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.

55. Extinction Defined

Redux 36: Extinction Defined

"Adamant?"

"Alice.. have you gotten some rest?" Adamant inquired as he saw her open the door. "Yeah, a little. I was just a bit thirsty.. so I got up. But.. why are you standing outside of my room?" The XYZ-duelist was standing just a few feet away from it. "To keep an eye on you and the others, should Marco return." That was what Uno requested, and he would follow it to the letter. "Oh.. thanks. Has anything happened yet?" She asked him. "No. Nothing." He replied sternly. "...But you look so tense. Like.. you could squeeze a rock into a diamond." The way he looked was making her worried even when he was giving good news. "It's nothing. You're only seeing.. a weakness of mine." He turned around and gazed out the windows. "Weakness?" She blinked and got closer. "To do nothing, to be led.. is difficult. And I do not know what I could do.. now. I thought I would find my purpose here, but instead.." He balled his hand into a fist. "It was all a lie. There was never going to be an invasion. I prepared the XYZ-guild for the wrong enemy, and now I lost them."

"So that's why.. because of what Aaron said." It was no wonder he was so restless after that discovery. "But.. isn't there still the prophecy?" It was not as if everything he based his work on was a lie, she thought. "I am not sure about that either, now. There is so much I did not know." With all the time traveling and alternate realities, an omen of one future hardly meant anything. So that approach didn't work either. "Ehr.. there is more to dueling than just fighting?" Instead Alice recited some lines she was pretty sure she used in their duel way back. "I know what you are trying to do. I appreciate it, but it wont work." Adamant muttered. "I will get over it in time. Go get your water." He put up half of a smile, which was enough. "Yeah.. in time." Alice smiled back. "Like dad says.. time heals all wounds. Right?"

...

"Son? Tempus? You?" Uno knew he could expect a heated response from the de-carded prisoner, once he told him who he was. ".. and that woman too." August cooled down a little just so he could sense the power of their crystals. "She is my sister.. Anastasia Nisell." But the truth had to come out. "Then you are one of them! We were right, we just didnt know how many of you there were! Tempus! Where have you brought me?" The process worked a little too well. August immediately activated dueldisk. Half his mind was set on dueling them both at the same time. The other just wanted to know what this monument was about. "Look, we need your help. Marco has.." Rather than rise to his challenge, Uno attempted dialogue. "If you are too afraid to answer me, then.." Instead August ran out of the computer room. He would get the answers himself. "Wait! You can't.." Uno chased after him. He had to stop him before he ran off the place and plummeted to his death. "What.." August at least didn't get that far.

"UNSCHEDULED RELEASE DETECTED. SERIES D CODE 46330165 MOVING TO OFFENSIVE MODE" Mostly because a Templar drone intercepted him right outside the hallways. "So that's how it is? You're going to let a machine do your dirty work?" August snarled. "you triggered the security system." Anastasia explained. "Damn it, August. Think, why would we let you go if we wanted to capture you again?" Uno yelled. "Hold on.." He tried to get the Templar to stand down with the golden Millennium seal card. "NOT RECOGNIZED." But the templar shrugged it off. "Again?" It did not perceive them as threats but not as masters either. "marco or silver.. must have rescinded the seal overrides." Anastasia gasped. "Explains how he did that before." Uno already figured Marco, rather than the synchro guild, had been responsible for that earlier templar malfunction. Them using Goyo synchros was just a way to distract him. "What are you trying to do? I do not need your mercy. You saw me lay waste to scores of these pathetic machines. One is no issue at all!" August engaged.

August's LP: 8000 Templar D's LP: 8000

"but my brother took your red dragon." Anastasia reminded the red duelist that he no longer had his ace or its upgrades to fall back on. "I am more than just the legacy of the red archfiend dragon, woman!" He snarled as he placed a monster down and two trap cards. "Let him do this, Ana." Uno knew getting involved would just make the drone create more virtual opponents. "Your turn, you miscreation!"

