World 094: Too Young To Live
He was at his wits end. Nothing that happened to him before made him feel as dreadful or terrible as this. He could handle being the victim of a hateful madman and a cruel world. But now his family had gotten involved directly. "I don't care if the tower turned into anything else. I want to know why nobody caught this!?" His mother and father were not waking up, no matter what he tried. "Because we did not detect any disturbances and neither did they. Their last message simply stated that they were going to rest on their own. No disturbances were reported by hotel staff either. And even if Static somehow managed to find them, he could not have used any of the legacy items to infiltrate the area since the ark and lance were both seen back at the tower beyond." Scarlet Rose had to assure him that everything seemed normal from their end. That still did not explain how this could have happened, because a medical reason did not seem likely at all.. not with both of them at once. "You have been monitoring them? If you did that, why not leave someone there with them?" Charles had to stop himself from outright blaming her for this, even if that's what he felt. "They requested minimum supervision themselves, Charles. We could only do so much."
"But then what am I supposed to do now? What does Static want? What do you want!" Charles knew she was right on some level. His filters did not detect any malignant presence. "Why did he do it? Why is he still after me, when his entire scheme is falling apart!" It still did not make any sense. Static must have found a way to reach his family. And if he did not do it in this reality, it could only mean..
The subconscious realm. "If that's.." Charles dipped his avatar into the layer of thought, where he found the proof for his fearful assumption. A trail of red light passed him by, starting from his current position and winding up somewhere deep inside the world of dreams and nightmares. "He did not find their bodies. He found their dreams. Damn it! I should have known!" If he followed the red path, he would likely find his parents... and Static Void as well. "Scarlet. Tell Echo that I need her help." Charles demanded. "I will. But I cannot reach her right now." Rose regretfully had to reply. "What!? Then tell her to follow the path that starts from here. I cannot wait on her, I am going in." Whatever Static planned for him, be it a trap or an ultimatum: he would meet it head on. Hopefully Echo would be able to meet up with him soon after.
...
"It's not working is it?" Nakana watched as miss Echo tried and failed to connect with the minds of her own mother and father. "No. They.. they did not add any of their own memories to project flute. They kept it all for themselves. And the third is suppressing it" Echo's powers were of of little use against her own sibling. Though the orb of memories could help in a different way. "That's why I need your help. I need to see them through the eyes of another."
"You are.. asking me for permission?" Nakana guessed she wanted to look into her memories specifically, just like when she got back Zanbatou's memories. "I do not know if that will be of assistance. I cannot even recall what it felt like to be loved by them." Her recent experiences only covered months and months of distant relations and constant strict monitoring. "But they did love you. Every parent has to love their child. I will find it, I will see it. But I can only do it if you let me." Echo would have to go deep into the past, further than Nakana could even imagine in her head. "Okay. You have my permission once more." But the daughter would try anything to get some part of her mother and father back. She kneeled next to an empty pod and let Echo touch her forehead.
"Wait. So that's it? Lady Echo is just going to cure them?" Olympia spoke up as she and the other duelists observed Echo undergo the ritual of memories again. "I know what you mean. Do we just have to stand around her and watch this?" Bionis Khan expected a more decisive victory to come out of this, but Continuum itself was no longer anywhere in sight. Still, he could feel somewhat happy for Nakana's sake at least if this worked. Though it seemed to be taking Echo a sweet while. "No. That is not what I mean.. I was not talking to you either!" The Fire Princess shoved Bionis to the side and marched towards the Shintaros. "Hey!? What are you doing?" The ritual duelist growled.
"Olympia? What's wrong?" A distracted Echo paused her memory reading. She did not get why she acted this way either. "I don't know. I just...I want to do something! This doesn't feel right! They were bad people! They hurt their family.. they hurt Mephistar! They hurt so many! What if you cannot help them, miss Echo?" She asked. "We wont know until enough time has passed. We have to wait. We have to believe that they're still good people deep down." The girl insisted and tried to go back to her mental task. "But what if you are wrong? What do we do then? They're not human anymore, are they? How do we stop them? How do we avenge the ones they hurt? What about their justice?" The princess kept pacing back and forth, occasionally letting out a flicker of flames after each step. "What are you saying, Olympia? They cannot hurt anyone anymore.. and we can heal the ones they hurt." Echo replied somewhat naively. "But they still did it! Why do they get the chance to be redeemed for their evil? Why do they get to forget it? Tycho, you agree with me! Don't you?"
