New World Epilogue: End of the Line

"Charles!? Hey, wake up!"

"What?" Charles opened his eyes. "Where.." He saw a reflective white ceiling and a dim lamp above his head. "The insitute?" Here he woke up as himself in his human body, not as the duelist who'd dueled Dharma a few minutes ago and lost. "Not again.." He could not remember how he ended up here, but he knew where he was. This room was he podroom of the research center, the same one that got him back into STHEREA all those days ago. "Its about time." And it got her in as well. "Cherry?" Cherry Anise, back in her normal clothes as well. "Well yeah.. Why are you acting so weird?" The trickstar duelist gave him a strange look as if she expected him to know more than he did. "I just.. I am just a little disoriented. I think.. I am starting to remember." He slowly put the pieces back together of his fragmented memory. The transition to the real world felt about as weird and jarring as his initial transition into the network, his mind did not experience the actual crossing. But he did not forget what led to it.. "We did it, then. We made the world normal again."

"Yeah we did." Cherry sighed and folded her arms. "That guy said we would be shunted back. And here we are now." It made sense that they would the two of them wound up back here, everyone else with a virtual avatar would be forced back to their original location as well. There were no spots anywhere on earth that would accept a virtual entity. Almost. "How long was I out for then?" Charles still had a lot of questions, even as his memories came back to him. "Ten to fifteen minutes. Maybe you were just more tired than I was.. I have to say, I am getting a strange feeling of deja vu here." The girl shivered. "Like this happened before? I see what you're getting at. I swear, if this turns out to be another simulation.." He tapped his hand against the pods and the various instruments in the room. It felt physical at least. "Real or not, this place still gives me the creeps. Where is everyone anyway!?" Cherry shouted, she did not want to wander off by herself when the entire place seemed to be deserted. "Yes, the staff left a while ago... But we should be.."

"We have to get out of here!" Another familiar face burst into the room at that exact moment. "Tycho? You've recovered?" It was none of the than the tense fire duelist. Though he'd been left at Dharma's house before, he too originally came from here. "I am not asleep anymore, no." He sounded angry, but less so than before. "Easy, Rivers. The worst is behind us... we defeated Continuum." Charles figured that Tycho would understandably need to be caught up on the whole adventure. "I know you did! I saw it! I was there too, when you summoned me!" Tycho yelled. "When I.. summoned you? You mean when I created that link monster? You remember that?" Of course Tycho would have been one of countless souls helping with that massive link summon. Salamangreat Heatleo might have been one of the cards he even chipped in, but Charles could have spotted it in the sea of a billion monsters. "I remember everything! That's why I cannot stay here! I have to see them! I have to see Hourace!"

"Vera and.. Oh! Right, those guys. Creator dropped those names so randomly, I almost forgot." Cherry Anise laughed. "This is nothing to laugh about! For the first time in years I can now see their faces in my head, I can recall their voices! I know who they were, and what they meant to me!" Tycho yelled at her. "This must mean that project flute really was reversed everywhere. All the information Exeter stole from us is back where it belongs." Charles nodded to himself. He had to admit that somewhere down the line even he'd forgotten that Tycho mentioned the name of Horace before now. Who knows what else would be erased if the project had been left alone. "But who were they then? Your family? Just some classmates? Also I thought it was just one dude." All this talk made the girl slighly more curious. Perhaps this time they could get the full story. Before they never got a direct answer, likely because Tycho himself did not even have it anymore. "I dont have for that! Not here! First we get out, and then maybe I will tell you! Why are we still here in the first place?!"

"Well, I should make one thing clear first, Tycho. What we did was more than destroy project flute. We removed STHEREA from the world completely. The network.. or at least our connection with it is completely shut down. So we cannot quick jump to anywhere else. I am sure you at least noticed that you're not able to go into your avatar anymore." Charles tapped at the side of his wrist to point out that they did not have the bracelet either. They were pure flesh and blood again. "What? Did you even think about that before you did it? How the hell are we supposed to get out of here now? Everyone else is gone, and I dont think you know how to operate these machines!" Tycho snarled. "I took care of that too, Tycho. Dharma is going to help us." Charles answered him calmly. "Dharma?" Tycho heard that line before. "Not this again. Why do you always count on her to save you? What can she possibly do?" He had even more to say and shout..

