World 037: The Dragon With Nine Lives
It took a while for Acrates to locate Sigment and Veyron. But the golden knight waited dutifully at the virtual office of Exeter and inevitably, they returned. There they heard the full story. "And you believe them?" Sigment did not know how to take this news: having Static return disguised as Void And having him corrupt everyone made the story far more convoluted than going with what they already assumed about Echo and Scarlet doing it. "I think so. I met with Heleil before and after they saw Echo, and they weren't acting any different. They swear they were not influenced by Echo... I fear we may have been put on the wrong path." The golden knight sighed. He had a lot to make up for, including to Giganoto.
"Ugh. Regardless of what I believe, it seems that I can trust no one. What would you have us do, Acrates? Abandon our pursuit?" Veyron muttered. "This may be more important, Veyron." Sigment knew how Veyron felt about their current target, the wielders of the Wand had always on the move to track down access points left behind by the faceless organization. But so far they found no traces of the perpetrators themselves. "And if you doubt me, then you should use the wand! That will tell you what Echo has and has not said." Acrates suggested boldly. "Fine. But I will do it alone with Sigment. He is the only one I can really depend on now." Veyron said, glaring at the XYZ Champion. "Just see to it that it is done. That is all I ask." He had nothing to hide after all.
...
Hydra's LP: 8000 Wagnerok's LP: 8000
"Heheh. A whole new deck. Guess its now you who has to face the unknown. How does that feel, Hydra?" Chiaroscura taunted the skies in which the unseen Hydra hid. His opponent had revealed his domain: the nine realms of the Generaider Boss Stage. The first realm special summoned Frodi(9/2500/2000) [Zone 3] of the Swords and four mechanical silver fairies(4/1500/1500) [Zones 2,3,4 & 5]. Though these tokens would be destroyed during the endphase in which they were summoned, until then they put up an unpassable shield between Hydra's dragons and Wagnerok himself.
"You do not have to raise your voice, Scura. I can hear you quite clearly. And I would appreciate it if you did not interrupt. I am still getting used to this new form." If Hydra was disturbed or surprised, his voice did not show it. And no one could tell where he stood, they only heard him speak near where his first monster appeared: an anesthetic needle-headed bullet dragon(1/0/2200) [Zone 2]. "I normal summon Anesthrokket Dragon. And I activate Quick Launch to special summon another Rokket Dragon from my deck." The bullets started coming out at a rapid rate now. Hydra's quickplay spell selected the Piercing bullet-head Metalrokket Dragon(4/1700/1400) [Zone 4], and it joined Anesthrokket Dragon in a twoway link circuit. "I summon Booster Dragon. The materials are two Rokket Dragons." The living ammo turned to a living gun: the revolver-headed gun dragon(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] with wings of light-glass. "Finally, I activate Overdone Burial. If I discard one monster, I can summon another with a lower level from the graveyard. But its effects are negated." The equip spell of burials discarded a Backgroundragon (Level 5) and equipped itself to the reloaded MetalRokket Dragon[Zone 3]. The showdown could begin.
But the Generaiders proved to be quicker on the draw. "Aha! Your plans are not as cloaked as you are, Hydra! Your Booster Dragon would target that Rokket Dragon and turn it into the bullet that kills the Boss of Swords! But Frodi can activate his power this turn as well! He sacrifices my Generaiders to destroy the same number of monsters on the field! But you draw a card for each monster I destroy!" Wagnerok decided to tribute two of the four tokens, which were absorbed into Frodi's golden sword. While the blade still brimmed with energy, the Generaider angel swung it vertically to destroy Booster Dragon and Metalrokket Dragon at the same time. "So that's their gimmick huh? Forcing draws to make more tokens as fodder." Blanche muttered. It figured that Wagnerok would find an even more annoying archetype than his Valkyrie. On the one hand, Hydra could draw two new cards now. On the other hand, thanks to Appropriate so could Wagner.
