The Rise and Fall of History II: Opposing the Present

by Medigo

The world of dueling has reached its climax. Many stories have been told through these cards, and the final story brought everyone together. People are united and yet, an unknown world suffers in their shadow. The fallen one returns in the midst of their peace, pursued and still a stranger to those around. There is not much time to save both his home and his friends.

4. Overcast Skies

Redux 087: Overcast Skies

While she slept in an unfamiliar world on a strangers bed, at the end of her sleep Alice was welcomed by a a familiar voice. "Alice. Hey Alice. Are you awake? I'm sorry. You gotta wake up." It was Eric, he was here in the room. "Hmm? Eric? Where's Em.." There was a brief moment before reality settled, wherein she imagined she was back in her own room. "Oh..No she's not." But her sister wasn't here. Nor was her family. "That's right. I am..." Everything that she saw before, happened. The dream itself was just darkness. She did travel to another world, again. "Alice? Hey, you okay?" Eric saw her getting up, looking all dazed. "I mean.. you know what I mean.." Things were definitely not all okay, he knew that. "It's fine. It's just the same as always." She let out a deep sigh. It was like this every morning. Whether she had pleasant dreams or terrible nightmares; she was always forced to remember what she did not have anymore. "Did I sleep that long?" Right now though, she had to figure out why Eric was here. "Not really. That's not the problem." One could see the 'problem' just by looking out the window.

"What..is that?" Alice saw the scene unfolding; the Templar machine approached the others and overcame their efforts to contain it. "The Templars. They are here." Her answer came from Walters mouth. "Huh?" The old man stood outside the door, more energized than ever. "I told your friends to run. They didn't listen. You still have a chance." He looked just about ready to leave, he had a suitcase packed and everything. "We can't leave them." Alice protested. "Templar? You mean like those knights from the crusades?" Eric did not see a resemblance. "They're from the Union. If they come after you, then the Union is after you. This whole scene will come under investigation. I.. I can't stay here anymore. I am sorry, I didn't want any of this. Whatever you do, stay or leave. Do not let it see you!" He couldn't bear to wait any longer, Walter fled the room and his home. "Eric. What is going on?" This was very worrying. "Don't know. Can't be good. Looks like Adamant is going to duel the thing." It was probably better to stay inside and watch for now. "Duel? It's a duelist? Why would anyone.. make something like that?"

Adamants LP: 8000 Templar M's LP: 8000

Adamant had the first turn. He used that to normal summon his winged machine; Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius(4/1300/1600). Thanks to its effect, Adamant could special summon another Raidraptor from his hand. He chose Raidraptor Mimicry Lanius(4/1100/1900). The opposing Templar accepted both moves without comment. "Hmph. This kind of enemy suits me just fine." He didn't need to explain any effects to this machine, it likely had every card and ruling in its database already. "XYZ-summon!" Nevertheless Adamant openly declared his next move; overlaying both Raidraptors to summon the Raidraptor - Force Strix(4/100/2000), the mechanical owl, in defense mode. "Tribute Lanius." By detaching one XYZ-Material from his XYZ-monster, Mimicry Lanius, Force Strix could search his deck for a Raidraptor monster and add it to his hand. "Return." And banishing that detached Mimicry Raidraptor from the graveyard, allowed Adamant to search his deck for a Raidraptor trap card as well. He placed that trap down in the spell/trap zone along with two other trap cards. "That ends my turn."

"BEGINNING TURN 02. DRAW." Everything the drone did, took place within its body. A sixth card appeared in a container, and one of those cards was placed on a transparent blade. "SUMMON THE MAJESPECTER CROW - YATA." The card materialized as a purple-feathered crow(4/1000/1500) with a red cape around its neck. It was not just any monster either. "A Pendulum monster?" Uno could see that it was half spell and had a scale. It didn't have a pendulum effect though. "This would seem to be an entire archetype of pendulum cards." Iria analyzed the card with her disk. Dreamworld definitely never printed anything like this. "ONCE PER TURN, WHEN THIS CARD IS SUMMONED, ADD ONE MAJESPECTER SPELL CARD." The Templar continued as Yata extracted a spell from its deck, before shuffling the deck. "ACTIVATE THE SPELL; MAJESPECTER CYCLONE. WHEN ONE MAJESPECTER IS TRIBUTED, ONE CARD WILL BE DESTROYED." A storm broke out, after Majespecter Crow was sacrificed. The Cyclone came after Force Strix. "Then I activate Raidraptor - Desperate." Adamant quickly countered the spell with a counter trap.

