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.

19. Right to Party

Annex 019: Right to Party

"You! Do not ignore me! How did you acquire a fusion monster! It couldn't have come from us! This whole duel was a farce!" Once the shock wore off, Meridian felt only anger. "We had no record of you owning anything like that!" He felt robbed. This duel had to be scrapped from the rankings. However, Cassius had a few things of his own to say. "Record? Who gave you that record?" The Synchro duelist let that question hang in the air. Meridian was visibly rattled. "Anyway, this duel was clean. That card was in his extra deck from the start." Cassius checked the logs with his own dueldisk. Yet admittedly he was as surprised as anyone else to see the fused dragon. "Unless you want to accuse our friend of adding cards to his deck mid-duel." Meridian gnashed his teeth in frustration. He was not ready to give up his standpoint. "But what about the card itself? I never even heard of a Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! How could a brand new theme have fusions already?"

"My counterpart is right, Meridian." A womans voice with a higher than usual pitch broke up the standoff. "Oh? Did you enjoy the show?" Uno heard the words coming from speakers installed on the ceiling. The people above were deigning to talk with those below. "Our own scans confirm that the card is genuine, it has all the coding that Dreamworld usually applies. Whatever game Dom and his entourage are setting up, they're playing it by the book." This got Meridian to simmer down, although he was still visibly upset. "Now." Another much lower-toned voice cut in on the PA. "That was really great, Uno. We like your style. If you still want to, you can come upstairs. Bring your friends or Cassius, whatever. I'm sure we can beat whatever he offered you. The elevator will be opened . Don't keep us waiting." The transmission broke off.

"I guess one of those was the current guild runner?" Cassius asked Meridian. "You will find out on your own." Meridian did not feel like telling them anything. "Just take this." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a medal. He tossed it to Uno. "Thank you." The medal had the symbol of the fusion guild on it. There was the first step towards being part of this guild. But Meridian was not done venting yet. "This is not over, Uno. You might be a part of the guild, but I never forget those who slight me." He walked away, forcing himself past the crowd. "He didn't like to lose either." Alice sighed. It was disheartening to see so many people care only about winning. Not that she did not have her own concerns. "Uno, I'm glad you won, but was that dragon always part of your deck?" To her that dragon did not seem to blend in well with his visual style. Uno himself had acted strange after he summoned it too. "Yeah. I just never had a good moment to summon it. I can't show all my tricks at once yaknow."

It wasn't. Uno had to lie to her, because the truth was far stranger. This duel was the first time Uno saw Rune-Eyes. He just did not want to trouble Alice with things he already couldn't understand himself. "Though where did the card come from then, Uno? Can your disk somehow print you new cards during a duel? But those people said nothing unfair happened, so.. what did happen?" All he had to go on was the timing of it all. It happened after his jewel glowed. It made him see something he could not see before. "The sisters." When he remembered their words, that was when he discovered Rune-Eyes. But this was not the first time his cards seemed to undergo a change. "It was the same with Odd-Eyes Dragon. I don't even remember if I had Pendulum cards in my deck, until that pendulum jewel glowed." Did it take place that far back? Had he held fusion monsters all along and did this duel make him remember? Each memory just raised more questions.

"About your other question.. I haven't made up my mind yet. I want to keep my options open." There were more pressing matters. Uno could choose one of two guilds now, but that would make the other his enemy. Cassius was somewhat understanding though. "We should still meet with those on top." He suggested. "Yeah I would like to see them face to face. Alice, wanna tag along?" Uno asked. The girl shook her head. "No. It doesn't sound as fun as this floor. Also I probably shouldn't leave Emily. She'll give me another speech if I do." Speaking of her sister, there she was right now, pushing her way through the mob. "Hey. Is it over already?" Looked like she had missed the whole duel. "Yeah. I won too. Guess that makes us even. So where's Eric?" For a second he wondered if Eric had gotten lost in the masses. "He ran into the nearest duel arena he could find as soon as he bought new cards for himself. I figured better he did that, than waste his money on the slot machines." Now he would finally stay in one spot. "Oh. I want to see that!" Alice said, energetic as always. "That's cool. You two can look over him. Cassius and I'll go talk to those ladies upstairs." Any other time Uno would have stayed with them, but he had to get this over with.

