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.

42. Fair Share

Redux 49: Fair Share

He shouldn't have gone. It was a trap all along. Uno could handle one opponent. Two was getting risky, and there were plenty more hiding in the woods.

Uno's LP: 5700

Cardel's LP: 2800 Knight's LP: 8000

Luther the Knight possessed no qualms about unfair advantages, or any will of his own. He activated the continuous spell, Shiranui Style - Synthesis and normal summoned the tuner monster, Plaguespreader Zombie(2/400/200). Then he activated another spell, Left Arm Offering. "Sever your left hand, my Knight." Martel explained what his Knight needed to do. Luther banished three cards from his hand just to get a single spell (Foolish Burial) from the deck. One of those banished cards was Shiranui Solitaire. "When Solitaire is banished while Shiranui Style Synthesis is active, two banished Shiranuis will be special summoned." The Solitary zombie freed the other spirits exiled by Left Arm Offering; the tuner Shiranui Spectralsword(2/800/0) and the clan's swordsman Shiranui Samurai(4/1800/0). "Now Synchro summon." Martel moved one finger. Plaguespreader Zombie tuned with Shiranui Samurai to form Shiranui Samuraisaga the synchro warrior(6/2500/0). "Now synchro summon again." Spectralsword tuned with Samuraisaga, and Shiranui Shogunsaga(8/3000/0) emerged from the extra deck.

"How can you just let this happen? Isn't he one of yours?" The Knight used to be a duelist from the synchro guild, before Martel turned him into a mindless slave. "The guild and the Circle are not the same, Uno. This man was not part of the inner ranks." Cardel stated coldly. The Knight did not complain; he just kept climbing the synchro ladder. "Revive the Plague." Martel made his puppet send Foolish Burial to the top of the deck, which was the cost for the summoning the plague-carrying zombie back to the field. "Now summon again." Plaguespreader tuned with Shogunsaga, a zombie tuner with a zombie. The result was Shiranui Sovereignsaga the white-haired and white-eyed clan lord(10/3500/0), who rode in on his fiery horse. "A lord for a lord." Cardel laughed. SovereignSaga could send all Zombie-synchro monsters in the graveyard back to the extra deck, and destroy one card for each returned monster. "Ugh." The sovereign targeted Performapal Trumpanda(2/800/800) and Drummerilla(5/1600/900), sending the spirits of the other sagas to end their lives. Then with his own sword, he attacked and cut down Wisdom-Eye Magician(4/1500/1500)

Uno's LP: 3700

"You're all alone. You did not bring anyone." Martel flashed a wicked smile. "You have one fortune. In a game like this, you get one turn for each of your opponents." Once Luther ended his turn, it would be Uno's turn and not the Ministers. "Somehow that doesn't make it all better." Uno groaned. He'd take what he could get. "Echo Oscillation destroys Dragonpit Magician!" While it was still his opponent's turn, he reactivated his continuous trap to destroy a pendulum and draw a card from his deck. He got a spell. "My turn! I activate Amazing Pendulum! This card nabs two Magician pendulums from my extra deck!" The spell chose Wisdom-Eye Magician and Dragonpit Magician and Uno placed them in the pendulum zones. "I am sure you're not tired of this yet! I activate Wisdom-Eye's effect!" This turn the Wisdom Magician was tributed to place Xiangke Magician (scale 3) in the pendulum zone. "I activate Dragonpit's effect again!" Uno discarded the Nobledragon Magician tuner from his hand, so that Dragonpit Magician could destroy Cardel's second face-down card; a Flower Stacking spell card.

