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.

112. World 104: Gotterdammerung

World 104: Gotterdammerung

The air felt different today, warmer. Normally Wagner would not have minded, except one was not supposed to feel this way when walking through the middle of a snowcovered mountain path. After everything that happened before he needed to clear his head. He still heard nothing from Crescent or anyone else and could only imagine their adventures and horrors. Perhaps that's why he felt so heated: because of his anxiety. He could not just sit there and wait in his own room for her to come back. He could also not reach her because he could not do what she did: bring out the avatar inside of him. He used to think that he stood on top of the world, that he could take on any challenge and defeat any foe. Time proved him wrong again and again. Still, he wanted to help. Not just to prove himself.. not just because he thought she needed saving, but because it felt like the right thing to do. But what could he do?

"What are you going to do?" Wagnerok asked him the very same thing.

"Wh-what? You're me!?" Wagnerok let out a cry of panic. There at the end of the road stood his muscled-up godlike reflection. "I thought you understood that already, Wagner. I am who you are supposed to be." Wagnerok marched towards him with his dueldisk at his side. "No. You're, you are the one from my nightmare!" Wagner cursed as he instinctively reached for his own dueldisk and grabbed nothing but air. "Are you that much in denial? That was all real. I saw what you saw. Then again your confusion wont make any difference to me. Because it is time for us to be one again anyway. I only thought that Aurora would have told you all about me. I guess she's used to lying now. Either that, or is she is a bigger fool than I imagined."

"What? You take that back!" Instantly Wagner felt the heat inside him reach a peak and burst outwards in a flash of a virtual light. "Whoa.." Now he carried a dueldisk, and he felt better than ever. "Really? It was her name that got you to awaken your power?" Wagnerok scoffed. At least now he would get a proper duel. "Ergh. Of course! Nobody gets to insult her! She did tell me everything. I just... I just didn't want to believe. I did not want to accept that I could do all those things to her! I may have looked into the mirror more times than is healthy, but I do not want to see someone like you looking back at me!" He'd done it subconsciously, but his new avatar looked much more like his real self and less like the idealized adonis before him. "Heh. We are going to do so much more to her, once I defeat you.. Wagner."

Wagner's LP: 8000 Wagnerok's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Over my dead body, Wagnerok! No, you know what... I am not calling you Wagnerok, that is just confusing. You do not deserve my name!" Wagner sighed as he started drawing his cards. "Hmph. I actually agree, I should have abandoned this unimaginative name a long time ago! I was a fool who believed himself to be a fool.. when I could have been a god. But that does not mean I do not need you, Wagner. Your end will be my new beginning. For that reason, I will call myself Ragnarok: the death of the old gods!" 'Ragnarok' proclaimed. "You just changed one letter." Wagner pointed out. He then placed one trap card face down and one monster. "I changed more than you can imagine! What have you changed, Wagner? All I see is disappointment in you... as a person and as a duelist. I mean, this is the great play as devised by Wagner? You really are nothing but a weak shadow of my glorious self!"

-TURN 02-

Wagnerok drew his sixth card and activated the spell Nobleman of Crossout. "Heh, your face-down card must the Valkyrie Vierte!" Ragnarok accurately predicted the monster that his face-down banishing spell would remove. "You knew?" Nobleman of Crossout also banished another Valkyrie Vierte from Wagner's deck. "But of course! I am you, only stronger and better! I know all your weaknesses, Wagner!" Wagnerok normal summoned the blonde trickster god Generaider Loptr(4/1500/1500) [Zone 3] "Behold the face of true power! I sacrifice my Generaider monster with Loptr's effect, to special summon the Generaider Boss of Storms from my deck!" Loptr tributed his own body so that his allfather could live. Harr took on the form of a red-horned god(9/3000/3000) [Zone 3] wrapped in a black stormlike cloak. One red eye peered through the shadows underneath its hood. "Heh, if I had gotten the first turn, you would have been vanquished already. But now I will have to take my time. Nevertheless you can mark my words. This will hurt. Harr! Direct Attack!"

