World 082: The Nonexistence of Violet
The Legacy items, multiple legacy items: they were displayed in Scarlet's laboratory like trophies. "Why would she do this?" None of the duelists who invaded the lab expected this, or could come up with a reason for why this existed. "Crescent. Be careful not to touch them. Who knows what kind of security measures Scarlet has installed. We need to get a move on anyway." Vigionair could not allow for any distractions, they were still not at the correct level to reach the core of the tower. "I wont.. I do not want to." Crescent insisted, even as her eyes kept turning towards the multiple World Shields. "But Scarlet has to have a reason for this. Is she trying to understand the legacy? Is she trying to find... the Creator?" The very thought filled her head. She still believed in the Creator's existence, and a part of her wanted to meet him.. If only to find out what it all meant. But if Scarlet was after the same thing, she could lead Static to the Creator. And she could not let that happen.
"I know you are in here." Such thoughts were put on hold. One of the coffins placed against the walls opened like a door and a woman shrouded in mist walked out. "Ah! They caught us!" Cherry shouted, but she did not seem to hear her. "There is no getting out now. All doors are sealed. If you want to go on, you will have to come on out." The mystery woman spoke with a voice that did not sound very familiar.
"Damn it. He's right." Vigionair quickly ascertained that the defense system switched from passive to active despite them being undetected. "Should I ask him to ignore us?" Echo wondered. "No. If your voice works on him, it would have done so already. There is no way to engage him without revealing ourselves, and we cannot escape into the subconscious layer without being detected by Static." They could not just stop now due to one person. On the other hand, only one of them would need to step into the limelight. "Let me do it." And Aurora Crescent possessed the will and curiosity to do so. She disengaged her cloaking application and allowed the woman to approach her.. "Here I am." She activated her dueldisk once the mist evaporated, revealing a familiar face after all.
Crescent's LP: 8000 Teraxatron's LP: 8000
"So you are." She was a dark-haired female duelist: one who dueled Charles a while back, Blanche realized. "Teraxa? Static got to her too? Or more like... " The duelist had gone through some modifications that went a little deeper than just painting her monk robes white. Large cables were connected to her back and headband, which was not cybernetic in nature. "Scarlet Fever has gotten to her.." Crescent finished Blanche's sentence. They were dealing with another victim of her hatred poison. "She has. Which means you and your friends must have realized it is no use arguing with me. I know you did not come alone, Crescent Aurora. Know this: my very being powers this place's security systems. I am fully devoted to helping Scarlet realize her plans: and you can only get through me with force..."
-TURN 01-
"But in time you will come to see that that is impossible." While Crescent had the first turn, Teraxatron made the first move. "When there are no cards in my graveyard, Dimension Shifter can be activated. For the next two turns, all cards sent to the graveyard will be banished instead!" A white-hooded and cloaked magician leaped out of her hand and opened a black hole with her hand. "This is how you will defend yourself?" Crescent wondered if her opponent even knew her, since an effect like this would hardly get in her way. She did not know Teraxatron very well either, but she still felt sympathetic towards her. Her opponent was just another puppet of Scarlet and this whole duel was just another experiment for the doctor to monitor. "I can special summon Watchcat when I control no other monsters." Trying to talk sense into her, would have as much effect as narrating the use of her cards. But old habits were hard to get rid of it. In this case a watchful grey cat(1/0/1800) [Zone 5] appeared with black stripes on its back. Teraxatron's left eye twitched, but her expression soon snapped back to its previous stoic self.
"...I summon the Thunder, its Weather Painter. And she will sacrifice my continuous spell to activate another Weather Canvas spell or trap." It likely would have no effect to narrate the use of her cards either, but old habits were hard to get rid of it. In this case her thunderous painter(3/1700/0) [Zone 2] replaced her Weather Canvas Rainy spell card with the Weather Painters's Snowed Canvas [Zone 2]. Said continuous Canvas spell got sucked up into the shifting dimesion and disappeared for good. "Snowed Canvas lets my Weather Painters banish themselves for one turn, to add a new Weather card to my hand. And during the endphase, Watchcat can be banished to set another continuous trap or spell from my deck on the field." Either way, Teraxatron would come to know and be forced to account for her deck. As the Thunder Painter girl disappeared temporarily and the grey cat permanently; Crescent added a Weather Painter Cloud and set the Weather Canvas Rainbowed from her deck. "That was my turn for now. Just hang in there, I know this is not what you really want."
