Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Cataclysm

by darthvader5666

The year is 2299. Earth's Population is 100 million. Follow the story of 18 year old John Avalon, born into a broken world, that, despite Yusei Fudo's best efforts 200 years prior, ended 13 years ago. OC fic. Rated M for safety. Looking for co-authors, PM me if you are interested.

2. Prologue - Prelude to Destruction

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Cataclysm Prologue – Prelude to Destruction

On a summer evening in the year 2286, five-year-old John Avalon was hiding inside what was once a shopping mall. Hiding from the group of killing machines flying above. The group contained three robots: a blue, bird-shaped model, a white humanoid model and the largest of them all, a bronze model with a single eye, tank treads for legs, a particle cannon for a left arm and an oddly-shaped shield for a right arm. They had many names. The Robots, The Machines, The Meklords. They were all massive and they all had infinity symbols on their chests. John peered out from his hiding spot at the ruins of a Skyscraper opposite. He recognized it from pictures he had seen of the city in its glory days. Before the war. Before the giant robots. Before he was born. What was it called again? The State Empire building? "Big Sis is so going to kill me for this" he thought to himself. Assuming the machines didn't kill him first. She strongly disapproved of physically harming children but for this he knew he was going to get a beating and more. What gave her the right to do that? It's not like she was his mom. She wasn't even his real sister. He wondered for a moment what his real family was like. Why did those robots have to kill them? When was this war going to end? Tears came to John's eyes. Why was he hiding anyway? All he had to do was jump out of his hiding spot and in front of the robots. He had no idea where he'd go but he knew his parents would be waiting for him there. Big Sis had told him that some people (her not being one of those people) believed that good people go to a good place and bad people to a bad place. She called it supersti-something but John liked the idea. He had been good for most of his short life. His parents must have been good. He'd go to the good place and see his parents there. John was about to leave his hiding spot when he spotted a smaller, white robot patrolling the deserted street. The white robot had a humanoid structure and was about the size of the average grown man. It was a smaller version of the massive white robot flying above, but it did not have an infinity symbol on its chest. John's heart skipped a beat and he stood completely still, praying it wouldn't notice him. He couldn't do it after all.

At a house a few miles away, two young orphan children, a ginger boy and a blonde girl, were playing a game of Duel Monsters on a table. "My turn" the boy declared dramatically, subsequently drawing a card equally dramatically. Upon seeing his card, a wide grin appeared on his face. "I summon Marauding Captain (1200) in attack mode. With its effect I can special summon Command Knight (1200/1900) from my hand. He slapped both cards down on the table. Now I'll tune them to summon Lightning Warrior. I win!"

"Tim, you're cheating again," the girl said.

"Yeah right," Tim said. "You're just jealous because you lost."

"Jade's right" a smooth feminine voice said. The owner of the voice stepped through the doorway. She was a slim, fairly tall woman in her twenties with blonde hair that reached midway between her shoulders and waist.

"Big Sis!" Jade exclaimed.

"How am I cheating?" Tim asked.

"Don't play dumb" Jade said.

"I tuned a level four monster and a level three monster to summon a level seven synchro monster. Four plus three is seven right?"

"Which ones?" asked Hannah, or "Big Sis" as the kids called her.

Tim showed Hannah the Synchro Materials he used for Lightning Warrior: Marauding Captain and Command Knight.

"Tim," Hannah sighed, "you need a Tuner monster for a Synchro Summon."

"Tu-what? Fine, whatever" Tim pouted. "I give up. You win."

"Just like that?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. There was no point. She had it won."

"You shouldn't be so quick to give up. A duel isn't over until the last life point is gone. And you usually have more options than you may think you do at first glance."

Just then, the three heard a blast. It was an explosion. Not close enough to harm them, but close enough to be audible, and remind them of the war that had been underway for five years now. It had many names, the most common ones being The Machine War and World War III, though the previous World Wars were playground fights compared to this war, which had claimed three billion lives over the past five years.

"Big Sis," Tim said, tears in his eyes "when's the war gonna end?"

"Soon, Tim" Hannah said, ruffling his hair. "Soon." She looked out through a window at the headless Statue of Liberty. It reminded her of the terrifying day the kids were too young to remember. The day the army of blue, white and bronze machines first descended from the sky and turned the world into hell. The memory of one of the bronze robots blasting off the head of the statue of liberty was, five years later, still etched into her mind. It also reminded her of the world before the war began. When her father was still alive. She clenched her fists. "Metal bastards" she thought. She lost her father in the war, just like the orphans she was taking care of who had lost their parents in the war, though unlike her, they were too young to remember their parents. She and the orphans were able to survive the war because the house was built on top of an abandoned nuclear bunker from the cold war. The bunker was cold, dusty, small and three centuries old but it hid them from the horde of robots whenever they appeared in the general vicinity. "We'll get through this," Hannah promised the two children. "We just need to stick together."

"By the way, have any of you seen John?" Hannah asked.

