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.

39. As Clean as a Whistle

Redux 52: As Clean as a Whistle

The monument was not a joyous place, Adamant wanted to leave as soon as possible. "You wish to come with us." He was not surprised to hear the amnesiac Dom change his mind about joining them. "Well I didn't count on this place being ten thousand feet above ground." The others were already on board the cargoship; that vehicle pretty much owned the only way out. "What about after? What will you do?" Iria was not willing to let him go either way, but it would be hard to disobey him even now. "Havent thought that far yet. Come to think of it, I really don't remember a lot of whats supposed to be out there. I could get lost, or worse! I'll stay with you guys for now. Just don't get used to it." The master then defiantly walked inside. "What a character... Let's just go before the Inquisitor changes her mind." Tory sighed. "Right." Adamant closed the doors and started the take-off process.

Soon the facility was just an ugly dot against the horizon, they could breathe easier. "We should tell Uno that we're heading back, and that we may have found out who his attacker was." Adamant took the communicator. They regained reception as soon as they got out of range of the prison. "...Eric? Where is Uno?" The one he got in contact with was not the expected party. "He was busy. Gave the radio to me. So, what's the scoop? How did your errand go?" Eric replied 'stealthily'. "... Better than expected. I believe Uno will be pleased as well. We wont be back for a while, but you should notice some developments soon." The XYZ-duelist claimed. "Why is that?" Eric was too interested to hang up now. "It is a long story.. I will keep it brief."

...

It was not often that someone like her could walk into the court of Millennium. This was only the second time Iria Silver saw the inside. "Inquisitor Silver? What is the meaning of this?" This time she was walking in on an activate conference, with representatives from around the world. "A matter has arisen that required immediate attention, my lords." And she did not enter the room by herself, a dozen templars and palace guards followed her. "You do not have the authority to..." One of the holographic ministers began to raise his voice. "Wait." He was silenced by Marco. "What is this Grand show about, my Inquisitor?" He inquired as he rested his face on his hand. "Before I continue, I must ask that all outside officials leave the room."

"Very well. We will continue this in an hour." The indignant ministers turned their holograms off one by one. This just left Marco, his advisors and the regional council. "Proceed." Marco said. "Thank you Lord Amadeus. Milord. I have recently discovered that an unknown organization is attempting to undermine the Union from within. Those include the people who tried to attack your brother." She revealed. "I thought we had cleared that up already?" One advisor complained. "Not quite, the attacker was just a scapegoat; one of many infiltrators. She did not work alone, someone has been circumventing the templar network to ease their strikes. To what end I have not yet ascertained. However, I have found the identity one other member. They were the one who supplied the attacker with a clear window by ordering the Templars to stand down. They also tried to get to Lord Fortuno before we could. He managed to erase his logs on the network, but.." She turned her glare to one man in particular. "This individual did not know, apparently, that each templar backs its data up in its own memory. Isn't that right sir Gerber?.."

"You are accusing me?" The man she homed in on, was the local minister of culture and education; Cardel Gerber. "The subversion order was traced back to your terminal. Only you or your secretary had access to it. I also detained her of course. But even if he was complicit in the affair, you are the only one who could arrange everything. And.. I know a sinner when I see one. I am afraid your tenure as part of Millennium will end in disgrace." His face betrayed him, he was nervous. "This is preposterous! She has no right to accuse me!" He yelled at the other councilmembers. "If you are innocent, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about." They replied, turning their backs on him already. "Lord Marco! I would never go against the Union!" He pleaded with the man on the throne. "So you Say. But this Evidence seems Persuasive. Inquisitor, I will Allow you to investigate this Man further." He just sounded relieved to have found a possible suspect. "Milord!" Despite Cardel's pleas, he was dragged away by security.

Afterwards, Silver and her men walked towards the ministers private office. The guards went through his belongings, while the Templars guarded the exits. "Why don't you save us some time, minister, and tell us who you are working with?" As far as she was concerned, he was already guilty. The minister merely scoffed and closed his eyes. "Silence will do you no good. We already have names; Vesper, Cassius, Gareth. You can thank your friends from the other side for that information." Despite her taunts, he did not react. "What is the matter, cat got your tongue?" Silver smiled. "Wait... What are you..." But that quickly turned into a frown, once she realized what a man could do, when was in two places at once. "Preparing." One of her men said as he took a grenade from behind the bookcase. "Another traitor?" Before the Inquisitor could react, he had blown a hole in the wall and knocked everyone down. "Ngh.. " By the time Silver got up, the two were gone from the scene. "No! They can't be far! Put the palace on lockdown, close all exits!"

