World 073: A Reality made of Straw
Nakana Shintaro, for the first time in days, set foot again outside her own home. "Hello? Scarlet rose? I got your message!" She arrived at Exeter HQ's first floor with Zanbatou right by her side. The bodyguard would follow her everywhere she went. But when she arrived, Scarlet Rose was nowhere to be seen. "Miss Echo? You are the one who can help me?" Instead she found the lady in blue and the Legendary Fisherman coming into the hall. "Yeah. Everyone's told me about me about him. It.. Continuum. About what it wants to do with the people of this world. It changes what people remember. It wants to take away love... just like Static. They are both wrong. But I can fight them, because I remember what they took away.." The girl in blue took the orb of memories. "I remember you, the same way Zanbatou did. Maybe I restore the way he should remember you.. Maybe if I do this, I will also understand it a little bit more.. understand Continuum more." She still possessed every online experience of Zanbatou, a fact that felt both comforting and disturbing. "..." Nakana did not quite know what to make of her proposal. "Is it safe?"
"According to Scarlet it is. But something happened outside that demanded her attention. She would not tell us what that was." The Fisherman told her as much as he knew. "I see. Are you willing to do this, Zanbatou?" Nakana would not force it on him, but she did want to try. "I must confess I do not see what good it could do." The samurai duelist finally spoke up and seemed doubtful. "But I trust you, miss Nakana. If you say this is necessary, than it must be necessary. I just wish I could understand." To him nothing made sense anymore, not since the attack on Shintaro estate. "What must I do?"
"You just have to stand there. I hope it will not too unpleasant, sir Zanbatou." Echo carefully pressed her hand against Zanbatou's forehead and held the orb of memories with her other. A quick flash passed through both arms and entered his head. "I.. I did not feel a thing. Was that it?" He eventually asked as she let go. "It was. I've done all I can. I am sorry, I do not know when it will get better." The girl placed the orb back on her wheelchair.
"So then we wait." Nakana nodded. "But this power you have. Would it work on people like.. Zettai? Or would that make her disappear entirely?" She suddenly inquired. "Make them disappear? Why would I do that?" A shocked Echo replied. "Abigail really feels bad for what she was forced to do, Nakana Please do not hate her for it." The girl in blue knew all too well what tragedy visited her. Even if her parent's deaths turned out to be illusions, the feelings they wrought were not. "I have been told, I have been told all of that. And I have been lied to for the last few years. But I was not talking about Abigail anyway." Nakana calmly lashed out her, letting Echo ponder her words. "I blame Zettai. And if there was a way to make her cease to exist, I would use it. I am sorry, Echo. Anger, my anger, is not just something I can turn off "
...
Team Conquest's LP: 10700 Team Bionis's LP: 7800
"You're going to do what? Help us? How? You mean like you're gonna accept us, forgive us? What do you think is going to happen if you win? We will fuse together again and forget this ever happened? Don't give me that crap!" The tides were turning, and Khan did not like it. "If? I thought we couldn't win?" Bionis did not fail to notice some cracks in his counterpart's stubborn confidence. "You will not win! You do not deserve to win!" Khan yelled. It might not have been his turn, but he would resist everywhere he could. "I activate Crimson Eldlixir of Sanguine and White Eldlixir of Destiny!" Before Jenna's turn ended, he played his quickplay elixer spell to special summon the second Gold Lord Eldlich(9/2500/3000) [Zone 10] from his graveyard. The red elixer meanwhile could be banished from his graveyard to set a Golden Land card (Conquistador of the Golden Land) down on his field. That said, he still had a challenge ahead of him.
