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.

60. World 052: V For Vengeance

World 052: V for Vengeance

Blanche came in yelling. "Scarlet! Good, you're here! Did you..." Scarlet's special transporter brought her to the altar at the top of Pandemoniums twisted tower. The only faces she saw there were those of Scarlet... and the now conscious Hydra. "Oh! Hey!" She could still not see any expression on his near invisible face, but she took his mobility as a sign of improving health. "Yes Hey Blanche. Yes I have recovered. Mostly thanks to you." Hydra chuckled as he rubbed his forehead on the spot where she had let him drop before. "Oh. You felt that huh. Well in my defense, its hard to hold on to a body that I can't really see much of." The white dragon duelist nervously laughed. "Make no mention of it. After everything else I went through, I did not mind that kind of pain."

"Yes, it would appear that my other self was not too kind to him. We shall spare you the details." Scarlet Rose explained. Now that she had copied her counterpart's data, she could fix him at least. "Ehr yeah. That's good. But did anyone else show up yet?" Blanche switched back to the crisis at hand. "Not as such. I assumed things had gone awry, as my backdoor suddenly imploded in on itself." Scarlet Rose'd been waiting for signs of life ever since. "Yeah things went `awry` to the tenth degree. Static found us and he's dueling V right now! I only managed to get out by logging off. If they're not back here yet, that's bad news. Things aren't going good for the champions either. Dyzanthium said she had to pull out because they were being overwhelmed. Just how many ADIs does this game have?" Blanche could not imagine that the number of digital duelists could outweigh the number of human players. "An infinite amount, if you do not care about copying code." Scarlet Rose dispelled such hopeful pretensions. "What!? Then how are we supposed to win? Where is Echo? And Crescent? We need their help too!"

"What is HE doing here?"

"Ah?" The three duelists turned around, and they spotted an angered Unchained duelist. "Sundown?!" She'd almost forgotten that he'd been a part of Echo's group too. "My name is Mephistar. How many times do I have to tell you. And I am asking you why the man that nearly destroyed me is here?! Is this why you and Echo did not want me to be on your missions?" He pointed his accusing finger at Hydra himself. "I cannot speak for that. But the man who dueled you was not me. It's not that easy to explain." Hydra protested. "I don't want to hear it! Because you know what? I am glad I didn't go. Now I can see that this whole plan was doomed from the very beginning."

...

Static Void's LP: 8000 Vigionair's LP: 7000

"That's what he used to defeat Zettai?" Charles looked at awe at the mechanical cyberknight Final Sigma(3000/0) [Extra Zone 2]."But that wont be enough!" Even if it could attack twice this turn and inflict double battle damage, Vigionair still controlled the powerboosted Number 62 Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon(R8/8000/3000) [Zone 1] and Number 90 Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord(5000/3000) [Zone 3]. His Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 2] could also evade any attack. Only Galaxy-Eyes Solflare Dragon(2000/LINK 2) [Extra Zone 1] remained vulnerable.

"Heh, hiding behind statistics again? You two make quite a pair. I equip my Mathmech with the Billionblade Nayuta! Now, when it attacks, it can send one Mathmech from the deck to the graveyard to give its attackpoints to the equipped monster!" Final Sigma pulled a toothed mecha-sword out of a portal of electricity and grabbed it with both hands before it charged into battle. "I send Mathmech Division! Which halves a monsters attackpoints when it goes to the graveyard.. and it has 1500 attackpoints! Final Sigma, attack Number Ninety!" The sword came down hard on top of V's photonic lord. "I still have it targeted with Legacy Barrier!" He reminded Static that, due to his continuous trap, Mathmech Division would not affect that Galaxy-Eyes. "I am not after your Lord alone, old man!" Instead the divider affected the Prime Photon Dragon, putting it(4000/3000) back to its original powerlevel. Afterwards the Nayuta-powered Final Sigma(7500/0) bisected the Photon Lord's sword, shield and body with one great doubly effective swing.

Vigionair's LP: 2000

"Gh.. " Vigionair clutched his chest as the immense damage overloaded his every sense. "Try to stay alive, V. Why don't you use that Universal Barrier of yours?" Schwarzwald mockingly provided the encrypter with tips from the sideline. But they both knew that using the Universal Barrier's second effect: destroying it instead of Photon Lord, would just give Static a weaker target to strike again. "Be quiet, I do not need any outside interference!" Vigionair shouted. Before Number 90 died he used its final power to add a Photon/Galaxy card (Galaxy Expedition) to his hand. After the destruction, he reactivated his already active Photon Change trap. "I sacrifice Solflare Dragon, a Galaxy monster, to add a Photon card to my hand!" He at the very least could take away the other weak target. The link dragon converted itself into a star of light, which in turn became the Photon Stream of Destruction spell card.

