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.

28. Nature VS Nurture

Redux 63: Nature VS Nurture

The ability to instantly move from one end of the earth to the other was only a dream for most minds. Not so for the Nisell family. "Now don't feel Humiliated if it ends in Failure. I didn't learn it Right away either. Just Imagine where you want to Be, and you will Be there. Use the photos our Templars took of the Area and see yourself in It. Then have everyone stand within Range, about ten feet, and focus on your Crystal!" Lord Marco made it sound so simple. "must you really go, uno?" And Lady Anastasia made it sound dangerous. "you do not have to leave the safety of the palace. there is still so much for you to learn." She didn't understand why her brother had to go at all. He wanted to check up on the Brandts in this world, yet a templar check-up would be enough. "The safety of the palace you say? That same safety allowed a man to escape the infirmary." Adamant grunted. Though Bishop, Pawn and Zach were now back at the infirmary, with more guards posted and their cards taken away, that did not change the fact that Bishop got away in the first place. "I got this, Adamant. Anastasia, I'm not going in blind. I left the Odd-Eyes Pendulum card with Iria, so others dont get to steal it. If there's a trap waiting, I'll just warp back here. But if Alice wants to go see them, I want to be there with her." Lord Uno's mind was made up. "Uno.." Alice was grateful, while Anastasia sulked. "i... see."

"I am coming too." Said Stonewell as he walked into the conversation in the palace hall. "Huh? Why?" Eric wanted to know. "I have my reasons. And I am tired of being locked up in this place." That was all his counterpart had to say. "Well the More the Merrier! I would Go myself, if the Ministry wasn't Tugging at my Collar every half Hour." Marco chuckled heartily as he handed Uno a gold-coated card with the image of the palace on it. "Several Templars are Waiting to Escort you there, this Millennium Seal will Prove your Status to them. Should Trouble find you, the Troublemakers will find themselves in more Trouble." His brother laughed again. Uno nodded. "Thanks. Okay. Are we good to go?" The rest nodded too and got within ten feet of Uno, while the Nisells stepped back. "Then.. we're off! Maybe!" Uno placed the image in his head and grabbed his pendulum. One mental push later, he was standing inside that image in real life; in a picturesque small harbor town. "I did it!" For the first time, he pulled of a controlled 'warp'. "I really need to make up a term for this."

"Impressive.. It is a good thing only you and your family can 'abuse' this kind of power." Adamant didn't think his guild would have stood a chance against invaders if they all used pendulum crystals. "So this is the place? Do you recognize it Alice?" Eric remembered how the Brandts used to move from place to place lot. He could not be sure if this place was one of them. "No. Maybe it was from before.. I showed up. I never went to this country." It was all one big country now anyways. "Alice. Are you sure you are prepared for this? You must have considered that the familiar faces you are about to see are not actually your family." Adamant wanted to be clear on that. "I know. Mom, dad and Emily.. they wont even know me." She took a deep breath. "But it's fine, honest. I only want to see if they're okay." She looked around. "It's that house right?" The Brandt lived at the end of the street, according to the Unions data. It was a relaxed neighborhood, with children playing in a grassy field and an icecream van driving by. There was hardly any sign of the modernized world here. "Yeah. Wanna go and see if anyone's home?"

"I.. don't know. It'd be weeeird." Alice hesitated, which Uno understood perfectly. "Let me go first. The rest should stay back, especially you two. Two twins standing next to each other might draw too much attention." If the teleport hadn't shocked anyone already, Eric and Stonewell certainly would. "Okay." The other complied and converged behind a car. "Those Templars are still not here." Eric had no luck spotting their supposed escort in the sky so far. "What are the odds those guildpeople will show up right now?" Stonewell was not too worried, for multiple reasons. "Unless they can do what Uno can do, not great. Did you expect them?" Adamant caught of a hint of eagerness in Stonewells words. "We'd be ready for them this time." The duelist insisted. "..But what if they already got them, the fusion guild or the synchro guild?" Alice only got more nervous the longer it took. Uno was ringing the doorbell but nobody responded. "Maybe they're just not home yet, Alice. Emily is probably at school right now and your mom and dad are at work." As Eric tried to re-assure her, a grave epiphany struck. "Aw man, I'm missing school arent I?"

