The Rise and Fall of History: A Past Unseen

by Medigo

The world of dueling has reached a standstill. Many stories have been told through these cards, and the final story pits every side against each other. It is a game no more. Duelists are divided, and an unknown enemy watches from afar. In the midst of all this chaos is one man who brings a new power that can forever end the conflict; a stranger to this world and to himself.

2. First Ripples then Waves

Annex 002: First Ripples then Waves

By the time the father of the Brandt household came back from work, his two daughters had much to tell him. "You should be glad you're only feeling tired, kid. I wouldn't have moved around after an accident like yours." Uno, as he now called himself, had forced himself back to the couch to regain the strength he lost from the previous duel. "It could have been worse. I'm sure the rest will come back eventually." Uno was in a good mood. He was feeling less tired and he knew more now than he did four hours ago. "That might be. Nevertheless I am going to suggest you check in at the hospital down the hills. I am willing to take you there in the morning." Mr. Brandt doubted Uno could make it there on his own. Allthough he was more curious how this man got all the way here. He was not a local, that was certain. "The hour is late now. You are welcome to sleep here tonight." Perhaps rest was all Uno needed. "Thanks..mr. Brandt. That's very generous."

"Please, call me James.. or just Brandt. Either will do."

Once that conversation had been wrapped up, Uno's focus shifted to the TV-set in front of him. "Hmm. I wonder.." He grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. "Are you looking for something? I can help." Alice assumed that maybe he was looking for a news channel. He must've had a million questions about the world. "Well I..ooh." Or he didn't. "Toons.." Uno's zapping led him to the local cartoon channel. He put the remote aside and glued his eyes to the screen. "You like this?" Alice dared to get closer and plopped down on the left side of the couch. "What's not to like?" He was already laughing his heart out after one scene of slapstick. The history of the world could wait, that was not going anywhere. "Hmm..oh. I've already seen this episode." Alice recognized the scenes. "But you don't have to worry about that right? I mean.." For Uno all things would be new to him. It was funny in a way, but cruel in another. It could almost sound rude to say it. "Oh, but I did not mean it like that. I'm.."

"Ah don't worry. I can take a joke. Just don't spoil the episode for me." By the next comical scene Uno had already brushed aside her words. "Well I'm glad you can still laugh. You like this kind of stuff. Is that maybe why you have those cards?" Uno's tastes, when it came to media, lined up with his dueling style. "I don't doubt it. I ask you, why do people duel? To have fun of course. So why not make sure the cards look interesting for the crowd?" Uno paused briefly. What he was saying made almost too much sense for someone who did not remember where said cards came from. "And what about your amulet-thing? That's special too." The pendant had definitely given of some kind of glow earlier, it was not simply reflecting sunlight. "You know. I'm starting to think this doesn't belong to me." Uno admitted. Not only was the jewel heavy and clunky, he did not know what it was made of. Unlike his dueldisk and his cards, his body had no subconscious reactions to it. It was a foreign element. "Still, might as well keep it. I have little else.."

The other two Brandts watched the two from a short distance. "Well, she's pretty obsessed again." She talked softly enough to avoid being heard by the two. "I can't see any danger. He does not look much older than either of you." Her father replied with a cheeky grin. "You know I don't.. gyuh.. Not what I was talking about, dad. She shouldn't get attached.. he could be gone soon." Emily growled under her breath. It was always like this, her sister was always too happy.. never considering consequences. "Something not normal is going on with him. Maybe one of the guilds is involved. You do not get such 'things' for free." She said while eyeing his dueldisks. Nobody around here had machines that advanced. "Maybe. But Uno has not done anything to you while I was gone, has he? I feel like we can trust him." He was at ease. His daughter clearly wasn't. "But I suppose I can ask around town to see if anyone has seen or heard anything. Okay? I guess I will drag my poor old foot out there." He let out a long exaggerated moan. "Dad, dont be so dramatic... and thanks." James put on his coat and headed out. "Anytime hon."

