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.

103. World 095: No Rest For the Wicked

World 095: No Rest for the Wicked

Olympia's anger reached her peak, and it took the form of the divine in order to express that anger. The Sacred Nephthys goddess (3000/LINK 4) {Downleft/Up/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] gave her more power than she ever controlled before. "My way.. my way will make the pain go away too!" The Fire Princess decided to dip her hands into another element as well now, as she suddenly called up a storm of rain and thunder. "I special summon Loud Cloud the Storm Serpent! I banish one fire and wind monster to do so!" Black clouds swirled against the ceiling of the hive and took on a reptilian form(5/0/2000). "Then I can banish one fire monster from my graveyard to destroy one monster on the field! And I may banish a wind monster to break a spell or trap!" The snake of storms banished a fire monster first: Garunix, and unleashed a red hot lightning bolt that incinerated the Supreme Queen instantly. This effect also added the attackpower of the victim to the Loud Cloud serpent(2900/2000) who proceeded to banish one of the Nephthys Conductors and target Bionis' face-down trap with a stream of cyclones.

"I am starting to think this is about me after all.. but even if you defeat me, it wont do you any good!" Bionis sighed and activated his trap card: Renewal of the World. "Renewal banishes a ritual monster from my deck. Then it can send one ritual monster back to my deck to ritual summon that banished monster! I will exchange the queen with the king!" Through the storms the spirit of Ruin soared, dispersing the serpents winds before she herself become one with the deck. In her place, Bionis Khan special summoned the Supreme King of Armageddon, Demise(10/3000/2900) [Zone 3]. "You cannot bring yout Armageddon to my domain! My monsters are protected by the goddess!" Olympia's monsters were still stronger, she would simply run them over with consecutive attacks. "Mine are too! Supreme Armageddon makes them indestructible in battle!" Still Bionis resisted. Loud Cloud came after his weakest card, the Agent of Demise(4/1800/1000) [Zone 4]. But the horned demon King saved his loyal subject with his own an aura of pure intimidation. Bionis however would not be saved from the battle damage.

Bionis' LP: 5400

"You wont die? Why wont you?" The Princess twitched. She made the Goddess Nephthys strike at the Agent with her staff. She made the Cerulean Phoenix bombard it with blue flames. Neither attack managed to put a dent in the armor of the demon knight. Though she did ensure that Bionis and his lifepoints would suffer. "Who said you could survive, while Valkyrion could not? You're just a human! Dying is all you are good at!"

Bionis' LP: 1000

"Olympia. Why are you.. you cannot do this. You cannot hate everyone just because of.. because of one. Why are you like this? This cannot be right.." Echo had no idea where all this hatred came from. It got to the point where she could only wonder if another entity got into her mind and affected it. "It can be right. Miss Echo." Nakana had a more sobering and grim perspective on the whole affair. "Or at the very least it is natural. I understand the feeling very well, of wanting to avenge the ones you lost. The feeling of having lost what you love.. what you thought you loved... is not that easy to forget. It is not a feeling that can be expressed positively or rationally. That's just the way we are. Even if you did restore my parents memories.. they may not be what you think they would be. What I think they would be. But I would still rather have them that way, than without emotion at all. I do not wish for her to harm my parents... But I can see why she would want to. I can see why she would want to hurt men."

-TURN 04-

"Yeah me in particular. But.. ugh.. damn it..." Hearing Nakana talk like that made Bionis see things in a new perspective. "I thought Zettai was being dumb for acting like it was her fault.. Even when nothing really did happen to your folks." Here he stood trying to save those same people from someone else who hated their guts, to stop something from actually happening. "But what happened to your friend really did happen.." Bionis sighed as he drew his card. "Then are you no longer denying that you did it? That you attacked Valkyrion and watched him die?" Olympia snapped. "I saw him die, yes. But I.. I thought that was only a bad dream at the time. I thought taking care of 'Khan' would make that dream disappear. I thought I could be like Jenna and just shrug it off.. But I still remember seeing it.. And now I remember doing it. That was not me... I had no choice: excuses like are not good enough anymore, are they? Tch, someone once called me the type to blame everyone but myself.. I bet that was that nosy Charles. Maybe he was right.. and maybe you are right too, Olympia. But what comes next?"