John, still as ever, looked around the abandoned mall he was hiding in while praying that the white robot outside wouldn't notice him. Despite the dark, he noticed that some of the stores still had their wares. In particular, he saw a store with two posters on its glass walls. One depicted a young man with purple starfish-like hair with blonde streaks. The legendary King of Games himself. The one who popularized the game of Duel Monsters nearly three hundred years ago. The second poster depicted three young men: all with spiky hair: one ginger, one blonde and one with black hair with blonde streaks. The legendary Team 5D's from two hundred years ago. It was a Duel Monsters card store. John hated the idea of the cards just sitting there, waiting to be destroyed by the war, so he began inching towards the store. He then tripped. What he tripped over was enough to make him vomit. It was black and charred due to the machines' cannons and barely recognizable as human but John knew what it was all the same. The corpse of a person killed by the machines. It wasn't much bigger than John himself. A child. John screamed. Just then, a white humanoid machine the size of a man walked through the entrance to the mall. It had found him.

"He did WHAT?" Hannah exclaimed. "That idiot… did he say anything else about where he was going?"

"Not really," Jade said. "But…" she concentrated hard to try to remember "he did say something to himself about some state building or whatever."

Hannah began to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going Big Sis?" Jade asked.

"If the others ask tell them I'll be back in a few hours. Now, both of you go to bed." It was getting quite late. "And tell everyone else to do the same."

"But-"

"Bed. Now." With that, Hannah was out of the room.

"John's a weird guy," Tim said.

"You're just jealous because he always kicks your butt when the two of you duel." Jade said.

"Shut up."

"Well, I'm off to bed. Don't wanna make her mad."

When she reached her small bedroom, Hannah wasted no time in opening a drawer and taking out a pistol, her duel disk and her deck. "I'm going to have a word with that kid," she grumbled… "Does he have a death wish or something?" Then she remembered a conversation she had with John not too long ago.. "Crap… is that what he's trying to do? Well if you want to die you'll do so over my dead body." She reckoned she might have a chance against one of the smaller Ein units but if she ran into one of those Infinity monsters, especially the bronze Grannel model… she pushed the thought out of her head.

John was running. Running as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran and ran in the general direction of Hannah's house, not looking back, despite the part of him that still craved blissful oblivion. After what felt like hours of running, he saw the entrance to a ruined subway station. He then tripped, Falling Down the stairs into the subway station. When he tried to get up, he felt a sharp pain in his ankle and fell back down. He saw the machine at the top of the flight of stairs, walking down. In what felt like seconds, he was face to face with it. The white robot pointed a gun like arm at him. A blade of pure white energy protruded from the arm. He screamed, but to no avail. This was it. He was going to die.

Hannah was riding a red D-wheel through the ruins of New York City, straight towards what was left of the Empire State Building. When she reached it, she stopped and looked around for a sign of John. Almost immediately, she saw a giant bronze robot with an Infinity symbol on its chest approaching her quickly. "Great" she thought. A Grannel Infinity unit. She pointed her pistol at its chest, despite knowing it would do no good. The robot stopped a couple of dozen yards away from her and pointed its cannon of a left arm at him. In desperation, Hannah pulled the trigger of her gun, but it was no use. The gun's laser simply ricocheted off the robot's chest. Just as Hannah had resigned herself to her fate, she saw a rocket collide with the robot's chest and explode. The robot deactivated, the orb inside its chest disappearing. Its head, arms, legs and chest all separated from one another and fell to the ground. The robot showed no visible external damage. The missile must have contained an EMP, and a very powerful one at that. She looked up at a window of the ruined Empire State Building at the man responsible. His hair was spiky and gray but upon closer Inspection he was young. He couldn't have been much older than her, if at all. He was wielding a large bazooka, still steaming from the rocket it had just fired.

"Hey, you!" Hannah yelled, waving her hand. The man looked down at her from about five stories above. "Have you seen a little kid around here? Black hair, about five years old, and about this tall" she demonstrated with her hand.

The man nodded, yelling back. "He was being chased by a Wisel Ein unit. They went off in that-" As soon as he pointed, Hannah jumped on her D-wheel and took off in the direction the man indicated. "Please be ok." she thought. After a few minutes of driving, she was looking around restlessly for any sign of John or a white Wisel Ein unit. Just then, she heard a scream. She looked in the general direction of the scream and saw an abandoned subway.

This was it. This was what John wanted at first but then he… chickened out. He braced himself as the white robot prepared to lower its arm and the blade of energy protruding from it to end his life.

"Over my dead body metal bastard!". A blast of laser hit the robot on the head and ricocheted onto a nearby wall. The robot turned its head but kept its blade pointed at John's head. John looked up in the direction the voice came from. He saw a young, slim, blonde woman at the top of the subway's staircase on a D-wheel, holding a pistol in her right hand and a red helmet in her left.

"Big Sis!" he exclaimed. He knew she was going to give him hell for this later but he was happy to see her nonetheless. He attempted to move in her direction but was interrupted by the mechanical voice of the white machine that had a sword pointed at him "do not move human."

