World 083: Rounded Off Emotion

For people at the top of the world, it would take more than a simple crisis to get them to notice the troubles that went on down below. But the phenomenon that occured in the middle of the Atlantic ocean was a little hard to overlook. Especially after it became apparent what kind of terrors lurked on that new island. Real monsters were invading the main land and posed a threat even to the finest militaries. Events such as these could only be suppressed so far and those with that type of power relied on other powers to take care of such issues. Yet nothing happened, no actions were taken against this new threat.. and they did not understand why. It seemed as if certain people were set on continuing the world the way it used to be.

"Is this not a bit of an overreaction? I have a lot of matters to tend to." One of those a wealthy industrialist who joined a gathering of the richest men and woman inside a large underground bunker. "We all do, that is why this cannot wait. You all know very well what is going on." A gathering led by mister Shintaro. "Do we? That'd be a first. No one else can tell me what the hell is going on! Not even my government contacts! But I bet good money that Exeter is behind this!" One executive of a rivaling company laughed. He knew enough to recognize the common elements in each reported disaster: duelists.. and their duel monsters. Though he knew only a fraction of what everyone else understood. "They had a part in this yes. But you do too. Now that the day has come." Shintaro replied with a slightly more ominous tone. "You mean... this is what we were prepared for?" Another director spoke up with an awfully calm expression. One that got shared "Prepared for? Prepared for what!?" A small remainder of the group cried out. "For the future."

"AH! What is that!" A small handful of executives were soon caught in a panic, as the third entity materialized within their center. They were outnumbered by those that stared at them with chilling indifference. "I apologize. This transition would have been more natural, but outside forces have accelerated our schedule, so we will adding you to the Continuum right now. It is what will save us from annihilation. You should feel lucky director, we are giving the rest of you the chance to join. No... we are giving you the right." Shintaro folded his arms behind his back and lowered his head while Continuum released its light upon those on top of the world...

...

Crescent's LP: 2550 Teraxatron's LP: 6450

Storm Access, Skill Card
Add 1 Random Monster to extra Deck.

"What did you do? What did you add to your extra deck?" Teraxatron did not like not knowing everything she could know. To her, knowledge mattered more than anything. "Something people dreamed up.. there are a lot of cards that exist only in the minds of others.. Yours and mine included. Echo's skill card lets me give it a form, any form that I wish. And I wished for a new link monster." Crescent finally entered her main phase and removed two of her Weather Painters, Thunder(1700/0) [Zone 1] and Sun(0/400) [Zone 2] from the field. "I link summon Lyna the Light Charmer, Shining. She needs at least one Light monster as a material." A vortex of electricity and flame opened the path towards the extra deck, and formed the circuit portal of a white-haired magician tamer(1850/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. Lyna wore travelers clothes with a green cloak, and wielded a golden sunstaff with an embedded crystal. "Lyna can summon one light monster from either graveyard, including yours. But I wont use that power yet."

"Wait. Is that the monster she made? I thought that one existed already." Cherry scratched her head in confusion. "It did. There's one for each element and Crescent has used others like them." The Fisherman recalled a certain Water Charmer being what helped Crescent defeat Arcis da Vinci. "You will know what it is that she created, when she summons it." He sensed the great force burning in the girl's dueldisk. And somehow it felt like it involved multiple elements including his own.

But the climate was not right for it yet. "I activate the Weather Painter Sun from my graveyard. If I sacrifice one Canvas, I can bring him back to life and activate one more Canvas from my hand." Crescent destroyed her own Thundery Canvas and placed the Auroral Canvas on her field in its place. Its warm boreal lights welcomed the Sun Painter [Zone 2] back to the field, while the effect of the Cloud Painter returned the Thunder Canvas to the field. "And I summon Weather Painter Snow, who can add one Canvas from the deck to my hand." Her final painter took the form of the little snow fairy(3/0/2000) [Zone 1] with blue hair. And through her powers, Crescent could claim the Weather Canvas Sunny: her last weather spell. "What are you after? It cannot be the Rainbow Weather Painter, you do not have the right zone for her." Teraxatron was well aware of Crescent's ultimate painter and even that card could not get passed the Monochromatic Conversion skill. "What I am after is the five elements, Teraxa. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and Darkness: I have them all." Crescent raised her hand to the ceiling and opened up a new link circuit.. with five marks.

