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.

37. Master and Disciple

Redux 54: Master and Disciple

The good news kept coming this day. "Zach. You're really up? Awesome!" First he got his mother back, now the other disciple was recovering from Martel's enslavement. "'Up' may not.. be the best word to use here.. eheh." Zachary Creffield was conscious, but he seemingly lacked the strength to move away from his bed. "You're not hurting are you?" Alice asked. When Eric told her about Zach waking up, she quickly decided to tag along with him. "Oh no. Nothing like that. I am just... very very tired." He let out a long weary moan. "Hey. Do you remember anything from.. you know." Eric realized that this was a touchy subject. He just felt it was better to get these things out in the open. "Martel? Not.. everything.. It was like a dream, like I was watching someone who looked like me do things I'd never want to do. Iria.." He definitely remembered words and images from his duel with her. "Where is she? She's not mad at me is she?" He was hoping she didn't hold that skirmish against her. "Doing something with Adamant. It's just us two." Alice sighed. "Uno is.. also busy. It's a long.. really long story."

"You.." Another voice called out from behind the curtains. "Huh? Someone else was awake too?" The guard hadn't specified the number. "It's him." Alice gasped as she saw the boy who attacked her before, sitting on his bed. "Guh. He's still here?" Eric panicked. "No. I wont attack you!" Bishop immediately shouted. "Uhr.. I mean.. I can't." He tapped the air in front of him, causing a spark to fly off. "Ah. Forcefields." He was a prisoner more than a patient. "But.. you seem better. They're still holding you here?" Alice didn't see any of the madness that haunted him before. "Where would I go? I still can't remember my name. I am not better at all." The boy sulked. "You were one of us? You don't remember.. But I do. It should come back." Even in his condition, Zach wanted to lift Bishop's spirits up. "Maybe. I don't know. I was his for so long. I don't hear him anymore, but I still see him if I close my eyes." He shuddered and rubbed his arms. "Hey. can we do anything to help?" Eric asked him. "Just. stay away from Martel. The longer he has you, the more you lose yourself.. maybe forever."

...

"Sir.. It's me. Iria Silver; your disciple!" The way she imagined her reunion with her master would be, was far removed from the present truth. "Silver? Sounds like the name of the girl who got me in this mess!" He did not recognize her, not in the way she wanted. "You're.. talking about the Inquisitor? Silver, why doesn't he remember me?" If this was an after-effect of the decarding process, then she should have been told. "I cannot explain this. Memory loss has never been a symptom for those we released. This man shouldn't even be here." The Inquisitor was as perplexed as Iria, but not as horrified. "Okay. Can one of you explain me why there's two of you?" Seeing two very similar Iria's wasn't helping Doms come to terms with the situation either. "It's me, master Dom. I am the Iria from your dimension. She is the one from this world." She talked to him, but he clearly was not getting a single word. "...Sir. Do you remember Dreamworld, Uno, anything at all?"

"I remember who I am.. Dom; Duelist extraordinaire!"

"Duelist?" Stranger and stranger; he did not lose everything to do with himself. "Now I don't know about you lady. But if I am here it must mean I served my time. I'm getting out of here. Where is the exit?" He looked around absentmindedly. ".. You can't just leave." Iria protested. "I agree." Silver snapped her fingers and caused all the doors to come down. "What?" The computer itself was sealed behind a barrier as well. "I know you're not alone. Your friends have already caused damage upstairs. Until I get to the bottom of this, I cannot have any of you fooling around." The Inquisitor switched off her own hologram, leaving just the two locked inside the computer room. "So. This is a set-up is it? You two are in cahoots with each other!" Dom took it well. "No, sir.. Dom. We are not. I would never go against you." She understood his confusion, she looked exactly like his actual jailer. "So you say you're my apprentice or something? I don't remember ever taking an apprentice.. But.." Dom snapped his arm outwards, causing a dueldisk to unfold. "If you are, then you should have no trouble keeping up with yours truly!"

