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.

6. A Common Misunderstanding

Redux 085: A Common Misunderstanding

"... can tell you one thing! Uno is back!" Uno's last words to the templar were replayed on a large screen in an enclosed room. Figures in the dark observed Adamants duel from beginning to end, until it all went dark. "That was all of the black box footage, sir. The Templar unit shut down and we are sending backups to recover it." One of man standing summarized the events to a man sitting in a chair. "Fascinating." The man let out a cheerful chuckle. "And these are all the duelists it identified?" The screen shifted to five images; five faces. "Yes sir. I figured you would need to see this first." The underling stated submissively. "And you have done well. Now copy this to my archives and delete the original file. The Union... does not need to see this yet." The standing man nodded and excused himself from the room to do his work. "Yes I know." The seated man spoke to seemingly himself. "But it is still strange to see her here." He placed his hand on the screen, touching Iria's face. "She's nothing like the other."

...

"Do you even understand the concept of a 'low profile', Uno?" Iria could not believe that Uno and Alice had gone through with it. They scheduled a public duel when a simple online challenge would have been enough to get status in this world. And these two even used their own names. "Last time I checked Uno is not my real name. And the real UNO is eventually gonna notice that someone is running around using his name and his Odd-Eyes dragons." The Performapals were no longer his cards alone, but the Odd-Eyes dragons and the Magicians appeared to still be one-of-a-kind here. Uno learned that when he checked the legal card lists. "And Alice is not.. really my name either. Allthough I should have gone with something else maybe?" Alice considered several alter egos, like Dorothy or Matilda. Even if those would be too much on the nose. "This is not a game. We risk attracting too much attention.. And we do not know if UNO is even willing to help us without Dom by our side." The last time a disciple tried to talk to UNO alone, he made it very difficult to get anything at all.

"Hey Iria. Not to question your sense of direction. But did we park here?" For the last half hour the trio doubled back to the parking garage, only they were walking back and forth on the wrong floor. Adamant and Eric were two stories higher. "Keep your voice down and keep walking." Iria slowed down but did not stop. "Why are we doing this?" Alice asked. "Because.." The disciple kept going for a little while longer, until she had her confirmation. "We are being followed!"

She turned around. "Gack!" Two shapes came to a dead stop behind them; followers. The pair wore common clothes, while their faces were obscured. "How did she.. when did you notice?" The one wearing a ski mask sounded like a young woman. "Probably since the beginning. She lured us here." The other was definitely a man, allthough his full-face visor-helmet muffled his voice quite a bit. "You stalked us for long enough, is the answer. You will go no further than this until you tell us who you are and what you want." These two were holding their own dueldisks, so their intent was half clear already. "You have to ask us what we want from you? Are you taking me for a fool? Trying to disguise your self will not work! I know who you are!" The man spoke like he wanted to retch. "If you are accusing me of being Iria Silver. Then I do not deny it." The disciple wanted to see where he was going with this. He had to be talking about her counterpart in this world. She did not expect to be confronted like this so soon, nor did she think it would do her any good to pretend to be someone else. "Then you do not deny it!"

"Uhm.. have we met before?" For a brief moment Uno wondered if these figures were from his past. "No not really.. I don't know who you two are, or why you hang around with her." Except their animosity was directed primarily towards Iria. "Oh we're Alice and Uno. We're her friends.. You sure you haven't heard of Uno?" Alice inquired. The masked girl was not sure how to react to her chipper attitude. "Friends? You call yourselves her friends?" The man growled. "You still haven't answered my question." Iria reminded him by activating her own dueldisk. "Who we are is not important. We've not met before. And that is a good thing." The man activated his dueldisk too. "But you can call us Purgatory and Inferno! We will be your executioners!" 'Purgatory' stated with a fiery passion. "Oh they have cool names and everything." Alice fawned. Now she really regretted not picking a codename before. "Again with those names? I told you that we do not have to tell them anything, not even lies!" 'Inferno' rebuked the woman. "Silver! I don't know why you are here, and now I will have to force the information out of you! I demand you duel me!"