"BEGINNING TURN 02. DRAW. ACTIVATE THE CONTINUOUS SPELL DINOMIST CHARGE. SELECT ONE DINOMIST CARD FROM THE DECK AND ADD IT TO THE HAND." The machine revealed its deck with a continuous spell. With Dinomost Charge it claimed an Dinomist Ankylos card. "Dinomists.. the third archetype." This was not unfamiliar terrain thanks to the Inquisitor. But it was the first time Uno would see the main deck cards in action. "SET THE SCALES DINOMIST CERATOPS AND PLESIOS." Like all other Templar types, the Dinomists were pendulum monsters. A mechanical triceratops (scale 3) and an aquatic plesiosaur (scale 6) appeared on both sides of the platform. "PENDULUM SUMMON THE DINOMISTS ANKYLOS AND PTERAN." With those scales the drone special summoned a mechanical ankylosaur(4/1500/2000) and ptera-jet(4/1800/1200). "BATTLE. WHEN ANKYLOS IS ON THE FIELD, ALL MONSTERS DESTROYED BY BATTLING DINOMISTS ARE BANISHED." The Pteranosaur robot soared towards August's set monster

"You think you can out out-calculate me, machine?" August flipped a continuous trap. "Imperial Iron Wall! Cards cannot be banished for as long as this trap exists!" His destroyed monster, a dragon(3/1400/1100) with exposed red flesh, was simply sent to the graveyard. Dinomist Ankylos could not send it anywhere else. "You were right to fear my Unmasked Dragon however! When it perishes, one wyrm with 1500 or less defense points is summoned from my deck!" A pair of royal eel wyrms(6/2000/1200) swam out of to the field in attack position. "I summon the Giant Pairfish!" Now Ankylos could not complete an attack either. "RESOLVE THE EFFECT OF DINOMIST PTERAN. WHEN AN OPPOSING MONSTER IS DESTROYED BY IT, A DINOMIST CARD IS ADDED TO THE HAND." The machine ignored the setback and took a Dinomist Eruption trap card from their deck. "SET THREE CARDS IN SPELL/TRAP ZONE, END THE TURN."

"Is that all you can say? Tcheh." August started his turn. "Giant Pairfish, summon Chiwen the Light of the Yang Zing!" The eel pair could special summon any level 4 or lower wyrm from the deck by discarding one monster (Bi'an, Earth of the Yang Zing) from August's hand. "You are not worth my time or my true power!" And August went with the tuner Chiwen(1/0/0). "Drown them in the darkness of their own sin, Yazi the Evil of the Yang Zing!" Chiwen and Giant Pairfish synchronized before the roaring duelist, and gave birth to the winged wyrm of corruption: Yazi(7/2600/2100). "Do those chants really help?" Even Uno found the practice a bit overdramatic. "Mock what you will! These are the texts by which they were originally summoned, before your kind erased them all!" August clenched his hand. "Water of the Yang Zing!" He normal summoned a Yangzing wyrm as well, the turtle elder Bixi(2/0/2000). "Be the sacrifice for the Evil one!" Yazi targeted Bixi and one of the opponent's cards at the same time, it could destroy them both with its effect.

"ACTIVATE THE PENDULUM EFFECT OF DINOMIST CERATOPS. REDIRECT DESTRUCTION TO THIS DINOMIST." The machine was quicker on the draw. Dinomist Ceratops blocked Yazi's power and destroyed itself instead. "Ha." Nevertheless the destroyed Yanzging Bixi specialed summon a new Yangzing, Suanni of the Fire(1/1900/0), from August's deck. The enemy also activated some continuous effects though. "ACTIVATE THE TRAP EXTRA BUCK. IT ADDS AN SPELLCOUNTER EACH TIME A PENDULUM MONSTER IS ADDED TO THE EXTRA DECK. AND ACTIVATE THE EFFECT OF DINOMIST CHARGE, WHEN A DINOMIST PENDULUM IS ADDED TO THE EXTRA DECK, SEND IT TO THE HAND." With Ceratops destroyed and returned to the extra deck, one counter was placed on Extra Buck, while Ceratops itself moved on to the Templars hand. "THEN ACTIVATE THE TRAP DINOMIST ERUPTION. DESTROY ONE CARD WHEN A DINOMIST IS DESTROYED." The selfdestruction of Ceratops brought forth more destruction. Dinomist Eruption targeted the synchro monster. The Evil of the Yang Zing was caught by erupting lava and buried under it.

