A Legacy of Souls: Terminate the Dream

by Medigo

The virtual world of dueling has survived many threats, but the worst has yet to come. New entities born from the minds of millions seek power to shape the destiny of living. Heroes will be turned against each other as it becomes impossible to trust anyone. And in the middle of it all, one duelist struggles to return to his friends to save them from the one who has stolen his life.

11. World 008: Between Damnation and Grace

World 008: One Step Between Damnation and Grace

"Sigment's got it." News traveled fast. "Got what?" It reached every duelist still in STHEREA pretty soon, including the quartet visiting the royal castles. "Pretty sure she means the legacy item, Giga." Donna, Giganoto and Blanche heard it from Heleil, after the victorious synchro champion passed it on to the other champions. "Yes. He and your friend Veyron managed to bring it out. He wasn't very clear on how though. He just wanted to make clear that while they ran into some trouble, they managed to obtain it before Scarlet could." The pendulum champion had almost wished that someone else found it first, but it wouldn't matter much in the long run. "The enemy? You mean Scarlet, she's still after the items? Well if they got it first, that's the first good news I have heard all day. Now we can stop running all over the place." Blanche happily stated. It was no wonder their own 'silencing tests' wound up failing in each sector.

"Hey! Maybe we can check up on Crescent to see how she is doing with restoring your friend in the golden armor?" Giganoto blurted out. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Heleil quickly snapped. "Uh!? Urhm.. Just that, I was kinda surprised you decided to go with us instead of Crescent to begin with!?" The dueltainer stammered his responses. "I talk with Acrates all the time. You act as if he died or something. He just can't get back into the network right now, that's all. And also Dyzanthium told me that they have not made any progress yet. " She explained impatiently. "Also I just like to hang around with duelists that I know."

"That you know? I guess that makes sense with me and Donna." Giganoto X and Donna Monday were two big names in the dueltainment industry, but.. Madam Blanche's fame was more of a recent and exclusively online phenomenon. "What can I say? My reputation precedes me." The Blue-eyed duelist chuckled as she waved her hand through her hair. "Yeah well we are all getting the idea that you are a bit more famous than you let on, Madam Blanche. I mean I've been in this business for a while and I certainly never got the chance to talk to a champion in person." Donna said with narrowed eyes. "Eh, they called me first. And Heleil is talking about something Iwouldrathernot." Blanche mumbled rapidly. "Why not? You were adorable when..." Heleil giggled. "ANYway! Since I suddenly feel like checking up on something, you wanna came along and see something cool?"

What could be cooler than a giant interdimensional two-story space ark? Not much, Blanche thought. She showed Heleil and the others the way towards the sixth Legacy Item inside hyperspace, landing on the upper platform. "So this is yours?" Giganoto asked as his hands immediately drew towards the glowing green crystal at the core of the platform. "Be careful what you're touching, Giga." Donna muttered under her breath. "Eh, I tapped that big old gem like a dozen times. It didn't do nothing or anything." Blanche sighed and rested her body against one of the arks pillars. At this size, she could hardly 'wield' the Legacy Item she owned. "But V swears that this thing lets people, avatars, go into the real world. It made a path for me when I dueled Hydra, letting me fly over oceans and deserts and I didn't even realize it! There's got to be a switch or something somewhere." She had not checked every part of the Ark yet after all.

"That is very interesting." If she had, she would have spotted the duelist on the lower platform. "Huh? Hey! That's." Everyone peered down. "Sundown!?" The gunslinger had been there all this time! "Veyron was right!" And he was alive. "Hmph. Not entirely, apparently. I am not Sundown anymore." The duelist grumbled and jumped up to the top platform with a massive kick. "I am Mephistar now."

"Mephistar? Of all the... Guh, whatever. Where were you? What happened?" Donna voiced what was on everyone's mind . "Don't bother asking. I didn't come here to talk things over. I came for this." Mephistar got his point across when he activated his dueldisk, which was now chained to his arm. "What!? You want the Ark? Did Scarlet send you?" Blanche gasped. "Hmph. She does not even know I am here. I came here to settle the score. I wanted to see who of us is stronger now. You know what they say I am, you know what this is about. I wont be satisfied until I've confronted you. And maybe winning this Ark is a part of that satisfaction. If I have to beat one of you, or all of you to get it.. that is up to you." He glared at Blanche as he started drawing his cards.