"Next?" The Fire Princess flinched. "If you do take down Nakana's parents.. if you kill them? What's next?" Bionis asked. "I do not understand!" Olympia yelled again. "I am askinf if you will be happy then? Or do you think there's more people like that who deserve to die? Who should do what they are good at? I mean yes there are bad people out there, and some maybe even deserve to suffer. But you can only go so far without looking back at yourself.. because otherwise you might lose who you used to be. Otherwise Static will really win, when revenge is all you have left." Bionis gave a quick glance at Nakana and Tycho. They knew the desire of revenge very well, one more than the other. "You believe a speech is going to calm me down?! I am not affraid of ending life! And you are not affraid of ending my life! We both get what we deserve!" The princess knew it least of all, yet felt it stronger than them both combined. She would not listen no matter what. "I guess I really have to go all out on you then. I don't know how you'll react to a loss. But whatever happens.. I am sorry. I mean that."

"I summon Manju!" Bionis started with his Idol(4/1400/1000) [Zone 1] of the ten thousand hands, using its effect to add a ritual monster (Crealtar the Impcantation Originator) to his hand. "Then I link summon Cross Sheep!" By using two monsters with different names as the link materials; the Agent of Demise and the Manju of many hands, Bionis could summon one of the few important monsters in his extra deck. The Cross Sheep(700/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] had a different effect for each type of special summon that could be performed, including ritual summons. "And I activate Crealtar from my hand! If I discard one card, I can special summon two Impcantations from my graveyard with a combined level of ten!" Bionis discarded the Crealtar itself, splitting the tiny robed demon up into the Impcantations Talismandra(6/0/0) [Zone 4] and Candoll(4/0/0) [Zone 3]. "Is this what it looks like when you are trying to be serious?!"

"It is as serious as I can be, Olympia. I lost the taste for my edge when it became too real." Bionis sacrificed the Talismandra plant by activating Impcantation Inception from is graveyard again, adding that spell to his hand and special summoning the third Impcantation Talismandra(6/0/0) [Zone 4] from the deck. Having successfully summoned the Mandragora imp from the deck meant he could claim a new ritual monster from his deck. "I add the Ruin Supreme Queen of Oblivion again! And summon her!" It was in fact the same ritual monster from the last turn, special summoned by the same Inception ritual spell that used both Candoll and the remaining Talismandra as sacrifices. The Supreme Queen(10/2900/3000) [Zone 4] would stand with the Supreme King to deliver the ultimate end. "Since I ritual summoned again, Breaking of the World will draw one card! And when I ritual summon, Cross Sheep draws two cards and discards two cards from my hand!" Overall Bionis chose to keep Chalislime and two of the new cards while he discarded the rest (Demise King of Armageddon, End of the World).

"And now this. I activate Preparation of Rites!" His opponent would know what that card could do. In this case it recycled the End of World spell ritual and claimed the ritual monster: Ruin the Angel of Demise. "The End of the World special summons any incarnation of Ruin and Demise! I summon the Angel!" The angel of Ruin, a silverhaired woman(4/1700/1000) [Zone 4] in a red and black armor dress, looked a bit younger than the supreme queen. Bionis tributed the Chalislime to satisfy the ritual itself. "Bionis. Why are you summoning so many monsters?" Tycho cried out, not even this army would get the chance to take down a god like Nephthys. "So I can do this, Tycho. I activate the Archfiends Staff of Despair! I equip it to Demise, who can then use it to reduce the attackpoints of all other monsters by half of his own attackpoints!" The king of Armageddon found himself a new weapon, a half mummified staff with a winged corpse-head at the tip. He raised it above his horned head to unleash a plague of bloodred lightning that struck each monster Olympia controlled: Divine Nephthys(3500 atk), Cerulean Nephthys(1500/1000), Loud Cloud(1400/1000) and the defending Devotee(0/1200). "Olympia. I've won."

