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.

34. Weighing Sins

Annex 034: Weighing Sins

Emily's LP: 2400 Erics LP: 5100

Eric missed his chance to defeat Emily and end the duel. Now she would hit back and hit hard. "I activate Needlebug Nest." First she activated Erics trap card that Susanowo had set on her field. The trap discarded the top 5 cards from her deck. "A stolen card is banished after Susanowo uses it." She tossed Needlebug Nest back to Eric, since he was the owner of it. His deck was a lot like hers; Superheavy Samurais also benefited greatly from Needlebug Nest. They were probably more alike than either would admit. But as often as they had butted heads in the past, he did not deserve her anger now. She knew that, but he was the one standing in her way. "I will end this as quickly as I can. Susanowo, attack!" The samurai warlord(10/2400/3800) raised his hand against Infernoid Onuncu(10/3000/3000). "And I activate Soulbuster Gauntlet from my hand! When I have no spells or traps in my graveyard, Soulbuster can double a Superheavy Samurai's defense points during a fight with another monster!" The samurai's defensive power grew immensely. With its new gauntlet Susanowo(2400/7600) cut Ononcu's body in half.

Eric's LP: 500

"Guh." Eric was lucky that, unlike Big Benkei, Susanowo did not allow other Superheavy Samurais to attack from defense mode. So Emily had to throw all her boosts on one attack. "Damn it, Em. I can see what you're going through! Maybe I didn't know Aaron that well, but I know you! It's just.. even if I wanted to let you win, I don't think they'll let me!" Eric never considered throwing the match since he did not think it would count. "And I'm not even close to being defeated! My Nehemoth is waiting to come back to life!" If Eric drew an Infernoid from his deck, he would have enough monsters to banish for Onuncu. Emily could not save her Warlord the same way twice. "You are strong, Eric. I know that. But every deck has weak points." Before she ended her turn, Emily used the effect of Susanowo. "I will set your Fiend Comedian." The synchro samurai took the other trap in Erics graveyard and placed it down behind himself. Once her turn passed, she could activate the set Fiend Comedian. "Go!" She tossed her own coin, and it landed on heads. "!" That was the positive result, for her. It was quite negative for Eric.

"No. My demons.. Nehemoth." Fiend Comedian'sheads-effect banished each card in the opponents graveyard, each Infernoid. Eric had nothing left. Even if he had drawn one this turn, it would not have been possible to bring it out without banish-able Infernoids. "It wasn't supposed to go this way." The only actions he could make was defensive ones. He placed a monster and a spell card face-down on the field. His turn ended shortly after that. "Every time I get a bit ahead, you are right back there with me." He really believed he had gotten better. Yet now he was at her mercy. "Eric. You always have been strong, you were just unlucky. You didn't need the fusion guild. It's not too late to walk away from them." Emily took her turn. "But I have to keep going, until I reach someone.." She did her best not to glare at Dame Phoebe. The fusion girl kept watching with a mixed expression. "My monster attacks." With a swing from Susanowo's left hand, Erics monster was pulverized.

"Walk away? I can't! I have things I need to do! People who need me!" Eric yelled back. "I use the flip effect of Tour Bus from the Forbidden Realm!" The card he lost was a hellish bus(3/600/1000) filled with illegal monsters. "I add a fire-type demon, Infernoid Decatron, from my deck to my hand!" A flipped Tourbus could add any fiend as long as it had a fire/water/wind or earth-attribute. "Need you? What do they need you for?" Emily did not understand why, but what he said felt hurtful. "I'm not saying you don't need me either. I'm just saying I can't leave the guild. Maybe I said too much. I just wanted this to be a normal duel between us." He moaned. "I know, I know. It almost is.. You haven't even used an extra deck monster, you only used what you wanted. I wish I could do that as well." Cassius had helped her get this far, she needed Synchro monsters to survive.