The Brandts left the boys to their meeting and headed back into the arena section. There they discovered Eric was in a less than happy disposition. "Why, why can't I do it!?" The outcome of his match was obvious. "Oh no! How did it go wrong?" The details were less clear. "It doesn't matter Alice, it is going to be the same every time. It's impossible without the best cards. Fusions, Synchros and XYZs are just too fast and overwhelming." The deck he made this time was just not as good as a guild-enhanced deck. He wasted his money. "Hey I did it." Emily shrugged. "Yeah yeah. I am overreacting, that is what you want to say isn't it? But you knew your opponent, you were lucky! Now you can be as good as him. But I don't have that! I'll never be as good as someone like Iria. She could beat anyone without an extra deck."

"What about that guy?" Alice pointed to the neighboring duel arena. "That guy?" Someone from outside the guild, a tall man with short brown hair, was fighting against a guild member in fancy coat. The names on their disks were Kyle and Julius. "He is doing.. sorta okay." That match had been going on for a bit, and the outsider was actually staying in the game without extra deck monsters. "Maybe we should see how he does it?" Since they had to wait for Uno to get ready with his talks, they had time to fill. But that did not mean Eric had to enjoy it. "Yeah? Well I'll see about that." He sat down with his arms folded and legs crossed. "Off to a good start.."

Julius' LP: 3100 Kyle's LP: 1200

Already Julius was gaining back the lead with a monster he had fusion summoned, who destroyed one of Kyle's regular monsters. "What you destroyed was Valkyrian Knight, do you know what is going to happen now?" Kyle's slain valkyrie(4/1900/1200) in red armor had a death-triggered effect. Now that she had been destroyed in battle, Kyle could banish her and another warrior from the grave to special summon a warrior from his graveyard. "I summon this card, Mighty Slugger." A baseball player(5/2300/700) with cybernetic armor attachments was placed on the arena. It was one of the Ultra Athtletes. "Pfahah! Don't you know what you are up against?" Julius had a good laugh as he ended his battle phase. "My monster, Elemental HERO Core, can destroy any monster at the end of a battle phase!" His fusion warrior, the ideal hero Core(9/2700/2200), blew up the revived Athlete by creating a meteor that crashed down on that specific monster zone. "So much for that stunt, Kyle!"

"Stunt? You think I am just here to show off?" Kyle clenched his hand. "Let me show you how serious I am, Julius. I have been saving all my cards for this!" Kyle's turn began now. He started by activating a spell card; The Warrior Returning Alive. With it he could reclaim a dead warrior. "I place Mighty Slugger back in my hand!" He followed with a second spell. "Feast of the Wild Level 5! I special summon Mighty Slugger and Perfect Ace!" The savage feast spell could summon a pair of level 5 warriors that were in a players hand. The ultra slugger returned, along with the visor-wearing ace pitcher(5/1500/2500) of the athletes. "What are you up to, Kyle? Monsters summoned by Feast of the Wild cannot attack or activate their abilities." Julius was not very intimidated. "This, Julius." But Kyle's opponent changed his mind, when Kyle recalled Mighty Slugger. "By sending an Ultra Athlete back to my hand, I can special summon another!" Kyle summoned a stronger athlete from his hand, a basketball cyborg(7/2500/1800). "Ultra Athlete Dreadnought Dunker!"

