World 075: The Incognito Generation

"Himiko! You're back!" Blanche shouted her name immediately as soon as she saw the face of her old friend, after all the duelists returning from the airbase offensive returned to reunite with those at Exeter HQ. "Or should I call you Nakana now?" She had far too much to say to her. "I do not even know what I want to be called anymore." Nakana only felt overwhelmed, and bitter. "Oh.. Well I get that. I don't know whether to stick with Blanche or Dharma myself. Uhm.. how is he doing by the way? Wasn't Echo going to help him or something?" She pointed at her dutiful bodyguard Zanbatou, who did not seem willing to talk much on his own. "You are as frank as ever I see. Hah, I did miss that miss Blanche. Unfortunately he is unchanged. I do not know if Echo's power worked on him or not. But wherever I go, he goes. That brings me some comfort."

"I have news to bring as well..." Hydra said as he dropped out of invisibility. "Good or bad news?" Charles inquired, not even phased by his disappearing/reappearing acts anymore. "I'd call it ambivalent news. Crescent sent us a phone call just a while ago to tell us how she was doing. Apparently my counterpart took it upon himself to duel Wagnerok. In the process, Wagner was freed from his STHEREA barrier and Crescent is now staying with him to make sure he recovers." Hydra explained. "Wagnerok.. was defeated by Schwarzwald? Why did he attack Wagnerok in the first place?" Charles could not complain, but he had no idea what the black baron gained out of it. "I want to say he only did it to claim the world shield for himself. But I know myself too much to believe that he'd set such a simple goal for himself. He wants more.. But this should not surprise you either way, Charles. These people have no sense of brotherhood. They will turn on each other whenever it suits them. The only ones they hate more... are people like us."

"Progress is progress." Scarlet Rose concluded. "Speaking of which. What about you two? Can you tell me how you feel; Jenna, Bionis?" Scarlet Rose approached the victorious pair with newfound fascination, leaving them a bit flummoxed. "What's up with you?" Jenna could tell that she seemed more lively than usual. "Do not mind me. I've gone through my own transitions. But I am far more interested in yours. I have to know what changes you might have experienced as a result of your counterpart's defeat. Both Khan and Scura disappeared, didn't they? Did any part of their essence transfer into you?" The doctor asked again in a way they could at least understand. "Essence? How the hell would we know that?" Of course, neither Bionis nor Jenna were well equipped to respond to the question. "I mean they vanished, and it did feel funny for a second. But I don't remember anything more than I already did." Jenna, as far as she could tell, was still just Jenna. "Though I do have a vague feeling I should apologize to Hydra over there."

"No need. I know you were not in control. There's been enough blaming going around already." He responded dryly. "As you keep reminding me." Mephistar in the background grunted.

"Hmm, that is curious. Thoughts and memories cannot just disappear. They should have gone somewhere. But then these are untested grounds. At any rate, I do not expect them to be a threat anymore." Scarlet Rose still had much to ponder. "You mean like what happened with Donna?" Heleil also spoke up. She did not want anyone to forget about the wrestler in the middle of all this mess. "That was an outlier." Scarlet retorted. "Perhaps. But if this is the method to dispose of these malicious individuals, then we have a long road ahead of us." Acrates let out a heavy sigh. Having to defeat like that once seemed difficult enough. "Yeah. Have you and the other eggheads come up with a solution yet? You were studying Veyron's brother, weren't you?" Heleil chimed in yet again. "I am glad you brought that up. Because there is someone else who we should introduce to you at this point." Scarlet Rose turned her head and gave a nod at the shadowy figure standing just around the corner of the hallway.

"Whoa!" Madam Blanche freaked out first. Everyone else reacted with similar alarm and bewilderment when Midsummer Nightmare stepped into the office. "Greetings, one and all."

"You must be crazy to come back here, you bastard!" Mephistar immediately reached for his dueldisk. "Hold on. I know his presence here is controversial. But there is a reason for it." Scarlet Rose immediately jumped to his defense. "Controversial is too nice a word for him! You are the one who let him in, aren't you? Give me one good reason why I should not clock you both!?" Mephistar knew Scarlet Rose could not be in the dark about Midsummer's treasonous actions. "Because I know he is of no threat to us. Midsummer Nightmare approached the building while you were out. He willingly surrendered so he could talk to us, claiming to have an idea on how to solve the situation. He was even willing to hold a quick mock duel, just to prove that he was not under Static's influence."