Hannah disconnected her duel disk from her D-wheel, strapped it onto her arm and activated it. A green blade of energy shot out of the duel disk's base. The machine retracted its energy blade, replacing it with a metal hand that shot out of the opening in its right arm. The base of a duel disk formed on its other arm, a green blade of energy shooting out of it. "No turning back now," Hannah thought. "If I win it shuts down. If I lose I die. And then it kills John." She pushed the thought out of her head. She had dueled one of the white robot's blue comrades before. She had a rough idea of its dueling strategy. She wasn't going to lose.

"Duel" Hannah and the machine said simultaneously. They both drew five cards from their duel disks.

Hannah (LP: 8000 hand: 5) vs Wisel Ein (LP: 8000 hand: 5)

"I take the first turn." the machine said. "The player who takes the first turn does not draw. I summon Wise Core (0/0) in attack mode."

A white, metal spherical object appeared. It then opened, revealing a small green orb of energy in the middle.

"Set 2. Turn end." Two cards appeared on the field face-down behind Wise Core (hand 5 - 2)

"If this one is like that blue model it uses an anti-synchro deck," Hannah thought. "My turn," she declared, drawing a card. She looked at the card she drew and then threw it into her duel disk's spell/trap card zone. "I activate Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Garnet with Gem-Knight Emerald." Two knights appeared on the field: one with red armor decorated with garnets, another with green armor decorated with emeralds. "Gem of fire that burns all. Emerald of good fortune. Combine your powers in the whirlpool of light to form a new dazzling radiance." Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Knight Emerald were sucked into a whirlpool generated by the Gem-Knight Fusion card. "Fusion summon! Show yourself! Knight who burns all with his fiery sword! Gem-Knight Citrine! (2200/1950)." Out of the whirlpool appeared a knight in bronze armor with fiery gauntlets and a fiery sword. "When Gem-Knight Citrine battles, my opponent cannot activate any cards or effects. You won't be able to use your face-down cards to destroy Wise Core." She knew that was its plan. To use a trap when she attacked to destroy Wise Core and use its effect to summon one of those synchro-killer robots that looked just like the actual Infinity robots that had been terrorizing humanity for the past five years. "Gem-Knight Citrine attacks Wise Core. Sword of Fire!"

The bronze-armored knight readied its sword and charged towards the spherical machine. With a single slash, Wise Core was destroyed in a quick blaze of fire (Wisel Ein's LP: 8000 - 5800). However, Hannah wasn't foolish enough to believe this was anywhere near over.

"Awesome, Big Sis!" John exclaimed, still not having moved an inch from the spot at which the machine had ordered him to stay put. "Kick its bu-"

"Continuous trap, activate. Limit Reverse." interrupted the cold, mechanical voice of the Wisel Ein robot.

"Crap," Hannah said. She knew exactly what the robot was going to do.

"Limit Reverse special summons one monster from the graveyard with 1000 ATK or less. Wise Core returns (0/0)." The spherical machine appeared once again on the robot's field.

"I activate Gem-Knight Fusion's effect from my graveyard," Hannah said. "By banishing Gem-Knight Garnet, I return it to my hand. I set one card face down." She threw one card face-down into one of her duel disk's spell/trap zones. "My turn's over."

Wisel Ein: LP: 5800, hand: 2

Hannah: LP:8000, hand: 3

"My turn," said the Wisel Ein robot in its cold, mechanical voice. It drew a card from its duel disk, immediately placing it in the duel disk's spell and trap card zone. "Quick-play Spell activate: Double Cyclone. Double Cyclone destroys Limit Reverse and the opponent's set card."

"Trap activate," Hannah countered. "Gem Power. By banishing a Gem-Knight Emerald from my graveyard, Gem-Knight Citrine gains its ATK until my next End Phase. I banish Gem-Knight Emerald." Gem-Knight Citrine's fiery sword turned blue, giving it 1800 extra ATK (2200 - 4000). She didn't know much about the Meklord the Wisel Ein robot was about to summon but she reckoned it stood no chance against Gem-Knight Citrine's 4000 ATK.

Two cyclones appeared from the Solid Vision Double Cyclone card, destroying Limit Reverse and Gem Power. "When Limit Reverse is destroyed," the Wisel Ein unit said, "the monster it summoned is also destroyed." Wise Core shattered into a million pieces. "When Wise Core is destroyed, the following monsters are summoned from the deck, hand or graveyard: Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity. Wisel Top (500/0). Wisel Attack (1200/0). Wisel Guard (0/1200). Wisel Carrier (800/600)." Five oddly shaped white robotic objects appeared on the field. The objects then joined together, becoming the head, bladed left arm, shield-like right arm, legs and body of a large, white, roughly human-shaped robot with an infinity symbol on its chest. Hannah clenched her fist. It was the white model of the massive Infinity robots that turned the world to hell: Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity (2500/1800). However, her previous assumption that it stood no chance against her 4000 ATK Gem-Knight Citrine was correct. "Once per turn," the Wisel Ein unit continued, Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity absorbs a synchro monster and gains its ATK."