"If the storm comes, then it will be one I control as well! I activate Storm Dragon's Return! I can special summon one banished monster!" Just as Harr summoned up the black thunder clouds above Wagner's head, he managed to find a new target for the Stormlord's attack. "That card?" The Stormdragon trap revived one of the banished Vierte Valkyries(4/1400/1400) [Zone 2] in defense mode, and let her take the hit. Once Harr killed her, the greenhaired Vierte could special summon a new Valkyrie from the deck. "yes. That was Aurora's card! I knew this confrontation would one day come, Ragnarok. Ever since she told me about what happened with Scura and Bionis. That is why I asked her to help me, to get her to improve my deck..." Wagner used Vierte's effect to special summon the youngest brunette Valkyrie Sechscte(0/1600) [Zone 5]. Her on-summon effect then let him special summon another Valkyrie from his deck: the redhaired Valkyrie Dritte(3/1000/1600) [Zone 3]. "You would let her try to improve you? She is even weaker than us both!" Ragnarok cursed.

"You should be glad that she is not here, Ragnarok. If she were, she would have crushed you even quicker than I ever could. But I guess that is the difference between you and I. I can at least see what I lack now." Wagner could also use Dritte's effect as she got special summoned: adding one Valkyrie card (Ride of the Valkyries) from the deck to his hand. "What you lack stands before you, Wagner. This duel is the only way we can get it back. But I will be the one in control when it happens." Ragnarok placed two trap cards down and ended his turn.

-TURN 03-

Wagner drew his next card, and it would not be the only card he drew that turn. "Haha! I activate Generaider Boss Fight! I can activate one Generaider field spell from my deck!" Because Ragnarok was not done yet. "And afterwards, you draw one card!" He placed the tree of the nine realms, Generaider Boss Stage, on the snowy fields and triggered its effect as soon as Wagner accepted his forced draw. "Generaider Boss Stage summons one Generaider from my deck when my adversary adds one card from the deck to their hand! And then it summons Generaider tokens to fill the field! I summon Mardel from Vanaheim!" The lowerleft realm opened its gates and released the blonde queen goddess Mardel(9/2400/2400) [Zone 2] along with three attack-mode Generaider tokens(4/1500/1500) [Zones 1, 4 & 5]. "Mardel adds one Generaider card to my hand: Generaider Utgarda!" Also when you draw a card outside your draw phase, Harr will force you to discard one card!" The Lord of Storms agitated the tempest above once more, shooting down one black lightning bolt to incinerate the ? spell card in Wagner's hand.

"Are you done? You realize that I know every card you know as well, don't you? I guess I really do love the sound of my own voice, even though now I hate it at the same time." In spite of everything, Ragnarok still sounded like him. Wagner could not help but feel weirded out. "Then you hate yourself, Wagner. But I don't. I only hate the weakness caused by our separation. We deserve better. We deserve each other!" Ragnarok pretended not to be bothered either, though Wagner could tell that he was frustrated. "Hmph. I think I can do better than that." That feeling would not translate into sympathy however. "I activate Valkyrie's Embrace! I switch my Valkyrie to defense mode and banish one card you control!" He went straight for the heart, switching Dritte's position to target Generaider Harr. "You can do better than me? Than yourself? You're deluding yourself!" Ragnarok struck back by sacrificing two of his Generaider tokens, dispelling the spell card of Embrace. "Harr negates one effect each turn at the cost of two of my Generaider monsters!"

"But you can only do that once a turn! Now I am free of its all seeing eye! I summon the Diviner of Heralds!" Wagner used another card outside of his element; the braided and hooded angel Diviner(2/500/300) [Zone 2]. "I can send one fairy monster from the deck to my graveyard. I choose Trias Hierarchia!" The Diviner and the discarded Hierrachy angel were both cards taken from GigaSaferSefirot after winning an ante duel some time ago. "Now I can sacrifice up to three fairy monsters to special summon Trias Hierarchia from my graveyard! And when I do, I can destroy all cards you control and draw two cards!" Valkyrie Dritte, Valkyrie Sechste, Diviner of the Heralds: the sacrifices waited for the moment of glory. Their light broke the boundaries between heaven and earth and resurrected a gigantic mechanical angel(9/1900/2900) [Zone 3] fully covered in gold-edged white armor with six great white wings. "Rgh. Curse her." Trias just needed one swing with her golden staff to sweep the almighty Harr off of the Generaider stage. Afterwards Wagner drew two cards.

