A Legacy of Souls: Terminate the Dream

by Medigo

The virtual world of dueling has survived many threats, but the worst has yet to come. New entities born from the minds of millions seek power to shape the destiny of living. Heroes will be turned against each other as it becomes impossible to trust anyone. And in the middle of it all, one duelist struggles to return to his friends to save them from the one who has stolen his life.

92. World 084: Balanced Against Imagination

World 084: Balanced Against Imagination

Cierze, Olympia, Hydra and Charles: the remaining heroes rejoined the duelists that waited for them inside the tower. But before they could settle on what to do with the opportunities this invasion presented, they were joined by voices from Exeter HQ. "Hey! Is Echo still there!?" Khan screamed into the dueldisk communicator. "Gah!? What are you doing on this line?" Vigionaire's ears rang from the noise. "When did you even come back?" Having to hear from Scarlet Rose already was bad enough without this loudmouth added into it. "Just now, because Tycho and Nakana came up with something important! They just came back from interrogating Renner."

"Oh? That science jerk came back around? Did you actually get anything out of him?" Cherry was impressed that he ir Tycho could think that far ahead. "Less and more than what I thought there would be." Tycho joined the call as well now. "The dope actually kept encrypted logs of every transaction between him and other contacts like Shintaro, he says he was holding on to them to use as leverage in case they turned his back on them. Because as it turns out, he never even made it into the inner circle. Everything he did for them, including starting up that whole research center, was just his way of trying to get in their good graces. They never gave him anything concrete in return... and these logs mostly tell us what we already figured out. But they do reveal one important fact. That more closed networks are out there, all made for Continuum."

"More closed networks? Like Shintaro's castle? So you have a lead after all." Midsummer Nightmare, who still stalked the corners of the office, commented with a deep chuckle. "Nobody asked for your advise, Midsummer. You're not coming with us either! The walls already have enough eyes, we don't need help from someone like you." Tycho sneered him off. "But Echo, we do need your help!"

"Her help? Now?" To the Fisherman this seemed like a bad time to get distracted, specially with Echo still recovering from her previous ordeal. Vigionaire and Charles nodded in agreement. "If we do not do this now, it may be too late." Bionis spoke up again. "Remember, They let Static get away with this! They're letting him cause all this chaos for a reason, to keep us busy while they do god knows what. We have to get to them as soon as we can. We might run into trouble if we go to these places. But it might help us find Himiko's parents. She, Tycho and I have already made up our minds on going. But It'd go a lot smoother if you went with us."

"I know what you are saying is true. But.. Is it.. really important that we do this now? Isn't Static still dangerous?" She still needed some convincing. "It is.." Nakana responded. "Imagine a world without feeling, without happy or sad memories.. without humanity. Static only wants to take away kindness.. Continuum wants to take everything away. You do not want that, do you?" She asked Echo, hoping to stir some more passion in her. "No. I don't... what if they need me here?" Echo wanted to do the right thing, and there seemed to be too many right things to do. "Miss Echo. We can go with them. I will protect you. They have Adami and Anise if they need help with the subconscious realm. I think we should do this." But then suddenly Olympia showed an interest in this case, supporting the trio on the other end. "Oh. Okay. If you think we have to do this. Then I will do this. I am sorry, mister Adami.. and mister V."

"It's alright. We know this is something that also has to be taken care of." Charles replied with a tense expression. He did not want her to know that as much as he understood why Nakana and Tycho did this, he could not really care about it himself. After everything Static did, all his focus and anger could not leave this place and he did not want her to know that this emotion fueled him almost entirely now. "We will investigate the rest of the tower, engage with Static or anyone else who might want to stop what Blanche and the others are doing." Where was that man hiding; that is what he wanted to find out. "Alright. Then we wish you good luck. I am sure everything will work out." Echo nodded politely. "It has to." Charles grunted. He trusted that Blanche could handle.. whatever waited for them in the heart of the monster.

...