"That's mighty nice of someone who helped start the situation in the first place. And not being all 'staticked' kinda makes what he did even worse." Madam Blanche did not like anything about this either, and it took a lot for her to really dislike a man. "We should at least hear him out. The damage is already done." Dyzanthium on the other hand felt like playing the devils advocate. "Dyz, why you gotta be reasonable right now? Aaaagh..." Ultimately, after a long labored sigh, Blanche felt her resolution waver. "Fiiiine. You can start explaining. But if we dont like it, we're throwing you out. Kay?"

"Thank you." Midsummer clapped his hands together. "I will tell you what I told Scarlet, and I will keep it brief. When Static approached me, I knew what world I walked into. And when he told me about you and the Shintaro family, I had to take what I believe is called 'a calculated risk'. It looked to me like the situation was already beyond anyone's control. I wanted to balance the scales. Giving him the armor was the only way I could prevent the Shintaros from exerting its control across the globe...them and their third entity." History at least supported Midsummer's actions here, as the heroes would have been enslaved by Continuum had Static not invaded its territory. "So you were doing it to stop my family? By strengthening Static's position!?" That did not mean that Nakana Shintaro had to congratulate him for it. "No, by strengthening Echo's position. I only did what I had to, because I knew it was the only way to make her ready to fight back against Static."

"Echo? What do you want with her?" Mephistar snarled. "To help her of course. I could not tell her this at the time, because we were within Static's world. As Scarlet has already discovered, no scientific mind can crack the curse that Static will place on the hearts of duelists everywhere. And I know that this is because his power goes beyond the written word or the chemicals of the brain. All of STHEREA has gone beyond that now, the current world is proof of that. But what Scarlet also confirmed for me is what I already believed myself, that the entities gain power from how the world perceives them and each other. What we need to counteract his impulsive hatred is not a being of cold logic but a being of pure love and empathy, and she is that being. I have heard that her voice can drive out the most evil of thoughts, that is just another aspect of her existence. So it should be reasonable to assume that she could cure those afflicted by Static's madness. Better yet, she could provide an immunity to the rage itself. We need to get her voice out into the world. The world needs to get to know her, to love her... to love each other. Only then can we extinguish this flame of wrath."

"If that is what you are proposing..." Charles spoke up. "Then I am sorry to that you are too late, Midsummer. Static made sure of that. He's poisoned her image with imposters, illusions and forced confessions." He did not want to be the realist every time, but he had to say it. "His lies cannot stand up to the purity that is her, Charles Adami. She would only need to speak once to win the hearts of billions. Her imposter has been taken care of, there is only the real Echo now." Whereas Midsummer appeared to in clearly idealistic mood. "I do agree that she could our best shot in theory. But in practice, I cannot see how it will work. People don't work like that. They distrust strangers, they fear things that are different. Most of the people don't even know or understand what is going on right now. Those that do have taken to rioting in the streets. People do not even need Static's help to hate. She'd need to put a video of herself on the internet or be on live television or something and talk to the whole world at once. Even then, most wont listen to what she has to say because they have no reason to believe in her. What Static is selling is much easier and cheaper than a message of love." Just saying it felt corny, and Charles knew the common crowd would react the same.

"Unless." But there was one crowd who would take those words at face value. "Unless she connects with a more innocent age."

"The children?" Acrates picked up on Charles' clue. "That is what you are saying isn't it? The later generations of the world will likely be deterred by her. But the world is made up of more than adults. If it is love she needs, she only needs to reach out to the youth. And I know how she can do it." The golden knight let out a confident chuckle. "Oh no. You're not talking about Lilla and Kisikil are you?" Heleil let out a tired sigh. "I know the kids cannot get enough of them, I cannot imagine a better host than them. I can help Echo get in touch with them right now, they should be putting on another show soon. We may be able to catch it in time." The XYZ champion nodded to himself.

"Cool. Are you gonna explain what this is all about?" Jenna muttered.