Raidraptor - Desperate, Counter Trap
If an opponent's card or effect is activated that would destroy one or more card(s) while you control a "Raidraptor" monster:
Target 1 card you control and draw 1 card. The target is unaffected by the activated card or effect.

Due to the Desperate trap, Force Strix gained enough speed to break free from the storm winds and avoid destruction. At the same time Adamant drew one card. "I wonder if it expected that." Adamant pondered out loud. He might have succeeded in making himself look defenseless by adding a weaker Raidraptor trap to his hand before. "Maybe. But that was just the tip of the iceberg." Uno was the expert on pendulums. The tributed Majespecter went to the Templars extra deck and he did not expect it to stay there for long. "SETTING THE SCALES 2; MAJESPECTER CAT NEKOMATA AND 5; MAJESPECTER TOAD OGAMA." Certainly not when the enemy already had everything it needed for a pendulum summon. A white cat and a green toad hopped down in the pendulum zones at the left and right end of the flying disk. "PENDULUM SUMMON THE MAJESPECTER FOX KYUBI AND THE MAJESPECTER CROW YATA." The crow was resummoned and a yellow fox(4/1500/1200) joined it for company. The Crows effect had already been used this turn, but the Fox could still activate his. "WHEN KYUBI IS SUMMONED, ADD ONE MAJESPECTER TRAP." Templar M searched the deck and added a Majespecter Tempest countertrap card.

"BEGIN BATTLE." And now the real fun started. A quickplay spell was played from its 'hand.' "MAJESPECTER SONICS. THIS TURN IT DOUBLES THE ATTACK AND DEFENSE POINTS OF ONE MAJESPECTER, AND HALVES ITS INFLICTED DAMAGE." The power of sonic winds was given to Kyubi, making the Fox(3000/2400) twice as fast, yet half as deadly. "IT ATTACKS THE XYZ-MONSTER." Like a bolt of lightning, the Fox jumped towards Force Strix. With one swift tap, it pulled the Owl apart and turned it to shrapnel. "Then I shall activate Raidraptor Return." Adamant flipped his second trap. Now that his Raidraptor monster had been destroyed, he could reclaim a Raidraptor monster from his graveyard. Vanishing Lanius was the only possible choice. "SECOND ATTACK." The Templar waited only as long as it needed to. The very next instant, Majespecter Crow attacked Adamant directly with a blast of purple whirlwinds. "Ngh." It was an attack that pushed Adamant down to one knee. "What? It's casting solid visions?" Iria gasped. "SET THE TRAP. MOVE TO TURN 03"

Adamants LP: 7000

"Our data suggested as much." Adamant grunted. The attack hurt him a bit more than he anticipated. "Do you see now why we desire this type of technology?" He looked at Iria as he drew his next card. "These duelists may not be human, but they can think like them. They shouldn't be under-estimated. However.." He then activated the spell, Allure of Darkness, to draw two cards. Afterwards he banished one dark-type monster from his hand; Raidraptor Tribute Lanius. "They can be tricked just like anyone else." The drone clearly expected Adamant to summon Tribute Lanius, hence the trap it chose to set. Instead.. "Trap card!" He activated his final trap, XYZ-Reborn, to revive RaidraptorForce Strix in defense mode. "COUNTER WITH THE TRAP, MAJESPECTER TEMPEST. MAJESPECTER CROW IS TRIBUTED TO NEGATE THE SPECIAL SUMMON OF THAT MONSTER." The Templar responded now. A powerful Tempest formed, killing Yata and Force Strix in a row. There was no escape this time. "Hmph." Yet now Adamant could retaliate with an effect from his graveyard. He banished his trap, Raidraptor Return. It used Force Strix's destruction to retrieve a new Raidraptor card from Adamants deck. "I add Raidraptor Readiness."