"What?" The fire cyberduelist did not expect to be dragged into the conversation himself. "Just because your personality was based on mine, does not mean I always see eye to eye with you." He protested. "But you do understand what she is trying to say.. don't you?" Nakana realized that he was technically not denying it either. "Ugh.. Just because I think it, does not mean I believe it.. It's just.. she may have a point. Even without Continuums influence, your parents may not be what you want them to be.. Nakana. Corruption and greed already was a part of their world before STHEREA even existed. People like them invented Continuum, not the other way around it." Tycho sighed. At this point he might as well say everything that was on his mind. "And I mean I don't like saying this, but you can see where we are.. They have the law itself in their pockets. They will never be held accountable or treated how they should be treated." He did not know what he would want to do with them, but he did not exactly like the idea of just giving the Shintaros carte blanche either.
"If that is the case, then we will treat them ourselves. We still need them, Tycho." Nakana concluded. "Olympia, I do not know what your intentions are. And I know that they wronged you. But please, have faith. Give them a chance. You would want to do the same, if they were your family." She could sense the burgeoning hatred within the Fire Princess, though it had gotten increasingly more intense in just a short amount of time. "Family?" Olympia looked at Echo. She appeared to be almost finished with extracting the right memories from Nakana. "Fisher... Cierze... Valkyrion.. They were my family." She took a deep breath and started to walk away.
"Bah!" Only for her to launch into a direct attack, sending a fireball towards the Shintaros. "NO!" Zanbatou tried to intercept the attack with his body. But someone else reacted even sooner than that. "Demise!?" A large horned demon in armor blocked the blast of flames as a dueldisk projected the monster's image in between her and the summoner: Bionis Khan. "YOU?!"
"Yeah me. I figured you were gonna do something, so I had my hand on the trigger." The ritual duelist's dueldisk was active and ready for a challenge, if Olympia kept pushing. "You.. You of all people do not get to take this way from me!" She did, she created a second fireball and prepared to throw it. "!?" Bionis reacted immediately and created another hologram of the Queen of Ruin to intercept the second blast. "Bionis!?" By this time Nakana and Zanbatou had rushed to cover the two Shintaros, and the Fire Princess did not seem to care if they got in the line of fire either. "Dont mention it. Its not like I am their biggest fan either, Nakana. But that does not mean I am going to let you hurt them just because you're upset." Bionis saw he had no choice but to make it official, to duel Olympia to keep her from lashing out at anyone else. "Upset? UPSET!? You do not even know half of it! If you want to take the heat for them, then you will! It is the least you deserve after what you've done to Valkyrion! I should have done this from the very beginning!" She felt all too eager to accept.
Olympia's LP: 8000 Bionis Khan's LP: 8000
-TURN 01-
"I take the lead!" OIympia blasted into action with two spells in a row. "I activate Supply Squad, which will reward me every time one of my monsters dies! And I activate Prepeparation of Rites, I shall add one ritual spell to my hand and one of its ritual monsters!" The latter spell drew the Rebirth of Nephthys and the Devotee of Nephthys from her deck. "I know what that spell does! I am a ritual specialist too!" Khan growled. "And who else was a ritual specialist? Valkyrion! But you murdered him all the same! I will not have any such talk from you, Bionis Khan!"
Olympia then activated the Rebirth of Nephthys, and sacrificed the level 2 Devotee in her hand for a new disciple of the phoenix goddess. "Rise, Conductor of Nephthys!" A young nubian girl(2/2000/0) [Zone 2] descended from the light of the sun which pierced the ceiling of the hive. She was the Conductor, the strongest crowned disciple in flowing red cloth. Upon her own ritual summon, she would ritual summon one Nephthys ritual monster from the deck without the need for spells or sacrifices. "Conductor of Nephthys! Summon the other devoted to Nephthys!" She called out the disciple in the cerulean armor: Devotee of Nephthys(2/1200/1200) [Zone 4]. Upon that ritual summon, Devotee could special summon a non-ritual Nephthys monster from the deck. "Come, Chronicler of Nephthys!" The third servant for the phoenix appeared to be an older darkhaired woman(2/300/1200) [Zone 1] wearing a half-armored dress with a white cape that was red on the inside. In her hands she held a scroll which listed the names of all fallen Nephthys monsters. She could add one name to it, to remove another. "Chronicler revitalize the Devoted one!" In this case she destroyed the Fire King High Avatar Garunix in Olympia's hand, to retake the first Devotee of Nephthys card.