"He makes no sense." Heleil rasped. "Maybe not to you, but.. I get it." Donna stepped forward. "Though we're not betting the item on this, Sundown.. Mephistar. I don't really understand who you are, but I felt that you were a friend nonetheless. So if this is what you want, I will rise to the task! Let's get this done!"

Mephistar's LP: 8000 Donna's LP: 8000

-TURN 01-

"Yes, this is what I want." The first turn came to him. "I summon Rakea, the Unchained Twins of the water!" And so his monsters revealed themselves to the world: the first being a white robed warrior monk(3/1500/1500) [Zone 2] with long braided blue hair. Rakea's most distinguishing features though where the spiked bronze clamps attached to her limbs and blindfold helmet covering her face: each sealing device weighed down by heavy chains. "Then by destroying one card I control, I can special summon Aruha, the Unchained Twins of the flame!I destroy Rakea!" As the name implied, Rakea had a similarly sealed twin. Aruha(3/1500/1500) [Zone 2] wore black and red robes and had wilder and darker hair. "And as the old is destroyed, something new is born! When Rakea is destroyed by a card effect, she can summon one Unchained monster from my deck!" The twin of flames freed the twin of water from her seals, causing Rakea to explode. The flames settled into a new form: a male Unchained warrior monk(8/3000/1500) [Zone 2] with long silver hair and longsleeved yellow robes. "I summoned The Abominable Unchained Soul!

"And now I send both monsters, one Unchained Soul included, to my graveyard as link materials for the Unchained Soul of Rage!" The chains and seals of the Aruha twins fell to pieces, revealing their grinning faces. But as they and the monk disappeared into the link circuit, they became something far less human and more fitting of a demon's type. The Unchained Soul of Rage(1800/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1] assumed the shape of a frenzied darkblue beast with glowing eyes, claws and teeth. "The Unchained? You ditched the cowboy act for them?" Donna figured that a new name also meant a new deck for the ex-gunslinger. But she had expected him to use something nobody had ever seen before. The Unchained were recent, but not exactly unknown to the dueling world. "I make my own choices now, not using the cards that an ADI would use.. But the cards a human would choose! And their story spoke to me. They too seek to destroy everything that chains them down." Mephistar pulled on one of his own chains and ripped it off. "Things like you, Donna! I set one card and end my turn!"

-TURN 02-

"Can't say I understand your beef with us, but I also can't understand what you went through." Donna muttered loudly. "Still, what you want does not sound healthy!" She activated the spell, Reinforcement of the Army, to add the warrior Gouki Suprex from her deck to her hand. "Be careful Donna! Unchained Soul of Rage can absorb your special summoned monsters as link materials!" Giganoto shouted before she could summon anything. "You don't need to tell me, Giga." At the very least Donna knew what to expect from her opponent's cards. "I summon Gouki Suprex, and special summon Gouki Guts from my hand!" And he knew what to expect from hers. The Suplexing blue scaled wrestler(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] could special summon one Gouki from her hand and she went with Guts: a red flame-haired ogre(1/800/0) [Zone 2] with a fur pelt wrapped around his spiked shoulders. "Not going to stop me?" If he wanted, Mephistar could steal her Gouki away now. "Your funeral!" He chose to do nothing instead, up until it was too late to do anything. "I link summon Gouki the Heel Ogre... And link it with your monster!"

The Suprex and Guts warriors formed their own vertical link circuit, and created the even more armored flame-haired Gouki Heel Ogre(1000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Zone 2]. "Oh! I get it! Heel Ogre can negate the effect of the monster he points at!" Giganoto realized that the Ogre's position opened up a co-link between him and the Soul of Rage{Up/Down}. "So if I try to absorb anything now, you will just destroy my monster and revive one of yours. How fitting." Mephistar himself did not sound very impressed.

"Hm. Well you know what else is coming!" Guts and Suprex were both Goukis that could search Gouki cards from the deck if they ever traveled from the field to the graveyard. "The classics! I add Gouki Headbatt and Gouki Faceturn to my hand!" She chose one monster and one spell. The former could be special summoned by discarding a Gouki monster from the hand. "Go get 'em Headbatt!" Donna discarded the Gouki Riscorpio, so that her batt-themed wrestler(2/800/800) [Zone 5] in purple and red could enter the ring. Headbatt's effect also added 800 attackpoints to another Gouki like the Heel Ogre(1800 atk). "You are still the same as ever, Donna. I assume you must already have Gouki Rematch in your hand." Mephistar chuckled deeply.

