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.

27. Quiet Moves

Redux 64: Quiet Moves

Marco would have liked for his grand feast to be one of joy and celebration. It was the grand return of his brother after all. But one guest was dealing with the dreadful news of Phoebe's escape. Other guests kept inquiring about progress on finding their Master or friend. "Lady Iria, it will take longer to Look for someone who has no Identity. Sir Stonewell, the Inquisition tells me it's not that Simple to Free someone from the Monument. They are working on it as we speak. Miss Brandt, I Promise you my troops are still Searching for this woman who his holding your Father hostage. Templars don't need to Rest. If they are In this world, they cannot Hide forever." The lord tried to calm them all at once. "Yeah. It's not all bad. Tomorrow we can see your other family, Alice." He had Eric on his side to support Alice's spirit. "That is Correct! I would Have let you Go sooner, but the Brandts live to the far East. They are Fast Asleep now. But one Teleport is all it Takes to get us There!" This got her to at least light up a little. "You think it's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, do you?" Stonewell cut in. "You sit here eating, while that twofaced woman does who knows what." He'd been throwing verbal barbs around the table from the start, mostly at Eric. "I know that twofaced lady a little, okay? She's probably mad, but she's not dumb. She knows hurting my mom wont help her get what she wants, if she has no way to gloat about it." Phoebe couldn't exactly send an email. "You are naive. And this is all pointless." Stonewell had his fill of this 'gathering', he stormed off the table and left the room. "He didn't even Touch his Plate." Marco sighed.

Not much was said at the table for the rest of the evening. It was afterwards, when everyone went their separate ways, that certain topics could be addressed. Uno met Iria outside in the hallway, to share some suspicions. "We have gone over this. Dom said it himself, you are not UNO." She found them a little difficult to swallow. "Well he didn't know the whole story. He didn't know UNO lived in another dimension, or that my name is Fortuno. Or that I am supposed to be a lot older than I really am. It ties together too well." These were the facts noone could deny. "And maybe my attitude just changed a little, when 'whatever' happened to make me younger." It was not as if he could bring those memories back. "And I know what you're thinking. Zach dueled a hologram of UNO. UNO's been sending messages to Dom and supposedly cards to me during some of my duels. But are you sure that that was him? What if whoever kicked me out of my own world also replaced me as Doms contact? Just tell me if that sounds crazy at all."

"Of course it sounds 'crazy'." Iria muttered. "But.." Uno lifted his eyes. "After that duel, when Zach returned, Master Dom mentioned that it was odd that UNO did not recognize him. Dom always told his contacts about his disciples." He gasped. She was actually giving him hope. "So it could be true! Though that still doesn't tell me much." Who could have done this, or why? "Uno. I say this as.. a friend." Iria used the last word with mild reservation. "But you do believe what the Nisells are telling you, about your age and your adoption? Do you trust them?" If they are your family, then I suppose you would be the best judge of that." The disciple did not want him to get his hopes up, even if she did not say that out loud. "I.. think I do, those two at least. Anastasia is helping me, Marco is trying to help all of us. I believe what they're telling me.. More than I believe this 'union' they inherited." If there was anyone not to trust, it was Tempus. There was more to this than what 'dad' told his children.

"It is late. We can continue this tomorrow." Iria stated. She wanted to return to the infirmary as soon as possible. "Yeah okay. Guess I'm gonna hit the hay in my own bed for once. That should be something."

It was quite something indeed. His royal chamber could hold a dozen people. The bed alone was something you'd expect a king to sleep in. There was a porch outside with a view of the city and a pool. Inside there were elaborate closets, big TV-screens, paintings, rugs and a crystal chandelier. "All of this.." This was his room, exactly how he had left it.. according to Marco and Anastasia. It was hard to see himself living here. "But.." He tried the bed. It felt just right, his body recognized the softness at once. "It's mine." He was truly home. If he wasn't so tired he'd try to explore every nook and cranny, just to discover more about himself. That bookshelf alone could teach him everything. "You'll get there, Uno. You can do it, you learned a lot today already." It took him only one try to create a new card. Maybe he could follow in Tempus' footsteps to save the world. "Save the world? Heh. What am I; a superhero?" He guessed this explained why he wanted to connect with so many duelists; he was in charge of a whole planet.

