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.

46. Bridge of Ice and Fire

Annex 046: Bridge of Ice and Fire

Adamants LP: 4400 Alice's LP: 5700

"Just a few more things.." Alice did not want to end her turn yet. Adamant still controlled two Raidraptors. One more and he would summon Rise Falcon. She wanted as many defenses as she could get. "These cards are all linked. With Brionac, I can search any of them." Alice discarded Nekroz of Brionac to add a Nekroz of Unicore from her deck to her hand. "With Unicore, I can save one of them." She activated Unicore's effect too; sending it from her hand to switch it with the Nekroz Cycle ritual spell card in her graveyard. "The ritual spell can summon those ritual monsters that were sent to the graveyard." The Cycle was implemented. The spell ceremony sacrificed both Dance Princess(4/1600/800) and Great Sorcerer(4/1500/800) of the Nekroz. Their levels combined ritually resurrected the demon sage Nekroz of Valkyrus(8/2900/1700). "And the ones who die for a ritual, give something back in return." The tributed set off their respective retrieval effects. Dance Princess targeted a banished Nekroz, while the Great Sorcerer selected a spellcaster Nekroz ritual monster in the deck; putting both cards in Alice's hand. Alice claimed Shurit the banished Strategist and another Nekroz of Unicore.

"Yes. That is the power a duelist requires. Everything connected, every loss if followed by profit." Adamant, as a master of the raidraptor deck, knew the importance of optimization. He could tell which steps Alice was making and had yet to make. "I want to activate the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus. I have to sacrifice more monsters to do that." Alice said. The Fabled Nekroz sage drew more soul energy into his staff by taking the lives of Ten Thousand Handed Manju(4/1400/1000) on the field and Nekroz of Unicore in her hand. "I get a new card for each old one." Alice drew two cards, a monster and a trap card. The latter was set down. "... I don't need anything else." The turn passed back to Adamant.

"She might actually pull this off." Eric could not believe it. Little Alice was holding her own against a monster like Adamant. "Wouldn't that be nice?" Meridian chuckled at Erics hopes. "Adamant has not even ranked up once yet. I fear your friend will not be standing around much longer after that."

"..I see it in your eyes. You don't think you need to win. You want to win and you also believe you can win. Keep that feeling, and I might get to feel the same way. I draw no joy from crushing someone who has already lost to themselves." Adamant activated a spell card, Allure of Darkness. With it he banished Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius from his hand, and drew two new cards. "...It is time." Adamant activated the Raidraptor Nest spell for the third time to add a Raidraptor Sharp Lanius from his deck to his hand. Then he normal summoned his final Raidraptor Tribute Lanius(4/1800/400). The blue machine bird sent the last Mimicry Lanius into the graveyard with its effect. Mimicry Lanius' effect took a second Raidraptor Readiness trap card from the deck and placed it in his hand. Adamant saw no need or desire to explain this combos anymore. "Rise.." Tribute Lanius, Singing Lanius(100/100) and Sharp Lanius(4/1700/1000) flew into each other. The crashing energies opened a portal. "Raidraptor Rise Falcon!" The winged beast of destruction(4/100/1000) ascended out of the extra deck.

But the fourth rank would not do; Nekroz of Catastor effectively made Adamants Rise Falcons powerless. That was why... "And then.. I activate Rank-Up-Magic: Raid Force!" .. he revealed his new rank-evolving spell to the world. "During your turn?" Alice did not think he had spells like that too. Raid Force targeted Rise Falcon and transformed it. "To me, Raidraptor Blaze Falcon!" The falcon that bathed in the light of Raid Force, pushed the energy away to unveil its blazing red form(5/1000/2000). Rise Falcon and its materials had been overlayed to this higher-ranked Falcon. "Is that bad?" Heather Brandt gathered it was. "Yeah! It can destroy all her monsters in a million ways!" One method had been Kyle's end. Another was an effect that won Adamant his third round match. "Burn" Adamant chose the first, detaching one XYZ-material to destroy all her special summoned monsters. The feather segments of Blaze Falcons wings disconnected and darted through the air like bees to fire their lasers. Each destroyed monster would cause Alice to lose 500 lifepoints.

