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.

52. Not as Black as Painted

Redux 39: Not as Black as Painted

"Christopher! I was Notified of your Rescue, but I had no Idea you were Back at the Palace!" Marco was ecstatic when Uno walked into the throne room. "And you brought your Friends?" He sounded less positive about the duelists who followed him. "It doesn't seem like we are interrupting anything, Lord Nisell." Adamant, Alice, Eric, Tory, Iria, Zach and Dom were all here; staring at the lord with mixed expressions. "Sister?" Anastasia was there too. And Marco could tell something was going on with the way she looked. "I was more than rescued, Marco. I was cured. I remember myself again." Uno revealed. "Oh? Than that is certainly More than Wonderful!" Though Marco reacted with excitement, there was a subtle shudder in his words. "Marco, you don't have to pretend. I also remember what happened to me.. " Uno made clear that he was not here to spread 'good' news. "What are you saying, Christopher?" The lord said coyly. "That it was you, Marco."

"Me? What on Earth gave you that Idea? Was it the Circle?" Marco laughed it off. "Christopher, you are Confused. UYou have Been through a lot. Please, take some Time to Rest first. Then we can Talk about.." He waved at his guards to make them close in on the gang. "No. We're not done. I didn't come here to leave without an answer." Uno raised his own hand to move the guards back to their positions. He was a Lord too after all. "I deserve one, our sister deserves one, my friends deserve one." He then activated his dueldisk. "Brother, I do not Know what has gotten Into you. But I do not Like it. Sister, tell him. You know I couldn't have Done this." Rather than rising to the provocations, his brother tried to appeal to reason. "i am not sure anymore, marco." But even his sister resisted him now. "Is the leader of the Union too afraid to answer?" Iria inquired. "I would Hold your Tongue, lady Silver. This is a Family Matter." Marco grunted as he finally activated his disk and silently ordered the guards out of the room. "But why a duel, Christopher?"

Marco's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Because my first memory is of me waking up with dueldisks in my possession; two of them. I remember why now.. Before I was sent to the other world, I dueled someone and lost." Uno took the first turn. He normal summoned the Performapal Skullcrobat Joker(4/1800/100) and used its effect to add a Performapal from his deck to his hand; Performapal Fireflux. "To hide his crime, he banished me along with the two dueldisks that performed the duel. The evidence was tossed into a second timeline. And I believe the man who did all that is dueling me again right here." Uno placed Performapal Fireflux (scale 5) in the left pendulum zone and two trap cards behind the Skullcrobat. "Is that the Nature of your Challenge, to discover Whether or not I fit the Duelist from your fragmented Memories? Christopher, that is a Fools Game." Marco scoffed. "Then you should have nothing to hide." Uno passed the turn to his own brother.

"So be it then." Marco started by activating the fusing spell Terminus of the Burning Abyss. "Go forth, Dante the Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss!" He fused three Burning Abyss Malebranchi in his hand; Cir, Cagna and Farfa, to create the next world's holy pilgrim Dante(9/2800/2500). "My Malebranchi, sent to my graveyard, activate their effects!" Cagna the Malebranche moved a Burning Abyss spell or trap card from the deck to the graveyard. Farfa banished one monster on the field for one turn, Cir special summoned one Burning Abyss demon from the graveyard. "Send Terminus of the Burning Abyss, remove Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, revive Cagna of the Burning Abyss!" Marco selected his three targets. Uno's field lost the Joker, while Marco's field gained Cagna the hound demon(3/1500/300). "Brother, we have Dueled in the past. That is as far as The truth goes! You have Not changed, your Tricks are still Transparent!" Performapal Fireflux's pendulum effect could stop battle phases by tributing Performapals. With Uno's one performer gone, Fireflux was effectively harmless. "Cagna, attack Christopher!"

"Transparent?" Uno activated a trap; Performapal Pinch Helper. "Sure about that?" Because Marco had declared a direct strike, his continuous trap would special summon a Performapal from his deck and negate Cagna's attack. "Go, Silver Claw!" Uno special summoned the silver wolf(4/1800/700) in defense mode, with its effects negated. "Dante!" Marco recalled Cagna and attacked with his fusion monster instead. "I sacrifice Silver Claw, to activate the card in my pendulum zone!" The fireflux bug blasted Silver Claw to pieces and absorbed its remaining energy to light up its tail like a flare. The bright lights warded off Dante, cancelling out Marco's battle phase. "I've picked up a lot of new tricks while I was gone, Marco!" Uno grinned. "So you Have... I activate Dante's power." Each turn Dante could discard one card from his hand to draw a new card. He discarded the Burning Abyss Malebranche, Scarm. "At the End of a turn In which Scarm was sent to My graveyard, a new Burning Abyss is added to My hand." Marco placed one trap and added Graff of the Burning Abyss to his hand during his endphase.

