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.

5. The Other Left

Redux 086: The Other Left

As it turned out, Walter owned a whole collection of cars in his garage. So the gang borrowed one while making sure enough credits were left behind to compensate him for the trouble. Alice insisted on that. Now they were on the road with their grey minivan, leaving the mountains at last. Their hope was to blend in on the highway. "Geez.." Instead they stood out like a sore thumb, driving in between far more advanced car models. "It's like we took a wrong turn into the future." Eric had never seen anything like this; they were sleek, smooth and all electric. "They're all so pretty." And they were colorful too. Alice couldn't tear her eyes away. "Alice, I have to ask. Did you have anything like this in your world?" Adamant realized she wouldn't want to think back that far, but he felt it was important to know if all of these advances were truly that new. "No.. Not like this." She managed to dig up her memories a little. "I didn't know the names of other countries either, but.. I do know we didn't have one big empire. I think it was more like.. your world." After all, back when she first crossed over, she didn't even noticed that she was in completely different timeline.

"You must be thinking what I am thinking." Uno jumped in. "That this kind of technological advancement could only have come through decades of development?" Iria was on the same page, even while focusing on driving the car and keeping an eye out for more Templar drones. "Yes. This is all too sudden. Why didn't anything like this happen in the other timeline?" That was the question. Their world didn't even have a Millennium organization anywhere on the map. "Yeah, where's our future cars!" Eric grumbled. "It's simple. It didn't come from this time either. It came from a future that no longer exists, but the knowledge was not lost." Uno's summary carried a familiar element. "Tempus. This could be his doing." Adamant surmised. "That guy that the Zodiacs were chasing?" Alice'd almost forgotten about that. "Yeah. There's a decent chance that it's his handiwork. December said that Tempus liked to abuse his powers of time travel. And that he created this whole new dimension to hide in. Creating an empire in this world, with powers from the future, sounds like a thing he'd do."

Eventually, the first major stop on the western path towards the new Control city presented itself: Skyheart City. The buildings there still resembled those of the other world for the most part. Just a few new constructs were planted here and there; architect's dreams come to life. No Templars were visible, the group was free to enter a garage and park the car. "You go ahead and do what you need to. I will stay here and guard our transportation. Perhaps I have more reach here." Adamant still wanted to find his contacts in the guild. "Cool. We'll go ahead and check the place out." Uno leaped out of the van. Alice followed.. while Eric hesitated.

"Hey, Uno. I know you said we could try and find our counterparts. Because they'd be the first to listen to us.." That was the idea that Uno shared as they drove down the mountains. "But didn't Cassius say that if two of the same.. well.. bodies.. meet each other.. they explode or something?" He definitely did not want to experience that. "Aaron said that?" Alice missed that part of Cassius' explanation of the two timelines; among other facts. "He has a point, Uno. This is why my guild only prepared duelists from a certain age for our invasion." Adamant was not one to trust Cassius, yet he did not believe the Synchro-duelist would lie about this. "And you're worried we'll just bump into your twin on the streets here?" Uno scratched his chin. "Maybe? I was born around here. My own town doesn't even exist anymore, I might be living here instead. Mom would never move far from the mountains, she likes them too much." Eric's concerns were not something Uno could ignore, he conceded to that. "Alright. You can stay here, help Adamant with his stuff. Hey Iria, where were you born?"

"Not here." She answered flatly. "Good! Then you can come too."

...

More signs of this world's startling progression came to light as the trio stretched their legs in Skyheart City. People crossed the streets with computers the size of a fist; strapped to them as visors, wristbands or part of their clothes. Kids hovered along on electric shoes or boards. Three-dimensional commercials for were projected via huge billboards, promoting everything from neo-plastic surgery to bizarre and eccentric fashion styles. It truly was like a glimpse of the world of tomorrow. "It looks so amazing.. I want all of it!" Alice paused to wonder at everything, she was glued to every shop she passed, from . "We cannot afford useless expenses, Alice Brandt. Nor would it be proper to take such equipment back to the other world." Iria was certainly impressed as well, but she did not want to be delayed. "...Okay." Alice sulked and picked up her pace. "Still.. everyone looks so happy here." The men and women they came across acted like they didn't have a single care in the world. As if they hadn't been conquered by an outside force. "Maybe they got used to it by now. Or they enjoy the gifts of the Union too much." Uno wished he could say the same. Uno still did not feel one iota of familiarity with this world.