"Oh, that is neat." Alice hadn't seen cards like those before. "But does that mean he can.." And as she expected, it was a very versatile technique. Kyle put U.A. Perfect Ace back into his hand next. "I special summon Mighty Slugger back to the field!" Now the Ultra Slugger had returned and broken free from the Wild Feasts restrictions. It could attack, and it would. "Spell card, Solidarity! All my monsters will gain 800 attackpoints!" The Dreadnaught(3300/1800) and Mighty one(3100/700) enjoyed a new powerboost. Solidarity would strengthen them as long as Kyle had only one type of monster, warrior in this case, in his graveyard. "Battle!" Mighty Slugger gathered lightning into a spherical shape, and launched it away with a swing of his bat. "Not going to happen, Kyle! Elemental HERO Core can double his attackpoints when he is attacked!" Julius claimed, and he tried to back it up with action. "Julius, you are overlooking one thing. When the Slugger attacks, no effects may be activated." Except Kyle had that taken care of.

"I am not done yet! Go ahead, destroy Core. His death will only guarantee new life!" The HERO Core could special summon a fusion Elemental HERO from the grave upon destruction, and Julius had plenty in the graveyard by now. "Now that is not going to happen, Julius!" So Kyle flipped a continuous trap that he had set down in his previous turn. "Ultra Athlete Penalty Box! When my Athletes do battle, the monster they fight with is banished along with them!" A holographic referee popped up to blow his whistle. Both the Slugger and Core were put on time-out and dragged into a box in another dimension. "What the.." Now there was nothing but a clean path between The Dreadnaught Dunker and the hero-less opponent. "I did not come here to play around, Julius. I have a tournament to enter, and you're just the one who got in my way!" The Dunking warrior jumped as high as the holo-emitters would allow and slammed a ball down right on top of Julius. The damage he took was enough to take him out of the duel. The winner was decided. "Pft. You've won this time." Julius handed Kyle his prize, a random fusion monster card and the guild's badge. "Next time, you wont be so lucky." The hero duelist shambled off.

Julius' LP: 0

"Congrats." Emily said as Kyle walked down the raised floor. He paused. "...Thanks... Wait, arent you in the wrong place?" It was not so much her words as her appearance that caught him off guard. "Huh? Oh the coat. Yeah I already have a guild. I'm here with a few friends who don't." One such friend was stewing in the background. "Ngh. I guess that was pretty good." Eric's bitterness had mellowed a bit, enough to admit that he liked that duel. "At least you made it into the guild. But that deck is way more powerful than what I could use." If anything this was his flaw; Eric always went with flash over functionality. "Well maybe he likes doing athletic things, and sports? Maybe he chose that deck because of how it looked." Alice reasoned. Kyle had visibly muscular arms, so it was not unreasonable to assume he did physical exercises. "Me? No. My brother was the athlete. But I guess you can say I chose this deck because of him. Oh and.." Kyle put his fusion medal in his pocket. "Who said anything about joining this guild?"

"Huh? Isn't that why you dueled that guy? To get in here?" Emily did not see why else he would take a badge. Kyle did state he was going to fight in the tournament. "In here? Not on my life. If you knew half the things these guilds do, you would not want to join one either." Kyle said softly, as if they were being monitored. Which, given what the gang had experienced so far, could very well be the case. "These guilds?" Though Kyle seemed to have forgotten who he was talking to. "Forget it. I said nothing. I'm only here to get the badge so I can apply for an Independent Guild." Kyle tried to change the topic. And while Emily wanted to press the earlier issue more, her sister had heard something fascinating. "Independent Guild? Nobody told me those existed." It sounded like something for people who did not want to choose between XYZs, Fusions or Synchros. "This must be your first competition then. Every tournament can host at least sixteen 'free' duelists. There are tons of smaller guilds; high-ranked groups of individuals. You need to have a badge from each main guild to start your own. That is why I was dueling that guy." Kyle revealed the contents of his pocket; he already had Synchro and XYZ-badges. "A lot of people are independent, like the disciples from Dreamworld."

...