"Hey Uno. Is it a good idea to do this alone? I mean if he is the guy.. He did beat you before." Eric wanted to point out the obvious. "And he stopped August like it was nothing." Marco was probably one of the strongest duelists Alice ever saw. "But I am sure you can do it!" Uno had to be stronger now. "It's not about that, it's about repeating the past. Even so.. I know Marco." As Uno's turn started, Skullcrobat Joker was returned to the field. "He wont go down without a fight!" Uno placed the Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer (scale 2) in the right pendulum zone. "Pendulum summon!" The Sorcerer pairing with the Fireflux led to the pendulum summon of two pendulum wolves; Performapal Silver Claw from the extra deck and a Performapal Gold Fang(4/1800/700) from the hand. "A summoned Gold Fang adds 200 attackpoints to all my Performapals. Pendulum Sorcerer also puts another 1000 attackpoints on them when his scale is used for a performapal pendulum summon!" Between these two effects Uno's army (Skullcrobat Joker: 3100 atk, Silver Claw/Gold Fang: 3000 atk) grew a lot stronger than anything on the other side. "Silver Claw attacks!"

"Dante!" Marco reactivated the effect of the Pilgrim. Dante discarded Graff the Burning Abyss Malebranche to draw a new card. "When Graff is sent to My graveyard, one Burning Abyss demon is Released from my deck! Come, Scarm!" Marco special summoned a second long-nailed Scarm demon(3/800/2000) in defense mode. "Okay, but my Silver Claw adds 300 attackpoints to all my Performapals when he attacks!" The silver wolf(3300/700) strengthened Uno's troupe even further, and with its glowing claws it tore up Cagna of the Burning Abyss. "Gold Fang will attack your other monster!" The gold-furred wolf(4/3300/700) tore Scarm to chunks of grey flesh with its fangs. "And the coup de gracé!" The Acrobat Joker threw his tophat towards Dante like a throwing disc. "You believe you can Get this far with Just your Performapals; Christopher?" Marco activated another effect, with his trap card. "Descent of the Sacred Serpent! My fused monster shall not Face Death this turn!" A serpent of light rose up from the floor to knock back Joker's hat; only a few scraps of battle damage reached Marco.

Marco's LP: 5600

Descent of the Sacred Serpent, Normal Trap
If there are 2 or more monsters that were summoned from the extra deck on the field, target 1 of them.
This turn, that monster cannot be destroyed and is unaffected by the effects of other monsters summoned from the extra deck.

"That didn't have much of an oomph, did it?" Tory remarked. With Dante still alive, Cagna's effect sending another Burning Abyss spell (Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss) to the graveyard, and Scarm waiting to activate its effect during Uno's endphase; a volatile turn was ahead of Uno. "Yeah. Maybe he has a point." Uno moved to his second main phase. "Maybe I should get an upgrade!" Skullcrobat Joker and Gold Fang were placed on top of each other. "XYZ-summon! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" The two turned to XYZ-materials for the dragon(4/2500/2000) of the dark rebellion. "Ah Yes, our Sister told us you were still Using the Dragons of the forgotten Apocalypse." Marco could not help but marvel slightly at the sight of it. "Oh I am sure you already knew I was using these. I already owned Odd-Eyes before." Uno activated his dragons effect by detaching both Performapals. "An XYZ-monster for a fusion monster! Dark Rebellion takes your Pilgrims attackpoints!" Half of Dante(1400/2500)'s power was permanently stolen by the XYZ-Dragon(3900/2000). "That was my turn!"

Before his turn began, Scarm's effect was resolved and a second Cir Malebranche ended up in Marco's hand. "Are you still Not satisfied then, Christopher?" Marco shook his head. "I suppose nothing but Sheer Force, will convince you to Let this Go!" He banished one spell from his graveyard. "When I activate Good and Evil in the Burning Abyss from My graveyard, I can Discard a Burning Abyss monster to add another Burning Abyss spell to my hand!" Marco discarded his second Cir of the Burning Abyss, and claimed a second Good & Evil spell. "Cir, revive Graff!" The sent Cir demon's effect special summoned the bulldog demon(3/1000/1500) from Marco's graveyard. "As I control No spells or Traps, I may call out the Malebranche Rubic!" Next the red-faced terror(3/100/2100) special summoned itself with its own effect. "A tuner monster?" Dom gasped. "Yes sir, this deck has got all types of extra deck summons." Iria explained it to her master. "Where did he get these cards from to begin with?" Zach was certain Dreamworld did not print anything related to the Burning Abyss. "Where indeed." Uno flashed a knowing smirk.

