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.

29. All Life is Imitation

Redux 62: All Life is Imitation

"Amelia?" That was her name, that was the name James and Heather gave their only daughter. Alice didn't know why, she knew nothing about her. "Wait! The Templars aren't here for you! Please don't be affraid!" Nothing except, that she was affraid. "If they're not here for me. Than they're here for you! What do you want?" She was afraid of her, of the sister she didn't have. "It is not what you think. These units were not supposed to attack us. It is a malfunction of sorts." Adamant did not strike an un-intimidating figure either. "No. Just stay away!" Amelia made a break for it, grabbing her phone as running back out the street. "Wait!" Alice's first instinct was to chase after her. "Alice. Don't! It will only worsen the situation. If we separate, we risk losing Uno and our way back to the palace." Adamant considered defending him a priority right now. "Oh thanks for the vote of confidence. That girl's probably gonna bring in reinforcements anyway." Stonewell grumbled and moaned. Nothing was going right. "But what if she gets attacked by Templars too? I just can't leave her!" Alice couldn't stop herself. "I'll keep my dueldisk so you know where I am going! I'm sorry. I have to.." She ran off after Amelia. "..Damn it. If only these friggin robots didn't get in our way." Eric cursed

Team Eric's LP: 8000 Templar G's LP: 8400

"BEGINNING TURN 06. ACTIVATE THE SPELL CARD; TUNER'S HIGH." Of course, just because the gang was dealing with their problems, did not mean the Templars were going to wait while it was their turn. "BY DISCARDING ONE MONSTER, ONE TUNER WITH THE SAME ATTRIBUTE AND TYPE, BUT A HIGHER LEVEL, WILL BE SUMMONED FROM THE DECK." With Tuners High the first Templar discarded Bolt Hedgehog from its 'hand'. That monster's types were earth and machine, which paved the way for the special summon of the keywrench-headed robot Quick-span Knight(3/1000/800). "WHEN A TUNER IS ON THE FIELD, BOLT HEDGEHOG MAY SPECIAL SUMMON ITSELF." The discarded bolt-backed urchin tried to escape the graveyard. "Oh no you don't! I activate Infernoid Harmadiks effect!" Eric could retaliate and tribute an Infernoid during his turn with Harmadik's effect, to banish a monster from their graveyard. "ACTIVATE IMPERIAL IRON WALL." But the drones had an answer to that. "The hell?" The Imperial Wall was a continuous trap that blocked any form of banishing cards, including as a cost for summoning monsters. "I can't summon any Infernoids like this!"

"SYNCHRO SUMMON." Now the Bolt Hedgehog(2/800/800) revived itself unabated, and tuned itself with the Quickspan Knight. Thanks to Imperial Iron Wall, the Hedgehog didn't even banish itself afterwards as it usually would have when it summoned itself. "GOYO CHASER." Another type of Kabuki officer(5/1900/1000) in green armor was summoned from the extra deck. ''AS QUICK-SPAN KNIGHT HAS BECOME A SYNCHRO MATERIAL, 500 ATTACKPOINTS WILL BE TAKEN FROM AN OPPONENTS MONSTER" Stonewells Igknight Paladin(4/1200/1900) was the target for this effect. Quickspan loosened the bolts of its gun. Also immediately active was Goyo Chaser's own effect, which granted it(2200/1000) 300 attackpoints for each other Earth-Warrior synchro on the field.

"JUNK SYNCHRON." The machines were still not through. Junk Synchron was normal summoned, which meant it would special summon a level 1 or 2 monster from the graveyard. "NEEDLE SOLDIER IS SPECIAL SUMMONED." The needle-armed android(1/100/100) was their first choice. And as they controlled a tuner monster once more. "BOLT HEDGEHOG MAY SUMMON ITSELF." The bolt critter jumped out of the ground for the second time. "SYNCHRO SUMMON, GOYO PREDATOR." This time three monsters were tuned. Junk Synchron, Needle Soldier and Bolt Hedgehog combined into a masked and beastly Goyo stalker(6/2400/1200). "Geez. Just how many Goyos are there?" Eric groaned. "GOYO PREDATOR ATTACKS THE INFERNOID TOKEN." The time came for their four Goyos to battle. "Eric! A monster synchro summoned with Needle Soldier can inflict piercing damage!" Stonewell shouted as the Predator tossed its baton towards Erics token(1/0/0). "Yeah like I'm going to let it!" Luckily Eric still had his Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light. He paid 1000 lifepoints and the trap negated the attack.