"I summon another Valkyrie Sechste too!" Since he tributed her, the Diviner of Heralds could special summon a level 2 or lower fairy from his deck: another Sechste(0/1600) [Zone 1] in defense mode. She used her effects to special summon yet another Valkyrie Dritte(1000/1600) [Zone 2], whose own effect added the Valkyrie Zweite to Wagner's hand. "And then I activate Ride of the Valkyries! To summon all the Valkyries in my hand! Erste and Zweite! I believe you know what this leads too!" The stormy clouds parted, and the light of divinity broke through. The pinkhaired Valkyrie Zweite(5/1600/1600) [Zone 4] and blue-haired Valkyrie Erste(6/1600/1800) [Zone 5] rode down on their majestic horses, and unleashed the wrath upon the Generaiders. "Zweite destroys one monster, and Erste banishes one monster from the graveyard!" Now Mardel exited the stage as well, cut down by Zweite's holy sword. Meanwhile Erste absorbed the soul of Harr into her own blade to copy his attackpower. Banishing one of Ragnarok's monsters also added 200 attackpoints to Valkyrie Dritte(1200/1600).

"Ha! Let me hazard a guess! Your next move will involve the Ride of Valkyries' graveyard effect! Even when you're going up against yourself you think you can win with the same tired old tactics!" Ragnarok scoffed. Nevertheless Wagner stuck to his 'tactics' and banished Ride of the Valkyries from the graveyard to add the Mischief of the Time Goddess quickplay spell to his hand. "If it works, it works!" Valkyrie Sechste remained in defense mode, the three older sisters joined Trias Hierarchia for their first battle phase. "Trias! Destroy the Generaider token! Valkyrie Erste, Zweite and Dritte... attack Ragnarok!" A beam shot from the heavens crashed down upon the generated token and blasted it to pieces. Ragnarok himself would get to enjoy the sharp swords of the Valkyrie warriors as they cut off 3000, 1500 and 1200 of his lifepoints. "Look how far I have come already! And now it's time to finish this!"

Ragnarok's LP: 1900

"You absolute fool! You cannot use Mischief if you control a monster that is not a Valkyrie! You made that same mistake when you dueled FriedFang that one time!" Ragnarok knew what would normally have come next, the quickplay spell of the Time Goddess that flashed time toward to Wagner's next battle phase. Trias Hierarchia sort of threw a wrench in that plan. "You mean when we made that same mistake! And actually I haven't. You see Echo gave me a secret weapon too, Ragnarok! I activate my skill, Sent to the Futire! It banishes one monster I control until your next endphase!" If Trias would be no more, Mischief of the Time Goddess would also be activate-able again.

Sent to the Future, Skill Card
Banish 1 monster you control until your next Standby Phase.

"A delayed skill? You actually made that card up on the spot just so you could get your quick victory? Hmph. I take it back, you are not a fool. You are an infant who has never learned to grow up!" Unfortunately Ragnarok would not have lost this turn regardless. "I activate Fiendish Portrait! While you still control Trias Hierarchia! I can special summon the same monster from my deck!" His trap painted a portrait of the soon-to-be-banished white angel, and placed Ragnarok's copy of that monster(9/1900/2900) [Zone 3] down on the field in defense mode. "What? You have her too?" The Valkyrie lacked the power needed to destroy this Trias, even Erste who would lose her attackboost as soon as this turn ended. "But of course! In fact I'd say this card fits my Generaiders better than it does those women! I know you, Wagner. I knew you'd try to fall back on cards like Trias to counter my attacks. But I improved my deck specifically to shut down yours." Ragnarok's play left Wagner in a bit of a bind. He could save his Mischief spell for the next turn, but then all of his Valkyrie monsters would be shuffled back into the deck as a cost of using Ride of Valkyries. "Ugh. I activate Mischief of the Time Goddess!"

-TURN 05-

Instead he took the other option. An entire turn disappeared in the blink of an eye as the Time Goddess sent all the Valkyrie sisters into the future and gave them their now useless second battle phase. At the very least he could not keep his monsters on the field, and he could switch their positions now too. "I switch Dritte and Zweite to defense mode! And I activate my spell card, Backup Squad! That was my turn!"

-TURN 06-

"What? No words to say about your continuous spell? Of course I know what it does already, but that did not stop you before!?" Backup Squad would let Wagner draw one card for each 1000+ points of damage he took from one or more battles. "You really did think you were going to win just now, didn't you? Not even Echo's gifts are going to close the gulf between our skills! You may have thought you hurt me just now. But nothing counts until the last lifepoint has disappeared! And I haven't even shown you my full power yet!" Ragnarok activated a rather surprising card, the World Legacy Monstrosity spell. "Huh? But I thought you lost the shield! I saw you lose it!" Wagner protested. "I did not lose it! I was ambushed! It was unfairly taken from me! The fact that I did not lose these cards is proof of that!" The monstrous spell special summoned two more level 9 monsters from his deck when he already controlled a level 9 monster: Dovelgus the iron dwarf Boss(9/1500/2500) [Zone 2] and another Mardel Generaider Boss of Light(9/2400/2400) [Zone 4]. The latter added the Generaider Boss Quest spell card to Ragnarok's hand.