"Nice!" Uno was overjoyed that Adamant managed to get ahead a little. "Perhaps. But what can he do now? According to their texts, Majespecters cannot be targeted or destroyed by effects." Iria had to point out the walls Adamant would run in if he tried to use his usual destruction or powerdraining tactics. And destroying Pendulums in battle was not a permanent solution. "I already know most of my XYZ-monsters will be powerless against them." Adamant normal summoned Vanishing Lanius again and activated its effect to call out a new breed of Raptor. "Raidraptor Burning Dragonius!" A serpentine bird(4/1000/1000) of white and blue steel ascended into the skies. Upon its summon, it immediately lobbed a fireball at the opponent. "Dragonius inflicts 600 damage each turn." The fireblast packed as much of a punch as the Majespecters wind attacks. The Templar was not damaged in any way however. "It wont fall until all its lifepoints are gone." Adamant concluded. "XYZ-summon!" He overlayed the Napalm bird with Vanishing Lanius to summon another Force Strix(4/100/2000). He detached an XYZ-material from it and added a Raidraptor Avenge Vulture card to his hand. Then he placed three cards in his spell/trap zone. "My turn has ended."

Templar M's LP: 7400

"BEGINNING TURN 04. DRAW." Templar M's latest card did not stay secret for long. "ACTIVATE THE FIELD SPELL MAJESTY'S PEGASUS" A spell was placed down and its appearance expanded across the garden. "Whoa." A vibrant green hurricane surrounded all four duelists. "It should take an entire stage to create a hologram this big." This machine kept impressing Iria, though she was loathed to admit it. "ALL MAJESPECTERS GAIN 300 ATTACK AND DEFENSE POINTS. ADDITIONALLY, BY TRIBUTING ONE MAJESPECTER, ANOTHER IS SPECIAL SUMMONED FROM THE DECK." The Majespecter Fox gave up its life, flying away with the winds. An orange raccoon(4/1500/1200) stepped out of the hurricane. "SPECIAL SUMMONING MAJESPECTER RACCOON - BUNBUKU. WHEN THIS CARD IS SUMMONED, ADD ONE MAJESPECTER MONSTER." The card that Templar M took from its deck this time, was summoned right away. It was a tribute summon, and the Raccoon was the tribute. "NORMAL SUMMON MAJESPECTER UNICORN - KIRIN." And there was the same Unicorn(6/2300/2300) that Adamant met before, the boss of the Majespecters. "ONCE A TURN, IT WILL RETURN ONE CONTROLLED PENDULUM MONSTER TO THE HAND, TO RETURN ONE OPPOSING CARD TO THE OPPONENTS HAND"

"I am ready. I have been for some time." Now was the moment to spring his trap. "Nightmare Archfiends!" Before Kirin could activate its effect, Adamant activated his. Nightmare Archfiends tributed Force Strix and created three Nightmare tokens. All three(6/2000/2000) were special summoned to the opponents field. "Oh. Oh! Now he can't.." Uno saw why Adamant did it. So clog up as many of Templars monster zones as possible. Now the drone could only pendulum summon one more Majespecter. "..." The tokens however could still attack, and Adamant was no longer guarded. Iria did not like the look of this. "PENDULUM SUMMON." Templar M did not care much. It just used his Cat and Toad scales to re-summon Majespecter Crow - Yata(1300/1300) from the extra deck. "ADD THE SPELL, MAJESPECTER CYCLONE." Another spell was added to the machine's hand with the Crow's effect. "BATTLE" Then Majespecter Crow launched a direct attack against Adamant, striking him down with purple gales.

