Redux 42: After One's Own Heart
Alice had a lot on her mind, while those around her did not even have a mind to use. They were paralyzed, thanks to Vesper. The only one thing she wanted was to stop her from hurting her friends and that determination stuck with her all the way to her chamber. "Not..from this world?" But there, when she came face to face with Vesper and Cassius, an unexpected truth struck back. Why was Anastasia also unaffected? Alice never thought to ask Uno's sister during all this madness. "Why.." Anastasia was the one who got her here, who summoned a monster strong enough to blast through the forcefield and to carry them to the top of the base. Alice did not understand. "I thought you said.. you were born here." What did this mean; she was like her? Was the Lady also from a time that no longer existed? "...i never said i was." The lady claimed. "But.. No.. you didn't say it. You didn't tell Uno."
"Hmph, you merely recorded what was created by a different future. It is no wonder that the Union could come up with such wonderful inventions." Vesper was pretty pleased with thus uncovered this secret. "Then the ones who caused the timelines to fracture..." Cassius felt an emotion closer to rage. "I thought it was.." He glared briefly at Alice, then he pointed at Lady Nisell. "It was them." Vesper rasped. "When my team broke the news of the other dimension to the Union, they would not believe our story. Of course the Nisell family suppressed all information of their sins; of the second world they created. But I kept believing, while you turned my own colleagues against me." Uno's strange powers, the fact that they possessed crystals that did not exist anywhere else on the planet; it all made sense now. "i did not know. i was not told that anyone found you." Anastasia countered. "But you do not deny it! You, Lord Marco and Lord Christopher Uno Nisell! You're the ones who traveled here from the future, and caused this entire crisis!"
"we made this world for us, made it so all could live a perfect life. you should not have crossed over.. you should not have taken Uno from us." The lady's tone got more severe as well. "Are you talking about that again? I already told you that we had nothing to do with that! We don't have the kind of power to make someone fifteen years younger!" Cassius was getting tired of these accusations. "not just then, you also attacked him with our templars, and with thieves. then you joined the other guild to overthrow him as a duelist. to break the rules that way... is a disservice to the spirits." That was perhaps what galled her the most. "We tried it the clean way, he would not cooperate. So we lured him out. But the templar attack was not our doing, Anastasia Nisell. We are not the only enemies your family has cultivated over the years. We do not know who was responsible then. But you do not, this world is struggling to keep itself together. Countries, armies, leaders, you only think you have it all under control. I know, my circle has people everywhere. That is not peace. You're like a child, using those crystals like toys to get what you want and to force everyone around to work with you."
"i would never.. these crystals are not my toys. and they are not yours. you do not understand what you are doing, what you can do to every unknowing soul on this world. I cannot let this continue." Anastasia ordered her holographic Kozmo machines to target the computers in the room. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. If I do not understand what I am doing, what about you?" Vesper raised her voice. "You are dealing with more than us, may I remind you. My body in the other dimension is performing the same operation on Uno's pendulum. Immense levels of energy are flowing between hers and this world." Vesper disconnected her own hoverchair from the machines, while leaving the crystal embedded in the throne. "Where will all that energy go? If you disrupt the process on one side?" Anastasia recoiled and stopped her monster. "That is correct thinking. It will have nowhere to go but back to the crystal, shattering it. What will happen to Lord Uno when it is not just depowered but destroyed? Not even I know that. Lady Winnifred Anastasia Nisell does, do you know?"
"... you will tell me then, how to put an end to this. or i will make you, both of you." If two Vespers were needed to continue this pendulum-desynch, then Vesper could not hide her mind. "a duel." She would have to accept any challengers. "So it be. You walk towards your own defeat." Vesper was not afraid to face her, primarily because she could just read her mind to overpower her strategies. "then where will we fight?" The lady asked. "A space where you can use that real monsters of yours without a care in my world." Vesper pushed a button on her chair and opened a door in the wall, there was a dueling room up ahead. "Cassius, guard the crystal." She glared at Alice. "This one might lash out." She and Anastasia moved to the new area. "Yes, ma'am." Cassius nodded and watched them until the door slammed down again. "Alice.." He turned to her. "There is nothing you can do that wont make things worse. Just.. wait it out. Everything will get better." He eyeballed dueldisk. "Aaron.. I won't." She did the exact opposite of what he obviously wanted and activated it. "Alice, why?" That brief look of anger in her eyes surprised Cassius. "I want to save everyone! And this is the only way I know how!"
