Annex 023: The Withered Mark

Doms big show took an unusual turn, even for those used to his dramatic flair. "Where did he come from?" From the point of view of the audience, a tall redheaded man had appeared on stage in a fraction of a second. The arrival of the gang had dispelled the veil that August had cast over their senses. The guilds were close to panicking yet could not look away. "...I can use this." And Dom decided that, instead of retreating now that he had the chance, he was gonna salvage his act. "ALRIGHT! You have witnessed it with our own eyes, a sneak preview of our upcoming holographic stealth technology! With just a little twisting of the light, you can hide whatever you want. This will guarantee you a duel free from outsiders who complain about the visual disturbances!" He shouted as he raised his arms to the sky. "Sir? We do not have that kind of technology." Zach reminded him quietly. "Not yet at least!" Dom turned his spherical head to the side to talk to one of his guards. "You, tell the guys at the lab to start working on it. Pronto! It's too good an idea to let it go to waste!" The guard complied and rushed back into the building.

August observed everything with growing anger. "Are you mocking me by decreasing your defenses?" This 'master' was not taking anything seriously. "Sir, I quite agree with any plan that involves you falling back into the tower and letting us handle this.. ruffian." Zach did not lower his arms. He was determined to protect Dom. Though really he was only talking so he could distract August. "Hyah!" One member from the security staff tried to tackle August to pin him down. "Don't even try it!" August countered with a simple dodge and a chop to the back of the guards neck. The man was out cold with one tap. "!" Enraged, more bodyguards rushed August. But he used a combination of lightning-fast kicks and thrusts to knock them down one by one. "I will fight any who obstruct me, in any way!" August had not even been touched. "Oooo-kay. Would that include a duel as well? Fighting is not my division." Dom began to reconsider his options. "If that is how you want to fight, so be it. I do not run from any challenge."

"If that's the case, just let everyone duel him at once!" Emily suggested quickly. There were a hundred duelists here. Nobody could face that many. "It wont be that easy. The more enemies one faces, the more benefits he gets. And the opposing team will share just one set of lifepoints." Cassius had more experience in the field of tagteams, which why he did not step in yet. "I can do it, sir." Zach took out a deck of cards. "You do not have to risk a confrontation with him." He was the disciple, he was supposed to protect his master. "Right, right. My star pupil against this interloper. That is good!" Dom was enjoying this a bit too much. But then, he was not the only one. "Two can join this act." Uno had not simply activated his dueldisk for show. This guy was not going to get away. "You too? Marvelous! My promoter on the run will join to show off my new Performapals! I can't even be mad anymore that I am no longer the star!" The master rubbed his hands together. "Enjoy my courageous duelists! This is all for you!" He bowed and finally left the stage. The guards took him far away.

Team Dreamworld's LP: 8000 Augusts LP: 8000

"Don't think you can help your master by delaying me, servant. Now that I have found him, I will never lose track of him." August drew five cards from his deck. As he was the only player on his side, he was given the first turn. "Though now you will be the first to fall and to tell me all you know." August placed two trap cards and one monster card face-down on the stage. "Now hurry up with your turns, so that I can crush you both!"

Uno was given the next turn. But before he drew his card, he had something to say. "Guys. You should probably go to a safe place too." He spoke as he kept his eyes on his opponent. "But we can't leave you!" Alice protested. "You don't have to go that far. Just keep a decent distance between you and the crazy kung-fu man." There was no telling what else this guy could do, August was clearly unhinged. "He has a point. Let's get back inside at least." Brandt took the girls away. Cassius though chose to stick around. "How did you get a dueldisk like that?" He would have heard about it, if someone in his guild had gotten their hands on one of his models. "It could be a forgery. That would make our man here a member of the underground circuit. Tell me, why did you attack Master Dom now?"