Dom's LP: 8000 Iria's LP: 8000

"Sir?" He was forcing a challenge on her? She wasn't ready for that at all. "Should have been faster, lady!" Dom drew five cards and claimed the first turn. "My first monster, Legion the Fiend Jester!" A jester marionette(4/1300/1500) crouched down before Dom. "Legion will let me tribute summon one spellcaster from my hand. And if he leaves the field to go to the graveyard, I also get to add a normal-spellcaster monster from the deck to my hand!" Dom sacrificed the Fiend Jester after his little explanation, for a wellknown magician. "Say hi to Dark Magician Girl!" It was the apprentice of dark magic herself(6/2000/1700). "And Dark Magician!" With the Jesters effect, Dom added a Dark Magician card. "Not this one though." A spell card was played next. "But this one. I activate Sage's Stone! Because I have the Dark Magician Girl on my field, I can summon the Dark Magician from my deck!" The girl used the Sage magic to call upon her teacher, the original Dark Magician(7/2500/2100). "If you're my pupil, then you should be well aware of these two!" Dom placed one spell and one trap card down and ended his turn.

"I am." Dark Magician had been his deck of choice in the past, before the pendulums came. "Dom? What do you still remember? What happened after you got to this world?" It was as if only the last few years of his mind had been erased. "You mean before all this tomfoolery? Well I was just minding my own business, proving myself to the best in the field. When your Templars snatched me up and put me in here. I was just trying to become the world champion of dueling! I don't even recall what the charges were, just that they were preposterous and clearly false! Also, I am affraid I have no idea what you're talking about with 'this world'. This is my world, last time I checked." He wouldn't know, he hadn't seen the outside. "Sir.." This was worse than Iria had anticipated. Doms memories were not just taken away, they were scrambled. How did this happen? Who found him when he got to this world? ".. in that case. This duel must continue." Since it apparently worked for Uno sometimes, it might work for Dom too. "It is my turn!"

"The field spell, Magical Mid-Breaker field. Now card effects cannot be target or destroy monsters during a players main phase." This effect would protect her cards for now. "I can special summon this monster, Escher the Frost Vassal, from my hand because you control two spell or trap cards." The meditating servant(4/800/1000) of the ice emperor floated down before Iria. He served a different element this turn though. "I tribute it to normal summon Raiza the Storm Monarch! When tribute summoned, Raiza will return one monster on the field to the deck!" The wind monarch(6/2400/1000) created a violent storm upon arrival. That storm captured the Dark Magician and blew him back into Doms deck. "Well that's not good." Dom moped. "Raiza attacks Dark Magician Girl!" The emperor destroyed the magic apprentice with a more focused blast of wind. "That was my turn, sir Dom."

Dom's LP: 7600

"Cut it out with the sirs; it doesn't sound right at all." Dom sighed. "That aside, you got a nice set-up there. I can't say its very original though. I mean Mid-Breaker Field's own art suggests you combine it with Monarchs!" It was his main phase now, so his monsters were now protected by her field. Monarchs usually didnt affect anything in the opponents turn anyway. "But here's a surprise for you! Magician Navigation!" Dom flipped his trap. "With this card I can summon a Dark Magician from my hand, and another level 7 or lower dark-spellcaster from my deck!" His second Dark Magician(7/2500/2100) flew in through a portal of black magic. "I choose the Dark Magician Girl!" The apprentice(6/2000/1700) was right behind her master.

"Now for my next trick, I will need another rod; The Magicians Rod!" Dom normal summoned a hovering magic rod(3/1600/100), held by an invisible magician specter. "Magicians Rod will choose one spell in my deck, that namedrops the Dark Magician specifically. I can then take that card!" Dom chose a card called; Dark Burning Magic. "Your Mid-Breaker spell cannot save your monsters this turn! When I control both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, all cards on your field will be destroyed by Dark Burning Magic!" The spell was played and the two mages crossed their rods to rain down black bolts of dark magic upon Raiza and Iria's field spell. "Ah!" She was wide open. "Here comes the battle phase! I attack you directly with all my mages!" Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl and Magicians Rod combined their powers once more to strike Iria with a storm of black thunder and light. "This is how yours truly duels, miss Silver! I end this turn! You will only get one more!"