"What? Five link materials?" Her lack of emotions did not prevent Teraxatron from experiencing utter bewilderment as Crescent performed the summon of her new link monster. Five beams of light shot into the circuit: the blue earth of Snow, the orange flame of Sun, the violet air of Cloud(3/0/1000) [Zone 3], the indigo sea of Rain(3/0/1400) [Zone 4] and the boreal darkness of Aurora(6/0/2000) [Zone 5]. "Yes, with Echo's power I can even go beyond the fourth barrier.. This is a link five monster, Five-headed Link Dragon!" Five draconian heads burst through the link circuit: heads and necks made of flame, metal, blue scales, black scales or white scales. Each head was attached to a gigantic golden dragons body(5000/LINK 5) {Left/Downleft/Up/Right/Downright} [Extra Zone 1].

"Is that.. is that a new Five Headed Dragon? Since when did you start using dragons?" Blanche would almost want one for herself; five heads beat three heads after all. "Wagner liked them. He always said the dragon was his favorite part of his favorite opera. I wish he could have seen this. But at least you're here." Not all wishes came true. "Five Headed Link Dragon cannot be destroyed by any monster except Light monsters. And when it is summoned with every other element as a link material: it will destroy all cards my opponent controls. Even skill cards." The five heads released a blast of their respective element into the ground and stirred up a storm of fire, rain and anything in between. Metaphys Daedalus, Decoy Dragon and the Continuous Skill card were swept away.

"I guess we're chopped liver then." Cherry mumbled. "Oh. I did not mean it that way." Crescent immediately apologized. "I was not being serious! Just take him down already! You clearly have everything you need!" The Trickstar shouted impatiently. "Yes. Of course.. I summon Metaphys Tyrant Dragon!" Lyna the Light Charmer targeted the strongest LIGHT monster in the graveyard: the whitened Dragon Tyrant(9/2900/1500) [Zone 4], and made it into one one of Aurora's attackers. Metaphys Executor was still on the field since it could not be destroyed by card effects. But nobody said anything about battle immunities. "Teraxa, you cannot keep color out of life. You cannot keep feeling out of life. That's just who we are.. who you are." The Five Headed Dragon gathered more of its energy for a proper battle. "I will attack the Executor." A quick battle. One round of elemental beams blasted the Metaphys into pieces, dropping Teraxatron's life down by 2000 points. "And then you, Teraxa." Lyna and the Tyrant Dragon finished the duel. Their beams of light crossed into each other and slammed into the Metaphys duelist.

Teraxatron's LP: 0

"You did it." Teraxatron finally spoke, finally felt the need to speak. "A delayed skill; a dream that becomes reality. I still do not see how that kind of power can compare with an eternal power. But in this case, I can admit that it got the best of me.." She detached the dueldisk from her arm and disengaged the barriers covering every exit without Echo even having to tell her to do so. There were still other actions Echo would want the duelist to take though. "But that kind of card is what... Continuum uses. Why did you have it? Can you... tell me? Honestly?" Questions needed to be answered. There would be few answers. "I have it because Scarlet Fever created it for me. That is all I can tell you. Anything else I say would be a lie, and I am beyond that now. I was beyond that now.. I can feel it fading. I can feel myself..." Just like all those before her, Teraxatron's defeat shocked her wide awake.. The avatar created by her mind and subconscious dissipated slowly on the spot like a shadow made of mist. ".. I can feel.."

"Teraxa? She disappeared?" Crescent knew about the most likely outcome of her victory, but it still shocked her to see it with her own eyes. "Just like Ulysses. Whatever Scarlet Fever did to her, it apparently did not make them much sturdier than Static's usual toadies. I'm sure the real Teraxa is gonna wake up somewhere with a massive hangover, but nothing worse than that." Blanche nodded to herself. "I just wonder.. what if Scarlet Fever does find a way to make it permanent? How can we undo it then?" The thought did not let Aurora go. Echo had tried to cure Zanbatou once in the past, yet that did not seem to help at all even with the blue girl's improved abilities.