Inferno's LP: 8000 Iria's LP: 8000

"Very well, I accept." Iria drew five cards from her deck faster than Inferno could. "Rgh!" This meant that she would have the first turn. "Inferno. If you need my help." Purgatory offered. "Hey if you think about jumping in, we'll do the same." Uno was ready for another duel. "They outnumber us, but the others do not matter. Just her. This is between the two of us, understand?" He snarled at both his partner and at Iria's partners. "I wouldn't have made it unfair anyway." Alice insisted. Though she would definitely cheer Iria on. "Enough chit-chat. Take your turn, Iria Silver." Inferno waited. "I take no orders, child." Iria figured out how to wield her new disk quickly. She discarded a spell card. "This monster, Berlineth the Firestorm Vassal, can summon itself by taking a card from my hand. And then it will banish one card from my opponent's hand for one turn." A fire-wielding knight vassal(3/800/1000) materialized within the garage. It threw one fireball at Inferno's cards, revealing them (Igknight Margrave, Igknight Gallant, Dragon Horn Hunter, Dark Factory of Mass Production and Igknight Burst) to Iria and to Uno. "More Pendulums." There were fire-elemental pendulum monsters in there.

"Do you like what you're seeing, Silver? I bet you don't! We took this deck from one of your Templars that we downed!" Purgatory shouted with pride. "You stole it?" Alice gasped. "It was the only way to level the playing field. You people from Millennium keep all the strongest cards for yourself! Besides, it was just a machine!" She yelled some more. "Cards from Millennium? In that case.." Iria forced Inferno to get rid of his Dragon Horn Hunter. Then she activated a field spell card. "This is Domain of the True Monarchs." A hall of pillars arose around the five duelists. "With this I shall reduce the Level of one monster with 2800 Attack and 1000 Defense in my hand by two." The card she chose was a level 8 Monarch. As a level 6 monster it could now be summoned with just one tribute. "Thestalos the Mega Monarch." Berlineth was tributed, and he transformed into the mighty flame emperor(6/28000/1000) through a storm of fire. "Now your Igknight Gallant will be discarded." Iria knew which card she had to burn with the effect of the tribute summoned Mega Monarch. "And you take 200 points of damage for each of that cards levels." Igknight Gallant's level was six, meaning Inferno lost 1200 lifepoints. "Agh."

Inferno's LP: 6800

But that was not all. "Oh no! Because the tribute was fire-type, Mega Thestalos can inflict 1000 more points of damage!" Purgatory cried out as more flames hit her partner. "I know!" He grunted.

Inferno's LP: 5800

Afterwards Iria placed the last card in her hand face-down in the spell/trap zone and ended her turn. Dragon Horn Hunter returned to Inferno's hand, but Gallant would stay dead. "What I do not understand is why you are using a deck like that, or a disk like that!" Inferno drew his next card. "Did you expect more? I only needed one look to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your Igknights. Against them this will do more than fine." Before Inferno took any other actions, Iria pointed at her field spell. "Because you cannot get your pendulums back. Only I control a tribute summoned monster, and no monsters rest in my extra deck. Under these conditions, Domain of the True Monarchs negates all opposing special summons from the extra deck." She had him up against the proverbial wall. Inferno didn't have anywhere near enough resources to set up a counter-attack. "You think I can't see that?" Inferno placed two trap cards in his spell/trap zone and left his turn at that. "That does not explain why you are acting this way, Silver! What are you and the 'Union' here to do?"

"Okay this is driving me crazy. Iria, I have to ask." Uno stepped forward. "Hey, you two. What do you think Iria is? And don't tell me I am supposed to know. Just give me the story." If being direct was the only way to get answers, so be it. "You're joking right? Has she fooled you too? She's the Grand Inquisitor!" Purgatory yelled. "Grand.. Inquisitor?" That wasn't a title Alice expected. "She's the leading duelist in this region, and the head honcho of the Templars." She further explained. "So that's it." Iria was for her part remarkably calm. "You're not surprised?" Uno thought she would have flipped a little. "Before I met Dom, I was training to join a security agency. I always possessed a strong sense of justice, you could say." She shrugged. It made sense to her that she'd gravitate towards keeping order in this world too. "Justice? You call that justice? You've arrested countless innocent people! The news may try to suppress it, but we know how you and your templars 'keep the peace'!"

