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.

77. To Happy Endings

Redux ...000000003: To Happy Endings

It was not the same. "Fat..her?" When enough of the light subsided, Uno and all of his senses could take in the world once more. "..." His body could not remember Uno moving, he was still standing inside Marco's villa. But sight, scent, taste, sound; all of those were off. "Guys?" Was he alone? Fortunately or unfortunately.. he was not. "We're here!" Eric, Alice and Adamant were at his side. The light returned them to the same position too. "We are all that's here." Adamant quickly noted the absence of everyone else: The Travelers, Iria and her enforcers, Anastasia, Tempus. "Uno.. what happened? Did we.. move? Or did they?" Alice hoped that Uno understood more of their situation than they did. "I think.. Fath.. Tempus. He tried to banish us, like he banished Marco. But something went wrong, it did not feel the same." Uno was not sure what one could expect from Tempus' punishment, but it could not be this. "We definitely went somewhere.. not in space but in time."

But their trip did carry an extra passenger. "Uno. Look." On the ground rested a creepy blue ragdoll. "That's Martels puppet? How did that get here?" Eric approached it carefully, as if it could jump up and attack him at any moment. "Didn't January have it?" Alice noticed it was lying in the spot where the kid used to be. "And it contained a pendulum crystal. Perhaps January attempted to use its power to warp his team to safety? Could something like that have interfered with Tempus' own powers?" Adamant asked Uno. "I don't know, really." Uno wished he had the answers to all these questions, but he didn't. "I though He.. took them all. Why did he miss this one?" The purple crystal was still embedded in the puppet's eye. Could Tempus for some reason not lay a claim on this one? "Well hopefully we can use it to get back to our own time." Eric touched it again before picking it up. "Which is.. when exactly?"

"One way to find out." Uno quickly walked to the front porch to scan the horizon. "Oh.. Oh no.." Finally he knew why nothing felt normal. "Whoa!" Even the others could see it. The waves were perfectly still; the ocean was frozen.. in time. Time had stopped. "This is so weird.." Eric could put his foot on the water without getting it wet. It was as solid as stone. "Is this his punishment? Did he put inside a world where time does not move?" Adamant looked up to perhaps catch a sight that proved otherwise. "?!... Alice." What he saw made his tone turn graver instead. And he was too late to warn someone else. "Alice?" Uno turned around. She was the only one not talking. Because she had already seen this happen before. "It's" The words could not get out, only tears came down her face. "The end of time..." Not all of the world was at rest. High in the sky came the angels of destruction and guardians of time: The Qliphort. "AAAAAHHH!" Alice fell to pieces. "Don't come near me!" The nightmare was beginning all over again. "Alice!" As she collapsed into a quivering mess, Eric rushed to her side, but she would not hear him. "Uno? What the hell is going on? Why are they here? Why are we here?"

"I.. is this a vision? A memory?" Uno wondered to himself. "No. This place wouldn't exist in the past. This is my brothers home. That means.. we traveled as far into the future as we can go.. and this is the very last second." There was no future after this. This was truly the end. "Four years.. I never imagined that I would be a witness to this. The world selected for destruction was yours... I am sorry, Uno." It was as Adamant's prophecy foretold.. "Did the fusion guild, save our world?" Only those favored by god would keep their lives. Ichirou and Marie Celeste secured the divine cards. Was that enough? "Or did they merge both worlds, as Martel and Phoebe intended?" There was no way to tell, no way to be sure who would survive and who would not. "We should get the hell out of here!" Eric shouted. The Qliphort were getting closer. "No!" Alice yelled back. "We can't.. ! Tory, Stonewell, Amelia, Bishop, Everyone.. they're all going to die if.. If.." She did not want to lose anyone, not again. "But if we go back in time, we can stop this from ever happening! Right, Uno?"