-TURN 07-
"And now it is my turn! I activate Allure of Darkness!" The spell of darkness drew two cards and banished a DARK monster (World Legacy - World Chalice) that he he never really needed anyway. "Now, Conquistador of the Golden Land! Since I control Eldlich, I can destroy your monster!" Bionis and Jenna controlled his Doomking Balerdroch(8/2800/2000) [Zone 3] and a face-down Subterror Guru [Zone 2]. The latter could chain two two zombie monster effects each turn, and that included the golden-steed riding Conquistador trap monster(5/500/1800) [Zone 6]. "Maybe, maybe not!" Jenna would obviously not let him get away with that. The Doomking intercepted the Conquistador's blade and tossed him back to the other side of the field, using its first power of negation to cancel the destruction. "Heh." Khan then turned his attentions toward the face-down Archnemeses Eschatos [Zone 3] on Chiaroscura's side of the field. Of course Khan did not have a taste for destroying his own monster type: zombies, but its powers would definitely devastate the plans of a certain ritual duelist. "I switch Archnemeses Eschatos face-up and.."
"That's what they would call a flip summon, Khan." But Jenna headed him off at this pass too. "So I can activate Floodgate Trap Hole! Your summoned monster is switched back face-down, and it cannot go back up again!" The mighty Eschatos(11/3000/2500) could not avoid the simple trick of a trap hole, and blundered right down into the watery pits to be forced back into defense.
"Argh, fine. You want to be a pain? I guess I will bring in the big guns!" These were only minor setbacks. "I activate the White Eldlixir of Destiny, and the Black Eldlixir of Awakening!" He still had the spells in his grave to banish after all. Both white and black elixers set one Golden Land spell or trap card from the deck to his field: Golden Land Forever and Seven Realms of the Golden Land. "Eldlich can add itself to my hand, and then I can special summon it with a thousand more attackpoints! What do you say to that?" Khan broke the Golden Land Guardian trap card apart to activate the Eldlich in his graveyard. "I say, bah humbug!" Before Eldlich could come back to life, Jenna activated the second effect of Balerdroch to banish one living or dead monster. The Doomking targeted the Golden Lord in the graveyard and removed it from the game entirely. "Heh, I knew you would.. I activate the normal spell: Seven Realm of the Golden Lands! It fuses two zombie monsters! And if a zombie monster is summoned by an effect, it can also block the effect of one trap on the field! So..I fusion summon El Rey Conquista Eldlich!"
"El what now?" Bionis stammered as the Eldlich Lord still on the field fused with the Conquistador and his own trap card had its effects negated. "The ultimate Golden Lich, William! He takes an Eldlich-monster and another highlevel zombie as its fusion materials! We have come this far! Behold, the final Conqueror!" The Golden Lord's purple cloak became fierce and torn, while its armor and body increased in size. This was El Rey Eldlich(10/3800/3500) [Extra Zone 3] Four curved horns framed its golden helmet, while its terrifying jaws split open to unleash a hellish roar upon the field. "El Rey cannot be destroyed! Ever! And if I sacrifice one of my undead monsters, he will control any monster of yours!" Khan normal summoned the tribute, the bearded one-horn ghoul Guard Ghost(4/1800/100) [Zone 7]. "You tried to take away what was already rightfully mine! For that you will suffer greatly, Jenna!" The Conquista Eldlich performed the rite of sacrifice, crushing the Guard Ghost with its golden claw and mesmerizing Doomking Balerdroch[Zone 6] with its four crimson eyes. "Balerdroch! Destroy the Subterror Guru!"
It seemed like Jenna would be having another session of pure pain on her hands. "Yeah no." Were it not for the trap card she still possessed. "When a monster attacks, I can activate Quaking Mirror Force! All monsters are switched to defense mode and stay that way!" A trap big enough to start an earthquake. "What!?" The force of her trap made both El Rey and Balerdroch join Echatos in a face-down defense position. It also made every missile in the silo rumble and quiver. "Hey, can you be a bit more careful with that! We dont want to start a chain reaction!" Bionis shouted as he nervously looked around himself. "Yeah sure, next time I will tell my trap card to behave..." She sarcastically apologized.