-TURN 02-
As the next turn started, Weather Painter Thunder[Zone 2] reappeared in defense mode. "Crescent, I have to say I do not know what you are talking about. I know exactly what I want and what I have to do to get it." She activated the spell, Sacred Sword of Seven Stars. It banished one level 7 monster in her hand, Metaphys Daedalus, to draw two new cards. "Clarity of mind being one of them.. a higher purpose another. Either way, you have to realize that this is nothing personal." Teraxatron activated a field spell as well: Metaphys Factor. It cast a fieldwide projection of a cracked dark blue sky around the two duelists. "But I know such statements will not affect you greatly. So allow me to state some harder facts. My spell, Metaphys Factor, grants me a normal summon of one Metaphys without tributes. Though that monster will be banished at the end of your next turn." She used the effect to call out Metaphys Nephthys(8/2400/1600) [Zone 3]. "And your cards cannot chain to the effects of my Metaphys anymore. Metaphys Nephthys attacks Weather Painter Thunder!" She declared matter-of-factly.
"I can still chain to your monsters attacks..however." Crescent flipped the Rainbowed Canvas [Zone 3] face-up. Her continuous trap caught three zones in its light, including that of Weather Painter Thunder. "When my opponent has a monster on their field, a monster linked to Rainbowed Canvas can banish herself to summon another Weather Painter from my deck." The spark-painting girl blitzed back into her own safe dimension for one more turn, and turned the yellow light into a boreal green glow. Crescent special summoned her namesake: Weather Painter Aurora(6/2200/2000) [Zone 3]. "And I can use the Snowed Canvas again as well." The Auroral painter banished herself next, using the white light of the Snow spell to add a new Weather Painter card (Weather Canvas Rainy) to the hand. "That is indeed how those cards function. But the endresult is you being wide open, Crescent Aurora." Teraxatron redirected Metaphys Nephthys' attack towards her opponent, letting the dimensional bird goddess breathe transparent flames down on Crescent.
Aurora's LP: 5600
"Crescent!" Blanche feared the worst. Yet the attack lasted mere seconds. And when the heat dissipated, the weather painter duelist came out without a mark on her body. "I did not feel... anything?" Crescent could not remember the last duel that had come and gone without some form of physical impact. "That is correct. Pain is very useful, as long as it means something. But we're beyond that now. These fights are not win through the limits of the body, but by pushing the limits of the mind." Teraxatron placed one card face down and activated another spell: the pendulum monster Metaphys Decoy Dragon (Scale 1) [Zone 1]. "But for now, my turn is over." She said, as the Dimension Shifting black hole finally disappeared.
"This is strange. She doesn't sound at all like her mind was warped by Static." The Legendary Fisherman sensed no hatred coming from her, which contrasted her with everyone who came before her. "Yeah but she does not sound like Teraxatron either." Echo mumbled. The memories she held with her inside, like her experiences with Void, painted her as a more emotional duelist. "There is neither love nor hatred. It is not right." She shuddered as a new thought entered her head. "Perhaps this is Scarlet's answer to my power."
-TURN 03-
"She can be saved. They all can." As the turn shifted back to Crescent, Weather Painter Aurora [Zone 3] and Thunder [Zone 2] returned to her field as well. On the other side, the effect of the banished Metaphys Daedalus resolved. Daedalus returned itself to the deck to banish one Metaphys monster, Ragnarok, from that deck. "I summon the Weather Painter Cloud. She can reset two Weather Canvas cards when one of my continuous cards is destroyed." The white-haired cloud gentleman(3/1500/1000) [Zone 4] would bring out his talents in conjunction with the Thunder Painter's own skills. She destroyed the Snowy Canvas, to activate the Weather Canvas Thundery[Zone 2] from the deck. Afterwards Cloud repainted the spell zone behind him to recreate the Snowy Canvas [Zone 4] on the field. "I will also activate this, the Weather Canvas Cloudy." The very left side of her field would be covered by the endless fog from another Canvas spell [Zone 5]. But it would up to the thunderous weather to cross over into the opponent territory. "Painter Thunder attacks Metaphys Nephthys!"