Not a minute later, Eric was at the door. "Well, I want to say this is a surprise, but..." Emily had put two and two together as soon as she opened the door. She did not need the extra hint that was in Erics hands; a pack of cards. "Hey! I'm just here to help Uno!" He waltzed inside before Emily could get in his way and threw his jacket on the floor. "Yo, Uno, Alice. What do you say? Want to duel me next? I finally put my deck together! It may not have come from a nice structure deck, but it sticks together!" Eric looked like he was holding everything back to not just grab the dueldisk and begin by himself. "Eric.. we're watching something." Alice pouted. They could duel any time, she thought. Uno did not agree with her however. "Nah that's okay. Eric wants a show? He gets a show!" Who was he to deny Eric? He didn't have that answer, so he was eager to duel again. Perhaps this time he would get more than a name.

"Hell yes!" Eric took one dueldisk and activated it. His cards were inserted, and so were Uno's. Meanwhile Alice moved to one of the chairs with Emily while the boys positioned themselves at the center of the living room. "What a coincidence that Eric shows up just after dad leaves." Emily muttered sarcastically. Eric did not want to get in trouble with their father again, more like it. "Well I believe he wants to help.. too." Alice said in return. "Go get him Uno, or Eric!"

Bobs LP: 8000 Erics's LP: 8000

"Pfft. Can't get this thing to change my name. Well whatever." It wasn't a big problem. They knew his new name. "Heh. I rolled the first turn tho, Bob." Eric placed one of the monster cards in his hands face-down, and left it at that. "I'm gonna keep my deck a secret for a bit. Hope you are shaking with anticipation, Uno." The turn passed to Uno. "I cannot wait. I'm gonna unveil secrets of all sizes!" Uno normal summoned a monster. "Meet our latest performer; Performapal Sword Fish!" This was the gaudiest one yet; a blue fish(2/600/600) shaped like a sword. It wore pink shades and the bladed tip on its head resembled a pompadour. "After all, what is a show, without a sword dance?" Uno stretched his hand out towards Erics set card, and the Swordfish shot out like a torpedo. "Really? You don't want to summon anything bigger?" It was not the looks that surprised Eric, but the stats. The Swordfish impaled a threeheaded fire lizard made of metal(1/500/0). "Doesn't matter, the first damage is mine. Because you just killed Volcanic Scattershot!" Scattershot inflicted 500 damage to the opponent whenever it was sent to the graveyard.

Bobs LP: 7500

"Oof, fooled at the first move." Uno shook his head. "I should reward tricks with tricks." He placed two cards down behind Swordfish, in the spell/trap zone. "Your time to shine, Eric." Another turn had passed. "Yessss. At last." Eric wasted no time, he wanted to see the monstrous holograms. "I summon Volcanic Slicer, the Edge monster!" A new metallic reptile(4/1800/1200) appeared, this one featured more dinosaurian traits, and lacked eyes. The disk portrayed every detail. "Nice..Nice! I bet it looks even better when attacking!" Eric entered his battle phase now. "Slicer.. slice that fish into sushi!"

"Not so fast. Before you continue." Uno wagged his finger and flipped one of his set cards. It was a quickplay spell card. "I bring in these lovely ladies! I activate Hippo Carnival!" Three dancing hippos(1/0/0) of various colors marched unto the floor, getting in between the Swordfish and Slicer. "What.. is.. this?" Eric gasped. "Hippo Carnival creates three Hippo-tokens in defense mode. They draw in any attack declared until the end of this turn." Meaning Sword Fish could not be fought while the Hippos were dancing. "Oh and Sword Fish weakens your monsters whenever I roll in a new guest with a special summon." The summoned tokens triggered the Performapals effect. Sword Fish made it rain bladed fish, stabbing Slicer(1200/600) until it lost 600 of its attack and defense-points. "I cannot believe what I am seeing." Emily stared with wide eyes. This deck got goofier and goofier. "Hrgh. Then I wont waste my fire, Uno!" Eric struck a dramatic pose and he terminated the battle phase. "Since Slicer never actually attacked, he can inflict 500 damage points of damage with his effect!" The Volcanic beast fired a flame shot from its mouth. It flew right into Uno's head and disappeared into flame particle effects. "Good! I 'll set my trap card too, and end my turn!"

Bobs LP: 7000

"Any good duelist would defend their cast. Eric. However, you upped the stakes, so I will meet you halfway!" Uno began his next turn with another new performer, a Tiger warrior(4/1700/500) in colorful gear. "A double feature! Performapal Salutiger joins the fray!" The Tiger unsheathed his claws and 'sliced' through Volcanic Slicer. "And this next attack, is all for you!" Performapal Swordfish blasted off again, phasing right through Erics body like a bolt of thunder. "Here is where it gets good. Salutiger prepares the next act; when he destroys a monster, he adds a Performapal in my deck to my hand." A Performapal Hip Hippo was chosen by the Tiger. "The curtains close again, and the stage will be set for the major setpiece. There's chances for comedy or tragedy. Are you excited yet?"