"Olympia. Please stop this. I do not want to see you get hurt. Not again.." Echo pleaded once again. It seemed like the fire princess wanted to make this duel as serious as it could be. "He wont hurt me, miss Echo! Nobody can hurt me again!" Olympia ignored her and activated the Preparation of Rites spell card. It added one ritual spell (Rebirth of Nephthys) back to her hand and placed a level 7 or lower ritual monster (Conductor of Nephthys) from the deck in her hand. "Rise, my third disciple!" This second rebirth flipped the roles of servant and sacrifice: tributing the Conductor of Nephthys to ritual summon the second Devotee(2/1200/1200) [Zone 3] in defense mode. Since neither ritual monster could activate their effect more than once a turn, it did not really matter which one she summoned. What did matter was the number of ritual monsters on her field. "Now, I link summon the Nephthys the Sacred Flame!" Because with three ritual monsters as its link materials, the bright red burning phoenix(4800/LINK 3) {Down/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] would double its original attackpower.
And it attained a slew of other effects... "Great. Now it cannot be destroyed or targeted by any card effects." Tycho recalled that Olympia never got to summon the Sacred Flame at full power back when she dueled Hikaru. She would not make that mistake again. Though it cost her every card besides her skill to make this field, the princess felt satisfied. "Try and attack me now, Khan. I dare you. I darer you to prove to everyone that you have not changed at all!" She ended her turn with a taunt and the knowledge that as soon as the next turn began...
-TURN 02-
... the Conductor also activated her effect, as she always did after her sacrifice or destruction. "Burn them, the Chronicler, the Disciple!" She could destroy up to 3 Nephthys cards: one on the field, one in the hand and one in the deck. Olympia's hand could not offer anyone, but the Conductor did find and destroy the currently living Chronicler and the not yet summoned Disciple of Nephthys. Fire King High Avatar Garunix the rainbow red feathered bird god(8/2700/1700) [Zone 3] would special summoned himself from the graveyard during the next standby phase as well, making Khans situation even worse.
"This is not about me, princess. You're the one trying to hurt people. I don't have a choice!" Bionis looked over his hand, and figured out a plan. He saw one way to get rid of the Sacred Flame, but it required some groundwork. "I activate Impcantation Thanatosis! If I reveal one Impcantation, this spell can summon two different ones from my deck and return the revealed imp!" He showed Olympia the Impcantation Bookstone and shuffled it back into his deck. In return he could special summon a pair of Impcantation Talismandras(6/0/0) [Zones 1 & 2] in defense mode. "And when Talismandra is special summoned from the deck, I can add a ritual monster to my hand!" The talisman mandrakes could only use their ability once a turn. The one on the left did just that and added an Impcantation Chalislime monster to Bionis' hand. "A couple of cards will not prove that you are not the same man! It was Eldlich who destroyed Valkyrion. But it was you who ordered it to!" Olympia found their appearance more of an insult than anything else.
"That was.. I used the Impcantations before I even became... urgh. Whatever.. It's like trying to talk to a brick wall. I can definitely see some of Tycho in you. Hear it too." Bionis did not want to lose his concentration. He turned to his cards, activating Impcantation Chalislime from his hand to discard one card (Supreme Ruin, Queen of Oblivion) and special summon another Impcantation from his deck: Candoll(4/0/0) [Zone 3]. That one could add a ritual spell (Impcantation Inception) from the deck to the hand. "I activate Impcantation Inception! If takes Impcantations as tributes but can ritual summon anything I want it to! I choose Ruin the Angel of Oblivion!" The white candle Candoll disappeared into a cup with green slime and melted down to start the ceremony of oblivion.. and death. It would be handed out by a silver armored demon knight(4/1800/1000) [Zone 4]. "Agent of Demise can destroy one monster on the field! I choose Garunix!"