"Too bad," Hannah smirked. "I don't have any synchro monsters on the field." In fact, she didn't have any in her extra deck, as Gem-Knights were a fusion-based archetype.

"Field Spell activate," the robot said, voice cold and mechanical as ever. "Infinity Fortress. It costs 500 life points to activate (5800 - 5300). All special summoned monsters that do not have "Skiel," "Wisel," "Grannel," or "Meklord" in their names become synchro monsters. Gem-Knight Citrine is a Synchro monster now."

"Damn," Hannah mumbled to herself. This was unexpected. She hadn't encountered such a card in her duel against the Skiel Ein unit a few months ago. This was going to be much more difficult now.

"Meklord Emperor Wisel absorbs Gem-Knight Citrine."

The infinity symbol on Wisel's chest opened. Tentacle-like appendages made of energy appeared from within it, and captured Gem-Knight Citrine. The bronze-armored knight was dragged into the infinity symbol, which then closed.

"Meklord Emperor Wisel's attack increases by the attack of the absorbed monster" (2500 - 4700)
"The second effect of Infinity Fortress activates. Once per turn, it upgrades a Meklord Emperor part. Upgrade Wisel Top to Wisel Top 3." (600/0)
Meklord Emperor Wisel's head disappeared, and was then replaced by a new monster that John thought resembled a robotic puppy. The new monster attached itself to the robot as its head. (4700 - 4800)

Hannah knew that the Meklords' ability to upgrade their parts was just as frightening as their ability to absorb synchro monsters. It was how the Skiel Ein unit she had dueled before was able to give her such a hard time despite its Meklord Emperor Skiel being unable to absorb her monsters.

"Meklord Emperor Wisel attacks directly."

The white robot slashed at the air with its bladed left arm, producing a gust of wind powerful enough to knock Hannah against the wall behind her, reminding her of just how real the damage and danger were in duels against these machines (LP: 8000 - 3200). Another direct attack would reduce her life points to 0 and kill her.

"Set 1 face down. Turn end," The robot said.

Wisel Ein: LP: 5300, hand: 0

Hannah: LP: 3200, hand: 3

Hannah weakly drew a card. She looked at her hand and then the field, considering her options. She had four cards in her hand and none on her field. The Wisel Ein robot had Meklord Emperor Wisel, the Infinity Fortress Field spell, and two set cards. One of them was set the turn it first summoned Wise Core. Hannah was sure it was a trap that activates during battle and destroys one of the controller's monsters. Perhaps it was the Twin Vortex card that Skiel Ein unit used to summon Skiel Infinity. Her Gem-Knight Fusion card would be useless for now since anything it summoned would just end up being absorbed by Wisel. And she had two more copies in her deck anyway. "I banish Gem-Knight Fusion to activate Fusion Draw. This lets me draw two cards."

"Wisel Top 3's effect activates," the Wisel Ein unit said. "Once per turn it negates the activation of an opponent's spell or trap card and destroys it."

"If Fusion Draw is destroyed while I have ten or more or more Fusion Monsters in my extra deck, I draw a card." Now she had three cards in her hand. Her next spell or trap wouldn't be negated. "I activate the aura spell: temporary fusion. This allows me to Fusion Summon, however, I cannot summon or set monsters by any other method for the rest of the turn. Also, the monster summoned by this effect is destroyed at the end of the turn. I fuse Gem-Knight Lapis with Gem-Knight Lazuli. Blue and green stones that hide mysterious power, become one in the whirlpool of light and show your true form!" The two nearly identical-looking monsters were swallowed by the whirlpool created by the "Temporary Fusion" spell. "Fusion Summon! Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli! (2400/1000)" The whirlpool disappeared, and in its place appeared a female monster in a blue robe. "I activate Gem-Knight Lazuli's effect. When it is sent to the graveyard by a card effect I can return a normal monster in my graveyard to my hand. I return Gem-Knight Lapis. Next, I activate Lapis Lazuli's effect. By sending Gem-Knight Amber from my deck to the graveyard, I inflict 500 damage to you for each special summoned monster on the field. Now, eat 3000 damage!" Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli fired a blast of blue energy at the Wisel Ein unit. Hannah was sure this damage would go through, as counters to effect damage were used rarely. This would leave the Wisel Ein unit with only 2300 life points.

"Trap card open," the Wisel Ein unit said. "Infinity Force. If I control an Infinity monster, and effect damage is inflicted, that damage is negated and the opponent's monsters are all destroyed." A blast of lightning shot out of the card at Lapis Lazuli, destroying it.

"Crap," Hannah thought. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Wisel Ein: LP: 5300, hand: 0

Hannah: LP: 3200, hand: 1

"Draw," the Wisel Ein unit said, voice mechanical as ever. "Machine Emperor Wisel attacks directly." Wisel charged towards Hannah, bladed left arm pointed at her.