Alice's LP: 5200

"Actually." But she only lost 500 lifepoints. "I prefer if it would Cool Off!" Catastor was destroyed, yet Nekroz of Valkyrus survived the missile barrage. "What is..that?" What saved the monster was a trap card. "That was a pun. Sorry. I though it would help if I made myself laugh a little. Oh.. or did you mean this card; Impenetrable Defense?" Alice's trap switched Valkyrus to defense mode. And because Valkyrus had more than 1500 defense points, the trap also protected it against all card effects. "That card could not have been a part of a Nekroz deck. It's older than that.." Adamant could understand Alice keeping some of her original traps, since they supported the water attribute. But this one? "Why was that still there?" He demanded an answer. "That card was the one my sister gave me.. I couldn't get rid of that. I didn't want to." Alice kept to herself that she had forgotten that card was in her deck to begin with. The previous three duels ended too quickly for her to draw into his card.

".. Again. Direct attack!" Adamant put his feelings aside and entered the battle phase. As long as Blaze Falcon carried XYZ-materials, it could attack directly no matter what monster was on the field. "Eek!" Alice took the hit, and the Falcon retreated back into the skies. "But.. you still can't destroy my monster." Normally Blaze Falcon would blow up a monster after it inflicted damage. Yet the dozen missiles that the XYZ-bird fired from its chestcompartment were also deflected by Impenetrable Defense. Nekroz of Valkyrus refused to die. "You have become unpredictable." Adamant placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

Alice's LP: 4200

"I have? Ha... Sis. I think you just saved me." Alice tried to see if she could spot Emily in the crowd below. "Well.. She must have seen that." This moment comforted her, made ehr feel warm. "Draw!" She could still keep going. "Preparation of Rites!" Her drawn card was the spell that prepared both a ritual spell in the grave and a level 7 or lower ritual monster from the deck. "I will take back Nekroz Cycle, what else? And another Nekroz of Catastor!" The spell came from the graveyard and the monster from the deck. "I use Catastor.." She discarded this second Nekroz of Catastor to special summon the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz from the graveyard. "And Valkyrus too." Valkyrus tributed that Sorcerer, along with a Nekroz of Trishula in her hand, to pull a pair of cards from her deck. Thanks to the effect of the sacrificed Great Sorcerer, a third Nekroz of Catastor could be added to her hand. However, she could not activate Catastors effect again this turn. "Then..I sacrifice Shurit!" Finally, the Strategist was used as the whole tribute once again, the ritual was performed and this time it took the remains of greatest Ice Barrier dragon.

"I Ritual summon Nekroz of Trishula from the graveyard!" Shurit aged into a strong redhaired warrior(9/2700/2000) and he donned his armor of ice. At the same time the tributed Shurit's effect sent another Nekroz of Trishula from the deck into her hand. "You probably know what it can do. So I'll get right to it!" Nekroz of Trishula was every bit as dangerous as its original synchro counterpart. It could banish three of Adamants cards; one from the graveyard, one from the field and one from his hand. "I have known all along, Oddball Guild!" The obvious field target was his XYZ-monster and Adamant would not let her have it. "Emperor on his Throne!" He used his continuous trap card to shield Blaze Falcon. "Huh?" The Throne apparently made any monster in Blaze Falcons monster zone immune to card effects. "Oh? Well.. I banish your spell!" Trishula struck Raidraptor Nest and banished that card instead. Raidraptor Readiness was banished from the graveyard while Battlestorm was banished from Adamants hand. "So... effects dont work. But attacks still do?" She switched Valkyrus back to attack mode. "Gonna try. Get 'em Valkyrus!" The fabled wizard released a bolt of blue lightning from his staff. Blaze Falcon had no means of escape, the blast hit it everywhere and short-circuited it. Blaze Falcons charred body crashed to the ground.

Adamants LP: 2500

The Emperor on his Throne, Continuous Trap
Activate this card by selecting 1 Monster Card Zone on the field. Any monster in the selected zone is unaffected by card effects.
You cannot set cards. During your turn, you can destroy this card to destroy any monster in the selected zone.

"It will work, because I designed it to." Something seemed to change for Adamant. This act was enough to make him get up from his chair. "Oddball Guild. I am glad you played as well as you did, you have awakened a power in me that noone else in this tournament could stir. And now I shall show the world!" He flipped a quickplay spell card. "Rank-Up-Magic: Raptors Force!" The Falcon was about to evolve again. Raptors Force took the destroyed XYZ-monster and attached it to a higher-ranked Raidraptor in the extra deck. "Raidraptor Revolution Falcon!" Gone was the red and gone were the claws, the Falcon had turned into a black bomber machine(6/2000/3000). "In attack mode?" Alice was shocked, yet confused. His new XYZ-monster was weaker than her Ritual monsters, but not actually. The revolution could not be overpowered. "I..end my battle phase." Unfortunately it was too late to go to defense. "I set two cards. That was my turn."

