A Legacy of Souls: Execute the World

by Medigo

The world is ever changing, and dueling changes with it. They have finally come to the point where they can create their own world, inside the reality of the dueling network. There the artificial meets the real. But not everything sticks to their program. What starts as small glitches soon grows into chaos, and the duelists are caught in the middle of a terrifying revolution.

120. Exit Zero

Line 120: Exit Zero

Silence never came. "We're still.." Some closed their eyes and ears to await the inevitable. Others were paralyzed with indecision. And few watched with constant vigilance, as the world stayed the same. "We're still here!" Bionis let out a cry of joy. "What the hell. I thought our brains would implode into grey goop or something.. or anything..." Scura felt almost let down. All she experienced, all anyone experienced, was a sense that time had slowed down for only a few seconds. "Maybe they could no go through with.. it?" Yoro-Himiko said with a frightful shiver in her voice. "Therese? Was that the right time?" Agent Asterisk knew one person who could answer that. "It.. was. As far as anyone knows, the system shutdown worked." But even Therese Hansen could not explain why paradise stayed in one piece.

"It is exactly as I have foreseen. The end cannot arrive, for this world is without end. It is powered by thought, our own thought as well as theirs. It cannot be destroyed! This proves that I was right all along!" Ezra began to shout. Exeter's failure only bolstered his own spirit. "What does this prove, Ezra? That you are stronger then them?" Void had somehow already expected nothing to happen, perhaps because of what he learned from Mister Static. Because of that, he could not see what Ezra wanted to teach him. "That this world is stronger than them! STHEREA was made for us, for the next step in mankind, to ascend! The creator calls us, calls me! But I cannot ascend until I have lost all shackles and acquired all of his gifts! Once that is done, maybe only then will you understand the choice I offer you. Only then will mankind be able to free themselves from their own fear. Away from their ugly stories they can write their own!"

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 3000 Ezra's LP: 4100 -TURN 07-

"That's not freeing yourself from your fear, Ezra. That's just using dreams to cover it all up!" Void cursed. "The choice you gave everyone was always unfair, too black and white! Not everyone has lived the life you had! Or the life that we had! People are different, you cannot force them all to sacrifice one world for another! I don't know about this creator, I was never much of a believer. But I believe this, You do not become a better man by forgetting everything that got you this far!" Void drew his next card. Their field had been eradicated, and Crescents Mekk Knights would not return until her next standby phase. But he could rebuild. "I activate Cynet Ritual from my graveyard by banishing it! When I control no monsters, the ritual spell can create two Cynet tokens!" Two cyberse tadpole critters(4/0/0) [Zones 4 & 5] popped up from a pool of air. A good start in Voids eyes.

"Then I summon ROM Cloudia! This card adds one cyberse from my graveyard back to my hand!" The black cyber-ram(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] unleashed a static charge from its wool, and rejuvenated a level 1 card: Latency. "When Latency is added to my hand from the graveyard, she can be special summoned to my field! And if she is used as a link material afterwards, I draw one card!" In one move Void performed a double link summon. The hourglass droidette Latency(1/0/0) [Zone 2] turned into the excited Linkuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1], while the two level 4 Cyberse Tokens could be used as link materials for the bladekick elf Elphase(2000) {Up/Right} [Zone 2]. "Elphase summons one lowlevel cyberse if it is used as a link material! I will Elphase and Linkuriboh as link materials to link summon Transcode Talker!" The revived monster, Formud Skipper(1/0/0) could not be used as a link material however, or use its effect. Fortunately there were more ways than one to bring back lost cyberse monsters. His Transcode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Right/Down} [Extra Zone 1] possessed one such method. "Transcode special summons Update Jammer!" The earthen code gunner shot a blast into the ground and opened a door to the field for the formerly destroyed Update Jammer(2000/LINK 2) {Up/Left} [Zone 2]

"Almost there." Though Transcode Talker(2800 atk) added 500 attackpoints to all co-linked monsters (Update Jammer: 2500 atk), Void needed just a little more power. "Linkuriboh can be special summoned from my graveyard, by tributing a level 1 cyberse." He solved the problem of the unuseable Formud Skipper through sacrificial exchange: setting the Linkuriboh[Zone 3] back on the field. "Link summon, Inverted Code Talker!" The link materials were two cyberse: Linkuriboh and ROM Cloudia. Together they formed the color-inverted clone of the basic code knight: Inverted Code Talker(1300/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 3] "Inverted special summons one cyberse from my hand when it is link summoned! I choose Swap Cleric!" One moment the hovering cyber Cleric(2/800/800) [Zone 4] was there, in the next it disappeared along with Inverted Transcode Talker. "I link summon Firewall Dragon!" Two cyberse; two link materials for the ultimate dragon of protection(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 3] who could simply bounce a monster on the field back to a players hand."