Iria's LP: 1900

"Sir. If you think that I would give up that easily." As soon as Iria could, she activated the spell she drew in her draw phase. "Then you truly do not know me! I activate The Monarchs Storm Forth and take your Magician!" The Dark Magician was removed from the field, used as a tribute for one of Iria's monsters. "Again?" Dark Magician Girl(2300/1700) gained 300 attackpoints now that her master was in the graveyard. Yet, without the Dark Magician by her side, there wouldn't be any more combos to make. "I tribute summon Mobius the Frost Monarch!" And the emperor of frost(6/2400/1000) could destroy up to two spell or trap cards upon its tribute summon anyway. His face-down spell was shattered. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" A new spell took over the field, the atlantian circle of orichalcos. It added 500 attackpoints to all of Iria's monsters. "Mobius attacks Magician's Rod!" The empowered Frost Monarch(2900/1000) killed the Rod by imprisoning it within a pillar of ice.

Dom's LP: 6300

"Now that was a little more impressive. Still, you have a lot to catch up on. I can't even consider you my disciple if you can't beat me." Dom chuckled. "Then do what you must. It is your turn." Iria grunted. She was not seeing any improvement so far. "Haha! Excellent. I will show you more of that Dom touch!" He put on a big grin as he activated Wonder Wand. "I equip this spell to a spellcaster, my Magician Girl!" The girl(2800/1700) gained 500 attackpoints from her new wand. "Then I can tribute her, to draw two cards! Sorry my dear, your services are no longer required!" The Magician Girl jumped into the graveyard at his command. The Wonder Wand cracked and drew two cards from Doms deck. "Are you mocking me?" Iria could not help but draw some symbolic conclusions from this act. "Sorry. I am a one man show, always have been, always will be!" Dom placed one of his new cards in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

"Tgh." Iria took her turn. "I activate Pantheism of the Monarchs." She would need to be careful. "I discard a Monarch spell or trap-card from my hand to draw two cards." She discarded Strike of the Monarchs. "Then I banish Pantheism from my graveyard. Doing so will add one of three Monarch-cards to my hand. You choose what is added, sir Dom." Iria revealed three cards from her deck; Domain of the True Monarchs, The First Monarch and Tenacity of the Monarchs. "My choice eh? Well, The First Monarch seems the least painful." He picked the card in the middle. "Very well." Iria placed that one in her hand. "Then I shall now.. attack directly!" Mobius pulled up a series of ice blades from the floor, to form a destructive path towards the opponent.

"I sure hope you didn't think that that would work!" Dom pumped his fist as he activated his face-down spell card. "Dark Magic Inheritance! For just two spells in the grave, I can add a spell with Dark Magician's or Dark Magician Girl's name in it, from the deck to my hand!" A magic seal popped up, banishing the two Dark Burning Magic spells from the graveyard. "Dark Magical Circle!" Doms 'inheritance' was a continuous spell. "Also, when a spell is activated during my opponents turn, I can summon the Magician of Dark Illusion from my hand in defense mode!" The lingering black magic in the room converged and formed a humanoid shape; it was a shadowy illusion(7/2100/2500) of the original Dark Magician. "My attack continues!" Still, Mobius could deal with that. "Your mistake, missy. I activate Magician Navigation from my graveyard!" Dom banished the trap from the cemetery. "While I control a Dark Magician, and I do because the Magician Illusion treats his name as 'Dark Magician', Magician Navigation can negate one spells effect on the field!" The Shadow mage cast a darkening spell upon the Orichalcos seal, nullifying Mobius(2400/1000)' powerboost for one turn. "Hmph." Mobius rammed into the Magician, and was pushed back by its defense.

Iria's LP: 1800

"I'm surprised you even fell for that! So much for my training paying off, huh?" Dom continued to laugh it up while his opponent placed two cards in the spell/trap zone. "But I think I have seen enough. Not that it wasn't fun, but It's time to move on! My turn!" Dom activated the inherited spell. "Dark Magical Circle, reveal the top three of my deck!" Three cards were excavated. If one of those three listed Dark Magician in its effect, as its name, it would be placed in Doms hand. "Aha! Dark Magic Expanded!" A quickplay spell fulfilled those requirements. "Now that I've used a spell, the Magician of Illusions can special summon Dark Magician from the graveyard! Only once though!" The shadowmage began its chant to summon its fallen original. The Dark Magician was raised from the dead. "And when a Dark Magician is summoned within the Dark Magical Circle." The continuous spell glowed fiercely. "One card on the field is banished!" Dark Magician drew power from the Circle into his rod and unleashed a banishment spell upon Mobius. The Frost Monarch was sucked into another dimension.