"What did you say?" The news before Iria could deal with. This shook her, just a little. "Don't act so surprised! You know what you are! And I am not letting you go, so stop stalling!" It was not his turn anymore. "Those things you speak of, I will not make excuses for them.. As I do not need to. The woman you speak of is not me." She regained herself and drew her next card. The card was another Mega Monarch, so Domain of the True Monarchs could cut the level of that it by 2. "Strike of the Monarchs... and Mega Granmarg." She tributed her ultimate fire emperor for the ultimate earth emperor. But only after she activated her discarded spell from her graveyard. Strike of the Monarchs banished itself to transform Mega Thestalos into an earth-attribute monster. This would unlock Mega Granmarg's full power, and allow her to destroy both of Inferno's traps. "You're not her? The hell you arent!" Unfortunately for Iria, one of those traps she could not have prepared for. "Skill Drain!" Inferno paid 1000 lifepoints for this continuous trap which negated all monster effects on the field. "You wont get your way!"

Inferno's LP: 4800

"I want nothing from you. Your affairs are not mine!" Iria would have to settle for her monsters brute power. "I attack!" Mega Granmarg threw a rock at the opponent. Bringing his life down even further. "Yet we want everything from you. We're here because of everything you've done in the name of Millennium! So tell me, in what way do we have the wrong person?"

Inferno's LP: 2000

"Would you believe, we're from another dimension?" Alice just tossed it out there. He did ask. "Wh-what?!" Inferno stammered. "That's..that's a joke right?" Purgatory sounded equally bewildered. "..No. I am afraid not." Uno backed the story up. That just made Inferno seethe even more. "I do not know who you two are, but you will be the next to burn!" Iria had already ended her turn, so he violently drew his next card. "A good twin, a robotic clone, or just really good cosmetic surgery; claim whatever you want! I see only a person nobody would want to impersonate!" He activated a spell card. "Painful Decision! I will discard a normal monster from my deck to add another normal monster with the same name to my hand!" The Igknights were pendulum monsters, and also normal monsters. They only had powers as spell cards. That was why Inferno could send one Igknight Templar to the grave to claim another. "Templar. Even saying it, is a slap in our face! I have a new name for it; Igknight Dragnov!" The second Templar knight(4/1700/1300) was normal summoned. "Trap card; Igknight Burst! I can destroy a Igknight to destroy a card you control!"

"A nuisance." This is what Iria had been trying to prevent with her Monarch's effect. Inferno destroyed the Templar to destroy the Mega Granmarg. "Domain of the True Monarchs cannot stop my pendulum summons, with no tribute summoned monster on your field!" Inferno declared as he activated another card from his hand. "Dark Factory of Mass Production! I will take back Igknight Gallant and Igknight Dragnov." The factory spell reproduced the two normal monsters in his graveyard. He placed both in his pendulum zones. "Now witness the force of your own pendulums! Each Pendulum Igknight has the same effect! One can destroy itself and another Igknight in the other pendulum zone, to find and retrieve a fire-warrior in my deck!" The Templar and Gallant knights shot fire at each other from their spellzones and blew up in a massive explosion that rocked the garage. "I add Igknight Cavalier, no, Igknight Derringer to my hand!"

"Two for one? That seems.. oh wait!" What at first seemed like a costly move, was actually a lethal strategy. "That's right, Alice, this is just the beginning." Inferno now filled his pendulum zones with the Igknight Margrave and Cavalier. "Again!" These two killed each other in a blaze of glory, just like their brethren. Their destruction called upon a third Igknight Templar from the main deck. "There's five of them.." All the knights that died had gone to the extra deck. "You understand as well, Uno. This is how her Templars can crush so many duelists. Now the tides have turned!" The last Igknight Templar (scale 7) was set down alongside the Dragon Horn Hunter; the female dragonslaying knight (scale 3). "PENDULUM SUMMON!" Inferno slammed his hands together as he resurrected each and every fallen Igknight; the Two Templar snipers(4/1700/1300), the machinegun toting Igknight Gallant(6/2200/2100), the knife-throwing pink Igknight Gallant(6/2400/1200) and the riotcop Igknight Margrave(5/1500/2500). "Heh. Showing off your gun trivia again." Purgatory laughed quietly.