...

What was supposed to be a brief summary turned into a long drawn out call, as Eric had to drag the phone over to Alice to exchange all sorts of good news. The discovery of the second infiltrator and the rescue of Dom and Tory made her just as happy as the recovery of Zach had made Iria. But it was during this long-distance discussion that the alarms went off. "What is that noise?" Alice cried out. "They're shouting something about a lockdown?" Eric groaned. The announcement was loud and hit every floor. "Something must have gone wrong with the arrest. A city lockdown means they are trying to prevent an escape." Iria concluded. "What? No.. you mean the guy's going to get away?" Alice panicked. If this minister escaped, Uno could lose his one chance at restoring his memories. "Where could they go? That palace has got to have airtight security!" Stonewell figured. "It does. The roads and docks are all closely guarded and can be locked off." Adamant learned that when he patrolled the tower on the first day. "There is only one escape route left.. The same one we used to break in." The subway was the only area that could not be immediately closed off. "Then we've got to stop them!" Alice yelled. "What? Shouldn't we get Uno first?" Eric asked, though he had no idea where Uno was. "No time. We have to go now!"

...

The undergound tunnels were the route Calder and his escort placed their hopes in. There was a station underneath the tower, you could get there within seconds using the hyperspeed elevators in the palace. They knew this. "That's enough with your shameful display, minister." So did Inquisitor Silver. Once the two fugitives walked on the main platform, their pursuer showed up on their left with a solid vision barrier. "Are you going to stop us alone?" It was difficult to get Templars down here, and the Inquisitor did not trust her own men anymore now that there was a second infiltrator in the ranks. "Neither of you have a dueldisk on you. I think those odds are fine." They could not challenge her if they had no tools to duel with. "Never under-estimate us, Inquisitor." Cardel however saw an oncoming train and smirked. "?" As the train passed and stopped, the barrier smashed wide open. "What?" There was only one passenger, and he owned a dueldisk. "If you want Cardel, you'll have to try and go through me first!" He jumped through the door and linked his disk with hers to force a duel.

Inquisitor's LP: 8000 ?'s LP: 8000

"Speedroid Terrortop!" Like lightning he jumped in between with a spinning top monster(3/1200/600). Terrortop could be special summoned when the player controlled no monsters. "Junk Synchron!" The intruder also normal summoned a tuner monster, the orange scrapheap synchron(3/1300/500) and synchronized it with the Speedroid in an instant. "Stardust Assault Warrior!" The two monsters together created the piledriver dragon-knight; Stardust Assault Warrior(6/2100/1200). If it were summoned to a monsterless field, then Assault Warrior could summon one Junk monster from the graveyard like Junk Synchron. "Cardel, Tristan. Make your way out of here. I will follow you after I deal with the Inquisitor." He seemed quite confident, this young man with frizzled brown hair and dark eyes. "The work must go on." Cardel nodded. He and the security guard entered the subway car and took off with it. "Another member I presume?" She would have to settle for this man, whoever he was. "That's all you get to know, I don't plan to stay long"

Since the man summoned Speedroid Terrortop this turn, he could add a Speedroid from his deck to his hand. "Speedroid Taketomborg!" He added the robotic roid(3/600/1200), who could be special summoned since this duelist controlled a wind-type monster; Stardust Assault Warrior. "Synchro summon! Stardust Charge Warrior!" He tuned the resummoned Junk Synchron with Speedroid Taketomborg and formed a Stardust warrior(6/2000/1300) with jetwings on its back. "When Charge Warrior is synchro summoned, I can draw one card!" He took his card and placed two traps down on his field. "Turn end!" Silver who was already staring ahead, drew her card quickly. "So you got the drop on me, and now you think you can win because of that? You're quite greedy." Silver drew her card. "I do not need the first turn to defeat the Unions enemies!" She placed Amorphage Greed (scale 3) in the pendulum zone. "Being one step ahead is how we always win!" The man countered and flipped his trap before Greed could negate it later. "Shooting Star destroys Amorphage Greed!" Shooting Star could destroy any single card if he controlled a 'Stardust' monster. Stardust Assault Warrior fired a comet into the virusdragon of greed, splattering its remains across the extra deck.

