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.

46. Follow the Lightning

Redux 45: Follow the Lightning

Chaotic was the setting inside the Circle's lair. Templars and duelists alike were fighting one on one, or all at a time. Alice and Amelia had nowhere to go, and the noise was getting closer. The worst outcome would involve them being found out. "Aha!" And that happened when Joris Bakker stumbled into the prison area. "Here you are!" He immediately activated his dueldisk. "What's going on?" Amelia flinched as her dueldisk switched itself on. "Wait! She doesn't know how.." He came in too sudden, Alice did not get the time to take the dueldisk from Amelia. So Amelia was the one forced into a duel. "You almost undid everything I.. we worked for. Prepare yourself, you traitor! I normal summon Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman! Now I can add Destruction Sword Memories from my deck to my hand!" Bakkers first card was the six-legged dragon infant(1/400/300), whose effect searched Destruction Sword cards. "Huh?" Already that was too much for Amelia to keep up with. "Oh, so its the other Emily? Hmph, same difference.. my alternate dueled yours once. But I bet you don't remember that, do you?"

Amelia's LP: 8000 Bakker's LP: 8000

"This is going to be easier than I thought!" Bakker summoned the dragonslayer in blue armor(7/2600/2300) to his field while the Buster Whelp headed for the graveyard. "Is that.. how you tribute summon?" Amelia at least knew a few terms, just from passing. "Heh. I guess I can give you a sporting chance, Brandts. I activated the effect of the Whelp; tributing it to special summon Buster Blader the Destruction Swordmaster from my hand." Bakker placed two cards face-down in the spell/trap zone. "So, whats your move, Amelia?" His turn ended. "Ah." Amelia did not really know what she could do. There was so much noise around her, and people closing in. "This isn't fair, let me duel for her!" Alice pleaded, she could do nothing else in this madness. "Tough luck, there is no changing opponents in the middle of a duel. You're harboring an enemy, that is enough reason to put you down" Bakker stated.

"Really? Then maybe you'd prefer a more direct enemy?" Someone else replied.

Stonewell's LP: 8000

"Who?" Stonewell appeared behind him in the tunnel. Bakker was pincered between him and the Brandts now. "Eric! I mean.." Alice was glad to see him. "Hey! Took a while to cut through that mess, but I made it! Good to see these guys didn't hurt you." He started drawing his cards. "The other me couldn't show. You know how his mother gets. So let me get rid of this guy for you!" He activated the spell Painful Decision, with which he targeted two normal Igknight Cavalier monsters in his deck. One was sent to the graveyard and the other was added to his hand. "I set my pendulum scales!" Stonewell activated Igknight Cavalier on one side and an Igknight Gallant on the other. . "Amelia? Are there any of these half spell/half monster cards in your hand?" He asked her. She shook her head. "Well dont worry about it then. Lets just say, I am gonna kick some ass." Stonewell activated the effect of Igknight Cavalier, destroying it and the other pendulum Igknight to add a new Igknight from his deck to his hand. He was about to set two new scales, when...

"Will you now?" Bakker activated one of his traps. "How about you wait til I activate, Cradle of the Destruction Swordsman! I send one Destruction Swordsman card and one Buster Blader from my deck to the graveyard!" The trap discarded Dragon Buster Destruction Sword and a regular Buster Blader. "To special summon Buster Dragon!" A great black feathered dragon(8/1200/2800) flew out of a fiery red cradle in defense mode. "A synchro monster?" It was the matured form of the Buster Whelp. "All monsters you control become dragon type monsters now! And during my opponent's turn, Buster Dragon can equip one Destruction Sword to Buster Blader!" The dragon reached into the ground and dug up the blade of Dragon Buster. "When Dragon Buster Destruction Sword is equipped to one of my monsters, nothing can be summoned from the extra deck!" The Buster Blader and his new destroyer sword kept a firm seal on Stonewell's extra deck."Come again? Bah, why does everyone and their grandmother have a way to block pendulum summons?" Even if he set his scales now, he would have nothing to put on the field.

"Is this bad?" Amelia whimpered. "What? No. Its still two against one." Stonewell placed one monster down on his field and two trap cards. "Those are good odds. Just stick with me and Alice, and you will make it out okay." He passed the turn to the next player... who was not Amelia. "None of you will be okay." A fourth player stated. "Heh? Hey you don't get to do that too!" The next duelist in line was Jim the semi-bodyguard, who imitated Stonewells move by ambushing him from behind. "You kids think you can get away with everything. Tss, just get out of our way."