"I see the bonds you are trying to build, to keep. The lance has shown me every move you want to make before you make it, and you have taken one step too many. You should have stopped before the eight marker." Ezra disagreed. "Void. His aura..is getting darker!" Crescent sensed a sickening aura coming from the card in his hand, the one he took out. "Darkness?" Even Void felt it, like a claw on his throat.

"When the markers of all link monsters on the field numbers eight or more, I can special summon the Knightmare Incarnation Idlee from my hand! And when she is summoned, all Link monsters on the field are sent to the graveyard!" A devilish cackle, blackened eyes and hellish wings preluded the storm. What started as the tiny and innocent Fairy Lee, turned into a pale woman with a snake-like lower body and long blue hair that twisted into draconian mouths and claws. These phantasmic claws reached out and grabbed each and every link monster. "Ah!" Inverted Code Talker, Update Jammer, Firewall Dragon; one by one they were consumed by a giant demoness. She was the true form of the nightmare: Idlee the Destroyer(9/2100/2100) [Zone 3]. "I told you. Your bonds have left you weak. The ascended mind has no need for relation through blood or experience..."

You are wrong, Ezra! Friends don't make you weaker! Family is not meant hold you back! And they will always leave something behind!" Since Swap Cleric had been used as a link material for Firewall Dragon, Void could at least draw one card from his deck. And his link monster also had a quick effect that went off before it disappeared. "Firewall Dragons was co-linked to one monster, so I can still return a monster in the graveyard to my hand!" Void dug into the grave as the flames died out, and claimed his card: Degrade Buster.

"I special summon Degrade Buster by banishing two cyberse from my graveyard!" Void burned the remains of Balancer Lord and ROM Cloudia, and returned the grenade thrower flamebot(7/2500/2500) [Zone 2] to the field in attack position. "And when Balancer Lord is banished, I can special summon one cyberse from my hand. Cyberse Wizard!" Balance would be restored little by little, Void could still destroy at least one enemy once the Cyber wizard(4/1800/800) [Zone 5] showed up. "Cyberse Wizard switches Danger Bigfoot to defense mode, and destroys it!" Any little inch he could take, he would. "And when he does, my cyberse can inflicts piercing damage!" The wizard channeled one lightning bolt through his wand to make the dangerous beast cower. And the Degrade Buster released a flare from his hand to blast a hole through the defenseless defending Bigfoot's chest. "Break as many tethers as you want Ezra, we will not let you go while we can still fight!"

Ezra's LP: 1600

Ezra touched his own chest in the same place where the attack hit his monster. For a brief moment, flesh appeared on top of his ribcage. But he pulled it away again. "...It is true, we could duel each other forever as we have tasted the eternity of the creator. But while our items are infinite, our cards are not. And before your turn ends, I shall set the fuse of your own finity! I activate World Legacy Landmark!" The same trap that Void already used now activated in front of Void himself. If he could sacrifice his World Crown, then Ezra could sacrifice the World Lance. "I banish my own lance, to summon the Knightmares Unicorn and Gryphon!" With one fell stroke, Ezra returned the nightmare to the field through the bodies of the golden unicorn(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Zone 4] and the dark Gryphon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 3]. The latter immediately sealed the activated effects of all nonlinked monsters on the field, which excluded Idlee. And since the two monsters were co-linked, Unicorn could draw an extra card during the next draw phase.