"However." Hydra retaliated with two cards. "When a monster is destroyed, Overflow Dragon can be special summoned from my hand! And it creates a token, if two or more monsters were destroyed!" A yellow-skinned and stinger-tailed dragon(1/0/0) [Zone 2] in leather bonds emerged from the explosive flames. It absorbed the fire into its black claw-like wings and molded it into tiny flame-elemental wyvern(1/0/0) [Zone 3]. "Booster Dragon can also special summon one dragon monster from the graveyard if it faces destruction!" The remaining smoke parted to reveal Anesthrokket Dragon[Zone 4] again. "Ha! You are still full of surprises!" Wagner bellowed. "Only because you've rarely seen me duel, Wagner. The cards that you see now are the ones I feel the most aptitude for. I imagine the real Wagner would say the same if he were here." Hydra promptly sent Overflow Dragon and the token to the graveyard. "I Link summon Twin Triangle Dragon! The materials are two level 4 or lower dragons." A wingless gold-horned dragon holding two triangles around its elbows emerged from the extra deck. For the cost of 500 lifepoints, Hydra could let it special summon one highlevel dragon from the graveyard.
Hydra's LP: 7500
"He's bringing out the big guns." Charles surmised. The Triangle dragon resurrected the earlier discarded Backgroundragon, a burrowing green dragon(5/1600/1800) [Zone 5] with massive golden plates and purple claws. It, along with Anesthrokket Dragon and Twin Triangle Dragons 2 links could craft a LINK 4 of the Topological variant.. but also of the Borrel class. "The materials are three plus monsters! I link summon Borreload Dragon!" The Borrel Dragons, mechanical guns transformed into red devil dragons: three of them existed as far as the dueling world knew. Hydra selected the one with the barrel-like hands, cliplike wings and cannon hidden between its teeth. "Borreload Dragon, destroy Frodi!" Unfortunately none of its effects were of much use this turn, since none of the monsters in attack mode were worth destroying. That did not stop Borreload from sinking its claws into an enemy. With the left it crushed Frodi's sword, with the right it impaled the Generaider himself.
"He did not hurt him yet." Crescent commented from the sidelines. "Yeah, but I doubt he's trying to go easy on him. He's just playing the long game, Borreload cant be targeted by card effects and it will get some new ammo on the next turn." Blanche guessed. Once Hydra placed a trap card [Zone 3], he could end his turn And during the endphase the destroyed Metalrokket Dragon activated its effect from the graveyard and special summoned another Rokket from the deck, Magnarokket Dragon(4/1800/1200) [Zone 4], to the field. Meanwhile all the tokens on Wagner's field did indeed self-destruct.
-TURN 03-
Yet a new turn also meant another use for the effect of Generaider Boss Stage. "I will find new resources anyway. I activate Dealers Choice!" To that end, Wagner activated his last trap. Dealers Choice shuffled both decks, then both players would draw one card and discard another. "Then I activate Fuse Line. And destroy one card in its column!" Not wanting to be overtaken again, Hydra pre-empted the next chapter of Wagner's combo with his own trap card. The Fuse Line ignited right across the middle column and blasted the Appropriate continuous trap card into a dozen pieces. Wagner would not be getting any more free draws. Unfortunately, Boss Stage Fight still reacted to the draws handed out by Dealers Choice. "Heh. This time I summon the Boss of Light, Mardel the queen of Vanaheim, in defense mode!" The bottomleft circle of the World Tree turned bright and fired an golden beam down. In its light floated a butterfly-winged and giant blonde fairy(9/2400/2400) [Zone 3 in a green dress.
"Hey! Are you just gonna summon shields all day? So what was all that nonsense about me being too defensive?!" Chiaroscura cried out. "I would not dream of it. This is where our offense begins! Mardel can add one Generaider from the deck to my hand! I choose.. And summon Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses!" Not all Generaider monsters were Bosstypes or highleveled, one lived in their shadow. Wagner normal summoned a normal sized young man with bright blonde hair. Loptr(4/1500/1500) [Zone 5] wore ornate armor and white robes with bloodred tassels and rims of purple fur. "Loptr can switch one Generaider from my field with one in the deck, and that one can be summoned in attack mode: Naglfar, the Fire Boss from Muspelheim!" The trickster god bowed before the queen Mardel, who subsequently incinerated. She was sacrifices so that the demonic beastwarrior Naglfar(9/3100/200) [Zone 3] could escape the bottom right circle of the Boss Stage field. "Naglfar! Destroy Borreload Dragon!"