Alice's LP: 8000 Cassius' LP: 8000
She activated a continuous spell, Ascending Soul. "I activate Nekroz of Brionac!" By discarding her warrior ritual monster, she could add a Nekroz Gungnir monster from her deck to her hand. "And Nekroz Mirror!" And that added monster would be summoned by her ritual spell. "I can tribute monsters from my hand, and from my graveyard if they are Nekroz monsters!" She banished Brionac and tributed the Level 1 Relinkuriboh monster in her hand. The mirror's ceremony exchanged their lives for the redhaired witch in ice dragon armor, Nekroz of Gungnir(7/2500/1700). "Because Relinkuriboh was tributed, I can draw one card. And when I complete a ritual, Ascending Soul returns one of the tributes to my hand!" The cybernetic kuriboh activated its draw effect before its soul was targeted by her continuous spell. Alice's hands took the one card from the deck and Relinkuriboh from the graveyard. "I will put one card down behind Gungnir.." The trap was set. Her turn was over. "Alice, just wait a second." She was going fast, even for his standards. "Why?" Because every second mattered, she wanted to get through Cassius as quickly as possible.
"Think about them! Your friends.. besides Eric and Emily, can you really trust any of them? Adamant was involved with the attack on the tournament and Dreamworld HQ. Iria and Zach worked for Dom who brought these cards into the world in the first place! Stonewell and Tory work for someone they dont even know! And Uno. he could be the worst of them all! The Nisells are the one who started all of this, they might be the ones who destroyed your world too!" Alice's face drew white with shock. "You.. heard about that?" She never told him her story. "Vesper saw it, in your mind. Alice, I am sorry that I thought you were the cause. You're a victim like all of us. We must stop the Nisells before they decided to go back in time again and abandon us all here! And I will duel you, if I have too!" Cassius started his turn, now that he seemed to have her attention. He summoned Speedroid H, the horsehead bamboo toy(4/1100/1100) on stilts. "This normal summoned Speedroid can special summon one tuner from my hand!" He special summoned the tuner, Speedroid Denden Daiko Duke(3/1000/1000). "I will synchro.."
"No!" Alice flipped her trap card, after the Duke speedroid touched the floor. "No?" It was Vanity's Emptyness, the permanent special summon negator. "No more. No more synchros, XYZs or fusions. None of your plans are good! No matter what, someone gets hurt! Cant you see that?" Alice allowed him to put his materials on the field, but he could not synchronize them now. "Alice. It's not possible to save everyone. The damage is already done." Cassius placed one of his trap cards and let his turn end. "But the pendulums might be able to fix it! Uno wanted to.. If he didn't have one.. If I.." Alice looked down, Anastasia's crystal rested on her dress. "I wouldn't have gotten my dad back if it wasn't for them. So.. I can't run away!" Alice drew her card. "Your answer is wrong! You're scared and you're letting that make your decisions." She summoned the Dance Princess of the Nekroz(4/1600/800). "You want to wait for the end. I cant, not again." The Dance Princess and Gungnir attacked the Speedroids Horsestilts and Denden Daiko Duke, destroying them both. "I wont!"
Cassius' LP: 6000
"I know how you feel, Alice.." Before her attack finished, he activated the trap Power Charge. "But I cant run away from this either!" Power Charge let him draw two cards since a 'roid' monster was attacked. When his turn came, he activated one of those new cards. "I will destroy your Emptyness! Mystical Space Typhoon!" Due to the quickplay typhoon, Alice's trap was taken from the field. "Now, by banishing Speedroid Horsestilts from my graveyard, I can send one Speedroid from my deck to the graveyard! I send Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" Horsestilts's effect kicked the six-sided dice tuner out of the deck. "I will summon it back, with Speedroid Ohajikid!" He normal summoned the robotic gunslinger(3/1000/200), who opened a portal to the graveyard and let the Red-Eyed Dice(1/100/100) go free. "Ohajikid can summon any tuner from either graveyard, and immediately tune itself with that monster!" His two monsters combined their four levels, and created a clockwork jester robot(4/1300/1600). "Hi-Speedroid Puzzle! When this monster battles a special summoned monster, its attackpoints are doubled! It attacks Nekroz of Gungnir!" The Hispeedroid pulled out a hidden blade from its left hand and cut into ice sorceress. Nekroz of Gungnir shattered into splinters of ice.