...

"Morning." Adamant said as Iria arrived at the infirmary the next day. "I thought you would want to stay here at all time." He only got in a few minutes before her. "What I would want? You may know how to talk to soldiers, but you do not know how to talk politely.. Adamant." She would damn well go where she pleased. Besides, the hospital staff didn't allow nightly sleepovers. "They would tell me if there were any changes, and I would be down here in a matter of minutes." For a tower with this many floors, the elevators were ridiculously fast. "I presume you are here for your man." Pawn, the duelist that Adamant had beaten down, used to be a member of Adamants guild.. before Martel got to him. "For all of them. Phoebe's escape has made it necessary to question them. If they were aware of what the fusion guild has been doing, they could help us find them." Phoebe had to have a hideout somewhere close, a place to put the quite large portal machine. "I can tell you're a leader, you always think in strategic terms." Iria smirked. "So, did you see anything of note inside this palace?"

Before Adamant could answer that question, he heard a sustained flat tone escape the room. "No!" Adamant pushed the door open immediately. "He's gone!" One bed was empty, the heartmonitor flatlined because the tube was disconnected. "It was the duelist from this world, Bishop! He fled, and he took his cards with him!" There was an empty drawer and an open window. It led straight into the garden. "What? Why would he? Is he still under Martels control?"

...

"Did you sleep well?" Eric and Alice woke a little later than the others, and the two met each other outside in the hallway. "I guess. I'm not really used to soft pillows." Alice said as she yawned. "Yeah, but do you at least feel a little better now?" There was no mistaking the quality of their rooms. Eric never slept better. "I think so. I didn't have any bad dreams this time. I just kept thinking about what you said and that helped." She just accepted that there was nothing she could do right now, and that Phoebe wouldn't do anything either yet. "Good. Because now I am the one who's getting worried." Eric groaned. "Worried how my mom is gonna react when she finds out what I was doing while she was..."

"..huh?" Eric got quiet. He saw a boy standing in the middle of the hall. "What the? Isn't that.." He did not recognize this kid instantly without the black hood and cloak, but his face was the same as the duelist Uno fought in the tunnels. "It's one of Martels.. Bishop. I think.." Alice was not yet sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. "Who.. are you?" The boy mumbled to himself. "Uh.. Hello! I'm.. Alice! And this is Eric. I see you woke up, and talking! That's good.. right?" She also wasn't sure if he was feeling well. "What.. was I doing?" His words came out slowly and his legs were wobbling. "Getting lost?" Eric suggested. "No. That's not it.. I was.. somewhere else.. Now I am here.. gah!" A sharp throbbing pain struck his forehead. "You don't look okay.. uhm.. can you tell us your name? We didn't know it yet.." Something was clearly still wrong with him. Only now did she noticed the dueldisk strapped to his wrist. "No name. I am his Bishop. I am Bishop.. He's still talking to me.. Ah! I will do it! I will do it! Don't hurt me!" Too late. Bishop activated his disk.

Bishop's LP: 8000

"The king wants this." He took the first turn and didn't even wait to see who would meet his challenge. He summoned Dokidoki(2/500/500), a yellow-eyed demon hiding in a heart-shaped jar. "I am ...his." Dokidoki's effect set a rock type monster from the deck by discarding a rock-type monster from Bishop's hand. Both monsters had to have the same level. "Martel? But he isn't here! You don't have to do this!" Alice cried out. "I have to. He is always there!" Bishop discarded a Pot of the Forbidden to special summon a second Pot of the Forbidden from his deck inface-down defense position. The boy also placed a trap card behind the jarmonster and ended his turn. "Damn. Alice, I will.." Eric tried to get out his cards. "Double damn!" He left them in his room! "Alice, you don't.."