-TURN 08-

Ezra drew his two cards and placed one[Zone 1] down in the spell/trap zone. "I activate Danger Mothman from my hand!" The latter started the game of danger for one final time, forcing Crescent and Void to choose randomly from his two remaining cards. Whether or not they hit the right one did not really matter to Ezra. He would get what he wanted regardless. "Tch." The tagteam settled on the left card, and discovered it to be the Mothman itself. "You have chosen. As this card is discarded, we all draw one card and discard one card as well." The three duelists made their draw, with Void having to toss his (Cynet Regression) away immediately. Crescent and Ezra also discarded their cards (Drowning Mirror Force, Danger! Dogman) with immediate repercussions. "When Dogman is sent out of my hand, all monsters on my enemy's field lose 1000 attackpoints!" The werewolf Dogman got discarded and drained the power of Degrade Buster(1500/2500) and Cyberse Wizard(800/800) both. "Gryphon, Unicorn, Idlee! Lay waste to our enemies and claim their eternity!" Knightmare Gryphon attacked first, destroying the Degrader with blasts of wailing shadows.

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 2000

Idlee then sank her spectral hands into the chest of the defending Cyberse Wizard, leaving the team without defenders. Or so one believed. "Guess again, Ezra!" But Void could make one more interception. "I special summon Lockout Gardna from my hand in attack mode!" Since a direct attack from the Knightmare Unicorn had been declared, Void could bring down the lock cyberse robot(4/1000/1000) [Zone 4]. The Gryphon did not negate the effects of monsters that were not summoned yet after all, nor could it seal the lingering effect of Lockout Gardna that made it indestructible after its summon. "All you can do is run and hide!" The Unicorn completed its attack nonetheless and impaled the Gardna with its glowing horn. "You keep looking behind you, keep thinking of what you can lose!"

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 800

"But you must lose everything before you can go on! I have nothing left to lose now but the creator himself! And he will never be gone! I link summon Knightmare Gryphon once more!" Ezra combined Idlee with Unicorn as link materials for a second Knightmare Gryphon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 4], who co-linked with the first. "Gryphon, return to me the Sorrow of the Legacy! As that is all they understand!" By discarding a card from his hand, Ezra could activate the Gryphon's co-linked effect. It drew one new trap card from the deck and one old trap from the graveyard: World Legacy Sorrow. Ezra placed both traps[Zone 1 & 2] face-down in a way that ensured that Crescent could not immediately summon any new Mekk Knights to the field. Outside of one, each column only had one card in it right now. And Crescent could not use the monsterzone already claimed by Voids cyberse monster. "Those people are holding you back. That is why you will lose, why you must lose. I am freeing the items you wield from your own shackles!"

-TURN 09-

"If the creator asks us to be alone for the rest of our lives... then he asks too much. Too much of you." Crescent drew her card. At that point the Mekk Knights banished by Purple Nightfall returned to the field. Crescent painted the field in red and blue, as the Red Moon(7/2300/2600) [Zone 4] and Blue Sky(5/2000/2500) [Zone 5] descended from the clouds of another dimension. "What does the creator even want? I know what he gives, but I do not see where it all leads. Why give us this world, if all the power is meant for only one? I just do not see.. I cannot see the truth in anything you say. Ezra, what if you have fallen for your own dreams? What if the creator is just that? The items don't need to be free. You do." She activated a spell, Raigeki. "Whoa!" Void had to take a step back to avoid the massive thunder storm that came down with the speed of light. Raigeki would destroy all of Ezra's monsters if the lightning touched ground.

"I need nothing from you but the power you abuse!" Ezra of course countered it. He flipped the trap card: World Legacy Sorrow. As his monsters formed a co-link, they could negate the spell together. "And I need nothing from anyone else!"

"I do not believe you! You wanted a family too, just as much as the others! You are not stronger without them! I know I am not stronger on my own either!" Crescent snapped as she normal summoned the next member of her light army: one who would look familiar to some. "Mekk Knight Avram?" Void recognized him as the young swordsman(4/2000/0) [Zone 1] of the World Chalice, now enlisted by the Knights and given golden armor and two curved blades to wield. "I link summon the Knight of all colors! Mekk Knight Spectrum Supreme!" Avram joined hands with his comrades in Red and Blue, creating a prismatic link circuit. The Knight borne from their linking could hardly be called human anymore, but more an amalgam(3000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] of the weapons of all six colors. It held Lances, axes and swords, shields around the shoulders and a ring around the waist. Its wings were formed from glowing cyberblades and its face a cybernetic twisted helmet.