"A minor nuisance." Iria adjusted her plans. "Draco Face-Off." She activated her quickplay spell to select a Dracoruler and a Dracoverlord from her deck. "Master Pendulum the Dracoslayer, Lector Pendulum the Dracovelord." She revealed both before they were shuffled. Her opponent had to randomly select one to be placed on her field. "..Left." He picked the Dracoslayer card. "Yes. Master Pendulum will be activated, Lector Pendulum is added to the extra deck." The golden dracoknight (scale 3) claimed one pendulum zone. It was time to complete the field. "I set the scale, Amorphage Envy!" Envy was a sickly blue dragon (scale 5), with tendrils infesting its body. "And now, PENDULUM SUMMON!" She summoned the destroyed Amorphage Greed(4/0/1950) and Lector Pendulum the Dracoverlord dark knight(4/1950/0) from the extra deck. Then she summoned a Dragon Dowser(4/1500/1500) from her hand. "I heard the story of your Circle. You tried to take what was not yours, you wanted the pendulums for your own sad little club. How did that work out for you?"

"That was before. We changed our outlook on pendulums, and how to use them." The boy answered her calmly, which did not satisfy her. "Lord Fortuno already saw how you wanted to use them. That act alone has damned everyone in your organization." Silver activated a field spell, Amorphous Persona. It powered up the defense and attackpoints of all Amorphages. "Amorphage Goliath!" Then the great black dragon(8/3050/300) appeared, summoned through the sacrifices of Greed and Lector. But the virus lingered in the air. "When an Amorphage is tributed, my continuous spell can draw one card for me!" Amorphous Persona pulled a card from her deck. "Disappear, stardust Assault Warrior!" Goliath spread its wings and rushed towards the dragon warrior. "We are not going anywhere, Inquisitor!" The opponent in turn activated the other prepared trap. "Compulsory Evacuation Device! I return the Amorphage to your hand!" Goliath slammed into a lifted platform which catapulted it backwards and forced it off the field. "We're not the enemy of the world, we're here to save it!" The Circle-duelist shouted. "That is what everyone claims when they rebel against the established order." Silver ended her turn.

"Speed Recovery!" The opponent quickly used a spell to special summon a Speedroid from his graveyard. "Come back, Terrortop!" The spinning top snake was the best choice, since it allowed him to add a Speedroid from his deck to his hand once more. "Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" The man claimed another tuner and he was about to use it, when.. "There!" The duel got a couple more spectators. "We made it!" Alice and Eric came down the stairs, causing the opponent to wince slightly. "You two? How did you get down here?" Silver had locked all the entrances behind her. "Uh.. like this." Alice held up the pendulum crystal. "I used an online picture of this place.." Once she found it, it was pretty easy to teleport through all the barriers. Though it did exhaust her a little again. "So, who are you dueling? Someone from the Fusion Guild, the Circle? Can I.." Eric took a closer look at the field. "Wait.. one.. second." What he observed bewildered him. "Speedroids? Stardust Charge Warrior?" This was not an unfamiliar combination. "Aaron?" These cards were favored.. by Cassius. "Is that you?"

"That is Cassius to you."

"What?" Eric and Alice gasped. "This man is Cassius? The one I was told about?" Now the Inquisitor joined in the confusion. "So they told you about me." 'Cassius' grinned. "They did, yet your appearance does not match their description." He was supposed to have blue eyes and white streaks in his hair. "Aaron? What did you do?" Even his face looked different from the boy Alice used to know. It could not just be a change caused by an altered past. "You didn't think we did not prepare for multi-dimensional spoilers? In this wonderful world, changing my face or identity is as easy as pushing a button! I've been living this close to you and you didn't even notice!" He entered the battle phase. "I activate Super Rush Headlong and declare the earth-attribute!" With a quickplay spell, he gave Stardust Charge Warrior a golden aura. "Now my synchro monster can destroy any monster it battles with that attribute, regardless of its effects or defenses!" Stardust Charge Warrior released the drones on its wings, which fired their own lasers to attack and kill the Dragon Dowser.