Eric's LP: 6900

"I am excited, but not for the reason you might think.. Uno." Eric activated his trap card after he was done with his draw phase. "Here's my Continuous trap card: Blaze Accelerator Reload! With this I can discard a Volcanic card during a main phase." Eric sent a Volcanic Counter monster from his hand to the graveyard. "To draw one new card!" He pulled the next card with gusto, and his expression changed when he saw what he gained. "Now we're talking... Uno, my trap here has another effect. I can treat it as a 'Tri-Blaze Accelerator card. Do you know which monster demands a TriBlaze Accelerator as a sacrifice?" Eric placed his card from his hand on the board. The Blaze trap subsequently exploded, bursting wide open with infernal flames and black smoke. Two glowing eyes peered through the ashes. "I will special summon my ace; the Volcanic Devil!" A hellish horned demon(8/3000/1800) of black armor and red skin arose.

"Don't you mean Volcanic Doomfire?" Alice asked, right in the middle of its grand entrance.

"Hah?" Eric looked at the name written on his card. "N-no! That's just the lame censored name. Its real name if Volcanic Devil!" He protested vehemently. If there was a way to get the unedited version he would have. But he could only afford these. "They only did that to not upset kids. They don't need to worry about devils." She insisted. He just got more inflamed because of that. "I'm not a kid! I can say whatever I want and do what I want. Look!" The battle began, with its claws, the Devil tore Performapal Swordfish to pieces. "Look how strong he is!" The attack left a virtual blaze in its wake, one that trailed across Uno's field. "The Devil destroys every other monster when it attacks, and inflicts 500 points of damage for each destroyed card!" Salutiger and the Carnival hippos were consumed by the fire, and Uno lost 2000 lifepoints total by the effect. "Such a kickass monster shouldn't get such a lame name as Doomfire. What does that even mean?"

Bobs LP: 2600

"Well I'm not a fan of censorship either, but you gotta admit." Uno all the while maintained his cool, and flipped a set trap card. "We can use some levity now and then. I activate Performapal Revival. When a monster is destroyed, a Performapal can be summoned from the hand..or graveyard." The fire dissipated and Performapal Swordfish bounced back to life. "What?" Immediately Erics monster was struck with a dozen swords, again. "Oh, Swordfish also decreases stats whenever he is summoned." The Volcanic Devil(2400/1200) was suitably weak now. "Grr.. Frigging.. I cant let my card lose to something like that!" Eric placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "I wouldn't dream of it." Uno's turn began. He summoned the Performapal Hip Hippo that waited in his hand. "I made a promise, Eric. What kind of entertainer am I, if I fail to live up to them?" With Hip Hippo's effect now employed, a level 7 monster could be tribute summoned in this turn. "I tribute you, Swordfish and Hip Hippo, to call out Odd-Eyes Dragon!" The performers retreated into the grave, and the showstopper returned once more. The odd-eyed red dragon(7/2500/2000) stomped down in the room. "Here we go!" And with its charged up breath it challenged the Volcanic Devil, attacking it continuously. "Trap card!" Eric revealed his set card now. He had to. "Impenetrable Attack! This trap can protect my monster from destruction!" The dragons attack did damage, but not fatal damage. Volcanic Doomfire's impenetrable skin endured.

Bobs LP: 2400 Eric's LP: 6700

"Wait, is this thing glitched? I shouldn't have lost that much life." Eric lost twice as much as normal. "I lost life too for some reason." Uno wondered why some of the clashing flames had touched him. "Oh that was just Volcanic Counters doing. That monster I discarded." Volcanic Counter reflected battle damage to both players, by banishing itself as soon as a battle took place. Eric wanted to use it for a bigger hit, but no such luck. That still did not explain why the damage had been doubled. "Maybe..it is not the same dragon?" Emily interjected, pointing at the monster. Its horns and wings looked bigger than the ones from the dragon that Alice faced. "Yeah, you're right. It even has a different effect." Uno inspected the card closer. Before he had not spotted a difference at all. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon? It doubles any damage when it fights other monsters?" What was this all about? Why did he have two of these dragons. "This looks odd.. pun not intended." Uno thought about this while he ended his turn.