"I activate an Aura counter trap – Fusion Barrier. This negates a direct attack by banishing Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli from my graveyard. I then draw a card. Since it's a counter trap, it can only be countered by other counter traps. Therefore, Wisel Top 3 can't stop it." Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli appeared on the field and blocked Wisel's attack, getting stabbed in the process. It then disappeared. Hannah drew a card.

"The effect of Infinity Fortress activates. The lowest level Meklord Emperor part is upgraded. Wisel Carrier upgrades to Wisel Carrier 3 (1000/800)."

Meklord Emperor Wisel's legs disappeared, replaced by a new monster that attached itself to Wisel as its new legs. (4800 - 5000)

"Turn end."

Wisel Ein: LP: 5300, hand: 1

Hannah: LP: 3200, hand: 2

"My turn." Hannah drew a card. "I activate Absorb Fusion. This lets me add a Gem-Knight from my deck to my hand and then fusion summon."

"Wisel Top 3's effect activates. Absorb Fusion is negated." A laser shot out of Wisel's head, destroying the Absorb Fusion card.

"That's exactly what I wanted you to do you metal dumbass. Now I activate Brilliant Fusion. This lets me fuse monsters from my deck to summon a Gem-Knight Fusion monster. I fuse Gem-Knight Tourmaline, Gem-Knight Sardonyx and Gem-Knight Iolite. Thunderous crystal. Warrior of the onyx flail. Gem from the depths of the ocean. Unite in the whirlpool of light!" A yellow armored knight with three yellow crystals in its chestplate, a blue-armored knight with a blue crystal in its helmet and a knight seemingly made of onyx wielding an onyx flail appeared on the field. There were all sucked into the whirlpool of the Brilliant Fusion spell card. "Fusion summon! Let your radiance obliterate your foes! Come forth, Gem Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond! (3400 - 0/2000)" A female knight clad in white armor and a red cape appeared. Diamonds were embedded all over her armor and she wielded a long, thin sword.

"The monster summoned by Brilliant Fusion has its ATK reduced to 0. I summon Gem-Knight Lapis. Then I'll activate Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond's effect. By sending Gem-Knight Lapis to the graveyard, I can special summon any Fusion Monster from my extra deck ignoring the summoning conditions. Come forth, knight of dual swords. Gem-Knight Topaz! (1800/1800)" An orange armored knight with a topaz embedded in its chest plate appeared, wielding a yellow sword in each hand. "Gem-Knight Topaz attacks Wisel Top 3!"
"Wisel Guard's effect activates. It is now the new target of your attack. Next, trap card activate" the Wisel Ein unit said. It was the very first card it had set. "Twin Vortex."

"I thought so," Hannah said.

"Twin Vortex destroys both Wisel Guard and Gem-Knight Topaz."

"I activate a counter trap: Paradox Fusion. By banishing Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond for two turns, I negate your trap and destroy it."

Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond threw her sword at the Twin Vortex card, piercing it and destroying it. She then disappeared from the field.

"The battle continues," Hannah said. "Gem-Knight Topaz attacks Wisel Guard."

The orange-armored warrior slashed at Wisel's right arm with its sword, destroying it.

"Next up is that annoying Wisel Top 3. Gem-Knight Topaz can attack twice per battle phase. Also, when it destroys a monster in battle, the controller takes damage equal to its attack."

The monster sliced off Wisel's head with a single stroke. The robot was now missing a right arm and a head. Wisel Ein's LP fell from 5300 to 3500 and Wisel Infinity's ATK fell from 5000 to 4400.

Hannah looked at her opponent's field. At first glance, her Last Turn had been a great one. She had destroyed one of her opponent's most problematic cards and dealt significant damage to the point where their life points were almost level. However, Infinite Fortress and the Gem-Knight Citrine equipped to Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity remained on her opponent's side of the field. As long as those two cards remained on her opponent's side of the field, she had no chance of winning. She had no cards in her hand and only Gem-Knight Topaz on the field.

Wisel Ein: LP: 3500, hand: 1

Hannah: LP: 3200, hand: 0

"My turn," the Wisel Ein unit declared, drawing a card. "I summon Wisel Guard 3 (0/2000). Wisel Guard 3 can be normal summoned in defense mode." The monster appeared and attached itself to Meklord Emperor Wisel as its right arm. "The effect of Infinity Fortress activates, upgrading the lowest level Meklord Emperor part. Wisel Attack upgrades to Wisel Attack 3 (1600/0)." Meklord Emperor Wisel's left arm disappeared, replaced by a new, more powerful left arm that had a sword attached to it (4400-4800). "Wisel Infinity's effect activates. It absorbs Gem-Knight Topaz."

"I activate a trap from my graveyard," Hannah countered. "By banishing Gem Power, I can make a Gem-Knight Fusion monster I control immune to card effects until the end of the turn and switch it to defense mode." Gem-Knight Topaz knelt down into a more defensive stance (1800/1800).