"You cannot fool me! You can make your own cards! You could just as easily have made a copy of any Legacy spell just so you can say you're still worthy! That's what this is all about to begin with! You're trying to undo the damage Schwarzwald caused!" Wagner would not let his own dark reflection trick him. "I am trying to survive! You do not even know what is out there, what is trying to slay us all! Zettai and Veyron already.. and Khan and Scura before them. But not me. I am better than all of them! I will never lose! Even if I have to cheat the gods to achieve victory! I summon Jormungandr!" Dovelgus, Mardel and Trias Hierarchia were all overlayed into Jormungandr: the Generaider Boss of Eternity(R9/3000/3000) [Extra Zone 1]. Black scales and red spines surged through the white snow as coiled around the great world eating serpent took form: gaining 1000 ATK and DEF for each of its XYZ-materials.

"Jormungandr detached one material, to force us both to draw a card! Then we both attach one card from our hand to Jormungandr!" Endlessly hungry Jormungandr devoured the attached Generaider Dovelgus, and then transformed both drawn cards (Valkyrie Chariot, Generaider Boss Room) into XYZ-materials for itself(4000/4000). At the same time, the Generaider Boss Stage used Wagner's draw to summon a new Generaider from the nine realms: Generaider Nidhogg the ice realm worm(9/2100/2600) [Zone 2]. "Heh, we're almost there, Wagner. I cannot wait much longer either." Ragnarok activated another spell, Kujikiri Amulet. He could tribute his level 9 monster, Naglfar, to draw two new cards. "I cannot wait to destroy the rest of your pathetic ego! Jormungandr! Crush Valkyrie Erste!" No matter what monster the eldest Valkyrie banished now, it would not save her from the black serpent. So Erste(1500/1800) banished Dovelgus, and vanished inside Jormungandr's gaping maw. "That was just one Valkyrie, Ragnarok! Hardly the end of the world!" If anything her death helped him, since it meant Backup Squad would draw him two cards.

Wagner's LP: 5500

"You are so god damned naïve. Maybe this will wake you up to the reality of your inevitable doom! I special summon the Divine Arsenal AA Zeus of Sky Thunder!" The clouds above the two duelists grew grey and ominous once again, though the storm carried a different more mechanical sound this time. Bright purple lightning crashed down on top of Jormungandr and its remaining XYZ-materials: swallowing everything up inside a shaft of light that opened up the extra deck. "Zeus? As in the Greek god of thunder?" This monster did not look like any mythological deity from the picture books. AA Zeus(R12/3000/3000) appeared as a giant gold and silver fighting robot with wings powered by purple electricity and jets of green flame. "Yes, Wagner! I can use one XYZ-monster that battled this turn as an XYZ-material to XYZ-summon Zeus! And then I can use two of that card's materials to send all cards you control to the graveyard!" Zeus took two of the XYZ-materials inherited from Jormungandr and unleashed the thunder within its turbines on everything at once.

"Gah!" Backup Squad, Valkyrie Sechste, Dritte and Zweite: none could get away from the divine sky thunder. Ragnarok also lost his own field spell, but he would soon get his hands on another copy of it anyway. "I activate Generaider Boss Quest!" He could reveal and return one Generaider monster (Utgarda) in his hand to the deck to add two Generaider spell or trap cards (Generaider Boss Stage, Generaider Boss Bite) to his hand. "I don't mind if it takes me an eternity to whittle you down to nothing, Wagner. You're only hurting yourself by pretending that you have a shot at this. At her!" Ragnarok quickly placed the second field spell, returning the world tree to its shining glory. Two traps were also placed face down to end his turn with. At this time the effect of Wagner's time traveling skill ended and Trias Hierarchia[Zone 4] reappeared on the field in defense mode. "Your soul will be mine! And then she will be mine as well!"

"I am not his property. Nor is he yours!"

"Aurora?" Wagner and Ragnarok turned their heads to the side at almost the exact same speed, realizing that their mutual acquaintance had come for one of them. "You came back!?" That one, Wagner, was horrified that she seemingly put herself in the line of fire like this.