Jim's LP: 8000

"Foolish Burial!" He played a spell to bury a monster from his deck; Graydle Alligator. "I summon Graydle Slime Junior! It will special summon one Graydle monster from my graveyard, and one Graydle monster with the same level from my hand!" A baby-sized grey alien slime(2/0/2000) slithered across the cracks of the cave. It used its grey goo to reshape the body of the discarded Graydle Alligator(3/500/1500). And it also gave life to the pink Graydle Cobra(3/1000/1000) monster in Jims hand. "That's a tuner monster!" Alice noticed it right away. "Tuner?" That word also sounded familiar to Amelia, somehow. "Yes, by tuning this monster with a non-tuner. I can create a synchro monster whose level matches their combined levels. Allthough my partner chose to take the easier route." Jim scoffed. "I couldn't stand to hide my synchros anymore. I wouldn't have lost to Emily with Buster Dragon!" His partner retorted. "In any case, now I shall show you.. a true Synchro summon!" Graydle Slime Junior was one of Jims tuners, so he could synchronize it with his two Graydle nontuners and special summon the alligatorheaded and cobra-tailed Graydle Dragon(8/3000/2000). "Graydle Dragon will destroy one card for each of its synchro materials!" The dragons mouths spewed grey, pink and green slime at all three of Stonewells cards.

"You guys sound awfully entitled!" Stonewell flipped one of his traps before the slime reached it. "First-Aid Squad! It returns one normal monster from my graveyard to my hand!" The rescue trap took the Igknight Cavalier discarded via Painful Decision. "But your other cards.." Stonewells face-down Igknight Templar and continuous Igknight Burst trap were covered with multi-colored goop and melted away. "No problem. When Igknight Burst gets destroyed, I automatically get one Igknight back from my extra deck!" Eric put the second Igknight Cavalier back in his hands too. "And this isn't a proper tagteam duel; you can only attack me with your one monster!" Since both he and Jim stepped in late, they could not make use of their partners resources. "No. This is not like one of Martels sick little games. However.. you are aware of the penalties a player takes, when they intrude upon an ongoing duel, dont you?" It was a lesson his counterpart had learned a long time ago. "Your lifepoints are tied to hers!" He ordered Graydle Dragon to attack Stonewell directly. "Gah!" The damage he took, was transferred to Amelia as well. "Oh no.. what did I do?"

Stonewell/Amelia's LP: 5000

"It's not your fault, Amelia. Its just..." Alice was not sure how to explain this. "Its her turn." Jim cut her off after he placed a trap card down. During the endphase, Buster Dragon left the field, as a monster summoned by the Cradle could only live for two turns. "Ah.. but.." Now, based on what she saw, Amelia knew she had to draw a card. But her hands were shaking. "Amelia, if you need any help. I'm here." Alice grabbed her arm and calmed it down. "You.. are? I.. thanks" Amelia took one card from her deck and looked at it. "Oh There is so much... But wait, I have no monsters on my field, so.." Amelia summoned her first monster, a blue haired ice witch(3/1000/1000) riding a crystal broom. "I can special summon Wind Witch Ice Bell from my hand? And when I do that.." Her deck opened up. "I should be able to summon another Wind Witch from my deck." Ice Bell waved her wand and summoned a second Windwitch Ice Bell(3/1000/1000) from the deck. "When one of them is summoned, my opponent takes 500 points of damage?" Both witches redirected the cold winds towards Bakker, dropping hailstones on him. "Meh, chump damage."

Bakker/Jim's LP: 7000

"Alice.." Amelia showed Alice her hand. "Isn't this a tuner? Meaning this deck synchro summons too?" These windwitches were the cards Cassius prepared for Emily. "I think so...there's synchro monsters in your extra deck." These monsters were new to Alice as well. "I should still have a normal summon. So I can summon Wind Witch Snow Bell from my hand.." Amelia brought out a snow-white chiming bell(1/100/100) with angel wings. "So there's your tuner? Well it doesn't matter while Dragon Buster is equipped to Buster Blader!" Bakker bragged. "Oh? But you can use that card!" Alice pointed at a spell in Amelia's hand. "Oh. I get it." It had a simple effect with a simple result. "I use Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your Dragon Buster sword." The classic MST spell targeted and destroyed the monster equipped to the Destruction Swordsman. "Damn." Now his opponent could synchro summon again.

"In the extra deck.." Amelia took one of her synchro cards. "This synchro monster has seven stars, so.." She performed the tuning process, combining The Ice Bell witches with Snow Bell. "I synchro summon Wind Witch Winter Bell." The witches transformed into a winged ice sorceress(7/2400/2000) with a spherical torso and a pointed abdomen. "So now she can target one Wind Witch in my graveyard and do damage equal to its level, times 200." Amelia targeted Wind Witch Ice Bell, inflicting an additional 600 points of damage to the Circle duelists. "You learned fast, hmph. Was that it?" Jim asked. "Oh. Yeah." Her monsters could not actually fight theirs. "I am sorry. Maybe I should have synchro summoned something else. But this was a windwitch too so.." She had to end the turn, though she still placed two trap cards down. "It'll be alright." Alice assured her.