"Hmph. Final Sigma, attack.. " To Static Void it did not matter how Vigionair wanted to die. The 62nd Number would not be able to raise his attackpower enough to avoid a deadly clash, now that it was the only XYZ-monster on the field.

"I activate Eternal Bond!" But the Galaxy-Eyes dragons were never alone for long. "Bond?" Static's eye twitched. "Yes! I can special summon as many Photon monsters from the graveyard as possible in defense mode! But their effects are all negated! Though that is not why I am bringing them back!" Vigionair surrendered his remaining monster zones to the reborn Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord(2500/3000) [Zone 3], Starliege Photon Blast Dragon(R4/1800/2500) [Zone 4] and another Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 5]. "The combined rank rating on my field is now twenty! Prime Photon will gain two hundred times that attackpower if you battle it this turn!" Final Sigma lost its chance to engage the Primal Dragon. "You should know when it's time to die." Static hated having to settle for lesser prey, yet he could do no better than letting the Geomathmech carve up the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord again. "Your mind is already too set in its ways, it does not deserve a place in my world! You need to make way for the new generation!" The cyberse duelist placed one trap and ended the turn.

"Everyone deserves a place in the world."

"?" Charles heard a soothing voice. "Echo?" Not just the girl in the wheelchair; but Crescent Aurora, Cierze the Harpie and the Legendary Fisherman all walked through the walls of the throne room. "I guess we showed up a little late, sorry." Crescent apologized. "I think you came right on time, actually. Did Blanche find you?" Charles let out a sigh of relief. They must have come in through the subconscious layer, though he had no idea if they had always been able to do that. "Blanche? No. We came because Echo felt that you were in danger." The weather girl took a look around her and concluded that she'd been very much correct.

"Echo... I did not think you would find the nerve to meet with me again. I should have kept a closer eye on the nightmares." Static Void started to laugh. He had under-estimated her. "But what was that you said about everyone deserving a place? Everyone deserves to be happy? That is what you mean right? Does that include me?" His smile turned into a scowl. "Even you, Static. If only you could see that there is more to life than hate." The girl pleaded with him. "If only you could see that hate is what makes us alive! There will always be people you cannot love! Who can not love! That is because they are the true face hidden behind self-serving platitudes!" The agent of hatred shouted. "No. You are wrong. I have felt it, I have seen it. Real kindness does exist!" Echo yelled back. "Kindness is a delusion! A bond that is easily broken, while anger... lasts forever. You'd drown my world in lies and memories of a time that never existed! I have heard enough of you! But I thank you for coming here!" Static nodded towards the Schwarzwald, Scura and Scarlet. "So we can put you out of our misery!"

"Stop." Echo spoke. "?" And Schwarzwald could not move his body anymore. "You will not harm any of us while we are here, nobody will get hurt." Echo's voice reached him and Chiaroscura as well. "Them too? But I thought that stuff only lasted for a few hours!" The subterror duelist found herself unable to even swipe passively at the air. "It appears not." Even Scarlet Fever got caught up by her ability. "There is no downtime for this power. No, she can invoke her commands on us as often as she wants." Once captivated by Echo's voice, she could always force new commands on them.

"Yeah! Now make them fight each other! Or let them help the old guy!" Cierze flapped her wings and excitedly imagined all the things Echo could make them do, while the Fisherman observed vigilantly. "Lady Echo?" Yet she gave no further orders.

"Ha. Ahahahaha! Here is your savior, everyone! She has the power to control the minds of many, and she cannot even bring herself to make them do any act of violence! Do you even want to win, Echo?!" Static Void could not believe this, how could he have ever feared this girl? "I don't know why you want to win! Or what! I just want the fighting to stop!" Echo pleaded. "That's just like you.. Schwarzwald told me how sad you were when he dueled you, you could only win by tricking the champion into attacking you. But you cannot win every duel that way! And I know you want the same thing as I do, Echo. If this world is merged with the real world, you would have been able to make all the friends you ever could! You would have a billion servants listening to your venomous tongue! Instead you are the weakest of us. You never will succeed! Ahahaha!"