Team Eric's LP: 7000

"GOYO KING ATTACKS IGKNIGHT PALADIN." It did not slow down. Next came the king(8/2800/2000) of Goyos who gained 400 attackpoints from his two subjects during its attack. "Nope!" Eric activated his trap once more and blocked the King(3600/2000)'s strike too. "GOYO EMPEROR ATTACKS IGKNIGHT PALADIN." Now the mighty Emperor(10/3300/2500) got up from his throne to lay a hand on the lowly Paladin. "Again!" Even the emperors advance was halted by the swords of light. "GOYO CHASER ATTACKS IGKNIGHT PALADIN." Finally came the third attack from the Chaser(2500/1000). "Eric you don't have to keep defending my monster. It's a pendulum, they wont gain control of it." Goyos only took over monsters that fell into the graveyard; pendulum monsters went to extra deck instead. "Yeah well. It still saves you 300 lifepoints!" Eric made his final payment to the Spiritual Swords and stopped Goyo Chaser. "Why cant you just listen to me?" Stonewell growled. "It's not you, Stonewell. I just got bad experiences with taking orders. Sometimes you just gotta do your own thing!"

Team Eric's LP: 4000

...

"!" Alice only got a few blocks down the road, when the chase came to an end. "D..dad." Amelia ran all the way to a construction area where she met her father. He worked there. "No..." Alice hid behind a car and kept watching. James Brandt embraced his frightened daughter, who frantically told him about the duel going on in front of their house, most likely. It was so very strange, to see them like this. Alice wanted to stay and look at them, she wanted to go over there and be with them. "I can.'t" They didn't know her. The only comfort she could take was knowing that they were going to be okay. "I..should leave." She tore her eyes away from the sight and ran back. This was not her place.

...

The second Templars turn ended after it placed one trap down. "Alright. I've had enough of this. Time to break them down!" Eric activated the effect of Void Expansion again during his standby phase. "CHAINING WITH THE TRAP; SCRAP-IRON STATUE. DESTROY ONE SPELL OR TRAP AFTER ITS EFFECT ACTIVATES. THEN RESET SCRAPIRON STATUE." But the continuous spell was destroyed before it could resolve its effect and generate a token, a statue of a dragon shattered the expanding hell-ice. "Hey!" The only good news was that ScrapIron Statue could not be activated again this turn. "Fine! I'll use only one token!" Eric activated the other trap he had placed; Needlebug Nest. It discarded the top five cards of his deck. (Infernoid Seitsemas, Sjette, Patrulea, Monster Gate and Breakthrough Skill) "What's the point? You can't summon any of them." Imperial Iron Wall was still there to keep the Infernoids in their grave. "You'd think that." Eric normal summoned his tuner demon, the Infernoid Decatron(1/0/0). "Decatron discard Infernoid Asmodai from the deck!" The Infernoid sent to the grave, Piaty, gave its level stars, name and powers to Decatron(6/0/0). "I got something better! Look out, Stonewell. I tune Decatron with the Infernoid Token, and create Black Rose Dragon!"

"That card?" The token and the leveled up tuner created one of Erics favorite synchros, the destructive dragon(7/2400/1800) of black roses. "Wanna try and take control of this card, Templars? Oops too late!" As soon as it was special summoned, the Black Rose destroyed all cards on the field. The Goyos, Stonewells spells and Igknight Paladin, even Erics own cards; everything was burned to the ground. "I hope there's a second part to this plan, Eric." The Erics controlled nothing now. "SCRAPIRON STATUE'S EFFECT ACTIVATES. WHEN DESTROYED, IT SUMMONS ONE 'JUNK' MONSTER FROM THE GRAVEYARD IN DEFENSE POSITION." Meanwhile the Templars could put down on Junk Giant(6/2000/2400), thanks to the destroyed Scrap trap. "Oh, just the classic swam from hell." Imperial Iron Wall was no longer an issue. Eric could banish as many dead Infernoids as he wanted. "Belphegor! Baal!" He sacrificed Harmadik, Decatron, Piaty and Patrulea from the graveyard, to special summon for Infernoid Sjette the purple hellprince dragon(6/2400/0) and Infernoid Seitsemas(7/2600/0) from the graveyard. "Go get him!" Seitsemas destroyed the defending Junk Giant. Sjette pierced the left templar directly with its one horn. With Sjette inflicting damage, Eric could also banish one Goyo Emperor monster from their extra deck; another Goyo Emperor.

Templar G's LP: 6000

"Okay. Not half bad." Though Stonewell lost some cards, the enemy lost all of theirs. "Maybe you dont need that much help." This was the first time he saw his counterpart do well in a duel. "I'll take that." Eric liked hearing himself say that. "I set a card in my spell/trap zone. My turn's over now!" He also liked to see what the enemy would do now. "BEGINNING TURN 08. SUMMON JUNK BREAKER." They began with the normal summon of a caped knight(4/1800/1000) who wielded a spike-bolted staff. "JUNK BREAKERS EFFECT, TRIBUTE THIS CARD TO NEGATE THE EFFECTS OF ALL MONSTERS CURRENTLY ON THE FIELD." The Junk warrior jumped into the skies and creates a hurricane with itself at the center. "What was that for?" The only good this storm did was make sure his Infernoids could't banish any cards in their graveyards. "ACTIVATE THE SPELL, MONSTER REBORN. SPECIAL SUMMON A MONSTER FROM THE GRAVEYARD." Now he saw why. "Again!?" The second Templar brought back the Goyo King in attack position. "These machines work with what they know." Stonewell came to that realization long ago.

"ACTIVATE THE SPELL CARD; MIRACLE SYNCHRO FUSION." Their follow-up was not entirely creative, but still unexpected. "A FUSION MONSTER MADE FROM SYNCHRO MONSTERS IS FUSION SUMMONED, AND THE MATERIALS ARE BANISHED FROM THE GRAVEYARD." Miracle Synchro Fusion fused two Goyo Defenders in the grave to create the second Goyo Emperor(10/3300/2500). "Not that one too!" Eric said with a loud groan. "BATTLE PHASE! GOYO EMPEROR ATTACKS INFERNOID SEITSEMAS." There were no Spiritual Swords to stop attacks anymore. "Eric! If Goyo Emperor attacks, it will get control of all your monsters!" Stonewell warned his partner, before it was too late. "Oh! Yeah! I banish Spiritual Swords of Light!" Eric could use one last defense; the spirit sword trap would negate all direct attacks this turn now it was banished. If he waited, then the Templars could have used the Infernoids effects against them to remove the trap before its effect could be used. He couldn't prevent the Emperor from attacking the demon lord of flies with its fiery breath though.

Team Eric's LP: 3300

"WHEN GOYO EMPEROR, OR A MONSTER OWNED BY THE OPPONENT, DESTROYS AN OPPONENTS MONSTER BY BATTLE, IT IS SPECIAL SUMMONED TO ITS SIDE OF THE FIELD." The destroyed Infernoid flew back out of the grave, obeying a new Emperor. "INFERNOID SEITEMAS ATTACKS INFERNOID SJETTE." It could not resist its orders; the two Infernoids were forced into a fight with each other. "Guh!" As Eric took another hit and Seitsemas killed Sjette, the sixth sin demon was also indoctrinated into the Goyo army by Goyo Emperor's effect. At least neither Sjette nor Goyo King could lay a hand on the Stonewells this turn. "ENDING TURN 08."

Team Eric's LP: 3100

"Draw." Stonewell took out his next card. "Tch." It wasn't anything that could be used immediately. "I really don't want to give them another turn. I don't suppose you have anything that can stop the Emperor, do you?" So he swallowed his pride, and asked his other self for help. "I must've read your mind. Because.." Eric activated a trap from the graveyard with a big grin. "I have this! Breakthrough Skill! I can banish this card during our turn to negate a monster's effect!" The traps target was none other than Goyo Emperor. Monsters no longer had to fear its commanding gaze. "That's more than enough for me!" Stonewell activated Igknight Cavalier (scale 2) and Squire (scale 7). "PENDULUM SUMMON!" A total of five Igknights were called out from the extra deck. Igknight Gallant(6/2100/2200), Igknight Cavalier(7/2400/1200) and three Igknight Templars(4/1700/1300).

"Templars. I don't know who you answer to, if not the Union. But let me tell you a quick story. I took this deck from one of these machines and I didn't like it at first. It reminded me too much of the hateable parts of the Union. But it grew on me, and I even picked a favorite, one that stands out among all these nearly idential pendulum knights. This.. is that card." Stonewell placed it on the field. "When I control three or more Igknights, I can destroy three to special summon Igknight Stinger!" The three Templars were dismantled and their parts re-assembled to create a gigantic knight of iron and lime-green steel. This was the Champion of Igknights(8/2800/2300). "By returning one of my Igknights to my hand, he can destroy one monster on the opponents field!" Igknight Gallant was also removed from the field, and its materials were loaded into the Champions rocket-launcher. "My target is none other than the big chief!" Igknight Champion aimed his launcher at Goyo Emperor. "Say cheese, Emperor!"

One stinger missile shot out of the tube and landed right in the Emperors lap, blowing him and his throne to a thousand fragments. "And when the Emperor is gone. His control over all stolen monsters is broken!" Both Infernoid Seitsemas and Sjette were free to return to the side of Stonewells. He could use them all for this battle phase. "So this is it for you! My monsters attack yours, and your lifepoints!" Igknight Champion tackled the Goyo King and the two equally strong monsters destroyed each other. "Direct attack!" The Infernoids and Igknight Cavalier flew to the opponents and bombarded them with hellfire blasts and grenades.

