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.

10. Darkness the same as Light

Redux 081: Darkness the same as Light

The bunker turned out to be nothing more than a cover, as Iria and Stonewell immediately came upon an opened tunnel as soon as Adamant took them inside. It did not go far or deep, just below ground. "I suppose this is where your portal would be, if you still had it." There was nothing at the end of the tunnel now. "It should be. It was constructed here so that people couldn't just carry it outside. Whatever happened here, happened recently. " There was little dust on the floor. People'd been moving and scuffling. "But where is everybody then?" Stonewell was prepared to see bodies or just unconscious people. Yet there wasn't a trace of life left. "It's possible that.." Adamant inspected the place thoroughly. ".. they were all turned into cards." He didn't find any. Whoever the attackers were, they had been thorough. "I thought you said the fusion guild wouldn't get here this fast?" Iria grumbled. "Anyone could have done this. The fusion Guild, the Templars, the Circle. Though the templars I feel would have left more damage behind. And the timing is too 'recent'." This looked more like the work of the guilds to him, like the work of people who were 'invited'. "They might have left something, or one of my men could have hidden something. We should keep looking."

Looking was easy, finding something proved more difficult. The security footage was deleted, file cabinets were emptied. "Hm?" Iria only came across a few overlooked papers. "This.. could still be useful." They were maps of the entire region, including detailed schematics of several control cities. "Plans for your invasion no doubt." She cast a glare towards at Adamant. "Infiltrating those cities was an instrumental part of our plan, yes. I didn't realize that we got this far though." Between this and the Templars, Adamant wondered just how much he wasn't told about this world by his contacts in the army.

"No." Stonewell cut off the good news. "Purgatory, come in!" It was 7 AM now, which meant it was time for Stonewell to call his cell. But his handheld device had nothing but static. "Something happened. They were attacked, or worse!" He ran out of the bunker. "Stonewell!" Adamant came after him. "Back off!" Stonewell activated his dueldisk. "This was your plan wasn't it? Get me all the way here so your friends can ambush mine? I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" He aimed the disk towards both him and Iria. "We know as much as you do. If this was a trap, it would have been sprung already." Iria pointed out. "I don't care what you say! I have to get back!" He eyed the van. "You can either try to duel us both at the same time and take our car. Or you can trust us and let us drive you back. I agree that we need to return as soon as possible. Our comrades are in danger too, if yours are." Adamant laid the options out for him. He was not going to let Stonewell take the vehicle without a fight. "Bah." Stonewell considered both outcomes, and realized there was no choice. "Fine. Take me back.. But do it quickly! If anything happened to them.. I swear to god."

...

"I don't know if I can.. I don't know. I don't know." Alice paced back and forth between the walls of the academy hall. "I know I have to..I know." It was nearly time for her duel. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Both Uno and her were waiting to be called to the dueling ground. They were already scheduled in, and Alice was first on the list. "But I do! If I don't.. they will come after me again." She had to duel if she wanted to become part of the network. She had the forged ID, but that wouldn't be enough. "I have to act normal.. like I'm part of it." And it would look suspicious if two unknown duelists signed up for a trial and then didn't show up. "Just like before." They were outsiders here, much like she had been an outsider to the previous world for half of her life. "Alice. I think we're okay here. This is just a school. Worst that can happen if you lose is having to come back later." Eric could vouch for that, he had his fair share of failures. "I know that too. I just.. can't stop seeing them. Those terrible duels, those people." It seemed so fun and innocent yesterday, a school were people could play games without consequence. Now she knew that people fought to survive in this timeline as well. It did not feel safe anywhere.

"Alice..." Uno wanted to say something. "Wait. Let me." Eric approached her. "Hey Alice, I know you forget some things sometimes, nasty stuff but also nice stuff. But there's one thing you shouldn't forget. How strong you can be. I saw you make your way to the semifinals, take down the freaking champion. And he's our friend now! You don't have to worry about losing, because you're not gonna lose." These words made her stop moving about. "But this guy is strong. He uses rituals too." Zenshin was still her opponent. And her anti-extra deck cards wouldn't do well against his monsters. "Well, if you need an extra kick. You can have these." Eric held out his hand. "Huh?" He was giving her a part of his deck. "I know you can use these. You don't have to, but it's nice to have the option." Eric did not need those particular cards, he had copies of them. "Alice. I could go first. I'm positive that I can arrange that here." Uno thought the best method of helping her was to let her see how harmless duels here were. "...No. I will do it." Though it still sounded reluctant, she made a decision. "This is what Emily would have told me to do.. to stop being scared."