"I see. It is no wonder your name disappeared from the network recently. You hid well, but now you are mine! Your Pride will be your downfall! As you destroyed Dragon Dowser, I can special summon an earth-attribute pendulum monster from my deck!" Silver took a card from her deck, Amorphage Pride(4/2050/300) and summoned it. "Pride? This is not about pride for me. For you on the other hand.. Stardust Charge Warrior can attack all special summoned monsters on the field!" The synchro warrior redirected his drones' fire, and they all shot the Prideful Amorphage to pieces. "Speedroid Terrortop and Stardust Assault Warrior attack directly!" The slithering roid and the second synchro warrior jabbed and poked the Inquisitor. "Feh." Though as Solid Vision was still switched off, the damage merely annoyed her.

Inquisitor's LP: 4700

"Aaron.. Why did you want Uno's pendulum?" If he really was Cassius, then he might respond more to her, Alice thought. "There is nothing I can say to you right now." Her did respond, coldly. "A-Aaron?" She was stunned, he did not even sound like Aaron. "Didn't you hear me? It's not Aaron, it's Cassius." He was ignoring her just to get on with the duel. "But.. what about my sister? You know where she is!" In spite of everything she was certain that Cassius would want to protect Emily. "But she's not your sister. I will take care of Emily from now on.. Seeing you with that crystal in your hand, makes it clear that you should stay far away from her!" Cassius normal summoned Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice(1/100/100). The Red-Eyed tuner used its levelchanging effect on Speedroid Terrortop(1/1200/600), lowering it all the way down to one. "Synchro summon! Formula Synchron!" The tuning of the two level 1 monsters together, released the formula 1 racing car robot(2/200/1500) from the extra deck. "I draw one card!" Formula Synchron secured an extra draw upon its synchro summon. And it was also a tuner monster. "Then I overlay Formula Synchron with Stardust Assault Warrior, and create Stardust Spark Dragon!" Formula Synchron and the Warrior sped up into overdrive, and flashed around the station. When they returned, they had become one flashing white dragon(8/2500/2000).

Last but not least, Cassius placed two trap cards and let his turn end. "I do agree with you mister Cassius, children should not be asking questions. I should.. and will." During her standby phase, Amorphage Envy destroyed itself as it had no tribute to feed on. "So let me teach you your position. I set Luster Pendulum!" Envy's replacement was the dragonmasked knight (scale 5). "I activate Luster Pendulum's effect; I destroy a pendulum to get another of the same name!" Luster destroyed his fellow Dracoslayer, Master Pendulum, just so Silver could add a copy from her deck to her hand. "I set it!" This Master (scale 3) would join Luster Pendulum for this turns.. "PENDULUM SUMMON!" Between the two Dracoslayers appeared the slain, tributed and destroyed pendulum monsters. Lector Pendulum the Dracoverlord(4/1950/0), Master Pendulum the Dracoslayer(4/2150/300) and the Amorphages Greed(4/300/2250), Pride(4/2050/300) and Envy(4/300/2350). "Oh.. as long as she controls pendulum summoned Amorphages, Aaron cant summon monsters from his extra deck?" Alice pointed out. "Well then he's in big trouble." Cassius liked to synchro summon, a lot.

"Now. You can begin by explaining to me what you did to lord Fortuno Nisell. Not just last night, but when he first disappeared." The Inquisitor gave her first question. "What are you talking about?" Cassius met that with a genuinely stunned response. "Hey? You're saying you didn't try to hurt him like three times now?" Eric asked. "We only tried to make a pass at him yesterday. I have no idea what earlier attacks you are referring too." The duelist from the Circle swore. "The attack that left him in another dimension, that took his memory and age away." Silver raged at him. "That? The Circle was not responsible for that and we do not know who was. Had I had known that Uno was part of the founding family, I would've taken him out before he could go back home. And that chance.. may yet come."

(To be Continued in Redux 051: Kicking up Gold Dust)

New Cards used by Inquisitor Silver
Amorphage Envy
Dragon Dowser

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Amorphous Persona

New Cards used by Cassius
Junk Synchron

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Stardust Assault Warrior
Formula Synchron

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Super Rush Headlong

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Shooting Star