"This is how you fall, Silver. See how I added some touches of my own? When Dragon Horn Hunter is on the field as a spell card, she gives 200 attackpoints to all normal monsters." The black knight spread her power across the five warriors of fire. "So do you have any last words?" The masked man inquired. "A few. If I were the Iria Silver. Would the duel truly be this easy?" Iria had a question instead. "... She.. She has a point. I didn't think we would be winning, or even get a chance to find her unguarded." The more Purgatory thought about it. The less it all added up. "Don't listen. This is just another mindgame of hers. She always take whatever advantage she can and never holds back. That I got her this far just means that she never expected to fight against a deck like this. I beat you fair and square, Inquisitor!" He claimed as he entered his battle phase."So feel this; the fear that every one of your victims felt!" Igknight Margrave(1700/2500) and the two Templars(1900/1300) attacked first. "I see." And Iria, just let it happen. She had her answer. "Igknight Derringer! The final attack is.." Cavalier(2600/1200) grabbed her knifes to prepare the killing shot. And if that failed, there was still Gallant(2400/2100) to finish the job.

Iria's LP: 2500

But something got in the way.. Inferno couldn't see his own monsters anymore and neither could anyone else for that matter. "What the hell are you doing?" It was this bright light that came from Uno, it drowned out everything else in a flash. "I am not helping her! It's.." This was not an effect for a duel. "My pendulum!" Uno pulled out the jewel that hung around his neck. The intensity of the light went down after a few seconds.

"Guys?" And when it was safe to open ones eyes again, two more duelists had joined Iria's ranks. "What's going on? Who are these bozos?" Eric Stonewell was here with Adamant. After a while the duel between Iria and Inferno got loud and flashy enough to get the attention of anyone above or below this floor. "Who're you calling a... a..." Purgatory wanted to give these newcomers a piece of her mind. The sight of them however drove her to a different emotion. "That's not possible.." She snapped her head towards her partner. "I see him too." You could hear the shock in his voice as well. "Who are you?" They were in a better position now than before, so Adamant demanded some reasons for this madness. "We didn't mean you, whoever you are." Inferno pointed towards Eric. "We were talking about you." The man uncoupled a clasp on the side of his helmet and removed it from his face. "!" Alice, Eric and Uno recoiled as they saw who was underneath.

Eric Stonewell.

"Why do you have my face? My voice?" He looked like Eric, thinner but it was definitely the same face. Without the mask he sounded like Eric too. "Because I am Eric Stonewell! Who the devil are you?" Eric retorted back. He was the last to connect the dots. "I think we found your counterpart, Eric. Wait. isn't he going to explode now?" Alice shouted, "I am?" Eric flinched and jumped back. "Nobody is going to explode. I think my pendulum reacted because two people from different worlds were getting too close. So it's protecting you both." Uno could see a dim light still burning inside the jewel. "This changes everything." Iria relaxed her stance and deactivated her dueldisk. "What? What!? You don't get to give up! I was about to beat you!" 'Inferno' protested. "You weren't. Not that turn." Iria told him and showed him. "I could have stopped you." The trap she had set from the beginning was Oath of Companionship. With it she could have stolen control of one of his Igknights. "You were going to let me win? You would never.." Nothing about this seemed real anymore. Iria was not acting like Iria and there was one more Eric.

"Another dimension... What else is there to this story?"

(To be Continued in Redux 084: Someone Else's Paradise)

New Cards used by Iria Silver
Berlineth the Firestorm Vassal
Thestalos the Mega Monarch

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Domain of the True Monarchs

Cards used by 'Inferno'
Igknight Gallant
Igknight Templar
Igknight Cavalier
Igknight Margrave
Dragon Horn Hunter

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Painful Decision
Dark Factory of Mass Production

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Skill Drain
Igknight Burst