"Rgh. How can she keep doing this?" Khan cursed with clenched teeth. "You're letting her humiliate you. Letting her humiliate us." His partner shared his frustration. "Bah! All they can do is defend, they wont get far like that." Khan placed two trap cards down on his field and banished the Golden Land Guardian from the graveyard to set a second White Eldlixir down on his field. Only after that did he pass his turn to his other hated opponent.
-TURN 08-
"I can only defend huh? Then what do you call this? I activate Impcantation Chalislime from my hand, by revealing it and discarding one other card! Then I special summon one Impcantation from my deck! I choose another Candoll!" Bionis started strong, discarding his Queen of Oblivion, Ruin. "I call it futile! Like all of your other struggles! I activate Angel Statue Azurune!" But at the same time as that special summon, Khan created a monster with his continuous trap. Azurune(4/1800/1800) [Zone 8] turned into a hooded angel's statue who wielded a large bow. "Azurune can sacrifice one trapmonster to negate one special summon!" The statue angel fired herself away, turning into an arrow of stone that pierced the special summoned Impcantation Candoll(4/0/0) and blew it to smithereens. "Sounds to me like you're getting nervous!" Bionis shrugged and activated his own Allure of Darkness. He drew his two cards and banished Impcantation Chalislime, a DARK monster, from his hand. "I will never be affraid of you, William."
"You should be.. I activate Cycle of the World from my graveyard! If I send it back to my deck, I can send the Queen of Oblivion or King of Armageddon back to my hand. I can also draw the End of the World from my deck!" Bionis was already onto phase 2 of his plan, the acquisition of a ritual spell and ritual monster. The End of the World would ritual summon any monster with the name of Ruin or Demise. "If I reveal a ritual monster, I can also activate Impcantation Pencilplume from my hand. He will special summon himself and Impcantation Talismandra from my deck!" Phase 3 involved more of his strange fiends: the plume-feathered ink pencil(3/0/0) [Zone 6] and another talisman mandrake(6/0/0) [Zone 7]. Subsequently, Talismandra's own effect added another ritual monster to the hand from the deck. "Jenna, I am gonna need your monster for this!" He asked as he claimed his monster with ten level stars. "My Guru? I got a feeling I know where this is going. Go right ahead."
"Thank you, Jenna. Then here she is! The Supreme Queen of Oblivion, Ruin!" Bionis chose her, and also chose her sacrifices: Jenna's Subterror Guru and Impcantation Talismandra. "End of the World! Summon the Queen!" The majestic empress(8/2900/3000) [Zone 8] took form through their stars. She wore a shoulder less armored dress of red, black and gold. A crest-like crown of the same colors adorned her long silver hair. "Okay, I did not expect that.." Jenna felt a little confused. The Supreme King would have been able to deal with their defensive monsters, but not her. "The Supreme Queen is also essential, Scura. She makes it so that none of my ritual monsters can be destroyed by card effects. Even.. when I am the one destroying everything!" Khan revealed his face-down card. "I activate Tuning of the World to summon the original King or Queen!" It was a quickplay pseudo-ritual spell which could ritual summon monsters from the deck as well. This time he tributed to special summon the non-supreme Demise, the demon armored King of Armageddon(8/2400/2000) [Zone 7]. "Oh there we go!" In the end Jenna's faith in her partner got rewarded after all.
"I am not blind, William! I can also see where this is headed now! But it will cost you!" Khan activated his final set cards with a snarl. "The White Eldlixir of Destiny will special summon my final Golden Lord! And when I control the Eldlich I can activate El Dorado Adelantado! This trap send three banished Golden Land cards from the graveyard back to my deck to steal half of your lifepoints!" He poured the clear water down on the ground and cracked it wide open to release the third Eldlich Lord(9/2500/3000). The trap of El Dorado meanwhile filled the deck back up with more gold (Conquistador/Huaqero/Guardian of the Golden Land) The cracks in the floor spread in both directions, letting red energy seep out from the underworld. The light healed Khan and Scura, while it weakened Jenna and William. "Argh. What kind of lazy trap is that?" Jenna was shivering again.
