Annex 022: Showtime
It had been a few good years since the Brandts last saw a train, much less a place full of trains. And Uno could not visually recall ever taking one either naturally. So it was a change of pace for them as they waited for Mr. Brandt to arrive at the capitols station central. It was the fastest way to travel when you had no care to use. "Hey-hey. There you all are!" James walked out of the train with a big smile. "Dad!" His two daughters jumped right at him. "Whoa, careful now. I'm excited to see you too, but let me put some stuff down first." He placed his luggage against the wall. "Now, first things first. How is the truck?" He inquired. "Daaad." Emily knew she was only teasing them, but she was still exasperated that he could ask them that. "Just kidding. Of course I missed you two a lot more this whole crazy week. Though my working self missed the car too." He laughed and took a good look at them. "Still in good shape I see! You've done so well on your own. I'm proud of you both."
"Well, we did have help." Alice conceded. "Oh yeah." Uno and Cassius were here too. "Aaron! Lord it's been ages. You look very different." James remembered him from when he was just a scraggy-looking youngster. "And Uno. I heard that you still did not get your memories back. I'm sorry to hear it." Uno was the one who had changed the least. "No need to be sorry for what you didn't do." Uno was already happy enough on this day. Seeing this reunion was the icing on the cake. "Hm, yes, you'll have to give me the full story. I only caught pieces of it so far, but I have all day now." He had to get back to work tomorrow, which he would worry about that later. "I will ask the boss if I can take the next week off, so I can watch you girls at the tournament. If I can't, I am sure mom will cover for me." Either way it was being televised, live. So there was no way he would miss their duels. If they could make it. "So why did we come all the way here? An event was going down in the capitol?"
The road to dreamworld HQ was long and James had a lot of questions; about their adventures, what medals they had won and why Emily was wearing a jacket with a synchro patch on it. They answered each one and in return they asked him how the town had been since their departure. One name in particular came up. "No. I didn't see Eric, he holed himself up in his room. His mother didn't know why he came back in a hurry, but she wasn't complaining, so I assume he came back in one piece." That was all the light he could shed on the subject of the Stonewells. "I hope he isn't too mad. Maybe we can get him seat tickets for the big showdowns?" Alice thought that would at least make him feel a little bit better. "We arent that rich. Why are tickets so expensive anyway?" Emily had informed herself on how much it would cost to get her parents seats. The best places took hundreds. "That is just the way things are. What you pay for a live duel is about what you pay for a secret rare hard-to-get card." Cassius did not like it, but he could not get around the fact that keeping guilds required income. That was why his guild had so many sponsorship deals.
"Hey. I think we made it." Uno stopped walking. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. "What gave it away? The duelists or the huge-ass tower?" Emily could barely see ahead due to the massive crowd blocking their way. Though it was impossible to not lay eyes on the tower at the center of the masses. "Dreamworld Technologies." The building was huge; an immense skyscraper with countless stories. Uno felt a shiver ran up and down his body; somewhere inside he would find his namesake. "Looks like a lot of your friends made it too, Aaron." Brandt noted several duelists with synchro symbols on their clothes, spread across the streets. "I expect a lot of guilds will be here." While the greater percentage was formed by guildless duelists; members of the fusion guild could be spotted here and there. Then there was the XYZ-guild. They were all neatly standing close together like they a military squad. "None of the bigwigs though." Cassius spotted neither Adamant nor the Fusions champion, whoever he or she was now.
"But anyway. The press release whatever is not for a while, so maybe we can find a backdoor." Uno was not gonna let anybody slow him down, now that he was this close.
The gang took a roundabout route that led them to an entrance in the building. "State your intentions, please." There it was fiercely guarded by a woman behind a counter. "Uh.. we want to start a guild? We have the medals." Alice and Uno showed her the three guild symbols. But the woman remained unflappable. "You should make an appointment for that, right now is not a proper time." The door stayed shut. Uno twitched. "Hey. I know your bosses are probably watching and listening." Cameras were obviously pointed their way. "So tell them that Uno is here." They would know how to react to that, if she could not. "I don't see.." A scratching sound stopped her from rebuking him. A message was transmitted to her station. "Let them pass Daisy." The slight distortion did not mask the familiarity of this accent. "Sir I.." Daisy might have wanted to stick to protocol. "If you insist." But the voice overruled that. "Yes sir." The woman opened the door for them.
"Wasn't that.." Even James recognized that eccentric voice, it had only been a week ago since he had chased its owner out of his town. "Hey!" Alice suddenly shouted. "It is that Zach-guy!" The secret was squashed quickly, because Zach Creffield was already there to meet them on the ground floor. "Good morning to you all! Or is it afternoon? It is, isn't it? Time flies when it wants to. How nice to see you all again, back together!" He was jovial in spite of everything, including the presence of the father. "We came, just as you said we should." Uno stepped forward while he surveyed the area. There was nobody else inside, beyond the entrance. This was just the waiting room. "True. You are duelists of your word. On that note, you do not need to be wary of miss Silver. She has her own errands to run." They would only be seeing one disciple today. "Now then. What is this I hear about an independent guild? I have to say, I did not expect you to take that road, Uno. Dividing yourselves between two guilds seems like such a shame."