What the streets also had in abundance, were duelists and their dueldisks. "I think it is obvious.. If we are to be effective at all in this world, we should remedy our status as a duelist. The Templar recognized me, but that will only get us so far." Iria was looking for something in particular, a location she had picked out back when she was using Walters computer. "And that is where we can get it." She pointed her finger towards a large dome at the opposite end of the park. "That's a... dueling school?" Big steel letters, bolted to the front of the dome, spelled it out. This was a dueling academy. "Is this like a guild's place? Do they have those here too?" Alice wondered what type of summoning they even taught there. "It doesn't matter what they preach, so long as they can give us access to the dueling network. In addition, we need new dueldisks. Our old ones stand out." Iria had left hers behind for a reason. "Well. It can't hurt. And we get to see a lot of duelists on this side too that way." Uno liked this plan. "Yes, that is another reason." The disciple muttered to herself. "Well, I would be happy just to see people dueling against other people, for fun." Alice said, assuming that there wouldn't be any Templars in there.

While the school building was full of duelists of all sizes, none were mechanical luckily. There were enough people here to hold a dozen tournaments, and fill a multitude of guilds. "Huh. It seems the Union built this place and funded it." Uno read the information of a plaque that belonged to a statue in the middle of academy grounds. "Is that supposed to be someone?" The stone statue was of an unknown duelist, with a blank pointed face. "A distraction to keep the people pleased, nothing more." Iria scoffed. "Like Rome, with the gladiatorial games? Do you think Dom wouldn't like it here?" Alice asked carefully. "Dreamworld would never have created the game for such dishonest purposes, I can promise you that." Then again Dreamworld did not exist at all in this timeline. "But their devices are adequate." The disciple already purchased five dueldisks with their new credits and handed two of them to Uno and Alice. "Weeeird." Looking at these disks up close gave a strange sight. They resembled Uno's first disk more than the Synchro Guild disks the gang used up until now. Except they had no slots for field cards. The field was projected like a blade of energy, which you could turn off and on. "How do you turn it on Ms.."

"Silver?" The disciple was not listening anymore, she focused on the big screen hanging against the wall where ongoing duels were shown. "Iria!?" Iria abruptly ran away. Uno and Alice gave chase. She stopped outside the main dueling ground, among several hundred spectators.

"..Of course it's not him." Iria let out a groan of disappointment. "Him? You mean.. Dom?" Uno caight which duel she was drawn to; one of the duelists on the field was using Performage Plushfire as a pendulum scale. "Those cards.." They were the magicians that Dom himself had invented, counterparts to Uno's Performapals. "Did you think you would see him here?" It would be hard to imagine anyone else using those cards. "For a second I fooled myself into thinking that, yes. I was stupid. Dom always shared his inventions with UNO. And if UNO lives in this world. It makes sense that he'd create Performages here too." Both worlds had to be as similar as possible, for unknown reasons. "I believed that Dom could go to a facility like this. Dom was banished into this world, he would try to find any place where he would be comfortable." She knew him like no other. And even she could not predict her masters whims every time. At times like these, she could really use Creffield's help.

"Uno.." And that was not the only shocking sight. "He's also using.." Alice saw the other pendulum cards on this duelists field; Performapal Monkeyboard. "My pals?" Not even Uno's cards were unique here. "Who is even using.. Stan!?" His heart nearly sank as he read the displays above the field. "Stan from the XYZ-Guild?" Alice looked again. This man did share a resemblance. "Uhm. Stan is a name that appears a lot, right? And Adamant did say his elite wouldn't have dupli..."