Alice's LP: 7900
"Then Emily was right. You did give up." Alice sighed. "Better this than using the pendulum again and causing even more damage. The split world simply cannot be sustained anymore." Cassius set another trap card down and passed the turn to her. "I didn't mean that. But there has to be another way. I believe Uno. He's done so much already that I never thought anyone could do.. He would never give up. That is why I am choosing him!" Alice started her turn with another Nekroz discard. "I'll discard Nekroz of Clausolas!" That card took a new Nekroz spell from her deck, Nekroz Cycle. "And Nekroz of Unicore too!" Unicore recycled Nekroz monsters in the graveyard, so Clausolas could be returned to her hand. Though Clausolas' effect could not be used again this turn. "I'm going to summon Nekroz of Unicore!" Nekroz Cycle ritual summoned ritual monsters from the graveyard. So Alice could sacrifice Relinkuriboh and the level 3 Clausolas, for her four-starred caped Nekroz lancer(4/2300/1000). At the same time she drew one card through Relinkuriboh's effect, and recycled Relinkuriboh with Ascending Soul.
"Monsters summoned from the extra deck dont have powers while I control Unicore, so he can destroy your Synchro monster, Aaron!" She entered her battle phase. Unicore skewered the Puzzle speedroid(1300/1600) whose attackpower could not be multiplied. "I thought you would, Alice. When HiSpeedroid Puzzle is destroyed, one speedroid in the graveyard will return to me." As a result of her attack, Cassius took Speedroid Denden Daiko Duke back from his graveyard. "Ah, but.. I still.." She ordered the Dance Princess to hit him directly. Even as he lost more lifepoints, he kept smiling at her. "Stop it!" Alice used her second main phase to place a trap. "I..my turn's done." She wanted to be prepared for the worst. She knew just how strong Cassius could be from his duel with Silver. "But why does he sounds so different now." Back then, he was not this kind. It was getting difficult to stay mad at him.
Cassius' LP: 3400
"Alice, I told your sister the same thing I'll tell you now. I am Cassius now. Aaron and me are one!" Cassius started his turn and flipped his trap card; Compulsory Evacuation Device. It would return one of her monsters to her hand. "?! You can't target my rituals!" Alice protested. The Dance Princess made all of her Nekroz rituals untargetable. "I know." His trap targeted the Princess instead, sending her back to where she came from. "Meanwhile, as I control no monsters, I can special summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand!" He put down the spinning top snake(3/1200/600). Its effect gave Cassius a free Speedroid search. "Terrortop adds Speedroid Pachingo Kart to my hand, and I normal summon that one!" The next toy roid was the pachinko kart droid(4/1800/1000). "Pachingo Kart can destroy one card by discarding something from my hand! I destroy yours! Nekroz of Unicore!" Cassius discarded Speedroid Denden Daiko Duke. The kart launched one pachinko ball at Alice's monster, crushing Unicore with the silver orb. "Oh no..." Cassius synchro monsters had all the freedom in the world now.
"I can banish Speedroid Denden Daiko Duke, to special summon a speedroid from my graveyard." The duke's effect lit a spark and re-energized the Red-Eyed Dice. "And I will let Red-Eyed Dice change my other speedroid's level from three to five." The Red die raised the level of Terrortop(5/1200/600). "And.. I synchro summon Hi-Speedroid Chanbara!" Terrortop and Red-Eyed Dice united to form the red sword rider(5/2000/1000). "You're not.. summoning the dragon?" Alice asked, noticeably trembling. "You thought I would summon Clear Wing? Alice, there is no reason for you to be scared. I wont harm you, I never wanted too hurt anyone. It's just.. everyone fighting back that is forcing me too." He started his battle phase. This turn HiSpeedroid Chanbara would get two attacks. It made more sense to synchro summon something like this.