Team Bionis' LP: 3900 Team Conquest's LP: 14600
"He's still trying to scare us. But it wont work! I will activate Demise's effect anyway!" Bionis paid his 2000 lifepoints and unleashed the effect of Armageddon's ruler. Demise swung his massive warhammer around and crushed every card around him: The Golden Lords, Doomking Balerdroch, Chiaroscura's Hidden City and Jenna's facedown card. "Not so indestructible while it's face-down, is it?" Even the mighty El Rey Conquista fell into the grave. Only Queen Ruin survived this apocalypse, thanks to her own effect. "Now, lets even things out! The Supreme Queen of Oblivion can attack twice in one turn! Demise, attack Khan! Ruin, attack Scura!" William would have liked to attack with a complete supreme pair, but this current duo could unleash enough damage on their own. The Queen knocked the Nemeses duelist down with two holy waves fired from her staff, while Demise slammed his hammer right into the body of the conqueror. "Guahhh!" Khan got pushed back to the walls of the silo, losing various pieces of his golden armor in the process. "William!"
Team Bionis' LP: 1900 Team Conquest's LP: 6400
"This is your partner, Jenna? He does not care about you at all! Look at what he did to your cards!" Chiaroscura hissed while Khan placed one card face down and ended his turn. She did not appreciate the bath of holy light very much either. "Oh that? I wanted that to happen, actually. Because.. that card was Primineral Mandstrong!" With a triumphant declaration, Jenna returned her Mandrill rock ape(8/2000/3000) [Zone 3] back to her field in defense mode. "Mandstrong? Tsk." Chiaroscura naturally recognized this card: a monster that could be set as if it were a trap. And since it had been destroyed by another player, Jenna could special summon it during the endphase and add another monster (Primineral Kongreat) from the field to her hand. "You have only made this worse, Khan!"
-TURN 09-
"But it ends now. I return Reprodocus to my deck to special summon Nemeses Corridor!" Chiaroscura unveiled another corner of her elemental biodome, the green feathered avian Nemeses((4/1900/600) [Zone 4] of the wind. "Corridor can add one banished Nemeses monster to my hand!" She chose the Nemeses of fire, Flag, and promptly special summoned the flame centaur(2/1100/200) [Zone 2] by returning the banished Crystal Seer to her deck. "Flag adds Nemeses Umbrella to my hand! And she can add one Nemeses from the graveyard to my hand!" Umbrella took the normal summon of the turn, appearing as a feminine monster(3/1500/400) [Zone 3] deep sea-blue armor, a jellyfish-like skirt and a crystal sphere head. Her effect targeted the Archnemeses Eschatos and added it back to Chiaroscura's hand. "And then, I will take Flag, Corridor and Umbrella as materials and link summon Extinction, the ArchNemeses Eater!" Fire/Pyro, Wind/Thunder and Water/Aqua mixed together inside an elemental link circuit, brewing up a hideous mutation of evolution.
Archnemeses Eater - Extinction, DARK/Zombie 2000/LINK 3 {Up/Downleft/Downright}
2+ monsters with different Types and different Attributes
This link summoned monster is also treated as having the same Attributes and Types as its link materials.
Negate the effect(s) of all cards destroyed by your card effects, as well as the effects of cards with the same original name.
If this card is targeted by a card effect or for an attack, discard 1 monster with the same type or attribute as this card; negate that effect or attack, then this card is no longer treated as having that Attribute or Type.
Extinction(2000/LINK 3) [Extra Zone 1] resembled a draconian blob of melted down flesh and bones, with various bits and pieces of other animals and colors mixed in like red spikes, green feathers and blue scales. "This time, I will make sure what dies, stays dead! Everything will suffer and die!" Chiaroscura slammed one card down on her field, the Archnemeses Eschatos. She banished Flag, Corridor and Umbrella from the graveyard to recreate her mutated dragon(11/3000/2500) [Zone 2]. It immediately unleashed its power of death over the type of Rock, setting Primineral Mandstrong up for its inevitable demise. Jenna let it get that far, but the moment after the rock ape exploded.. she sprung into action.
