New World 124: Infinite Loop of False Positives
The sixteen duelists reached the halfway point of the first round. After Bionis and Juan's duel, the next match began between the primarily silent Zanbatou and the outspoken Agent Asterisk. It ended with the agent's victory. "...You've won. I have failed you, my lady." Zanbatou retreated to the outer ring of the arena, where the remaining duelists waited. "You have done what you could. I would not ask more from you." Nakana felt no shame or disappointment. She'd seen for herself how tough Asterisk could be. "At the very least now I will not have to face you, lady Nakana." He did not fear her judgment or fury. He feared only the chance that she would lose her dreams.
"Is that all you can think about, Zanbatou?" Someone else would judge him instead. "Ms. Sterling? What do you mean?" The samurai duelist saw her approach the two with a look of disdain. "I mean to ask if you did this for her and her alone? What about what you think should happen to STHEREA?" Abigail knew how Nakana felt about it, but now it sounded like Zanbatou was merely following her like a lapdog. "I do have my own opinion, Ms. Sterling. It happens to coincide with the Lady Nakana's feelings on the matter. But that is natural, we think alike. Asterisk wanted to return the power of this world to the companies, and we disagreed. That is why I challenged him. Not because she ordered me too." He explained himself. "But you do not want to destroy this power either? You want to maintain this world, in spite of everything it has done to you and your masters?" Abigail did not believe it.
"There is no point in asking him about it, Abigail Sterling. He has already been thrown out of this game of theirs. And I have my own reasons for wanting this. If you insist on your moral grandstanding, you know who you really have to take it up with." Nakana stepped in with a dueldisk already switched on. "You? You would accept a duel from me?" Abigail supposed this had been a long time coming. "Do you? I crushed you before, I can do it again." Nakana's voice already revealed that nothing really got settled between them, and now they saw another reason to fight. "I am not affraid, Nakana Shintaro." Abigail steadied herself and activated her own dueldisk. "Good. That is exactly what I was hoping to hear from you. It is time to end this once and for all."
"Oof. Nakana against Abigail huh. Saw it coming really.." Jenna commented as she saw the two duelists walk up to each other. "Why? Did I miss something?" Neo wondered. "What? Didn't anybody tell you what happened between them?" She shouted. "Ehr.. sorta. But I only got the broad strokes. And they're both pretty good duelists. The odds of them facing each other are pretty good regardless, aren't they?" He wondered what made her question the bracket at all. "Well it's still a bit rather predictable? First we get Wagner against Crescent. Then William and Juan get to settle their hash. What's next, Donna going up against Scarlet?" There were only sixteen of them, but that did not mean she could accept this many coincidences. "Hm. Seems to me like you're just mad you did not get to duel Zettai yourself. I mean duel Abigail.." Neo laughed it all off. "Oh sure, that you remember. That was like months ago now." She sighed. His reaction did not diminish her concerns. Something about this felt off.. and she did not know why or what.
Abigail's LP: 8000 Nakana's LP: 8000
-TURN 01-
The duel started with Abigail, and she knew not to waste Nakana's time with words. "I activate Heritage of the Chalice. I add one Noble Knight from the deck to my hand." Abigail used the effect to claim the Noble Knight Ogier, the blonde Infernoble Knight(4/1500/2000) [Zone 3] in red/black armor and white cloth. "A summoned Ogier sends one Noble Arms card or Noble Knight card from the deck to my graveyard!" The knight chose to send a Noble Arms Clarent. "I will be taking that card back. When I control a Fire Warrior, I can special summon Infernoble Knight Renaud from my hand!" Renaud the horse riding knight(1/500/200) [Zone 2] in white/red armor and black cloth could treat itself as a tuner if he summoned himself this way. And any special summon of this Infernoble Knight would return one equip spell or FIRE Warrior card back to the hand. Of course she picked the Clarent spell. " And now, I synchro summon my Infernoble Knight Captain Roland!" Renaud and Ogier came together inside the ring of synchronized flames, where five stars burned down to shape the promoted Captain form of the redhaired Infernoble Knight Roland(5/2000/500) [Extra Zone 1].