"I also would like to know. Though this is what I was getting at." Charles nodded. "Oh I know what he means Boss." Madam Blanche laughed. "Lilla and Kisikil are two virtual stars who play various games on the network for a live audience. They're a bit like streamers, except they'e always disguised as holographic cartoons and they have skits and interviews with famous people and stuff." The white haired duelist could not stop smiling throughout her explanation. "You must be a fan of them eh?" Charles started to grin as well, seeing the blatant joy on her face. "Well yeah ya got me. I've been trying to get invited on their show a lot. They're just not about dueling 24/7. But I think this can work." Blanche admitted and nodded fiercely. "I see. Well for this to work, we also need Echo's permission. Where is she anyway?" Charles had seen some of her entourage here and there, but never her... "Don't tell me she's gone out into the world..."

"I could." Mephistar knew the answer to that... "But I'd be lying."

...

That answer being the highest place on earth...

The top of mt. Everest. "..." A distance that should have been impossible to traverse for any normal man, certainly for someone like him, could be crossed in the blink of an eye in this new world. Mephistar took both Charles and Midsummer to the tallest mountain's peak, simply by quickjumping to the location. "How is this.." The sight of the world around staggered the mind. Everywhere he looked he saw a clear blue sky with clouds beneath him, and grey rocks even further down. He'd hardly ever gone outside his own city, and now he was as far from civilization as he could ever be. "I had never dreamed this day could be." Even the eloquent Midsummer felt his ability to speak muted by the spectacle of nature. "Amazing, isn't it?... The real Hieronymus never did this." Mephistar could duel on top of virtual mountains, but it could not compare to the real deal. "Yeah.." And yet it did not seem right. The cold winds passed by Charles without a single shiver, the avatar dulled all senses to the point of feeling comfort where none existed. He felt detached from everything else. "Why would she want to be here?"

"Because ...Valkyrion wanted to see this place." Echo heard him. She stood just a few feet away from him, at the edge of the snow covered rocks, her and her companions. "Valkyrion? Oh..." Except the one she no longer had: the Magna Warrior who would have named himself after this very place. "I have to ask though. How did you even get here?" He was glad to see that she'd gone somewhere isolated at least. "I used the memories of those that came before me. It's not... what I expected it to be." While the Fisherman and the others gazed out into the distance, muted by the same awe that struck Charles before, Echo could only stare down at the peak itself. In her memories she'd envisioned a pure white platform, untouched by humanity. In reality she found a pile of flags of every color, left behind by dozens of mountain climbers. "Ah. Well, not everyone who gets to be here... can stay for more than a few minutes, ms Echo."

"The memory is purer than the fact. People only recall what they want to recall." Midsummer eulogized as he stretched his hands into the deep blue sky. "Midsummer?!" As soon as they heard his voice, Olympia and Cierze turned on him. "Why have you brought him here as well?"

"Careful there. We do not want to melt the top of Everest." Midsummer chuckled. "We came to get you, Echo. We need you right now, and we would also prefer it if you did not leave yourself exposed." They were lucky that she hadn't left the site yet. "I am sorry. I just.. wanted to be away from it all. If only for a little bit. I am ready to come back now... What do you need?"

...

It surprisingly did not take long for Acrates' invitation to reach their ears. "HELLO! HELLO! Oh my God Lilla! Look, its them! The heroes of Pandemonium!" Even less time for the two Live Stars to make their entrance. "Oh I thought this day would never come! You heroes are well... heroes! Dueling is like my favorite hobby!" There was Ki-sikil, a hyperactive girl with bubbly bright hair, red top and pink trackjacket. "Eh, more like a fifth place for me." Then there was Lil-la, a shorter far less excited girl with sharp hair, a white hat and dress and a darkblue trackjacket. Both used avatars far more "Well we are still happy to see you! We were so scared with the way the world was, but also kinda thrilled when we figured out we could stay online like this! I know all of your names! Blanche, Himiko, Void! Oh and the champions of course!" Ki-sikil took turns shaking each of their hands. "Thanks but. I dont call myself Void anymore." Charles already had second thoughts about this. "Oh? Then I suppose you are not the one who wanted to be interviewed. Who is it then?" Lil-la scanned the room with a lazy expression.