Templar G's LP: 0

"DAMAGE CRITICAL. CANCEL OPERATION. SHUTDOWN. RETREAT." The Templars tried to get away. All they accomplished was crashlanding in the empty streets. "At least they didn't catch fire." Eric thought. Now though they could tend to the unconscious duelist. "Uno! Hey, you with us?" Eric tried to shake him back to consciousness. "Oooh.. my head.." It worked, in a relatively rough manner. "I'm up. I am up." He felt some pain; nothing debilitating. "Great! Well uh.. While you were out, we took care of those two templars for ya!" Eric claimed with pride. "You?" Uno noticed both Erics standing next to each other, without throwing arguments between the two. "Yes. He surprised me. I think I finally see something of my spark in him." Stonewell actually said that with a smile. "Heh. That's my line. Without you, we definitely would be toast. Oh and Adamant helped too I guess." The XYZ-leader had mostly been standing there to see if he had to jump in and help. "Wait.. Then where's.." Only Alice seemed to be absent.

"I'm here." But she did not take long to return, from Uno's point of view. "Alice? What happened?" Uno recognized that look. Alice was unhappy about something. "Nothing.. It's just.. Emily came.. but she's called Amelia. And she ran away from.. us. I followed her, and saw my.. her dad. She's fine but.." She couldn't take it anymore. "I want Emily! I want my mom and dad!" She just buried herself in Uno's chest and started crying. "..." Uno didn't know what to say. His thought that it might have been a mistake to bring her along was not something she needed to hear. "We will." Adamant spoke up. "No matter what it takes. We will stop the Fusion guild. I promise." His words soothed her slightly. "Yes. I promise that too. Even if.." Uno already reached his decision. If it came to it and if it guaranteed the release of Alice and Eric's parents; he would give Phoebe what she wanted. "But.. Amelia's her name now?" That part he didn't get. "Perhaps the timeline split happened during her conception, and her parents decided on a different name. There is no way to be sure. However, we got the information we wanted. We should fall back for now." Adamant did not feel like taking on the actual authorities on this. "Right."

...

"Brother. It is good to See You and your Friends! I heard the News; the Escort malfunctioned. We have no Idea what could have Gone Wrong." Marco did not take long to approach the gang with apologies after Uno teleported them back to the palace garden. "Is that so? What did your Inquisitor have to say?" Somehow Stonewell had his doubts about that. "She claims There were no Traceable errors in the Network. Or were you suggesting She had a part in This? Silver would Never go against You, knowing that you are One of us." Marco swore. "Even so. This was no malfunction. Those drones deliberately attacked Uno and disregarded that seal you gave him. Someone wants him, someone who knew we'd show up there." Adamant had not yet determined who that was. But it could only be a select group of suspects. "Yeah but why not send more?" Eric definitely wouldn't have done as well against four of five of them. "Perhaps that was as Many as They could Control? Whoever They are." Marco suggested. After all, towns usually only had two to three Templars dedicated to them. "Perhaps. Or someone under-estimated my friends." Uno said, happily.

"it is done. i am simply glad you could return again, uno." Anastasia walked in on them "perhaps now you will reconsider staying here, where it is safe." It almost sounded like she was giving an order. But the look of relief on her face seemed genuine. "But what about Em..Amelia.. what about everyone who isn't safe?" The clock was still ticking, they were already ten hours closer to Phoebe's deadline. "We Posted guards around the Town. Real guards, people I Trust with my Life. They will explain what happened to the Brandts and protect them." Marco's words mollified some of Alice's dread, but not all of it. "They can still hurt my dad.. and Eric's mom. Can't we get to them too? We did it before." The pendulum was what brought everyone to the other timeline. It had to work in reverse too. "it is possible for those who fell through time, to reach any place in space that they can imagine." Anastasia's explanation was both good and bad news. "Then I could do it.. if I knew where to go." Even if he could guess where James and Mrs Stonewell were, Uno didn't know what the place looked like. "But..wait.. Alice you do!"

"Huh?" She blinked in confusion. "You said Phoebe showed you a video. She showed you where she kept them! Anastasia? Is that enough?" He was hoping that a description could bring him to where he needed to be. "no. not you. your own eyes did not see it. but.. if she saw the room." The sister tilted her head and plucked the pendulum crystal from her headband. "What are you.. you're giving it to me?" The crystal was dropped in Alice's hands. "you are not from either world. it's not the place that weakens time, it is you.. keep it, and try using it like Uno does. you are more like us than you think and you can help your father and eric's mother better than we can."

(To be Continued in Redux 061: Fallen Through the Looking Glass)

New Cards used by Eric Stonewell
Infernoid Sjette

New Cards used by 'Inferno' Stonewell
Igknight Champion

New Cards used by TEMPLAR SERIES-G
Quickspan Knight
Bolt Hedgehog
Junk Synchron
Junk Breaker

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Goyo Chaser
Goyo Predator

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Monster Reborn
Miracle Synchro Fusion

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Imperial Iron Wall
Scrap-Iron Statue