"You keep saying 'your' synchro monster, and 'your' graveyard.. But none of those cards are truly yours, are they?" Nakana interrupted her at this point. "I know merely exchanging hands is not enough to distance myself from my other half. Certainly not know that I have become one with her again. But even without that knowledge, I cannot go back to those cards: the Sky Strikers. But I did not choose these knights simply because they were offered to me. They believe in justice as much as I do. And if cards truly do embody the soul, than I think I made the right choice." Abigail retorted by giving her synchro knight three equip cards at once. She gave him the Clarent spell, and also activated Ogier and Renaud from the graveyard to equip themselves to Captain Roland as their own type of equipments. "I set two cards and end my turn. During the end of this turn, Roland can send one equip spell to the graveyard to add one warrior to my hand." Abigail sent the Infernoble Arms of Hauteclere away, and added the Noble Knight Ivyanne to her hand
-TURN 02-
"I do believe that our cards reflect some part of us, miss Starling. I cherish mine deeply, they were the first element that were truly my own.. and not a part of my mother and father's world handed down to me. I assume it was the same for you." Nakana drew her sixth card. "However, that is where we are different. Over time I have come to gain more and more cards, while you only have shed parts of yourself. You should not lie to yourself, because it will not change anything." She revealed the same spell that caused Zettai much grief during their last duel: That Grass is Greener. Even in her current state, Abigail preferred to keep her deck tidy and structured. This led to her having only 32 cards left, whereas Nakana's deck counted a total of 54 cards. The Green Grass spell discarded 22 of them, so that their card totals were all the same.
"That's got to be a nasty flash from the past." Charles remarked from the sidelines. Abigail already looked entirely too tense. Nakana did not seem fully pleased either. "Hmph. Almost there. I activate Book of Life." The graveyard looked good, now Nakana only needed a proper hand. The book spell resurrected one of her dead zombies: a fire-breathing black crane bird(4/1200/1000) [Zone 2]. "When Onmoraki is summoned from the graveyard, I can draw one card!" Nakana said as she added a monster to her hand. "The card has come. I normal summon Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi!" Once the nine-tailed lady and Mayakashi tuner(2/1200/0) [Zone 4] appeared on the field, the loop of the synchros and Mayakashi would begin as it always did.
"And when I control a Mayakashi, I can special summon Yuki Musume from my graveyard." Nakana discarded a zombie (Mezuki) from her deck to revive the tiny snow ghost girl Yuki-Musume(1/0/1900) [Zone 3]. She also banished Mezuki from the graveyard to special summon another zombie from her graveyard, Yasha the Skeletal Mayakashi(5/2000/0). Yasha and Dakki turned into link materials for Yuki Onna the Ice Mayakashi(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. After that it just became a matter of using Dakki's revival effect each time a monster got summoned from the extra deck. Dakki tuned with Yuki-Musume to create the synchro with which it would tune next. She went from the level 3 Oboro-Guruma all the way to the giant skeleton Mayakashi Gashadokuro(11/3300/2600) [Zone 5]. The constant revival of Dakki [Zone 3] prevented any non-Mayakashi synchros from being summoned this turn however.
"Ypu speak of justice. Let me see if you can safeguard your justice. I activate Zombie Necronize! As I control a high level undead monster, I can gain control of your monster and make it undead as well! I target that synchro monster you claim is yours!" Relocating 2000 points of attackpower would definitely spell the end for Abigail. Nakana would give her a clean swift defeat, unlike the shame she brought upon Zettai. "I am affraid I can thwart this effort, Nakana. I activate Morgan the Enchantress of Avalon! Since I control a Noble Knight with the Noble Arms, I can destroy that equipment to negate your spell!" The redhaired enchantress in her green battle dress hovered in front of Roland like an ethereal shield. She took his Clarent equip spell away and repulsed the rotting powers of Necronize. That same Clarent sword quickly re-assembled itself within Roland's hand, as the destroyed Noble Arm could equip itself to a warrior from the graveyard once more.
"So be it. Then I link summon the Absolute Zero Mayakashi Yuki-Onna!" In return, Nakana gave life to the coldest ice maiden(2900/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Right/Downright} [Extra Zone 2], using Yuki-Onna, Dakki and Onmoraki as the zombie link materials. "Yuki Onna reduces one monsters attackpoints to zero when another monster's effect activates in the graveyard!" As Dakki[Zone 3] revived herself from that graveyard again, her effect alone would set the Ice Mayakashi off. She floated around Roland and breathed her chilling mist across his body to freeze him(0/500) from head to toe. "Yuki! Strike him down!"