"Battle," the Wisel Ein unit declared. "Meklord Emperor Wisel attacks Gem-Knight Topaz. Due to Wisel Attack 3's effect, it inflicts piercing damage." The giant robot sliced the knight's head off with its bladed arm. The knight then exploded. The shockwave threw Hannah at the wall behind her (LP: 3200 - 200). "Turn end."

Wisel Ein: LP: 3500, hand: 1

Hannah: LP: 200, hand: 0

Hannah drew and looked at her card. Helpful, but not the card she was looking for. "I activate One Day of Peace. We each draw one card, and then neither of us takes battle damage until my opponent's next end phase." She drew. "I end my turn."

Wisel Ein: LP: 3500, hand: 2

Hannah: LP: 200, hand: 1

"Draw," the Wisel Ein unit declared. "Spell activate. Meklord Reconstruction. This special summons a "Meklord," "Skiel," "Wisel," or "Grannel" monster from the graveyard. Wisel Top 3 (600/0) returns to the field."

The robot puppy-like monster returned to the field and attached itself to Meklord Emperor Wisel as its head (4800-5400).

"Next, the effect of Infinity Fortress activates. Wisel Top 3 upgrades to Wisel Top 5 (700/0)."

Wisel's head disappeared, replaced by a large, robotic dog-like monster. It tucked its legs in and attached to Meklord Emperor Wisel as its new head (5400 - 5500).

"Next I sacrifice Wisel Attack 3 to special summon Wisel Attack 5 (2000/0) from my hand." Wisel's left arm disappeared, replaced by a bizarre robotic component that to Hannah looked like a thin white robotic bird with green wings. The wings snapped together, forming a green blade over the robotic bird's head. The tip of the head of the "bird" split, turning it into a five-fingered hand. The component attached to Wisel as its new left arm, a long, thin white arm with a large green blade attached (5500 - 5900). "Turn end."

Wisel Ein: LP: 3500, hand: 1

Hannah: LP: 200, hand: 1

"My turn," Hannah said, placing her first two fingers on her deck. She drew and looked at the card. She then placed it in her hand and picked up the other card in her hand, placing it on the green blade of her duel disk. "I summon Gem Box (0/0). If the only monsters in my graveyard are 'Gem' monsters, by banishing three "Fusion" spells in my graveyard and this card, I can draw three cards at the cost of discarding my hand, skipping my battle phase and not being able to summon this turn. Both players also take 100 damage for each card I discard. I banish Absorb Fusion, Brilliant Fusion, Temporary Fusion and Gem Box."

"Wisel Top 5's effect activates. The activation of a spell or trap card or a monster effect is negated and that card is bani-"

"Gem Box's effect cannot be countered," Hannah stated. She discarded the only remaining card in her hand (Hannah's LP: 200 - 100, Wisel Ein's LP: 3500 - 3400). She placed two fingers on her deck. This was it. If she didn't get what she needed now, she would lose the duel and die. The robot would then kill her foster little brother. She slowly drew three cards, one by one. After drawing her third card, she studied her hand for a few long seconds before throwing them all face-down into her spell/trap zones. "I set three cards face-down and end my turn."

"Big sis…" John said, the despair in his voice evident. Hannah was wide open for a direct attack and had only 100 life points left.

"At the end of this turn, the Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond (3400/2000) banished by Paradox Fusion returns," Hannah said.

Wisel Ein: LP: 3400, hand: 1

Hannah: LP: 100, hand: 0

"Draw," said the terrifyingly mechanical voice of the Wisel Ein robot. "I sacrifice Wisel Carrier 3 to summon Wisel Carrier 5 (1200/1000) from my hand." Wisel's legs were replaced by a new pair (5900 - 6100). Next, Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity absorbs Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond."

"I activate the quick-play spell Fusion Force. To activate this card, I negate the effect of a fusion monster I control. If that fusion monster is level 8 or higher, this card's activation cannot be countered. Furthermore, I can choose one of three effects depending on the level of the monster whose effect I negated. If it is level 10 or higher, I can activate the third effect, which destroys all cards you control!"

"Due to Wisel Carrier 5's effect, my monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects."

"However, your field spell and the Gem-Knight Citrine you absorbed are destroyed!"

Two bolts of lightning shot out of Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond's palm, one destroying the field spell and one striking the infinity symbol on the Meklord Emperor's chest. (Wisel's ATK: 6100 – 3900).

"When Infinity Fortress is destroyed by the opponent's card effect," the Wisel Ein unit said. "I add a Meklord Emperor part from my deck to my hand. I choose Wisel Guard 5. I sacrifice Wisel Guard 3 to summon Wisel Guard 5 (0/2800). The robot mechanically placed down the Wisel Guard 5 card on the green blade of its duel disk. "Due to the effect of Wisel Guard 5, all battle damage I would take is inflicted to my opponent instead. Battle. Machine Emperor Wisel attacks Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond." The giant robot readied its bladed left arm.

"Counter trap activate!" Hannah declared. "Negate Attack."

"Wisel Top 5's effect activates. Negate Attack is negated and banished." A laser shot out of Wisel's head and destroyed Hannah's Negate Attack card.