"Not so fast! When one of my earthy monsters dies, I can special summon this Crusted guy from my hand!" Jenna activated a card whose name she would not bother to pronounce: Cataclysmic Crusted Calcifida. The heavyset bald monk(8/2600/200) had earth-golden skin and a crown of purple crystal, and could send any card from the deck to the graveyard upon his special summon. She chose to send Traptrix Atrax. "How ugly are you willing to be, to get in my way? I activate Nemesis Adrastea! It special summons one Nemeses from my graveyard, but it cannot use its powers this turn!" Scura started the battle phase anyway, as soon as her spell resurrected the second Archnemeses from the graveyard: Protos [Zone 3]. "Seems to me like your monsters are just as ugly!" Jenna retorted while she hid behind her own monster. "Mock me all you like, your life is still much lower than ours!" Protos and Eschatos targeted the King and Queen of the World's End instead: impaling the ritual monsters with their spiked wings and tail. "Sooner or later you will be worn out! So you should choose better last words!"
"Oh I have one.. I activate Titanocider!" Bionis flipped his trap card as soon as the battle phase ended: it would negate the effects of her link monster and reduce its attackpower to zero as well. "That's three words! And they're way too late!" Scura immediately countered it with the effect of her Archnemeses Eater: discarding Subterror Fiendess from her hand to negate the trap's effect. "Yeah but if I did it earlier, it would have been too soon!" Bionis gave her partner a nod, as she special summoned her Primineral Kongreat again in face-down defense mode. "Argh? It was just to set her up?" Scura hissed as she had to let the turn end at that. "Yeah. That is what partners do; they help each other." Jenna exclaimed. "Partners? Pfah! This is the only way you will ever use that word! Nobody really wants to be your friend, Jenna! Billy here is not close to you, neither are the others!"
"You're a bit off the mark there!" Charles came in shouting, astonishing the four duelists. "You? And you too?" Much to Khan's dismay, he saw Madam Blanche follow Charles closely. "What happened to the rest? To Illuminator and.. You beat them all?" He could only conclude that his allies had failed him. "The ones that did not run away yeah. But unlike them, we wont abandon our friends... Khan." Charles swore. Because that's what he considered Jenna and even Bionis to be now: friends.
-TURN 10-
"Well it doesn't look like they need our help either way." Madam Blanche said, assessing the current situation. "You cannot help them now! You can only watch them fall into oblivion again! What good are friends if they cannot save each other, eh?" Scura violently lashed out at her. "Friends are more than just eople to take a hit for you, Scura. You should know that." But Jenna remained calm as she drew her next card. It was a spell. "And she is right anyway, I can handle this myself. I activate the Book of Eclipse and switch all monsters to face-down defense position!" At this stage, only the ultimate book of flipping would be of use. The eclipse forced Eldlich and the three Archnemeses monsters to hide from everyone's sight. The Archnemeses Eater though remained face-up, as link monsters could not defend. "You fool! Now we get to draw one card for each monster!" Chiaroscura loudly pointed out the other weakness of her spell card. "Only at the end of the turn, when your monsters flip back face-up! I guess I'll have to destroy them before we get that far!