"Do not Act as if this was kept Secret! You are talking to One who saw to it that This world Honored the lost Spirits. The Nisell family can Create whatever it wishes!" Marco roared as he tuned Rubic with Graff. "I shall Synchro summon Virgil the Rockstar of the Burning Abyss!" Red and dark fire came together, creating the flaming guitar player Virgil(6/2500/1000). Meanwhile the grave-bound synchro material Graff special summoned a third Scarm Malebranche(3/800/2000) from Marco's deck. "Virgil may Return one card to the players Deck!" Marco discarded Draghig of the Burning Abyss from his hand. "Follow this song out of Hell and Be gone, Silver Claw!" With its instrument, Virgil played a haunting tune that forced the silver wolf off the fiery field and back into Uno's extra deck. "And now, I shall activate the Ritual spell: Good and Evil in the Burning Abyss!" This time he activated his Good and Evil spell on the field; tributing Scarm and a second Alich Malebranche from his hand. The discarded Alich also activated its effect, negating Dark Rebellion's effects for the rest of the turn and depowering it(2500/2000).

"Rituals too?" Dom gasped even louder. The two sacrifices served to give life to the leader of all Malebranchi; Malacoda the Netherlord of the Burning Abyss(6/2700/2200). "Your Fireflux cannot stop a battle phase by sacrificing Dark Rebellion, Christopher!" Marco's machinations were clear. He entered the battle phase. "No! But I can stop the battle damage by discarding Performapal Barrier Balloon Tapir!" Though Malacoda successfully massacred the black dragon with his two blades. A purple tapir balloon exploded in front of its face to keep it from damaging Uno at the same time.

"Hah! You cannot keep running, brother!" Marco ordered Virgil and Dante to attack Uno directly. "Who said I was running?!" In response, Uno flipped his trap card: Pendulum Back. "My trap will take back two of my Performers, as their levels lie between the scales of Fireflux and Pendulum Sorcerer!" Uno grabbed the Performapals Gold Fang and Skullcrobat Joker. "Then Barrier Balloon Tapir can revive itself from the graveyard by discarding one!" The balloon animal took the Goldfanged beast as a hand-sacrifice. Doing so allowed it(6/1000/2000) to be summoned to the field. "What on.." Marco made Virgil attack next. Naturally, Uno countered with this his Fireflux pendulum, tributing the Performapal Balloon to terminate another one of Marco's battle phases. "you're not letting him hit you." Anastasia noticed. "No. Not until he starts answering questions. Marco, you can lie all you want. But I can feel the truth." Uno's eyes did not turn away from his brother even for a second. "I just do not know why."

"There is no why, Christopher. Whatever you think you saw, you were Deceived." Marco switched Dante the Pilgrim to defense mode and let his turn end. The effect of the final Scarm put a second Graff Burning Abyss in his hand. "Then we will see what the spirits have to say!" Uno started his turn and normal summoned Performapal Skullcrobat Joker(4/1800/100). "Salutiger!" With Skullcrobat's effect, Performapal Salutiger was added to his hand. "I Pendulum summon Performapal Salutiger and Handsome Liger!" And with his two pendulums, he emptied his hand to summon the military tiger warrior(4/1700/500) and a red tiger-armored samurai(4/1800/400) in attack mode. "Pendulum Sorcerer give them a boost!" The Sorcerers spell effect added 1000 attackpoints to the Liger Warrior(2800/400), Tiger Warrior(2700/100) and Purple Joker(4/2800/100). "Time to bring your Burning demons in for a close-up, Marco! I attack Dante, Vergil and Malacoda!" Skullcrobat Joker, Handsome Liger and Salutiger rushed to their respective attack targets, slaying the fusion, synchro and ritual monster in that order.

Marco's LP: 5300

"Fheh! Sending my monsters off will just awaken their final abilities, Christopher!" The death of the Pilgrim Dante would normally discard one card from Uno's hand. Except he did not have any cards in his hand at the time. "Summon!" On the other hand, Dante did discard Graff the Burning Abyss from Marco's hand before Skullcrobat Joker killed it. This allowed the infernal duelist to draw one new card and to special summon a second Cir Malebranche(3/1600/1200) from the deck. "Draw!" After the Rockstar Virgil's death, Marco was given a free draw from the deck. "And destroy Performapal Fireflux!" Finally, when the Netherlord Malacoda died, one card on the field was dragged down to hell along with it. The firebug pendulum was the unfortunate victim. "Got tired of me stopping you again and again eh? Well my Performapals activate their effects too!" Uno's deck opened up. "When Salutiger destroys a monster, I get a pendulum performapal from my deck! When Handsome Liger destroys a monster, I get a level 5 or higher pendulum monster!" Uno chose Performapal Cheermole and Dragonpit Magician as the targets for the retrieval effects. "I thought you had Regained your Power, Brother. Where is it? If You insist on Using such odd warriors, Christopher, you will Never get to Me!"