"Hmph! Chiwen may be reborn when one Yang Zing is destroyed! And when Yazi dies, he shall summon one wyrm from my deck, my Magma dragon!" With his monsters last power, August special summoned an eight-legged lava crawler dragon(4/1600/1200) while the Chiwen tuner reincarnated through its own effect. "Magma Dragon shall revive one effect-sealed wyrm when it is special summoned!" The Magma wyrm's back exploded like a volcano. "Bi'an of the Earth!" The molten stone solidified to form the tiger wyrm of the earth; Bi'an(3/1600/0). "Choke all enemies with the light from beyond their reach; Baxia, Brightness of the Zang Zing!" Chiwen tuned itself with Bi'an and the Magma Dragon, for a synchro monster of the eight level; the fierce lion dragon Baxia(8/2300/2600). "Obey my orders, Baxia! Burn his Dinomist cards!" Baxia could target and destroy a card for each different element its body was made from; Bians earth, Chiwens light and the Magma dragons fire. "ACTIVATE THE PENDULUM EFFECT." Unfortunately Dinomist Plesios had a defensive effect too. It destroyed itself to negate an effect that targeted other cards.

"Enough of this! Baxia, destroy Suanni!" August activated his synchro monster's second effect; sacrificing one monster to summon another lowlevel monster from the grave. Suanni was destroyed, and Bi'an was resummoned in attack mode. "Shadow of the Yang Zing!" The destruction of Suanni also activated its effect to special summon a Yang Zing monster from the deck; the shadow wyrm Tao'tie(5/2200/0) in this case. "And Light of the Yang Zing!" Also Chiwen resurrected itself through the death of Bixi. "Oh. Now I get why you're using Imperial Iron Wall. Clever." Chiwen normally banished itself after it used its summon effect once. But it could not be banished as long as that trap was around. "Save the Praise for those you damned!" August growled at Uno. "First I will vanquish this machine, than you!" He activated a field spell; Yang Zing Prana. A series of mountains covered the floor. "When there are two different elements of the Yang Zing in the grave, all my Yang Zing monsters gain 500 attack and defense points from this field!" Bixi's aquatic energy and Yazi's darkness flowed through the dales like rivers, strengthening his wyrm legion. "Destroy the Dinomists!" Tao'tie(2700/500) crushed Dinomist Pteran, Bi'an(2100/500) strangled Dinomist Ankylos to death and Baxia(2800/3100) blasted the templar directly. "That ends my turn!"

Templar M's LP: 3700

"BEGINNING TURN 04. ACTIVATE THE EFFECT OF EXTRA BUCK." Four Dinomists had been moved from the field to the extra deck, the trap carried its maximum amount of 3 counters. "SEND THIS CARD WITH THREE SPELLCOUNTERS TO THE GRAVEYARD, DRAW TWO CARDS." Extra Buck fell apart, and handed the Templar some extra cards. "ACTIVATE THE SPELL, DINOMIC POWERLOAD. ALL DINOMISTS GAIN 300 ATTACK AND DEFENSE POINTS. NO EFFECTS CAN BE ACTIVATED DURING A DINOMIST'S BATTLE. THEN SET THE SCALES." The pendulum zones gained its new occupants, the recycled Dinomist Ceratops (scale 3) and Dinomist Brachion the longnecked mechasaur (scale 6). "PENDULUM SUMMON." Soon after, the field greeted Dinomist Pteran(4/2100/1500), Ankylos(4/1800/2300), Plesios(4/2000/1700) and a red frillbacked Spinosaur; Dinomist Spinos(5/2800/2100). "DINOMIST PLESIOS DECREASES THE ATTACK OF ALL OPPOSING MONSTERS BY 100 FOR EACH CONTROLLED DINOMIST CARD." With seven of them on its field, 700 attackpoints were deduced from Bi'an(1400/500), Taotie(2000/500) and Baxia(2100/3100).