"Impossible," Hannah said. "Counter traps can only be countered by other counter traps."

"Wisel Top 5's effect is spell speed 4."

"So it can counter anything and cannot be countered," Hannah said in disbelief.

"Affirmative. Meklord Emperor Wisel's attack continues."

"Aura trap activate: Reinforce. When my monster is attacked, it gains 500 attack,"

"Wisel Attack 5's effect activates. Once per turn, when a Meklord Emperor attacks, it negates the activation of a trap card and destroys it."

The Reinforce trap shattered into a million pieces.

"I activate the effect of Gem blade in my graveyard." It was the card Hannah had discarded Last Turn. "By banishing it, I can increase the attack of a "Gem-" monster I control by 500 until this turn's end phase (3400 - 3900). However, at the end of the turn I take 500 damage."

Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond stabbed the Infinity symbol on the giant white robot's chest. It exploded, destroying all monsters on the field.

"Probability of victory this turn – 100%" the Wisel Ein unit declared.

Hannah smirked. "Yeah. For me. I activate a trap. Brilliant Spark."

Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond reappeared on the field, though this time it was transparent, giving it a ghostly appearance.

"When a Gem-Knight is destroyed, Brilliant spark deals damage to the opponent equal to its attack. That means you take 3400 damage."

The apparition of Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond coalesced into a single diamond. Three bolts of lightning shot out of the diamond toward the Wisel Ein unit, shutting it down (LP: 3400 - 0).

"Big Sis!" John exclaimed. "You won!"

Hannah suddenly felt something strange from her duel disk. She looked down. The momentum inside was rotating in reverse. "Oh, crap."

She was no physicist but Hannah knew that momentum rotating in reverse was never good news. She quickly took her cards out of her duel disk and threw the latter as far away from her as possible. After a quick look at her D-wheel, she saw that the momentum inside it was also rotating in reverse and decided to leave it in the subway with her duel disk.

"Big sis, what's wrong?" John asked. He tried to walk towards Hannah but felt a sharp pain in his ankle and stumbled. Realizing that he had sprained or broken his ankle, Hannah quickly rushed over to John, picked him up bridal-style and rushed out of the subway. Just then, she heard a large explosion from the subway, no doubt coming from the momentum energy cells in her duel disk and D-wheel that were rotating in reverse.

Hannah set the five year old down. "Sorry Big Sis," he said. "Because of me, you almost-"

SLAP. John's face stung. "What the hell were you doing?" Hannah demanded. "Forget me, you nearly got yourself killed! Don't you know there's a god damn war going on?" At that, John burst into tears. "Of course he knows dumbass," Hannah told herself mentally. The war was what took his family away from him. His real family. If those stupid machines never appeared, both of them would be living happy lives with their real families. All the kids would be. At those thoughts, a tear escaped Hannah's own eye.

Hannah put a comforting hand on the sobbing boy's shoulder.

"Come on. It's not safe here."

"Who cares?"

She knew exactly what that meant. So her suspicions were true.

"Do you think they'd want you to die here?"

"I want to see them. They want to see me again too."

"No, they want you to survive. I'd wager that they sacrificed their lives to save you from those stupid robots."

"Yeah, right. How would you know?"

"That's what a parent is. If they had the chance to do that, they did it. Believe me."

"I'm tired of this place. I want to go to the good place."

"John, I told you, that is ridiculous superstition. At least that's what I personally think it is. But the fact of the matter is, it's just a belief. No one knows what happens when you-"

"I want to be with them. They want to be with me too."

"They are with you. They're right here," Hannah said, placing her free hand on the left side of the boy's tiny chest. That seemed to strike a chord with the boy. "They'll always be with you." Just then, they heard an explosion.

"Come on, let's go." Hannah motioned for John to climb onto her back.

The young woman was most likely going to give him hell later but for now, John was just glad to be alive. She was right. That's what his parents would have wanted. There's no way they would have wanted him to die. They were right there, and that part of him was pounding, screaming at him to survive. John climbed onto Hannah's back. She began to run back home.

After about an hour and a half of Hannah alternating between running and walking, their home on the outskirts of the city was in sight. Hannah slowed her pace, tired and panting. She was a fairly fit woman but carrying a forty pound child on her back for ninety minutes was exhausting, especially when she was running for part of the time. "We're here."

"Big Sis?" John inquired, still on Hannah's back. "When will the war end?"

Hannah knew John was too smart for the usual "soon" routine. "I really don't know, John."

Just then, earsplitting sounds reached the two of them. Hannah looked back at the city. She and John were shocked at what they saw. A rain of explosions lit up the night sky and filled their ears. "Did those god damn robots self destruct?" It was the only explanation she could come up with. Nothing else could have produced the sheer quantity of explosions they were witnessing. Just then, the two witnessed a much larger explosion, dwarfing the rain of smaller ones and engulfing the entire city. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. The explosion was a massive, rainbow colored pillar of light. Hannah recognized it as momentum. It was almost, in some twisted sense… beautiful. Little did they know at that moment that this phenomenon was occurring worldwide. Every Meklord and every momentum reactor in the world was exploding. Little did they know that almost the entirety of the world's population of nine billion (nearly triple the casualties of the entire five-year span of the war) were drawing their last breath. Little did they know that they were witnessing the end of the war. And the world.