"Won? No you haven't! Not yet! Not while I am still alive!" The Princess declared. "Rgh. Do you just not see it, or are you that crazy now? Fine! I will show you!" Bionis rushed into the battle phase, and sent the Angel of Ruin in first. "This version of Ruin can attack two monsters in the same turn!" The woman pierced the ground with her staff and made her shadow turn into a wave of darkness that split up to attack two targets: the Devotee of Nephthys and the Cerulean Nephthys Phoenix. Both were destroyed, both cost the Goddess(1500 atk) two of her powerboosters. "You can see my next move now, right?! Are you really going to keep this going. Is that what Echo would want? Is that what your friends want?" If the Supreme Queen attacked now, it would be all over. Nephthys could no longer negate effect damage if the attack destroyed her first. "I.. I don't know what they want! I just want this anger to go away! And it wont stop if those two wake up again and everyone acts as if they're fine! I hate them! I will hate them forever! They cannot be saved!"

Olympia's LP: 4000

"But they can!" Echo suddenly shouted. "What did you say?" Nakana flinched. Both the Mayakashi princess and the Fire Princess stared at her and the memory-filled sphere in her hands. "I found it.. I found their own memories... and I found the love, Nakana. It was there all along, suppressed. They truly did love you. They treasured you" The girl in blue said sincerely. "They.. loved me? How can you be .. sure?" More than anything she wanted to believe it. Yet nothing pointed towards it. "Because that was the reason. Love was the reason why they never turned you over to Continuum before. On some level they knew you did not deserve it, on some level they fought against it to keep you safe... to keep you as distant from their world as possible. They tried, I know they tried. That is why we have to give them a chance." Echo put the orb away and slowly walked towards her other friend. "Olympia. You can be better too. You need help. All that anger is not right for you."

"I can... be better? I can.. you will take this anger away?" For a brief moment, her mind seemed to free of all negative thoughts. For one second she could cool down. "Again?" Then the feelings came rushing back in, stronger than ever. "But what if I.. again? What if I get angry.. again? What if I hate.. again? What if I hate them.. what if I hate.. what if I hate y...Hate... I hate. Hatehatehatehate." It flooded her very being, expressing itself as flames so intense they were burning the very ground around her.

"Something is wrong with her!" Zanbatou exclaimed. "She's.. she's losing control. . Tycho. Please. Stop the duel now!" Echo could not reach Olympia like this. The Fire Princess kept screaming the word 'hate' over and over while the fire intensified. It got bad enough to the point of her own skin starting to burn and flake away like charred flesh. "Now! Or else.." If Tycho waited any longer, her body would be damaged beyond repair. "Rgh! I attack directly!" Ruin the Supreme Queen fired the dark blast of Oblivion towards the Divine Goddess. The battle cost Olympia 1400 of her lifepoints, the destruction of her Nephthys card cost her another 3000 lifepoints. "Olympia! Please sleep!" And only when defeat fell upon her, so too could Echo's power break into her mind.. and shut down her spirit.

Olympia's LP: 0

The Fire Princess sank to the ground. She extinguished her own flames, closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep seemingly permanent sleep. "I am sorry.." Echo then poked the side of her head, releasing a small flash of light from the tip of her finger. "What.. What did you do just now?" Nakana stared with wide eyes. "I.. I just made her..." Even Echo did not comprehend that which just took place in front of her. She did not want to comprehend. "She had to go to sleep.. she was.. out of control. If Scarlet is here... if Scarlet is here than she should be able to fix her!" The girl yelled. But she did not believe a single word that left her. "Why? Why did she let go? I gave her everything, I did everything I could to make her... better than that."

"Now you see. The only way to break the cycle is to delete the link itself."

"!?" Everyone spun around when they heard a voice they'd never heard before. "Hatred can only lead to grief." The voice came from a man who'd apparently been left behind in one of the hive's pods. He looked like an ordinary businessman. "Who are you?" Tycho knew better. "Who I am is not important. Not anymore. Questions like those bring more grief still. What matters is who I speak for.. you know who that is." The mans gaze briefly turned towards the hole in the ceiling, and a look of awe crossed his face. "You.. you're possessed by Continuum?" Tycho looked skywards as well, there it was.. the hive entity itself. "So you sent another mouthpiece because we took down two of his favorite toys? Bah! Why doesn't that thing fight its own battles?" The Salamangreat duelist snorted. He'd challenge this man, but the entity would just replace it with another random bystander. And challenging the entity itself seemed to be impossible. "Fighting is not what it does. That was Static's preferred method of conquest. But Continuum is not alone in this regard. Or at least it was not alone... miss Echo."

"Ah.. You mean.." For the first time since she learned of its existence, Echo got the chance to talk to the third of her kind. "I had to.. I had to fight back! I couldn't let my friends get hurt!" She had so much to say, but barely knew how to say it. "You did fight back, and you gave your allies the ability to fight back. So did Continuum choose its allies and their power. You and Continuum are more alike than you might believe." The judge asserted with a cold and indifferent tone. "No! That's not right! You.. it.. you're only using them the way you want! You have millions of allies, yet you don't see them as friends at all!" Meanwhile she was still holding back the tears from losing just one friend. Still the messenger of Continuum did not seem impressed. "You call them friends. But as soon as a part of them becomes inconvenient to you, you erase it. Continuum does the same. Only it is wise enough to see that all emotions should be erased, not just the ones that you perceive to be negative. Your own judgment is already colored by bias, miss Echo. You cannot fix the world by continuing on this path you are on. It has already cost you much, do you intend to keep going?"

"YES! Yes I will.. Because everything will be alright! Once we stop Static.. and stop you, and return all the memories you stole! Then everything will be better! Everyone will be happy!" Echo cried out. "We are no source of conflict, miss Echo. We simply exist. And we simply seek to establish a world order that can guarantee the safety of the world for millennia to come. Emotions are all the different sides of the same chaotic coin. Fear.. joy... anger." The judge shot an intense look towards Tycho Rivers in particular. "Leaving any one of them in existence will inevitably lead the whole world. You have seen this now. You have seen the paradox inherent in your own nature. You love them too much to deny them their freedom, yet their freedom causes pain. This is what makes you even weaker than Static. Hatred can deny freedom as much as it wants.. But in the end, the only thing that can decide freedom... is knowledge." Suddenly one of the Karakuri units jumped up, placed its hand on the judge's shoulder.. and teleported him away.

"This is not over yet. It never is.." Tycho cursed with a clenched fist. "At the very least we have managed to save Mr. and Mrs Shintaro. And that should be worth something. Shouldn't it?" Zanbatou asked the lady Nakana, who silently nodded. Their recovery would depend on miss Echo however, and she was likely not in the right state of mind to help either of the Shintaros right now. "Yes." Except she did sound like it. "I will help them, I will." The girl in blue said as she turned towards Nakana with a strange sort of smile. "We will save anyone Continuum hurt. Everything will be alright. You'll see..."

...

They had to be alright. Charles could not bear to think of any other scenario. Static would not hurt them, he had no reason to. He'd just taken Gwen and Arthur Adami as leverage to force him do to his bidding again. That would have been his rational conclusion. Only, there was little rationality to be found inside his head right now. After all he'd gone ahead towards the intended destination without hesitation, without fear or reason. He should have taken Blanche with him.. he should have waited for Echo. He should have done anything different at all. He knew how irrational this anger made him act and he still let that anger guide him right into his trap all by himself. He could not wait and he would not wait. But where did Static take him to? The trail went deeper and deeper into the subconscious world. Did he wait for him inside one of many nightmares, or would he be ambushing him back in the real world?

The first tangible scene he came across, surprised him. "What is?" He saw streets full of rioters, holding signs, looting stores and setting things on fire. "Is this.. happening right now?"

"No. But it should be." His voice reached out. The voice of Void. "Static!" Charles yelled back at him, into the emptiness behind. But even with Vigionaire's filters he could not find him. Not until he looked at the many faces of the violent mob. There he saw Static Void, standing peacefully as if he did not belong there. "I should be a part of this. Do you have any idea how much hatred there is in this world? How cruel the people can get when all pretense of order is stripped away? I should be feeling all of that, I should be seeing more of that. Even if I could not start the war I wanted, there has to be more than what I can find right now." He ranted on and on, and Charles barely heard any of it. "Static! Where are my parents!" The only words he wanted to hear were those that would answer his questions. "Instead the only hate I can find.. is the one focused directly on you. I cannot see past you anymore, Charles Adami. I cannot see past myself." Static instead ignored him, clapped his hands and dispelled the visions of the subconscious world.

"What?" Charles stood on solid ground again, on the inside of a dream.. Or was this reality again? He could not tell. He saw a town around him with familiar houses.. No, everyhing seemed familiar: the trees in the street and the moat behind the house. "You didn't." He knew this street... This was the place he grew up in, before he and his family moved on into the city. "It looks different doesn't it?" All the houses around him looked empty with open doors and shattered windows; as if the people had been chased out by monsters. "There used to be a farm across the moat, but they bulldozed it to make room for more houses. And your own house.. is not even here anymore. I wanted to ruin this place for you, but you humans find a way to do that yourself." Static chuckled.

"Where are they!?" Charles loudly asked again, activating his dueldisk for emphasis. "Where do you imagine? I sent them to a world of their own worst nightmares, the strongest one yet. Even in my current limited state, I can easily enter a human's mind from the subconscious side and put them into a deep and troubled sleep. Most of you humans tend to prefer their bad dreams to be short, how long do you think they will last? We both know them about the same way, so our guesses should be about equal. Heheh." Static Void now gave his human host his full attention, smiling at him with that stolen grin. "WHY!?" Charles screamed. "Everything you did before, wasn't good enough? Hurting my friends? Burning my house!? Attacking everyone I know and making them think I did it? Why did you have to bring them into this!" Even if he could accept that Static hated him specifically, he did not see why he would go this far when everything else around him fell apart.

"Because I need you. I need that hatred of you. I need it to be equal to mine. Everywhere I went, I found you in my way... Charles. And that goes for my thoughts too.. No matter where I look, I always come back to one of your insipid memories. I only wanted your avatar, and yet you gave me those as well! Feh! I sometimes even forget who I am.. what I am.. I almost confuse myself, for one of you. I hate it. I hate this existence. But that's perfect. If I were ever at peace with myself.. I would not know what to do. Even so.. you ruined everything! Because of you Blanche broke free. Because of you Echo escaped my trap. Because of you the third entity learned about my plans and managed to corrupt them! Because of you the game kept going! Because of you they found my weakness! I know what she's done now. She betrayed me, stabbed me in the back while I was distracted by you! Now I cannot even reclaim my own home! Not with the way I am now!"

"Stop talking! Static! I did not come here to listen to your pity party!" Charles interrupted him. If Static Void expected empathy, he came after the wrong man. "I am not done yet, Charles! Why would I be, when that reaction is exactly what I need? Hatred keeps me alive! Negative emotions keep me strong! If I cannot have the world's hatred and fear, I will take it from you personally and up close! I do not need the beyond anymore. I have you, Charles! I have your bottomless hatred, our vendetta!" Mister Static roared. "Our vendetta ends here and now, Static! If you wont release my parents, I will force you to! I will strike you down and this time you will not be getting up again!" Charles had heard enough. Static Void could not get away, not anymore. "Ah yes, you want to settle this the old fashioned way! You're so ignorant, Charles. You can't even see that this is also exactly what I want! For you to helplessly rage against me and lose at the peak of your anger, is the best outcome! Your destruction will spread more revulsion among your friends!"

"Then why aren't you drawing your cards? Fight back, Static! You cannot get to my friends without getting rid of me. And you will not do that either! It all ends here!" Charles would be attacking him whether Static wanted to duel or not. "Heh. Oh It will.. You will see that you have no chance against me. None at all. You cannot get to your family, they will be trapped somewhere in here until the day I die. That will never come. You will not come back to your friends. You will fall here alone and disgraced. I hope you are ready... Charles Adami!"

(To Be Continued in World 096: A Personal Hatred)

New Cards used by Bionis Khan
Crealtar, the Impcantation Originator
Ruin, Agent of Oblivion

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Archfiend's Staff of Despair

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Renewal of the World

New Cards used by Olympia
Loud Cloud the Storm Serpent