"It was supposed to be... me." The true surprise star made her presence known: the girl with stars in her long blue hair. "You're the one who wants to be interviewed?" Lil-la and Ki-sikil bumped their heads together to get a good look at her and her entourage. These were new faces for their eyes. "Yes. It is me, Echo. I am pleased to meet you both." Miss Echo bowed before the holographic twins. As did the Legendary Fisherman, the Fire Princess and the Harpie Lady. "Echo? You are the one everyone fears and loves." Lil-la let out a slow unenthused gasp. "She's here to control our minds! We're done for Lilla!" Ki-sikil on the other hand jumped around as if she'd been stung by a bee and started pulling her own hair.

"No no no! No that wont happen. That is something I can do, yes. But it is not something I want to do. I came to talk with you.." Echo tried to calm them both down while making sure not to say anything would sound like a command or threat. "Talk to us? Is that not how you steal people's hearts?" Lilla looked at the champions and heroes as if it had happened to them as well. "We are not brainwashed. Echo is not the enemy. We brought her so she could how herself to the whole world." Midsummer tried to explain. "You speak for the innocent generation. She wants to be heard by them. She only asks a fraction of your time."

"Hmmm..." Ki-sikil looked back and forth at the duelists and at her partner. "This is could be the interview of a lifetime. Think of the ratings." She whispered in Lil-la's ear. "Don't mention those out loud." Lil-la whispered back angrily. "Relax, we're not live yet. Besides, we've been waiting for a word from the dueling world for so long. We cannot miss this chance, Lilla!" An eager Ki-sikil rubbed her hands together. "Hmm. It would seem we have an agreement then. But if you want to have an interview with us, you will have to pick a game to play." Lil-la reluctantly went allong with it, which made Echi happy. "A game?" And a bit confused. "We always do our interviews while playing. Its no fun otherwise. If you want to just talk, join a talkshow!" Ki-sikil said in between fits of highpitched laughter. "It was not that funny." Lil-la shook her head. "Well then, I would like to duel I guess. It's the game that says the most about me and my friends." Echo nodded to Charles and Midsummer. They were all duelists here, picking anything else would feel wrong.

"Then a duel it is!" Ki-sikil yelled as she and Lil-la pulled out a large duel-table that they could both stand behind. "Right now? Don't we need to go to a studio for this?" Charles wondered. "Oh don't worry, the studio comes with us!" Ki-sikil clapped her hands as a set of cards appeared in front of her and a sphere of light surrounded everyone around the table. "The rest of you better stay back! This is our show now!" Ki-sikil grabbed a holographic mike attached to the table and started playing..

Live Twin's LP: 8000 Echo's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Hello everyone! It's me! Live Star Twin Kisikil!" She immediately normal summoned a cyberse monster that looked just like the pinkhaired girl(2/500/0) [Zone 2]. "But I never go anywhere without Lilla!" Her specialty activated upon summon, allowing the Live Twin to special summon a Lil-la monster from the deck. "You forgot to pronounce the hyphen Ki-sikil." Then the second cyberse Live Star materialized on the dueling field: the blue-haired Lil-la(2/500/0) [Zone 4]. "I know I know. But anyway, this is the Live Twin Show! So lets welcome our latest guest star to my channel!" That's what hey meant with 'the show comes with us'. They only needed to activate their field spell, Live Twin Channel, to paint the walls of any room around with the colors of their standard blue and pink backdrop. "Our channel." The monotonous Lil-la also placed two trap cards face down. "Yes yes yes. But that was our turn either way! So lets give it up for Misstress Echo everyone!"

-TURN 02-

"You had your own cards made? That's so nice. I.. like to do that for myself too. Oh I mean.. hello. I am miss Echo." Echo tried to wave at the audience, but she had no idea where the cameras were. "Don't mind them. Try to focus on the duel, Miss Echo." The Fisherman encouraged her to keep going. He did not want her to lose. "Oh. Ok... This is the first time I played by myself, but.. I know what I should do." She normal summoned her first monster: a blue-haired girl(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2] who wore a deep-blue marine dress and bright yellow gloves.

