World 070: Advantages that Stray from Victory
Wagnerok's LP: 8000 Schwarzwald's LP: 8000
"You are dueling each other? Aren't you on the same side?" Aurora did not know what to make of this duel between Schwarzwald and Wagnerok. It felt both ridiculous and dangerous at the same time. The real Wagner was close by and protected by the STHEREA barrier for now, but who knew how hectic this fight could get. "There are no sides, Crescent. We were always at each other's throats. We.. being humans." The baron had his reasons..
-TURN 01-
So did the enraged Wagnerok. "Oh don't you worry. This will be over before any of you know it!" Wagnerok boasted and placed the field spell down that would fuel his entire strategy: creating the symbolic life tree with its nine realm circles of light. "Generaider Boss Stage! Whenever you draw a card, I can special summon one Generaider from my deck! I will even help you get that card, baron! I also activate One Day of Peace!" The normal spell that came after forced both players to draw one card. " Boss Stage summons Generaider Mardel! The Boss of Light!" The first realm opened up: Vanaheim. From the green circle the queen fairy Mardel(9/2400/2400) [Zone 3] descended on a path of wind and starshine. "Mardel adds one Generaider card from my deck to the hand! I choose the Boss of the Darkness: Hela! Then I sacrifice Mardel to activate KujiKiri Curse!" Almost all the Generaiders came with the same level; the ninth. And the spell of Kuji-Kiri could discard one level 9 monster to draw two cards, allowing Wagner to make a quick trade-in by sending Mardel to the graveyard. "Heh. I set one trap card and end my turn."
-TURN 02-
"But as soon as your turn starts, you have to draw a card! Baron!" Generaider Boss Stage responded to any type of draw the enemy made, even the mandated ones. So before Schwarzwald could even make his first move, Wagnerok would special summon his second Generaider. "I'll bring in Dovelgus from Nidavellir! Or did he come from Svartalfheim? I don't know! I just know he is the King of Iron!" Dovelgus(9/1500/2500) [Zone 3] came from the topright circle in defense mode. Though he called himself the King of Dwarves, for this duel he arrived inside a fully mechanical suit of iron armor with a malevolent red-eyes face carved into its chestplate. "And when a Generaider is summoned during your turn, Schwarzwald, my Boss Stage can fill my field with Generaider tokens! And Dovelgus can sacrifice one Generaider to special summon any Generaider I want from my hand!" Four tokens came down to the field, four metallic angels(4/1500/1500) [Zones 1,2,4 & 5]. In one fell swoop Wagnerok sacrificed three to special summon three monsters from his hand: Nidhogg the armored ice dragon(9/2100/2600) [Zone 1] of the frozen realm, Naglfar the fire demon(9/3100/200) [Zone 2] from the fire realm and Hela the darkhaired and horned goddess(9/800/2800) [Zone 4] of the underworld.
"You're telling a nice story, Wagnerok." Schwarzwald stated as he finally left the draw phase. "Is that why you are smiling? You must see the position that you are in!" Wagnerok added even more emphasis on his threats by revealing the effect of his dark goddess. "Hela can sacrifice a Generaider to summon another Generaider from my graveyard!" Hela reached into her own realm of the dead, the lowers circle of the world tree, and resurrected the fallen queen Mardel [Zone 3] with the life essence of the last Generaider token. Mardel used her own powers as well: adding a Generaider Boss Quest spell card to Wagner's hand. "I already crushed your other half! And he at least knew how to duel with power! You only have petty tricks and those cannot save you this turn!" One Day of Peace was still in effect as well; neither player would take damage until the next turn.
"Ah yes, but that is the point of this confrontation isn't it? I only want to see how I compare to him." The baron chuckled. "And how I compare to you.." Then he activated his own field spell. "Here, this is the field spell Summon Over. Every time a monster is special summoned, it gains one counter." The spell dropped six crystals around the two duelists, crystals which were dim for the moment. "Like this.." Finally he normal summoned a single monster: a baby-sized black dragon(3/1200/700) [Zone 2] with red eyes. "Red-Eyes Baby Dragon?" Even Crescent was surprised to see the black baron start his battle phase with this card. Then again, he could not take any battle damage either this turn. "Attack the token!" Meaning an attack from the clearly weaker dragon against the only Generaider in attack position, would only cost Schwarzwald his monster and not his lifepoints. "Now then, when Red-Eyes Baby Dragon meets with an unfortunate end.. I can special summon one Red-Eyes monter from my deck and equip the Dragon to that card. I choose... Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!"