Stans LP: 7000

"I overlay my monsters to XYZ-summon Lavalval Chain in defense mode!" The duelist pendulum summoned Performage Damage Juggler(4/1500/1000) and Performapal Silver Claw(4/1800/700). Then he overlayed them to create a fiery serpent(4/1800/1000), whose effect sent a monster to Stans graveyard; Performage Trick Clown. "It's him." Uno sighed. Even in this universe without an XYZ-guild, Stan reduced dueling to rank 4 monster spamming. There was not a single creative bone in his body. "That explains why Stan was not one of the duelists who helped Roma take over the tournament, he could never be included in the invasion plans." Not that Iria thought any better of Stan this way. The way he was using Doms card was appalling.. Already Stan used Tricks Clowns effect to revive Performage Damage Juggler in defense mode. He didn't take damage from that effect because of Chicken Game, the field spell kept his lifepoints untouched as long as they were lower than his opponents. "But who is he playing against?" That person Alice had a lot more interest in.

Zenshins LP: 8000

After Stan placed a trap card down, he passed the turn to his opponent. It was a young adult with a shaved head and a light beard. "So you believe this time you will succeed Stan?" He drew his card. Then thanks to the field-wide effect of Chicken Game, he could pay 1000 of his own lifepoints to draw an additional card like Stan did in the last turn. "You challenged me, so you must think you do." He then summoned a monster, a wizard(4/1800/1800) in blue armor and robes. "Let us see. This is the Skilled Blue Magician. You should know its ability." Zenshin activated another spell card, Gateway to Chaos. "I know. Whenever you activate a spell, the Blue Magician gets a spellcounter. And when Gateway of Chaos is activated, it places a Fierce Knight of Gaia in your hand. I have studied well, headmaster. I am ready!" Stan boasted as Zenshin used the Gateway's effect to draw Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight from his deck. Meanwhile the Skilled wizard added one counter to his staff.

Zenshins LP: 7000

"What is he? A teacher? Is this a lesson?" The man certainly acted like one. "What are ya, new? He's a headmaster. Stan's dueling him to get a high scale status." A random spectator helped Uno with his questions. "Status eh?"

"What do you get when you merge Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight with Curse of Dragonfire?" Polymerization was activated. The fusion spell fused two monsters in Zenshins hand. "Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion!" A horseriding knight and a wyrm dragon joined as one, the fierce knight(7/2600/2000) now rode the red-scaled dragon in the skies. "Correct! And Sky Galloping Gaia's fusion summon secures me one card from my deck; Spiral Spear Strike!" Zenshin took a continuous spell and placed it on the field. The activation of Spiral Spear Strike and Polymerization placed two more spellcounters on Skilled Blue Magician "Now I may tribute my Magician with three spellcounters, to special summon a Gaia monster from my deck!" Zenshins monster used up all gathered magic. It disappeared in a flash of light. "I choose Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight!" In rode another version of Gaia, the horse riding knight(7/2300/2100) who wielded two red lances.

"So... he's a fusion duelist?" Alice mused as she watched Zenshin go on. Her assumption was not 100 % accurate. "Whenever a card is sent to your graveyard, Gateway of Chaos creates a spellcounter. I know what is coming, master." Stan saw that the field spell had already accumulated two spellcounters thanks to the fusion summon and the sacrifice of the Blue Mage. "As well you should. By banishing Skilled Blue Magician, one more spellcounter is made for one of my cards." Zenshin removed his spellcaster from the grave, and the Chaos Gate gained its third counter. "And for these three spellcounters, a Ritual Spell is claimed!" Zenshin used up all the field's spellcounters to claim a Super Soldier Ritual spell card. "Rituals?" Alice gasped. She never imagined anyone would combine fusing with ritual summoning. "I ritual summon Black Luster Soldier the Super Soldier!" Yet there Zenshin went, tributing Charging Gaia on his field, along with a 4th level Manju of the Thousand Hands in his hand. The sacrifice of their eleven level-stars was enough to bring out an eight-starred ritual monster from his hand; The sword and shield wielding Black Knight(8/3000/2500) of Luster and Chaos.

