monster, merged with the remains of the Bear and Wolf to create the three-headed Chimera(8/2800/2000). "Let's meet our first victim!" The bear-head of Frightfur Chimera opened its mouth and fired a missile into Adamant's face-down card. "Guh. Could you try to keep the thing whole?" Iria rasped while the plane rumbled. "Oh I am not the one who can't fly." Phoebe's Frightfur used its other effect to steal the monster it destroyed. The destroyed Raidraptor Napalm Dragonius(4/1000/1000) was summoned to her field in defense position, and the Chimera(3100/2000) gained 300 attackpoints while Phoebe controlled Adamants monster. Dragonius normally would summon another Raidraptor from the deck if it was destroyed by an attack too. "Aww. Did Adamant want to use this cards effects? Too bad that you cant use effects when Chimera battles! Oh, don't worry. I will use Napalmy's other power!" Phoebe activated the Raidraptors effect to inflict 600 points of damage to Adamant. "Ggh." He took a napalm shot to the chest. "Heehee." Phoebe placed two traps down and called in her turn's end.

Adamant's LP: 7400

"Adamant. Make this quick. The plane can't handle this for long!" Iria yelled from behind the door. "Understood." His fingers moved rapidly. "Vanishing Lanius, Fuzzy Lanius!" The duelist normal summoned the green and blue raidraptor(4/1300/1600) and, as he controlled a Raidraptor now, special summoned the fuzzy purple raidraptor(4/500/1500) from his hand. "Raidraptor - Nest!" As he controlled two raidraptors, he could use his continuous spell next. It searched the deck and retrieved a second Raidraptor; Vanishing Lanius. The effect of the first Vanisher allowed him to special summon this second one(4/1300/1600). "Overlay!" He attached Fuzzy Lanius to the first Vanishing Lanius, creating a rank 4 monster, the mechanical owl Raidraptor Force Strix(4/600/2500). "That one eh?" Naturally as a fellow guildleader, Phoebe could easily keep track of his many moves. And Adamant was just building up steam.

"Now!" Adamant detached Fuzzy Lanius from Force Strix to activate the XYZ-monsters effect. At the same time Fuzzy Lanius used its own secondary ability, during its trip to the graveyard. Force Strix drew the third Vanishing Lanius Raidraptor from Adamants deck. Fuzzy Lanius added a copy of itself to Adamant's hand. "And again!" The second Vanishing Lanius enabled the special summon of the third(4/1300/1600). "And Tribute Lanius as well!" The third Vanisher cleared a special summon for the blue segment feathered Raidraptor(4/1800/400). With Tribute Lanius summoned, Adamant's deck could send one of its Raidraptor cards into the graveyard. He sent Raidraptor Readiness into the graveyard. "Now, my second XYZ-summon!" Both remaining Vanishing Raidraptors were overlayed and together they formed their own Force Strix(4/1100/3000). "Hehh? Do I hear a three?"

Each Force Strix gained 500 attack and defense points for each other Raidraptor on the field, and Adamant controlled two of those. "I add Singing Lanius." He soon controlled a third. Adamant activated the second Strix's effect, to add a Raidraptor to his hand that could be special summoned when the duelist already controlled a XYZ-monster. Singing Lanius(4/100/100) was special summoned in defense mode. "And I activate Raptors Ultimate Mace!" One of the Force Strixes(4/1600/3500) picked up a glowing neon mace. This equip spell added 1000 attackpoints to the Raidraptor(2600/3500). "Battle!" Adamant entered his battle phase. "About time! I thought we'd never get there!" Phoebe laughed even as the stolen Raidraptor Napalm Dragonius was killed by the first attacker, Tribute Lanius. Frightfur Chimera(2800/2000) lost its own powerboost with its slave destroyed. "Come, Sharp Lanius!" With Napalm Dragonius sent to his graveyard, Adamant was the one who could special summon a Raidraptor from his deck. He called the razor red Raidraptor(4/1700/1000) with its effects negated. This fifth raptor added another 500 attackpoints to the the XYZ-Raidraptors. "Attack the fusion!" The Force Strix(3100/4000) with the Ultimate Mace set upon the Frightfur monstrosity.

"Your skills haven't gone rusty, Adamant. But what about your instincts? I wanna play a game." Dame activated her trap card. "Magical Hats! Can you guess which Hat my scary monster is using?" She took two spell cards from her deck, two Toy Vendors, to shuffle face-down on the field as pseudo-monsters. Frightfur Chimera was flipped and shuffled as well. All three cards appeared on the field as hats. "Left!" Stonewell hollered. "That'd be too obvious." Iria had her own idea where her monster was hiding, but she knew Adamant wouldn't listen. ".." He chose his own target. "That one." The empowered Force Strix dropped the Ultimate Mace on the rightmost hat. "!?" A terrifying roar escaped the smashed card. "He got it!?" Eric cried out in surprise as the Frightening Chimera inside blew up completely. "That was almost too good a hunch." Phoebe grimaced. "I did not gamble, Phoebe. I followed your movements, I knew which card was set were." Adamant openly admitted. "A leader leaves nothing to chance!" The remaining hats were destroyed by the other Force Strix(2100/4000) and Sharp Lanius.