"Ha! You mean Red-eyes monsters have knights as well? I think they should have stayed dragons!" Wagnerok laughed at the card that replaced the Baby dragon, the not that much more stronger knight(4/1800/1600) [Zone 4] made of full black iron. This first special summon made one of the six Summon Over crystals glow like a lightbulb. "Oh it is not power that I am after. Power is merely another means to an end. Anyway, while a card is equipped to the Iron Knight, he can destroy that equipment to shatter one other spell or trap you control. Care to guess where its blade will fall, Wagner?" Gearfried jumped into the air and transformed its equipped Red-Eyes dragon into a wreath of flames. The fire blasted down towards Wagnerok and set his whole world tree ablaze. "My Boss Stage!?" One by one the nine realms faded away from the battlefield. "Correct. Furthermore, when an equipped Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is sent to the graveyard, I can add one level 1 dragon from the deck to my hand." Schwarzwald used that effect to claim a Black Metal Dragon. With that all said and done, the Iron Knight made its own attack and cut down the Generaider Token.
"I do not understand.. if this is about the shield." Crescent interjected again. "Why would you fight for it? Why does Static still need it? Wasn't this the final step of the Creators plan? Static has already won.." She had assumed for all this time that merging realities had been the point of gathering the seven items. "The Creator may be satisfied, he may not. I do not hear him. But I can assure you that Static has only just begun, Crescent. Soon, you will have to be able to fend for yourself. Anyone who has to rely on others is about to be eaten. So I am merely securing some power for myself. I would say it was about time the shield found a better wielder anyway." Schwarzwald activated the Black Metal Dragon from his hand, turning it into an equipment for the Red-Eyes monster and adding 600 attackpoints to Gearfried(2400/1600). "I set four cards and end my turn." His entire backrow was filled up now. The Black Baron did love his traps.
-TURN 03-
"Yes, Static has only just begun! And what do you think he will do when he finds out you betrayed him by attacking me?!" Wagnerok shouted as he activated his trap card: Metaverse. Now he could activate a field spell from his deck. Naturally he selected the one that would keep his Generaiders pleased: Generaider Boss Stage. "I do not believe he would care. He does not care about any of us, Wagnerok. You'd be a fool to think otherwise." Wagnerok retaliated with Gearfried's effect, and destroyed Boss Stage for the second time by de-equipping the Black Metal Dragon from the Iron Knight(1800/1600). Sending the Black Metal Dragon to the graveyard would also allow the black baron to add one Red-Eyes card (Red-Eyes Fusion) from the deck to his hand. "If that is true? Than why would he let me keep this?" Wagnerok countered by showing off his World Shield. At the same time he activated his new spell card: Generaider Boss Quest. He could reveal one Generaider monster in his hand (Loptr) to add two Generaider spell/traps (Boss Stage and Boss Room) to his hand. For the third time in a row, the spell of the Nine Realms entered his field zone.
"No. I know what this is really about. You're just jealous. Jealous of the power I have, and you had. You squandered your position, and now you are trying to take it back by force. But I wont let you have it, Schwarzwald! I XYZ-summon Jormungandr, the Generaider of Eternity! And I give it all my level 9 monsters as materials!" Nidhogg, Hela, Dovelgus and Mardel disappeared one by one into an overlaying portal that swirled green, purple, blue and orange light together. Finally Wagnerok would show off his ultimate Generaider: a giant black snake(R9/4000/4000) [Extra Zone 1] with red spines sticking out of every segment. "Jormungandr.." It fit the image that Crescent had gotten in her head when she heard the stories as a kid, the stories of the world eating serpent. "Jormungandr gains 1000 attack and defense points for each material attached to him! He starts at four... but I can give him more! If I detach one card, we both draw one card and we both have to attach one card from our hand or field to Jormungandr! That is what it means to have power, Schwarzwald! The very world will bend to my whims!"
"Yes yes, quite marvelous. I do envy such a magnificent display of force. However.. did you just say we both have to draw one card?" Schwarzwald waited for an answer. "Yes! You too." Wagner yelled as he drew a card for himself. "Oh, I was more asking for your sake.. Wagner. You see when my opponent draws a card, I can activate Draw Discharge!" The baron chained a trap immediately after the draw, revealing the drawn card to be the Generaider Boss monster Harr. "What was that?!" The very next instant saw Harr leave Wagner's hand and shock him for 3000 points of damage. "Draw Discharge checks whatever card is drawn outside of the draw phase. If it is a monster, it will be banished and you take damage equal to its attackpoints. Harr had 3000 attackpoints, did it? What a regretful choice."
