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.

74. Condemned to Repeat

Redux 17: Condemned to Repeat

The time had come for more goodbyes. While Adamant wanted to extract some last few bits of data from the palace database, and Eric tried to convince his mother to take another teleporting trip.. Alice found her father. "You really think you can go?" This was the first time she saw him walk and talk again after being possessed by Martel. "I feel fit as a fiddle. And if you say the portal is safe, then it must be safe." James was just hoping to see his other daughter and wife again once he crossed over. "And you're coming too I assume?" He definitely would not leave her behind either. "I.." But Alice was not so sure, if she could go there. She was not a true part of that world. "I still wanna say goodbye to some people, like Amelia." She did not want to think about it right now. "Ah. That's right. You met us in this ..timeline.. too." He was still trying to wrap his head around this entire concept of parallel dimensions. "Just you and her.. not.. me." This could be the last time Alice saw her father in a long time. "Dad. I have to tell you something before you go." So she had to take the chance. "It's about.. me.."

...

"So you're the Great December and Company. The ones who Have been Chasing me for all These years!? Well Here I Am. I is Rather Surprising that it Took you this Long, in fact." Marco welcomed his guests with open arms, acting rather blaze about their hostility. "Once we knew who you were, it was only a matter of time. Items you touched, leave behind a trail of temporal instability. And the past, present and future of those instabilities led us here." December explained, while clearly holding back a great deal of anger. "Time is always The matter, wouldn't You say?" The lord chuckled as he dangled the pendulum between his hands. "And yours has run out, Amadeus Nisell. You have not yet gathered enough energy for a jump back into the past." June noted. His crystal was burning brighter than ever before, yet the charge was not complete. "My lord, let me delay them for you." Inquisitor Silver placed her hand on her dueldisk again. "Nonsense my Dear Inquisitor. As strong as You are, you would Not last a single Turn. It is Me they want." Marco stepped forward.

"Or is it? Can the Four of you truly Hate me when The One who caused All your Misery is standing Next to you!? Christopher!" He spat. "You were Fathers first. Once Father died, you made the Decision to Jump to the Past each time and Continue his Legacy!" Marco pointed his finger at Uno accusingly. "Marco. We made that choice together!" Uno countered. "And you're making it on your own now!" August added with a shaking fist. "Your brother's been cooperating with us all this time, Amadeus Nisell. He wants to make amends." June shook her head. "Yeah! And you sister gave up her crystals, you're the last one!" January waved Martels doll around with his hand. "You have two choices; resistance or submission. I can already see which choice you desire." December sighed deeply. "Marco, son of Tempus; I accept your challenge." The leader of the travelers activated his dueldisk. "Lord Nisell!" To Silver's dismay, her master did the same. "I defeated their Companion before, he will Be no different. And his Pendulum is Obviously the strongest of all Them. If I add His to mine, We will be Unstoppable!"

December's LP: 8000 Tempus's LP: 8000

"And when I win, your crystal will fall in our hands. The only hands that can be trusted." December calmly drew his cards. "Is that the future you saw? Hah! You are in For a Violent wake-up call! The first Turn is mine!" Marco summoned the Tour Guide from the Underworld(3/1000/600). "I special summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" The Guide's effect summoned the winged hound fiend(3/1000/1500) from Marco's deck. Its effects were negated, but only while it was on the field.. "XYZ-summon!" Marco overlayed the Tour Guide with the Graff demon. "Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!" And he summoned hells traveler Dante(3/1000/2500) in attack position. "Oh? This guy uses XYZ-monsters? Neat!" January was excited to see the card. "No. He deals with more than that." August grunted.

"Dante shall Sever the top three Cards from my Deck and he Gains 500 attackpoints for Each fallen card!" The Traveler used up the Graff XYZ-Material to activate his effect. Three effects activated in a sequence; Dante(2500/2500) gained 1500 attackpoints. The detached Graff Malebranche special summoned a Burning Abyss monster from the deck; Cir the hog-faced Malebranche(3/1600/1200). And one of the discarded cards, Libic - Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, could special summon one Burning Abyss monster from Marco's hand when it was sent to the graveyard. "Malebranche Draghig!" Marco used that effect to place the vile dragon demon Draghig(3/1100/900) on the field. "And as I control no Spells or Traps, I shall Special summon the Tuner Malebranche, Rubic of the Burning Abyss, from my Hand!" The red-faced devil(3/100/2100) emerged from a circle of purple flames. "Synchro summon! Virgil the Rockstar of the Burning Abyss!" Rubic took its own stars and synchronized them with those of Draghig. The two demons came together in a flash and created the hellish guitar player Virgil(6/2500/1000). "Impressed Yet, December?"