Alice's LP: 8000

Alice activated her dueldisk. "Someone has to..." She was the only one who could duel him, and talk to him. "You're save here Bishop. You can have your own life again! Uno saved you!" She pleaded with him while she also normal summoned the Dance Princess of the Nekroz(4/1600/1000) in attack position. "You're doing something without him right now! You're not dueling like his puppet!" The fact that he was not summoning Triamids again had to mean something. "You don't.. understand. I can hear him, right now! He wants this, he will always find me!" Bishop screamed. "Alice, it's just like with me. I kept hearing Phoebe's voice in my head too. Maybe the more you hit him, the weaker Martels control will get?" That was how it worked when Iria dueled him. Allthough in that case and unbeknownst, another psychic had given him a helping hand. "I can try." Alice said wearily. She didn't want to fight someone who was forced to do it. She sent the Dance Princess out to attack and destroy DokiDoki with a blast of ice. After that she placed her town trap and let the turn end.

Bishop's LP: 6900

"No. I am not.. strong enough!" Bishop's turn came and he flipped his face-down monster, Pot of the Forbidden. The large black jar(10/2000/3000) flipped upwards and set off one of its flip effects. "He wants.. to draw." Bishop activated the monsters first effect; drawing two cards. "And he wants to see.. what he likes." He normal summoned a more familiar rock monster, the Triamid Dancer(3/400/1900). "You can't.. save me. I will never be free.. I don't even remember.. what it was like before Him!" Bishop freaked out again and activated his trap card; Rock Bombardement. "Ah!" The trap sent a rock monster from the deck to the graveyard to inflict 500 points of damage. A Sentry Soldier of Stone was dropped on top of her. "Alice!"

Alice's LP: 7500

"It's okay." The hologram faded through her. "He can't hurt me. You can't do Solid Visions here." Nevertheless, Bishop continued his assault. "Sentry Soldier.." The only monsters he controlled were rock-types. Due to that, the discarded Stone Soldier(3/1300/2000) could summon itself from the graveyard with its own effect. "XYZ-summon." Bishop overlayed that monster with Triamid Dancer. The XYZ-monster he created was Soul of Silvermountain, the magma giant fused to the moving mountain(3/1800/2200). "Negate." Soul of Silvermountain detached one material. "Awp.." Alice's facedown trap was petrified. The Silver Soul could negate the activations of face-down cards as long was it was on the field. "Attack. Yes, attack!" After that the XYZ-giant destroyed the Dance Princess with magma spewing from its chest-mouth. Meanwhile the shadowy demon slithered out of the Forbidden Jar to strike Alice directly. "Summon." In the second main phase, Bishop used the effect of Soul of Silvermountain to revive a rock monster, now that it had destroyed one of Alice's monsters. "I have to do this." He special summoned Dokidoki in defense mode. Finally he placed two trap cards behind it. "His turn..is over."

Alice's LP: 5300

"Alice. Maybe I should get the others. Maybe.." Eric didn't think this looked good. There was no-one around to help them. "No. I can do this!" But Alice was only getting started. "I will use Sprite's Blessing to ritual summon a Light ritual monster!" A holy circle was placed on the ground, she sacrificed the Nekroz of Gungnir in her hand to it. "Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended!" A long diamond-blue dragon(7/2600/2800) with a long flowing beard flew into the halls. "And I will summon a Nekroz ritual monster too!" She discarded Nekroz of Clausolas from her hand, to add Nekroz Mirror to her hand. "The Mirror tributes Nekroz of Clausolas and Gungnir from my graveyard to ritual summon Nekroz of Decisive Arms!" The cannon and armor-carrying Nekroz dragon(10/3300/2300) joined the dragon sage on Alice's side of the field. "He can destroy and banish one set card each turn!" The Nekroz monster fired a cannonblast into the set card on Bishop's left. Dimensional Sphinx was banished. "Then.. they will fight with your monsters in attack mode!" Sauravis the Ancient crushed Soul of Silvermountain with its tail. Nekroz of Decisive Arms fragmented the Forbidden Pot with a series of jabs. "Bishop? Did that help? How do you feel now?"