Wagner's LP: 5000
"You merely grazed me! That is not enough to deflect my full power!" Schwarzwald still got to attach one card from his hand to Jormungandr. The black serpent(5000 atk) also devoured one card from Wagnerok's hand. "I summon Mardel!" Wagner making his opponent draw one card let him reuse Generaider Boss Stage's effect to summon a second Generaider Mardel(9/2400/2400) [Zone 1] in defense mode. "Mardel adds Loptr the Generaider of Shadows to my hand! Who I can normal summon! And he can sacrifice one of my Generaiders to special summon another one from my deck!" The brighthaired trickster god(4/1500/1500) [Zone 2] of Asgard joined the fight as well, and used his powers of illusion to send Mardel to her grave and replace her with Generaider Naglfar the fire demon(9/3100/200) [Zone 1] from the fire realm. "Then I activate Monster Reborn, and special summon Nidhogg from my graveyard!" The last bit of attackpower came from the graveyard, the ice realm dragon would ensure the barons swift demise. "Jormungandr! Destroy Gearfried!" The first feast however went to the hungry world serpent. Jormungandr opened its terrifying maw and swallowed the Iron Knight with a single strike.
Schwarzwald's LP: 4800
"Hmm.. are you sure you want to do this? Do you remember where we are?" The Baron did not seem to mind the damage. It did not stop him from calmly walking over to the STHEREA Barrier. To the place where the real Wagner rested. "Wagner! No. You wouldn't.." Crescent's fears became a reality: Schwarzwald was blackmailing Wagnerok with his own body. But that did not horrify her as much as the fact that Wagnerok showed no restraint. "Do you think that will stop me?" He declared another attack anyway, and blasted everything around Schwarzwald with the hellish flames of Naglfar. "No. It has to! He was once you!" Crescent shouted. Fortunately it seemed the barrier could withstand one hit, but she did not know for how long it would last. "I do not need that body anymore, Aurora! That's the difference between us! I do not cling on to weaknesses!" Wagnerok would go as far as to declare a third attack with Generaider Loptr.
Schwarzwald's LP: 1700
He would be disappointed to see the result. "I consider that test, conclusive. I do not need more." Schwarzwald emerged from the flames, similarly unscathed. And when the third attack came in, he activated his trap. "Red Eyes Spirits!" It allowed him to special summon one Red-Eyes monster from the graveyard: the Red-Eyes Baby Dragon [Zone 1] in defense mode. "Not that runt again. Psh, I know what you are trying to do, Schwarzwald." Wagner inspected the rest of the field and counted the number of glowing gems. Summon Over had gathered five counters from five special summons. "If Summon Over has six counters on it, you can send all my special summoned monsters to the grave at the start of your main phase. But I will not give you that satisfaction." If he attacked the Baby Dragon now, it would only lead to another special summon of a Red-Eyes monster. "I set two cards and that ends my turn! And during your turn, Loptr adds a thousand attack and defense points to all Generaider monsters!"
-TURN 04-
"I see." The trickster god(2500/2500)'s aura passed over to Mardel(3400/3000), Nidhogg(3100/3600) and Jormungandr(6000/6000). The last counter for Summon Over would elude Schwarzwald even in his own turn as well. Because Wagnerok did not chain his field spell to the standard draw anymore. "Yes! Now I activate Jormungandr again!" Instead he forced the draw within the main phase, well after Summon Over could activate its effects. The world serpent made Schwarzwald and Wagnerok both draw one card, and attach a card from both hands to itself. Jormungandr(6000/6000) devoured six materials by now, and it was still not satisfied. "Now! Generaider Boss Stage summons another Generaider of Fire, Naglfar!" Naglfar the fire demon(9/4100/1200) [Zone 4] from the fire realm and the last Generaider token(4/2500/2500) [Zone 5] both arrived on the field in defense and attack mode respectively. At this time the Summon Over field spell acquired its final sixth counter and could no longer be destroyed. "Ha! It appears that I will be the one making use of your field, Baron! That effect will even work against your favorite monster!"