"Ezra, what I do now I can only do because of everyone else. Wagner, Therese, Void, Blanche: I would not have made it this far without them. Even your strength comes from the bonds your own monsters make! And now that strength flows into me as well" The fact that Knightmare Gryphon pointed right at Spectrum Supreme, meant that Crescent could activate Mek Knight Supreme's effect. "Mekk Knight Spectrum Supreme can send one card in its column to the graveyard to special summon one Mekk Knight from my deck!" Void's own monster did not get in her way either. The Supreme Mekk Knight cut Lockout Gardna behind it down down, burning it with a blue flame. "I summon Mekk Knight Blue Sky, who will add another two Mekk Knights from my deck to my hand!" The second of the azure knights(8/2000/2000) [Zone 5] rose from the fire to defend its Spectral ruler, and to add another Red Moon and Purple Nightfall knight to Crescents hand. Though with her current setup, she could only summon one of them.

"For the last time, the night falls!" With two cards in the fourth column, Crescent could relight the knights of the purple night(8/2500/2000) [Zone 4], linked with the Supreme one. "Purple Night sees what is in front of it, and destroys it!" The Mekk Knight of darkness threw himself at the Gryphon of darkness, causing both equally strong monsters to be destroyed in the same battle. "But now the night is over, Ezra! Spectrum Supreme can attack directly when it is the only card in its column!" All the cards in the fourth column were now gone besides the link monster itself, and all of its radiant spectral glory fell down on the Knightmare duelist himself. "Spectrum Supreme! Attack the wielder of the lance! Wake him up from his own illusions!"

"It is you who are asleep, Crescent! The dream is eternal and the waking world fades away! I activate You're In Danger! One of three random Danger creatures will be special summoned from my deck!" Ezra picked whatever remained: Danger! Nessie, Danger! Ogopogo and Danger! Thunderbird. He did not care which monster got summoned, so much as where he summoned it. "Come! Thunderbird!" The 'You're In Danger' trap settled on the red feathered thundergod(8/2800/2400) [Zone 4] and summoned the creature in defense mode, right in front of Spectrum Supreme. Her attempt to get at him directly had been thwarted. Crescent would have to adjust the target to Knightmare Gryphon, as Spectrum Supreme could at least do some damage to it.

Except, this also fell in line with Ezra's visions. "The future comes to pass, the end of your legacy! When one link monster battles another, I can reveal his trap!" His final face-down card rose up; the World Legacy Cliffhanger. "Before this battle concludes, all monsters that have been used this duel will be sent back to the deck! And no link summons can be made for the rest of the turn!" A spark of light broke free as the Mekk Knight Supreme's many weapons touched the wings of Knightmare Gryphon. The spark evolved into a cataclysmic supernova that consumed the field. Crescents Mekk Knights were dismissed from the field, all of Ezra's Danger monsters and Knightmares returned to the deck as well. Even the many cyberse in Void's graveyard were forced to go back to where they came from. "You erased the field again!?" Crescent could not believe that Ezra would leave himself wide open again. Though she could not use any more cards herself this turn. "Over and over until you learn. I cleansed us of all diversions. Now our fate truly lies in the hands of the creator, Crescent Aurora.."

-TURN 10-

"The creator remains elusive. For he gave me this.. the spell card, Dark World Dealings. We each draw one card, and then discard one card." Ezra's spell extended the mystery of the draw to the next card on the deck. None of the duelists had cards in their hand anymore, so they could only discard what Dark World Dealings drew for them. "But that was only a veil before the true revelation. Now he has shown me the end. I discard Danger! Jackalope! And special summon Danger Thunderbird from my deck!" And so it seemed to be all but over. Ezra got his second strongest monster on the field, and nothing that Void or Crescent owned could stop a direct attack from the Thunderbird(8/2800/2400) [Zone 4]. "My vision came true! The Creator has chosen me! Let the curtain fall on your foolish delusions! This is your reality now!" Ezra entered the battle phase, abandoning all mercy and unleashing the flames of darkness upon both his opponents with a simple but unavoidable attack. He had done it. He had won, he had claimed the items. He would only need two more. Three more... Five more... Seven more.
...
...

-TURN 09-

Except this did not fall in line with Ezra's reality. "What is wrong with him?" What Ezra saw turned out to be quite different from what everyone else saw. "Mister skullface used to be a chatterbox. But now not a peep." As far as Blanche and the others could tell, Ezra had become as quiet and stiff as an actual skeleton.