"I don't think we can go back." They had seen how much it took for Marco to prepare a jump back to the past, and Uno did not have the time for that. In fact time did not exist at all anymore. "Even if we could, all we'd be doing is create a new timeline. Both worlds will be destroyed and a new one will be made." The people in it would look the same, but they would not be the same. "Maybe we can fight them then?" Eric suggested. "Fight them?" Uno paused. "Is it possible?" Adamant inquired. Even Alice gave Uno a hopeless look. "It was.. we tried it before." Uno remembered his fathers words, and he remembered fragments from his own life. "Marco, Anastasia, ... and me. We once tried to take down the guardians. We actually did, with.." Uno reached for his deck and took out two cards. "These."

"The dragon cards?" He held up Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon. "Yes. The four dragons of the apocalypse." Together with Starve Venom Fusion Dragon and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon they formed a quarter of destruction and creation. "I.. UNO made them.. and gave them to Dom. He made them special for his own purposes. But they were special before then, I could feel it every time I tried to summon one of them without earning the right for it." Uno clenched his open hand. "Each time we left a world behind, I took its stories with me. It was the same with these four. But they were the last spirits, created by me with every bit of magical energy I took from all the previous dimensions. Fusion, Synchro, XYZ and even Pendulum.. I kept it close and let it grow. Finally, one day I thought the spirits were strong enough. We thought we could use them to stop the Guardians.. to escape their control over time and rule it ourselves. We were wrong." Uno shook his head and put the cards away. "The four dragons destroyed but one Guardian. There were just too many. The others retaliated and. nearly destroyed us. Marco, Anastasia and me.. we had to run."

"That we when we decided to stop. That was why we decided to create Millennium. If we could not be the masters of time, we could at least use a little of their power to be the masters of our own world."

"Then it's hopeless." What Adamant took away from that, was that they had no chance against the Qliphort. "Aren't you going to judge me for what I have done?" Uno caused all of this, because of his own pride. "Even if I was the person for that, now is no longer the time. All I care about is what we can still do. Or is survival all that is left?" It was unlikely that they could run and hide from the Qliphort. "Huh? Did you say 'the tree?" Eric heard Alice mutter something, softly but strongly. "I.. the tree. I saw the tree in the garden. That's how I could run.. the last time. I don't want.. but.." She talked faster the closer the Guardians got. Some were already floating above the ocean, erasing the air and water. Nothingness remained in their wake. "Garden? You mean the royal garden?" Uno did not know any other garden she could be talking about. "!? Wait.. is this about?" And then the context became clear, once he recalled one of her stories. "The sisters!" She met the Prophecy sisters at the garden, underneath the tree. If that had any value at all, they needed to go there.

"Uno!" Eric found the jewel eye of Martels doll to be glowing in bright violet. "It still has power!? Was it something I did or said?" There was always some level of consciousness to these pendulum crystals. Either way Uno would not look down on this stroke of luck. "Give it to me, quickly!" He took the puppet from Eric and "Please.. take us.." Before the full plea left his tongue, the light exploded.. "Ah! Ahaha!" They were in the royal garden, the crystal transported all four of them. "It's just as bad here." The Qliphort were tearing down the city, the walls, the tower. But the tree still stood intact, untouched by time. "You.. you did it." Hope returned to Alice's face. "Somehow. But I didn't come here just to find shelter." Uno placed his hand on the puppet's eye. "Sisters! I know you can probably hear or see me! Please. I ask for your help, your guidance! I need you one more time! If you know everything, then you also know how we can stop this! How we can save.."

"Uno! Look out!" Adamant sensed a sudden sharp wind from the front. "!" Uno stepped aside in the nick of time, as a vertical wave sliced through the field. "The tree!" The tree was cut in half and set a ablaze. The entire garden caught fire, or what was left of it. "Who?" It was not a guardian that caused this, but a person.. a woman. "Mar.. Margot.." The third sister, she stood opposite of Uno with her head turned to the ground. "Margot? This is one of them?" Eric and Adamant could finally meet with a Prophecy Sister. "You can see her too?" This was not a dream. The one hidden in the shadows of Cloe and Veronica, she was here.. alone The Qliphort were aware of her presence as well. And they backed away. "Are they.. afraid of her?" Alice was horrified, to think that even such destructive machines could have such instincts. "She is the lady of the future. Everyone fears the future." Right now, it made as much sense as everything else Adamant had witnessed. "Margot." Uno swallowed the lump in his throat. "Why.. did you come?"