"No extra deck monsters?" Eric echoed her words with a guilty tone. "That's not perfectly true." His eyes were now looking at the duelists behind the glass as well. He looked at Uno and Alice. One watched him with admiration, the other with fondness. Yet both also had a concerned look in their eyes. "The guild did give me some presents as well." Then he caught the gaze of Dame Phoebe. She was in her darker mood now, a dissatisfied cold grimace was etched on her face. "I am really sorry." He would have to disappoint some of them. "But I have to show you.. You need to see how strong I really am!" What that card could do was something he would explain later. First he put up the monster that came with the Tourbus. "Infernoid Decatron!" It was a tiny demons head(1/500/200), with several energy canisters on its horns. It was the only Infernoid that could be normal summoned and the only Infernoid that did not get its name changed. "A tuner?" Decatron was also, to Emily's astonisment, a tuner monster. "A deck like that supports synchros?"

"It could, but mine doesn't. Decatron is in my deck because of its powers. He sends an Infernoid to my grave, and copies its name, level and effect!" As soon as Decatron was summoned, it sent a second Infernoid Antra into Erics graveyard. Now Decatron(2/500/200) could send a monster on the field back to Emily's hand. However Eric did not remove Susanowo yet. "Void Vanishment!" He played a continuous spell card from his hand. One that coated the castle courtyard with a layer of ice. "Each turn it discards a card to take a Void card from my deck! I can only summon Infernoids after I use this effect tho." Eric discarded Void Seer from his hand. "I add Void Imagination!" It was another continuous spell. Once activated it turned into a great tree with ten spheres in it. "Emily. I'm talking about fusion. It wouldn't be anything else. Void Imagination can tribute itself to fusion summon the greatest Infernoid."

"Fuse?" Emily shuddered involuntarily. "How?" Eric only had one monster in his hand and one in his graveyard. "Because of you. If only my opponent controls a monster that was special summoned from the extra deck, Void Imagination can take six Infernoids from my deck and fuse those." Eric pulled six Infernoids out of his deck. "I fuse Nehemoth, Lilith, Baal, Belphegor, Asmodeus and Satan!" Six spheres in the demonic tree flared up and broke the spell down. "The first two materials are crucial, the rest can be added. Together they create Infernoid Tierra!" The infernal flames broke free from their glass cages and merged into a shape that stretched out endlessly. A great winged serpent(12/3400/3600) was born under the red light. Both darkness and light were mere playthings in the hands of this demon. "Since Tierra was created from more than five Infernoids, two of its powers have been unsealed. It will send three cards from our extra deck and from the top of our main deck to the graveyard." Eric discarded two more Infernoid Tierras from his extra deck. Nothing else was in there. Now his grave was full of Infernoids again. Though because of Tierra's high level, they could not summon themselves yet. "Blast it." Emily had to discard a few more synchros and Samurais, none could help her.

"Emily. Do you see now? I'm not that loser Stonewell anymore!" Eric activated the effect of Infernoid Decatron/Antra. It targeted Susanowo. "Argh." At the last second, Emily managed to get one more use out of Susanowo's power. The Warlord took Reasoning from Erics graveyard and put it face-down in his masters spell/trap zone. That spell was one of the three cards Tierra had sent to the graveyard. "That's no good, Em! You arent gonna get another turn!" Eric balled his hand into a fist and drove it forward. "Tierra. Let me see your direct attack!" The Devils serpent spread outs claws and its wings, all twelve energy canisters shot out bolts of red energy and gathered it in one spot. Emily had only an instant in which she could save herself. "I activate Damage Diet! Damage is halved this turn!" She used her face-down trap as Infernoid Tierra released the fury of hell. Only half of the energy reached her. The rest was pushed to the sides. "Awesome! You can keep dueling! In that case.." Infernoid Decatron contributed as well; attacking Emily directly with its pincer horns.

Emily's LP: 450

"I can. I will. I will do whatever it takes!" She would plead with fate if that was required of her. "My turn!" The cards in her hand were definitely not going to last long on their own. "...I activate Reasoning!" All she had was Erics spell. "Eric. Choose a level." So she had to depend on Erics guesses as well. If he got the right number, she would have wasted the spell. "...Four." He went with a common option. That was more generous than she predicted he would be. "Okay." So Reasoning started excavating cards. "..." With a monster-heavy deck like hers, it was no surprise that she pulled a card she could summon right away. "Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei. Level 8!" Thankfully it was the one she needed the most. The warrior in steel and orange(8/1000/3500) returned to her field in defense position. "Oh so you have multiples of them now?" Back in the day, Emily could only afford one Benkei card. Eric did not foresee this. He did not seem to be worried either. "Eric..he is not good at acting.. Did he want me to summon Benkei?"