Adamant's LP: 5700

"Rgh. Come, Avenge Vulture!" Adamant rolled back and gripped his cards. Now that he had taken damage he could special summon the one-eyed Vulture(4/1700/100) from his hand in defense position. "And Raidraptor Readiness!" He combined that with his trap effect. Flipping Readiness made every Raidraptor indestructible as a result of battle for this turn. "THE SPELL, MAJESPECTER STORM, TRIBUTES ONE MAJESPECTER TO SEND ONE MONSTER TO THE DECK." But it did not make it immune to an effect like that, so Adamant had to act once more. Majespecter Cyclone swallowed Majespecter Crow and came for Adamant's monster next. "Swallows Nest!" He flipped his quickplay spell, switching the winged beast on his field with one of an equal level in his deck. "Raidraptor Napalm Dragonius!" Avenge Vulture vanished, evading the cyclone alltogether. A second Napalm Raidraptor(4/1000/1000) appeared in defense mode. "ACTIVATE THE EFFECT OF MAJESPECTER UNICORN. TARGET THE RAIDRAPTOR." So Templar M finally used the power of Kirin. The Unicorn retreated from the field and left a strong wind in its wake. That wind forced Napalm Dragonius back into Adamants hands. The enemy had a clean shot. "ATTACK."

"No!" The voice of Alice broke through, right as the Templar was about to declare its direct attacks. "What?" She and Eric came out the front door. "You shouldn't be.." Adamant was interrupted by the first Nightmare fiend token, who swiped at him with his claws. "Tsk." A big cut appeared on his coat, and 2000 of his lifepoints disappeared. "Gah. Why did you take that? Can't you..""Quiet!" Adamant yelled at Eric before the kid could say too much. Then he jerked his head back to the enemy. "Did it catch on to my plan?..." Templar M was not moving. Yet it was not the duel that had given it reason to re-assess its situation. "PROCESSING NEW DATA. NEW IDENTITIES ANALYZED. ONE KNOWN, ONE UNKNOWN." It was Alice and Eric. "What..what does it want?" Alice shivered. This thing could already tell that she did not belong here? "It can't do anything. Not until it deals with me." Adamant grunted. "ATTACK." The drone picked up on this noise and made another direct attack with the second Token, pushing Adamant against the walls. "ATTACK."

Adamants LP: 1700

"Not this time." Adamant finally banished Raidraptor Readiness and Raidraptor Avenge Vulture from his graveyard. This allowed the trap to negate all damage this turn. "You could have done that at any time!" Iria blurted out in exasperation. She didn't see why Adamant allowed that much damage to go through. "I could, but I needed this." Seeing as how further attacks were pointless, Templar M ended its battle phase. "MOVE TO TURN 05." It only had three tokens to defend it. But on the next turn Adamant would face the Majespecters all over again. "The last turn." So he would end it with this. With the card he had drawn. "Napalm Dragonius." First he normal summoned the Napalm Raidraptor that Kirin had forced back. Then he activated his spell, Raidraptor Call. "Another." The spell 'called' upon a Raidraptor with the same name as one on the field. One final Napalm Dragonius(4/1000/1000) joined the fight. "Now." Adamant activated both their effects. Two explosions rocked the machine's body, each caused 600 points of damage.

Templar M's LP: 6200

"I took the damage, Iria Silver..." Adamant grabbed his two monster cards and placed them on top of each other. "Because only one XYZ-monster can secure a victory." He performed an XYZ-summon for a rank 4 Falcon the others hadn't seen before. "Raidraptor - Blade Burner Falcon. Of course." Iria got it, once she saw the great blue/white mecha-falcon(4/1000/1000) descended to the garden on burning wings. "It can increase its attackpoints by 3000 when the opponen't lifepoints are at least 3000 higher than Adamant's." That condition was fulfilled, Adamant activated the effect and made Blade Burner Falcon(4000/1000) suck in all the ambient heat and energy. "It attacks and.. I activate Ghost from the Past!" Adamant revealed his last face-down card. This trap banished two monsters from his graveyard to completely obliterate a monsters attackpoints. "My Raidraptors, my token!" The ghosts of Vanishing Lanius and Force Strix arose to haunt one of the Nightmare tokens. It(0/2000) was weakened just in time for Blade Burner to burn it to a crisp with its jet-flames.