"Then strike me! I do not fear you!" August might lose some monsters. But because Bi'an had also been used before as Baxia's synchro material, the Brightness Yang Zing could not be destroyed by any attacking monsters. The Templar knew this however. "ACTIVATE EFFECT OF DINOMIST SPINOS. TRIBUTE ONE DINOMIST, TO ENABLE A DIRECT ATTACK OR TO ENABLE A DOUBLE ATTACK." It instead sacrificed Dinomist Ankylos to Spinos to give it a direct attack ability. "REACTIVATE DINOMIST CHARGE." The sacrificed Ankylos went to the extra deck, was 'charged' back to the hand by the continuous spell, and then normal summoned to the field. "TRIBUTE AGAIN." Spinos sacrificed the same Ankylos and now it could attack twice in one turn. "BEGINNING BATTLE PHASE. DINOMIST SPINOS ATTACK..."

"Your little plan wont become a reality, Templar!" Though August could not activate effects during an attack, he could do it before. "I activate Taotie's effect to perform an instant synchro summon!" Taotie the Shadow wyrm tuned with Chiwen(1/0/500). "The Elements shall become one, and all will tremble! Synchro summon! Red Wyvern!" The eponymous red wyvern(6/1800/2000) flew in from the extra deck, with fire already gathered in its beak. "Red Wyvern will destroy your strongest monster during your turn!" The wyvern targeted Spinos. "ACTIVATE CERATOPS EFFECT." But once again the scale 3 Dinomist negated the destruction by destroying itself. "Grrr." Dinomist Spinos completed its double direct attack with its claws. "I did not feel a thing!" August did not move a muscle, even as claw marks were left on his body. "PTERAN ATTACKS BI'AN, PLESIOS ATTACKS RED WYVERN." The Pterasaur and Plesiosaur surged towards their own victims; the Water Yang Zing(1000/0) and Wyvern, killing them both. "Grh! Is that the best a machine can do?!"

August's LP: 1200

"August. This is getting too close! Just let me help you!" Uno came close to activating his dueldisk again. "Oof!" But August pushed him back. "Don't pretend to suddenly care, Tempus." He shouted while the templar ended its turn. "But I am asking for your help. I want to stop all of this! I want you to bring your allies so we can find a solution together!" None of this would make a difference if August was defeated again here and now. Perhaps that was why Marco had made sure the Templars would not obey the family anymore. "Now you change your tune? You could have stopped worlds ago! You could have stopped before you let my world come to ruin, my family, my true friends!" As August spoke, the mark of the dragon began to burn on his arms. "You have an infinite amount of souls on your conscience. It will take more than remorse to earn forgiveness!"

"My turn!. Baxia, you are no longer required!" Baxia's effect destroyed itself this time, but it still managed to revive one of the fallen wyrms. "Return, Magma Dragon, Light of the Yang Zing, Evil of the Yang Zing!" The Magma dragon(1000/1200) was reborn first, and Magma's effect reignited Yazi the vile Yangzing(2000/2100)'s spark of life. Last but not least was Chiwen the tuner, who followed the death of the Brightness Yangzing with its resurrection. "One more element, the Wind!" August then normal summoned Pulao the wind Yang Zing(1/0/2300). This was his final synchro material, it tuned itself with Yazi and Chiwen. "From darkness light can be born! From death comes new life! The Oceans, the skies and the mountains are our children! Synchro summon! Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing!" One green star and seven dark stars collided with the star of light, and created a magnificent green-scaled serpent dragon(9/2800/2300). This was the father of the nine Yang Zing.