Bakker/Jim's LP: 6400

"Keep telling her that." Bakker flipped his trap card at this point. "Destruction Sword Memories! I discard one Destruction Sword card, and special summon another Buster Blader from my deck!" His trap discarded a Destruction Sword Flash trap card, so that the original dragonslayer; Buster Blader(2600/2300) could appear from the extra deck. "I can discard a Destruction Sword card for Buster Whelp as well. Doing that will bring it back to my field!" This time Bakker discarded a monster, Robot Buster Destruction Sword. The Whelp then escaped the graveyard and joined the other Busters. "And finally, I can activate Destruction Sword Memories from my graveyard.. to fuse two of my monsters in the graveyard! By fusing a dragon with a Buster Blader, I summon Buster Blader the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman!" The Memory trap banished itself, the original Buster Blader and the first Buster Dragon. "You're still using fusions?" Jim was a little surprised to see the fusion warrior(8/2800/2500). "This deck doesnt work without one. It grew on me!"

"Besides... I can use both at the same time! I synchro summon another Buster Dragon, from my extra deck, in defense mode!" Buster Blader Destruction Swordsman synchronized with the Buster Whelp, who was a tuner as well. Now through a proper synchro summon, the great black dragon(8/1200/2800) appeared. "Buster Dragon will turn all your monsters into dragons again! The normal Buster Blade will get 500 attackpoints for each dragon on the field! And the fused Buster Blader will get 1000 attackpoints for each Dragon, dead or alive! He also changes all dragons to defense mode and inflicts piercing damage! That means he can damage you even if your monsters are defending!" Wind Witch Winter Bell not only powered up her opponent's swordman(3800/2500), she was forced to cower before it. Bakker, lastly, revealed a spell. "Let's finish this! I activate Karma of the Destruction Swordsman! By banishing three monsters with the same type from your graveyard, my Buster Blader will gain 500 attackpoints times three!" The souls of the wind spellcasters Amelia used to summon her synchro monster were absorbed into the blade of the Dragon Destroyer(5800/2500). "Thanks to your shared lifepoints. I can wipe you both out! Battle! Buster Blader, attack Winter Bell!" The fused Buster Destroyer raised his blade.

"Uhm.. during a battle, Wind Witch Winter Bell can summon one wind-attribute spellcaster from my hand." The Winter witch summoned Amelia's last card in defense mode, Risebell the young elf Summoner(2/800/800). "How cute!" He sent his piercing swordsman after the Summoner instead. "Oh, and I activate my trap." Amelia countered with Spiritual Wind Art -Miyabi. Miyabi could tribute her wind-attribute Winter Bell witch, to return one of his monsters to his hand. "Nice try. But with Destruction Sword Flash in my graveyard, I can block any effect that targets my Bladers!" Bakker boasted. "But, I am not targeting your Blader." The Spirit of the wind came after Buster Dragon. "No!" Bakkers synchro dragon was chased off the field by the spiritual winds, forced into the extra deck. "I am new, and a bit scared, but I am not dumb.. I saw the effect of the card you discarded." Amelia knew she would waste her trap on the warriors. But with Buster Dragon removed from the field, there were no longer any dragons to boost the fused Blader(4300/2500) and the regular Blader(2600/2300). "That wont save you either!" The fused Dragon Destroyer finally brought his sword down and skewered Risebell, inflicting a large sum of piercing damage. "Buster Blader, direct.."

Stonewell/Amelia's LP: 1500

"Jumping the gun a bit there!" Stonewell yelled. "What.. is that?" The regular Buster Blader's sword was intercepted by muscular first-aid medics(3/1200/400). "Them? They're the First Aid Squad. When a normal monster is destroyed, I can summon this trap as a trap monster in defense mode!" Stonewell helpfully explained. "A normal monster? But.." Bakker flinched. "He's talking about Risebell, Bakker. Even the girl saw that coming!" Jim roared. "What? That is why she.." Now he knew why she sacrificed Winter Bell for Miyabi, and not Risebell. "Gah!" Buster Blader trudged on regardless, cutting the Squad trapmonster down with his blade. "I will not lose to you! Next turn, next turn you're done!" Then Stonewells turn came and he entered his draw phase. "You should never say things like that out loud, you know." The card that was drawn put a smile on his face.