"Last time, something happened when your dragon went down. Maybe I should try that too." Eric began to formulate a new strategy in his head, now that he remembered the point of this battle. "My turn! I summon a Watchdog!" A guard dog(1/0/0) with fire-red fur sat down in the shadow of the Volcanic demon. "I enter my battlephase and skip it!" Eric discarded a Wild Fire spell-card. "During the 2nd main phase Watchdog can throw a spell out of my hand, to set a continuous spell directly from my deck! I set Blaze Accelator.. I mean Cannon!" Eric's deck forced out the tripod flame cannon, and Eric flipped it face-up the next instant. "I have the weapon, now I need the ammo. Time to banish Blaze Accelerator Reload from my cemetery! That trap can burn its remains to incinerate a Volcanic monster in my deck!" The removal of the Reloader, forced a Volcanic Shell into the graveyard. "That's one part down. Next, I'll banish Volcanic Shell from the graveyard and pay 500 lifepoints. That way Volcanic Shell can add a second Volcanic Shell from the deck to my hand." He did just that.

Erics LP: 6200

"Here comes the shot! Blaze Accelerator can destroy a monster, by consuming up a fire-monster with 500 attackpoints or less." Volcanic Shell, with its 100 attackpoints, was a perfect bullet. Eric pushed it into the grave-slot and unleashed the destructive power of the Accelerator spell. "!" The cannon shot a hole straight through the torso of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "The odds are back in my favor! While I have Volcanic Devil, you cannot attack any other monsters. So my Watchdog is safe!" He looked at Uno for a reaction, as he placed another trap card down and ended his turn. "Uno?" Alice and Emily were similarly focused on the man. He'd gone quiet, just like the last time. "Uno, say something. If you.." Only Emily perceived Uno's changing expressions. There was a fraction of a second, where he looked absolutely horrified. But only for that fraction.

The next second, a blast of radiance escaped the pendant, shooting down into the ground where once the dragon had been. "Who-oah!" That energy turned around and fired into the extra deck of Uno's disk. The light was brighter than the last time. The glow flooded the room, becoming visible from the outside. "Aha! Now I know how to do it!" Uno shouted, and he balled his hand into a fist. "It's all so clear.. It's a Pendulum! They're Pendulum monsters.." He raised his dueldisk to the front and pushed a button on the side. Two more slots were displayed on the blade; one blue and one red. "What is..that? More zones?" A normal field only had five zones for monsters, now there were seven. "The left scale: Stargazer Magician!" In the blue zone, a fifth-level monster was placed. Except it was not summoned, it was activated. "The right scale: Timegazer magician!" In the red zone a third-level magician appeared. "Scales 1 and 8!" Two more beams of light were cast. The magicians hovered inside while the numbers 1 and 8 were carved in energy above their heads. "I can now pendulum summon! Join the stage Odd-Eyes and Performapals!"

...

Another room, another part of the world. There was a connection, a link displayed on a screen. Of all the screens in this monitor room, only this one mattered right now. "Sir Creffield. You might want to take a look at this." The keeper of this station called out to his superior. "That's what I am here for. If it's something special, you should try being more descriptive." The superior walked up to the man in the chair, his voice carried a light pleasant tone. Still his coworker was nervous. "Oh, of course. My apologies. Then.. that is to say, today the scanner caught strange spikes on the dueling network. The energy expenditures were off the charts. If they had happened just once, I would have written it off as a software error. But it happened again just now, stronger this time." He pointed at a spike in the graphs on the screen. "Something happened in a duel, that should not have happened. We cannot analyze it, it matches no previous readings." 'Creffield' took a closer look at the screen, at the unusual charts. "I don't recognize it either. But the Master might have an idea.."

"Do you have the coordinates?"

(To be Continued in Annex 003: The Theater comes to Town)

New Cards used by Uno
Performapal Sword Fish
Performapal Salutiger
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon
Timegazer Magician
Stargazer Magician
Performapal Cheermole

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Hippo Carnival

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Performapal Revival

Cards used by Eric Stonewell
Volcanic Scattershot
Volcanic Slicer
Volcanic Doomfire
Volcanic Counter
Watchdog
Volcanic Shell

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Blaze Accelerator

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Blaze Accelerator Reload
Impenetrable Attack