"Yeah good luck getting answers." Uno could not see August as the kind of person to spill his entire plan to his opponents. "Ha! At least this one knows you will get nothing out of me." August sneered. "This one?" Of course, like Zach and Cassius, Uno had many questions. Even if August was not going to say anything, he had revealed one fact. "The name is Uno!" August did not know him. "That means?" Nor did August seem familiar with the 'Uno' name. "You tell me, August. Anyway; this will do to start us offl!" Uno summoned Performapal Skeeter Skimmer(4/500/1600). Next he activated a pendulum dragon as a spell card. ""I set the scale: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Now, watch as I and my turn. By tributing Odd-Eyes in the pendulum zone, a pendulum monster with 1500 attackpoints can be added to my hand!" Uno took Stargazer Magician from the deck. "Odd-Eyes is a pendulum monster. So he he is sent face-up to my extra deck whenever something sends him to the graveyard!" His big breakthrough would have to come next turn.

"More Pendulums.." August muttered under his breath. "Exquisite! The promoter is even filling in the gaps that I had not gotten to yet!" Dom cheered from inside the building, swarmed by his security detail. He had convinced them to only move a few floors up so he could still observe the duel. Emily and the others were there too. "He has a name you know." She pointed out something Dom had to be aware of. "..." Though Uno meant something different to him. Not that Dom payed her any attention. "How can you even see in there?" Alice asked a question he found far more sensible. "One-way mirror glass." Dom chuckled as he tapped the mask. "I have my own drinks in here too!" She could not tell if he was kidding or not.

"I will take it from here!" The duel continued, Zach activated a spell card. "Behold my spell, the 1st Movement Solo. While I control no monsters, a Melodious angel will be special summoned from my deck! I choose the lovely Aria!" The spell summoned the purple-haired Aria the Melodious Diva(4/1600/1200) to the field. "Then I place the Shining Angel with my normal summon of the turn. Him I will sacrifice!" The glowing angel(4/1400/800) appeared briefly, and was immediately targeted by another spell card that Zach activated. "Transmodify! The spell sends one monster to the grave, while summoning another from the deck. But that second monster must be of the same element and type and have one more level star!" Transmodify could summon a light-elemental fairy-type monster of the 5th level. All the Melodious were light-fairies. "Here she is, the majestic Elegy the Melodious Diva!" The greenhaired angel(5/2000/1200) made her appearance. "Because she was special summoned, all Melodious shall gain in strength!" Her song added power to herself(2300/1200) and Aria(1900/1200).

That was not all. "He set the lock up again." It was the combo that Emily faced a week ago. The special summoned Aria protected the Melodious from targeting effects and attacks. Elegy defended all special summoned Melodious angels against destruction. "Well, what do you think?" It was the disciple's number one strategy, and what made him a formidable foe in the tournament. The crowd was going wild, they loved it that he could set it up in one turn.

August.. not so much. "Pathetic. You duel like a coward. I will break every wall you try to put up!" Everything they did seemed to just piss him off more. "Draw!" He summoned a monster, an averagely-size dragon(4/1400/1100) with burning red skin. "Is that a dragon?" It was a monster that independent duelists around had not seen much in duels in the past. "No.. it's a wyrm." Guild duelists had to explain that the monster was from the newest type of monsters; the wyrms. They looked like dragons, but they were definitely not the same. "Unmasked Dragon, attack!" This dragon, the unmasked version of an actual dragon card, charged towards Aria. "Excuse you?" While August activated a continuous trap card during the attack, that card did not affect Unmasked Dragon in any way. Aria remained the stronger monster. She countered the attack easily and destroyed the wyrm with her song. "I think you got this attacking thing the wrong way around, August." Uno laughed.

August's LP: 7500

"No. He wanted to do this." On the other side, Zach knew every card that existed. "A destroyed Unmasked Dragon can summon a new wyrm with less than 1500 attackpoints from the deck." It was basically the wyrm-version of Shining Angel. "Looks like I don't need to tell you the outcome. Come, Chiwen - Light of the Yang Zing!" Unmasked Dragons effect special summoned a pure-white chinese dragon wyrm(1/0/0) of the light element. Cassius immediately knew what kind of monster this was. "A tuner." Despite not being in the guild, this man appeared to be using synchro monsters. The Yang Zing were not cheap either. "Yang Zing Creation!." But August had plenty. Now was when his continuous trap came into play. Yang Zing Creation special summoned a new Yang Zing wyrm from the deck, when one of Augusts monsters was destroyed. "Come out, Taotie - Shadow of the Yang Zing!" This time a wyrm of the dark element was summoned, the black dragon centaur Taotie(5/2200/0). "Attack!" August knew not to waste his breath on the Melodious, so he made Taotie smash Uno's monster instead. "I do not think so! August!" But Uno had Skeeter Skimmer negate the attack by switching the water insect to defense mode.