"The Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is not immune to nontargeted non destruction removal, yes. Of course you were expecting it. Both of you were, you saw which spell I added to my hand." Schwarzwald activated a card from his hand. That card was not Red-Eyes Fusion however, Aurora and Wagnerok saw him discard a monster instead. "But since you special summoned some monsters, I can show you one of my other new favorites.. I activate 'Ghost Mourner and Moonlit Chill' which negates your special summoned monster's effect. And if that monster leaves the field, you lose lifepoints equal to its attackpoints." A little ghostly girl with white hair appeared in front of the terrifying fire giant. She wrapped Naglfar up in large white sheets, and doused its flames of protection. "No doubt you were hoping to delay your doom with Naglfar's effect. That wont work anymore, Wagnerok." And now he played his fusion spell. "Fusion summon, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!" Red-Eyes Fusion took two fusion materials from the deck, Red Eyes Black Dragon and Dark Magician, to create the the magical black knight and dragon paladin(8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 2].
"Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon can destroy two monsters this turn, and you will take damage equal to its attackpoints. Ergo.." The baron held up one finger. "Naglfar will cause you lose all your lifepoints at once." The Dragoon knight created the first blast of fiery destruction and tossed it right at the blonde god. "Hmph! !I activate Loptr's effect! He can tribute my Generaider to special summon a different one from the deck!" A duelist could only control one Generaider of each realm, which meant he had to get rid of Naglfar if he wanted to get another one with its effect unsealed. "Ah but Red-Eyes Dark Dragoons second effect can negate yours." Schwarzwald countered immediately, discarding a card to activate the fused Dragoon's power. "Then you will fail! I activate Generaider Boss Room! Any time you chain something to my Generaider's effects, your card's effect will turn into a draw effect instead!" All of the sudden, rather than negating Loptr, the Red-Eyes Dragoon handed his master the next card from the top of his deck. Loptr managed to sacrifice Naglfar, causing Wagnerok to take the remainder of the Ghost Mourner's curse.
Wagnerok's LP: 1900
"Loptr summons Hela! Another one! And she will bring back Naglfar!" The dark goddess(9/1800/3800) [Zone 4] emerged from the shadows in a defensive position, and used her underwordly powers to trade two more souls. She sacrificed the Generaider Mardel and revived a fully powered Naglfar[Zone 1]. "You cannot change the fate of the nine lords so easily! I was chosen for a higher purpose!" Wagnerok howled. "Can't I?" Schwarzwald activated the Dragoons effect anyway and targeted Naglfar. "This does sound familiar, doesn't it?" Schwarzwald cast another knowing glare at Crescent before he activated his counter trap: Uneven Black. "But what if you were meant to lose here, so you could be severed from your only weakness?" Uneven Black copied the effect of the Red-Eyes Dragoon, sending two waves of destruction at Naglfar and Jormungandr at the same time.
"That is not how my destiny works! I cannot lose! Even one defeat would mean I was imperfect! But it will never happen!" Wagnerok had no choice now but to use his final trap. Naglfar the Generaider could sacrifice Nidhogg to cancel out the destruction or Jormungandr, but not itself. "I activate Generaider Boss Bite! I can sacrifice all my Generaiders to attach as many different monsters from my graveyard to my XYZ-monster!" Instead he sacrificed Naglfar, along with the second Hela Loptr and the Token. They all disappeared into a cosmic rift, causing the Dragoon to miss every single target in the end. The rift then absorbed four new XYZ-materials (Nidhogg, Dovelgus, Mardel and the first Hela) from the grave which Jormungandr devoured with its gaping mouth. Ten materials were attached to the great world eating serpent(10000/10000). "You can never reach these heights, Schwarzwald!"
"Wagner.." Crescent shook her head in disbelief. Her first friend had changed too much.. he had become exactly like her when she used the Shield. "Is this really.."
"Is this what the Creator wanted? Who can say, Aurora? All I know is that... he was never really worthy." Schwarzwald calmly activated his final trap card: Red Eyes Fang with Chain. "The Chains?" Wagnerok went pale with fright. The trap card equipped itself to the Red-Eyes Baby Dragon. Crescent was astonished as well. "You... were just waiting him out? Wearing him down?" Crescent realized that every step of the way had gone according to the Barons plans. Even his taunts were thrown out solely to goad Wagnerok into this particular corner. "Of course. Now, I can dismantle the Fang with Chain to equip your monster to my dragon in its stead. They're no divine chains, but they will do" The barons baby dragon wrapped its new chain around Jormungandr's neck and drained its fiery energy away until not even a cinder remained. All of the Generaider's attackpoints became part of It. But more importantly, Wagnerok had been left wide open. "Red Eyes Dark Dragoon. Direct attack..." And the Dragoon sank its black spear deep into the Generaider duelist's avatar.