Custom cards used (sorted by order of appearance):

Prologue:

Temporary Fusion

Aura spell

Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster from your extra deck, using monsters you control or in your hand as the Fusion Materials. The monster Fusion Summoned by this effect is returned to the Extra Deck at the End Phase of this turn. You cannot Summon or Set monsters the turn you activate this card, except by Fusion Summon.

Gem Power

Trap

Banish 1 "Gem-Knight" monster from your graveyard to target 1 "Gem-Knight" monster you control, it gains ATK equal to the ATK of the banished monster until your next End Phase. During your turn (except the turn this card was sent to the graveyard), you can banish this card and 2 "Gem-Knight" monsters from your graveyard, target 1 "Gem-Knight" fusion monster you control; until the end of this turn, it is unaffected by the effects of other cards and you can switch it to defense position. This effect of "Gem Power" can only be used once per duel.

Infinity Fortress

Field Spell

Pay 500 LP to activate this card. All special summoned monsters on the field except "Meklord," "Skiel," "Wisel," and "Grannel" monsters are treated as synchro monsters. Once per turn, the turn player can tribute the lowest-level (the player who activates this effect chooses, if tied) machine-type "top," "attack," "guard," or "carrier" monster they control to special summon a machine-type "top," "attack," "guard," or "carrier" monster (respectively) from their deck that is the same attribute and two levels higher than the tributed monster. When this card is destroyed, both players can add one "Meklord," "Skiel," "Wisel," or "Grannel" monster from their deck to their hand.

Fusion Draw

Spell

Banish one "fusion" or "polymerization" spell card in your hand; draw 2 cards. If this card is destroyed while you have 10 or more Fusion Monsters in your extra deck, draw a card.

Fusion Barrier

Aura counter trap

Activate only when a monster your opponent controls attacks you directly: banish one Fusion monster from your graveyard; negate that attack, then draw 1 card.

Wisel Carrier 3

LV3

1000/800

DARK/Machine/Effect

Destroy this card unless you control a face up "∞" monster. Monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects. If a monster you control is targeted by a card effect, you can switch the target to another appropriate monster you control.

Meklord Reconstruction

Quick-play spell

Special Summon 1 "Wisel," "Skiel," "Grannel," or "Meklord" monster from your graveyard.

Wisel Top 5

LV5

700/0

DARK/Machine/Effect

Destroy this card unless you control a face up "∞" monster. Once per turn, during either's player's turn, you can negate the activation of a spell/trap card or an effect monster's effect and banish it. This effect is spell speed 4.

Gem Box

LV1

0/0

EARTH/Rock/Effect

If this card is the only monster you control and the only monsters in your graveyard are "Gem" monsters, you can banish this card and three "fusion" or "polymerization" spell cards in your graveyard with different names and discard your entire hand (at least 1); draw 3 cards. Both players take 100 damage for every card you discarded to activate this effect. You cannot summon other monsters or conduct your battle phase the turn you activate this card's effect. If the only monsters in your extra deck are fusion monsters, cards and effects cannot be chained to the activation of this card's effect. The effect of "Gem Box" can only be activated once per duel.

Wisel Carrier 5

LV5

1200/1000

DARK/Machine/Effect

Destroy this card unless you control a face up "∞" monster. Monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects. If a card(s) you control is targeted by a card effect, you can switch the target to another appropriate card(s).

Fusion Force

Quick-play spell

Negate the effect of a Fusion Monster you control to activate this card. If that monster is level 8 or higher, cards and effects cannot be chained to this card's activation. Activate one of the following effects, depending on the level of the monster whose effect was negated:

4 or higher: Draw 1 card

7 or higher: Banish up to 2 cards your opponent controls.

10 or higher: Destroy all cards your opponent controls.

Wisel Guard 5

LV5

0/2800

DARK/Machine/Effect

This card is destroyed if you do not control a face-up "∞" monster. This card cannot be destroyed by battle. Any battle damage you take from battles involving machine-type monsters you control is inflicted to your opponent instead. If your opponent declares an attack, you can switch the attack target to this card.

Reinforce

Aura Trap

One monster you control gains 500 ATK until the End Phase.

Gem Blade

LV3

1000/0

EARTH/Rock/Effect

During either player's turn, You can discard this card from your hand to select a "Gem-Knight" monster you control: it gains 1000 ATK until the end of this turn. During either player's turn, except the turn this card was sent to the graveyard, you can banish this card along with any number of cards from your graveyard, one "Gem-Knight" monster you control gains ATK equal to 500 + the number of other cards banished by this effect * 100. You then take damage equal to the ATK gained by this effect at the End Phase. Each effect of "Gem Blade" can only be activated once per turn.