"Enough of your stalling." August was not through with his turn yet. In his second mainphase he flipped his set monster. "Bixi - Water of the Yang Zing!" A turtle-like blue wyrm(2/0/2000) came out of its shell. "You are going to have to fight eventually! Turn end!" August had left it open for an attack, only it was not as defenseless as it looked. "Uno. The Yang Zings talent is quick synchro summoning. Bixi and Taotie can use themselves and other Yang Zings as synchro materials. during our turns. We do share the same set of lifepoints, so please be careful." Zach warned his partner. "I saw that, Zach. The problem is not when but what." Uno could figure out how to deal with the Wyrm-type. Yet with the current monster lineup, August could summon whatever level 3, 7 or 8 synchro monster he needed. "Just gotta do what I am good at!" Uno drew his card. He knew his deck would not let him down. "I set the scales!" Timegazer Magician was in his hands. He placed both him and Stargazer Magician in the pendulum zones. "Scale 1 and scale 8! Now.."

"The power of Pendulum, you are like a newborn trying to play with fire. Do not think I will let you use it!" August activated Bixi's effect seconds after Uno displayed his Pendulums. "Bixi, Taotie, Chiwen!" He tuned his water and shadow wyrm with the tuner of light. He was going for a level 8 synchro monster. "Drown all enemies with the light from beyond their reach; Baxia, Brightness of the Zang Zing!" The three elements converged to form a long golden wyrm(8/2300/2600) with flowing brown hair. It was synchro summoned in attack position. "Ugh. Of course it was Baxia. When that card is synchro Summoned he gets to shuffle cards into a players deck; one for each different attribute among the materials." Water, light and dark had been combined into this Baxia, that was why Baxia could target three cards. "Baxia! Remove his Pendulums!" The dragon targeted and dismissed Uno's pendulums and Performapal Skeeter Skimmer as well. Zach's Melodious were fine because Aria made them untargetable.

"You knew about pendulum summons?" Uno was more surprised about that than anything else. "Well...I can still normal summon!" He placed a tophat wearing circus mule(3/1600/600) on his empty field. "Performapal Friendonkey! He can special summon one Performapal from my hand or graveyard!" The donkey special summoned Performapal Fire Mufflerlion(3/800/800) in defense mode. "It looks like this is your show now, Zach."

"Apparently. Not to worry, I will make up for your losses, Uno." Zach had been waiting for his turn. He had his next move already planned out. "Sing, my sweet Sonata!" He special summoned a new Melodious Diva, an golden-skinned angel(3/1500/1000) in a blue dress with long halfblue/halfgreen hair. "Sonata can be special summoned, as I already control Melodious angels! Her song increases the attack and defense of my Divas by 500 points now that she has been special summoned!" The Diva(2000/1500) joined in with Aria(2400/1700) and Elegy(2800/1700), to create one harmonious melody. "Elegy! Slay the Brightness of Yang Zing!" Elegy clasped her hands together and unleashed her most powerful soundburst yet. Baxia's entire body convulsed and broke down into a sea of dazzling explosions.

August's LP: 6400

"You are not getting any more hits, servant! Come, Bi'an - Earth of the Yang Zing!" Augusts continuous trap followed up on the death of Baxia. Yang Zing Creation 'created' a serpentine wyrm(3/1600/0) with the colors and face of a tiger. "And Chiwen of the Light!" Chiwen the light-elemental wyrm had its own special summoning effect. It could, and did, revive itself when a Yang Zing monster was destroyed. Still, Zach attempted a second attack with the Diva Aria. "Plunge into the pain of eternity!" Alas, Bi'an had the same effect as Bixi and Taotie; allowing August to use it and Chiwen as synchro materials even during Zach's battle phase. "Underworld Fighter Balmung!" Unexpectedly, the duelist went with a warrior-type synchro monster this time. Balmung the dark armored swordsman(4/2100/800) was synchro summoned in defense position. "Oh. That is quite the spot he put us in." Balmung used his sword to deflect Aria's sonic attack. "A monster that used Bi'an as a synchro material cannot be destroyed as a result of battle." The Divas could put a dent in the Underworld Fighter's armor as long as he stood before them.