Bishop's LP: 4800

"Help? You cannot help me.. he's.. getting louder. He wants more.. " Bishop's response was to activate a continuous trap, Triamid Pulse. "!" Each turn, by banishing two rock monsters from his graveyard, he could either revive one rock monster or destroy one card. "But he can't make you do it! He's only yelling because you are affraid of him! Don't let him get away with it!" Eric shouted. ".. He can..not?" Bishop stopped his hand before it reached the graveyard. "Then what do I..do?!" His hand did not stay paralyzed for long. He banished both Forbidden Pots from his graveyard, to special summon Triamid Dancer. "Is that what he wanted you to do?" Alice wondered. It would have been better for him to choose the destruction effect; because. "I activate Sauravis' effect! I can return it to my hand to stop the special summon of another monster!" Her Crowned dragon banished the summoned monster. "Ngh.. But now it's my turn!" Bishop activated Dokidoki's effect again, discarding another Triamid Dancer to special summon a Triamid Hunter(3/1400/900) from his deck. "Destroy Decisive Arms!" After that he banished the discarded and Soul of Silvermountain to reactivate Triamid Pulse. He wanted to destroy her card this time, but by now it was too late.

"I can discard Sauravis from my hand, to negate your effect!" The ritual dragon possessed a hand-effect as well, one that defended ritual monsters when cards targeted them. Triamid Pulse was negated. "See? You are fighting him!" Alice didn't take Martel for the kind of duelist who would make an oversight like that. "No.. I was just.." But Bishop was not ready to admit it yet. "It's not my fault!" He activated more effects. He activated the field spell Triamid Kingolem to power up Triamid Hunter(1900/900) and he re-summoned the Stone Sentry Soldier from the graveyard. "I.. tribute summon The Despair URANUS!" Dokidoki and the Sentry were sacrificed for a massive sphere(9/2900/2300) made from blue stone and gold. "Despair gains 300 attack and defense points for all of my spells and traps." Triamid Pulse and Kingolem added 300 attackpoints to the seventh planet(9/3500/2300). "He will.. kill Nekroz of Decisive Arms!" The face on the front of the sphere opened and fired a golden bolt of lightning down to the armored dragon.

"I'm sorry." Alice flipped her trap card; Drowning Mirror Force. "I can't imagine how horrible it's been, how he treated you.." The forces of water absorbed the lightning from URANUS and retaliated against all enemies in attack position. The waves dragged the Despair Planet and Triamid Hunter down into the depths, forcing them back into Bishop's deck. "But it's almost over." Bishop had planned to end his turn with that attack. Instead he had to end it with nothing. "Just.. let it happen. We will protect you here. I promise, we wont let him hurt you again!" Alice drew her card. She discarded it, the Nekroz of Catastor, to activate its effect to bring another Nekroz to life. The Dance Princess returned to the field. "I.. what would I even do? Without my King?" Bishop did not try to fight back, he did not touch the Triamid trap. "Anything you want." Alice said, and she entered the battle phase. "I am going to attack now. Here they come!" The Nekroz dragon with the Decisive armor and the Dancing Princess gathered their energy and let it loose against the boy. "Gua...Grahaaaa!"

Bishop's LP: 0

"Guys!" It was now that Uno finally showed up in the halls. "What's.. happening? Why is he up, what did he do?" He would have come sooner, but he couldn't hear the noise from his own room as he dug through his own stuff. "Uno. He.. he just walked up to us and started picking a fight." Eric said. "He didn't want to. Martel made him!" Alice added. "Martel?" Uno winced. He thought he had saved this kid. "I found you.." Once Bishop noticed Uno's presence, he weakly lifted his finger and pointed at the duelist. "He has a message for you... Mother.. father. You lost yours.. I don't remember mine." Bishop coughed. "Huh? What are you saying?" Uno didn't understand the message. "You have 36 hours... to come outside and play with him. Or.. he will make sure your friends never see their family again.. In either dimension." The Bishop finally passed out, his Kings message was at an end. "No way. He wouldn't! She wouldn't!" Eric got the threat all too well. "But they didn't do anything!" Phoebe was coming after the Stonewells and the Brandts in this timeline too. Even though she knew Alice was 'adopted'. "Uno, we have to stop her!" Alice cried. "I know. We will find them." Uno couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let it happen. Not here.

(To be Continued in Redux 063: Nature VS Nurture)

New Cards used by Alice Brandt
Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended

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Sprite's Blessing

New Cards used by Bishop
Dokidoki
Pot of the Forbidden
Sentry Soldier of Stone
The Despair URANUS

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Soul of Silvermountain

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Rock Bombardment
Triamid Pulse