"Us? Are you... talking about the other? The third entity?" The Fisherman inquired. "Ah? Charles told you about that one did he? I should never have let it slip. Just knowing about it might make it stronger. I wont say any more. Right now I am the strongest being on this planet and that is all that I care about!"

-TURN 05-

"I beg to differ!" Vigionair drew the next card with renewed energy. "!?" And what he gained gave him a big surprise: The Primal Being Nibiru had come at last. Yet perhaps he would not even need it, if he could settle it in this turn instead. "During my second standby phase after its activation, Photon Change is sent to the graveyard. So I will use it one last time." The already fading trap took Starliege Photon Blast Dragon away with it, so that Vigionair could add a Photon Orbital monster card to his hand. "Then I activate Photon Stream of Destruction and destroy your set card!" While he controlled the Galaxy-Eyes dragons, they could create an all-destructive beam of photons through his quickplay spell. "Heh. If you wanted it gone so much, all you had to do was ask. I activate Mathmech Induction! I can send this trap to the graveyard to destroy one card you control!" Static Void retaliated with a precise shot, aimed straight at Prime Photon Dragon. "Hrmph. I activate Legacy Barrier's second effect in that case, and negate my monsters destruction." Vigionair had nothing to fear there, he could simply let his trap absorb the Induction destruction.

"Either way, since I control a Galaxy monster, I can activate the spell of Galaxy Expedition to special summon one other from my deck." The starlight of the cosmos paved a wide path for the space knight Galaxy Brave(8/0/0) [Zone 4], and left a portal open for what still had to come. "I use Galaxy Brave and the Galaxy-Eyes that was summoned by Eternal Bond, to XYZ-summon Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!" He would go back to his very first XYZ-monster, the crimson-armored dragon of the deep blue cosmos: Cipher Galaxy-Eyes(R8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 1]. "Oh. With that you can take control of his monster!" Cierze cried out. "I would if I could. But even controlling effects wont affect Final Sigma. I summoned Cipher Galaxy-Eyes because any Cipher Dragon can be used as an XYZ-material for Galaxy-Eyes Cipher EX Dragon!" The Cipher Galaxy-Eyes(R10/4000/3000) [Extra Zone 1] gained its latest enhanced form as golden spikes burst through its body, and its four wings were also transformed into golden shells that released sharp wingblades of cipher energy.

"Cipher EX? Will you ever be satisfied with your cards, Vigionair?" Scarlet Fever inquired as she counted four versions of this dragon by now. "A scientist is never satisfied, miss Fever!" Yet what he currently possessed would have to do. "Cipher EX detaches two materials! And that makes all my monsters of the light element immune to other card effects for this turn and the next!" At the very least he would stop Static from surprising him with more mathematical reductions or divisions. V could also equip his Photon Orbital to the new Cipher EX Dragon(4500/3000) to give it small powerboost. However, only one dragon could feasibly take care of the Geomathmech. "Prime Photon Dragon! Attack Geomathmech Final Sigma!" Vigionair entered the battle phase with a fistpumping declaration.

"Mathmech Blade Nayuta activates!" Static Void still countered where he could, letting the battling Mathmech discard another Mathmech Multiplication with his equipspell. Multiplication's 500 attackpoints were added to Final Sigma(3500/0) first, and then its(7000/0) attackpower doubled. "Insufficient!" Vigionair's already superior attacker compensated this powergain with its own. Prime Photon Dragon(11600/3000) detached its final XYZ-material and gained 200 attackpoints from Cipher EX's 10 ranks and its own 8 ranks. "Vanish! Final Sigma!" A beam large enough to consume planets slammed into Static Void's ultimate Mathmech, and erased it along with the south wall of the castle. So much destruction had been unleashed. "I did it... I did it Aster...WHAT?"

And none of it phased Static Void, who walked out of the glowing smoke clouds with no damage to speak off. "Wait... that attack did not decrease his lifepoints!? How?" Charles shared Vigionair's frustration. Without its XYZ-materials Prime Photon's damage output would only have been reduced by 50 percent, not 100. "You have to ask? It is your card, Charles." Void let out a sinister laugh as he revealed his emptied hands. "No! Rescue Interlacer?" The cyberse duelist quicly deduced which card could have saved Static. "A gold star for you! Back when the battle took place, I discarded Rescue Interlacer to negate all damage done to my cyberse monster. Then during the endphase, I can special summon that monster back to my field. And.. when Final Sigma and Billionblade Nayuta go to the graveyard, their secondary effects were triggered. Nayuta adds one Mathmech card back to my hand, Final Sigma takes one Mathmech card from my deck." Static retrieved the Mathmech Addition and drew another Mathmech Multiplication.