"Of course. She knows what is coming." The other, Ragnarok, pretended like he'd anticipated this moment all along. "I did not come to stop you, Ragnarok. Though I should have known you would be here. But there is a fear greater power out there." Compared to Continuum, Ragnarok did not terrify her at all anymore. "Tch. That is exactly why I am here. To save you from it!" He tried to explain, but she would not listen. "No. I do not want your help, not like this. I came to help Wagner.. though to stop you, he will not need much."

"Yeah... Yeah! Now that Aurora is with me, I cannot lose! Bring on the next turn, Ragnarok! I am ready! And I am not going anywhere!"

...

"Nobody's here yet. I have to go out there and find them." Charles paced around the living room of Dharma's home, which inevitably caught her attention. "You say that, but you know you cant do that." She knew him well enough. If he'd really wanted to go, he would not have waited for her to show up and talk him out of it. "Tch. Yes.. but it's too quiet. Nobody has responded to our call yet. What if Scarlet Fever knows what we're doing? What if she intercepted the others? I let Crescent and Acrates go. What if they do not come back?" Not doing anything still felt worse than possibly taking a large risk. Of course he had not always felt this way. "V came back. I am sure the others will too. It was their decision to go. We gotta respect that." Dharma understood his worries. They needed everyone they could get to prepare their final charge. And if nobody showed up, it would be a very brief futile charge.

"Geez, Blanche. Did you call me just to brag?" Fortunately they would not have to worry about that possibility for much longer. "Jenna?" The Subterror duelist arrived with impeccable timing. "Yeah yeah I got the coordinates. Hey! Don't touch anything okay!" And she came with a handful of people at her side. Her parents.. and several children younger than her. "I swear, if you take anything!" She growled as her brothers and sisters spread out across the mansion, jumping all over the place. Her mother and father meanwhile stared around with a look of paralyzing confusion. "I had to bring the whole family along, sorry about that. Teleport them once and they get all excited." She shuddered to think what would happen if the kids managed to get their own avatars in this new world. "Eh. The house should be big enough for all of us. You can join Charles' folks in the relaxation room." The white-haired duelist offered with a smile on her face and pointed to her left. "Thanks. Come on, dad.. mom. You'll get used to all of this soon." Jenna sighed, she was not used to being the responsible one in this family.

"That is one down, boss." Dharma snickered. "I suppose it is. I should not have been so impatient." Charles should have realized that sooner or later his friends would show up again. But he had not counted on them bringing their relatives along. Then again he could hardly complain, with his own parents recovering just one room below. "Though now I am wondering.. where is your family right now, Dharma?" He knew she did not like them, but she would probably not want them to be in harms way either. "Honestly I wouldn't know. I think it might be better to just keep them away from all this mess, in case Continuum does try to attack us. Plus maybe I also dont really want to see them right now."

"Well at least you're honest. But you have a point. We cannot protect the entire world in one house."

"Speaking of families.. Hey Nakana." Dharma walked over to a different section of the house, to talk to someone she hadn't had a chance to say much to yet. "So what ya think of the place? I know its not much compared to your home." She caught the zombie princess outside near the pool. "No. It is even better. You have so much freedom here." Nakana could not stop herself from staring at the world in front of her: a clear blue sky and a calm beach. "Ehr well not everyone gets to have a view like this. But I guess anything would feel nice after what you went through. After what your folks went through.. are they still out?" Dharma hadn't spotted mr or mrs Shintaro walking around yet. Though she would not know what to say to them if she met them. "They are, Zanbatou is watching over them both down below. If it hadn't been for him, they would still be back there... Echo tried to help them, the way she did with Zanbatou. But I am still not convinced it will work. I still do not know if they ever loved me." Nakana sighed. "Hey, if Echo says they did. They probably did. But really, family is just a word. If they don't love you, you dont need to love them. I learned that the hard way. You still have plenty of friends!"

"Heh. I suppose I do." Nakana smiled, briefly. "But for how much longer? Even if my parents wake up loving me again, Continuum can take it all away in the blink of an eye. It can take you all away.. And it is out there somewhere." She gazed at the horizon. "None of us are safe anywhere."

(To Be Continued in World 105: Its All In The Name)

New Cards used by Wagner
SENT TO THE FUTURE

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Diviner of Heralds
Trias Hierarchia

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Valkyrie's Embrace

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Storm Dragon's Return

New Cards used by Ragnarok/Wagnerok
Harr, Generaider Boss of Storms
Trias Hierarchia

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Divine Arsenal AA-Zeus - Sky Thunder

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Nobleman of Crossout

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Generaider Boss Fight
Fiendish Portrait