"You are at least fearless. But that is not enough by itself. I activate Metaphys Decoy Dragon's effect. When an attack is declared, it will banish itself to special summon one other banished Metaphys monster." The pendulum dragon gave itself up as a decoy, blocking the Thunder Painter's lightning streak with its own tiny body. The blast left a hole in time and space, which caused a longer white-haired dragon(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2] to emerge from the banished dimension in attack mode. "This is of course Metaphys Ragnarok. When summoned I may banish the top three cards of my deck and it will gain 300 attackpoints for each card." Teraxatron showed off three cards (Metaphys Tyrant Dragon, Cross Breed, Metaphys Daedalus) before tossing them all away to empower his newly summoned monster(2400/1000). "Then there is my continuous trap, which I will now reveal. Metaphys Dimension banishes one of your cards when one of my Metaphys cards is banished. Your Aurora Painter prevents me from targeting your Canvas cards. But not your monsters." The Dimensional trap targeted the attacking Thunder Painter
"If she has to disappear, she will do so my way." Crescent did not want to lose her permanently after all. "I activate the Canvas of Clouds. I can halve a monsters attackpoints to let it attack directly. But this can also be used against your monsters." The grey brush of the clouds claimed the Painter of Thunder and partially swallowed Metaphys Ragnarok(1200/1000) as well. "Weather Painter Cloud attacks it." Crescent knew she could not inflict enough damage either way. Getting rid of both of Teraxatron's monsters would be the next best path to take. "Then the time has come.." It would have worked, if Teraxatron had been who she used to be. "I activate my Continuous Skill! Monochrome Conversion! The attackpoints of all monsters with any type besides Light is reduced to zero!" But she had dedicated herself fully to the light now. And that cost the attacking Cloud Painter(0/1000) everything, along with the Painter Aurora(0/02000).
Monochromatic Conversion, Continuous Skill
Declare 1 Attribute. The ATK of all monsters with a different Attribute becomes 0.
"What the? A continuous skill? With a broken effect at that? Since when did we have those?" Just when Cherry was starting to get used to delayed skills, they pulled this out of thin air. "We didn't." Vigionair never heard of such a concept either. "Those are.. the same cards Shintaro's drones used. Its a card from Continuum!" The Fisherman on the other hand had seen them in action before. Yet that did not explain how one wound up in the hands of Teraxatron.
"So that is why you banished Weather Painter Thunder." Crescent herself covered her shock with a quick analysis of the situation. The two monsters were not at the damage step of the battle yet, so a Canvas effect like Thundery could still be thrown in there. But if she were to do that, Teraxatron would simply add both Metaphys monsters back to her hand and Crescent would lose out on her chance to activate the Snow and Rainbowed Canvas. Metaphys Nephthys would die during the end of the turn anyway, making the initial weather conditions of far more use than the clouds and storm. "I banish Cloud, to add the Weather Canvas Auroral to my hand. And I banish Aurora to special summon one from my deck again." On one side the snow buried the grey painter before Metaphys Ragnarok could counterattack. On the other, the light of the rainbow strengthened its orange hue, and transformed the Aurora Painter into the jolly mustachio'd Painter Sun(4/0/400) [Zone 4]. "Teraxatron. Tell me... did Scarlet give you that skill card?"
"But of course. Ever since I added this to my deck, I have felt this everlasting purity. No anger, no regret; just a single-minded passion and will. Because of that, my dueling skills are unsurpassable. Nevertheless, permit me to say that while your reflexes are still decent for someone of your nature, haste has unfortunately lead you to a mistake here. When you special summon a monster, Metaphys Dimension can also special summon one banished Metaphys monster." Teraxatron took this chance to bring one of her old cards into the fold: Metaphys Decoy Dragon(1/300/200) [Zone 1] in its monster form. In this state it could also act as a decoy for attacks. "No. I saw that too." If she wanted too, Crescent could have summoned another Thunder Painter to get around the Monochromatic barrier. Except if she did, the Decoy Dragon would bring back Metaphys Daedalus instead. That was something she had to avoid at all costs. She would have to deal with the continuous skill for now. She placed two traps face down and ended the turn. At that point Metaphys Factor banished the Nephthys dragon.
-TURN 04-
"But how did Scarlet make such a card? She is not aligned with Continuum." Vigionair wanted to know. "Ten bucks tells me she made it just to see if she could." Blanche could only guess.
So too could Teraxatron apparently. "Does it matter where it came from? All I need to know is that it has freed me from all of my burdens." At the start of the next turn, the Weather Painters Sun[Zone 4], Aurora [Zone 3], Thunder(0/0) [Zone 2] and Cloud [Zone 1] all returned to the field in defense mode. Unfortunately this would once again set off Metaphys Dimension and cause the continuous trap to special summon a different Metaphys monster from the banished zone: Metaphys Tyrant Dragon(8/2900/2500) [Zone 4]. "In my turn, the effect of the banished Metaphys Nephthys resolves as well." Teraxatron could send the dimensional bird back to her deck to claim a new Metaphys card from it. She chose her very strongest: Metaphys Executor. "Now this is a card that can be special summoned by banishing five Metaphys cards from my field or graveyard. To get that far I will need to make some arrangements."
"I synchro summon Metaphys Horus." Those that paid attention would have known that Metaphys Decoy Dragon was a tuner as well as a pendulum monster. So it surprised few to see the decoy synchronize with Metaphys Ragnarok to special summon the white-bodied Horus Dragon(6/2300/1600) [Extra Zone 1]. "When Horus uses an effect monster as a non-tuner material, it may negate one card effect on the field. Honestly, it would be better that way. Things are simpler with less power in play." Horus spread its wings and cried out a blast of white light to counteract the boreal radiance of Weather Painter Aurora. This left Crescent's Canvas cards unshielded. "Simpler? What do you mean by that?" Crescent allowed the effect to depower Aurora, since she had to save her traps and spells for what seemed inevitable. "Everything. Your cards, they are so full of color and light. So full of text and emotion. It is simply too much. It gives me a headache. I would rather it all return to a world of black and white: in every sense of the word." Her cards already fit her preferences, being all LIGHT and DARK types. Every Metaphys monster had lost their former flame or wind element to become a part of this new dimension.
"You've gotta be kidding me. That sounds like the lamest hell in existence." Cherry howled. "I do not kid around, Scura. Jokes are just another word for lies." Teraxatron stated clearly, finally looking right at her. "You can see me!?"
"I can hear your thoughts, Cherry Anise. I have been hearing them for some time now. That is how I knew you were here. I too had thoughts like that once, fun thoughts. I even recall this name amusing me once. But memories are just that.. But the mind has to be cleared of such notions now. I summon Prufinesse, the Tactical Trapper." Teraxatron took a turn for the darkness as she normal summoned a demonic blonde aristocrat(4/0/0) [Zone 2] who wore a golden owl mask and wielded a great black sword. "Prufinesse can banish one trap from my deck to raise its level by 1. And the trap I choose is Metaphys Ascension. As when Metaphys Ascension is banished I may add one Metaphys card from the deck to my hand." The demon-winged nobleman carved the trap out of the deck, and gave her the ability to add the spell card of Assymetaphys to her hand. Tron decisively placed the spell on her field, giving her another Metaphys card to feed to the executioner. One card remained.
"I link summon Baba Barber, the materials are any two monsters." One more Metaphys entered the graveyard: Metaphys Horus. Teraxatron combined it with Prufiness to create a demonic lady barber(200/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 1] who wore a feathered black hat and black fur-robe. "And now, I shall summon Metaphys Executor, the card Void denied me once." She'd gathered her five cards: Metaphys Horus, Ragnarok, Decoy Dragon, Factor and Assymetaphys were all banished from the field and absorbed into a pulsating mass of purple flesh and vein-like tendrils. From that mass the executioner spawned: itself a mechanical worm(10/3000/2500) [Zone 3] of silver segments with a tusked face and wings of diamonds. "Metaphys Executor cannot be destroyed by card effects. And each turn, it will special summon one Metaphys monster from the banished zone. And, as I did special summon it, Metaphys Dimension will also reactivate to banish one card you control. The first color to be erased is that of the many: I banish Rainbowed Canvas."
"I cannot let you.. Not without one last flash of light." Crescent activated channeled the effect of her Canvas into Painter Aurora before the Dimension claimed it. The boreal maiden disappeared into the next turn, while Crescent special summoned Weather Painter Rain(3/1200/1400) [Zone 3]. "It will be the last color you ever see. Metaphys Executor special summons Metaphys Daedalus. Dadealus will then banished all your special summoned monsters, as it was special summoned by the effect of another Metaphys." The element of water did not keep its vibrant blue either in this deck. The purified seaerpent Daedalus(7/2600/1500) [Zone 2] broke the surface of the dimensional barrier and let the tide sweep across the board. "Ah.. I will.. banish them then." Only the weather managed to save the painters. The Cloud Canvas banished both Cloud and Thunder to halve the attackpoints of the Metaphys Executor(1500/2500) and Tyrant Dragon(1450/1500) while the Snowed Canvas banished the Sun to add a new Weather Painter (Snow) to her hand. "That will save them, but what about you?" Teraxatron immediately moved in on the now defenseless duelists, sending the Executor to bombard Crescent with beams fired from its spikes.
