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.

42. A Name with Two Duelists

Annex 042: A Name with Two Duelists

"Get back! The duel wasn't finished!" Uno was trapped in a cage, a place where nobody could see him expect the ones who had created this prison. "Dom! Let me out. I need to finish this!" His opponent had vanished. Neter fled like a coward and left him alone in here. "I want the truth! I will get it!" His evergrowing anger traveled over towards his cards. Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon spewed flames at the invisible walls, and slammed the ground with its claws and tail. It had become a real monster and it would find a way to freedom no matter what.

"Impossible! He is going to destroy the barrier at this rate!" Iria cried out. The barrier projectors were only barely holding on. "Hey-hey. You already saw one impossible thing today. One more can't hurt!" And still there was the other threat, Neter. "You. You must have been the one who helped August escape. That's quite impressive. Where did you pick up a talent like that?" This kid just warped into the most secure room in the entire theater. Naturally Zach hoped he could sweet-talk Neter into revealing his secret. "Not tell-ing! It's not something you can repeat anyway." Neter laughed as he blinked out of sight. He re-appeared behind Dom himself. "Sir!" Iria and Zach immediately came to his side. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt your boss... any more. They told me to infiltrate the tournament and find out more about Uno." He teleported once again, moving to the door that opened into the hallway. "He is kinda out of control, we're gonna need all four of us to tackle him. So we'll be back later. Bye-bye-bye!" He broke off into a sprint. "Stop him!" Iria beckoned for a few guards and they pursued. "Sir. I will handle this!" She followed.

"Well.. that was something." Dom sighed a breath of relief. "Now what are we going to do about the ball of fire down there?" Uno was still inside the barrier, for a limited time. "Maybe I can talk him down." Zach said with only half his usual confidence. That guy was a in a state that words could probably not fix easily. "I have a better idea. Re-align the angles of the forcefield so that it creates a path away from the tournament and into the backstage area. Nobody will be there, nobody will get hurt. Give the crowd another duel, keep the tournament going. They must be entertained and distracted." Dom suggested with uncharacteristic yet mild severity. "You mean to lead him somewhere?" It was a decent plan. Zach just did not see what the next step was. "That, Zachary, can only be answered with a dramatic statement.." Dom flipped his dueldisk out of his sleeve. "To me!"

...

From the outside, the viewing audience could not have realized what actually was going on. The barrier cloaked every activity on the stage and skybox. The big screen mentioned something about technical difficulties and the next duel beginning soon. "What does this mean? Did Uno cheat?" The conclusion Mrs. Brandt drew was the one everyone was supposed to draw. "He wouldn't." Only a few like Alice thought there was something more going on. Though the kind of cards Uno and Neter played, did make them look like cheaters. "Where are you going?" Heather asked as her older daughter got up. "To Doms place, to see if I can get some answers." Sitting around would not let them find out what the hell was going on down there. "I'm coming with you!" Alice shouted. "No! Stay with mom." Emily insisted. "This can get dangerous.."

But the danger was no longer on stage. Zachary followed Doms instructions to clear the area for the next duel. He then spliced in some of Doms pre-recorded speeches to announce it; a fight between Eric and a duelist from the Synchro-guild. "I have to duel already?" Eric had not really prepared for this. "Oh you can do it." Meridian and the rest of the fusion guild 'encouraged' him to move. "Yeah but.. what about Uno? Is he out? Did he lose?" Eric did not like this. One of the many reasons he had joined this tournament was to have a chance of dueling Uno again. He just could never tell him that to his face. "Hey Uno. You'd better get in there. Or else.." Phoebe clenched her hand. Erics doubts did not make her very happy with him. "Oh she doesn't mean to threaten you. But you should still perform the duel and you should not worry about Uno." Not with half of her at least. "I guess so." So he gave in.

...

That the stage was cleared for more duels was because Uno had done as Dom predicted. "Where is everyone?!" Uno rode his dragon like a mount as it stormed through the space in the back of the theater, thinking he had smashed open the barrier when in fact he had just been going where he was allowed to go. "Right here." A single voice came out to greet him. "Well, I am not every one. But you get my drift." It was him, the masked man. "Where is Neter?" Uno did not see anyone else. "He got away, the slippery bugger. So you can take a breather now." Dom tried to talk at first, to do something about that ravenous expression on Uno's face. "This fight must be finished. I will find him. I will tear this entire place up if I have to!" But to him the duel was still going; his dragon would not stop until it was destroyed. "I was afraid you'd say something like that." Dom scratched his dome. Then he turned his dueldisk on. "You? You're going to challenge me?" Uno broke out in laughter. "Hey. Better me than our audience."