"He fights just like the other one." Cassius noted more similarities between him and June. "You mean that woman who attacked us?" The discussion moved down into the crowds, starting with Cassius' fellow guildmen. "I thought the fusion guild did that?" Mysteries turned to accusations. Accusations leds to jeering. "Are you sure it was not your guild? He is using synchro monsters!" The members of the fusion guild did not enjoy being defamed. "I don't get this at all!" And so it all came down to one large and noisy clash. "You know too little." August did not react well to the noise. "All of you, disappear!" He clenched his fist together. A great explosion followed. "Whaaa! What was that!" Part of the stage had been blasted to pieces. "A bomb? Run!" The duelists all freaked out and scattered in different directions. Even the XYZ-guild decided to withdraw. "Hmph. One strike and they run. The duelists here are all cowards." August spat.

"Why did you do that? Did you place explosives here? Are you trying to blow us all up?" Cassius did not flee. He could not believe what he was seeing. He would not believe what Uno had seen either. "That was not a bomb." Uno was sure of it. That explosion came from his duel monster. Balmung had hit the stage with his sword to destroy it. But it all happened so fast that you'd miss seeing it if you did not stand very close to him. "They had to be dealt with before they saw something they shouldn't. I did not come here for them, so they should fly." August balled his other hand into a fist as well. "I see no reason to go easy on the likes of you. You know who you work for. If you do not know, you will soon.. when I get my hands on 'Dom'."

"What is he doing?" From inside it looked like August was doing tensing his muscles. James could not make anything else of it. "Maybe he is charging his energy?" Alice guessed at random. "That's not it. That would." 'That would be crazy', Emily was about to claim. "Graaaahhhh!" Before August erupted like an inferno. His entire body was bathed in red flames of energy. "What is even going on anymore?" Emily cried out.

"Kgeh.." August was not the only one covered in intense light. "Now?" Uno felt the pendant burn against his chest. It had never glowed like this before, it hurt. "Are you quite alright? Can't say I have ever seen a man do what you have done." And Zach had seen a lot. "Never been better." August spread his arms. They now bore the marking of a great red dragon, drawn like a Nazca geoglyph. The tail was on his left arm and the head on the right. "The game ends here, the real battle begins!"

He flipped a continuous trap card. "Oasis of Dragonsouls! I resurrect Baxia!" The Oasis could special summon wyrms from the graveyard in defense position, including synchro monsters like The Brightness(7/2300/2600). "My turn!" Baxia had another effect that August could activate at any time. By destroying one of his cards, Baxia could re-summon a dead level 4 or lower monster. "Destroy Balmung!" The Underworld Fighter gave his own life. This was bad by itself, because Balmung also revived dead level 4 or lower monsters if he himself was destroyed. "Come back, Unmasked Dragon and Bian - Earth of the Yang Zing!" The two level 3 wyrms regained their flesh and body. Of course, with the destruction of another monster, Yang Zing Creation would special summon another Yang Zing from the deck. "Jiaotu - Darkness of the Yang Zing!" The dark counterpart tuner to Chiwen, Jiaotu(2/0/2000) of the dark scales, was this turns target of the continuous trap. "Another tuner?" Uno, everyone, could tell what was going to happen next.. Though not exactly.

"Witness the power of the rumbling heavens! Synchro Summon! My soul, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!"

(To be Continued in Annex 024: Red where Red is Due)

New Cards used by Uno
Performapal Friendonkey

New Cards used by Zach Creffield
Sonata the Melodious Diva

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1st Movement Solo
Transmodify

Cards used by August
Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing
Unmasked Dragon
Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing
Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing
Bi'an, Earth of the Yang Zing
Jiaotu - Darkness of the Yang Zing

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Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing
Underworld Fighter Balmung

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Yang Zing Creation
Oasis of Dragon Souls