"Argh. How did I not see this coming?" Vigionair cursed. He knew every card in Void's deck. But he had foolishly assumed that Static Void would only be using his level 4 cyberse. "Please calm down, V! You still have so many advantages! Asterisk wouldn't want you to lose because of your temper!" Echo cheered him on. "And how you know that? Because you took his memories. Do you think you can replace him, Echo?" Static lashed out at her.

"This is not about your anger, Static! This is about mine! And I cannot let it go. Even so, I would sooner listen to her than to any of you! I was just an angry man upset with the world and the people ruining it. But Asterisk showed me that there were those that still wanted to save it, that the new generation would not be lost to corruption. I will be damned before I let that be ruined by you, Static! Galaxy-Eyes Cipher EX! Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! Attack Static directly!" He got so close, his two dragons brought his opponent so close to defeat with their dual barrage of photon beams. It just was not good enough. "This is taking up too much time. Maybe you should run while you can, miss Echo... Charles Adami."

Static's LP: 500

"We can't leave! What will happen to you?" Echo cried out. But even if she did use her power, she could not interfere with this duel anymore. "I am not beaten yet. But if the enemy brings in reinforcements.. you will have to fend them off. Let's not mince words. They need you more than me." He was just an old stubborn man after all. "I activate Photon Orbital's effect! I can send it to the graveyard to add one Photon card to my hand!" Because of his miscalculations, Vigionair was forced to go back to defensive tactics. "I take another Photon Change!" He set the claimed trap, which would allow him to rescue Cipher EX Dragon if it ran into trouble. He just had to make it for one more turn. He controlled the most power, while his opponent would only have Rescue Interlacer. The red-metal cyborg skater(3/1000/1200) [Zone 3] placed itself on the field in defense mode after V let the turn come to an end. Even if the worst happened, he could still use that one card. But that faith did not go unnoticed.

-TURN 06-

"Hoho. He seems confident, Void." Schwarzwald made it obvious to everyone, to prevent his leader from making a grave mistake. "Then he must have drawn it... Nibiru. Ha! Even a card as powerful as that is nothing more than an attempt to slow down the new age. But it has the right idea. It does take a global impact to get what is required." Nibiru could be special summoned on Static's side of the field as soon as he summoned his fifth monster in a turn. It would sacrifice all monsters to do so and create a token with their combined attack on V's side of the field. "But I only need a fragment of my power to finish you off." Since there were no monsters in his extra zone anymore, Static could special summon Mathmech Sigma(4/1000/1500) [Zone 2] from his graveyard again. Mathmech Multiplication(4/500/2000) [Zone 2] got normal summoned next. "Is he going to summon Final Sigma? Again?" Having experienced its power first-hand, Zettai figured that Static could create no better weapon than it. However, Final Sigma still lacked the power to face Number 62. "Heh. Link summon." He would try something else.

"A Link Mathmech?" Vigionair flinched. He could not have prepared for that either. "Not quite! The monster I link summon came from yours truly! Encode Talker, it uses two plus cyberse as the materials!" Rescue Interlacer, Sigma and Multiplication were put together inside a luminous link circuit which pointed three ways. "Encode!" The shieldbearing code knight(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] in blue cyber-armor entered the fray and It(4600 atk) gained a substantial powerboost from the Multiplying Mathmech. Their mathematical effects were not restricted to their own kind. "And I have one summon left, don't I? I special summon Mathmech Addition, which adds 1000 attackpoints to my cyberse!" The deepred mechswordsman(4/1000/1000) [Zone 4] appeared beneath Encode's marker to raise that card(5600)'s attackpower and to also set up its effect. "If I remember correctly. This is the same card that Void used to bring you down during your first duel with him! Wont that be poetic, Vigonair!? Addition! Attack Prime Photon Dragon!"