"And there's my opening!" Dom followed it up with his recently acquired spell card. "Dark Magic Expanded! This beauty gets more effects for each Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl I used! There's two Magicians on my field and one Girl in my graveyard, so I get all three effects!" A powerful energy barrier rose up from a magic circle and engulfed his monsters. "One! A Dark Magician will get 1000 attackpoints for one turn! Two! None of my spells can be stopped or destroyed this turn! Three! None of my dark spellcasters can be hurt by effects this turn! What I am trying to say is, I win! My Dark Magician! Attack. Strike her lifepoints down!" There was no trap or spell that could stop the Dark Magician(3500/2100) now. "Trap card! The First Monarch!" But that did not mean Iria was defenseless. "I summon this trap as a monster!" The First Monarch appeared on the field as a shadowy emperor(6/1500/2400) on his throne. "You gotta wake up a lot earlier to surprise me, missy! One of those wont save you!"

"Look again, sir Dom." But she had summoned the trap Monarch in attack position. "Wha-huh-now?" Even with the powerboost from the Seal of Orichalcos, she couldn't survive an attack this way. "One will not stop you. What about two?" Unless she had another First Monarch trap to spring on him. "Whoa!" The second shadowed emperor(6/1500/2400) joined the first, also in attack position. "Dark Magician!?" And Doms master was paralyzed, by the light of Orichalcos. "Seal of Orichalcos. When two attack-position monsters are on the field, I cannot attack the weaker one." Dom realized why she had put her monsters in attack position. "You clever fox. You went for the old marauding captain lock!" Both First Monarchs were the 'weaker' monster. Neither could be attacked, because the field affected the player and not the monsters. "Okay. You surprised me.. Maybe there's hope for your story after all, Disciple Iria."

...

The duelists one floor up had a different kind of luck with finishing their opponents. It simply didn't matter as the machine kept setting up new virtual opponents for them to duel. "Can't we just blow that thing up?" Stonewell suggested, he was getting tired of this ordeal. "Yeah if you want me to glitch out, sure!" Tory snapped, since she had no idea what damage to the place would do to her. "How sickeningly noble." And they weren't the only ones tired of this show. "Silver!" Stonewell yelled as her hologram appeared in the room. "You have some explaining to do! How can you make Tory, everyone, go through this? To Tory? Why wasn't she released yet? Even old prisons weren't this bad!" Stonewell wanted nothing more than to tear this place down. "Prisons take up unnecessary space, physical bodies tend to not want to cooperate with interrogation. I sort of miss the old days as well, but this makes it much simpler for both parties. Why didn't I release your friend.." The hologram placed her hand placed on Stonewells shoulder. "She still had information to give to me."

"What!? You.. she's still.." Stonewell tried to slap her hand away, but she held on firmly. "Let him go!" Tory yelled. "Tss. You may have the lords fooled, but I know better. You're not just kids playing harmless pranks, you are working for someone. Perhaps you are even part of the same problem. It's only Lord Fortuno's grace that has kept you from ending up here.. the Tory girl was too strong, maybe your friend can tell me more." Stonewell was here now, after all. "He doesn't know either!" Tory pried her away from Eric successfully. "Inquisitor, is this your Unions answer to prisoners? Does the founding family know about this?" Adamant hurled his outrage at her as well now. "What they don't know won't hurt them. Unlike you." Silver just brushed his accusations off. "What you know, can save you. Waving a golden seal around is not going to stop me from doing my job. And I am very tired of asking nicely. So.. You will tell me everything about your superiors, or you will never leave this place again. An easy choice to make, if you ask me."

(To be Continued in Redux 053: Against Better Judgment)

New Cards used by Iria Silver
Escher the Frost Vassal

-
Magical Mid-Breaker Field

-
The First Monarch

New Cards used by 'Dom'
Legion the Fiend Jester
Dark Magician Girl
Magicians Rod
Magician of Dark Illusion

-
Sage's Stone
Dark Burning Magic
Dark Magic Inheritance
Dark Magical Circle
Dark Magic Expanded

-
Magician Navigation