"I am affraid I cannot allow this either! I activate Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again and Horn of Olifant." Abigail flipped her trap cards. "Until Noble Arms excavates cards from the top of my deck for each Noble Arm spell I control, and I can keep one!" She excavated just one card to keep: the Noble Knight Iyvanne. "Horn of Olifant then destroys a Knight named Roland to special summon three Fire Warriors from my deck, with their effects negated. Their combined level has to be nine!" With one gold and white horn, Roland sounded off his own retreat from the field. He died, so that the Infernoble Knights Maugis(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2], Oliver(4/1000/1500) [Zone 3] and the regular Roland(1/500/500) [Zone 4] could appear in his stead to shield Abigail in defense mode.
"What are you not affraid of Abigail? Do you still seek my forgiveness? What if I told you that there is nothing to forgive?" Nakana continued the battle phase and sent Yuki-Onna to smash the defending Maugis. Killing the blue and red haired wizard knight caused Abigail to draw one card, though she needed to return three of her spent Noble cards (Clarent, Durendal, Ogier) to the deck to do so. Dakki and Yasha in turn killed the Infernoble Knights Roland and Oliver, leaving Abigail defenseless. "Can you even forgive yourself?" Nakana's final direct attack, sent by the giant skeleton Gashadokuro, knocked almost half of her opponents lifepoints away. "Is there nothing to forgive, or nothing you can forgive? To me it sounds like we are the same in this regard." Abigail found herself questioning Nakana's supposed forgiveness, since there seemed to be a clear passion behind her attacks.
Abigail's LP: 4700
"I can forgive you, Abigail. I could even forgive Zettai if I wanted too. I know now that like my parents relationship with Continuum, she was only a slave to another monster. Yet you are correct, I do feel anger. Anger that I want to throw away, but not like this. I know why you really demanded this duel. You seek to lose to me. You act as if me defeating you will make things right, that it will end your fear. That I cannot excuse, Abigail Starling." Nakana placed two trap cards face down and ended her turn. "Are you saying that I want to be a martyr?" Abigail asked. During the end of a turn in which he died, Infernoble Knight Roland could add one FIRE Warrior or Equip spell from the deck to the hand. She added the Infernoble Arms Joyeuse spell card. "I am saying you are looking for an easy way out. If you lose here, you might use that to justify leaving this world altogether. If you win here, you can make this world disappear. Either way, we would never see each other again.. But I do not think that you would prefer that."
-TURN 03-
"...The goal of this tournament is to see who can shape the future and past of STHEREA. I will not lie and say that I have not appreciated the good its alaos done. My life in one reality was a strict line of rules and torment, and I used my life in another reality to break away from it all. This is why..Zettai and I.. were so desperate to free you from your own life, Nakana. We saw ourselves in you and in your past." Abigail shook her head. "Abigail! You're still talking as if you two were one and the same. You know that is not true. Listen to what she said!" Juan took this moment to offer his own words of support. She sent an appreciative smile back towards him. "I know. I know all too well. Yet what matters is not the result, but the intention. She wanted to kill her parents.. because she felt people like them should not exist. And I felt the same way. I am glad that they could be saved and restored to their previous humanity. That does not change the way I feel. But I cannot pretend that the outcome of this duel will change anything. I have often enough lambasted those who would seek to use me to balance out their own guilt. I should not start doing so myself now."
"And you should not either, Nakana Shintaro!" Abigail normal summoned the Noble Knight Iyvanne, a redhaired swordsman in emerald green armor. "When Iyvanne equips an Infernoble Arm card to himself, he special summons one Noble Knight token to the field." Abigail gave him the Infernoble Arms Joyeuse; a large broadword with a decorated golden hilt. The Knight took some energy from his new sword and channeled it into a great golden lion: his Noble Knight token(1/0/0). "And when I control a Noble Arms spell, I can special summon the Noble Knight Custennin from my hand!" Her next warrior belonged to the fire-free knight clan as well: a slick blackhaired man(4/1000/2000) [Zone 2] in silver and gold armor. "Then, if I destroy Joyeuse, I can add one Fire warrior from the graveyard back to my hand." Of the many fallen knights, Abigail decided to bring Renaud back to her hand. However for her next move, she would keep the flame low. "I link summon Isolde, A Tale of Two Noble Knights!" She used Iyvanne and his token as link materials: two warriors to bring the Isolde ladies(1600/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] to life.