"..." Marco's opponent had nothing to add. "Hoho! You can probably already See what color comes Next! I activate the fusion Spell: Terminus of the Burning Abyss!" Marco took Cir and Virgil on the field, and fused them with a Scarm Malebranche in his hand. "Three Burning Abyssals! Together they Form Dante the Pilgrim!" The older and wiser form of Dante, the holy priest(9/2800/2500) in white robes, arrived in the physical world to assist his younger XYZ-self. "Return, Virgil!" Marco also special summoned the Rockstar back in attack position, using the effect of the fused Cir to revive it. Meanwhile during his endphase, Marco could add a new Burning Abyss monster to his hand with Scarm's effect. "Am I honoring the Image you have of Tempus, December? Father dueled just like This. How does that Make you Feel?!" Marco added another Graff Malebranche card to his hand and let the first turn end. "That is the power of my lord. Only he can summon all three extra deck types in the first turn." Even Inquisitor Silver rarely saw opening moves like that, and she'd modeled her dueling style after his. "Your master is trying to scare December. But.. December is not the one who's afraid.. I am afraid." June said, repressing a laugh.

"To master all forms of summoning that came before, means to travel through the original worlds that invented those methods." December looked at his companions: June, August and December. "Your father was not the only one, who visited such realms.. Marco Amadeus Nisell... I activate my Contracts." A continuous spell rose from the ground. Dark Contract with the Gate added a D/D monster to the players hand each turn. "D/D Night Howl." December shuffled his deck after he took a tuner monster from his deck. Then came normal spell card; Allure of Darkness. It drew two cards (D/D Berfomet, Forbidden Contract with the Swamp King) and banished a dark monster, D/D Savant Copernicus, from his hand. "My second contract." The pendulum duelist then put down the Dark Contract with the Swamp King continuous spell, which could fuse two D/D monsters together. "D/D Berfomet, D/D Lamia; combine. And burn again, D/D/D Flame King Genghis!" Two D/D monsters in his hand functioned as the fusion materials for an attack-position blazing conquerer(6/2000/1500) with the red sword and towering shield.

"So, you are skilled in Fusion? Are you?" Marco chuckled. "It will begin with Fusion." December decreed before he normal summoned his next card, a tuner monster(3/300/600) that was nothing more than toothfilled jaws and two eyestalks. " "Live, D/D Nighthowl. And return to life, D/D Berfomet." The demon beast(4/1400/1800) with two right arms and a left batwing flew out of the graveyard, through the effect of the normal summoned Nighthowl. Now, December could not summon anything but fiends for the rest of the turn. "Harmonize!" But that was no hindrance. December used Nighthowl as the tuner, and Berfomet as the nontuner. The two synchro summoned the white armor king(7/2500/2000) in attack position. "You have come, D/D/D Gust King Alexander!"

"Now, serve him, D/D Lamia!" December continued and activated the effect of his other tuner from the graveyard. "Destroy one Contract, and revive!" The red scale-haired snake woman, D/D Lamia(1/100/1900), sent Dark Contract with the Swamp King to the graveyard, to summon herself from the graveyard. "One D/D monster has been restored. The Gust King will restore one other!" Alexander plunged his sword into the grave, to special summon a lowlevel D/D monster from the graveyard. It chose D/D Berfomet. "Equalize, Lamia and Berfomet!" Now finally D/D Berfomet could used its effect to change the level of a fellow D/D monster to anything from 1 to 8. Berfomet gave D/D Lamia(4/100/1900) the same level as it. "Surface now, D/D/D Wave king Caesar!" And so December overlayed Lamia with Berfomet for a rank 4 XYZ-monster. He XYZ-summoned the black knight lord of the seas; Caesar(4/2400/2000). "Synchros and XYZs eh! Too little too Late!" Marco blustered. If it came down to a fight between the D/D/D extra deck monsters and his. The Burning Abyssals would certainly win.

"You who only run to the past, can know nothing and say nothing about the future." December stated with scorn. "Forbidden Dark Contract with the Swamp King!" The field made room for another contract. "Forbidden?" Uno did a double-take. This was not the same spell. Forbidden Dark Contract special summoned a D/D/D monster from a players hand each turn, with their effects negated. "To me, Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok!" December used it to special summon the horned emperor on his throne; Abyss Ragnarok(8/3000/1000). "Abyss Ragnarok, combine with Caesar!" The Forbidden spell would then fuse the summoned monster with another fiend. And when one combined the Oblivion King with the Wave King, two D/D/D fusion materials, a special fusion monster would be created. "D/D/D Wave Oblivion King Caesar Ragnarok!" The emperor rose from his throne as his body merged with the Wave King. Armor turned purple, the cape became wild and tattered, his body increased muscle mass. This was the ultimate Dark Dimension fusion; Caesar Ragnarok(10/3200/3000). "So he finally gets to use all that anger..." Even August was surprised that December brought that card out.

"Genghis, Caesar; do what must be done!" Once a D/D monster was special summoned, Flame King Genghis could resurrect a D/D monster. And it revived the original Wave King Caesar in attack position. The effect of the XYZ-monster had also been triggered when it first turned from living to dead. Caesar took a Dark Contract spell from Decembers deck, and December placed that card on the field. "My Illegal Dark Contract with the Wargod! Take my opponents power and deliver it towards the Oblivion Wave Lord!" The wargod's spell targeted Dante the Traveler. "Deliver?" One thousand of his(1500/2500) attackpoints were stolen and transferred to Caesar Ragnarok(4200/3000).

Illegal Dark Contract with the Wargod, Continuous Spell
Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can target 1 "D/D" monster you control and 1 monster your opponent controls; |
until the end of this turn, that monster you control gains 1000 ATK, also that monster your opponent controls loses 1000 ATK.
Once per turn, during your Standby Phase: Take 1000 damage.

"This.. is the end." December clenched his hand to signal the start of the battle phase. His greater fusion lord targeted the Pilgrim Dante. "Caesar Ragnarok, take the power of the Forbidden Swampking and remove his synchro monster!" The fused wave oblivion lord always activated its effect during its attack by returning one Dark Contract to the players hand, and equipping one other monster to itself. Rockstar Virgil was captured by its frantic scrolls. "It took Virgil?!" Virgil transformed into an equip spell that added Virgil's attackpoints to that of Caesar Ragnarok(6700/3000). "Preposterous!" The attack finished and the combined forces of Caesar Ragnarok's dark waves and Dante's holy light destroyed the Pilgrim Dante XYZ-monster. "Perish, Fused Pilgrim!" Then Gust King Alexander sliced his sword through the weakened Dante, delivering another 1000 points of battle damage. "Impossible! He is going to win in one turn?!" Silver cried out as the original Caesar delivered a third direct attack to deplete another 2400 of Marco's remaining lifepoints. "In the end, December is just too much." June mused. "... but the last time my brother came this close to defeat." Uno did not want to say it out loud, he wanted the final attack from Genghis to hit Marco.

Marco's LP: 700

Alas..

Marco's LP: 8000

The field changed ever so subtly. "What the hell?" The duelists and bystanders were all standing in slightly different positions, Decembers field was devoid of cards and Marco controlled all his Burning Abyssals again. "You went back again?!" Uno cried out. "Did you think I would Allow defeat?" Marco held up his pendulum crystal, which burned a brilliant golden flame. Time was rewound. "What did you Think? With my Pendulum charged up, I can return Time by Five Minutes as many times as I Want! Did Christopher not Warn you?" They were back at the end of Marco's turn, just as he activated Terminus of the Burning Abyss to fusion summon Dante the Pilgrim. "You fool! Five minutes doesn't change a thing! We're still here and you cannot run from us!" August roared with rage. "I do not Intend to Run, dragon duelist! I intend to Claim your friends Power!" Marco ended his first turn for the second time, and activated Scarm's effect. "I chose this Point in time, the Decision point!" Instead of adding a Graff Malebranche to his hand, he took Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his deck. "How does the Future look now, December?"

"A pendulum can alter the course of events my eyes foresaw." Alich would negate a monsters effect if it was sent to the graveyard. Dante the Pilgrim could discard that card from Marco's hand at any point. Cards like Caesar Ragnarok would not get their chance to use their effects. "But, what if your future was already decided the second I prepared my cards?" Now December started his turn anew and activated the spell card; Dark Contract with the Gate. "Hm? He's starting with one now?!" Instead of adding DD Night Howl, the continuous spell put D/D Berfomet in Decembers hand. "Oh! He's shuffling his deck differently!" Uno realized what December was doing. He was changing the order he was going to draw cards in. So when he activated Allure of Darkness, he would draw two entirely different cards from his deck. "And so? You cannot Control what you Draw!" Marco protested. "Unless I could plan for every potential future; if I could predict when to shuffle my deck.. Amadeus Nisell." December drew D/D Swirl Slime and Dark Contract with the Grotesque Entity, his key cards. Afterwards, Allure of Darkness banished D/D Lamia