Then the bell sounded; the moment was here. "I guess, here I go." She smiled at the guys. "Thank you, Eric.. Uno." Eric's cards were inserted in her dueldisk and she headed to the stage. "Give him what for, Alice!" Eric cheered her on. The girl arrived before her opponent while the clamor of a hundred duelists echoed around her. "It'll be fine.." She told herself. She had seen worse than this at Dom's tournament. "Good afternoon, miss Alice Brandt. It is nice to see you again." Zenshin was there, as kind as he could be. "Y-yeah. You too." Despite that, her voice and hands still trembled. "Hmm. I can see you're nervous. I hope you haven't been dreading this trial this entire time." He said sympathetically. "Oh no. Just the last few seconds." She answered, hiding the lie behind her goofy grin. She was good at that. "Well. I commend you for making it this far. There will be no shame in this, regardless of the outcome. So let us begin." Zenshin bowed his head. "Oh yeah.. of course." She quickly did the same. Then the two raised their disks towards each other. "Duel!"

Alice's LP: 8000 Zenshins LP: 8000

"As always, I give my opponents the first turn if they want it." Zenshin drew his five cards. "Thank you." She didn't want to turn down a gesture like that. "Oh.." Unfortunately her deck was playing hard-to-get. She hadn't drawn anything that could combine into a ritual summon. "I summon Mermail Abysspike." So instead she normal summoned one of her oldest cards, the brawny mermaid(4/1600/1200). "I will discard a monster to add Nekroz of Clausolas to my hand." Abysspike could discard any water-monster, like Nekroz of Gungnir, to claim any level 3 water monster from the deck. "Then I set a card in my spell/trap zone and end my turn." Now she at least had the means to acquire a ritual spell. "You combined the Mermail set with the Nekroz set? An interesting style." Unsurprisingly, Nekroz were nothing new for this universe either. "I assume this is not your first duel?" Zenshin was used to first-time duelists only using decks that came straight out of a box. "No. But it's the first time.. here." She responded with the technical truth. "The first time can always be a overwhelming, I agree."

"I shall activate Gateway to Chaos!" Zenshins turn started off with the field spell of dark and light energy. "If you have seen my previous duel, I will not need to explain how.." The spells effect added a Black Luster Soldier - Sacred Soldier card to Zenshins hand. "I was able to get this." He then normal summoned another monster, which manifested as nothing more than a set of empty Black Luster armor(1/0/0). "This one however would be new. It is Super Soldier Soul. By sending the 'soul' to the graveyard, this card can claim its power for itself for two turns." With that he meant, that Super Soldier Soul discarded the Black Luster Soldier Supersoldier card from his hand to make its own attack rise to 3000, and to rename itself into Black Luster Soldier. "My monster strikes yours!" The soldier's spirit inhabited the Soul armor(1/3000/0). With an ethereal sword it slashed through Mermail Abysspike. "Eeek!" Instinctively, Alice raised her arms to shield herself. But despite the loss of 1500 lifepoints, no physical force ever came near her.

Alice's LP: 6500

"I take it from your reaction, that have not had many virtual duels before?" The master inquired as he placed two trap cards down. His turn was over at any rate. "Yeah. Sorta." She still couldn't do it, she still couldn't make her body react as if this was a normal duel. Her hand would fade right through her monsters, she tested that. That did not convince her mind. The terror stayed.