"Something is coming." Adamant broke up the chit-chat. "Huh? How did you.." Erics eyesight was put to shame; Adamant saw the Templars arrive way before he did. Two of them descended with the sun against their backs. "I hope they don't scare anyone." Alice didn't hear any outcry. People learned to adjust to the drones here. "Wait.. what are they doing?" These two were behaving very erratic though. They approached the house getting right behind him Uno. "Uh. Hey?" He turned to them, and that turned into a mistake. "Agkh!" One of the Templars released an electric shock and stunned Uno with it. "It's an attack!" Stonewell immediately activated his dueldisk. The other Templar locked on to Stonewell. Luckily he would not have to face the machines alone. "Aha" This time Eric made sure he brought his cards along. He activated a dueldisk as well and locked on to the other Templar. "What are you doing?" Stonewell yelled at his 'partner'. "Hey I've tagged in before! I know how this goes!" The two of them were now stuck in a tagteam duel against both Templars.

Team Eric's LP: 10000 Templars LP: 10000

"Uno, how are you?" Alice shouted. But she got no response, the attack zapped all consciouscness out of him. "No! We have to get him!" She panicked. "We can't." The two drones were in the way. If Adamant or Alice tried to bypass them, they would just create more virtual opponents. "Have either of you dueled Templars before? I know how they work and think." Stonewell drew five cards. "So just follow my lead, Eric." Stonewell placed a monster and a trap face-down and activated a continuous spell; Heart of the Underdog. "Unless you want to turn into a card." He ended the first turn. "But why didn't that golden card stop them? Why are they attacking Uno?" Alice couldn't imagine that either Marco or Anastasia would want this. "I do not know and they cannot tell us. Just stay close to me." Adamant didn't want to see anyone else get entangled in this.

"TEMPLAR SERIES G, CODE 4588076 AND 4589103 COMMENCING JOINT DUEL. BEGINNING TURN 02." One Templar made his move. "SUMMON THE TUNER JUNK CHANGER. IF SUMMONED, DECREASE ITS LEVEL BY ONE." For its turn it summoned material monsters. Junk Changer(3/1500/900) was normal summoned, and its effect 'changed' its(2/1500/900) level. "ACTIVATE THE SPELL ONE ON ONE. DISCARD ONE CARD TO SUMMON ONE LEVEL 1 MONSTER FROM THE DECK" One Needle Soldier for one Tuningware machine(1/100/300), that was how the spell resolved. "SYNCHRO SUMMON WITH THE TUNER AND NONTUNER." Both monsters were synchronized to create a level 3 warrior, the shieldbearer Goyo Defender(3/1000/1000). "WHEN TUNINGWARE IS USED AS A SYNCHRO MATERIAL. DRAW ONE CARD." The Templar took a new card from the deck. "GOYO DEFENDERS EFFECT; SPECIAL SUMMON ALL GOYO DEFENDERS FROM THE EXTRA DECK." The first Goyo Defender slammed his baton into the floor, and it called out two more Defenders(3/1000/1000) in attack mode. With this three-layered defensive wall, they really couldn't get to Uno.

"Synchro monsters? You think this could be the Circle?" Cassius immediately came to mind when Eric saw what was summoned. "Possibly. They could be after the Pendulum Dragon as well. Though how could they gain control of the Templar series?" Adamant didn't think the guilds would try to attack them with these things. "Well stop asking questions and keep going! Its your turn!" Stonewell growled at his partner. The first Templars turn ended when it placed one trap card down. "Oh. Right!" Eric drew a card. "Oh and be careful Eric! These synchros get stronger if you attack them while there's others on the field!" Alice called out as she remembered another duelist using these monsters. "Got it! My turn! I activate Void Vanishment! I can discard one card to add a Void spell to my hand!" Eric's continuous spell discarded an Infernoid monster for a Void Expansion spell. "You don't have to explain it to them! They know every card!" Stonewell cursed impatiently. "Yeah yeah stop yelling at me already!"

Eric activated his second continuous spell; Void Expansion. A broken sephirotic tree sprang from the ground and spread hellish ice everywhere. So far no in-game effects were visible. "I'll summon Infernoid Lucifugus!" The discarded Infernoid was banished so that Harmadik of the third sin could claim a physical form(3/1600/0). "In attack mode?" Stonewell cringed. "Lucifugus can destroy one monster each turn you know!" Eric used the effect to destroy the left-most Goyo Defender. "But the others will still gain 1000 attackpoints from each other." Eric couldn't attack, even if Harmadik wanted too. "Yeah well. I have some defenses for that too. I know my lifepoints are yours too. I know what I am doing." Eric set two trap cards face-down. Now it was their turn. "BEGINNING TURN 04. REACTIVATING GOYO DEFENDER'S EFFECT." And that turn began swimmingly. "Wait what?" One of the Goyo Defender's special summoned the three Goyo Defenders(3/1000/1000)... from the other Templars deck. "You.. you didn't realize they shared fields?" One Templar could use the powers of the other Templars monster and vice versa. "Ergh. I didn't think about that."