"No. Not exactly. But he does not fear Benkei." Emily made herself aware of the graveyards contents. "Infernoid Onuncu and who knows what else. If I destroy his fusion monster now, he can resurrect them. I can't rely on my cards to protect me." Onuncu alone would devastate her field and wipe her out. Heck. Infernoid Decatron was not dead yet either. If she attacked, the tuner would tribute itself with Antra's stolen effect to avoid damage. If she did not, it could simply push Big Benkei off the field. She could not let Eric get another turn. The duel had to be settled now, she had to use everything she had. "...First things first. I equip Susanowo with Superheavy Samurai Soulhorns." A new set of armor appeared, with two horns on the shoulderplates. Soulhorns split itself down the middle and attached itself to Big Benkei. "Now my Superheavy Samurai can attack twice each battle phase." She also normal summoned Superheavy Samurai Swordsman(3/0/1800). "Eric. Here it goes!" Big Benkei's first target was Infernoid Decatron.

"...Infernoid Decatron can also sacrifice himself" Eric had no choice but to use the stolen Antra effect, unless he liked to take 3000 points of battle damage. Decatron was tributed and Superheavy Samurai Soulbang Cannon was banished from Emily's graveyard before that could cause any damage this battle phase. It would resulted in a tiebreaker anyway, and nobody wanted to find out what Doms rules for sudden death were. "I knew you would do that. Benkai attacks Tierra instead!" Benkei smashed his weapon against the fusion monster. With enough pushing, the Samurai managed to persevere and destroy Infernoid Tierra.

Eric's LP: 400

However, Benkei found that it could not pull back after is strike. Tierra had been frozen solid. "I activate the effect of Void Vanishment! When a monster that battles another Infernoid, they'll both be banished!" Void Vanishments cover of ice had spread towards the Samurai. The spell selfdestructed and Big Benkei turned into frozen dust along with the Infernoid. "I knew it." Emily had checked the full text on Void Vanishment before she started her attacks. "This is why I summoned the Swordsman.. in attack position!" Superheavy Samurai Swordsman could have switched itself to defense mode with its own effect. Except, without Big Benkei it wouldn't have been able to attack with its defense points. But the Swordsman was in attack mode. "Now!" This had to be it. This had to be the decisive attack. Eric had one card left, but he had set that several turns ago. If it could have helped him, he would have used it by now.

In spite of that hope, Eric activated the set card right now. "Emily.. did you really think I did not know what you were doing? Do you think I don't know what I am doing?" It was Call of the Condemned, a new take on one of Erics old favorites. "I know you said I've improved, but you still see me as the little kid next door. Unless I do something about it.." Call of the Condemned special summoned a fiend-monster, Infernoid Tierra(11/3400/3600), from the graveyard. Superheavy Samurai Swordsman had to halt its attack. "!...Eric.." Her sealed defeat had taken form, hells serpent loomed over her. "Please.." There was nothing more she could do about it. There was no fire left. "Em. It's over.." Eric could just as well take his turn and his battle phase. "I will attack now." Victory was his. Infernoid Tierra combined the power of all 12 spheres and made the blasts slam down into the ground where her Superheavy Samurai had stopped. Only smoldering craters rested there now.

Emily's LP: 0

Call of the Condemned, Continuous Trap
Activate this card by targeting 1 Fiend- or Zombie-type monster in your graveyard; Special summon that target.
When this card is destroyed, destroy that target. When that target leaves the field, destroy this card.

"You won.." She said wretchedly. "Emily I..." Eric had regrets right away. There was nothing he could take back now. "Don't. Just don't..." Emily did not want to look at him anymore. Her anger was not meant for him. She did not want him to see that she was mad with herself. "Emily.. I'm going to find out who did it Cassius, alright? I'm going to help.." He tried to make a promise to her plight. However she walked out the courtyard without another word. Eric looked up at the glass instead. Alice was already gone to see her sister. Uno stood there alone and he gave only a slight nod to acknowledge Erics victory. Uno would have had to see one of his friends lose here anyway. He would have said something if he could. For now he would have to stay by Emily's side. "Sis! I am so sorry you.. You were amazing. I mean.. Can we do anything to help?" Alice comforted her sister, which was a strange experience when it was usually it was the other way around. Only one thing could make Emily a little happy now. "I want to see Aaron."