"Hey!" It was at that exact time that the four champions found their way into the dungeon hall. "Everyone? You made it. That's good." Crescent stated matter-of-factly. She disapproved of leaving her and everyone else behind in the first place, but they did not have a choice at the time. "Yeah the doors to this place only opened just now. What did we miss?" Sigment asked as he looked around the place. "Are those.. legacy items?" He of course noticed the copy of the World Wand sitting in one tube nearby, and all the other wands.

"They may be or may not be. As much as I am loath to not investigate this further, we have to set it aside for now. We're on a tight time schedule here. Remember?" Vigionaire started yelling, already standing in front of the hall exit.

"Yes yes, hold your water." Mephistar growled and turned to the champions. "Hey you, where's the rest? If something bad happened to them, you better spit it out now." Cierze and Olympia would have been down there with the champions, when the chaos broke out. "You can relax. They were all doing fine last time I checked. We would have told you if one of your friends was in danger." Heleil gave an equally grumbly reply. "I would not call them my friends." Mephistar mumbled. "Well whatever you wanna call them, they're probably only a few minutes behind us. You can wait, but mister V is right when he says that we should get a move on." The pendulum champion for one would not waste her time. She and the other champions were right behind the encrypter. "Heh. That's fine by me. Someone has to looked behind. The rest of you can go ahead." The chained duelist would wait for Olympia, Cierze and anyone else who could still show up. Everyone else, at long last, broke into the actual tower beyond.

...

By doing so they skipped most of Scarlet Fever's remaining rooms however. Like the monitor room from which she and Schwarzwald were currently observing the heroes' every move. "That could have gone better, couldn't it?" The black baron rather enjoyed the duel displayed on the screen, though the outcome disappointed him. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. They are clearly not here to deal with us. If they were, Scarlet Rose would have showed up with them. You just have to avoid running into your other self, and you will be fine." Scarlet Fever nudged her finger at another screen which showed footage of Hydra making his way into the castle. He would be unlikely to find either of them in this secluded part of the lab. "Heh. Wagnerok called me a coward for choosing to be here instead of out there as well. And I may be pragmatic, but I can also think of a dozen better hiding places than this area.. miss Fever. No, my reason for being here is purely academic. The heroes are in too much of a hurry to question it. I am not. I would like to know why you're creating cards that seem more in line with Shintaro's organization. Or better yet, why you are so open about using them?"

"Those are excellent questions, baron. But I know what you really want to ask me is how I am able to keep this a secret from Static? You are talking to me right now, and he can hear both of our thoughts.. can't he?" Scarlet Fever smiled and poked one finger into the side of her head as if she was trying to drill into it. "I would assume you have found a way around that. But how would you deal with me telling him about you directly?" Schwarzwald returned the smile with an eerie smirk of his own. "You would tattle, baron? Do you prefer his company over mine? I must say it is very difficult to tell what you want." The vampire duelist moaned and walked off to another part of her lab. "Well, not all of us have grand plans like finding god." He followed. "I am a simple man, miss Fever. I only want to continue existing. Maybe you can offer me a better chance at that, but it would seem at too great a cost. I would prefer to keep my emotions the way they are." Without them, he could not consider himself to be alive..

"I do not mind a simple wish. I am only certain I can help you more than Static. Because believe me when I say this... Static is not as strong as you think he is."

...

"I can't believe I am back here after all this time." Cherry let out a groan that echoed across the lower levels of the tower beyond. Even though these floors were new, they all looked just like the one she remembered. "But anyway, we're inside. So now we can do the thing, right?" She glared at Vigionaire until he started giving answers. "We can do 'the thing' yes. Using Charles estimates, I have been able to create a sort of beacon program that an guide you through that realm. At this point it should not matter where we break in, as long as you follow the beacon. I do however have some constraints to add.." He paused to see if everyone was listening. "Since Charles and Tycho are not here, the only people who can bring people across the subconscious barrier are miss Echo and you, Cherry Anise. Since getting in is the difficult part, I would suggest that the two of you stay behind just in case you need to bring in more reinforcements.. We should not send everyone in. But if the first wave fails, we may have to."