"I set my scales!" Igknight Templar and Igknight Cavalier were reactivated. "And I destroy them of course, to get Igknight Eagle. Or as you call him, Igknight Crusader!" Templar shot itself and the Cavalier knight down, so that Stonewell could retrieve a lowscale Igknight pendulum from his deck. "I set two more scales, Sky Dragoons of Draconia and the Igknight Eagle!" Crusader (scale 2) took one pendulum zone, the skydragon rider (scale 7) claimed the other. "Pendulum summon! My Igknights.. and Totem Five!" The extra deck released the Igknights Templar(4/1700/1300), Gallant(6/2100/2200) and the two Cavaliers(5/2400/1200). "The Totem?" And from Stonewells hand a different monster appeared, a totem(3/500/200) of five different animal heads. "When Totem Five is special summoned along with four other monsters, at the same time, all my opponents monsters will be destroyed!" Three of the totempieces flew forward and crashed into Graydle Dragon, Buster Blader and the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman. "And you take 500 points of damage for each monster!" The three targets exploded and covered Jim and Bakker in smoke and flames. "Graahh!"

Bakker/Jim's LP: 4900

"Rgh, think again!" Jim grabbed a monster from his graveyard. "When Graydle Dragon is destroyed, I can summon one water monster from the grave!" He special summoned Graydle Slime Junior back in defense mode. "When Graydle Slime Junior is destroyed in a battle, I can summon another Graydle from my deck!" The infant slime would be their last defense, but it was a good one. "Okay. Then I will.." Stonewell shrugged and activated Igknight Unite. "Special summon Igknight Stinger!" His spell sacrificed Igknight Templar to summon another Igknight, the Champion(8/2800/2300), from his deck. "This monster will return that monster to the bottom of your deck!" Igknight Champion had to return an Igknight, Gallant, to Stonewell's hand, to activate his effect. Then it fired a wave of napalm at Graydle Slime Jr. "I wont allow that either!" Yet, Jim revealed a counter trap. "Graydle Combat! When an effect targets my Graydle monster, the effect is negated and the activator destroyed!" The combat trap absorbed the napalm blast and returned it towards Igknight Champion. "Crap!"

Stonewell/Amelia's LP: 750

"Huh?" But unexpectedly, the napalm bounced back to Graydle Slime Junior and burned it down to nothing. "Uh. I used this, Solemn Judgment." Amelia had countered the counter trap with her own. "Should I have used it earlier?" Since Solemn Judgment took half their lifepoints away, she didnt want to use it too soon. "No. That's perfect!" Alice cried out. "Damn right it is." Stonewell smirked and looked back at the duelists flanking him. "Now where was I? Oh yeah.." He entered his battlephase. "Derringer, Stinger, direct attack!" The Cavalier Igknights rushed Jim, Igknight Champion bombarded Bakker. "NO!" Both their lifepoints were wiped out at the same time. "Was.. was that the end?" The two duelists dropped down. "It was Amelia. You won!" Alice congratulated her. "I did?" It was her very first duel, and she made it through. "..It was.." She was not sure if she hated it, or liked it. "Yeah, we did. You've got skill, Amelia." Stonewell definitely owed her one.

Bakker/Jim's LP: 0

"Whoah!" Stonewell flinched as two Templar drones suddenly flew into the tunnel and hit Bakker and Jim with bright beams. "Wait. No. Not aga.." The two duelists were transformed to cards on the spot. "Eesh." Stonewell couldn't help but wince, even if these guys probably deserved it. "Alice!" Following that event, the three duelists walked out into the cave where Adamant and the others were. "Alice, you were attacked? I was unable to stop them." He'd been too busy with his own opponents. "It's okay. Amelia actually did great!" Alice said with joy. "Well, I had help." Amelia muttered less joyfully. "Oh I see. He had to go and be heroic for another lady, didn't ya Eric?" Tory gave Stonewell a big grin. "Well I knew you didn't need it, clearly." Stonewell looked around and saw nothing but Templar drones and carded duelists. "Did you get all of them?" There were no active duels to be seen. "All but two." Iria pointed at a cylindrical pillar at the back of the cave. "Cassius ran in that direction. I am guessing that's where he and Lady Vesper are holding up."

"Graahahah!" A scream filled the cave abruptly. "Uno!?" It was Uno who screamed, even as he was still asleep. "What? is he having a nightmare?" Stonewell asked. "no." Anastasia replied as she placed her hand on her chest. "the pendulums are in pain, it is spreading..."

(To be Continued in Redux 044: Woman for All Seasons)

New Cards used by Stonewell
Totem Five
Igknight Crusader

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First Aid Squad

Cards used by Amelia Brandt
Wind Witch - Ice Bell
Wind Witch - Snow Bell
Risebell the Summoner

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Wind Witch - Winter Bell

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Mystical Space Typhoon

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Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi
Solemn Judgment

New Cards used by Joris Bakker
Dragon Buster Destruction Sword
Buster Blader

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Buster Dragon

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Karma of the Destruction Swordsman

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Cradle of the Destruction Swordsman
Destruction Sword Memories
Destruction Sword Flash

New Cards used by Jim
Graydle Slime Jr.

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Graydle Combat