"Hey! What we do is our business." Emily rasped. "Yeah! Wouldn't we have to duel each other anyway if we all entered the tournament?" Alice backed her sister up. "Not right away, actually. The bracket is usually seeded so that guild members do not duel each other in the first few rounds." Cassius said, taking the wind out of their sails. "Thanks Aaron.. But still, this is what Uno and Alice want." Emily would not change her mind, nor could she change theirs. "Oh, I am not one to argue. If you want a guild, I can easily arrange one. It is done all the time. I have seen your names climb the charts, slowly. You would only need a few more victories against highlevel duelists to get seeded." And they had time to do so. "That is all so I can make your boss happy, eh? Does he expect me to win everything?" Uno did not have that much confidence in himself. "Oh no. You just need to show you are as good as us. I'm playing this year as well, mind you. I am quite good at that, winning second place last year." Zach liked to brag, but he was also saying it as a warning. "Second place? Who was first?" Alice asked. Cassius knew the answer to that one. "That was Adamant. He was the one who led the XYZ-guild to its current state. He.."
Cassius could not get another word out. A lot of noise drowned out the silence and the chatter. "Huh?" It came from the outside; cries of a hundred duelists. "Oh no. He didn't.." Zach eyes went wide with dismay. "He who? He what?" Alice noticed Zach had at least some idea of what was going on outside. "My master, he moved up the schedule. He is making his grand entrance early. He should run these things by me!" Zach broke into a sprint, calling for security to move into position. "Hey! Wait.." Uno was right on his tail. "We probably should see this!" The rest tried to match their speed. They made it just in time, going out through one of the side doors. "Where is.. above?" Emily followed the direction of the duelists eyes and looked upwards. "No way." A shape leaped from the top, all the way down to the bottom. "Eeee!" It almost looked like the person would fall to his death on a stage, right in front of the crowd. Alice didn't want to watch. "Wait, look!" Mr. Brandt shouted. The man never landed. "He.. is flying?"
Seconds before impact the man turned around and blasted back up again, he soared through the air in some kind of winged armor that had jet thrusters for stability. "Oh lord. He used the new aerial armor." Zach covered his mouth and then slapped his forehead. "That is your boss?" It was not exactly what Emily expected from the head of a major company. "Yeh.. that is my boss, Master Dom."
"GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE!" The flying man came down to the stage that was set out for him. A mike flipped out of his one sleeve once both feet were on solid ground. "ARE YOU ALL ENTERTAINED?" He shouted to the crowd, and received an unrestrained uproar in return. Only the XYZ-guild retained their silent demeanor. "Well.. can't please them all! Of course you didn't come all the way out here for some old nut with a jetpack. Am I Right?" He spun his hand and listened to the screams. They were calling out for cards and duels. "Of course I am! You came here for my newest toy!" The man took off his armor, as the wings collapsed inwards. Underneath was a dazzling suit, covered with lights and glitter. "What in the.." James whispered as the scene turned from strange to stranger. "Why is he wearing a mask?" Master Dom had a second cover for his entire face underneath the helmet; a smooth dome with the colors of a dueling cards face-down side. "The Master has never shown his face to the public. He claims it makes it easier to talk to the common folk." Zach explained.
And Dom continued. With another snap of his fingers, a dueldisk materialized out of his other sleeve. It appeared so suddenly, one would think it was magic. "WELL WELL, LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE! What better way to get the point across? A boring lecture or just some update on the internet? No! What you get, is a live performance!" One of the stage bodyguards stepped up with his own dueldisk. "Ah, here is one who would challenge my power!" The bodyguard initiated a duel and took the first turn. He summoned some nondescript monster and placed one trap card face-down. This duel was all scripted out, but the duelists did not care. They were about to see glory. "He wants Power? Here. It. IS!" Doms own hand was also helped by the script, he had drawn exactly what his act needed. "These are the Pendulum Monsters! Like any other, you can summon them. Or...as you ay have noticed by their color." Dom tapped the left and right side of his field; the pendulum zones. "They can also be set as spells! Once you install the latest update, you will find your field suddenly has two new zones in it. What are they for? Look closely.. I set Dragonpulse and Dragonpit Magician!"
"Magician!?" Uno's heart skipped a beat.
"SCALE 1!" One was a female swordsman in a white coat, with braided red hair. "SCALE 8!" Her counterpart was a crowned blonde mage with a staff. They made a sharp contrast with Uno's magician pair, the two did not even have monster effects. Yet the resemblance was there. "When two Pendulum monsters are placed on either side of the field, a pendulum summon can be performed! The monsters you summon can be any monster from your hand, as long as their levels lie between the number of the scales!" Dom continued his demonstration. He pendulum summoned two monsters from his hand. This was all familiar to the gang, but not to the duelists around them. "You can summon your old favorites for free, like the Dark Magician!" The blue-skinned spellcaster(7/2500/2100) of ancient egypt was a welcome sight for most. "Or you can summon monsters tailored to the art of pendulum summon; like Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior!" At the same time as the Dark Magician, the great magical black knight(6/1600/1000) was pendulum summoned.