Aurora's LP: 4100
"No. She does not have enough lifepoints to survive this!" Echo panicked. "Her loss was inevitable, miss Echo. Take comfort in knowing that she will feel nothing. Soon, neither will you." Teraxatron declared the second attack with Metaphys Tyrant Dragon. "...Then I activate this trap: Blazing Mirror Force." That was the attack the weather duelist had been waiting for. "Blazing Mirror Force? Not Auroral Canvas?" Tron's opponent managed to catch her off guard, she had expected a completely different face down card all this time. Instead of an aurora, Crescent created a blazing firestorm that would destroy all attacking monsters and inflict damage to both players. That damage would be equal to halve the original ATK of all burned monsters. "Then Baba Barber shall use her power. She can banish one monster linked to her for one turn." Baba Barber and her bright yellow hair fell into the wildfire, but not before sending Metaphys Daedalus to another safer dimension. The Tyrant Dragon got destroyed as well, and caused the most lifepoints to disappear as the Blazing trap resolved.
Aurora's LP: 2550 Teraxatron's LP: 6550
"You made me feel pain, does that make you feel pride?" Teraxatron's left hand twitched due to the heat. In spite of all her defenses, Crescent found a way to singe her lifepoints. "Such uncontrolled power. I cannot understand why you would want to allow such bursts of violence and destruction." Of course Metaphys Executor could not be destroyed, so it survived and it(3000/2500) regained its full power as the turn ended. Metaphys Daedalus[Zone 2] and a defending Decoy Dragon[Zone 3] returned to the field as well. The latter monster could be special summoned at the end of any turn in which it had been banished. "I thought you of all people would understand me now."
-TURN 05-
"I do understand you, Teraxa. I understand how feelings can be... strange. I never liked that there was so much inside of me that I could not explain in words. And everything I could freely talk about, just made people see me as strange. I do not feel pride, when I hurt people or confuse them. There was always a disconnect." Crescent took her turn, letting all five of her Weather Painters[Zones 1,2,3,4 & 5] return to the field in defense mode. "Yes, a disconnect. Because everyone is different, nobody knows what the other is thinking. But that can change now, we can all be the same. Free of hatred for each other, free of distrust and fear. We can run the world the way it should be run." Teraxatron in turn tried to activate Metaphys Dimension to special summon Metaphys Ragnarok from the banished zone. "I thought that.. but I also thought how horrible it would be to lose all of that. No one is the same, and that just feels.. so nice. i am sorry, Teraxa. But I do like the way I feel. And I don't want to part with it." Crescent countered immediately by activating her Mystical Space Typhoon quickplay spell to destroys Metaphys Dimension before its effects could play out.
"You just cannot see it. Your fear and your love is weighing you down, keeping you chained to that flawed mindset. It does not matter what you feel, it will not give you the strength to overcome this." Teraxatron's defense did not require the continuous trap. She could still return the banished Metaphys Nephthys to her deck to banish another Metaphys Daedalus in the deck. Only one monster Crescent controlled could inflict damage, and she would simply destroy it with a combination of Decoy Dragon and Daedalus' effects. "You cannot win, those are the facts."
"No. It is precisely because of that, that I can win." Crescent countered as she realized what had to be done. "Without love or fear or even hate, we would not be alive. We would just be paintings on a wall. I always thought I could express myself better through images than through words. Even if thatis the normal way, I do not want to lose that feeling. I do not want to lose what makes me feel like me.. and she sees that too." Crescent took one card, not in her hand but in her skill slot. "Echo, she gave us... the power to give form to what lies in the hearts and souls of others! We can make new facts out of fiction and fantasy! And I choose this one.." Crescent activated her delayed skill. "I activate Storm Access!" The skill transformed into a whirlwind of energy, and in that whirllwind the shapes of many dreams and nightmares flew by. "And I add one monster to my extra deck!" Crescent reached into the cyclone, and pulled out a glowing white card..
(To Be Continued in World 083: Rounded Off Emotion)
New Cards used by Crescent Aurora
Watchcat
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Mystical Space Typhoon
New Cards used by Teraxatron
MONOCHROMATIC CONVERSION
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Dimension Shifter
Prufinesse, the Tactical Trapper
Metaphys Executor
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Baba Barber
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Sacred Sword of Seven Stars
Metaphys Factor
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Metaphys Dimension