"Fire, earth, water, wind, darkness and light; six attributes from the Yang Zing rest in the ground." The energy of Suanni, Bixi, Bi'an, Tao'tie and Chiwen flowed through the Prana ravines. "Yang Zing Prana awakens its final effect; destroying all cards on the field!" The ground cracked, split open by the elements. Magma Dragon fell deep into the earth, and so did the Dinomists of the land, sky and sea. Next came the spells and traps; Imperial Iron Wall, Dinomic Powerload, Dinomist Charge. Only the Phantom Yang Zing survived, due to the grace of Pulao. A synchro-material Wind Yangzing immunized the synchro monster against all spell effects. Chaofeng never gained any boosts from Yang Zing Prana, but could not be dragged down with it either. "ACTIVATE THE TRAP CARD, EXTRA BARRIER. TARGET A PENDULUM MONSTER, THE MONSTER CANNOT BE DESTROYED." Unfortunately the Templar had one last ace up its metaphorical sleeve. A special barrier targeted Dinomist Spinos(5/2500/1800) and made it similarly impervious to the prana purge.

Extra Barrier, Normal Trap
Target 1 face-up pendulum monster on the field. That monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle or by card effect(s) this turn.

"That wont matter now! Chaofeng can summon one wyrm from my deck, when an opponents monster is claimed by death! It's element has to be the same as the destroyed card!" All the destroyed Dinomists were from the water-attribute, so water was the only option. "I choose Mare Mare!" He called out a fatherly seahorse wyrm(7/2100/1400). "Mare Mare is a tuner that can reduce its own level to create one token!" August activated this effect once, lowering the level of the Seahorse(6/2100/1400) to create one Mini Mare Mare token(1/300/200) that spawned from the eggs it carried. "Bloom here, watered by pale moonlight! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" And so he special summoned his Black Rose Dragon(7/2400/2000). "moonlight.." It began to dawn on Anastasia, just how old August was. "Moonlight Black Rose returns your special summoned monster back to your hand, Templar!" The synchro dragon released a storm of roses that covered the Dinomist Spinosaur. When the petals flew away again, the monster zone was empty. "You will not keep me bottled up here, any longer! Black Rose, Chaofeng, DIRECT ATTACK!" The wyrm phantom and rose dragon breathed black flames and ethereal energy at the templar. Their combined assault brought the machine's lifepoints down and made it crash against the floors.

Templar's LP: 0

"And that was that. Unless you are going to send more tin duelists to fight me." August kicked the drone, causing it to fall apart. "fighting is never what we wanted." Anastasia said. To show that she meant it, she took off her dueldisk and tossed it down. "Ana?" Uno was not sure how August would respond to this. "..Right." But a duel would not convince him at this point, and he had no other idea on how to stop a man who could just fly away if he wanted too. "Do what you want then, August." He discarded his dueldisk as well. "Do you take me for a fool?" August asked with clenched teeth. "No. All I am asking is for a little hope."

"This is laughable. After all these ages, you simply surrender? Why would I ever work with you?" Though his eyes were still burning with hatred, the duelist's stance was less tense than before. "The others haven't shown up yet. I figured we could help you find them, or let them find us. Somehow.. Oh, I know. Ana, do you still have Iria's pendulum?" His sister nodded and was already ahead of him. "this was yours." She tossed the crystal at August. "!? You.." He fit it into his armband. It was definitely his. "Where is the other?" His other armband was still missing one. "We gave it to a friend so he could stay close to his double in this timeline. I can give it back to you once I know everyone's safe." Uno promised. "... If this is a deception. Your heads will roll." For now the red duelist at least was humoring their offer. "But before we begin, you have to tell me everything.. Lord and Lady Tempus."

(To be Continued in Redux 035: En Passant)

New Cards used by August
Giant Pairfish
Magma Dragon
Mare Mare

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Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing

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Yang Zing Prana

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Imperial Iron Wall

Cards used by Templar Series D
Dinomist Pteran
Dinomist Brachion
Dinomist Plesios
Dinomist Ankylos
Dinomist Ceratops
Dinomist Spinos
Dinomist Stegosaurus

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Dinomist Charge
Dinomic Powerload

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Extra Buck
Dinomist Eruption
Extra Barrier