"Damn!" History repeated itself. Vigionair had to watch as Mathmech Addition slammed itself into the Primal Galaxy-Eyes. "Encode Talker negates the damage done to a linked monster... and absorbs it." Before Galaxy-Eyes Prime could counterattack, the Encoder jumped down in between the two battling monsters. His shield took the brunt of the photonic blast and added it all on top of Encode Talker(13600 atk)'s already immense attackpower. It no longer made a difference what card got Photon Changed, none of Vigionair's monsters could shield him from defeat. "Now you see you cannot escape the cycle. The only way to break free is to destroy everything! I tried to include Asterisk in my new world. But he failed too soon. Just like you have now, old man." Static declared the second attack: Encode Talker folded the blade out of the tip of its shield. "You can give him my regards! Encode Talker! Destroy Prime Photon Dragon!" The blade impaled the Galactic Number and set all of its accumulated energy free across the throne room.

Vigionair's LP: 0

"Vigionair!" Charles lost sight of the encrypter in the onslaught of photon energy. "He's gone Charles. Guess you failed another one." Void alone emerged from the light, grinning with his stolen face. "Static! This has gone on long enough!" Charles did not care about the odds he faced, he would do anything to end Statics madness here and now. However as soon as he raised his dueldisk to send a challenge, the one 'Void' disappeared from his view as well. "Has it, Charles?" And a hundred Voids reappeared all around him, illusions created by the World Lance. "Stop hiding! Are you too affraid to duel me?" Charles had no hope of catching the real target this way. "As much as I hate you, Charles. I have better things to do. Such a pity, losing the one person who could see through my illusions." Each Static sounded the same as the next, and relished Charles' misery equally. "Besides, even if you could destroy me, you wouldn't want to. Without me, Vigionair is never coming back."

"We will save him! Just like we saved Therese!" Crescent exclaimed. "Oh? Just like you saved Khan and Scura? Have you found either of them yet?" The army of Voids inquired in a way that made it clear they already knew what answer she'd give. "No.. But we will!" The weather girl replied, slightly flustered by his strange tone. "No, you will not. I admit that I did not expect you to be a problem when I trapped miss Hansen away." A hundred fingers points towards miss Echo. "But the souls of Vigionair, Bionis and Jenna.. I made sure to keep them in nightmares of complete darkness. Those wont leave a trail of memory breadcrumbs! You can never find them again! Their minds will wander forever!" A hundred voices laughed out loud. "You are bluffing." Crescent defiantly said. "Do I look like I need to bluff? Hmph. I have the Crown: I have infinite drones under my command. I have the Ark: I can strike at any part of the real world whenever I want. I have the Lance, the Shield, the Wand! Go ahead, make my companions do what you want! You can never touch me!"

"But you do not have them all, do you?" The Fisherman suddenly spoke up. "..." This distracted Static to such a degree that all but one of him disappeared. "Am I wrong? You lost the Armor, and we lost the Chalice. You cannot complete whatever your plans are, without it. And you will not get it back by attacking us." The ADI looked the madman straight in the eyes. "Gheh, that's twice now that you've questioned me. Who do you think you are?" He responded with a crooked grin. "The Fisherman. I have no name for myself yet. But Olympia did. They took her nonetheless." He replied with a forceful tone. "They have something we both want, yet they have asked nothing from us yet. Why is that? You say you have the power to attack any point on the planet? Why have you not struck them yet?"

"Oh that is obvious." Schwarzwald suddenly stepped forward. "Because it is a trap. I've told Void so from the beginning. We know nothing about the Shintaro family, and that concerns us. A greater power is hidden inside their networks. But! We do have an opportunity in this sort of stalemate here. Especially since you, Charles, know how a thing or two about heir closed systems. If these people are enemies to us both, then perhaps we can use that." He spoke persuasively yet vaguely. "You are not suggesting we work together with you, are you?" Charles shouted. He would never accept that. "Oh god no. I am suggesting you do what we tell you to do. We will track down the Shintaro family and open the ark on top of them, and you will walk into their trap. Do that, and we might be able to release your friends. Oh and just to be sure, we will have to send someone along to keep you monitored. Someone Echo cannot yet influence... I would propose sending Zettai. You can consider this one of Statics many games.. like the old times."

"Heh. Yes, I like the sound of that." Static Void chuckled. If he could not turn Charles or Crescent into his allies, he would turn them into slaves instead.

(To Be Continued in World 053: Parasites of Compressed Cooperation)

New Cards used by Vigionair
Galaxy-Eyes Cipher EX Dragon

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Tachyon Spiral Galaxy

New Cards used by Static Void
Mathmech Division
Rescue Interlacer

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Encode Talker

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Mathmech Billionblade Nayuta

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Mathmech Induction