"Are we making jokes now, Lord Nisell? You are such a far cry from your brother.. and your own former self." Cardel scoffed. "The day humor dies, is the day I quit. And that's not gonna happen for a while! But don't worry. I'll try to be a bit more original with this.. Pendulum summon!" The pendulum swung between Xiangke and Dragonpit Magician (scale 8); special summoning Wisdom-Eye Magician, Dragonpulse Magician(4/1800/900) and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) from the extra deck. Uno took his two level 4 monsters. "I overlay Wisdom-Eye with Dragonpulse to XYZ-summon Dark Rebellion!" The two Magicians formed a swirling vortex of darkness and thunder. "The copy.." Martel took a step back, as Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(4/2500/2000) assumed its full form. "He'll take half your synchro's attackpoints!" Dark Rebellion detached both XYZ-materials to strike the Shiranui Lord with an electric current. His(1750/0) attackpoints were drained by the Dark Dragon(4250/2000). "And now activate my trap, Pendulum Back! I take two monsters from my graveyard, whose levels lie between my pendulum monsters scales!" Dragonpit and Xiangke opened up level 4 to 7 options. "I take Wisdom-Eye and Dragonpulse Magician." So Uno used that to put the detached Magicians back in his hand.

"But that's not all this 'dangerous' duelist can do!" Right now he could activate the effect of a certain Magician in his graveyard. "I special summon Nobledragon Magician by taking levels away from an Odd-Eyes monster!" The noble tuner(3/700/1400) in full white robes gained back her life, while Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(4/2500/2000) lost three of his stars. "I tune Odd-eyes with Nobledragon and synchro summon Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" The dragons scales and wings turned smooth and curved like flames, and its body turned bright red. "Yes, Jim mentioned that once." This was the Meteoric dragon(7/2500/2000) that allowed Uno to escape the Circle the first time. "Meteorburst can special summon a pendulum monster that is currently a spell!" The dragon extended his tail towards Xiangke Magician. The shield-mage(8/2500/500) walked down to the field. "I know Shiranui Sovereignsaga can negate its own destruction, but Odd-Eyes Meteorburst blocks the effects of monsters during the battle phase! The synchro lord will be my first target!" The red Odd-Eyes summoned a blazing meteor and hurled it towards the undead Sovereign. The meteor impacted. "You should reconsider that." But it did not destroy the Sovereign, once Cardel activated his third trap card: Level Guard.

Knight's LP: 7250

Level Guard, Continuous Trap
Target the face-up monster on the field with the highest level; its level becomes 2 and its effects are negated.
The targeted monster cannot be destroyed by battle, and must be attacked by the monsters of it's controller's opponent, if they can attack.

"It's not going to be as easy as sorting us out one by one, Lord Fortuno." The trap targeted the Sovereign, taking eight of its ten stars to form a shield around it. "Are you sure about that? Are you protecting him, or protecting yourself?" Uno could not attack the minister while the Knight still had his monster on the field. "My other monsters will still fight the Sovereign!" Xiangke Magician and Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon flung energy stars and black bolts towards the Shiranui Lord. Performapal King Bear(6/2200/1000) and Oafdragon Magician(6/2100/1400) were also still around and joined the fray. None of their attacks put a dent in the armor of the synchro monster. The damage transferred to the duelist alone, and the Knight took the pain in silence. "And you are not even risking your neck." Uno had no fun expression for Martel. This guy was absolutely loathsome. "You just make people serve you. You don't know the first thing about friends."

Knight's LP: 3200

"What should I know? You are alone, I am not." Martel smirked. "Give it time.." Uno reactivated Echo Oscillations effect on Dragonpit Magician, destroying it to secure his umpteenth draw. "Meanwhile, I'll XYZ-summon Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon! I overlay Meteorburst Dragon with Xiangke Magician!" The destruction mage and meteor dragon turned into XYZ-materials for the Odd-eyes of ice, Absolute Dragon(7/2800/2500). "I think you will see what I mean, any minute now." Uno placed the Performapals Bubble Bowwow (scale 5) and Momoncarpet (scale 7) the flying circus squirrel in the vacated pendulum zones. "Any minute." And right at the end of his turn, a familiar sound crossed the horizon. "!" Templars; a good dozen of them flocked to the island. "There we go. Your deal is off the table, so you won't mind some interference right?" Uno did not plan on this. But he figured Marco and any nearby templars would eventually detect this ongoing duel.