"Heh, of course. I can't call myself a Gouki master if I ignored it! So I activate Gouki Rematch to special summon two Goukis with different levels from my graveyard!" No turn would be complete without her double revival spell, which in this case revived a defending Gouki Suprex[Zone 3] and Gouki Riscorpio the red scorpion grappler(5/2300/0) [Zone 4]. "Now, a Link summon series: two Goukis for Gouki Jet Ogre and two plus Goukis for Gouki the Blade Ogre!" The Headbutting Headbatt and stinging Riscorpio de- and re-materialized into the fencing and flying Jet Ogre(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. And in turn they combined with Suprex as link materials for the Gouki with the bigger sword: The Blade Ogre(2400/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. This time three effects activated triggered in the graveyard: the dead Gouki Riscorpio and Headbatt searched two more Gouki cards from the deck while the deceased Jet Ogre added 500 attackpoints to all Goukis on the field (Shadow Ogre: 2300 atk, Blade Ogre: 2900 atk). "Heh. I'll take Gouki Cage Match and Gouki Finisher!"

"So, that is your answer for me. Brute force." Mephistar let out a deep chuckle. "Hey, give me some credit. I only added the Finishing Hold combo to my repertoire this week!" Donna fired back with activated normal spell, which gave the Blade Ogre(5900 atk) an immense powerboost. "Finisher adds 1000 attackpoints to my Gouki for each of his link markers and he can pierces through defense points now!" The new trick then ushered in an old trick: activating the continuous Gouki Cage Match spell and destroying that card with the Gouki Faceturn spell. After all, Faceturn needed to destroy one Gouki card to special summon another. "I summon Gouki Guts. Its time to reveal his power: all my Gouki monsters get 200 attackpoints from him!" The fiery brawler(1000/200) [Zone 4] raised his fist and roared triumphantly. Blade Ogre(6100 atk) and Heel Ogre(2500 atk) could not resist his fiery spirit. "And you probably at least do know about the best part in all of this, Sundown! Blade Ogre gets a second attack if I sacrifice a monster he is linked with!"

"Yes. I know, Donna. I have seen your duels, all of them." Mephistar asserted, surprising the two wrestlers. "What? Even the summer slam between her and Booster Platinum!? Or the 'Race to Get the Belt' free for all?" Giganoto immediately challenged the claim by mentioning his own favorite duels of hers. "Even those. I had the time, in here. And you were very generous with your dueling footage. But even the duels that are not recorded, I saw." He said, as his laughter become more disturbing. "What? Is this about the memory database again?" Blanche figured. "Of course. Scarlet can help us see all, your duels, Heleil's duels, Blanche's duels. And right now your memories are the only window to the real world. You have no idea how easy it is to keep watching when you do not need sleep."

"Us?" Heleil muttered. "He must be talking about Scarlet and her new minions, hrm. Meh, I get where you are coming from, Mephistar. But you could have just asked us if you wanted to use the Ark. If that is what you wanted." Donna smashed her fists together. "Instead you wanted to pick a fight, so that is what you get! Blade Ogre attacks the Unchained Soul!" With so much power behind the blade, one swing was all it took to carve the demonic beast in two halves. And the damage kept going forward towards the monster's controller, cutting one of his chains away as well with the shockwaves.

Mephistar's LP: 3700

"Yes. Continue the cycle of destruction!" In an instant, he turned the tables on her. "When The Soul of Rage dies, It will fetch one Unchained monster from my graveyard! And its death triggers another Unchained's effect in my hand too!" The dead exchanged places with the living and with the as of yet unsummoned: the Unchained Twin Aruha returned to the duelist's hand while Mephistar summoned another Unchained warrior monk(8/3000/1500) [Zone 2]. "The Abominable Unchained Soul special summons itself if you destroy even just one of my cards! And he will pay you back by destroying your monster!" The Abominable one discarded a card (Aruha) to channel the soul of the red-flame twin into the body of Blade Ogre. The swordsman wrestler exploded from the inside out. "The cycle of destruction eh? Well buster, I've got some bad news for you! I can bring Bade Ogre right back with my Warrior's Spirit skill!"

Warrior's Spirit, Skill Card.
Special summon warrior-monster from your graveyard that was destroyed this turn. That monster cannot attack.

Though her card could not attack again, and would not be able to defeat the Unchained Abomination anyway, she did not want to lose a monster either. She could always go up the 4th Link if she had to. "No, Donna. It is already too late. You cannot mend what I break!" Unfortunately her opponent did not play a forgiving game; something he made crystal clear with his own skill card which killed the Blade Ogre all over again. "What is.."