"SUMMON JUNK ANCHOR." The second Templar called out a little thin-limbed robot(2/0/0) "A CARD IS DISCARDED TO SPECIAL SUMMON ONE JUNK-MONSTER FROM THE GRAVEYARD." Junk Anchor discarded a Junk Giant card and then special summoned that very monster, the lumbering scrapheap holem(6/2400/0) back to the field. "SYNCHRO SUMMON. GOYO KING. A SYNCHRO SUMMON WITH 'JUNK GIANT' CANNOT BE NEGATED OR CHAINED TO." Junk Anchor was the tuner and Junk Giant the Nontuner, the two synchronized with each other to form a muscular swordsman(8/2800/2000) with kabuki make-up, long white hair and a large red ribbon tied to his back. "Is this their boss?" Eric said. Alas, Goyo King was not the only royalty in the extra deck. "ACTIVATE POLYMERIZATION." The Templar continued. "TWO EARTH-WARRIOR SYNCHROS ARE FUSION MATERIALS FOR GOYO EMPEROR." Two of the five Goyo Defenders jumped into the polymerizing vortex. What came out was a highly decorated kabuki emperor(10/3300/2500) with regal purple hair, seated on his comfortable throne. "They use Fusions too?" Alice gasped. "That's new." Adamant had never seen a Goyo fusion monster before. Was this something this world made up, or something the guild created with UNO's printer?

"Well.. okay this looks bad. I know Goyos love to take control of monsters. But, with Void Vanishment I can banish them if they try to battle my Infernoids." Eric spoke with optimism. "ACTIVATE MYSTICAL SPACE TYPHOON." Until the second Templar activated a spell from its 'hand'. "Damn, why does everyone have that card?" Eric's Vanishment spell was destroyed by the typhoon. "Just stop talking." Stonewell countered. "Trap card: Bad Aim!" When an effect was activated, Bad Aim would destroy one other card on the field. "I destroy Goyo Emperor!" He wanted to eliminate the guy at the top first. "CHAINING WITH TRAP CARD, WIRETAP." But that didn't work out. As the first templar revealed its set card. "No!" Wiretap negated Bad Aim and shoved it down Stonewell's deck. "GOYO KING ATTACKS INFERNOID HARMADIK. THIS ATTACKING CARD GAINS 400 ATTACKPOINTS FOR EACH OTHER EARTH-WARRIOR-SYNCHRO ON THE FIELD." The king increased its power thanks to the three Defenders, and he raised his blade. "Time for my trap then! I activate Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light!" Just in time, Eric revealed his swords of golden energy. At the cost of some life..

Team Eric's LP: 9000

"Is this part of your great plan too?" Stonewell didn't like it that Eric activated this trap without consulting him. "Better than getting hit!" Eric could keep negating attacks by paying 1000 lifepoints. So when both Goyo King and Goyo Emperor tried to strike Infernoid Harmadik, Eric activated the continuous trap twice and lost only 2000 lifepoints in total. "You always assume I would agree with you! You think you can think for me. That is your problem, Eric!" Stonewell spoke with clenched teeth. "Yeah well, I'm beginning to regret backing you up too! I just want to help you like I want to help anyone else!" Eric fired back. "Guys, please don't fight each other! You're already fighting two other guys!" Alice griped. "She is correct. If I need to step in, I will." Adamant didn't want to see them lose a battle to themselves. "No. I can handle this." Stonewell shook his head. The second Templar couldn't keep attacking since Harmadik was stronger than the Defenders. It placed a trap card and ended its turn. So now Stonewell could pay them back.

Team Eric's LP: 8000

"Draw!" Stonewell pulled his next card and showed it off. "I drew a normal monster, Igknight Margrave!" As long as he got normal monsters during his draw phase, Heart of the Underdog would let him draw again. "Draw!" His second card was Igknight Gallant, another normal monster. "Draw!" His third card was a spell. So the fun ended at three draws, but that was plenty to play with. "Oh! During your standby phase, Void Expansion can create an Infernoid token in defense mode!" Before he forgot, Eric activated his other continuous spell. It created a tiny lightcontainer(1/0/0) with a dark spore inside. "You do that. Meanwhile I will use my Igknights spell effect to add Igknight Cavalier to my hand!" The Igknight Gallant and Margrave were set in the pendulum zones, and destroyed by their own effects. After that Stonewell could claim Igknight Cavalier from his deck. He placed that pendulum (scale 2) on his field, along with Igknight Templar (scale 7). "Pendulum Summon!" The extra deck was filled and ready. Both Igknight Margrave(5/1500/2500) and Ignknight Gallant(6/2100/2200) were summoned from there in attack-position.