But the sound of a roaring jet engine close to the ground distracted him. "What was that?" He cried out as the entire place rumbled. "That could be her right now..." Charles smiled.

Of course Charles was no fool. He made some arrangements before they pulled the plug on the network, he made some arrangements with Vigionair. Since he knew the base'd been abandoned, he asked for him to send someone to their coordinates to come and pick them up. And though it could have been anyone with any kindof vehicle, Dharma insisted that it would be her... As the sun set in the distance, the gang headed outside to follow the noise. On the island connected to the center, there was a landing strip. A small white private jet managed to use that strip. And in that plane, the white haired duelist would be.. "She pulled if off. I cant believe it." Charles had no idea that she would show up this soon. "What was that!?" Cherry howled. They could heardly hear each other underneath the roar of the jet engines. "I said I cant believe she.. never mind! Lets go!" No more useful information could be extracted from this place, they could finally say goodbye to it. Charles did not want to wait a moment longer.

"Charles! Wow. Its been a while eh." The overjoyed Dharma waited at the entrance to them inside her fancy ride. "Heya Tycho.. and I guess you must be Cherry." She greeted every one of them. "Ehr yeah.. what gave that away." Cherry walked in first and inspected every corner of the plane with a bewildered expression.

"Well.. Charles said only you three would be here. Right? Or was there someone else left behind?" Dharma asked as she waited to close the doors again. "No. That was everyone. How did you get here so fast?" Charles wondered. "Oh well.. V gave us the layout of this place a while back. You see we were actually already in the neighborhood. The last time I logged in I was already at an airport waiting for this thing to be prepped for a flight to the island. But then that whole business with Shintaro got in the way." The blue-eyed duelist felt a little sheepish as she said it. "Is that why you wanted to do this? Because you were planning on this all along? You did not have to.." He still could not quite comprehend that this was all really happening. But for once it did not seem like a dream provided this matter of convenience. "Oh come on. After everything we went through. This is the least I can do! And its more like Carl did it. Say hello to Carl everyone! He will be your driver for the evening!" She gestured at the pilot in the cockpit who waved back for a bit and quickly went back to his work. "Yeah he's the best. Anyway once everything is set, we can take off again."

"But where are we going? There are places I want to be." Tycho demanded to know. "That will have to wait, mister Rivers. We dont have enough fuel to get far, so we are first heading off to the nearest airport." Said another more authoritative voice, belonging to one of the two duelists already using a passenger seat. "Dyzanthium!?"Tycho backed off as that person turned out be the fusion champion. "Oh yeah, she was with me when I snapped back to reality and all. She tagged along for the flight, which I figured would be handy since she has more connections with Exeter than I do." Dharma explained as she took the seat next to her. "Yes, I would suggest you sit down as well and relax. It will be a while before we get anywhere and there is much to tell you. I would suggest you also make use of the on-board fridge. The treats are simply divine." Dyzanthium grinned. "Hmph. Fine, I dont really have a choice. But you can begin by telling me what the hell it was that you did so this trip wont be a complete waste of my time... What happened to the network? Is it gone now? And what was that strange world I saw anyway?"

"Heh, eager to learn eh? You better strap yourself in then. Though let me do this thing first! The guys will want proof that everyone is safe and sound." Dharma took out her phone and made a quick snapshot with her camera so she could forward the photo to everyone else. "That reminds me.. Hey Dharma. Can I have a phone too?" Charles did not need to hear the story he himself was a part of. He had his own concerns. "Well I have like four of them. You can have this one!" The white-haired girl tossed him another mobile phone. "It has the same messaging channels and everything. So if you wanna talk to them, you can go right ahead!" He caught the phone and nodded appreciatively. "Thank you." The first thing he immediately saw on the screen was a reply from Jenna.

Jenna: You get to fly? Gah I am so jealous! You better let me in on the grand tour one of these days!

There were more messages there, mostly from her. She said that her family was doing fine now and that they still recognized and remembered her. It also apparently took her some time to convince them that the crazy stuff that happened these last couple of days really did happen. Charles could assume that this would apply to everyone else in the world as well, but he wanted to be certain. So he retreated to the back of the plane, waited for the plane to take off, and finally made the call.