"Do you think you can reach me in time? Borreload! Fire the Magnarokket Dragon!" Hydra had little to fear and plenty of time. His Borrel dragon targeted the Magnum Bullet dragon, causing it to selfdestruct and activate an effect that would send Naglfar straight to the graveyard. "I do not have too! I can just take your ammunition from you! I activate Called by the Grave! " Except, Magnarokket did not stay in the graveyard. Wagner's quickplay spell banished it in the middle of its own effect resolution, negating Metalrokkets powers for the rest of the turn. "!?" An empty Borreload could not fire back, and could not defend against the hellflames of the magma-scaled demon. The infernal blast reduced it to slag, and left Hydra wide open for a direct attack from Loptr. "Now where are you?" Wagner shouted while his Shadow monster tossed a smaller fireball at the emptyness. "Ugh." The explosion struck a space just a few feet away from Charles and the others. "Can you see how much easier it is to duel, when you dont have to pay or work for the best cards anymore?"
Hydra's LP: 6400
"Heheh, yeah. I guess he does not feel as invisible as he looks! Hahahaha!" Scura cackled along with Wagner, while the latter placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "Scura, that does not even make begin to make sense." Blanche griped. "What does make sense here, Blanche? We're talking to each other in someone else's dream! You tell me how that is logical!" The Subterror duelist snapped with the kind of comeback Blanche did not really want to respond too. "Hey Hydra. You doing alright?" She focused on the injured duelist instead. At least now she could sorta look in the right direction to talk to him. "Only if you consider learning about your own limits, 'doing alright'." The invisible duelist groaned. His current state was a far cry from his existence as a true proxy. "Hey, at least you can still make jokes." The white haired duelist considered that a healthy sign.
-TURN 04-
"I have a joke too, Hydra! See since you draw during the drawphase.. I can summon one more Generaider! WHahaha!" Even the standard draw at the start of a turn would set off the Boss Stage. And as this turn began, the topleft circle of the World Tree turned bright and fired an icy blue beam down. "I summon the Boss of Ice, Nidhogg the dragon of Niflheim, in defense mode! And then I summon two more Generaider tokens!" The cold light carved a winged dragon(8/2100/2600) [Zone 4] from magic ice, and gave it armored scales of black steel and pure gold. Since a new Generaider showed up during the opponents turn, the field spell also filled the last two zones with a pair of generaider angels(4/1500/1500) [Zones 2 & 1]. "Nidhogg negates one summon each turn, for a single sacrifice. Maybe I cannot see you, Hydra, and I did not see many of your duels. But I can see your cards right now, even the buried ones!" In the graveyard the Backgroundragon waited to use its effect: special summoning itself and another dragon from the hand during the standby phase. Wagner anticipated that.
"You can see a lot. But you cannot see yourself anymore. I find that ionic." Hydra went through with it regardless. "I summon Backgroundragon and Shellrokket Dragon!" For a brief moment, the armorplated dragon revisited the field with the company of a golden gunshell-armor dragon(4/1100/2200). "And I find your words dull, Hydra!" Naturally Nidhogg negated both their summons by tributing the leftmost Generaider token. Before they could touch the ground, Backgroundragon and Shellrokket Dragon were frozen and crushed into shards of ice. "I know myself far better than you ever did! And so does Schwarzwald! He may be a piece of slime, but at least he knows what he is! What are you, Hydra? Just an echo that is better left forgotten!"