"CHAIN GOYO EMPEROR'S EFFECT TO THE SUMMON. THIS CARD CAN TRIBUTE ONE EARTH-WARRIOR SYNCHRO, TO GAIN CONTROL OF ALL SUMMONED MONSTERS." The Emperor raised his hand and sent one of the Goyo Defenders to his early retirement. "Crap!" That sacrifice allowed the Templars to take both of Margrave and Gallant. "Hmph. I also know what I am doing, Eric." Stonewell chained to the chaining Emperor with a quickplay spell in his hand. "Igknight Unite! I sacrifice Igknight Gallant to special summon Igknight Margrave from my deck!" Igknight Unite could switch out any two Igknights on the field and in the deck. Igknight Margrave(5/1500/2500) was special summoned in attack position too. Only Igknight Squire was brainwashed, at first. "THE GOYO EMPEROR CHAINS AGAIN." But the Emperor could use its power as often as it wanted. A second Goyo Defender was tributed and the fused Goyo claimed ownership of Igknight Margrave as well. "Aw man." Eric was not sure if this was the best strategy.

"Hmph. That Emperor has a weakness." Stonewell now normal summoned a card, the Rescue Rabbit(4/300/100). "It cannot control normal summoned monsters!" Rescue Rabbit's effect involved a selftribute in exchange for two level 4 or lower normal monsters with the same name. "I choose Igknight Dragnov!" Two Templar Igknights(4/1700/1300) were special summoned from the deck. "!" Eric braced for the worst. However this time the enemy did not activate Goyo Emperor's power. "Not hungry for more? I wouldn't be either. Monsters with this little attack can barely hurt you, right?" Monsters summoned by Rescue Rabbit were banished during the end of the turn. The Templars calculated the pros and cons and deemed the tribute not worth it. "Look, Adamant, Alice, Eric; this is typical Templar Intelligence. Can't recognize an ambush even when it comes from their own deck!" And now Stonewell completed his scheme, by flipping his face-down Igknight Paladin(4/1400/1900) face-up and activating the field spell Ignition Phoenix. "All Igknights on the field gain 300 attack and defense points!"

"Oh!" The magic phoenix flew into the sky and bathed Margrave(1800/2800), Squire(300/2300), Paladin(4/1700/2200) and the Templars(2000/1600) in sunlight. "Attack!" Igknight Paladin stabbed the mindcontrolled Igknight Squire and killed him. After that the first sniper Templar shot a bullet through the chest of Igknight Margrave. The last Igknight Templar fired a shot at Goyo Defender. "ACTIVATE THE EFFECT OF GOYO DEFENDER." The Defender raised its attack, but it(2000/1000) only had one other synchro warrior to take power from. "Yeah yeah yeah." So both the Igknight and the Goyo killed each other in the crossfire. "Now he's out of Defenders!" Eric was happy; Stonewell planned it all out. "I told you." Stonewell moved to the 2nd main phase and activated the effects of his cards again. Ignition Phoenix destroyed his remaining Templar Igknight, to place a new Igknight Squire in Stonewells hand. The Igknight Cavalier and third Templar card in the pendulum zone blasted each other to pieces and added an Igknight Cavalier card to Stonewell's hand. "Just listen to me, and we'll make it out alive." That was it for his turn.

Templar's LP: 8400

"We are starting to become an attraction." Adamant noted. Men and women in the streets and on the playground were all staring at the ongoing duel. "It's the giant phoenix isn't?" Eric figured that the duel would be hard to cover up after Stonewell played his field spell. "It should be fine. People never interfere in these affairs." Stonewell bitterly stated. And he was right, most of the onlookers rushed inside their homes and closed the doors. Most.. "What is going on? What are you doing in front of my house? What did I do?" There was one redhaired girl who did not have a home to get into at the moment.

"E.." Alice spun around. "Emily!"

It was her. "Emily you're okay!" For the shortest of moments Alice believed she would see the sister she always knew. But even though her eyes proved that this was someone else, she was happy. This girl's ruffled dress was not something her Emily tended to wear, and her hair was longer, and her face had more make-up. But she was safe, and that was more important than anything else. "Emily? Who are you talking about?" The girl asked confused and anxious. "What? About you?"

"Huh? My name's not Emily. I'm Amelia.."

(To be Continued in Redux 062: All Life is Imitation)

New Cards used by Eric Stonewell
Void Expansion

New Cards used by 'Inferno' Stonewell
Igknight Squire
Rescue Rabbit

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Heart of the Underdog
Igknight Unite

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Bad Aim

New Cards used by TEMPLAR SERIES-G
Junk Changer
Tuningware
Junk Anchor
Junk Giant

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Goyo Defender
Goyo King
Goyo Emperor

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One for One
Polymerization
Mystical Space Typhoon

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Wiretap