"Nicely done, terrific work." Eric met with his own supporters as he exited the haunted stage. Dame Phoebe and several fusion-guild duelists had been waiting to congratulate him. Some duelists were not even part of the tournament, like Meridian. "I knew it as soon as I laid my eyes on this child. He has got the spark of fusion. Why you associated with people like that, I do not comprehend." He was of course overjoyed to see someone slay the slayer of Bakker. "Because they were..are my friends." Eric fired back. He would have added more to his rebuttal, if Phoebe had not placed her left hand on his shoulder. "Oh we are all friends here, yeah?" Her nails dug into the fabric of Erics coat. "That is the motto of the Guild; Strength and Peace through Unity. The more people unite with us, the more love we can spread around." She laughed a little and snapped back to her 'Dame' mode. "Truly, we are proud of you Eric Stonewell. You have taken another step on the right path. Your victory is our victory. Our victory will be partly thanks to you."

...

"I'm so sorry, Aaron. I couldn't do it. I couldn't get avenge you." When the trio backtracked to the hospital, they found Aaron in a somewhat more coherent and receptive state. Emily was allowed to talk with him. Most of what she said was in the form of an apology. "Em. I saw what happened." Cassius did not need to point out how he saw it. He could either have followed the duel on his TV or stared outside his window to follow the action on one of the many big screens in the park. "I saw how you did. There is no shame in losing. I should be sorry for making you fight Eric."

"But I would have done it for you no matter what." Emily swore. "Even if you would have had to face Uno, or Alice?" Cassius asked her. "I..." She did not feel so determined with those cases. "If it was Emily. I don't think I could have dueled at all." Alice started to say. She was still trying not to look right at Cassius because of how bandaged up he was. Her meaning was clear, she would have let her sister win if it came to it. "..." Uno did not possess that kind of confidence. He was just glad that he did not have to deal with that scenario anymore. He did not want to think what he would do if Dom forced him to duel Eric or Alice.

"But.. what is going to happen to the guild now?" This Round two had been brutal on the guild. Less a handful of synchro players left in the running. That knowledge pained Emily the most. "Who knows? I certainly can't duel in this condition." Cassius was the opposite, he had apparently already accepted their fate. "...Maybe you can duel by proxy?" Alice suggested randomly. "Proxy? You mean have someone use his cards and follow his orders?" That was something Uno had never seen before. From the look on everyone else's faces, they apparently hadn't either. "Can you?" Emily inquired. If there was a clause for it, Cassius had to take it. He was their guilds last hope. "I don't know if that is such a good idea. My head doesn't feel quite right. Talking to you is fine. Thinking about the game strains the brain." Cassius had no faith in this plan. He expected Dreamworld to rule him 'incapable' of dueling anyway.

"Cassius.. do you remember what happened then?" Uno also had a question.. "Yeah I heard it." It sounded rather comical coming from him. "Yes! You tried to warn me about the fusion guild!" Emily yelled. "I did? I don't.. recall." Cassius looked utterly baffled. "I only woke up just now. Before then, I was driving on the road and suddenly..everything went black. It did feel like an attack though. I don't see what else could have..Gah!" Cassius reached for his head. "Oh no! Don't overdo it!" Alice cried out. "Egh.. That happens from time to time." This is what he meant about thoughts being painful. "Hope you dont mind me saying it like this, Uno, but I've forgotten what happened. It could have been anyone who attacked me.."

(To be Continued in Annex 035: A Touch of Silver)

New Cards used by Emily Brandt
Superheavy Samurai Soulbuster Gauntlet
Superheavy Samurai Soulhorns

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Damage Diet

New Cards used by Eric Stonewell
Tour Bus to Forbidden Realm
Infernoid Decatron

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Infernoid Tierra

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Void Vanishment
Void Imagination

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Call of the Haunted