"You're telling us this now?! So which am I? Just a reinforcement!?" Mephistar already took this as a personal offense. "Isn't it smarter to attack with greater numbers? Most of us have seen that world before." The Fisherman wondered.

"No, V is correct." Scarlet Rose exclaimed, her voice coming in through the communicators. "This will be different from what you are used to, this is the heart of Static's own dimension and the true form of his essence. Just thinking about him gives him power, gives it power. Even if you have faced your nightmares before, Mpehistar, they will simply reawaken once again and threaten to turn you back into a pupper under his control. Echo's skill card will not protect you for long in there either. To put it bluntly, the ones with the most chance of success are the ones who know the least about Static.. or the ones who can keep their emotions in check. That rules you out too, V." The doctor concluded. "And you, Rose." Vigionaire had already accepted that constraint. He despised Static too much to see himself getting anywhere inside that world of hate. Only four of the duelists present could really consider themselves to be suited to the task.

"We will have to go then. The four of us champions." Sigment decided. "That's right! We've never even met Static before!" Acrates loudly realized. "Yeah but will that be enough? Some of us still have a bit of a temper." Heleil said with a worried sight. "My mind is clear, Heleil. I can focus myself on this one task if I must." Dyzanthium took a deep breath. She did not see another way to do this.

"Cool. And I'm coming too." Blanche proposed out of nowhere. "You are? The journey might be treacherous." Dyzanthium cautioned her. "Dyz, you always make everything sound so dramatic. But I've already seen the worst thing my mind could conjure up. Whatever's in there cannot top that, trust me. Also, I feel confident enough to say I can still chill." While she could pretend she had no negative feelings towards Static as a whole, she did not experience those feelings as hatred. "You are of course free to make your own decisions." Dyzanthium sighed. She'd learned firsthand how headstrong this girl could be. "Yup. No way I am missing out on this anyway, a chance to quest with the foru champions at once? If only mom and dad could see me now.. heheh." They would bug their eyes out. Blanche liked so imagine that at least. "Hey V. If Charles shows up here, tell him I am sorry I went ahead without him."

"Yesyesyesyes. Just do not waste any more time." The encrypter yelled.

"So now then? And it is just the five of them, they can go..." Any place seemed to work as a crossover point. Echo dipped her hand into the other dimension, erasing it from sight from everyone else's perspective. "Oh. I was wondering what that would look like." Sigment chuckled. "So we just take your hand, is that it?" He offered the lady his own. "Oh. Well, I guess that works too." She was more used to her friends just placing their hands on her shoulders, but by holding each others hands she and the other champions could form a line. "I am not holding too tightly now, am I?" The synchro champion asked. Her hand felt rather cold. "No? It's nice.. this way. You do not have to go easy. You don't want to let go.." She tugged at his hand and stepped into the subconscious realm entirely.. The others were right behind her.

And followed her into a world of madness. "Aaaaah!" Echo immediately covered her ears and closed her eyes, while she bent down in pain. "Echo?!" Blanche and the others quickly figured out what made her react this way. The world on the other side did not resign itself to merely one nightmare, it assaulted the senses with a flood of them. You could not tell what was up or down. The skies were painted with a painful flashing red glow, the shapes strewn across the emptiness sharp and covered in harsh shadows. The air tasted like metal and the winds sounded like incoherents screaming. And everywhere you put your eyes, you would see an image of horror blink in and out of existence. "It's full of hate.. full of pain." Echo shivered. None of this could have been her emotion, and yet it hurt her the most. "She cannot stay here!" Acrates declared. "Yeah. Echo. Go back to the others. We will be fine!" Blanche said as she helped her get up again. "But.." Echo was hardly convinced. "No buts! Leave everything to us! Now go!" Acrates bellowed. "Okay.. Okay." She sighed and managed to muster the strength to walk back out of this hellish mindscape.