Wagnerok's LP: 0
"! Wagner?" Crescent's eyes immediately darted to the barrier behind the black baron. It broke open like a cracked egg and revealed the duelist within. At the same time a streak of light abandoned Wagnerok's body and entered that duelist: Wagner. "Ah!" She rushed over to him right away. Wagner was unconscious, but he had a pulse. He was alive and breathing.. "Thank...goodness."
"Grgh." Meanwhile Wagnerok staggered backwards and glared at what had been exposed. "I see you embelished yourself quite a bit." Schwarzwald chuckled as he noted the many differences between the virtual and the real. Wagner's hair was shorter, darker and he certainly did not sport a sixpack like some bronzed adonis. "I must say, I also prefer that look over yours. Either way, I believe you have something of mine." He calmly walked over to the defeated duelist, who had lost his grip on the World Shield when he got impaled by the final attack. "No! I wont let you have it!" Wagnerok attempted to throw himself over the item, but it repulsed him backwards with a static forcefield. "Try to have some dignity, Wagnerok." The baron mocked him for his ignoble last stand and casually picked the shield up with one hand. "You will never be able to use it!" Wagnerok spat. This time the baron did not even need to say anything to hut him up. He simply reflected a beam of light off of his shield and instantly evaporated one part of the left wall. "I cannot use it to its full extent, maybe. But this.. I can live with. Can you?" He walked out through the hole in the wall and disappeared into thin air.. "Til next time..."
"Damn you!" Wagnerok tried to chase after him, but he stumbled over his own feet. "Argh. What are you looking at!" He had only her to release his anger upon, and Crescent deflected it all with her questioning eyes. "I do not need your pity! I do not need you!" He had lost her, to himself. The real Wagner was right there in her arms, he could wake up at any moment. That was the truth... the reality. Then what did that say about him. Who was he now? "Wagnerok...what do you need?" She could not help him answer that. All she knew was that nothing of her real friend remained inside of that person, nothing real. "I.. Gah! This is not how it ends! I will get stronger again! I will! Then you will all pay for what you did to me!" So when he left, she let him. Wagnerok quickjumped away, leaving her with Wagner. She would have liked to have gotten him back herself, but for now she did not care how it happened...
...
"IWe are getting more and more reports of monster sightings across the globe. Considering that some of these events have duelists popping in as well, people are starting to put two and two together." The lead investigator sighed as he delivered what would be his final report to Dyzanthium and Therese Hansen. "TYou did the right thing by telling your superiors. But the people at large should have been warned as well." Dyzanthium stated unequivocally. "They would have found out regardless, the world is too connected. And it is not exactly hard to miss an island in the middle of the pacific. The question is, what are they going to do about it?" Therese shook her weary head. Things had definitely progressed beyond their control now. At first she thought about letting Exeter put out a message that this was all happening because of a malfunction in the network. But that would not explain everyting.
"I fear there are already talks about escalating their scientific exploration into a military invasion to this 'invasion' as they call it. STHEREA, and I cannot believe I am saying this, is close enough for an immanent assault from many corners." The investigator was sad to say. "Military? Assault? These are still mostly helpless children they are talking about!" Dyzanthium suddenly snapped. "I know that. I told them as much. But there is a limit to what I can do. And if we do not act, other countries will."
"Hey! What are you doing just sitting around here? Don't you know what's going on!" Yelled Bionis Khan as he barged his way into the Exeter office, scaring the living daylights out of everyone there. "Bionis? What? We were having a meeting here!" Therese yelled back instinctively. "Huh? Oh.. Oh yeah, worlds are all mixed up and stuff." Bionis groaned when he realized he was not just warping into the usual virtual office space. He'd managed to startle several accountants and secretaries as well. "We did not know you had recovered either. What even is it that we are supposed to know?"
"This.. Khan, the other guy, he's breaking into all kinds of places that you would not want him to be in. I do not know what he is after specifically, but you can bet that if Static gets his hands on it.. He will find a way to turn it into world war 3."
(To Be Continued in World 071: Do Not Open Before Doomsday)
New Cards used by Wagnerok
Dovelgus, Generaider Boss of Iron
Hela, Generaider Boss of Doom
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Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity
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Kuji-Kiri Curse
Generaider Boss Quest
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Metaverse
Generaider Boss Room
Generaider Boss Bite
New Cards used by Baron Schwarzwald
Red-Eyes Baby Dragon
Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight
Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill
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Summon Over
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Draw Discharge
Red-Eyes Spirit