Doms LP: 5300 Uno's LP: 4300

"I see. You're taking Neters place!" Each duelist kept their lifepoints. Uno also still had Timegazer Magician, Stargazer Magician, Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(8/3000/2000) and Performapal Kaleidoscorp(6/100/2300) on his field. "Your friend Cassius showed you that; Battle Royal Mode. Of course it's not very helpful if your partner bailed." Luckily, Dom could start his turn and he could start with a full hand. He drew six cards. "Now. I summon Engraver of the Mark!" Doms first monster was a spellcaster-type swordsman(4/1800/1200) who wore a dark hat and dark coat. "This little marvel can target one card each turn and destroy it two turns afterwards." The Engraver used his spells to make a mark on Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. The fusion dragon would selfdestruct during Uno's next endphase. "Your turn, my boy." Dom said after he placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone.

"I am not your anything, Dom!" Uno started his turn and shifted right towards his battle phase. "Stop wasting my time with your monsters and your little speeches!" Beast-Eyes attacked Engraver of the Mark. "Timewasting eh?" First Dom activated the Engravers effect again to target Uno's Timegazer Magician. Then Dom activated one of his traps. "That earns you a Punch in the Box!" A jack-in-the-box toy appeared and released a springloaded boxing glove. "Your attack is blocked. Another monster you control is sent to the graveyard and your attacking monster loses attackpoints equal to that monsters defense points!" Beast-Eyes got punched so hard it dizzily stumbled backwards and crashlanded on top of the Kaleidoscorpion. The scorpion pal was crushed under the weight while the dragon(700/2000) suffered a loss of power. "Graaah! You and Neter are all the same. Keeping secrets, acting dumb, playing games with people! I have had enough of it!"

"That does not sound like the duelist I saw in my tournament." Dom commented. "You do not know me at all!" Uno moved to the second main phase to perform a pendulum summon. He revived Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000), Performapal Silver Claw(4/1800/700) and Kaleidoscorp from the extra deck. The latter was still sent to the extra deck if he was directly put in the grave by an effect. "Yeah but I bet the old Uno would have pendulum summoned first and attacked second." Dom felt his point was made. Uno was too enraged to duel straight. "Shut up!" Uno then fused Silver Claw and Odd-Eyes together to create another Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(8/3000/2000). "Two of them?" Apparently Uno was going to keep making those fusions. "I told you. It will not stop until I get what I want.. Set card, end turn!" During the endphase, the first Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon was destroyed by the cursed mark of the Engraver. The second remained strong. "I'd say you already got to experience a little of how you used to be, Uno.."

"Then again, I'm no psychologist. The cards can the talking a lot better. So let me say something about myself." Dom first activated an equip spell, Vengeful Servant. "What?" The spell was equipped to Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, for no apparent gain. "You'll see my brilliant plan in a minute." Dom ignored the spell and normal summoned his next monster; a hooded magician(4/1500/1000) with a star on its right eye. "Behold! Performage Damage Juggler!" If the appearance did not reveal similarities, its name sure did. "Perform..mage?" It was not a performapal and it was too close to one. "Yeah. Bet you never saw one of these before. The other UNO isn't the only one who can invent archetypes! Now go get em, Damage Juggler!" The magician threw his juggling balls at the Pendulum dragon. "What are you doing?" The only thing that attack managed was drawing counterfire from Beast-Eyes. With one blast, the balls and the Juggler were destroyed. Additionally, since the dragon destroyed another monster, Dom took effect damage equal to Silver Claw's attackpoints.