"Well.. my turn." With her draw, she gained a spell. The deck wasn't holding her back anymore. "I activate this, Reinforcement of the Army." The spell searched the deck for a lowleveled warrior; Shurit the Strategist of Nekroz in this case. "I can use this guy as a whole tribute for a Nekroz ritual. So.." Alice discarded Nekroz of Clausolas, which searched the deck for Nekroz spells. "I will ritual summon Nekroz of Gungnir from my graveyard." Clausolas added Nekroz Cycle to her hand and played the spell. The cycle sacrificed Shurit to revive her discarded ritual monster. A redheaded sorceress(7/2500/1700) flew out of the graveyard with the wings of Gungnir's ice armor. "And because I tributed Shurit for an effect, he lets me have a Nekroz warrior." Alice's deck released yet another card, Nekroz of Brionac, thanks to the Strategist's second ability. "And by discarding a Nekroz card, Gungnir can destroy one monster on the field." She discarded the Dance Princess of the Nekroz and the Gungnir caster released a blast of ice. "Her target is Super Soldier Soul."

"Nekroz of Gungnir is a good choice. Unfortunately.." Zenshin activated his countertrap. "A good duelist knows to protect his cards. This is Super Soldier Shield. When I control a Black Luster Soldier, it will negate an effect that targets my monsters and destroy the source of the effect!" The soul warrior grabbed a shield with which he deflected the destructive ice. "Ah!" The reflected ice shards rained down on Nekroz of Gungnir, killing her. "I..I.." Alice was shaken, there were no monsters on her field anymore. However that presented another opportunity. "I banish Nekroz Cycle and Dance Princess!" A Nekroz ritual spell could remove itself from the graveyard along with a Nekroz monster, to force a new Nekroz spell out of the deck. "Nekroz Mirror!" Now she had to think about what to ritual summon though. Brionac would be useless against Super Soldier Soul. She had to go higher. "I can discard Brionac for any other Nekroz monster. And I want.. Nekroz of Trishula." The 9th level Nekroz entered her hand. Because Nekroz Mirror could tribute Nekroz monsters in the graveyard, and Shurit was in that graveyard; it would be very easy to complete the ritual for Trishula. "I ritual summon it!"

"Another apt judgment." Nekroz of Trishula the ice knight(9/2700/2000) would banish one card from Zenshins hand, field and graveyard. "But it was too predictable." His other trap was flipped as well. "Super Soldier Rebirth. This is a trap that lets me exchange a Black Luster Soldier on my field, with a different Black Luster Solder in my hand." The Soul whose stole the name of Super Soldier, was sent to the graveyard. The Sacred Soldier(8/3000/2500) in his pure white armor took its place. "Oh no." Alice lost her target on the field. But Nekroz of Trishula would still banish Super Soldier Shield from the graveyard, along with the Polymerization spell card in Zenshins hand. "I... I end my turn." Alas, Trishula was no match for the Sacred soldier and Alice had to leave her unguarded in attack position. She looked defeated, and her friends could tell all the way from the sidelines. "Damn. He couldn't even get to her with two ritual monsters in a row!" Eric cursed. "It's not over yet." Uno insisted. He wanted to believe she had a chance. Except her opponent did not seem to the type to let duels go on for that long.

"Strange. You're markedly different from the duelist I saw yesterday. Do you not share your friends spirit?" Zenshin sighed and drew his next card. "Perhaps you were just not ready yet. Either way, at this point Gateway of Chaos has gathered three spellcounters." The field spell gained those counters when his monsters (Super Soldier, Soldier Soul, Sacred Soldier) went to the graveyard. "By removing all three, I may add a ritual spell to my hand. I naturally choose, Super Soldier Ritual." One component was here for this ritual. Now he would gather the rest. "I activate Advance Draw." He played the draw spell, and tributed his own Sacred Soldier. "By sending a level 7 or higher monster to the graveyard, Advance draw 'draws' twice." Zenshin grabbed two cards. "...Finally I activate the second effects of Super Soldier Soul and Super Soldier Rebirth." Both cards could banish themselves from the grave, and did so. "The Soul monster takes a Knight of Beginning or Evening from the deck. The Rebirth trap takes a Black Luster Soldier from the graveyard." The cards added to his hand were, respectively; Knight of the Beginning and Black Luster Soldier - Supersoldier.