Their first enemy took a familiar yet impossible form. "He's not real Acrates. He can't be.. " Heleil cautioned the golden knight, who stared right at the masked rival he once called Sophaestus. "Yeah I'd bet all my money that this is just another nightmare to defend Static's big treasure. And I never bet!" Blanche figured that Static would have sent figures to hate, when a world of its own hatred itself did not do the trick. One of them would have to duel him to continue on the path, as there existed no reality behind Sophaestus yet. And the one to accept that task would be the XYZ-champion himself.

Acrates' LP: 8000 Sophaestus' LP: 8000

-TURN 01-

"He may be a figment. Nevertheless I will treat you as a valid opponent and give you my all. That is the level of play this task deserves!" Acrates declared as he activated his dueldisk, drew his cards and played a spell: Zexal Construction. "With this, I add a Zexal Servant or Weapon to my hand! I choose the Ascend Sage! Who I can special summon when I control no cards!" He special summoned not one but two robotic warrior: Ascend Sage(4/900/300) [Zone 2] being darkblue and grey with golden horns and segmented mechanical wings. The other(4/300/900) [Zone 3] was bright red and silver with red plates and an arsenal of golden weapons strapped to its back. "When I control no cards, I can special summon Zexal Servant Ascend Sage! And when I control a level 4 monster, I can special summon Zexal Servant Arms Sage!" Before the next summon took place, Acrates activated continuous spell: XYZ-Change Tactics. "I use both as XYZ-materials, to summon Number 39: Utopia Double!" Each time he XYZ-summoned one of his Utopian warriors, XYZ Change Tactics would draw one card by taking 500 of his lifepoints.

Acrates' LP: 7500

"Surprised? My deck has gone through several boosts since we last met! When Ascend Sage and Arms Sage are used as XYZ-materials for an Utopia-XYZ Monster, they can add a Rank-Up spell card and a Zexal Weapon card to my hand respectively!" Acrates snagged two cards (Rank-Up-Magic: Zexal Force, ZW - Lightning Blade) while his Utopian emperor(R4/0/2500) [Extra Zone 2] took form. And he would not stop there. Utopia Double activated its effect to add Double or Nothing down to his hand while also using itself as a material to XYZ-summon a double-charged Utopia(R4/5000/2000) [Extra Zone 2]. "Heh. It's the first turn, but he is acting like it's his last." Heleil smirked as she knew just how wild Acrates could get once he switched on the XYZ-Changer.

Acrates' LP: 7000

"Now, the final evolution! Zexal Force, turn Utopia into the ray of hope and grant him the force of the dragons! Chaos XYZ-Change! Dragonic Utopia Ray!" It all culminated in a majestic new form for the black knight Utopia Ray(R5/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 2]. The Chaosnumber added gold and red plates for his dark armor, and his mechanical wings now resembled large claws wielding swords the size of its own body.

Acrates' LP: 6500

"When Dragonic Utopia Ray is targeted by an effect, he will equip one Zexal Weapon from the deck to himself! And as should know, a Zexal Weapon has to target Utopia Ray to become its equipment!" Acrates joyfully activated ZW Lightning Blade from his hand: transforming a white tiger into a curved white blade that added 1200 attackpoints to its new wielder: Dragonic Utopia(3700/2000). "I give him the Pegasus Twin Saber!" This silver-metal Pegasus turned into a double-sided saber with an equipboost of a 1000 attackpoints. The Chaosnumber(4700/2000) grabbed the lightning sword with his left hand and the Twin Saber with the right. "I set two cards face down on my field, and end my turn!"