"This is..quite a lot." Uno expected a lot of things when he went up to the next level, like a seat at a table in the discussion room with some fancy tea. "Did Emily have to sign as much as this?" But he also got several dozen forms and papers, waiting at that table. "Definitely not." This was the first time Cassius witnessed anyone register for another guild. "We do things quite differently around here, Cassius." Instead of duelists, the process was overseen by lawyer and the casino's financial managers. The contract they wanted him to sign was theirs. "I was hoping to meet the ladies from before." Uno saw only dull looking men in this room. "They have expressed a desire to not make a public appearance until the first round of the tournament. She will only see you once you are a member." They explained with their drab monotonous had no idea his greatest challenge would be to stay awake.

"Just who do you think I am anyway?" Uno asked as he was curious about one thing; what their record contained. "Only that you are some sort of unlicensed duelist who was chosen by Dreamworld to test out their pendulum technology. Those cards are of interest to us and we can see that the other guilds share that interest." The men in suits glared at Cassius. "The trial duel demonstrated that it has great potential." Their answer did not reveal who gave them that information, but Uno did not expect them to. "Well then. I know what I wanted to know. Gents, I'll get back to you." Uno dumped the entire contract and the medal in a binder. "You are leaving?" If these people were disappointed, they did not look or sound like it. "I am going to take my time to consider your offer. You can't expect me to read all this right here, right?" He handed the binder to Cassius. "So it is. Our phone number is on the back of that medal. Do not lose it. We hope to hear from you soon. Remember that the tournament is less than two weeks away. Choose the proper guild." The men in suits stood up in unison and marched out through the doors.

"That went well enough" Cassius said at the end of it all. "You think? Do they do this for every poor sap who just wants to join them?" Right now the Synchro guild looked the most attractive. But even that felt too stifling. Uno would have time to dwell on his options later, first he wanted to leave this place. "Hey, what is down below anyway?" When the elevator doors opened, Uno noticed there were two floors below the main one. "Probably something similar to what we have; a mainframe and storage facilities." Cassius could only guess. "Let's say so." Right now Uno couldn't do anything to help his curiosity.

Once the two came back down, they caught up with the others and with what they learned. "Uh-huh, an Independent guild. And Iria and Zach are using that to enter the tournament.. When were you going to tell me about that, Cassius?" Uno wished he had been informed about two duels ago. Now their request to have him enter made a lot more sense. "Sorry. I do so many guild tasks that sometimes facts slip my mind. I forgot that option." He claimed. "I wouldn't have advised it in any case. You cannot request specialized extra deck monsters outside of their specific guild. Nor can you use more than 5 of any type." A duelist would be stuck using whatever they could scrounge up. "That does not sound that bad. It'd be nice for people who don't want to be part of a big fight between the three big guys." Alice at least showed interest in the idea. "Maybe. But we can think about that another time. We're done here, right?" Emily did not want stay a minute longer in this flashy madhouse. "I am, for now." Uno said, flipping the medal between his fingers like a coin. "I am too." Eric moaned. As much as he did not want to accept it, he was not going to make progress here anymore. "Right then. Let's take off."

Soon they were back outside, and on the boat. Uno looked back at the casino, Emily argued with Eric.. and Alice approached Cassius. "Aaron. If Uno wanted to join the independent guild. He would need to duel the XYZ guild again, wouldn't he?" She already figured that was true, but she wanted confirmation. "He would have to, yes." He gave it, though he looked at her like he was wondering why she had these questions. An idea was forming in her head. "Aaron. Can you help me with something, pleeeaaase?"

(To be Continued in Annex 020: Just as Bittersweet)

Cards used by Kyle
Valkyrian Knight
U.A. Perfect Ace
U.A. Mighty Slugger
U.A. Dreadnaught Dunker

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The Warrior Returning Alive
Feast of the Wild LV5
Solidarity

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U.A. Penalty Box

Cards used by Julian
Elemental HERO Core