"What are you trying to say, Abigail? That I seek to absolve my own guilt? There is no guilt left to resolve. Zanbatou is free, my family is safe and the world is as it should be. The one who has an issue with our current situation is you!" Nakana snapped harshly and flipped her counter trap. "This is Enma's Judgment! It destroys one monster that you special summoned! Then I may banish five undead monsters from my graveyard to special summon one level seven or higher undead monster from my deck!" Enma the red ogre judge of the underworld appeared to sentence Isolde to death. Afterwards the trap banished five of her zombies (Tsuchigumo, Onmoraki, YukiOnna, Gozuki and Shinobi Necro) and called out the winged and rotted pumpkin ghost Jack-O-Bolan(7/1500/2200). "This is not about our personal history anymore, Abigail!"
"You claim that. Yet your every action fits that of one who sees themselves as superior. You feel I do not deserve to win the power there behind those barrier, you believe me to be weak. But power comes in many forms, including through respect. That is what I have learned." Abigail activated her own trap now, despite her clear lack of such cards on the field. "I banish Until All Noble Arms Are One! Doing so will summon one Noble warrior from my deck: Infernoble Knight Ogier!" The gentle blonde knight(4/1500/1200) [Zone 2] found his way back to the battlefield, and tossed another sacred weapon from the deck into the graveyard with his effect: Noble Arms Clarent. "Now. I XYZ-summon the Sacred Noble Knight of the King Custennin!" Ogier and the not-yet-sacred Custennin shared the same level, making them the proper candidates for XYZ-materialization. The latter knight visually absorbed itself and the former Infernoble knight to add a red cape to his shining armor and to draw two great swords. "King Custennin's Knight returns cards on the field to the deck, by detaching the same number of materials. I choose.."
"You choose nothing. Jack-O-Bolan activates its effect!" Nakana shouted and banished her Halloween spirit from the field. "It leaves for one turn, to resurrect one undead monster! I choose Crow Tengu, who can destroy one attack position monster when it is special summoned from my graveyard!" The lingering spiritual energy transformed into a different undead animal: the humanoid black crow(4/1400/1200) [Zone 1] in red priest robes. The Tengu waved his staff around to exile the Sacred Noble Knight before he could perform his own rite of dismissal
"I see. But when the Knight of one King dies, he can be replaced by the knight of another! Custennin special summons the Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus and attaches himself to that monster!" Instead of a darkhaired king, Abigail served the original Arthurian lord and Sacred Knight Artorigus(R5/2200/2200). "He equips three Noble Arms from the graveyard to himself!" The man with crownlike red hair and glorious white/gold armor claimed the Infernoble Arms Hauteclere and Joyeuse, along with the Noble Arms Clarent. "If I destroy Hauteclere, the Knight that held it will be able to make two attacks in one turn! And if I pay five hundred of my lifepoints, that monster can attack directly!" She shattered the twin blades of Hauteclere with their flame-colored hilts: leaving two blades of pure fire in the Kings hands instead. The addition of the great Clarent sword also made the XYZ-monster less tangible, so that he could pass through the enemy's frontlines. "So that is why. She uses her weapons well." While Nakana did not sound very impressed usually, Zanbatou did seem to have some form of respect for her moves.
Abigail's LP: 4200
"But it will not be enough, Abigail Starling! I activate Return of the Zombies! This trap banishes one zombie on the field and brings another from its master's grave back to the world of the living!" The Mayakashi Yasha could serve her no longer except in permanent death. She banished it and instead resurrected the Mayakashi of the Nine-tailed fox: Yoko[Zone 2] "Yoko! Destroy her XYZ-monster!" Much like Crow Tengu before it, the Graceful Mayakashi would slay a king with his deadly powers. Only this time, Abigail did not want to let it happen. "You are too late, miss Shintaro." She did not have to either. "I activate Glory of the Noble Knights and equip my Noble Knight with... The Noble Arms of Destiny!" A quickplay spell followed into an equip spell activated from the deck. "A Noble Knight with the Arms of Destiny can evade death once a turn!" Custennin used his new silver shield to deflect the flames of Yoko, after which his equipment became brittle. It did enough, for now Nakana had no more means of destruction. "You were stronger than I thought after all."
"I do not see it as strength alone. Not my strength alone. Everyone has helped me make it this far, and that includes you. I believe we are both happy that we could meet each other and those around us." She gave a quick nod to Charles in the audience. ".. I activate Magnum Shield! A warrior equipped with this card gains attack equal to its defense!" One spell remained in her hand and one zone stayed open on her field. She put those two together and handed King Custennin(4400/2200) the gold-spiked crimson shield. "That's the same combo Tycho used." Charles realized why she looked at him now. "Yes. If Tycho were here, he would be glad to see this. I am happy I could meet him too, if only he could escape his own cycle of hatred." Abigail turned towards her opponent. "I believe this is what you wanted to see, Nakana Shintaro: power that fits one who wants to direct the fate of many. Right now I will only decide yours." The Sacred Knight rushed across the battleground, moving through the enemy lines with the effect of the Clarent spell, and delivering two swings with the burning blades of Hauteclere. 8800 points of direct damage ended the duel in a single turn.