"AH! You trained your eyes then! Hee, I can't wait to pop them!" The Hats disappeared, but the original Toy Vendor spells carried their own effects. Through their destruction, a Fluffal or Edge Imp Saber card could be sent to Phoebe's eager hands. She added Fluffal Mouse and one Edge Imp Sabers. "..." Just through that move, her next plan became crystal clear. Adamant needed to prepare himself. "Tribute Lanius!" This turn Tribute Lanius had destroyed a monster, so it could give Adamant a quickplay Rank-Up-Magic card. He took Rank-Up-Magic: Raptors Force. He placed it down in the spell/trap zone. "XYZ-Summon!" Finally Sharp Lanius and Tribute Lanius became XYZ-materials for the third Raidraptor Force Strix(4/1600/3500), summoned in defense mode. "I take Raidraptor Booster Strix from my deck!" The last Force Strix used up one material to send a lowlevel Raidaptor to Adamant. Now that he had several defenses, he felt secure enough. "End turn."

"Hmmmm, why don't you talk to me more, Adamant? This is a rare opportunity, you know." Dame whined, while she drew a card with her free hand. "Violence is all you XYZ-guys understand.""And that's why I like you, Adamant!""We summon Fluffal Mouse!" The newest guest of the Sanctuary was a tiny blue mouse(1/100/100) with wings on its back. "Oh so cute! I want more!" If it was normal summoned, Fluffal Mouse could special summon two more Fluffal Mice(1/100/100) from the deck. "More to feed to my Tiger I mean! Spell card, Double Fusion!" And all three Fluffals were thrown into the cauldron of fusion, along with the Edge Imp Sabers card in her hand. "FUSION SUMMON! Come out and play, Frightfur Tiger!" The innocent mice were torn to pieces by claws and sabers, their hide and fluff merged together in the shape of a blue tiger(6/1900/1200) with scissor-blades in its stomach. It(2200/1200) added 300 attackpoints to itself with its own effect. "Four meals.. four deaths!" The Tiger could destroy one of Adamants cards for each material fused into its body. The four targets were the face-down Raptors Force, Singing Lanius, defending Force Strix and Mace-carrying Force Strix. They all suffered a brutal death.

Double Fusion, Normal Spell
Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion materials.
During your turn: you can banish this card from your Graveyard and pay 500 lifepoints, then Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or side of the field as Fusion materials.

"Frightfur Tiger, play with his monster!" The last attack-position Force Strix(100/2000) was powerless now. "Raidraptor - Booster Strix!" Fortunately, Adamant could counter the attack with a monster discarded from his hand. "Booster Strix negates an attack against a Raidraptor and destroys the attacker? Did you even wonder why I let you keep one Raidraptor?! So you could try this one on for size!" Phoebe flipped a counter-trap. "Frightfur March! If my Frightfur is targeted by an effect, I can switch it with one level 8 or higher Frightfur in my extra deck!" The tiger disappeared before Booster Strix could detonate. "It fusion summons Frightfur Sabre-Tooth!" In its place came its more ferocious ancestor, the sabre-toothed tiger(8/2400/2000). "And when Sabre-Tooth is fusion summoned, he can special summon a Frightfur from my graveyard!" The purple tiger resurrected the blue Tiger. "!" Now that there were more Frightfurs on the field, the regular Tiger added twice as many attackpoints to all other monsters. And Sabre-Tooth(3400/2000) automatically gave 400 attackpoints to itself and other Frightfurs. "Your little plan failed!" The toothy Frightfur bit off the wings of the last XYZ-Raidraptor. "Just like all your other plans did, XYZ-leader! You're even not in your own world anymore, you're a lost sheep waiting to be slaughtered!"

Adamant's LP: 4100

"Adamant. She's working you! Don't play her mindgames!" Stonewell yelled from behind the door. "I am well aware." If he thought about it, his guild might have been manipulated from the beginning. "This not my world, that is true. But it is not yours either, Phoebe. Neither of us has a right to dictate whether this world should live or die." The silent treatment did not work with her, so he reconsidered his approach. He would 'chat' with her. "That's where you're wrong, Adamant! I am Dame and Phoebe, I am from this world and yours! And I am going to save them both, by returning them to the way they should have been!" The two-voiced woman cackled. "No. You are not, Phoebe.. and Dame." He retorted. "What?" She snapped. "When I was in the palace, I looked up any information that could be of use to us. Part of that pertained to the identity of this world's Phoebe." He let the words hang. The womans left eye widened. "Phoebe Moll died at the age of 7. There is only one of you, Dame. The rest is just an act.. one that has lost its effect."

(To be Continued in Redux 056: Dissociative Identity Order)

New Cards used by Adamant
Raidraptor - Booster Strix

New Cards used by Dame Phoebe
Fluffal Mouse

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Frightfur Sanctuary

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Frightfur March