"You remember the old Breaker; he gained 1 spellcounter and 300 attackpoints if you normal summoned him. Now you could normal summon this magical warrior too, you would just gain 2 spellcounters and 400 attackpoints for each! But if you pendulum summon him instead." Dark Breaker raised his shield, drawing in three magical spells. "He gains three spellcounters! That is a a 33 % increase in power!" The spellcounters wrapped the spell knight(2800/1000) in magical power. "Of course the second power is still the same, the power the spell and trap breaker!" Breaker(2400/2100) gave up one of its spellcounters, placing the magic in his sword instead. He swung it around to shatter the bodyguards face-down trap card. "And that's not all! Pendulum monsters have their own effects!" Dom discarded a card from his hand, another random Pendulum monster. "As a spell-card, Dragonpulse Magician can destroy face-up monsters at the cost of just one Pendulum monster in your hand! Quite the bargain!" The redhaired mage started spinning her double-sided sword to start up a whirlwind of cutting winds. The guards monster was torn to shreds. "Now taste this! BATTLE!" Both Breaker and the Dark Magician charged their attack spells and fired it upon the poor opponent.
Bodyguard's LP: 3100
"All of these can be yours too, my duelists.. my comrades! The first boosters will hit the stores in the next hour. But you will find it difficult to unlock their true potential, unless you enter my tournament!" Dom dismissed the holograms of his monsters. The duel had served its purpose since the crowd was hanging on his every word now. "The overall winner of this years contest; the champions guild, will get priority commissions. AKA; their archetypes will be the first to be pendulum-ized!" Dom raised two fingers. "But you will have to make it passed my two disciples; Iria Silver and Zach Creffield. And you will have to do it in a whole new environment. Will you use the new archetypes or boost your old? You better pick one before the week is over. Because it is gonna be CRAZY next Saturday!"
"What is..what is this?" Uno had seen everything and he still could not comprehend. "He has the same cards as me." A part of him that felt unique, was being used by this guy? "Come on, we make all the cards. Did you think you would be the only one with Performapals for all time? Those cards were designed by Dom himself. True, we do not know how you acquired them or where they could have come from, but neither do you. I take it you still have not gotten cured your amnesia." Zach assumed Uno would not be here otherwise. "I did learn a little. I learned that UNO.. the other Uno, is here in this building." Uno replied, using what the sisters had told him. "Here? UNO? That is not.." Zach stammered as if he had heard the impossible. "If he is here, could he be the guy outside?" Alice pointed at the man in the mask who was still yelling at the masses. "Well, someone who hides his face probably has a few secrets." Emily reasoned. Zach just shook his head. "That is not the case at all. I can not tell you, Dom ordered me not to. But Dom is not UNO." He pleaded with them to drop the subject. "A friend of Dom then?" No luck. Even James was getting in on the speculatopm.
"If you must continue this, you can take it up with... with.." Zachs's voice trailed off. "What is that man doing on the stage!?" Something came up that required immediate attention.
"Do not talk or gesture. Do not try anything that would give away my presence, it wont do you any good." A man stood on the stage with Dom. Where he came from and when he got there, Dom could not tell. The crowd had not seen him either, they still hadn't. "They cannot sense me, only you can. This is because I have no interest in the others." This stranger struck an intimidating figure. Fiery red hair, thick brows and a huge scar across his eye. He was no ordinary fan of Dom. On the other hand, his status as a duelist was for certain, since he had a dueldisk strapped to his arm; a synchro-guild model. Only he did not appear to be from that guild. He just wore a one-sleeved black uniform with a blue belt and two bracers on his toned arms. "You will come with me. We have questions for you, about the cards you have created and the..."
"Stop!" The standoff was unexpectedly diffused. "I don't know what you want, but you should keep your distance!" Zach stepped in between with his dueldisk at the ready. "One more?" Zachs appearance alone was enough to make the stranger recoil a little. "Not just one!" And then the rest of the gang crawled on stage as well. Uno was the one who joined Zach's side, also with his dueldisk activated. "You look surprised, just like June did. Friend of hers?" He recognized the effect this man was having on those around him. Just like the woman at the castle, he was invisible to the common eye. Yet they were able to detect him. "This should not be happening." The stranger was disturbed by this development He took a step back but did not retreat. "This is your doing, Dom. I should have figured you would find a way to prepare your subordinates." He activated his dueldisk to counter theirs. "Do I know you?" Dom finally asked, clearly confused by the whole encounter.
"You will have heard of us in the past.. if you are the one we are looking for. You met June, so I shall give you my name.. I am August and I will get answers, no matter how many stand in my way!"
(To be Continued in Annex 023: The Withered Mark)
New Cards used by Master Dom
Dragonpulse Magician
Dragonpit Magician
Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior
Dark Magician