"I do not fear you, headmaster. XYZ-monsters will always remain superior." Stans bravado stuck despite this turn of events. "That was your first mistake, Stan..." Zenshin dipped his hand in his deck. "When Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight is tributed, a Black Luster Soldier card can be added to my hand! I choose the Envoy of the Beginning!" This next move caused the audience to gasp. "The Envoy?" This card was known throughout dueling history, even people in the other timeline would know of it. "By banishing light and darkness, I can summon this monster!" The light-type Manju and the dark-type Charging Gaia were mixed together in a pool of chaotic energy. The Envoy(8/3000/2500) of gold and blue leaped out of the vortex, joining his ritual brother of purple and red. "The stage has been set. Now you will see the outcome of your actions! Gaia the Dragon Champion strikes first!" Zenshins fusion monster flew down and impaled Lavalval Chain with its javelin. "Due to the effect of my continuous spell, Spiral Spear Strike, Gaia the Dragon Champion can inflict piercing damage!" The spear shot through the XYZ-monster and hit Stan too. "Guh."

Stans LP: 5400

"Havent you made a mistake as well, master? Now that my lifepoints are lower than yours, I cannot take any further damage!" His field spell was still kicking too. Chicken Game would nullify any further attacks. "Perhaps. There is always an element of fate involved. But you need to account for that as well." Zenshin drew two cards from his deck, in the middle of his battle phase. "And fate has decided that you have much to learn still. I activate Defusion from my hand!" The quickplay spell targeted Gaia. "No!" It split the fusion monster into its original materials: Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight(7/2300/2100) and Curse of Dragonfire(5/2000/1500). "When Curse of Dragonfire is special summoned, he destroys one field spell!" Stan couldn't do anything. His Chicken Game spell was burned to cinders by the red wyrm. "Now. Let us end this." Zenshin ordered his four remaining monsters to attack. He did not even need them all. The Envoy of the Beginning destroyed the defending Performage Damage Juggler, and gained a second direct attack through its own powers. After that another direct attack from the Super Soldier depleted the remainder of Stans life. "You have lost."

Stans LP: 0

"Yikes. He did all that.. in one turn?" It had been Zenshins first turn even. This guy had no mercy to spare. "And he didn't use solid vision holograms. I thought he would, but its not like with the machines." Alice was glad not everyone had to duel for their life here. The worst Stan got was a rejection. "I still had too many weaknesses, damn. But this is not the end. I will be back next week." The duelist did not even mind that much. "That is a quality in and of itself, duelist Stan. If you desire, you may challenge me again. You can always find me here." Zenshin bowed and turned his back to his opponent. Stan bowed in return and left the stage. Right away two new duelists took up their spots and began a fight.

"Synchro and XYZ-monsters; Fusions and Rituals; Pendulum summons. Everything goes here." Alice saw cards of all colors elsewhere in the arena; cards the other world had never seen before. "No guilds, no fighting." It was like a microcosm of the world outside. Millennium united everything into one peaceful whole. In fact, if the online news was to be believed, there were no wars or internal conflicts anywhere. Only some, like Iria, refused to trust this atmosphere. "I doubt it is as perfect as it appears. But that is besides the point." Her sentimental side shut down. "Dom is not here. We should sign up for a virtual trial, which grants us a low status, but also basic access to the dueling network. It should be easy enough to win and... Wait, where is Uno? How long has he been... !?" Iria saw Uno in the distance, walking back with a big grin on his face. "What. Did. You. Do?" She demanded an explanation. "I went one step further! I signed us up for a public trial tomorrow, against that headmaster guy!" He revealed happily. "What!? Us?" Uno, and Alice, nodded. "Sorry. I thought it was a good idea." Alice smiled briefly. "And that Zenshin guy seemed okay with it. Said he welcomed anyone no matter where they came from! We could probably get Eric and Adamant to join too!"

"You are insane." Iria had no other words..

She was not the only one in the hall to stand there flabbergasted. A girl with spiked and painted hair saw the trio and immediately hid behind a pillar before they spotted her. "Did they just say his.. And why is.." She peeked around the corner again to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Maybe I misheard? I gotta tell them anyway! This is our chance!"

(To be Continued in Redux 085: A Common Misunderstanding)

Cards used by Stan
Performapal Monkeyboard
Performapal Silver Claw
Performage Plushfire
Performage Damage Juggler
Performage Trick Clown

-
Lavalval Chain

-
Chicken Game

Cards used by Zenshin
Skilled Blue Magician
Lord Gaia the Fierce Knight
Curse of Dragonfire
Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion
Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight
Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning

-
Gateway to Chaos
Polymerization
Spiral Spear Strike
Super Soldier Ritual
Defusion