"It's his lance." The answer came from the one that knew him the most: Melyria Cister. "Melyria!? You were.." Crescent turned around and saw the butterfly-sized woman fly behind her. "The item is showing him another vision, the strongest one yet. You should be able to feel it too, Aurora. Void." She had not left paradise after all, despite Ezra's insistence. She could never. "I..do." Crescent reached for her head. The visions had gotten so powerful that even others could get a sense of what Ezra experienced. "But why? Why would it show him something now? And why only him?" Void would have thought an illusion used against them would be far more effective. "Normally the lance would tire him out too much. But I gave him my armor, so that he could keep using it. But I did not realize that could used it too much, on himself. He wanted to see more and more visions. But he is not seeing what is going to happen anymore, he only sees what he wants to happen. He may even believe that he has already won. I do not think I can release him from his dream."

In reality, Crescent had never made an attack against the Knightmare Gryphon, the vision began just as Knightmare Thunderbird appeared on the field. "I understand. This entire duel he used the lance to try and see ahead and to cloud our own judgment. Maybe my shield must have reflected most of it. I did not even know.. until now. Or maybe the lance does not want him to see.. that he has already lost." Crescent could still activate one more card during the same battle phase: the quickplay spell World Legacy's Memory. "I special summon a Mekk Knight from my deck in defense mode! Indigo Eclipse!" She turned back to her first color of the duel: the darkblue psychic knight(8/2400/2400) [Zone 4] of the eclipsed ring. "He switches my Mekk Knight to another main zone, my link monster!" The fourth column might have been filled in now, but Ezra's traps left their own columns unattended after their resolution. Eclipse's effect brought his Supreme ruler over to the far right side of the field, where It[Zone 5] could continue its direct attack, and avoid World Legacy Cliffhanger at the same time. "Melyria. It has to end."

"I know. I cannot do anything anymore." The woman did not even sound mad or saddened. "I thought, Millennium would be enough for Ezra. But he always wanted more.." Everything they had built together would come crashing down now. "And now he has too much. There is only one way to save him!" Crescent shouted. "Ezra! The light of the seven will dispel this starless night!" All seven weapons of the Spectrum knight cut through the air, taking a position around the wielder of the lance and armor to surround him from seven angles. Ezra still did not react, he still could not see. He did not even flinch when the first light sliced through his arm, or when the other colors finished him off with a rainbow of blades.

Ezra's LP: 0

"Why.." Ezra's perfect victory broke down in that instant, the walls of his vision shattered and brought the paradise back before his burning fields turned to hardened black stone. "What vision is this?" His mind struggled to accept what happened; to accept that both the World Armor and World Lance slipped through his hands and dropped to the molten bedrock, to accept that his own body lost its fearful appearance. "Why are you showing me this? I did everything you asked me too. I.." To accept that before him stood the new owner of the world lance. "You." The last thing Ezra saw in his world, was Void approaching him... with his face turned away from the others to hide a malicious grin. "Now you know what you are afraid of.. Ezra." Void whispered as he knelt down to pick up the World Lance. Ezra tried to scream, but he no longer had a mouth. The human world pulled him back, deleting him from the network...

"So... did you beat him!?" Bionis wanted to know. With the illusions drying up, paradise finally became empty and quiet enough for the other heroes to rejoin Void and Crescent. "Yes. But..." Crescent looked at the last member of Millennium. Melyria Cister could still challenge them for the items if she wanted too. "No. I know when I am outmatched." But the tiny woman kept her distance. "I wont fight you. I.. I will find another way, yeah. You may think that this is the end, but it is also a new beginning. They know now that STHEREA is beyond their control, that it will be here in spite of them..." She wanted to break out into a rant, yet she could not. "The armor.. the longer we're separated, the more I feel... Void, Aurora. You are the new wielders now. But be careful that you do not let the power control you.. It is not the blessing we thought it was, hm." All Melyria could do, was leave them with that warning. She logged off immediately afterwards.

"Huh. I guess there wont be any more fighting. So what now, boss?" Blanche asked. "Now, we regroup. We assess what we have, and what we still need to do. Millennium has been broken. That just leaves Exeter.." Void stated, with his expression back to normal..

(To Be Cont..)

New Cards used by Ezra
Knightmare Incarnate Idlee

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Dark World Dealings

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You're In Danger!
World Legacy Cliffhanger

New Cards used by Crescent Aurora
Mekk Knight Avram

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Mekk Knight Spectrum Supreme

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Raigeki
World Legacy Memory

New Cards used by Void
Inverted Code Talker