"Will we be fine though? This is a little more than I bargained for." Heleil groaned. Even for them this sensory overload could be a bit much. "We only have to focus on getting to the core. We can do this! Just ignore what this world wants you to see, and concentrate on what you want to see. " Dyzanthium decided to take charge and made the first move deeper into this bizarre territory. "Do you know where we are going though?" Heleil questioned her. "We still have V's program to guide us. The core seems to be straight above us. If you follow me, everything will be alright. After all, I am used to dealing with noises that are not really there." The fusion champion remarked rather jovially. "Was that a joke? Did you just tell a joke?" Heleil hadn't heard her partner lighten up in a long while. And not only did she seem in a brighter mood, so did the world around them. A path appeared in front of Dyzanthium, one that carved right through the sharp terrors of the nightmare. "It would seem that it improved our situation." Dyzanthium smirked.

"Oh I get it! A little humor breaks the tension! Heheheh. Well, if that's gonna be our secret weapon..." Blanche clapped her hands together. She had a thousand bad jokes she could tell to lift everyone's spirits. "Please don't.." Sigment could tell where this was headed. "Well okay, I will only use it in case of an emergency!"

And so they wandered the path down and up, going further into the world that seemed much larger on the inside. The beacon showed them the way, but that was about the only consistent factor. And after a while, Blanche could not come up with anything to distract herself from the oppressive nature of the world. The simplest dumbest jokes flew from her mind. "Are we still going in the right direction?" Blanche grew increasingly worried that she was somehow ruining their chances of progress, that merely thinking about things going bad would actually make it so. It did not help that they could not rely on Vigionaire anymore. There no more communication channels open inside this nightmare of a world, but those inside lost all sense of time and space. If someone told her she'd been walking this path in the nightmares for days, she would have believed it without question.

"You must practice patience, Madam Dharma. That is the only way to make progress." Acrates advised her. He'd been taking the lead as everyone walked down... or up. Those terms meant little as well here. "Patience? I never had the patience for that. Heh." She joked to keep the madness away. Though she imagined that discipline like that was what made the champions still one degree separated from her. They were all concentrated and determined, while her mind kept wandering. And in here that could be deadly. "It is a virtue that is often under-appreciated, I find. And often lost on the new generation who desires to end everything quickly." The XYZ-champion stated. "I hear that." Blanche smirked. There were still parts were their minds aligned.

"You may want to end this swiftly however, Acrates." But not just their minds.

"Who said that?" Heleil freaked out when she heard a voice echo across the twisted space. Everyone heard it. "The path ends here." Dyzanthium also noted that they could move no further. A wall of static noise stood in their way. "Oh well now I am sure Mister you-know-who is on to us." Blanche shuddered. She could not think of a bigger indicator of danger than this. "Yes, I doubt jokes are going to get us through this."

"No. But your virtues might. Fortitude to be precise." The unknown voice spoke again and gave himself a face to match it. One man marched out of the static wall, a man in white robes with a laurel wreath above his head and a metallic smiling mask on his face. "Sophaestus?" All the champions and Dharma as well were able to identify this man. He was one of the great duelists of the worldwide league, a champion tier player from two eras ago. "Yes Acrates, my old friend. It is me." The one who would know him best shared his talent for summoning Numbers monsters: because Sophaestus was also the one duelist who came closest to stealing Acrates' XYZ-champion title. "How?"

...

"Miss Echo!" Crescent, Olympia and the Fisherman rushed to the lady's side once she came back from the subconscious realm. "What happened?" She looked exhausted and stressed, and she'd only been gone for less than a minute. "It was... too much. Static's hate is too much. I felt like I was going to choke. He really.. really has no love. No love at all." Even now she still felt this revolting energy inside of her. "So he doesn't like us. Like we didn't know that already. What else could we expect from your exact opposite? It's a good thing you got out of there. Let the humans handle that mess." Mephistar shrugged. "But I.." Echo could not let it go. She could not conceive of such a pure emotion. An emotion even purer than her own..

(To Be Continued in World 084: Balanced Against Imagination)

New Cards used by Crescent Aurora
STORM ACCESS

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Lyna the Light Charmer, Shining
Five-Headed Link Dragon