She gave no words, her motions left no sound. Silently the woman moved her head up, revealing the deep black irises behind her dark hair. "..." They might as well have been staring into the abyss. Did their words even reach her? "Margot. You know what I want. Can you give it to us?" Uno repeated his request. "She wants.. us to fight her for it." Adamant stated. "Huh? How can you tell?" Eric didn't see a sign of a challenge. Not until the woman extended her hands. "What the.." The book she carried started hovering in front of her, its pages torn out. The pages contained images of cards on one side and pure darkness on the other, she she pulled five of them. Her book was her deck. "She wants a duel?" Uno did not see that coming. "She has the heart of a duelist, in spite of everything. I suggest we accept her offering." In this moment and this limbo, the Guardians were not active. Margot was giving them the time, to fight for this world. "Then..."

Eric's LP: 8000 Margot's LP: 8000

"Let me do it!" Eric activated his dueldisk. "Let me try and see what she's made off. So you can learn from my mistakes!" Eric figured he might as well be good for something. "Eric.. no.." But Alice did not want him to sacrifice himself just for that. "I agree."

Adamant's LP: 8000

"We should all be standing here." Adamant took it one step further and joined the duel. "A tagteam duel?" Eric gasped. "No. While we can use each others cards if we duel as a team. Our lifepoints would be tied as well. In the end only one of us has to stop her." Adamant did not want to under-estimate this kind of opponent. "Then.. I will duel too!"

Alice's LP: 8000

Alice switched her dueldisk on. "Alice? You don't.." Eric figured she would have been too scared for this. "You think I will let you do this, without me? I don't want to run anymore!" She drew five cards. "Well said."

Uno's LP: 8000

Uno joined in last. "If Four against one is as good as they could do right now, I am glad it is with the three of you." It was too late to go back now, their lifepoints were set. Margot would take one turn for each of theirs, and she got the first turn. "But what will she use?" Four of those pages floated down vertically before her feet, as if they were set like traps and spells. The fifth page was revealed, like a face-up spell. It was a field spell. "Ah.." Sunlight streamed through while clouds rose. A golden gate separated her from her opponents. Those were the cards she used in her first turn. "Heavens Gate?" This field spell was certainly no card that existed on earth.

Heavens Gate, Field Spell
You can only activate this card at the start of your Main Phase 1. You cannot summon or set monsters while you control this card.
Neither player can conduct their Battle phase. Cards on the field, other than 'Heavens Gate' cannot be destroyed or targeted by card effect(s).

"You know, I am almost thinking you are making fun of me!" Eric drew his sixth card and carefully studied his hand and her field. "Well.. this wont be a walk in the park anyway. But I gotta try! I activate The Grass is Greener!" A green wave moved across the void, stretching from Eric's dueldisk to the book of infinity. "This spell will discard cards from my deck until it has just as many cards as your deck, Margot!" He started throwing away cards. Normally a duelist would only have forty cards in their deck. However.. "Oh! That's good!" Alice knew Eric could decide which cards to stop using to cut his decksize down from the upper limit of sixty cards. That indecision finally payed off now, as The Grass is Greener discarded 19 cards from his deck. "Hmm. Ten... Not enough yet." Eric was not satisfied with the amount of discarded Infernoids, so he played another spell. "Go, Reasoning! Margot, you have to pick a number for a monsters level! While I'll start excavating my deck until I draw something that can be normal summoned!"