"Hello?" He started off with an understated greeting. "Charles? Is that you? What happened? One moment we were inside this villa and then.. Where are you? Do you know whats going on?" They replied with a rapid flow of questions, both his mother and father. "Okay. I get that you have a lot you want to ask. But let me ask something first, please. Are you alright?" He'd activated the camera so he could see inside their house, the house that looked fine now and not at all as if a destructive duel of ice and magic broke out inside of it. "Yes? We are fine.. we think. Just very very confused." Arthur said. "Honey. What about you?" Gwen turned the question back towards her son. "Yes, I am fine too. I'm with Dharma. You remember her, right?" If they remembered everything else, they would know about her too. "We're flying back to the main land now. It might take a while before I can go home again. But I want you to know that the worst is over now..."

And so he talked with them for most of the flight, exchanging information and assurances. It really was true. Everyhing appeared to be the way it should be before any of this started, including their home. They still did not have any recollection of Statics attack on them and even their little dog looked happy and calm now. Once he managed to get them to see that he was in good hands, he could make other calls. There were other people he still wanted to see and talk to, like ms Primrose. And she told him that she had no idea what he meant when he started talking about Static or a duel that might have taken place between them. She did state that she knew about the apartment burning down, except that also no longer seemed to be true. The building looked fine, she had the photos to prove it. As far as they could tell, the fire was only a virtual hallucination induced by a malfunction in the network. That would be the truth according to the official message Exeter kept sending out. Nobody really got hurt, they were just experiencing one great worldwide nightmare. At the same time more messages came pouring in, messages from other friends.

Juan: I cannot say too much. But just know that Victor is doing fine. And we are going to be working together now to help the investigation team.
Donna: Thats wonderful to hear, Juan! We're doing great too! The entire dueltaining gang is here now! We're throwing a party to celebrate! Too bad you cant be here!
Juan: No problem. It would be strange for us to come. Victor tells me he is sorry for what happened. He was not in control of himself.
Donna: We know that. No hard feelings. Hope it all works out!
Juan: Yes. It seems like we've all been blessed with some good fortune. I wish you all the best.

Meanwhile, a few seats away from him, Dharma just now reached the part of the story where the orb of memories shattered, where Continuum reverted to its initial harmless state.. and to the moment in which the Creator returned. "Isaac. So that's his name." Tycho finally learned the name of the one who could be held responsible for everything. "For what its worth, Tycho. Isaac said he never intended for that to happen. The explosion. I am saying this in case you want to, you know, still settle some scores with people like Scarlet or Isaac even." Dharma assured him. "Hmph. You dont have to tell me that. I know there's no point in me being mad anymore. Revenge never got me anywhere." He took it well. He did not seethe in his chair, though his intensity still appeared to be above average. "It only got me away from my family. I just could not look them in the eye again, they forgot about them so easily.. about Vera and Horace. I bet they forgot about me too."

"Horace and Vera? Who were they to you?" Dyzanthium inquired. "Thank you! That's what we've been asking all this time!" Cherry snapped. "I was mostly asking because it could help us further catalogue the people who were affected by STHEREA. Now that the major threats have been

"You really want to know? Fine. Horace.. and I.. we've known each other since high school that's all." Tycho barked out a quick answer. "It sounds like thats not all." Charles noted. "Hmph, always the smartass. What else do you want to know? That we were friends who drifted apart? I mean why wouldn't we? He was brilliant, way different from me. I was the type who wanted to be play sports and win prizes. He was the type who could get a scholarship at a young age and a job at a IT company that specialized in virtual reality simulations. Of course, that company turned out be owned by Exeter." Tycho let out a deep sigh. Exeter made sure to scrub Horace's legacy from the records when their place blew up, and it almost worked. "Vera was like that too, a coworker he met there and fell in love with. She was there too, when the explosion happened. But I forget about her completely, I could only hold on to his name.. and even then it was starting to fade day by day. Then again you know that part already. But I remember them now, and so does the whole world. They must be out there now, if Exeter did not kill them or anything! Even if they did, I have a right to know what happened!"

"They are not dead, Tycho." Dyzanthium replied. "How would you know that?" He growled back. "Because of what Isaac has done. Eve before the shutdown of the network he reported himself to the investigation team... About half an hour ago. Thanks to him they've been able to identity all the people who disappeared after that event. And thanks to all the information we extracted from Continuum, we've been further able to dismantle the web of secrets Exeter and Continuum spun. As it turns out, the victims were relocated to a hospital they owed to treat them. And they used Project Flute to continuously delete the very existence of that hospital from the public eye. Only now has anyone outside of their inner circle been able to find them again." The champions words brightened Tycho's expression completely. "That's where they are? They're... alive?" This was more than he could ever have hoped for. "Yes. But they were in a coma. That explosion was your typical brimstone and hellfire type of deal. It damaged their minds as well, left them in that vegetative state for years. Exeter kept them around to study them...But now they're all waking up. Just like Neo."

"Neo? You mean he is.." Charles had not heard this part yet. "Oh man, we didnt tell you?" Dharma slapped her forehead. "I heard the news from his streaming friends, who heard it from one of his family members. Apparently Neo is conscious and reacting to the people around him again! And thats not all, apparently there are reports of other people in a coma waking up too.. even the ones who did not have anything to do with STHEREA! Its like the thing we did made everyone's head feel a little bit better!" She spoke of a miracle. "Is that really the case?" This went beyond what Charles expected to happen. "I cannot speak for others. But.. for the first time in years, I cannot hear anything that is not there anymore. The voices are quiet." Dyzanthium claimed, sounding more serene and relaxed than usual. "Perhaps this was just a temporary gift of the subconscious world. Perhaps it is more. But I am grateful for even one moment of peace. And we owe it all to you. Me and the other champions will forever be in your debt."

"Dont say it like that." Charles sighed. He already had more than he needed. And the good news kept coming regardless.

Bionis: I hear they've made some arrests already. Abigail, did you hear from Nakana? Did anything happen with her parents yet?
Abigail: I have not. And I would not ask her about it. Regardless of what they did, they are still her family. We must not disturb this reunion any more than it already might be.
Bionis: I was not saying that. But there's a time and place for emotional reunions. You dont see V and Asterisk hugging and crying.
Asterisk: That's because we are professionals.
Jenna: Aha! Caught red-handed!
Bionis: Sorry.
Asterisk: Dont be. We all have a lot to deal with right now. What matters is that we are still here to talk to each other.
Abigail: If you need to let out some emotions, William, that is fine too.
Bionis: All I feel right now is happiness! Lets throw our own party!
Jenna: Sounds good to me

"Wait. What did you actually do? You said something about shutting down the network." Tycho grunted and wanted them to continue the story. "Oh right. Well its simple. The legacy items were all fused into one key, and Charles and me had to duel to get sole ownership of it. I won by the way." Dharma revealed with a cheeky smirk. "Of course you had to say that." Charles shook his head and laughed with her. "Anyway, the key is the thing that would let the virtual reality, well more like a thought reality, fuse with everything thats physical. But we could also use it to lock the door to the subconscious world alltogether!" Said the blue-eyed duelist dramatically. "And thats what you chose to do? That's why everything is the way it is?" Tycho asked. "Yeah. That is why. It took a while though, we had to make sure nobody would be inconvenienced. It would be a little unfortunate if a plan suddenly fell out of the sky because we removed STHEREA too soon." The unusual nature of the world before made sure that everything in the air would stay there. But now a plane would have to work with the usual physics.

"Meh. I still cant believe you went through with it." Cherry let out an audible moan. "So much potential down the drain." She rested her head on her hands and stared despondently out the window. "Hey, it wasn't just her doing it." Charles came to Dharma's defense, as he came to recall more of the circumstances that led to her decision. "We did not have that much of a choice, there was a lot of pressure from the outside world to get this done. Nobody wants this to happen again. We couldn't just leave it open. Even if the network is closed off, there will always be people who find their way back in. We saw that happen with those faceless men. And even if we stop people like that, which apparently has already happened to some of them, more will show up to take their place. There will always be someone who wants to take advantage of this world. And there will always be a chance another entity like Static or Continuum comes into existence because of that. It is too dangerous right now. But it is not as if that world is gone either. We just cannot willingly access it anymore. Maybe one day that will change.. when we have become better people as a whole. That is something worth dreaming about."

"Besides, its not as if there wont be something else to make up for it. We can still have our duels the old fashioned way.. Plus, before she left, Therese did say that there was a lot of technology left to make something new out. I bet we'll have a safer and better virtual world in a year or so!" Dharma remained her optimistic self, and seemed to be bringing some of those vibes over to Cherry. "I guess. But it wont be the same.. I wont be Cherry Anise anymore." But she still had mixed feelings. "Hey, you can always just legally change your name if you like it that much. Not like I never considered that idea myself just to stop people from calling me Petit Bonnet." Dharma retched exaggeratedly. "But really, this is just better for your health I think. What would have happened to us if we kept living life like a fantasy? What would happen to our planet? Just look outside, the worlds already a pretty enough place as it is." She gestured to the windows, showing her that they were flying over a clear blue sky and the majestic azure ocean right now. "Heh. It does look less ugly from this distance."

Hydra: I dont know where most of you are right now. And I have to say, that is a good feeling. I will stay in touch. Good luck to you all, it was a wonderful time.
Charles: It was. Hope to see you again one day.
Hydra: That better not have been a pun there, Charles.
Charles: Perish the thought, Friedrich.

Charles, though briefly distracted by Hydra's message, realized that Dharma made a good point. It'd been ages since he last flew, and it terrified him to death at that time. Yet today he stepped into this plane without a second thought. "It is beautiful." He could not stop staring down at the world below, as he flew at this unfathomable height. "There is so much I still haven't seen of it. Almost makes me wish we could just keep doing this forever." He did not even know where to begin. "That's the spirit! I can show you all kinds of cool things! We could so some parachute drops, bungee jumping and who knows what else!" Dharma got excited as well, a little too much. "Perhaps we should start this slowly, Dharma." Charles chuckled nervously. "I was kidding, boss. I know you. Whatever you wanna do is fair game! As long as I can be a part of it!" The blue-eyed girl stared at him wistfully. "Of course. You are my friend." He would not have it any other way.

"Hah. If that's really how you two feel,... then I envy you. You take whatever journey you want, just drop me off first. I will get to my friends on my own. We have a lot to talk about." Tycho breathed out and finally began to smile. Their hopefulness was infectious. "But I have one more question." The main land came in sight, they were almost at their destination. "What happened to the key itself? Did you destroy it?" He figured that this would be the most optimal solution. "Nah! That would be unfair! We did something better, we made it a part of someone else so they wouldn't be left alone.. Maybe you want to see her again too? She's at my house right now." Dharma answered with a deliberately vague manner. "Her? You are not talking about.."

...

Aurora: Echo? Is that really you?
Echo: It is. It really is.
Wagner: No fooling! It worked then!
Echo: I think so. It feels strange. Ticklish.
Wagner: Ha, you will get used to it!
Echo: But what about you? Are you two okay?
Aurora: Of course. We are together and we are happy. You dont have to worry about us.
Echo: I cant stop. Thats just.. who I am. But I am more now.
Echo: Is it snowing there?
Wagner: Of course. You got lucky with your tropical beach! Enjoy it!
Aurora: But if you wanna visit, you always can. I will gladly introduce you to my friends and family.
Echo: That would be nice.

It worked. It actually worked. When Dharma won, she took the world key. But she gave it back to Echo still. No, she did more than that. She made her the world key, transferred its power into her.. Now, no matter where she went, Echo woud be a part of this world. She could feel the warm breeze against her skin, move her fingers through the grains of sand on the beach, look at the sun in the sky and smile back at it. They key which merged reality with thought, turned her avatar into flesh and blood and left her inside Dharma's villa.. They would be back soon, but right now she could enjoy her freedom all by herself. She was the last living connection to STHEREA. But to the rest of the world she would just be an ordinary girl. A girl without powers, without the voice to command others. Only her real friends would remember what she started as.. and she liked it that way. Because she had many friends now.. on this side of reality and on the other side. She finally understood, what real happiness was...

THE END