"Well, this was annoyingly predictable." Said the rather short woman with green bobbed hair who walked out of the surrounding mob. "Oh.. hey there. Which guild are you from?" Not all of these people were Martels slaves? "I'm Marie Celeste, from the fusion guild. Or MC for short. And I really didn't want to be here." She grunted as one of her legs got caught on a twig. With her long labcoat getup, she didn't look like she fit in much. "But apparently it was necessary to do this in person." She pushed a button on the side of her head, causing a visor to flip across her eyes. "Bah, they upgraded their security. I can't shut them down from here. I don't suppose you can entertain them." She asked Martel for a little help. "I do not enjoy mechanical opponents, but If we must." Martel raised his arms to the sky, and dozens of duelists walked out of the jungle like the walking dead. ".. How did you get so many people on this island anway?" There were enough to challenge the templars and to prevent them from assisting Uno. "You will figure it out." Martel smirked and walked off to join his army.

Celeste's LP: 8000

"Over here, Lord." At the same time, Celeste started drawing her cards. "Ugh." So she was going to be his third opponent; great. "You probably know these cards. So that's gonna save me some time." Celeste activated a field spell and a continuous spell; Geartown and Ancient Gear Catapult. The tropical forest transformed into a mechanical city of gears and stone. "Ancient Gear Catapult will destroy Geartown." The Catapult could, when the controllers field had no monsters on it, destroy one card each turn, to special summon an Ancient Gear monster from the players deck. "And I will summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound." Geartown collapsed, and the metal remains were reforged into a mechanical hound(3/1000/1000) of bronze metal. "Also, Ancient Gear Gadget." Geartown, when destroyed, could special summon its own Ancient Gear monster from the deck. She chose the antique gear gadget-robot(4/500/2000). "I declare traps." Ancient Gear Gadget could choose one type of card and whenever a monster attacked this turn, those cards could not be activated. "Ancient Gears is it?" Machines did seem like the kind of monsters this woman would like.

"Yes. You want to know why?" Celeste activated the effect of Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, which allowed her to fuse Ancient Gears without a fusion spell. "I get to summon monsters like these." The Hound fused itself with Ancient Gear Gadget on the field and two Ancient Gears (Golem, Soldier) in MC's hand. "Ancient Gear.. Chaos Giant!" All that metal was put into one body, a titan(10/4500/3000) that towered over the trees. "The Giant?" This was more than Uno bargained for from just her first turn. He knew the Chaos Giant card, it could attack all monsters on the field once and was immune to all spell and trap effects. Also, no monster effects could be activated while it was battling. Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon could not negate any of this fusion monster's attacks. "This should be easy. I'm going into the battle phase.. now!" The Giant grabbed all four of Uno's monsters with its hound-shaped claws. "Kgh!" Dark-Rebellion, Odd-Eyes Absolute, Performapal King Bear and Oafdragon Magician were all thrown to the ground, flattening trees and sending smoke everywhere with their impact.

Uno's LP: 475

"Nh? You're still alive? By my calculations you should have taken 6650 points of battle damage from those four attacks." Celeste's visor picked up his lifepoint signs with her visor. "Normally yes. But while Performapal Momoncarpet is on the field, all battle damage is halved! Your Giant does not negate continuous effects, Celeste!" Uno shouted as he waved the dust and sand away. "Also by destroying Performapal Bubble Bowwow, I can negate the destruction of one monster that was summoned from the extra deck!" Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon was revealed to be the sole survivor of the onslaught. "Mgrr.. Of course. Still, what an ugly number to keep dueling with." She grumbled and placed one trap card down. "She has a point, Uno..." He looked behind him. The Templars were gaining ground, but not quickly enough. "You can't buy time with these lifepoints." Echo Oscillation destroyed Performapal Momoncarpet. Halving damage was not gonna save him anymore at this point. "I have to find a way to take that Giant down." He drew his 'echoing' card and let his turn begin proper.