"Are you talking about me? Or about Wagner? From where I stand, it would be Schwarzwald who is the echo. And I know what he knows and wants, Wagner. I was there too. But he and I, do not agree with each other." Hydra turned to a spell in his unseen hand and materialized it. "Pot of Desires." The spell banished ten cards from the top of his deck to draw twice. And one of those draws was most welcome. "And Boot Sector Launch!" His own field spell, the Rokket supporting factory with the massive cylinder at the center. All Rokket Dragons gained 300 attack and defense points from it and Hydra would soon find four of them. "For each monster you own, I summon one Rokket Dragon from my graveyard!" All the Rokkets spent so far returned, Anesthrokket Dragon(300/2500), Shellrokket Dragon(1400/2500) [Zone 2], Metalrokket Dragon(2000/1700) and Magnarokket Dragon(2100/1500). "I will use all four of them as link materials! And summon Topologic Zeroboros!" The Rokkets collided together from four corners, creating a two looping rings of energy around the link circuit.
"Zeroboros?" Charles could hardly describe the cyberse monster(5200/LINK 4) {Upleft/Downleft/Upright/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] that appeared before him: Zeroboros was a mechanical white cyberdragon with golden horns and claws. But instead of legs its lower body formed a tail covered in energy thorns that looped back up into its neck. Instead of wings three more tails extended from the back and circled back into it. It made Zeroboros resemble a three-ringed infinity symbol and a beast that wanted to devour itself. "Yeah wait, how many link 4 monsters is that now?" Blanche scratched her head, having lost count long ago. Hydra though, always kept track. "Five. But this one is the most suited for my current predicament. Because my opponent has too many resources and too many defenses. It is better to wipe them all out at once."
"Wagnerok! Zeroboros gains 200 attackpoints for each banished card!" Hydra said, revealing that Pot of Desires' cost could be a benefit as well. "And if a link monster becomes linked with another monster... all cards on the field are banished!" The invisible duelist achieved this with a deceptively named spell: Two Frogs with One Hop. "Huh?" The card special summoned one of Wagner's own monsters from the graveyard to his field. Hydra chose the name and place, and linked the reborn Generaider Frodi[Zone 5] with Zeroboros' upper-right marker. "Now hold on!" Wagnerok could protest as much as he wanted, Zeroboros would not contain its energy any longer. The symbol of the triple rings appeared on the ground and burned away the nine circles of the world tree, along with all of its residents. Everything was cast into another dimension: Frodi and its equip spell, Loptr, Naglfar, Nidhogg, Wagner's facedown trap, Boot Sector Launch and Zeroboros itself.
"That is not the end, Wagner. Zeroboros returns one turn after is is banished by its own power. But for the time being, I will simply use the cards you know well enough. I activate Monster Reborn on Borreload Dragon!" A hole to the grave opened up, and returned the fallen Dragon demon[Zone 1] to rule over the barren fields. "Borreload! Direct attack!" Combustive flames spewed forth from its wrathful jaws, and bathed Wagnerok in its blazing lights.
Wagner's LP: 5000
"Amazing." Crescent was left in awe. Hydra had so easily dismantled Wagner's new monsters and field. He even brought the man down to his knees. "Ha! Dont praise him for that. I did not feel a thing!" Still, Wagnerok shrugged off the heat and strain of a decent lifepoint drop. "You don't?" She saw his reaction differently. "Did you expect me to suffer, Aurora? Do you want me too? You shouldn't get your hopes up! Even if I could lose, you would not get your shield back!" He mockingly yelled. "Hey! Who says she wants that thing back!?" Blanche shouted back. "Is that what she told you? I don't believe that. I know her better than anyone. I know what she wants now that she's had a taste of it: power! She could not have been happier to get out of my shadow! But the rightful order has been restored! And soon the rest of you will also see the truth! That you are all inferior the way you are!" He impatiently waited for the turn to end, which finally happened after Hydra placed another one of his traps [Zone 3] face down.
-TURN 05-
"Wagner. You better not do that thing where you lose your mind when things are not going your way." Scura chided the Generaider duelist. For all of his talk she had yet to see him make any considerable progress. "Pfeh. Of course I wont." Just as Hydra had promised, Topologic Zeroboros returned to the field as soon as the next turn commenced. Its previous purge banished six more cards, making the enigmatic cyberdragon(6800 atk) [Zone 3] all the more powerful. And with its markers pointed diagonally upwards, no monsters could be placed in the extra zone without setting off a second fieldwipe. "Why would I fret, when victory lies but a few steps away? When I can make my own miracles of resurrection!" With confidence, Wagner activated his own Monster Reborn. "?!" The spell resurrected the first Generaider Marder[Zone 3], one of the only Generaiders not yet banished. Like last turn, she used her powers to add Loptr the Shadow to Wagner's hand. "And creation! I activate the World Legacy Monstrosity spell! Since I control a level 9 monster, I can special summon two more level 9 monsters, with different names and types and elements, from my deck!"
"The Legacy!?" Crescent could have predicted this, but it still shocked her to see Wagner play the cards of the creator. It was not even a card she recognized, a spell that special summoned another Boss of Swords, Frodi(9/2500/2000) [Zone 4] and another boss of Fire. Naglfar(9/3100/200). "Mardel adds Loptr the Generaider of Shadows to my hand! And I will normal summon him to bring out Frodi's power!" The second Shadow Loptr(4/1500/1500) allowed himself to become the tribute for the knighted Light Elf. Twisted black flame turned to a divine golden hue inside Frodi's sword. And with one swing the generaider cut the body of Topologic Zeroboros wide open. "I wonder if it will stay dead this time? Probably not, those dragons are just like their master. You cut off one head, and two more take its place. But I have just the medicine for that, Hydra!" With the Zeroboros card out of the way, Wagner could put a new card in the extra monster zone. "I overlay my monsters! And summon Nine-Lives Cat!"
"An XYZ-summon?" Hydra did not expect that. The Generaiders Frodi and Mardel fell into a black wormhole, filled with energy for the creation of an XYZ-monster. However Wagner used the XYZ-materials for a creature outside the nine realms: a nightmarish black cat cyborg(R9/900/3300) [Extra Zone 1] with glowing red eyes. "Heheh. Yeah. This is the Cat with Nine Lives. He can use one of his materials to summon one level 9 monster from my graveyard... Or any monster from yours!" Wagnerok gave Hydra a scarce few seconds to guess what would happen, once the black cat devoured its Mardel attachment. "That means.. Zeroboros?" Hydra's worst fears came to be reality, the graveyard opened up again and relinquished his mightiest Cyberse over to Wagnerok. Since Zeroboros registered the banished cards of either player, it(6800 atk) lost no power while serving its new master. "Ha! I guess I did not have to worry about having my skill after all! Now, Zeroboros! You know what is demanded of you! Go, destroy Borreload Dragon!"
"Hydra! That trap you have better be damn amazing!" Blanche yelled at the unfortunate duelist whose ace was about to be blasted to kingdom come. "My trap? It is simply this. Execute Protocols! I banish a Dark Link monster from my graveyard during the battle phase, and add its power to my Borrel Dragon!" At best, Hydra could boost Borreload(4900) slightly with the attackpoints of the banished Booster Dragon. "Yes!" An increase like that would make most duelists like Blanche think that they could avoid the most lethal outcome. "It wont be enough." Unfortunately, Crescent's mind offered no such solace. Not only did her instant calculations take into account that another banishment would only make Zeroboros(7000) extra powerful, so that Borreload could not and did not survive the maximum power blast fired from Zeroboro's rings. But there were still monsters that could attack afterwards.
Hydra's LP: 3800
"I win. As I knew I would." Wagner declared two more attacks, Naglfar the burning beastwarrior caused a miniature volcanic eruption across the entire opponents field. "!..." The unseen duelist staggered again, and parts of his body were becoming visible as pitchblack patches. "You challenged me too soon, Hydra!" Then the Nine Lives Cat slashed the air where Borreload Dragon used to be. Its claws found their way into Hydra's body and drained away the very last lifepoint. "Now! Disappear!"
Hydra's LP: 0
"Hydra!" Charles cried out in terror. What could become of a dream in the throes of defeat? "Wait.." But Crescent, who observed the whole duel closely from beginning to end, finally saw a sign of a miracle. "He.." Hydra survived. The damage left his avatar scorched and cracked but he could still use it and move in it. His face was also still featureless and anonymous. "It looks like... I am made of stronger stuff." Hydra smirked at his opponent who'd been struck silent by this surprise and seethed. They should have known, both Wagnerok and Charles. They were not really dealing with a normal user of the network anymore.
"!?" But that did not stop every kind of curse. "Gotcha!" Hydra felt a pin-sized needle prick his spine and he promptly collapsed to the ground. "Scu..ra!?" He could barely muster the strength to turn his head and look at the one who.. and what struck him: Scura and her World Armor. "Heh. It was about time you showed that fancy neck of yours."
"Scura? What are you doing?" Blanche yelled. "Just collecting my reward! Cherry got away, but this time I made sure to inject my power right into him! Since he didn't go poof or anything, I figured we could keep him! Let Scarlet do some of her fun experiments to see what makes him tick!" She let out a cackle as she pulled the helpless Hydra up by his chin. "Or did you want him? Well you can always fight me for it! We can even make this a foursome! To correct all of Schwarzwald's mistakes heheh!" Though she cared less for material trophies, she did feel like removing the Chalice from Blanche's hands.
He could not let that happen. "If you want to face someone, face me first." Charles would challenge either of them to make sure they would not lose the Chalice so soon after they got it. "Blanche, take Crescent and run. I will try to hold them off." He implored and activated his dueldisk to show how serious he was. "!?" Only that was the moment his bracelet finally triggered. "What? No! Not now!" Charles cursed. This could only mean one thing. "Blanche, Cresce.." They were calling him back. In an instant, Charles shattered and the cyberse duelist unceremoniously disappeared from the network.
"Gah! Damn it! Thats the second time that happened!" Chiaroscura cursed out loud as she'd seen this happen before with Cherry Anise. "Ah well. At least I still have those two.." That only left Madam Blanche and Crescent Aurora for her to play with. And they did not feel very good about their chances there. Since Crescent could not duel in her current condition, they were more likely to doubleteam Madam Blanche together. "Crescent is mine!" Or not. "You already took your reward! Now I will have mine!" Wagner did not yearn for cooperation at all, neither of them did. "Yeah but you got the fun parts! I get to duel this time!"
"..." And while Blanche stared incredulously at the pair of duelists arguing over her and Crescent like they were the last fish at the market, she noticed Hydra on the ground gesturing at them to run while they could. "Aw man..." Blanche held her chalice and looked at Crescent. "Ah.." Crescent also realized it would be the quickest way out. "Do it." She was ready to leave STHEREA.
"What! No?!" Wagner caught on too late. "I command you to.." By the time he had grabbed hold of the World Shield, Crescent had been baptized by the Chalice's water. She gave Wagner one final look with a mixture of sadness and disapproval, before her avatar vanished. Madam Blanche exited at the same time, not risking getting the final word in. She would leave that to Hydra. "Heh. You cannot hurt them now. Not where they have gone." The half invisible duelist chuckled. "No. But we can hurt you!" Wagner growled as he kicked Hydra. "Besides. If Aurora thinks she can be safe in that world, she will soon find out otherwise!"
(To Be Continued in World 038: Whenever They're Ready)
New Cards used by Wagnerok
Mardel, Generaider Boss of Light
Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses
Naglfar, Generaider Boss of Fire
Nidhogg, Generaider Boss of Ice
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Nine Lives Cat
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Called by the Grave
World Legacy Monstrosity
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Dealers Choice
New Cards used by Hydra
Overflow Dragon
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Topologic Zeroboros
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Overdone Burial
Two Frogs with One Hop