So why wouldn't Alice shake the feeling that something was wrong? "No! I am not going to be scared! I activate my trap! Urgent Ritual Art!" Either way she did not want to get hit by any direct attacks. "It will copy a ritual spell from my graveyard!" Urgent Ritual Art banished Nekroz Cycle to copy that spell's effect. She sacrificed Dance Princess of the Nekroz in her hand to re-summon Nekroz of Unicore from her graveyard, in attack position. "And when I sacrifice the Dance Princess, I can put one banished Nekroz card back in my hand!" The Princess retrieved Nekroz of Brionac from the banished pile, while Ascending Soul returned the tributed Dance Princess to her hand. "Alice..." Cassius terminated the battle phase. "You cannot keep this up. You're not like that." He placed three trap cards down and let his turn end. "I can! I have to!" She kept yelling, even though her voice was getting hoarse. "My turn!" She was beginning to feel tired. Not just physically, but her anger was taking too much energy as well. "Nekroz of Unicore attacks Hispeedroid Chanbara!" She wanted it to end quickly.
"I know you don't stay angry for long.. I know you Alice. Maybe not as long as others, but more than Eric and Uno. You're not really mad at me. You don't really want to win this!" Cassius activated another trap; Follow Wing. "No. No no no!" Follow Wing gave Hispeedroid Chanbara wings of golden energy and made it indestructible. Not just that, it would also let the synchro monster destroy anything that it was battling. "Unicore!" The attack was already declared, Nekroz of Unicore made a swing at the HiSpeedroid. She missed and Chanbara came up behind her, destroying her with its brilliant wings. "Think, Alice. If you stop me, you are going to let the other guilds win. It's us or them now! Ichirou, Martel, Celeste; they have the four dragon cards. Any minute now they can use that to awaken monsters that this world has never seen before. We need to complete the desynchronization, we need to put the spirits in their grave before it is too late!" His pleas were the same as before, yet it was harder now to push them aside. "Aaron.." He sounded so sincere, so much like the boy she knew four years ago.
"Yeah. Excuse me for interrupting."
"Huh?!" Alice and Cassius both flipped their heads to the side. There was an unexpected visitor; none other than Marie Celeste. "How can you.." She was projecting a hologram of herself through their computers. "You were the one!" Immediately the pieces fell together in Cassius' head. "Who.. who are you?" At the same time, this woman was a total stranger to Alice. "Just the one who has to clean up all the mess Phoebe left behind. Call me Celeste. And you're the one who snatched James Brandt from our shelter, weren't you?" The woman smirked briefly. "Celeste! What are you doing here? How long have you known about this place?" Cassius shouted at her to draw her attention back to him. "Oh you hid it well, don't feel bad about that. But you made the mistake of taking in Uno, dueldisk and all. Neheh." She let the information sink in. "The dueldisk?" Cassius shuddered. "Yes, while we were dueling him I took the time to insert a little program into his device. It let me track it wherever it went. Thanks to that, I am now part of your system."
"Then you were the one.. who told Tory and Stonewell to come here? You were their employer; the fusion guild was?" Alice got it now, albeit not completely. "Good guess. Really though, who else would recruit children to do their dirty work, these blockheads? No, that was my idea. I could go on for ages about why; its much easier to talk to people when you're not in the room with a telepath. But that's not what I came to do here." She turned to the computer. "Don't! If you damage it, you will destroy the pendulum anyway!" Cassius warned her. "I fail to see the problem there." She dipped her holographic hands into Vespers throne. "What are you doing?" Alice asked. "Oh, just shutting this place down, if you don't mind." Sparks began to fly off the machine, the walls, the floor. "Stop!" Cassius screamed. "Hmm. Nahh.. I don't want to. That's the thing I like the least about your Circle's plan, Cassius. You would cut me off from all this world has to offer. Technology that allows me to go wherever I want and lets me send viral codes through my own projection." She pulled her hand out, the code was submitted, the throne powered down.
"See.. My problem is you backstabbing us even when we promised we would return your other body in due time. So.. I don't feel bad about doing this, it's just what you deserve..."
(To be Continued in Redux 041: Time for a Change of Pace)
New Cards used by Alice Brandt
Relinkuriboh
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Ascending Soul
New Cards used by Cassius
Speedroid Horsestilts
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HiSpeedroid Puzzle
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Mystical Space Typhoon