"You choose nothing! Your days of death-dealing are through! I activate the Immortal Flame!" Olympia turned on her skill with an intense expression. Through the ceremony of the Immortal Flame, the second Conductor of Nephthys(2/2000/0) [Zone 1] would be ritual summoned from the graveyard... And she destroyed Garunix herself to serve as the ritual monster's sacrifice. "Now come, Cerulean Phoenix!" The Conductor's effect ignited once more and she chose to bring in the subject of devotion: Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of the Nephthys(8/3000/1000) [Zone 3]. "Ugh. Damn it." Bionis's problems kept multiplying. And he could not attack any other Nephthys monster either as long as she controlled the Sacred Flame. "Everything just has be so damn complicated!"
"I activate Impcantation Inception's second effect! It returns to my hand and special summons another Impcantation from my deck. But I have to send a different Impcantation to my graveyard." The imps performed their quick shuffle: sending one Talismandra to the graveyard, returning the Inception spell from the graveyard, special summoning the Impcantation Bookstone(5/0/0) [Zone 3] from the deck and using Bookstone's effect to reclaim the discarded Supreme Queen from the graveyard. "Now I activate Breaking of the World! Each turn I ritual summon a monster, I can draw one card!" Impcantation Inception hit the field once more, taking the Bookstone and Talismandra imps as tributes for a tenth level ritual summon: creating the silverhaired Supreme Queen of Oblivion, Ruin(10/2900/3000) [Zone 3]. "Breaking draws one card! And Impcantation Thanatosis can destroy one card you control when I ritual summon a monster! Let's see if it works this time! I target the Cerulean Phoenix!" This time death would be dealt by his other continuous spell, and this death the phoenix could not avoid. "Ah you staggered your destruction." Zanbatou complimented the ritual duelist. He could have used Thanatosis earlier, but that would have been more than a waste.
"Why are you praising him? He is the enemy! He is a defender of evil!" Olympia could not believe what she heard or saw, even as the Cerulean Nephthys burned to death before her eyes. "For the last time, I am not trying to kill anything or anyone here. That's you! Everyone else here sees that! Maybe it's because of what you are. but you seem to keep confusing cards with people! I have to destroy cards, because otherwise I cannot win!" On that note, Bionis Khan finally activated his spell of certain death: Herald of the Abyss. "The Herald chooses one monster with the element and type I declare, and sends it to the graveyard! I declare fire and winged beast!" It cost 1500 lifepoints to activate the spell, but this abyssal herald could force even immortals to leave the field. "No! Not again.. Not again!" Olympia cursed. The Conductor's attribute was WIND. She could only cast the Sacred Flame into the cemetery.
Bionis' LP: 6500
"Now. This part wont make me feel good either. But it has to be done! When the Supreme Queen destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to its attackpoints!" It would be an overwhelming, though not critical, battle phase. Ruin cast her magic of oblivion, forcing the unfortunate Conductor of Nephthys into a black hole. The gravity distorving blast coursed even further to slam into Olympia. "Argh!" She took the first hit, 2000 points of effect damage, and howled. The Fire Princess also received a direct attack from the Agent of Demise, who took a swing at her with his pole-axe. "Have you had enough yet? I dont want to keep doing this! And nobody else wants to see me keep doing this either!" Bionis could tell that his actions were distressing miss Echo in particular. Still just to be safe he placed one trap card face down before ending his turn.
Olympia's LP: 4200
-TURN 03-
That seemed to have been a wise choice, since the look in Olympia's eyes remained the same: full of murderous intent. "I will never... give up. Those people, will not give up either. They have to be destroyed. Why do none of of you see that? Don't you know what they have done? What they did.. to... to me?!" The pain she felt as a consequence of this duel paled in comparison to the pains she remembered experiencing at the hands of the the Shintaros. But only she knew that... she and Echo. "Olympia please. They were not.. they were not evil. They were just.. I can help them too, like I did with Zanbatou. Then they wont hurt anyone ever again." The girl in blue tried to talk to her friend once again. "I don't care.. I wont forget what they did to me!" Only for the Princess to scream back as she drew her next card. "But you do not have to.." Still Echo pushed, letting her soothing voice be heard. It had to work. It always did in the past. "No. I know what you are trying to... do. But I wont.. You wont make me forget, miss Echo!"
"Forget? What did you.. do?" Nakana glared at the girl, realizing that an unspoken horror had been going on for quite some time. "Nothing. I just.. I just wanted her to feel better.." Echo stammered. "So you made her forget it ever happened? You cannot just do that. That's what.." Nakana was mortified. An act like that could only remind her of Continuum's own actions. "Why.. why not?.. Why should she remember something so awful? There was so much anger in her, and fear. And I did not want my friends to feel that way. They should not have to.. nobody should have to feel that way."
"But you were wrong, miss Echo! We should! This is a part of me! I know why you took this action, without my consent. Yet this is anger that I shall not discard! But I do not hate you, I never could.. All of my hatred.. goes towards him!" She pointed at Khan. "Ugh.." The standby phase already saw a storm of fire headed Bionis' way. The High Avatar Fire King Garunix[Zone 2] now saw monsters it could burn upon his return from the graveyard. Except neither the Queen of Oblivion nor the Agent of Ruin experienced the slightest drawback from the High Avatar's ressurection inferno. "Tch! My ritual monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects! Not while I have Supreme Ruin on my field!" Bionis could avoid that disastrous effects, but plenty more resolved. Last turn's destruction of the Nephthys Chronicler resulted in her moving a Nephthys card from the graveyard, Rebirth of Nephthys, back to Olympia's hand. The destroyed Disciple of Nephthys could also add a new Nephthys monster to her hand: Matriarch of the Nephthys. Finally the Cerulean Phoenix of the Nephthys(8/3000/1000) [Zone 4] special summoned itself back to the field, and upgraded Olympia's usually red burning aura into a cerulean blaze.
"Matriarch! Destroy Arvata, and bring me the Devotee!" The oldest servant of Nephthys began her own cycle of life and death. She destroyed the Fire King Avatar Arvata card in Olympia's hand and resurrected a level 4 or lower Nephthys monster, the Conductor[Zone 4], in defense mode with her effects negated. At the same time the destroyed Arvata could special summon one other FIRE monster from the graveyard: the Devotee of Nephthys[Zone 5]. "Don't tell me she is going to summon the Sacred Flame again." Bionis winced. He did not have the materials to get rid of that thing again. Though the same could be said about her. Sacred Flame would not be enough to break through his defenses either. "Four materials." She had other plans in mind. "I link summon.." Garunix and the Nephthys servants; Matriarch, Conductor and Devotee, flew into a triangular link circuit, lighting up the flames of four markers. "I summon Nephthys herself!" And what came out did have wings, but also the body of an Egyptian goddess.
Nephthys the Divine Goddess, 3000/LINK 4 Downleft/Up/Down/Downright FIRE/Fairy/Link Monster
3+ FIRE Monsters, including a ritual monster.
While this card is in the Extra Monster Zone, FIRE monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects and you take no effect damage.
This card gains 1000 ATK for each other "Nepthys" monster you control.
Once per turn, if a "Nephthys" card in your possession is tributed or destroyed (except during the damage step), you can negate the effect(s) of 1 card on the field.
The goddess of death and grief(3000/LINK 4) [Extra Zone 1] in red robes descended from the heavens with the graceful golden feathers and a crown of flames above her head. She enhanced her power by 1000 for each other Nephthys incarnation on the field. Right now the goddess only saw one, the Cerulean Sacred Phoenix(8/3000/1000) [Zone 3]. But the Devotee of Nephthys(2/1200/1200) [Zone 2] soon resurrected herself by destroying the Rebirth of Nephthys spell card in Olympia's hand. This boosted the goddesss(5000 atk)' power once more and also initiated her final ability. "Now that I have destroyed one of my own cards, the goddess can negate the powers of one other monster! You do not get the right to deny your own mortality, to deny me the death I am owed! So I will negate your queens powers!" Nephthys aimed her divine staff towards the Queen of Oblivion, Supreme Ruin(10/2900/3000). Without her effects, Bionis' monsters could be destroyed by card effects again.
"That card. It's like Cierze..." Echo could not help but see a resemblance between the winged goddess and her own. "Cierze.. If she were here. What would she say? Did you erase her memory too, miss Echo? Did you make her forget Valkyrion? Will you make her forget me? Will you make the Fisherman forget me? You do not have to keep doing this! My way.. my way will make the pain go away too!"
(To Be Continued in World 095: No Rest for the Wicked)
New Cards used by Bionis Khan
Impcantation Thanatosis
Impcantation Impception
New Cards used by Olympia
Conductor of Nephthys
Chronicler of Nephthys
-
Nephthys, the Divine Goddess
-
Preparation of Rites