Donna's LP: 7500

Lord of Destruction, Skill Card
Destroy all monster cards, on the field or in the main deck, with the same names as monsters that were destroyed previously during this turn.

"This is where our links are broken, Donna." Mephistar gave her no time to recover from the sudden implosion of her Ogre, and bombarded her with a trap card as well. "Only I say what damage is undone! I activate Abominable Chamber of the Unchained and special summon one Unchained monster from my graveyard!" He yanked his broken chain, which was now digging a hole into the ground. Out came a spiked coffin with its soon to be released prisoner: Unchained Soul of Rage [Zone 1]. "Heel Ogre is not pointing at it anymore!" Giganoto gasped. "Exactly! The Soul of Rage is free: and it will take your Heel Ogre!" Howls filled the air as the ghostblue beast pulled the Gouki wrestler into its flaming body. "Two times link two! It's a link four summon!?" A nightmarish transformation took place within the burning link circuit, growing the beast into a titanic black hellhound(3000/LINK 4) {downleft/up/down/downright} [Extra Zone 1] with long curved tusks and multiple devils horns. "This the final Unchained demon: Unchained Abomination! Every time a turn ends, it can destroy one card on the field!"

"One card? So..?" Donna looked at the last card in her hand: Backs to the Wall. That trap would have saved her, and now he was now telling her it was useless. "So I might as well end my turn then?" No more monsters, no cards allowed of any kind. "Well you had better hope you hit me with everything you got, Mephistar!" She could only gamble with the lifepoints she still owned.

-TURN 03-

"There is no point in asking for the unavoidable, Donna." The chained gunslinger said with a crooked grin. "I am only surprised that it was this easy in the end. I have changed more than I thought. If only you had done the same." His laughter returned with the drawphase; with the spell in his hand. "I activate Abomination's Prison and add one Unchained monster from the deck to my hand!" Shackles could be forged from tormented souls as well, and these went deep into his own dueldisk to wrap around another Unchained Twin Rakea. "Oh crap." Blanche saw the writing on the wall. "It's done. She did well but.." Heleil averted her eyes. "Donna!" Giganoto stared intently as Donna's opponent normal summoned the second Rakea and led the battle phase with her. "You can still survive this! You have a card in your hand, don't you!? Octostretch or...anything!" He alone could not accept that these three direct attacks were enough. Rakea, Unchained Abomination and Abominable Soul surrounded the dueltainer with the flames of hell. She took it all with a stone-faced expression.

Donna's LP: 0

"..." Sundown waited as well, for anything inside of him to feel different. "Who is next?" But still he did not feel any satisfaction. "Hey are you alright?" Meanwhile Giganoto panicked. Sundowns attacks left some scars on her avatar, but it was nothing that the Chalice could not fix. "Who cares about that?! What about me!? I am stronger than you, I have finally proven it! Now you will have to give me what I want!" He won the duel, he should have gotten something out of it. "I think they told you. We don't know how it works. Even if we wanted to let you use it, we don't know how." Donna snapped back at him.

"You do! You just do not want to! You can trade it to me! I know that's possible!" Mephistar demanded. "But what if it does not work for you either? What if.. it can't work for you at all." Blanche carefully suggested. "Why not?" Sundown shouted. "I am alive! If this lifeless piece of software thinks it can say otherwise, it's got another thing coming!" The chained duelist spat at the Ark. "Tell this thing to open a portal for me, or however it works! Do it! Or you will be the next to suffer my.."

"Wait!"

Blanche's yell sent a ripple across the seas of hyperspace. "Whoa!?" The mismash of colors and liquids parted sideways to reveal a busy street in the middle of a city's commercial district. "Is that... the real world? It was not just crazy talk?" Giga could not believe his eyes. "I don't even know..." Blanche could not tell if the Ark had listened to her or to someone else. "Can they see us?" Heleil did not understand how the people could just walk from one end to the other while ignoring the odd world around them. "I guess. Maybe it's one-way?" The Ark did not really create something as simple as a doorway, Blanche figured. Then again any form of overlap between a physical plane and a virtual one sounded ludicrous.

"Maybe. Maybe not.." Mephistar had no time for more questions. "Hey wait! Don't. What if you get hurt?" Donna shouted. "Bah..." He did not care, he walked right up to the opening and dipped his hand into this new world.