"Huh?" Though Margot was required to respond, she did so nonverbally. She held up one of her long fingers, to make clear that she chose the first level. "Thought I could get you to talk. Meh." Eric started drawing anyway. His deck gave him a few spells, traps and unsummonable Infernoids. And then Eric revealed Infernoid Decatron. "Oh come on!" It was a level 1 monster, the one level Reasoning would not summon. "She called it." Adamant was amazed. "So she can see the future?" Alice shuddered. "Or it was a lucky guess." Uno counter-suggested. "Anyway!" Decatron was not necessary. Eric's graveyard housed fourteen Infernoids; at least one of each type. It was time to play ball. "I can banish three Infernoids, Decatron, Antra and Pirmais, from the graveyard to special summon Infernoid Nehemoth from the graveyard!" And the first demon to raise from hell was his mightiest unfused Infernoid, Onuncu(10/3000/3000) the serpent king. Only, even before its summoning process could be completed, Margot activated a trap card. "What?" The Reaper of Cards himself appeared on the heavenly field, holding a long list of names in his one claw.

A new name was written on the list: Infernoid Onuncu. "You.. you declared his name?" Once Onuncu ended up on the field, he was cut down by the reaper. With its scythe, a lethal countdown was placed above the Infernoids head. It would die within the turn. "Hmph. I think you got the wrong one, missy!" Sure Eric could not negate her effects now, with Onuncu's powers sealed. But.. "I activate Void Imagination!" A corrupted lifegiving tree grew up from the depths, breaking the clouds around. "All my Infernoids will have a level of one! I can summon as many as I want now!" The level of Onuncu(1/3000/3000) dropped. "I banish three more Infernoids and special summon Lilith from the graveyard!" Harmadik, Patrulea and Piaty were removed from their graves. Infernoid Devyaty(9/2900/2900) the female serpent queen rose up to roar at the heavens. "Devyaty destroys all spells and traps, except for void cards!" The roar grew into a storm, with blue flames and bolts that were strong enough to topple the pearly gates. Margot's field spell cracked down and crumbled.

Reapers List, Continuous Trap
Once per turn, during your opponents turn, you can declare 1 card name.
Card(s) on the field with that name cannot attack, activate their effect, and are sent to the graveyard during this turn's endphase.

"Alright, Eric! We can hit her now!" Heavens Gate's protection still shielded all of Margot's other cards, but at least they could conduct their battles once more. "Hitting her sounds like a good plan, Uno!" Eric banished four more Infernoids (Sjette, Attondel, Onuncu, Devyaty) to special summon a second Infernoid Attondel(8/2800/0) and Infernoid Seitsemas(7/2600/0) from his graveyard. "I'll also bring you out; Gren Maju Da Eiza!" The crimson worm devil(3/0/0) slithered in between the hellish ones. For each banished monster, Gren Maju(4000/4000) gained 400 and defense points. "Here goes nothing! My demons attack!" Even if Void Imagination halved the damage output of Infernoids and even if Reapers List prevented Onuncu's attacks; Eric could take away 8150 of her lifepoints with just four attacks. He'd be happy to even get in one hit. Unfortunately.. that was up to fate. "Eric, look out!" Before Eric could declare an attack, Margot revealed her second continuous trap. "World Reincarnation?"

World Reincarnation, Continuous Trap
Once per turn, during either players turn, if a face-up field spell you control was removed from the field this turn and you control no field spell cards;
You can select 1 field spell card from your hand, deck or graveyard and activate it.

"What is.." The grounds around them seemed to shift after Margot activated a spell from her deck. "That trap changed the field.." Gone was the garden and the palace. Clouds and mist turned to a crimson shade as if they were gorged with blood. Eyes and mouths appeared in the sky, belonging to no face or man. A spiked mountain emerged, and the lady of the future waited at the top in front of a black citadel. Heavens Gate was gone, this was the Dark Sanctuary. "Is this supposed to scare me?" Eric declared his next attack anyway, sending Gren Maju da Eiza to rush towards Margot. "Eric, wait! This card can punish your attacks!" Adamant yelled. The time for warnings had passed however. "Punish?" Erics opponent moved a coin with her finger, tossing it up and letting it spin down. It landed on heads. "!?" Immediately a wailing ghost exited the body of Gren Maju, freezing the red demon. "Guah!" The ghostly energy phased through Erics body at the same time, causing him to cough up a storm. "What the hell was that?" He took damage instead of her?

Eric's LP: 6000

"Dark Sanctuary. If a player is attacked, the user will roll a coin. If it lands on heads, the attack is negated and damage is inflicted equal to half of the power of the attacking monster." Adamant repeated what his own dueldisk was telling him. "What? So she got lucky..." Eric wiped his chin. "Ba'al!" He declared his second direct attack. "She can't be lucky all the.." Margot responded with another coin toss, which... landed on heads again. "No way!" Infernoid Seitsemas halted its attack, and expelled more undead energy from his body which struck Eric. "Gah!" Half of 2600 attackpoints were taken from him. "Again?"

Eric's LP: 4700

"If she can see the future, she can twist the outcome of a probability as much as she likes." Uno shivered. It was like fighting fate itself. "Eric. Please stop attacking. At this rate..." Alice imagined Dark Sanctuary would protect Margot no matter how many times Eric attacked. "Tch. Is this all I get to do? Damn it!" Eric placed a trap card down. "No! Before I end my turn.." He removed Void Imagination from his field. "I use my spells final effect to fuse Infernoids!" Eric fused an Infernoid Piaty in his hand with Seitsemas, Attondel, Devyaty and Onuncu on his field. "And I fusion summon Infernoid Tierra in defense mode!" All mutated into the one, the ultimate dragon(11/3400/3600) from hell. Because it was built from five fusion materials, each player would have to discard three cards from their decks and extra decks. (Eric: Skill Prisoner, Fiendish Rhino Warrior, Monster Gate. Adamant: Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius, Swallows Nest, Raidraptor - Booster Strix. Alice: Nekroz of Catastor, Nekroz Cycle, Ghost of a Grudge. Uno: Nobledragon Magician, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Revival) "Maybe this will help you guys a little. I.."

"If she can see the future, she can twist the outcome of a probability as much as she likes." Uno felt it was like fighting fate itself. "Eric. Don't attack anymore. At this rate..." Alice imagined Dark Sanctuary would protect Margot no matter how many times Eric attacked. "Tch. Is this all I get to do? Damn it!" Eric placed a trap card down. "No! Before I end my turn.." He removed Void Imagination from his field. "I use my spells final effect to fuse Infernoids!" Eric fused an Infernoid Piaty in his hand with Seitsemas, Attondel, Devyaty and Onuncu on his field. "And I fusion summon Infernoid Tierra in defense mode!" All mutated into the one, the ultimate dragon(11/3400/3600) from hell. Because it was built from five fusion materials, each player would have to discard three cards from their decks and extra decks. (Eric: Skill Prisoner, Fiendish Rhino Warrior, Monster Gate. Adamant: Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius, Swallows Nest, Raidraptor - Booster Strix. Alice: Nekroz of Catastor, Nekroz Cycle, Ghost of a Grudge. Uno: Nobledragon Magician, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, Performapal Revival) "Maybe this will help you guys a little. I.."

But as he entered the endphase, the enemy revealed one more continuous trap: Destiny Board. "Oh!" This card did not need an introduction, everyone knew it. "A countdown.." Uno shivered. An ouija board loomed in the air, where a demonic hand moved the planchette across several letters. The first letter spelled out was F, and now it moved to the next. "Spirit Messages." Each endphase the Destiny Board would activate a Spirit Message spell. In this turn it activated Spirit Message "I". "If she gets three more Spirit Messages, it will spell out FINAL and she wins automatically." Even if they still had lifepoints, they would lose. "But its not a spell.." The Spirit Message card was not activated, it(1/0/0) was summoned. "It's Dark Sanctuary. That field spell has another power." As long as Dark Sanctuary was on the field, Spirit Messages activated by Destiny Board could be summoned to monster zones as if they were normal monsters. "Dark Sanctuary makes them immune to attacks or effects as well. So the only way to stop her, is to destroy the Board... before our time is up." Adamant shook his head. "Unless we defeat her in three turns, she will let the world be destroyed.. and all those in it."

(To be Continued in Redux 02: If Every Day was Your Last)

New Cards used by Eric Stonewell
The Grass looks Greener

Cards used by Margot
Heavens Gate
Dark Sanctuary
Spirit Message "I"

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Reapers List
World Reincarnation
Destiny Board