"I normal summon Traptrix Dionaea!" Jenna's next monster seemed to be of a rather innocent type: a young red-eyed girl(4/1700/1100) [Zone 3] with a frilly dress and pigtailed brown hair. But she was merely a trap set by the actual monster: a large Venus flytrap plant. "Traptrix Dionaea special summons one Traptrix from my graveyard! Traptrix Atrax!" Her next monster was equally deceptive: a funnelweb-spider disguised as a smiling girl(4/1800/1000) [Zone 4] with purple hair and rose ornaments. "Traptrix? That's quite the choice there.." It surprised Blanche to see Jenna go from big to small monsters. "And that's what got me this far, surprises! I sent Atrax to my grave earlier, and now I can use them both to XYZ-summon Traptrix Allomerus!" Atrax the spider and Dionaea the flytrap dug deep into an XYZ-portal, casting themselves as materials for the red-haired Traptrix girl(R4/2200/600) [Extra Zone 2] with the black skirt, top and sleeves. Her true form were actually the many red-eyed ants crawling underneath the girl in the shadows. "When a monster leaves the field, Allomerus can take control of it by detaching two of her XYZ-materials!"
Jenna snapped her fingers and flipped Kongreat(8/3000/0) back face-up. "I will destroy Archnemeses Protos and Eschatos!" The Primineral combined its power with that of Allomerus: burying both face-down Archnemeses monsters at the same time. Then the army of shadowy ants tore up the grave and dug up the Type-destroying Archnemeses Eschatos(11/3000/2500) [Zone 4] to put it on Jenna's field. "!" Chiaroscura and Khan flinched simultaneously. "Well whaddayaknow, I guess I got to have a taste of your power after all." The opponents controlled a variety of types herself, but Jenna only needed to choose one. "Eschatos! Destroy all zombies!" The great annihilator poisoned the field with a blight for the undead, rotting the Archnemeses Eater from the inside out. "I am pretty sure this is the end." Jenna began what would be the final battle phase. "So do you have any last words?"
"This.. this sucks. I barely got to do anything I wanted to do." All hope for victory fell to pieces before Scura, leaving her deflated and spiritless. "Hey. I dont know what's going to happen to you, or to that guy. But if you are really a part of me, I am sure you will still be inside me somewhere. Maybe not inside the driver's seat, but.. if it makes you feel better, I will do everything I always wanted to do. Almost everything. Not the questionable stuff" Jenna knew she was literally talking to an immoral extension of herself. Still she could not help but feel sympathetic in the end. "Heh. I was not planning on going anywhere anyway. Just do what you want to, Jenna."
"NO! This is not how it ends! You cannot just get rid of us! Not when we are this close! I cannot leave the future of the world in your hands, William! You will fail, you need me!" Khan felt decidedly less willing to accept his defeat. "The only reason I need you, is to see what I should not be like anymore." Bionis rebuffed him. "Jenna, do it!" He was ready to see this duel finally end. "Okay." With a heavy heart, Jenna declared the final attack.. sending Eschatos, Allomerus and Kongreat to crush Scura's and Khan's lifepoints. "I will not die! I still have this!" Khan countered not with a card, but with the World Chalice. "This is proof that I am alive! That I am deserving! Even if you try to destroy me, I will.." He tried to pour the water inside the cup over himself, as if to make him undestructible. "...What is?" But no water came out of the chalice. "Why is not doing anything?" And in the next second, there would be no legacy item at all. The cup blew up in his hand and vanished like vapor. "It was a fake?!" His revelation came at the same time as his defeat, as the last direct attack hit him in the chest. "No. But I am.. the Conqueror.."
Team Conquest's LP: 0
(To Be Continued in World 074: AcroAgoraphobia)
New Cards used by Bionis 'Will'
Impcantation Chalislime
Impcantation Pencilplume
Demise, King of Armageddon
Supreme Ruin, Queen of Oblivion
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End of the World
Tuning of the World
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Titanocider
New Cards used by Khan the Conqueror
El Rey Conquista Eldlich
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Seven Realms of the Golden Land
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Angel Statue - Azurune
El Dorado Adelantado
New Cards used by Chiaroscura
Nemeses Corridor
Nemeses Umbrella
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Archnemeses Eater - Extinction
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Nemeses Adrastea
New Cards used by Jenna
Cataclysmic Crusted Calcifida
Traptrix Dionaea
Traptrix Atrax
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Traptrix Allomerus
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Quaking Mirror Force