"Oh! What's that? A spellcaster? A fairy? I've never seen a card like that! Neither has the chat!" Ki-sikil gazed exaggeratedly at the card. "It's a cyberse, Kisikil... Like us. I like the colors." Lilla said with a mild grin on her face. "Oh, yes. I use cyberse monsters: the Marincess. This is Marincess Blue Tang, she can send one Marincess monster to my graveyard when she is normal summoned." Echo explained and showed the card she discarded: Marincess Seahorse. "And when she is used as a link material, I can excavate three cards from the top of my deck.. and add one Marincess card to my hand." The girl in blue went on to use Blue Tang as the material for the first Marincess link monster: Blue Slug(1500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. Blue Tang's effect played out as intended. And of the three cards revealed (Marincess Wave, Cynet Mining, Marincess Crowntail), she chose the Wave trap card. "And this is Marincess Blue Slug, her link material is a level 4 or lower Marincess. Also she can add one Marincess from the graveyard back to my hand." Shortly after she shuffled the remaining excavations back into the deck, Echo also retrieved the discarded Marincess Seahorse from her graveyard. "And Marincess Seahorse, I can special summon to an zone marked by a Marincess." The dirty blonde seahorse girl(3/1400/1000) [Zone 2] connected with the slughaired girl above.

"Oh, I get how her deck works now! Its a link climb! Reminds me of those Salamangreats! But I bet they arent as good as them!" Kisikil snickered. "You're just saying that because you like the color red more." Lilla muttered. They were correct though. Echo's monsters primarily functioned as materials for link summons. "My next link summon is Coral Anemone. She needs two Water monsters as materials." The Seahorse combined with Blue Slug to create the anemone-dress coral maiden(2000/LINK2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1]. She in turn activated her effect to special summon a WATER monster, Marincess Blue Tang [Zone 3], from the graveyard. "When I have two Water monsters on my field, I can special summon Marincess Mandarin from my hand or graveyard." A younger-looking pink-haired sea princess(1/100/100) [Zone 1] rounded out the initial Marincess lineup, wearing an orange dress with fish-fins. "And two water monsters can also make Marbled Rock." Coral Anemone combined with Blue Tang to link summon the spike-haired devilfish lady(2400/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. Coral Anemone's second effect also activated upon entering the graveyard, retrieving a Marincess (Seahorse) from the graveyard. Finally, Marbled Rock herself could retrieve one used up Marincess card (Blue Tang) with her own effect as well.

"Bah! Link 3 without a single resource lost? Why cant our cards be that crazy?" Lil-la sighed. "Well if you like her so much, you can go be with her! Heheh. I activate Evil Twin Present! Now my monster switches places with yours, miss Echo!" Ki-sikil revealed the first trap, targeting Marincess Marbled Rock and a very chagrined Live Twin Lil-la. "Crazy?" Echo did not particularly like that word, or that trap. She immediately activated Marincess Wave from her hand, which made all of her current Marincess monsters immune to card effects. "What was that? If you were gonna try and dump me, you should have done it before she got that Link 3 monster." Lil-la snapped at her partner. "How was I supposed to know her trap could be activated from her hand!?" Her partner countered.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to make you mad." Echo was beginning to wonder if she should have been clearer about what she could do. "Their envy should not cast a shadow on you, lady Echo. Your cards are more majestic than I could ever have imagined." Midsummer put her concerns to rest with a quick compliment. "Oh. But I can still do a bit more." Marincess Mandarin's turn came to be used as a link material; together with Marbled Rock, she would release new royalty. "I can use two water monsters to link summon.. Marincess Great Bubble Reef." This Marincess wore deep purple dressrobes with a red waistband, flowing cape and a shimmering long skirt. Long blue hair flowed down behind her back, while silver rings embraced her neck. And in her hands Great Bubble Reef(2600/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Down/Right} [Extra Zone 1] held a red seaflower wand. "This is it." All previous Marincess monsters had been built around defensive strategies. But with the Great Reef princess, Echo would lead her first battle.

(To Be Continued in World 076: Open-Ended Confessions)

New Cards used by Miss Echo
Marincess Blue Tang
Marincess Mandarin

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Marincess Great Bubble Reef

Cards used by Lil-la & Ki-sikil
Live Twin Ki-sikil
Live Twin Lil-la

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Live Twin Channel

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Evil Twin Present