"This is my power too, Marco. You understand right? You have your own custom deck, so do I and so does Ana. And that is because we control what cards are made, what stories are passed on. Does this sound familiar to anyone?" He looked at Dom and his disciples in particular. "You're talking about Dreamworld?" Zach guessed. "Think deeper. Who gave you your ideas to begin with.. and what was his name? Oh by the way, Dom.. did you know Fortuno is my middle name?" The master was key to this whole mystery. "You don't say! Sounds like a sketchy coincidence!" He said without thinking about it. "Are you still suggesting.. " Iria already knew where he was going with this, they had discussed this before. "Yes. I a,. I remember now; the one who wrote the stories of the first duelist and who secretly conferred with Dom to have his company create the cardgame in the other timeline. It was me.. I am the First Duelist."

"Uno.. is UNO?!" Alice cried out. It sounded so obvious when you spelled it out. "The vault we were trying to acquire, was yours all along." Adamant grimly concluded. It all came together. "Uno what now?" It made sense to everyone but Tory at least. "uno.. you spoke with this man, with one from the other world? you never told me that." Anastasia now understood why he had acted to strange during their duels before. "I think, I didn't want to bother you with that. It was my idea, I wanted the other world to have the same things as us. I could not give them everything of course, but the cards were important. It wouldn't have been right to let one world exist without ever knowing the stories of all the spirits and battles that we erased. So I used you Dom, yes. But you are more to me than a business partner, you were a friend too." Uno could not perfectly replicate how his past self felt about Dom, he just knew that was how he felt about it now. "Huh, I would be touched if I wasn't so confused." Dom muttered.

"But ehr.. why are you saying all of this now?" Eric asked. "Good question." Uno turned his head back to his brother. "Because, while I did not tell my sister about this.. I told you, Marco. You and I were always more interested in continuing Tempus' legacy." He pointed a finger at him. "If I am UNO, then someone took over my job as Doms silent partner in my absence. Dom you said you told UNO about your disciples, right?" The master nodded. "Yet when Zach and I met a hologram of 'UNO', who proved that he could create cards at random, he did not recognize Zach. Something changed, UNO did. When Dom appeared in this world, the new UNO wanted him out of the picture before he could tell anyone else." He clenched his hand. "All of this points to the one who could banish me from my world and replace me, who could incarcerate Dom, could ambush me with Templars when nobody else knew I would be visiting Amelia's house. Not the Circle; it was you, Marco. Its not just gutfeelings and vague memories. The facts back it up!" Uno ended his turn at this point. "So please, stop lying to everyone and admit it!"

"Oh Brother." Marco let out a long deep sigh. "You want it so Much." A nasty smirk crossed his face as he began to chuckle. "I confess.. to All of it."

"I banished you, With my own Pendulum! I captured your Cardmaker as soon as He arrived here. It was Me. I took your Life away.." Marco drew his next card. "And now, you Force me to Take it again!" Marco normal summoned the vile Malebranche dragon Draghig(3/1100/900). He overlayed it with the demon Cir. "Come now, Dante the Traveler!" The two monsters XYZ-summoned Dante's younger incarnation; the red traveler(3/1000/2500). "Take the top three!" The Dante XYZ-monster detached one XYZ-material, so that it could take three cards away from Marco's deck. None of which turned out to be Malebranchi, fortunately. Still, Dante(2500/2500) gained 500 attackpoints for each of those cards. "And come Back, Virgil!" The detached XYZ-material was the Malebranche Cir. Its effect triggered to special summon the Rockstar of the Burning Abyss: Virgil(4/2500/1000). "From Nothing to Everything. That is the Way of the duelist, The First Duelist! Me! Christopher.. Brother.. You should not have Confronted me. Like before, it will only lead to your Defeat!"

(To be Continued in Redux 038: Brother Above, Brother Below)

New Cards used by Christopher Uno Nisell
Performapal Gold Fang
Performapal Handsome Liger

New Cards used by Marco Amadeus Nisell
Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss

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Malacoda, Netherlod of the Burning Abyss

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Good and Evil in the Burning Abyss

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Descent of the Sacred Serpent