"I set the scales, Dragonpulse Magician and Wisdom-Eye Magician!" Once again, he needed Wisdom-Eye's insight. "I tribute Wisdom-Eye for Xiansheng Magician! Her scale stays at 8, as long as I don't control the most cards!" His enemies combined held five cards, while he only had four. "Pendulum summon!" So Xiangsheng the creation archer joined with Dragonpulse to set off a pendulum summon for Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Oafdragon Magician, Performapal Bubble Bowwow(5/2300/1000) and Performapal King Bear(6/2200/1000). "Yeah no." Marie Celeste activated her continuous trap: Rivalry of Warlords. "That's too much." Uno could not control more than one monster type as long as her trap was active. "Then I will stick with dragons!" Dark Rebellion and Odd-Eyes could stay on the field. The Performapals and Oafdragon Magician returned to the extra deck. "But.. Oafdragon Magician was still successfully summoned, so I can take one Magician from the graveyard back: Xiangke Magician!" The dying wind wizard pulled the destruction mage back from the dead.

Uno freed one pendulum zone for Xiangke (scale 3) by destroying Dragonpulse Magician with Echo Oscillation and drawing yet another card. "Xiangsheng Magician will raise an XYZ-monsters rank to that of a level 5 or higher monster on the field! Xiangke lets me use an XYZ-monster's rank as a level for an XYZ-summon!" The magicans of the beginning and the end targeted Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(7/4250/2000) with their magic. "But first, I activate Pendulum Overlay! This lets me attach both my magician pendulums to Dark Rebellion!" Xiangke and Xiangsheng linked to the dark dragon as XYZ-materials. "So I can use his power again!" Dark Rebellion detached both Magicians and zapped Ancient Gear Chaos Giant. "Bah!" Celeste's gigantic machine(2250/3000) shrank in size, while the XYZ-Dragon(6500/2000) took half of its immense powers. "But, I really should get rid of that Shiranui first. So..."

Pendulum Overlay, Normal Spell
You can only use 1 effect of "Pendulum Overlay" per turn, and only once that turn.
1) Xyz summon 1 Xyz Monster from your extra deck, using the appropriate pendulum monster(s) in your pendulum zones as Materials.
2) You can target 1 Xyz Monster you control; attach 1 or more pendulum monster(s) in your pendulum zones to the target as Xyz Materials.

"I overlay Odd-Eyes with Dark Rebellion! XYZ-summon Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon!" Odd-Eyes transformed into its supreme body of darkness, the perfect union between the XYZ Dragon and the Pendulum Dragon. "Since Odd-Eyes Rebellion was XYZ-summoned with a Dragon XYZ-monster as a material, it destroys all level 7 or lower monsters on the field, and inflicts 1000 points of damage to their controllers!" Dark destruction was delivered to Shiranui Sovereignsaga, Cardels own Level Guard trap doomed it. "..." The Knight took the effect damage and was pushed back. "And Odd-Eyes Rebellion gains three attacks this turn!" Uno sent the Rebellion dragon out to wreak havoc. "Guwahh!" Minister Cardel and Martels Shiranui puppet were blown away by fierce winds as Odd-Eyes Rebellion used two of its attacks to strike them directly. Then it circled around for its third sweep and tore through Ancient Gear Chaos Giant like a knife through butter. "Okay. That outcome was slightly above parameters.." Celeste was the only one still standing at this point. "I try." Uno placed a trap card and ended the turn.

Celeste's LP: 7250 Cardel's LP: 1000 Knight's LP: 0

"Looks like you're giving them quite a work-out, Uno." But just when things started to look up, disaster struck in the form of a fourth challenger.

Ichirou's LP: 8000

"You!" Even the new 'leader' of the XYZ-guild was here! "Shall I assist?" Ichirou the ever-grinning sycophant joined Marie Celeste's side. "It would be nice to not have to do all the work around here." She grumbled. The Knight was out for the count and Martel was not lifting a finger to help. "Evidently." Ichirou activated his dueldisk. "Hello Uno. How is Adamant doing? Has his destiny become reality yet?" He chuckled to himself. "Rgh. So you did join them, why?" Uno ignored the question and asked his own. "The alternative was to share Roma's fate. And that would be a waste." The duelist started drawing cards. "Besides, I am very adaptable. My guild had a neat idea, but the fusion guild's is clearly superior." He glanced back at Cardel, who was still struggling to get up. "A return to the magical world of old, doesn't it sound spectacular?"