Templar M's LP: 1400

Templar M took more than battle damage at that. "Oh yeah. When a Nightmare fiend token is destroyed, its controller loses 800 lifepoints! In that case.." Uno did the math in his head and realized that Templar M was going to lose more than just 800. "Yes. When Blade Burner Falcon destroys a monster, he can destroy another by detaching an XYZ-material. I will detach both!" Adamant removed the two attached cards, and Blade Burner Falcon blasted upwards into the sky. It fired two more shots which came down like bombs. "Templar M!" Uno only had once chance. "I don't know if someone is controlling you from far away, or listening to what you see. But if they are, I can tell you one thing! Uno is back!" He shouted it loud and clear while he could. Bombs and flames drowned out the rest soon after. The other Nightmare fiends perished in the flames and Templar M took 1400 points of damahe. "DEFEAT ACKNOWLEDGE. SHUTDOWN IN PROGRESS." It turned out that it indeed could not keep going without lifepoints as it shorted out and crashed into the pool.

Templar M's LP: 0

"That was a needless risk, Uno. We shouldn't advertise ourselves to the enemy." Adamant scoffed as he walked over to the pool. "Hey, we beat it, didn't we?" Eric felt the worst was over. "That was just one of them. I doubt it will fall to the same tactics twice. These machines can learn and we cannot fight them all." The XYZ-duelist looked the drone over. Didn't seem like they could salvage much of it now. "How many.. are there?" Alice did not want to imagine a number. "It claimed to be from the M-series, code 31178. So assuming there's a series for each letter in the alphabet, that should be at least 810628 Templars." Iria shook her head. "Adamant. It's about time you told everyone what we are dealing with."

"Something that exceeded our projections. The initial scouts estimated that the enemy had taken over most of the continent. It is worse than that; the enemy has expanded across the planet." To prove it, he created a 3-dimensional map of the globe with his dueldisk. It showed how far it had gotten. "The entire planet is all like one big country?" Now Eric knew what Walter had meant with the 'no borders' comment. "95 % of it is. A few isolated regions exist, and they wont remain long. This global empire calls itself the Millennium Union, but what it really is.. is expansionist. In the name of peace, everything else has been absorbed into Millennium." While countries kept their own name, their official name had become that. "How.. where did this Union even come from? Who are these people?..." Iria cursed. Empires did not just come from nothing. "That, I could not find out without exposing myself. Information online is too closely monitored."

"Then what are we going to do now?" Alice asked the question on pretty much everyone's mind. "Walter already ran, took the car and everything. Left a few others behind though." Eric figured the old guy had the right idea. "Ah. Well we can't stay here either. More of those things are gonna pop up. Adamant, I take it that enormous city in the distance is important? What about the cities around it?" Uno noticed there was still a vast distance between them and the bright metropolis. "That place is this country's control city; where the regional government resides. It is surrounded by cities that existed before the Kingdom. I do not know if it'd be smart to go there." The XYZ-duelist was not sure what Uno was plotting. "Maybe. But I think we should go there. We stand a better chance at reasoning with cityfolk than with drones. And I have another reason.."

"Which is?" Iria inquired.

"The Templar reminded me... that we are not alone.. Some of us exist in this world too."

(To be Continued in Redux 086: The Other Left)

New Cards used by Adamant
Raidraptor - Napalm Dragonius

-
Raidraptor - Burner Blade Falcon

-
Raidraptor - Desperate (+)
Ghost from the Past

(+ Based on the Trap used by Shun in YGO Arc-V)

Cards used by TEMPLAR M
Majespecter Crow - Yata
Majespecter Cat - Nekomata
Majespecter Toad - Ogama
Majespecter Fox - Kyubi
Majespecter Raccoon - Bunbuku
Majestecter Unicorn - Kirin

-
Majespecter Cyclone
Majespecter Sonics
Majesty Pegasus
Majespecter Storm

-
Majespecter Tempest