"!?" He pulled it back immediately as the tips of his fingers disappeared. "NO!" The new world rejected him, left his hand partially erased for daring to cross over. "You bastards! Is this a trick? Another lie?" He stomped on the ark surface again, causing the door to reality to close in on itself and hyperspace to drown the portal. "All of this was for nothing!?" No matter what he tried, he could not use the Ark. "Mephistar. We can help you dude. You shouldn't have to.." Blanche tried to extend an olive branch one more time. "No! I've seen what your help can do! No more! If I cannot be like you, then... Then...Then." But the chained duelist reverted to repeating his own words, driven mad by every setback. "Grah!" He could not take it anymore. He dove into hyperspace and warped away to the depths of STHEREA.

"Damn it! Just what is his problem?" Giganoto grumbled. "... More than we can fix." Donna concluded dejectedly.

...

The Sanctuary in the Sky hovered far above the Sylvanian mountains, flanked by abandoned floating stalls. No duelist had been here since the tag team tournament, and the reboot from a day before left the place intact. Here, the fusion champion brought the duelists Wagner and Crescent. And once they concluded that there were no sound distortions here, they set out to work on their other project. "So how does this work?" Dyzanthium studied Crescent intensely, as the light inside of her exposed every nerve. "What the World Armor did before. At the time I did not know that this item was the one banishing and returning people. Ezra clouded the truth with his own illusions." Crescent could recall the exact spot where Acrates the XYZ Champion lost his virtual body and sat down. The power of the World Armor forced him out of STHEREA, so it could also bring him back. "Oh. You're gonna do to him what that tiny lady did for me, right? You think you can do it?" Wagner was not seeing any progress yet, the Armor had been glowing for a while now.

Long enough to attract a certain fly.

"No, she cannot. But I can." Said the buzzing fly, as it darted across the stage. "What the!?" Wagner tried to swat it away, but she was too fast. And soon she increased her size to match that of the others, as she stood next to Aurora. "You!?" It was Melyria Cister, the mesh-shirted and honeyblonde duelist of Millennium. "Get away from her!" And she was also the woman that previously saved Wagner's life. "Wagnerok? So you could not resist the calling of STHEREA after all, hm!?" She backed off a little but did not seem very intimidated. "I returned for Crescent!" Wagner snarled. Owing her his existence did not mean he would let her harm his friend. "So did I, hm."

"Melyria. You came for the Armor?" Crescent realized. "Of course. I sensed you using My item from far away. I followed you here without you even realizing, yeah! What a wonderful reunion this all is." The woman clapped her hands together. "And now I see why, to save that hapless champion. But you cannot do it, can you? You're trying to locate the shards but you do not know how! But if you let me have the item, I can do it for you! I will be happy to help!" She was probably right, it took her far less time to put Wagner together. Meanwhile Crescent had only gathered a few pieces of Acrates herself and she could not get up to confront Melyria, or else she would have to start all over again. . "Melyria, you seemed ready to let go yesterday. Why do you want it back?" Still, Crescent did not think that this offer sprung from the kindness of her own heart. Melyria seemed more desperate now. "Because it's mine!" More irate. "..." And Crescent could not in good conscience give her the Armor back. "Are you hesitating? I can fight you for it, if that eases your conscience, yes? I can duel all of you if that is what it takes!"

"Then I will be the first."

"!?" Melyria's single minded obsession made her overlook the third wheel in this conversation. "You?" Dyzanthium, the fusion champion, got in her way. "You cannot refuse, so you will be facing me." Their dueldisks connected. The champion did not want to see Crescent fail in her endeavors either, of course. Dueling Melyria would at least buy them time. "Really? So is this your way to get even for what we did to your friends? Hm! They hurt us, Dyzanthium." Melyria snarled as she started drawing her cards. "You hurt them first, Melyria. But this is not about revenge." Dyzanthium insisted. "No? Then which hero are you this time, Dyzanthium? The evil one who tried to shut us down? The destined one who thinks she can defeat us all by herself? Hmm? I defeated Vitruvear, the best of you. What can you do that he could not?"

"I am just Dyzanthium. And this is the least I can do. Hopefully that is enough."

(To Be Continued in World 009: Change from Without)

New Cards used by Mephistar
LORD OF DESTRUCTION

Unchained Twins - Rakea
Unchained Twins - Aruha
Abominable Unchained Soul

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Unchained Soul of Rage
Unchained Abomination

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Abomination's Prison

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Abominable Chamber of the Unchained

New Cards used by Donna the Monday Smasher
Gouki Guts

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Gouki Finisher