-TURN 02-

Acrates' LP: 6000

"Hmph. Does it matter or not whether I am real, Acrates? Fear is not bound by such petty limits. Now come, let us play like the old days!" Sophaestus laughed wickedly as he revealed the spells Trade In and Condolence Puppet. "You refer to the old days, yet you are using spells you've never used before?" Acrates of course recognized Trade In: the spell that discarded a level 8 monster (Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll) to get a double draw from the deck. But Condolence Puppet was a brand new addition. "Why so surprised? If it exists out there, it exists in here. Our mind is the only weapon we need in this battle. Now come, do not distract me with meaningless questions." Condolence Puppet discarded one Gimmick Puppet from the deck, then one more for each monster Acrates had summoned from his extra deck. "Focus yourself on this fact. I send the Gimmick Puppet Scissor Arms and Terror Baby to my graveyard. The latter I can banish to prevent your effects from chaining to my Puppets for the rest of the turn!"

"Do not get ahead of yourself! We are still in the present!" He countered with a fact of his own: Pegasus Twin Saber allowed Utopia to negate one monster's effect each turn. The emperor of hope cut through the air with one mighty swing of his Zexal Weapon and sliced the grave-bound Baby Puppet in half. "You always were of the present. That is why you fail, Acrates!" Sophaestus in turn revealed that he had another Gimmick Puppet Terror Baby in his hand. He normal summoned the red-eyed doll inside its doll-legged and tooth-filled baby stroller(4/500/0) [Zone 2]. "When the Baby of Terror cries, another Gimmick Puppet rises from my graveyard." The stroller briefly clamped its jaws shut, only to snap back open and spit out the bondage mannequin Gimmick Puppet Scissor Arms(4/1200/600). "Arise! Pile on corpse after corpse until you can no longer see the sky! XYZ-Summon! Gimmick Puppet Gigantes Doll!" Despite their small statues, the XYZ-dematerialized puppets managed to become greater than the sum of their parts. Gigantes Doll(R4/0/2000) [Extra Zone 1] was a legion of green mannequins shaped like a hulking giant with a humpty dumpty doll-doll face at the center. "Ugh.." Its arrival caused Acrates to visibly recoil.

"Damn. This is worse than I thought." Heleil noticed his fear as well. "Why? Why is this not good?" Echo did not understand. "Because he's not used to dueling Sophaestus like this. None of us are. We always had scripts, routines and interactions to fall back on. Whatever this guy is, he's so far off script that we may as well be dueling a complete stranger." The assumptions that that usually had would not pay off this time.

Sophaestus proved that by activating the effect of an XYZ-monster Acrates never expected to deal with. "Gigantes can take control of all monsters you control, Acrates! Only XYZ-monsters can attack this turn afterwards, but that is a price worth paying to sample your great hope! "Now then. Let me guide towards the end of our dialogue." The Gigantes Doll detached both its materials to do so, and cut through the Utopia Dragon with a transparent scythe. "None of my Zexal Weapons can help me avoid this either." The golden knight cursed. The scythe left behind ghostly strings that dragged the mesmerized Dragonic Utopia Ray [Zone 1]over to his opponent. "But that is why I am thankful for the lady Echo's gift! I activate my new skill: Last Hope! And use it to special summon Utopia once more!"

Acrates' LP: 5500

Last Hope, Skill Card
This turn, if your lifepoints are lower than your opponent and a "Utopia" monster you control was removed from your side of the field by a card effect:
Special summon 1 "Utopia" XYZ-monster from your graveyard in defense mode, and attach 1 card from your hand or graveyard to it as an XYZ-material.

"Interesting. You have found a new source of hope." Sophaestus chuckled as Number 39: Utopia re-appeared from the graveyard with Zexal Construct attached. "But I have found new sources of despair, Acrates." He special summoned a Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll(8/0/0) [Zone 3] from her coffin. She could revive herself by banishing another Gimmick Puppet (Scissor Arms) from the graveyard. And then.."Spell card! Machine Duplication!" Sophaestus tripled the number of Dreary Dolls (8/0/0) [Zones 4 & 5] on his field. "You had that card as well?" Acrates winced. "Yes indeed. But the faces of your defeat will not just come from our past! Link summon! Gimmick Puppet Chimera Doll! The materials are two Machine monsters!" Sophaestus surprised his opponent yet again by sending Gigantes Doll and one of the Dreary Dolls into the link circuit. The next Gimmick Puppet that emerged from the extra deck looked even more twisted than the Giant: a headless quadrapedal chimera(1500/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] of doll torsos and entirely too many doll legs.

"Chimera Doll can add one Gimmick Puppet from my deck to my hand, and then special summon one Gimmick Puppet from my hand! I choose the Bisque Doll!" A delicate porcelain doll(8/1000/1000) [Zone 2] with red curled hair and a black dress would round out his collection of XYZ-materials. Because he needed at least three to create his final XYZ-monster. "Rise, Number 40! Puppet who pulls the strings of fate! Gimmick Puppet of Destiny's Strings!" The remaining Dreary Dolls and Bisque Doll together formed the statue-faced one-winged Gimmick Puppet(R8/3000/2500) [Zone 3]. It played its own heart strings like a harp to place one string counter on each other monster: Chimera Doll, Utopia, Utopic Dragon Ray, on the field. Thus started the countdown to their fatal destiny. "Gimmick Puppet Bisque Doll is banished from my graveyard, making all my Gimmick Puppets immune to targeting effects this turn! And Condolence Puppet is banished to make my other Gimmick Puppet immune to the tides of destruction! Now that this has been said, the duel may conclude!"

"Be witness to the Rank-Up Magic: Quick Chaos! Using the fruits of human wisdom, I revive the devil! Rise up, Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings!" Sophaestus used his own Rank-Up spell, a quickplay spell that evolved the original Number 40 into its Chaosnumber. "When Chaosnumber 40 is special summoned! All monsters with string counters are destroyed!" The threads of fate were cut prematurely, by the blonde dark angel puppet(R8/3300/2000) [Zone 3] with wings made of moving scythe-blades. The Chimera and Dreary Dolls were dismantled, while Number 39: Utopia collapsed into particles of light. Dragonic Utopia Ray also possessed a String counter and blew up into pieces. "I will then draw one card, and you take damage equal to the attackpower of the strongest monster that died!" Though Acrates did not control it at the time, he still had to lose 3000 of his lifepoints because of the Utopia Ray's demise. "Dark Strings! Attack Acrates directly!"

Acrates' LP: 3000

"Then I have no choice! I activate my trap: Zexal Alliance! It may be risky, as it sets my lifepoints down to 100! But it allows me to revive one Utopia monster from my graveyard with its attackpoints doubled! That Utopia cannot be destroyed by anything except Numbers either!" For any other opponent this would have been an impassable wall. But to a fellow wielder of Numbers, the reborn Utopia(5000/2000) [Zone 3] would instead act as an unsurpassable foe. Not even the powered up Dragonic Utopia Ray could overcome its original counterpart now. "Acrates! Are you certain about that?" Sigment could not help but cringe as he saw how low the XYZ-champions lifepoints were in spite of his defensive plays. "I am positive! Victory must come at all costs!" Zexal Alliance also moved one card from his deck to the top. And since he selected it to be the spell of Shining Draw, he would be able to equip his new Utopia with every Zexal Weapon imaginable. Victory seemed assured.

Acrates' LP: 100

"Ho. You always fall back on that classic last line of defense. But your generous nature will be the downfall of you. I activate the quickplay spell, Tomorrow Slash! My monster gains attack equal to the difference between our lifepoints!" Sophaestus resorted to a spell which could only be activated when his monster attacked a stronger monster. "What? But that is.." A spell that Acrates normally used himself, and the last kind of spell he expected to be used against him. "Despair comes in many forms. Sometimes its the one you least expect!" The Slash spell added 7900 attackpoints to the Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings(11200/2000), making the next attack the very embodiment of overkill. "You would have survived, had you just been a little bit more careful. Goodbye, Acrates." All of Utopia's life strings were severed, and so were its head and torso. The Chaosnumber cut him down to nothing. Acrates doubled over in pain and screamed silently while his opponent kept laughing. "So. Which one shall be next?"

Acrates' LP: 0

"Acrates!" Heleil ran towards the fallen XYZ-champion. "Heleil. I am sorry.. I thought I would be the best first defense. I was wrong.." He reached out to her with a shivering hand and found himself losing his strength at a rapid rate. "No don't say that. You helped us, you let us see what we are up against. Acrates? Acrates!?" By the time Heleil got near him, he'd already passed out.

"What did you do!?" Sigment shouted at the masked rival. "Nothing. He chose this fate for himself. When your last lifepoint drops in this world, you can no longer stay awake. Only Static can bring him back to normal now. And when he does, he will be what Static wishes him to be." Sophaestus explained, no longer even pretending to be anything more than an extention of his will. "Unless we destroy his core right here and now." Sigment assumed everything would go back to normal that way, if there was no Static to corrupt his friend. "Perhaps. But you will have to make it through me first. So I will ask you again, who is next?"

Heleil's LP: 8000

"I am!" Heleil rose up. "You? We do not even have a history together. You do not know how to fight the likes of me." The XYZ-rival scoffed softly. Since they were still in his turn, he placed one trap card face down and activated the continuous spell card: Puppet Performance. He let her make a move after that. "No you were never my rival, but are you sure that is to your advantage? You know to handle Acrates. I am something else entirely." Heleil gave the others a look. "Take care of Acrates. I will deal with this bastard."

-TURN 03-

"My turn!" Heleil normal summoned the Performapal Skullcrobat Joker(4/1800/100) [Zone 3]. "I am more than just his rival, according to you. I know everything there is to know about all of you. I know for instance how that monster can add a Performapal or Odd-Eyes card to your hand." The puppet duelist proclaimed as she added Performapal Smile Sorcerer to her hand. "Well a mere glance can tell you that. How about this then? I activate Pendulum Transfer." Heleil's first spell abruptly relocated the Joker performer and placed him (Scale 8) [Zone 5] to a pillar of light. "You transformed your monster into its pendulum spell state?" Her opponent correctly surmised the effect of the Transfer spell. Soon afterwards Heleil also activated her Performapal Smile Sorcerer (Scale 1) [Zone 1] as a pendulum spell on the other side of her field. "Then now comes your pendulum summon art. Like I told you, I know everything."

"But do you also know what I think? I think that knowledge is overrated. Even the smartest minds can get overwhelmed by the unexpected. I activate Performapal Popperup! I can discard three cards from my hand and draw three new cards! Then any Performapal, Magician or Odd-Eyes monster I drew with a level between my current scales, is special summoned from my hand!" Heleil exchanged her entire hand (Smile World, Performapal Showdown, Performapal Kuribohble) for three new surprising monsters. Two of them could leap out unto the stage as Popperup resolved: Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon(7/2500/2000) [Zone 3] and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/1200) [Zone 2]. The latter activated its effect to destroy two of her cards and add two new Performapal monsters to her hand. "Acrates! Your efforts were not for nothing!" She chose to destroy XYZ-Change Tactics and Double or Nothing, the two spells he'd left behind. In return, she could add Performapal Turntrooper and Performapal Miss Director to her hand. Acrates would be glad to see this, if he'd still been awake.

"But we will need something even bigger if we are going to break down that Puppet of his. So, it's time to summon eyes that are more than just odd.. I can tribute two pendulum monsters, including one Odd-Eyes, to special summon All-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" Her dragon would no longer be just a phantom, but an actual god. Odd-Eyes absorbed the Pendulum Sorcerer and ascended into a sleek silver-armored and blue-clawed new form(10/3000/2500) [Zone 3]. Only the scales on its throat and scorpion-like tail remained red, while its immense wings carried spheres of green and red energy. "All-Eyes? That's new to me. But I like its style!" Madam Blanche nodded with approval. "It is indeed a divine force to be reckoned with, as Acrates would say. But this is not a one-god show! So here is that pendulum summon you ordered! I activate my skill, Neo Master Rule! And summon all of my monsters!"

Thanks to the neo card's skill, Heleil could special summon cards from her extra deck to main monster zones. Thus the pendulum swung between Smile Sorcerer and Skullcrobat Joker, to summon Performapal Miss Director; a young glasses-wearing brunette(6/0/2000) [Zone 1] with a red scarf around her neck, Performapal Turntrooper; a knightly clockwork robot(4/1200/1200) [Zone 5] with a blue-feather pointed hat, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer [Extra Zone 1] and Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon[Zone 2]. "Miss Director is a tuner who can special summon a level one monster from my graveyard, and immediately synchronize with it! So I shall add a little synchro spice to this attack!" Miss Director used her megaphone to direct the fuzzy Performapal Kuribohble critter(1/300/200) [Zone 4] back to her field, and miraculously recast them both in the role of a star-crossing white dragon(7/2500/2000) [Zone 4] "I synchro summon Clear Wing Fast Dragon! Who can reduce a monsters attackpoints to zero each turn while also negating their effects! This one is for you, Sigment!"

The dragon fired its electricity with the speed of a true lightning bolt and drained every last attackpoint from the Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings(0/2000). "Now! When All-Eyes Phantom Dragon battles another monster, even if their attack is zero, his attackpoints will be doubled!" The godly dragon gathered energy from the air, causing golden flames to flicker into existence around it. "Phantom Dragon! Attack Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings! All-Eyes Creation!" With a mighty roar, All-Eyes turned the gathered energy into a dome of unavoidable destruction. The blast expanded across the field and consumed the body of the weakened devil strings puppet. However, just like Acrates, the puppet duelist favored last-ditch upsets. "That is all I can give you. When my Gimmick Puppet is destroyed, I can special summon a banished Gimmick Puppet with Perform Puppet!" First his continuous spell would rebuild Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll(8/0/0) [Zone 3] in defense mode.

Sophaestus' LP: 2000

"I see. Well, I do like to give every monster a role to play." Heleil had to use Turntrooper's attack to get rid of the dreary puppet. "I know. Yet perhaps a solo show might have been more suited for you! When my opponent controls more monsters than I, I can activate the Puppet Parade!" Sophaestus raised his hand to the sky to flip his trap with which he would summon Gimmick Puppets until he controlled as many monsters as she did. "You should have abandoned your own showman-ship, Sophaestus.. or whoever you think you are. But because you waited I can do this!" Heleil snapped her fingers and made Performapal Skullcrobat Joker shatter into pieces. "What is this power?" Puppet Parade resolved without ever activating, as if time had flown towards far too quickly. "That is the power of All-Eyes, Sophie. If I let it destroy one of my spells, she can negate one of your spell or trap cards! You were hoping for some shields. But I am affraid you will get no such patience from me!" Heleil declared her final attack with the Clear Wing Dragon, blasting Sophaestus' lifepoints into oblivion.

(To Be Continued in World 085: The Vendetta to End all Vendettas)

New Cards used by Acrates
LAST HOPE

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ZS - Ascend Sage
ZS - Arms Sage
ZW - Pegasus Twin Saber

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Dragonic Utopia Ray

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Zexal Construction
Rank-Up-Magic: Zexal Force

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Zexal Alliance

New Cards used by Heleil
All-Eyes Phantom Dragon
Performapal Miss Director
Performapal Turntrooper

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Pendulum Transfer
Performapal Popperup

Cards used by Sophaestus
Gimmick Puppet - Terror Baby
Gimmick Puppet - Scissor Arms
Gimmick Puppet - Dreary Doll
Gimmick Puppet - Bisque Doll

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Gimmick Puppet - Gigantes Doll
Gimmick Puppet - Chimera Doll
Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings
ChaosNumber 40: Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings

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Trade In
Condolence Puppet
Machine Duplication
Rank-Up-Magic: Quick Chaos
Tomorrow Slash (renamed from Tsukumo Slash)
Perform Puppet

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Puppet Parade