"I bind myself to your contract, Grotesque Entity!" December activated his second continuous spell, without effect as of yet. "D/D Swirl Slime, combine with Abyss Ragnarok!" The green slime-containing demon allowed December to perform an instant fusion summon between itself and the Oblivion Overlord card. They combined into the Flame King Genghis(6/2000/1500). "Swirl Slime, bring Copernicus to me!" The slime's second effect special summoned one D/D monster from December's hand. That was the living heliocentric model(4/0/0) of the solar system in this case. Afterwards December normal summoned D/D Berfomet(4/1400/1800). "Your time has come once more, Wave King Caesar!" December overlayed Berfomet with Copernicus and re-summoned the XYZ lord(4/2400/2000) of the dark dimensions. "A D/D/D XYZ-monster is special summoned, the Dark Contract of the Entity shall now activate!" December extended his hand towards Marco's field. "One card you possess, is lost forever!" The Grotesque spell opened a rift to the other dimension. "What!? But Dante cannot be targeted by effects!" Marco yelled. Dante the Pilgrim was dragged inside and banished all the same. "The Entity does not target, Amadeus Nisell." December clarified.

"He got rid of the Dante, before it could even discard Alich." Silver could not believe what she was seeing: December came out on top again, free to use whatever monster effect he desired. "He can prepare for multiple futures? How did I even survive dueling him then?" Uno wondered out loud. "He's stronger.. because the end is in sight, Uno. December may not show it, Uno. But this is what he's like.. when he is satisfied." June explained. At this point, to Marco's utter horror, December performed the rest of his turn the same as before. He activated Dark Contract with the Swamp King to fuse Caesar on the field with Abyss Ragnarok in the graveyard. The two D/D/D fusion materials created the Wave Oblivion Lord(10/3200/3000) once again. The fused Wave Caesar added Illegal Dark Contract with the Wargod to December's hand. Genghis summoned Wave King Caesar back from the graveyard, because a D/D monster was special summoned through the Swampkings's contract. "Uhhh.." Marco staggered backwards when the attacks came. Caesar Ragnarok equipped the Rockstar Virgil to his body(5700/3000), powered itself(6700/3000) up with the Illegal contract while depowering Dante the Traveler(1500/2500) and destroyed it with one attack.

"Stop!" Before Marco could receive the two direct attacks from Wave Caesar and Genghis, he reactivated his pendulum. "My lord.." The Inquisitor was starting to feel queasy, when time rewound around her and the others. In an instant they were back to the end of Marco's first turn. "Now he's just being a sore loser!" January said with a grump. "You shall Not defeat me while my Paths are left unexplored!" Marco yelled as he fusion summoned Dante the Pilgrim for the third time. "It is no use, son of Tempus. No matter how far back you go, I can see whatever future lies ahead and react accordingly." December revealed his hand to his opponent, his Dark Contract with the Gate, Allure of Darkness, Abyss Ragnarok, D/D Lamia and D/D Savant Copernicus. The next card he would draw was the Dark Contract with the Swamp King. "Your fate has been set by just these six cards, I can shape the future however I wish. And I wish.." December glared at the lord with cold unblinking eyes. "For this to end. For you, and your family, to end."

...

"Wow." James' mind reeled a little, after he received a condensed but no less horrific version of Alice's story. "And they're.." Even if he did not understand the why and how, he understood how painful it must have been for her to tell him. "They're gone.. my other..mom and dad." Alice managed to say it all without tears or pains. "But I.." It did not make her feel any happier that her new father now knew. What would he think of her now? "Alice. It's okay. No matter what happened, you're still my little angel. You'll always be one of the family." He told her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Dad.." It was getting harder to not cry now.

"alice." The tender moment was broken up by the lady of the palace. "Miss Anastasia?" Alice did not think she would see her again. Anastasia isolated herself in her room before. "i need you.. to take me.. i can sense them now, i can sense time going back and forth. i have to see them.." She had to be talking about her brothers. "Time? Is it Marco?" Though Alice never noticed anything weird. Perhaps because of the pendulum she carried? "him, uno, the travelers.. and something else. i can feel it, something bad is about to happen. i have to be there..."

(To be Continued in Redux 016: Ab Aeterno)

New Cards used by Marco Amadeus Nisell
Tour Guide from the Underworld
Libic - Malebranche of the Burning Abyss

New Cards used by December
D/D Lamia
D/D Savant Copernicus

-
D/D/D Wave Oblivion King Caesar Ragnarok

-
Allure of Darkness
Forbidden Dark Contract with the Swamp King
Illegal Dark Contract with the Wargod (+)
Dark Contract with the Grotesque Entity

(+ Based on the spell card used by Reiji in YuGiOh Arc-V)