"I activate Super Soldier Ritual!" The ritual began. The altar was set for two young knights; one with silver hair and angelic white armor and the other with bloodred hair and shining black armor. "I tribute Beginning Knight and Evening Twilight Knight. Their combined levels are 8!" The sacrifices walked into the flames which turned black and white. "All to ritual summon Black Luster Soldier the Super Soldier!" The majestic knight(8/3000/2500) of the dark descended from the chaotic altar. "Due to their tributes for a Black Luster ritual, the effects of the Knights are activated and transferred to a the ritual monster! The Evening Knight allows me to banish one card from your hand face-down, until the next turn!" The chaos soldier swung his sword once, removing the last card in Alice's hand. "The other effect allows me to banish one monster you control. The Beginning Knight has the same power." In essence, Super Soldier could banish two of Alice's monsters each turn. "However, the Beginning Knight also allows the summoned ritual monster to attack twice, if its first attack destroyed a monster!" He started the battle phase. "I declare an attack, on Nekroz of Trishula!"

"No..Wait, no!" Alice realized that this destruction to be avoided. "I play Aqua Mirror Cycle. So I can move Trishula back into my deck!" Her trap revealed itself, and drew Trishula into a vortex of water. "Then I get back two water monsters from my graveyard." Aqua Mirror Cycle selected Nekroz of Clausolas and Nekroz of Brionac. "Hng!" After that the Black Luster Supersoldier's attack turned into a direct one. Its sword passed through her body. "Ah. You saw my plan for what it was. It pleases me to see that the fight hasn't left you after all." If Alice had allowed the attack to go through, the Supersoldier would have used its original power to inflict damage equal to its victims attackpoints. It would still get a direct attack afterwards, leading to her losing twice as many lifepoints. "Everyone keeps saying that. That I am strong enough to fight.. but I don't want to see it as a fight. Why can't duels just be about the game?" This duel, despite its less than dire circumstances, was still about more than having fun. It was still about 'surviving' in this world. "Because.. you cannot go through life running from everything. Those that do not want to fight, understand that far better than those that do."

Alice's LP: 3500

"Running?" Alice thought over his words, as he moved to end his turn. "Is that.. what I'm doing?" She drew her next card. "Every time something bad happens, I want to be somewhere else. Is that..wrong?" Alice looked down at the 'strength' Eric had given her; fusion and synchro cards that waited in her extra deck. She hated the idea of using them at first. "No.. it's not the cards that scare me, it's not their fault. This is still the same game. It still has the same rules.." In this world, there were no distinctions between the colors of cards. Anything could be bad or good, the limits were all in her head. "All I can do is.. what I'm good at." Alice took Nekroz of Brionac from her hand. "I will discard this to put Nekroz of Valkyrus in my hand." She knew what she wanted to do, which ritual monster she would bring out. "And then I banish Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz Mirror from the graveyard." The second ritual spell used its selfbanishing effect, so that the third could be drawn from the deck. "I take the ritual spell Nekroz Kaleidoscope. And.. and I will play it, to sacrifice Infernoid Tierra in my extra deck and summon two ritual monsters from my hand!" An infernal glow escaped the deck, which soon changed to a clear blue light. The young Nekroz of Clausolas(3/1200/1300) in feathered armor and the black magic warlock Nekroz of Valkyrus(8/2900/1700) arrived at the stage.

"I knew it! I knew she could use them!" Eric declared with pride as he saw the beginning of her comeback. He didn't expect that she would go for his fusion monster first either. "Like I said. This duel could still go anywhere." Uno was happy for her as well, she finally seemed to be focusing on the present. "...?" If only he could say the same. "Why do I feel like..." A tingling crawled through his nerves. "...someone is looking at me?" He caught the glimpse of a retreating shape in the distance of the crowd. "Huh? Did you see something?" Uno was getting Eric worried too. "Maybe. I saw someone stare at us.. me. A girl I think." He was certain. "Again? Wait, you think Silver's here?" Eric panicked. "No. It didn't look like her.. but then.. who could it be?"

(To be Continued in Redux 080: And the Pursuit of Happiness)

New Cards used by Alice Brandt
Nekroz of Gungnir

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Infernoid Tierra

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Reinforcement of the Army

New Cards used by Zenshin
Super Soldier Soul
Black Luster Soldier - Sacred Soldier
Beginning Knight
Evening Twilight Knight

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Advance Draw

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Super Soldier Shield
Super Soldier Rebirth