"You are right to fear my XYZ-monster. Any monster that it engages in battle, will have its power stripped away." Adamant was more eager to exposit about his monsters now. He had not summoned Revolution Falcon for so long. "It may strike each special summoned monster on the field!" He normal summoned Raidraptor Sharp Lanius(4/1700/1000). "Nor is this the peak of its abilities. I activate the second effect of Raid Force!" The normal rank-up spell was banished from the graveyard. So was the Raidraptor Readiness trap in his hand. "By banishing it, I may reclaim Rank-Up-Magic card, Raptors Force!" Both banished cards were the cost of retrieving another Rank-up spell. "No matter what, you cannot avoid defeat." A sea of flames spewed from the thrusters of the Falcons wings. The heat was too much for Trishula(0/0) and Valkyrus(0/0) to bare. "Go! Eradicate all who stand in my way!" The Raidraptor of Revolution surged towards the air far above the theater. From that altitude it dropped its bombs and destroyed both the ritual monsters. "Aah!" It might as well have been attacks on Alice herself.

Alice's LP: 200

"Alice!" Mrs. Brandt could not hold back her scream. Sharp Lanius had no mercy for her daughter; one stab with its beak and Adamant would get his way.

"Wait!" Alice cried out. "...what is it?" As before, Adamant held off his attack. This one kept buying herself more time. "Uhm.. it's just.. since you're attacking directly.." And yet Alice snatched victory out of his hands once again. "I can use Rippling Mirror Force!" She activated a trap that created a large tidal wave. "All attack-position monsters have to go back to the deck now!" Raidraptor Sharp Lanius got swept away by the raging waters. Adamant had to shuffle it into his deck. "Oh?" He did not have to do the same for Revolution Falcon. Since the XYZ-Raidraptor had taken over Blaze Falcons monster zone, it was now protected by the Emperors Throne. "I commend you for coming this far. However we are still on the road towards my victory. This affects nothing!" Adamant activated his trap card's second effect. "Destroy!" The Throne crumbled to dust, and it took Revolution Falcon down with it. "Because my XYZ-monster was destroyed, I can reactivate Raptors Force and evolve again! You tried, Oddball Guild. But in the end the difference between our powers was too great!"

"You're right. I can't keep up. So.. since you're going too fast, I'm going to dismantle the entire race course." He was about to summon something Alice would never be able to stop. The only thing to do, was to seal his summons. "Vanity's Emptiness." She activated a continuous trap. "What!?" For the second time this duel, Adamant was caught off guard. She had not used this trap before in any of her previous duels, and it was not something ritual decks typically appreciated. "You're blocking all special summons? Even your own?" Vanity's Emptiness prevented summons like those of XYZ-monsters and also those of Ritual monsters. Raptors Force could not be activated now, his field did not get its newly evolved Raidraptor. "Do you not want to win?" Adamant was wide open now. But Alice could not possibly summon anything to deplete his remaining lifepoints with that trap on the field. "That's what Liza said too.. Does everyone in the XYZ-guild want to win that much?"

"There are things at stake, matters of importance. We cannot lose, the guild cannot lose!" Adamant raved. He sounded like a completely different man. For once he actually had to fear losing something. "What is at stake? Why are you worried?" Alice might begin to understand the obsessions if he started to explain it. "I cannot tell you. The enemy is everywhere." Adamant ended his turn. "You can't? But I thought you were the boss of the entire guild?" She might have been seeing it wrong, but it sounded like Adamant was taking orders from someone else. "I am the one at the top, it was destined to be me. That is why this.. this cannot be happening. Regardless of what I want, I need this. If even I can not.. Then I never deserved it.."