Dom's LP: 2000

"Aha. Right where I want you! Trap card: Trick Box!" Another box was summoned, a golden case that was large enough to fit one entire dragon. "Hey!" And it did. "Trick Box takes control of a monster when a Performage 'disappears' by destruction. The destroyed mage is special summoned to your side!" Two panels of the box opened again. One side spat out Damage Juggler in attack-position. The other forced Beast-Eyes on Doms side. "But.." When Dom claimed the Dragon, Vengeful Servant's effect triggered. The equip spell inflicted damage to the duelists that took over the wielder. "What? The damage?" Dom was about to lose 3000 lifepoints. "Pocket change. I summon Performage Flame Eater from my hand!" A black ball(4/1200/1600) with a hat, cape and big eyes popped up on the field to literally eat the damage that Vengeful Servant created. "Flame Eater can summon himself when I am about to take damage. That damage is negated. We both take 500 points of damage when a Flame Eater is summoned though." Flame Eater let out a burp of embers which struck both players.

Dom's LP: 1500 Uno's LP: 3800

"I can see how you want to end this little show, Dom! Petty tricks will not work on me!" An attack from Beast-Eyes would be the beginning of the end. Uno had no desire to let it get that far. "Command Performance!" However Uno had his traps ready to go too. As one Performapal was on his field, Command Performance would switch all Doms attack-position monsters, including Beast-Eyes, to defense. "Hmm. Guess I was the idiot for thinking you would flip back to normal once I took this monster away from you." Whatever Uno's problem was, the source was not this fused dragon beast. "Still. I know there is something special about these dragons."

Dom continued. He activated the effect of the Engraver and marked the Kaleidoscorpion. "I used Flame Eaters effect, so I can only summon Performages this turn." Dom called off his battle phase. He activated a continuous spell card, Bubble Barrier. "The solution is obvious." He took Engraver of the Mark and Performage Flame Eater and attached them together. "I XYZ-summon Performapal Trapeze Magician!" An acrobatic and masked magician(4/2500/2000) soared down from the ceilings, swinging on a trapeze. "Now the fun begins, as my turn ends!" Trick Box only switched control of monsters for one turn. Both Damage Juggler and Beast-Eyes would come back to their original owners. Vengeful Servant inflicted 3000 points of effect damage to Beast-eyes new master. "Rghggh!" Uno had to take the full brunt of it, he experienced the kind of pain he had been putting out all this time. During this endphase, the Engravers curse destroyed Timegazer Magician as well. "Heh. And Zachary thought I could never pull that combo off. Pity, nobody else was around to see it."

Uno's LP: 800

"Uno, Dom?" The master was wrong about that, as it turned out. "Why are you two dueling each other?" Emily had found them by following the noise their monsters made. "Oh ms. Brandt. You were not supposed to see us. But I am glad you did." Dom figured out what had gone wrong. The projectors could not maintain a cloak this far into the theater, it worked better in illuminated open spaces. "What is going on, Uno?" The barrier was still there though. She could not come any closer than she already was. "I am settling the score, Emily!" Uno hesitated only briefly after she showed up. Anger won out eventually. "Dom is the enemy! Just like the rest!" Uno activated a spell card. "Pot of Riches! I return three pendulum monsters in the graveyard or extra deck to draw two cards!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Trump Witch and Timegazer Magician were put back in the deck. The pendulum pot than dropped two new monster cards in Uno's hand. "... I set the scale, Dharma-Eye Magician!"

"Oh you just keep them coming, don't you?" Uno had access to new pendulum Magicians too. Dom was getting used to it. Dharma-Eye the scale 2 Hindu-mage replaced Timegazer Magician. "Dharma-Eye can change a Pendulum monsters scale!" Uno revealed his other card; Performapal Guitartle. "He will change his own scale into Guitartle's!" The magician of oversight copied the Guitartle's scale of 6. And thanks to this new Magicians presence, Stargazer regained his scale of 1. "Pendulum summon!" This allowed Uno to special summon Performapal Silver Claw back from his extra deck. "Attack!" The wolf(2100/700) launched its body at Performapal Damage Juggler right away. "Uh-uh-uh! Not so fast!" Silver Claw did not get far. A bubble formed around the Juggler. "Bubble Barrier makes it so that each Performage cannot be destroyed once a turn. I take no battle damage from attacks involving my Performages either!" The wolfs claws only popped the bubble while Damage Juggler stayed unharmed. "Do you think that is going to save you? Beast-Eyes can still inflict 1800 points of effect damage!" Uno sent his fused beast dragon to burn the bubble-less Juggler to the ground.

"...and?" However Dom took no effect damage either. "How.." The damaging flames did not go towards Dom. They were intercepted by Trapeze Magician. "My XYZ-Performage blocks any effect damage that is less than its attackpoints." The Master explained. "Damn it! Damn it!" Uno raged. If only he could have killed Trapeze Magician too. "Uno, calm down. What has gotten into you?" Uno's behavior was worse than Emily expected. It was like he had become a whole new person. "I am this close to the truth. I cannot slow down now. I have to force it out of him!" Uno took Beast-Eyes and Silver Claw. "Come!" He sacrificed them to summon a third Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(8/3000/2000) from his extra deck in defense mode. Beast-Eyes itself was a dark-type dragon, so it could replace Odd-Eyes as the other fusion material. "One more turn. I just need one more turn!" He then set a monster down in defense mode. As his turn passed, Kaleidoscorp became the last victim of the Engravers mark and died.

"I tried reasoning, miss. Not very effective. This might be better.. By banishing Damage Juggler from my graveyard, I can add a differently-named Peformage monster from my deck to my hand!" Dom used the effect to fetch a Performage Hat Tricker card. "When there are two monsters on the field, I can special summon Hat Tricker!" The new Performage(4/1100/1100) was nothing more than a floating cape, goggles, hat and pair of gloves. "I also summon another one of these." A new Performage Flame Eater(4/1200/1600) was normal summoned. Both Dom and Uno lost 500 lifepoints from its summon. "Uno. I can tell ya one thing. The dragons and Magicians are not just something we randomly made." He started talking as he overlayed Flame Eater with Hat Tricker. "Odd-Eyes is just one." A dark portal opened. "There are more... I XYZ-summon Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!"

Dom's LP: 1000 Uno's LP: 300

"Dark what?" A black dragon(4/2500/2000) was created. "It looks just like.." The resemblance to Odd-Eyes was uncanny. Even Emily could tell. "This is not a trick! Odd-Eyes has friends. In fact, Dark Rebellion was going to be a new card to help the new pendulum era! Your dragon is stronger now, but wait til you see this!" Both XYZ-materials were detached from the XYZ-dragon. "By using all overlayed cards, Dark Rebellion can steal half of a monsters attackpoints!" Electricity shot out of the dragons wing segments. Energy was drained through the currents, away from Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(1500/2000) and towards Dark Rebellion XYZ-Dragon(4000/2000). "Whoa." Emily gasped. "That doesn't mean it's over!" Uno stayed defiant. "Oh. Bad news, Uno." Dom then detached a card from his Performage-XYZ monster as well. "Trapeze Magician has one other trick up its sleeve." The magician swung by the dragon and sprayed it with stars. "He gives one monster a second attack in a battlephase!" The empowered XYZ-dragon took off. "No!" With one pass, it destroyed both Beast-Eyes and Uno's facedown Performapal Guitartle.

"That dragon.. how..why.." Just when he was beginning to understand, more and more questions popped up. "Why did it stop me? Why did it betray me?" The cards had turned against him, none of them were defending him. "Uno. Just let it go. I don't know what is going on either, but.. anger gets you nowhere." Emily spoke from experience. This destructive behavior never got good answers. "What should I do then, obey this man like a slave to get a few scraps of the whole story? He's no friend of mine!" The cards, the pendulum, the dragon; Dom had to be hiding something from him. He did not know what else to do, but to keep attacking. "Well, If I gotta play as your enem, Uno." Dom declared his final attack. "Then the show will end.. my way!" Performage Trapeze Magician came down swinging to kick Uno with his legs. "Stop!" In his desperation, Uno turned to the last thing he could hold unto. His pendulum. "If it ends now, I'll never.." He put it in front of the attacking Performagen, which had unintentional conseqences. "Huh?" The jewel emitted more light than it had ever done before. "Uno!" He, Emily and Dom were blinded by the outburst.

Uno's LP: 0

"Aggh.. Remind me to make the next dome sun-proof." Dom could barely see now, or rub his sore eyes. "Where.." Emily regained her sight first. The backstage had been left the way it was, with the exception of Uno. "Where is he?" Uno was nowhere to be seen or heard

(To be Continued in Annex 043: Lost Backstage)

New Cards used by Uno
Dharma-Eye Magician

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Pot of Riches

New Cards used by Dom
Engraver of the Mark
Performage Damage Juggler
Performage Flame Eater
Performage Hat Tricker

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Performage Trapeze Magician
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon

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Vengeful Servant
Barrier Bubble

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Punch in the Box
Trick Box