Nakana's LP: 0
Nakana let the damage wash over her and smiled. "Yes. This is what I wanted to see, Abigail Sterling. Before when you spoke, I only saw a woman who wanted to avoid the consequences and run away. But I see now that you are truly dedicated to this justice of yours. And you are strong enough to carry it out. I thought I had this power too...I thought I could become the master of this world myself and bring down entities like Continuum with this power. But perhaps you are right, perhaps to destroy It, we have to destroy STHEREA." She opened her eyes again to see what Abigail had to say. "You are strong as well, Nakana. You might have been able to control it. I understand that you would want to use all of its potential to the fullest. I understand the temptation of power all too well. But whatever fate we choose, we can do it together. Because in spite of everything, I see you as a friend." Abigail extended an open hand.
"And I do so too, Abigail Sterling." Nakana reached out and shook it. "We will fight together." Once more, the ties of comradery proved to be stronger than those of animosity...
"Hey Charles. This is funny right?" At that moment, Jenna strolled up to Charles. "What is?" He looked at her quizzically."Uhrm... this whole thing. It just seems a bit odd. and.. sappy. We've had like half a dozen happy endings in less than an hour. Nobody is upset about losing, and at this rate there wont be anybody left on team 'lets not close STHEREA'" Jenna almost sounded a little disgusted. "Well. I think that's just natural. These duels help us talk things out, make peace with whatever issues we still had and help us understand each other." Charles shrugged. "Yeah yeah I know. You're probably gonna say the same thing that Neo did, that I am expecting the worst when there really isn't anything to worry about. But I got past that feeling a while ago. And if its back now, it just makes me think there has to be something more to it. Hell, the fact that Veyron, Neo and Asterisk got better all at once. and nobody bats an eye at that?"
"You are serious." He realized. "Yeah! I woudn't be joking about this. Just tell me I am overreacting and I will let it go. Neo already told me the same thing anyway.. but you seem a bit more down to earth, if you get what I mean." The girl let out a little laugh. "You mean I am more willing to be paranoid about something good happened to me? Heh, well I can tell you this is no illusion." At least now he felt less awkward about having used Vigionaire's sensors just to be safe. There was such a thing as being too cautious. "Maybe you need a break, talk to your family again. I know it helped me too to talk to my old folks." Charles proposed. "Yeah, maybe. Good idea actually.. I am getting tired of staring at the same walls anyway." Jenna said as she let out a yawn. "Yeah that's fine. I will come get you when the round is almost over. Also don't touch anything that looks fragile." Charles warned her. "I wasn't gonna!" She hissed.
...
A few seconds later, she was logged off and back in Dharma's mansion. "Huh. Look at you all." She snickered as she saw the others in the room all safely wrapped up in their energy cocoons. "Hmmm. Maybe I can put a bucket of water over Wagner's head. Heh. Nah, better not." She quickly got bored of just staring at them and her mind began to wander. "No wait. I should call them. Where was the phone again?" Jenna began to search the place, wondering why she lost track of it in the first place. Eventually she remembered she left one at the pool outside. "Ha! Gotcha. Hey.." As she walked out, she caught sight of something odd in the sky. "Another one?" She saw a plane in the sky, another Boeing jet. "Geez, maybe that's why she got this place so cheaply. Air traffic must be insane here." She shrugged it off at first, but then she took a closer look. "Wait.." It looked exactly like the first plane she saw.. which was not that strange..
What was strange however, was the fact that the plane did not move at all. "What the hell? It IS the same one?" It had not moved since she first saw it hours ago.
(To Be Continued in New World 125: Procedurally Generated Apathy)
New Cards used by Abigail Starling
Morgan the Enchantress of Avalon
Noble Knight Ivyanne
Noble Knight Custennin
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Infernoble Knight Captain Roland
Sacred Noble Knight of King Custennin
Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus
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Noble Arms - Clarent
Infernoble Arms - Joyeuse
Noble Arms of Destiny
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Horn of Olifant
Until Noble Arms are Needed Once Again
New Cards used by Nakana Shintaro
Onmoraki
Crow Tengu
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Enma's Judgment