"You want me to show you, if I can go on? There is one way.." Alice drew her card. "By banishing the Nekroz Cycle spell and a Nekroz monster from the graveyard, I can get a new Nekroz spell card." One of the Great Sorcerers was banished along with the first ritual spell. This time around Alice added Nekroz Mirror to her hand. "When the Great Sorcerer of Nekroz is banished, he sends a Nekroz card out of my deck." A second Dance Princess of the Nekroz was thrown into the grave. "!.." And then Vanity's Emptiness blew up. "That is how?" The Vanity trap would selfdestruct as soon as one of its owners cards went into the graveyard. Alice could freely ritual summon whatever she wished. "Nekroz Mirror!" The mirror spell sacrificed Nekroz monsters that were already dead. The spirit of Shurit was banished from his grave, so that it could cover the entire cost for the ritual. "I summon Nekroz of Trishula!" Alice summoned the second copy of the great Ice Barrier warrior. "Unless you have something in your hand to stop me, this is it!" Adamant only had one card in his hand. It wouldn't save him.

"Uno..the oddball Guild. The Enemy.. How.." It was all slipping away, his destiny, his goals, his championship title. "Alice.." A name pushed it all out. A girl called Alice had done this to him. "You wanted to see what would happen. I'm sorry, but this is it." For a little while she even pitied the man. But she had to finish it. "Direct atta.. No..." If she was going to do this, she would do it with pride and joy. "ABSOLUTE.. ATTACK!" She yelled as loud as possible. The destructive Nekroz fired the decisive blow with a wave of ice.

Adamants LP: 0

"It is.. AMAZING! YOU ARE NOT DREAMING FOLKS, THE CHAMPION OF THE GUILDS HAS BEEN DEFEATED! HE HAS LOST TO NEWCOMER ALICE FROM THE ODDBALL GUILD!" There had been an overpowering silence before Dom came back to the screens. The audience couldn't fully accept that the duel was over, until he spoke. The idea that anyone could beat Adamant, let alone an independent duelist, was inconceivable. "She did it!" The cheers and shouts came in full force once reality settled in. Eric was one of the first to applaud her. "The XYZ Guild is out of the running, before the semis? That's crazy." The other fusion guild duelists were speechless. "Yeah. And its all thanks to her! And me.. dont forget that part. But yeah, you go Alice! Hell yeaahh!" Eric could not be happier. The thought that he would have to duel her eventually was not enough to spoil the fun.

The XYZ-Guild looked on with despair and disdain. "Well now." Ichirou grinned. "Looks like he's not the best after all."

"I can't.. you just did that." Her family was equally befuddled. "Honey.." They had wanted this to happen, and it did. Now they had no idea what to say when she came back to her seat. "Huh? Why are looking so funny? Did I do something wrong? You think I should go back there and bow or something?" Alice was quite calm for someone whose name was being yelled all over the stadium. She had finally rediscovered a bit of inner peace. "Adamant did not want talk to me anymore, so I just left.." Adamant still stood on the stage, quiet as the grave. "Maybe I should go back. Uno would say to to bask in the glory for a little while longer. .. Wait, does this make me the champion?" The details of champion succession were iffy to her. "Oh you really are an oddball. No I think the champion is the one who wins the finals. But still.. that was incredible what you did." Emily sighed happily. "Oh? That's good." Alice was relieved. If being a champion meant having to duel like Adamant all the time, she would get tired after one day. All those hoops one had to jump through just to stay alive, she did not envy him.

"Eehh!" Out of nothing and nowhere came the brightest flash imaginable. "Why? What?" It came from behind them, yet it still nearly blinded them for a good minute. Not many else seemed to notice, they were too busy talking about the recent duel. "This..again?!" Emily recognized the kind of light from the time Uno disappeared. That could mean one thing. "Uno!" He was back. Uno stood in the hallway which had been empty a moment ago. "Girls..I..made it." He let out a content chuckle, before he fell down with his face to the ground. "Ah! Uno! Are you hurt!?" Alice rushed over to him. He was out cold and it had not been the floor that did it. "How does he do that?" This experience was not just a deja vu from the day before. This was the same way they had found Uno back at the town graveyard. Disoriented and unconscious. "Let's get him to the infirmary first! We can figure out where he came from later." Heather suggested. "Right." The sisters nodded and picked Uno up.

They did not make it very far. "I think we should handle him, miss Brandt." Zach and a dozen guards had swarmed the hallway. "See it as a precaution. I do not know where he came from.. but Uno might still be a threat."

(To be Continued in Annex 047: Keeping it Together)

New Cards used by Alice Brandt
Preparation of Rites

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Rippling Mirror Force
Vanity's Emptiness

New Cards used by Adamant
Raid Raptor - Revolution Falcon

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Allure of Darkness
Rank-Up-Magic: Raid Force

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The Emperor on his Throne