"As long as we don't discard technology, yes. Now are you going to take your turn or not?" His partner griped. "Yes, yes. Of course. I summon my Phantom Knight of Cloven Helm." His first card was a blue spirit(4/1500/500) possessing a cracked helm and two silver gauntlets. "I also summon the trapmonster, Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine." When there were no traps in his graveyard, Ichirou could activate his trap on his first turn, to create the possessed Brigandine(4/0/300). "Now Uno, I have to say... While your dragon did well, it just cannot compete with the original." Ichirou overlayed the two Phantom Knights. "XYZ-summon! Dark Rebellion XYZ-Dragon!" Ichirou still had it, the first ever printed XYZ Dragon(4/2500/2000). "You know where this leads." Ichirou detached both materials from his dragon to start its effect. "No way! I activate my trap card, Misdirection Wing! My only monster on the field will gain 800 attackpoints, and yours will lose its effects!" But instead of weakening Odd-Eyes Rebellion, Uno's XYZ-monster(3800/2500) grew stronger, while the attackdrain was stopped.

Misdirection Wing, Normal Trap
Activate only if you control only 1 monster, negate an effect activated by 1 card your opponent controls, then target your monster: until the end of this turn, it gains 800 ATK.
During your turn, you can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 monster you control; until the end of this turn, it gains 800 ATK.

"Oh, how unfortunate. It appears your creation is still greater. And what a powerhouse it is; it evolved in such a beautiful way." Ichirou did not appear to be phased all that much. "But these dragons can evolve in more than one way." He activated a spell card: Rank-Up-Magic: The Phantom Knights' Launch. "Rank-Up-Magic?" Uno gasped. "Very befitting of the XYZ-guild leader, wouldn't you agree? Adamant is not the only one anymore. With The Phantom Knights' Launch, I will XYZ-evolve one dark-rank 4 monster on the field." Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon was turned into an XYZ-material, dark plasma covered its whole body. "I XYZ-summon a rank5 monster: Dark Requiem XYZ Dragon!" The darkness cracked like petrified skin and the new dragon(5/3000/2500) broke out.

"Requiem?! How?" Bone-spined, plates and ribs covered the the dragons body, while horns grew out of its head, tail and claws. "Soon we will have the same gifts you have, Uno. The power to create. But until then, we can make use of the printer your namesake gave the guilds. Dark Requiem's power is twice that of Dark Rebellion's! When it has Dark Rebellion attached to itself.." Ichirou detached the rank 4 dragon from the rank 5 dragon. "It can take away all attackpower and add the original points to itself." Rivers of black blood stabbed Odd-Eyes Rebellion and sucked it(0/2500) dry. The energy was stored inside Dark Requiem(6000/2500). "Ugh. No.." Uno couldn't fight back against that. "This is the end, Uno." Ichirou made his dragon fly into the air. Barriers of light filled its wings with stained glass patterns. "If I lose..." He could not even run from this. "The world will be destroyed, don't you see that?" He shouted. "You don't have to worry about that anymore." Ichirou smiled.. and ordered an attack. "!" Dark Requiem's blast took down Odd-Eyes Rebellion. "Guys.." And Uno fell..

Uno's LP: 0

(To be Continued in Redux 048: A Few Relative Facts)

New Cards used by Uno Nisell
Performapal Momoncarpet

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Amazing Pendulum

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Pendulum Back

New Cards used by 'Knight' Luther
Plaguespreader Zombie

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Shiranui Sovereignsaga

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Left Arm Offering

New Cards used by Minister Cardel
Level Guard

Cards used by Marie Celeste
Ancient Gear Gadget
Ancient Gear Hunting Hound
Ancient Gear Golem
Ancient Gear Soldier

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Ancient Gear Chaos Giant

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Ancient Gear Catapult
Geartown

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Rivalry of Warlords

New Cards used by Ichirou
The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm

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Dark Requiem XYZ Dragon

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The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch