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.

35. Dissociative Identity Order

Redux 56: Dissociative Identity Order

This was one of his cities, his capitols. A black Cadillac drove through its streets, surrounded by a dozen templars and security vans. "And here we have Powerplant. Can generates up to 50000 Megawatts of energy a Day, and draws it all from Atomic reactions. It took a while to Perfect, but eventually we Cleaned the process to Eliminate all harmful Energy types." Lord Marco and Lady Anastasia talked to their brother about every building, factory they came across. They never stopped the car. "I don't suppose I can see the inside?" Uno felt boxed in, separated from the world by black glass windows. "no, Uno. not like this. the people of the world shouldn't find out who we are." Anastasia warned him. "Yes, if you Must do it. Do it in Secret, like our dear Sister." Marco let out a chuckle. "amadeus.." She whined. "But could it hurt? I barely see anyone out there." The city was rather desolate, at least the power district part of it. "Perhaps at a Later time." Marco said dismissively. So that was that, Uno would be stuck here for the next few hours. "...should have given this to Eric." Stonewell's communicator was still in his pocket, he didn't want to call Iria and company while he was surrounded by a dozen officials. "Why can't I shake the feeling that something's gone wrong with them? Probably because something always goes wrong."

...

Adamant's LP: 4100 Phoebe's LP: 8000

"Dead? You think I am dead? Look who's talking!" Though the duel paused briefly for their verbal exchange, after Frightfur Sabre-Tooth(3400/2000) killed Adamant's Raidraptor Force Strix. Her Frightfur Tiger(2900/1200) could still attack and his words angered her enough to drive her right back into action. "..." Adamant could act first however, by flipping his set spell face-up. "Rank-Up-Magic: Doom Double Force? You had two Rank-spells set!?" Doom Double Force was stronger in many aspects then the Raptors Force spell card she destroyed earlier. It took the destroyed XYZ-Raidraptor and used it as a material for an XYZ-Raidraptor with twice its rank. "Raidraptor! Satellite Cannon Falcon!" So Adamant could XYZ-summon the great space-cannon bird(8/3000/3000). As Satellite Cannon Falcon was XYZ-summoned, all of Phoebe's spells and traps would be destroyed. A swarm of lasers cracked the twisted Frightfur Sanctuary wide open. This triggered the spell's final effect, which returned a fusion monster, Frightfur Chimera, to Phoebe's extra deck. "Did you not enjoy what you heard, Phoebe Moll?" Clearly he had touched a nerve.

"Phoebe did not die, Adamant. She became part of us. I'm Phoebe and I am Phoebe; and we are merely the first of many! Synchronization? That can only save millions out of billions! Invasion? That condemns whichever world loses! That prophecy you keep talking about? A useless daydream! There is only one way to change the world for the better, and that is my way; the fusion guild's way!" Dame Phoebe ended her turn. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Frightfur March banished the monster it fusion summoned during the players endphase. The trap paraded Sabre-Tooth off the field and sent it into another dimension. With Sabre-Tooth no more, so to did Frightfur Tigers(2200/1200) attackbonuses disappear.

"There is more to it than that, Phoebe. There is a reason why you set forth on this path. Everyone has a reason." Adamant started his turn. Since he controlled a Raidraptor again, he could special summon Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500) from his hand in defense mode. "Tribute Lanius." With two Raidraptors active, Raidraptor Nest was allowed to give Adamant a second Tributer Raidraptor from his deck. He summoned it(4/1800/400) and activated its effect to send another Mimicry Lanius to the graveyard. The effect of the sent Mimicry bird, grabbed the countertrap Raidraptor Desperate. "Attack!" The Falcon Satellite dove into the hole in the jetplane's floor, and positioned itself underneath the flying plane. Adamant wanted to be careful with this shot. His monster charged a focused beam that destroyed Frightfur Tiger and nothing else. Tribute Lanius on the other hand attacked Phoebe directly, nipping her in the arm with its beak. "Perhaps something or someone in your past told you about you other half's fate, and it helped shape your present nature." Adamant placed one trap card down and ended his turn.

Phoebe's LP: 5400

"Wait. Now I am confused. What is this persons deal?" Stonewell never got the part about why she was pretending to be two people at once, make-up included. Now was as good a time as any to ask. "We took it for an eccentric performance at first. From what I am now gathering; she sees it as a literal fusion of herself and her counterpart. As if she contained multiple personalities." Dame acted as the dominant side in Iria's world. Phoebe took control in Stonewell's dimension. "Can't she be? I mean those Circle guys can somehow fuse minds." Or so Uno claimed. "I doubt it. I think she fooled herself into believing her own lie. A while ago she dueled someone, a psychic duelist if you can believe it. She claimed that Phoebe was hypnotized, that this dual identity syndrome is nothing more than enforced method acting." This story she only got second-hand from Eric. But Iria knew the psychic in question; June. That woman was rarely wrong about something. "But why did she do it? Just for the image?" The gimmick certainly did fit a 'fusion' guild. "I don't even know if she can remember why."

It was Phoebe's turn again. "I know what you're doing, Adamant. I can tell when a man is trying to sweet-talk his way to victory. You're desperate, I already made you go to the eight rank. And I still have so many wonders to show you." The Dame giggled. "But I forgive you. I'll go gently... with my Fluffy dog!" She normal summoned the Fluffal Dog monster(4/1700/1000), who searched the deck for another Fluffal upon leaving the players hand. "And this one is even fluffier! Fluffal Sheep can special summon herself when another Fluffal is already alive!" A winged sheep of orange wool(2/400/800) landed right next to the dog. "Sheepy will return one Fluffal to my hand, and summon an Edge Imp from the graveyard!" The sheep absorbed Fluffal Dog into its wool and tossed out Edge Imp Chain(4/1200/1800). "And that is where I come in!" Phoebe cackled like a witch as she activated a fusion spell, from her graveyard. "I banish Double Fusion, and pay 500 lifepoints, to fuse two monsters on my field! Any Edge Imp and any Fluffal can be fused to special summon Frightfur Kraken!"

Phoebe's LP: 4900

The sheep was torn apart by chains to transform into a purple squid(8/2200/3000) with scythes at the ends of its tentacles. "Frightfur Kraken can send one monster on the field to the graveyard, but it can't attack directly if it does! I choose the XYZ!" The Krakens tentacles stretched out and strangled the Satellite Cannon Falcon until it exploded and died. "Your countertrap cant stop that, can it?" Raidraptor Desperate only responded to destruction effects, not to cards that directly sent monsters into their grave. "Mean While!" Phoebe activated Frightfur Fusion from her hand. "!" That spell was dropped in her clutches the second Edge Imp Chain sent itself to the graveyard again. "I fusion summon Frightfur Wolf!" Edge Imp Sabers, Fluffal Sheep and three Fluffal Mice were banished to be fused. The ferocious scissor-gut wolf(6/2000/1500) dropped onto the field. "Frightfur Wolf can attack once for each fusion material. Soooo.. it can attack FIVE TIMES!" Phoebe clenched her fist. "Bite, Rip, Tear, Slash, KILL!" The battle started, and the Wolf ran through Adamants Raidraptors. With just two attacks, Fuzzy Lanius and Tribute Lanius were destroyed. "Raidraptor Readiness!" But Adamant could negate the battle damage this turn by banishing the Readiness trap from his graveyard this turn, rendering further attacks pointless as well. "Tch, that wont save you twice. I end my.. our turn!"

"Phoebe. I also looked up how she died." Adamant spoke again once his turn started. "An illness took her life; a condition induced by dangerous radiation released into the air ten years ago. That was just one of many unforeseen consequences of the rapid expansion of this world's energy processors. It claimed more lives." He kept playing his cards as well, setting his last Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius face-down on the field. "Shut up." But Phoebe only payed attention to the story of Phoebe Moll. "I suppose when you discovered her fate, you decided to make an enemy of this world; to tear its very nature down." Adamant did not stop. He entered his battle phase. "I said shut up, or I'll tear out your tongue! You know nothing about us and you can change nothing by talking to us! What are you even trying to do?" Uno had no monsters to fight with, yet. "This. I activate Rebellion." He revealed a quickplay spell. "Rebellion!?" That spell could take control of one monster for one battle phase. "I take Frightfur Kraken!" He gained control of the destructive squid. "Your fusion has another effect, it can attack twice each turn. It will do the same here!" Kraken used its first attack to finish off Frightfur Wolf. The second direct attack hit Phoebe's side. "Geh. You lost everything and now you're trying to take my cuties? That's not gonna cut it, Adamant!"

Phoebe's LP: 2500

As the battle phase wound down, Fright Kraken returned to Phoebe's field. "..." Adamant placed another trap card down and ended his turn. "And you are so wrong, Adamant. I don't hate this world. We hate both!" She resummoned Fluffal Dog(4/1700/1000) and used his effect to add a second Fluffal Sheep from her deck to her hand. The Fluffal Sheep summoned herself in defense mode, returned Fluffal Dog(2/400/800) to Phoebe's hand and resummoned Edge Imp Chain from the graveyard. "You made me remember what my life was like in that hellhole." Even though 'Dame' was talking, her sugary sweet tone was laced with bitterness. "No mommy, please don't hurt me! I will be a good girl! Just don't hurt me daddy! I will be perfect!" She shrieked. "Perfect. Perfect. PERFECT! It always had to be Perfect! Even though everyone around me was rotten! When I heard about the other world.. I thought.. that Phoebe must be perfect. Her world was so much better, its people so much nicer. But... it wasn't! She was dead! Dead because of more imperfection! She lived a happier life. I could have had her life! We do now!" She breathed out and in, and put on a wide smile. "I'm sorry.. Sorry you had to see that. Adamant.." The battle phase began. "Die."

Adamant had many things to react to. "XYZ-Reborn!" First he would block the Frightfur with his trap. He waited until Frightfur Kraken destroyed Fuzzy Lanius and declared its second direct attack. "Satellite Cannon Falcon!" XYZ-Reborn special summoned the XYZ-monster(8/3000/3000) from the graveyard, and also attached itself to the revived Falcon as an XYZ-material. "I activate the Falcons effect!" The XYZ-Raidraptor detached the trap material to target Phoebe's Kraken, reducing its attack and defense points by 800 for each Raidraptor in Adamants graveyard. There were dozens by now, all of their spirits assailed the aquatic fusion(0/0). Even if the Frightfur did not finish its direct attack, it still declared one, so it couldn't use its killing effect this turn. "Phoebe, I did not intend to open old wounds. I take no pleasure from it. But we cannot let the past rule our actions. Pretending to be someone you are not, will not change what happened. You told Alice that you wanted to improve the world by returning it to its past state. Even if it is possible to make the timelines one again, that will not create a perfect world!"

"Don't try to say sorry. You never have before." Dame spat. "You want to know how I am going to change everything? Simple.. by bringing back lost powers! In the times before, there was a magic that could fuse whole dimensions together! It only exists now as a memory.. As a simple two-dimensional card." Phoebe revealed a quickplay spell. "I activate SUPER POLYMERIZATION!" She discarded Fluffal Dog from her hand to activate it. "Adamant, she is going to use your monster as a fusion material!" Iria saw Martel use this spell before. Phoebe had it too! "What?" Satellite Cannon Falcon was taken from him, because it was a dark-attribute monster. "By fusing two Dark monsters!" The Raidraptor fused with Edge Imp Chain. "I will create STARVE VENOM FUSION DRAGON!" And so she gave life to the ravenous dragon of poison(8/2800/2000) once more. "Just look, Adamant. This is the kind of power one card still has inside! Dom made this! And I am going to make many more like it, once we have access to his vaults!"

The plane really began to buckle under the pressure of the duel monsters now. "Damn it!" Iria raced to the bridge controls. "I hope this works!" She switched to manual mode and grabbed the stick to level the plane. "We're going down, aren't we?!" Stonewell saw the ground below getting closer. "I can keep it steady! We are almost there!" Up ahead was a large dome, floating among the clouds. That had to be the Monument. "Heehee. What's the matter? Can't stay afloat without power?" Of course it was no problem for Dame Phoebe, who could just keep riding her dragon to stay in the air. "In the old worlds, you didn't need metal to fly! Dragons, gods, angels; they all lived! You can have your future and your prophecies, Adamant." Phoebe placed one trap card down. "As little of it there is!" Starve Venom pulled its tail back. "!" With a wide sweeping direct attack, Adamant was knocked off the floor. "No, Adamant! Look out!" With nothing to hold on to anymore, he was sucked right out of the plane. "Gah! Iria, we have to save him!" Stonewell shouted. "We have to save ourselves first!"

Adamant's LP: 1300

"Don't worry. I will make sure he's saved! If you get what I mean!" Phoebe and Starve Venom Fusion Dragon jumped down the hole and chased after Adamant. "Gh.." Adamant was going down fast, he could barely move or see. But he still had his cards with him, he was still fighting her. "Draw!" So he pulled a card from his deck and activated it. "Rank-Up-Magic: Soul Shape Force!" He fell into a brilliant golden light as he summoned his next monster. "Aha? You learned to fly tool!?" The Soul Shaper spell would use one dead Raidraptor-XYZ-monster and rank it up twice. "Wait.. you're.." Yet he was using Satellite Cannon Falcon as the starting point. As far as Phoebe knew, Adamant had never gone higher than rank 8. "Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon!" Metal turned to gold, a shining mechanical falcon(10/3500/2000) parted the energy bubble with its eight wings. "What is.."

Adamant's LP: 650

"The greatest weapon in my extra deck. You are the first to see it, Phoebe." Under normal circumstances, Adamant would have felt joy that someone was able to push him this far. But he already knew his destiny was different from what he imagined. A pure battle was no longer possible, or what mattered. "So I will give you the full effect. Ultimate Falcon is immune to all card effects. And.." He detached one material from his monster. "It can erase 1000 attackpoints from all opponents monsters, and negate all activations this turn!" The Ultimate Falcon flew in front of the sun and collected its rays within its solar ring. "My cards?" Ultimate Falcon unleashed the concentrated sunlight and burned a thousand points away from Starve Venom(1800/2000), Frightfur Kraken(1200/3000) and Fluffal Sheep(0/800). Meanwhile Phoebe's trap was sealed. "NO!" As easily as that, victory was taken away from her. He would not have to face Starve Venom, she had one helpless target already. "Raidraptor Ultimate Falcon, attack Frightfur Kraken!" The fusion that the previous Falcon had weakened, was finished off by blinding blasts from the current Falcons wingblades.

Phoebe's LP: 0

"Just an instance of the Ultimate Falcon, was enough." Adamant cast a quick glare behind him. Iria was managing the plane, they were close to the Monument and landed there. "Good." He would join them shortly. "Raaaagh!" But first he had to deal with Phoebe. "ugh!" She was no longer playing by the rules, her dragon assaulted Adamant's Falcon straight on. "I am not going anywhere! I will not be buried again! You hear me! YOU HEAR ME!" Phoebe was out of control. She would knock Adamant off his XYZ-monster if he let her have her way. He was not close enough to the facility yet. "Regardless of what you want, Phoebe, it is over! Raidraptor Ultimate Falcon, attack Frightfur Kraken!" The fusion that the previous Falcon had weakened, was finished off by blinding blasts from the current Falcons wingblades. "Gaahhh!" The attack knocked the Fusion Dragon and its rider back, and started to destabilize the creature's hologram.

Phoebe's LP: 0

"RHaaa!" Phoebe's monster stayed intact long enough for her to reach the Monument. Adamant gave pursuit as his Ultimate Falcon wouldn't stay active for long either. The two smashed down in a cove that circled around the flying facility; which functioned as a landing strip. "Bah! Kgah!" Her landing was a bit rougher, she cut the side of her forehead as she fell down on the hard floor. "Back off!" She still possessed enough energy to get up and keep her distance from Adamant, who was a bit bruised but otherwise fine. "Adamant!" He was quickly joined by Stonewell and Iria. "It's over, Phoebe. You lost. Accept it!" The fusion duelist was outnumbered three-to-one. "Heh.. eheheh." Even she realized the futility of resisting them. Dame still gave them a happy smile. "For me, maybe. But I am not sorry. My Guild will keep going. I still want the magic to return to this world, the dimensions to fuse. They will make sure that happens.."

"Phoebe. You said someone introduced you to this timeline? Who was it?" Now that they had her cornered, Adamant wanted to pump her for information. He knew who started his guild and the synchro guild, but hers had been a mystery up until now. "Heh.. You met him already.. Martel. It was Martel." She claimed wryly. "Huh? The puppet guy? I thought he was your minion?" This bit of news confused Stonewell more than it cleared things up. "No. That's what he made me believe. But we see it now.. I'm just another pawn. He let me lead, while he hid in the shadows. Acting is what I am good at, after all." While she talked to them, she got alarmingly close to the edge of the platform. And she was moving that way on purpose. "Phoebe! Stop!" Iria yelled. "No, you're not getting anything else out of me. I wont let this world turn me into a card just so they can scoop out my brain." Phoebe spotted several Templars on the approach already. "I would rather die. Oh wait, I'm already dead.." She laughed, before she took the last step.

"PHOEBE!" Adamant tried to catch her, but he was too late. She was falling too fast, already a dot above the earth, and then.. gone.

(To be Continued in Redux 055: Too Good to be True)

New Cards used by Adamant
Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon

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Rank-Up-Magic: Doom Double Force
Rebellion

New Cards used by Dame Phoebe
Fluffal Sheep

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Frightfur Kraken

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Super Polymerization